Chapter Text
The window Yuuji sat next to overlooked Shinjuku, which had seen better days. The city was still undergoing heavy reconstruction, whereas Shibuya was close to its former glory. It had been a year already and Japan had come so far. The true cause of the catastrophe that struck Japan in late 2018 was still a mystery to the masses. Of course, tons of conspiracy theories turned up—the work of extraterrestrial beings, a curse from the gods, a new method of colonisation by the West—only to be debunked one after another. But many had collectively believed that supernatural elements were at play regardless of their reluctance to accept the undeniable truth.
The catastrophe itself was massive and the aftermath was a blemish on Japan that would never heal. There were some casualties, their survival being at the cost of many innocent lives. As much as Yuuji would love to prevent all that, fate was never that kind to Jujutsu sorcerers. Nevertheless, the age of curses had ceased just as Yuki Tsukumo envisioned. The ex-sorcerers were busy finding their place in the world now that they were no longer needed to protect humans from curses.
In Yuuji’s case, he was an actual high schooler now. A real high school student that wore a real high school uniform instead of the Jujutsu Tech uniform with a swirl button. A normal high school student back to worrying about the piling assignments on his messy desk instead of fighting for his life every second. School was a bummer, yeah, but this was fine. He missed the mundane life of a teenager; hanging out with his senpai; skipping classes sometimes; studying at the last minute for exams.
The scars, however, were a constant reminder of what occurred last year. And let’s not talk about the soul damage he received from swapping souls with Megumi that still gave a spasming ache. The ol’ King of Curses was not so fond of going back to a cage. Hah!
Anyways, everyone else was gradually getting acquainted with this new curse-free life. It was not a walk in the park, but they were trying. Megumi was attending a different high school. The trauma of losing his sister along with the side effect of The Bath left him damaged inside. He was slowly recovering from that by going to therapy sessions. All of them did. Despite not having the ten shadows technique anymore, Megumi's attachment to his shikigami furthered his love for animals. Hence, he opted to study for veterinary after high school. He had also adopted two dogs, reminiscent of his divine dogs.
Nobara, on the other hand, said she had no idea what career to pursue. She was the 'live in the present' kinda gal above all. She once shared with Yuuji that she might go for fashion designing because, in her words, Japanese fashion was lacking in creativity, and Nobara Kugisaki would do it justice.
When Gojo-sensei eavesdropped on their conversation, the shameless man revealed himself to tell Nobara, “I hundred per cent support your decision. With my connections, I can sponsor your future career. You just have to say the magic words!”
“And what exactly?” Nobara pried, her right eye narrowing to a slit, already anticipating his answer.
“I love and respect Gojo-sensei. Say it!”
“Oh, hell no!”
Yuuji laughed at their sulking teacher and a frustrated Nobara. Even though the girl had exploited the man's fortune many times, he knew her friend wouldn't accept his offer even if she didn't have to say the magic words. She was a prideful creature. She would never use her teacher's network to pave the way for her success. But if she were to divulge that, their teacher would have had a field day teasing her. Yuuji was sure that was why she kept her mouth shut. He could already imagine the adult's taunting words. Probably something like, “Aww~ Nobara-chan's so independent now! What a girlboss~!”
Gojo-sensei had also encouraged Yuuji to aim for Olympic Sports due to his inhuman strength. “But that would be cheating, Sensei!” Yuuji still wanted to honour his grandfather’s parting wish. He still wanted to help people in need. If he wielded the power to do so, he’d rather not let it go to waste. Hence, he planned to sit for the public worker exam after graduating high school, his first step to becoming a firefighter. “Hmm, you’d make less money though. But that sounds just like you!”
The automated female voice announced the next stop of the train. There was still some time left for his stop, so he decided to play a game for a bit. Just when he was about to start the game, a pop-up notification alerted a message on the screen; it was from Choso.
When the world was rid of curses and cursed energy, Yuuji was frightened at the prospect of Choso disappearing too. To his immense relief, Choso was still standing beside him in the ruins of Shinjuku. The twin-bunned man was a unique case like him. Since he was half a human, he somehow survived the sudden shift in their world. He also lost his cursed technique like others, but it did not affect his physical body that much. However, he had to succumb to the human needs now; no more skipping sleep and food. Choso currently worked as a florist near the apartment they rented out together.
Yuuji opened the pop-up on his screen and heaved out a small huff (affectionately). Now that Choso knew his way around technology, he constantly bombarded Yuuji with messages ranging from his well-being to daily reminders. Yuuji got used to his overprotectiveness over time.
