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Oh.
There he was.
Gojo Satoru.
Kurusu Hana had released the seal on the Prison Realm only mere moments ago, and now his sensei stood before him. Everyone else was out, searching for a way to save Megumi and it pained Yuji to not be out with them, but they had bade him to stay with Hana as she worked on the seal, considering she mentioned she was almost done. They wanted someone familiar to be there when Gojo was released.
Yuji knew it had not even been a month since Gojo was sealed but it felt like years had passed since the last time he saw his sensei.
“Sensei.” Yuji breathed; eyes wide as he took in Gojo’s appearance. He still looked the same, of course, wearing the same thing he wore before and his blindfold was around his neck instead of around his eyes.
“Yuji-kun!” Gojo beamed brightly when he saw his student, standing there shell-shocked. He didn’t know how long it had been since he was sealed, time was different inside the Prison Realm. He could not tell its passing.
But Yuji looked quite different, so he assumed it must have been a decent amount of time. There was a new scar near his mouth and several cuts along his cheeks, and some on his knuckles too but the most concerning and confusing thing was the lack of marks under his eyes – the marks that he had received upon taking Sukuna into his body, the marks that were usually where Sukuna’s eyes appeared… they were gone.
“Yuji-kun…?” Gojo trailed off watching the younger stumble forward and reach a hand out shakily to him. Yuji’s fingers touched Gojo’s shirt and he inhaled sharply when he felt the material on his skin before he dropped his head, leaning his forehead against Gojo’s chest.
“Sensei.” Yuji choked out, clenching the material of the shirt in a white-knuckled grip.
“Yuji-kun, what happened?” Gojo murmured, the smile falling from his face as he wrapped his arms around Yuji and tugged him closer, rubbing his back with one hand and protectively cupping the base of his neck with the other.
Yuji couldn’t remember the last time he had been held so gently, so carefully. Couldn’t remember the last time he had been handled with anything but rough pats on the back or his opponents fists. It had been less than a month since Gojo was sealed and he felt like it had been years since everything went to shit.
The warmth emanating from Gojo was overwhelming and Yuji squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the tears trickle down his cheeks and ignoring the stinging pain when they washed over his healing cuts.
“Sensei, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry –” Yuji repeated, his other hand curled up into a fist, nails digging into his palm.
“Yuji-kun,” Gojo pulled away and brought both of his hands to Yuji’s shoulders. “Why are you sorry?” He said it with a gentle smile on his face, one that Yuji knew he didn’t deserve.
“Because I fucked it all up, sensei,” Yuji whispered, choking back a sob as more tears rushed down his cheeks. “Everything. I – you got sealed, and – and I was supposed to step up but Nanamin died, Kugisaki isn’t waking up, and Sukuna got out. So many people died, Sensei –”
“Nanami… died?” Gojo’s tone turned uncharacteristically quiet.
“Yes,” Yuji hung his head, remembering the look on Nanami’s face, blood everywhere but there was a smile spread across it, confidence in Yuji as though he knew he could trust him, could trust he wouldn’t fail in killing Mahito. And he didn’t, but he failed at everything else. And now Nanami was gone. “Mahito, he –”
“And the one who killed Nanami… is it dead?”
“Yeah.” Yuji said, his voice hoarse as he remembered how the thing in Geto Suguru’s body had gotten rid of Mahito.
“Good,” Gojo’s lips quirked up in a melancholy sort of smile. “You did right by him, and he would be proud of you.”
“I don’t deserve that praise, sensei.” Yuji shook his head, lifting his gaze meekly to meet Gojo’s piercing blue eyes. “I was weak, I let Sukuna kill so many people and – and Megumi –”
Megumi. Yuji couldn’t stop the sob that ripped through his through that time because fuck Megumi was… he didn’t know where he was. All he knew was Sukuna had taken over his body and he would never forget the cold look in those eyes, eyes that normally looked at him with such fondness and, dare he say, love. Long gone was the soft smile and unmarred cheeks and replacing them was a ruthless grin and black markings.
“Megumi?” Gojo asked sharply.
“Sensei,” Yuji gasped for breath. “Sensei, Sukuna took over his body. He ripped my finger off and fed it to him and I – I was so fucking useless and I couldn’t stop him, couldn’t bring him back and –”
“Oh, Yuji-kun.” Gojo’s face fell and he brought the younger into another hug, this one tighter than the one before, almost reassuring for the both of them, telling them that the other was fine and here and at least they had each other if no one else. “It’s not your fault.”
“It is,” Yuji wailed, his voice cracking through the desperation. “Sensei, it’s my fault and no one else’s, Sukuna is my responsibility –”
“And you are my responsibility,” Gojo pulled away again and dropped one of his hands onto Yuji’s head, painting a soft smile on his face. He ruffled Yuji’s hair gently, cupping his face after and brushing the tears away. “I’ve got it from here, Yuji-kun.”