Chapter Text
Today was supposed to be like any other day. Being the only 1st-year student, all his time spent with his teacher was custom to his needs, so he was outside in the grass, taking a break after spending the past hour practicing hand to hand combat. Once his breathing had evened out, his teacher approached him with a bright grin; and that was never a good sign.
"Good news, Megumi!" Said student glanced away as his teacher approached him, "I got a new mission for you!" Looming over him as he sat slumped against a tree in the shade, his teacher delivered the details and sent him on his way. It was nothing too big; a grade 3 was hardly any issue to him. Was his teacher thinking he was slacking?
"Yes, Gojo." Was his only reply, before getting ready for the mission.
The curse was in a forest behind a hospital, one just built a month ago, so it wasn't strong yet. This meant an easy win as Megumi just wanted to get back to training; he has handled grade 3's plenty of times on his own, so this was nothing to him. "Demon Dogs!" He summoned the twins and had them scour the area, as he was unsure where the curse would be lurking now. It was getting late, so he hoped it hadn't crawled inside the building yet.
To his luck, one of his dogs picked up the scent of the curse, and he ran west to follow it. The curse in front of him was certainly large, but just like a cat, it was just a trick to seem more powerful. It was a sickly grey-green color, with jagged teeth, three legs, and no eyes; yet it seemed to know exactly where Megumi was, as it turned and clacked its teeth at him. Arms that sprouted from its back reached outwards to try and snatch him up, but he was faster, and merely took a few steps back to dodge the clumsy attempt. "Get it, boys!" He shouted to his shikigami, who each grabbed a leg of the curse and tore them from its body.
It roared furiously, and swiped at the dogs, snatching the white one up and holding it above its mouth, threatening to devour it. Using that as a distraction, Megumi sent a wave of cursed energy towards the curse, chopping off its last leg and causing it to topple over, before he decided to finish it off with a killing blow to the head.
Just as it began to dust away, his teacher appeared, and he returned his dogs to the shadows. "That was fast!" Gojo complimented. When Megumi didn't respond, he continued; "anyway, if you're hungry for dinner, I found a few places to eat at! What do you say; steak, sushi, burgers, or -?" He cut himself off as his smile faded. "Hmm? That's new."
"What?" Megumi turned to look behind him where his teacher was looking at. Where he had recalled his Divine Dogs, the shadow had remained. He shook his hands a few times, trying to remove it, but it wouldn't leave the area. "This ... that isn't me." He looked back to his teacher for guidance, but he instead approached the anomaly with curiosity.
He did the same, and saw something rise up from it. First came hair; abnormally long and sopping wet, as if fresh out of water. He caught a glimpse of skin from under it, and sure enough, someone picked themselves up onto their hands and knees; choking, gasping, and coughing up water. It was a young girl; dull eyed and completely naked.
As the shadows fell away off your body and disappeared, trapping you here, he could get a better look at you. Your hair kept you modest, as it was long and incredibly dense, and when you sat back on your knees, he watched as you studied your surroundings quietly, and tested the area you sat in by stroking the grass and breathing deeply. He went to say something, but his teacher held up his finger, signalling him to just stay quiet and observe. Sure enough, as if making a realization, your eyes widened, and you scrambled backwards, clutching at your hair and screaming at a pitch high enough to cause his ears to ring.
Gojo didn't seem affected by it; however, "hello!" He greeted instead, possibly making things worse.
You hyperventilated as you tried to speak to them. "Wh-wh-what - wh - who are you? Where am - where am I? Wh - what happened to me?" You glanced down at yourself, then looked back up again, repeating yourself in a panic, "who are you?!"
"Hey," Gojo knelt down in front of you, putting on a pleasant smile, "calm down -" he went to put his hands on your shoulder, but you smacked them away and crawled backwards on your hands and feet. "Okay. Well just take a deep breath, in and out. We're the good guys!"
You stared the two of them down to analyze for any threat, and for once, Megumi tried to look somewhat inviting and friendly. For your sake. It seemed to work, as you slowly nodded and evened out your breathing. "Yeah. Yeah."
"I'm Gojo Satoru, and this is my student, Fushiguro Megumi. You are?"
"I ... I am ..." Your brows furrowed as you tried to think. "I don't -" you rubbed your eyes in frustration before continuing, "I don't know my last name." You went quiet as you tried to process everything; burying your head into your hands and groaning.
Gojo just smiled. "That's okay, take your time."
Megumi, who had been quiet the whole time, finally spoke up. "Can you stand?" He offered his hand out to you, which you tentatively stared at, before accepting it and getting up on your wobbly legs.
"Good idea! Give her your clothes." Gojo pipes in.
"What? No. What am I going to wear?" He then scowls, causing you to shrink back.
"Well," he held his fingers out like a photographer, "she's smaller than you, and your shirt is long, even on you, so just give her your shirt. She's soaked, and must be freezing. Be a gentleman, Megumi!"
He glares down his teacher, and doesn't move for the longest time. Finally sighing, he removes his uniform shirt and tosses it to you. "Don't bother giving it back. I don't want it."
Your eyes peer at him from behind thin and loose strands of wet hair while you slip the shirt on over your clothes, trapping your hair against your body, as you tried to fix it around you. It was much too long, and pooled around the soles of your feet. It was a miracle you haven't stepped on it yet, and Gojo instructed you to fix it by draping it around your shoulders and tucking it under the shirt.
"What do we do with her?" Megumi asked, pulling his teacher aside. "Take her to the police and let them handle it?"
Gojo shook his head, "I'm going to take care of her while we figure out exactly what she is. She's not a curse; she has no cursed energy at all, but I don't think it's normal for a human to come out of your shadows; is it?" He had a point. "We're going to hide her until I can figure out what's going on, okay?" Megumi shrugged. He had no qualms with that; as long as he wasn't the one who had to deal with you. "Great!" Gojo turns to you, "come on, we're going to take you to get you cleaned up and fed; sound nice?" He grins with his hands together next to his cheek.
You were quiet, eyes darting between the two men suspiciously. Right; were you really going to go along with two strangers? He spoke sternly with you, startling you into submission; "I didn't give you my shirt for nothing. You can either come with us, or sit here and starve."
Taking quick steps towards them, it appears as if you've made your decision. You seem afraid of the dark, as once you step out of the forest and peer at the sunset ahead of you, you reach out to grab Gojo's hand for any support.
Megumi is just as startled by it as his teacher; but more so at the fact that he'd never seen Gojo flinch before. His mouth had dropped in genuine surprise, which is a look he hasn't seen either, but he quickly smiled at you when you tried to let go, and assured you that it was alright. "No, it's okay. You just really surprised me there!"
He watched you curiously out of the corner of his eye as you awed at all the lights of the city, and tried to walk carefully so as to not hurt your delicate soles. In fact; your entire being looked fragile.
First, Gojo stopped to grab some takeout. "I really wanted to sit and eat," he sighed, "but we can do that another time." You didn't know what you wanted to eat, so he picked out something simple for you. "Go ahead, take a bite," the three of you sat down at a park bench, illuminated against the sunset by a single lamp, and he passed you your food. However, you only picked at it, as if waiting for something to happen, so Gojo decided to encourage you; "someone as scrawny as you won't make it in the place we're going."
At his words, your eyes lit up and you peered down your shirt. Megumi's shirt. Your shirt? He wasn't wearing it anymore. It was true; he glanced at your legs, which looked almost thin enough to snap, and helped you open your meal container. You gasped with a wide grin, and as if you'd never eaten in your life, the food was gone before either men got halfway through theirs.
But the moment you put your chopsticks down, you regretted your actions, and became teary-eyed. "Sorry. I'm sorry."
"Whatever for?" Gojo chuckled, then shook his head, "that food was meant for you, so eat it however you want."
You contemplated his words, then nodded slowly and then patiently waited for the two to finish their meals. Megumi found that you weren't an entirely insufferable person to be around. Except for your light humming to keep yourself busy, you were nice and quiet.
Soon enough, everyone was on their way again. Ijichi was called for a lift, and although he argued with Gojo over what to do with you, and whether you could even ride in the car or not, Gojo's words were final, and Megumi was stuck in the back seat with you, helping you buckle into the car.
Apparently, you were not immune to the car ride sleepiness phenomenon, and three minutes later, you were out like a light. "Megumi, look." Gojo oh-so graciously pointed out to him after giggling.
"It's not like she's right next to me." He spoke sarcastically, then opted to stare out the window the rest of the car ride home.
You were still asleep when everyone arrived at Jujutsu Tech, but no one really wanted to carry you when you were only in a shirt. "Rise and shine!" Gojo patted your cheek a few times, before you woke up so startled that your head hit the ceiling of the car. "Poor thing," he spoke as you whimpered and held your new bump.
"What the -?" You looked around, shaken and confused for a second, before your memories cleared up and you visibly relaxed. "Oh, yeah. Where are we?"
"Jujutsu Tech." Megumi spoke. "Come on, Gojo is taking you to your room." He helps you unbuckle yourself and exit the car, then adjusts your hold on him when you clutch his arm fearfully.
Gojo hums. "Unfortunately, I don't have any clothes that would fit you. We do have a female student on campus though, so I'll see if I can borrow some of her clothes for you."
Cringing, Megumi could only imagine how that interaction was going to go. When his teacher waved the two of you over, he walked you down the path towards the faculty's dorms. Theirs were much bigger and nicer than the student dorms, almost apartments, since the teachers and staff tended to live here instead of their own homes farther away from the school. This meant that even if you wouldn't have your own space, you would at least have a place to eat and sleep at.
"Here we are! Nice place, huh?" Gojo asked, nudging you with his elbow and watching you nod. He opens the door, and waits for you to step inside.
After some hesitation, you smile softly. "(Y/N)." You spoke gently. It almost went unheard.
"Hmm?" Gojo tilted his head down to face you, and even Megumi took his hands out of his pockets to instead fold them with intrigue.
"I am (Y/N)."