Choso-nii:
Yuu. Where are you?
You:
Still on the train, nii-san. will be at home in 20 mins.
Choso-nii:
20 minutes seems long.
You:
No it’s not.
Choso-nii:
Alright. I cooked your favourite katsudon. Come home soon. No roaming around.
You:
Got it! 🫡
Yuuji snorted at the goofy cat sticker Choso sent back. The cat seemed to be saluting as well. He wondered where Choso got stickers for every gesture. He was more of an emoji user, so he never bothered with stickers. Choso’s sticker arsenal was something else though.
And so, he swiped back to the game only to be interjected again but this time by a familiar voice.
“Itadori-kun?”
Yuuji whipped his head to catch a wide-eyed Yuko Ozawa in a long-sleeved white dress with floral motifs at the bottom.
“Oh, Ozawa!” The surprise washed over him as he brightened up at the familiar face. “How are you doing?”
Ozawa chuckled at the instant enthusiasm radiating from the boy. “I’m doing pretty well. How about you?”
“Same here!” Yuuji chirped, tucking his phone back in his pocket. “Small world, huh?”
“Yeah.”
He scooted to his left to give her space and patted the seat to his right. “Here, take a seat.”
Ozawa bowed a little before sitting down. “Thank you.”
“So, is this your first time here? I always take this train. I’ve never seen you here though.”
Then, his inner voice, uninvited, retorted back inside his head, “Because this train is always crammed with people? There’s no way you’re gonna bump into someone you know even in this sardine can of a coach.” It was too late to take back what he asked though.
“Oh, I only take this train to travel to the mall. I usually take the bus to my school.”
“Oh.” That makes sense. “Are you coming from the mall then?”
“Yes,” the girl nodded, lifting a shopping bag that he hadn’t noticed earlier. It had a bookstore logo. “I was shopping for calligraphy tools. This brand is kind of rare, local shops don’t sell them.”
Yuuji hummed, suddenly intrigued at the mention of calligraphy. Then, he remembered. “Oh, right. Your handwriting has always been pretty. Is that why you took up calligraphy?”
A flush of red spread across Ozawa’s countenance. Yuuji feared he might have said something mortifying but he couldn’t tell what exactly. Still, he opened his mouth to send a myriad of sorry’s only to be stopped by the blushing girl herself. “Yes.” She nodded too vehemently to his liking. “But it’s more of a passion than a hobby now.”
The teen did not hesitate to show his fascination. “Wow. That’s awesome! You’re thinking of becoming a calligraphist then?”
The girl suddenly seemed a bit resigned. “I’m not sure of that. I’m still thinking about the future.”
Feeling a pang of guilt, Yuuji tried to reassure her. “Oh, that’s fine, you know. We’re young. There’s still so much to explore and find our true passion; our true self.” No, he was not quoting a dialogue from a manga. When life puts you through so many hardships, you learn to pick up a few lessons from here and there. “So take it slow, yeah?”
Ozawa’s eyes lightened up in hope as she affirmed in a nod. “Yes.”
Another stretch of silence. Yuuji noticed the girl hadn’t stopped staring at him. He wondered if the frost from the cake he ate with Megumi earlier stuck on his face or something. There was no way his clean-freak friend wouldn’t have alerted him about it. But then again, there was no guarantee that he was not feeling a little mischievous today. He swished his head to the window panel behind him. No help from there. The glaring sunlight obscured his reflection.
“Is there something on my face?” Yuuji finally queried, gesturing to his face with a forefinger awkwardly.
Caught blatantly staring at the other, the short-haired girl fumbled through her response. “O-oh! I-I didn’t mean to stare. Sorry, that was rude of me.”
Yuuji quickly held up his hands. “Hey, it’s fine. No need to apologise.” The girl still had remorse evident on her features. He racked his brain to come up with a way to ease the tension. “I guess I’m too handsome to resist, huh?”
Unfortunately, it made the girl go full tomato red.
Ugh, Gojo-sensei is rubbing off on me. “Sorry. I-,” he stammered, unable to hide his own embarrassment. “I didn’t mean to say that. Shi-” He stopped himself before messing it up further, mildly shocked at their positions reversed. Thankfully, the coach was packed with enough passengers, so no one had to witness his clownery.
Ozawa somehow calmed down throughout the entire chaos. “It’s alright, Itadori-kun.” She smiled apologetically. “Sorry for staring at your scars.”
Oh, right. The scars. It was not the first time someone was staring at his scars. It was something he had learnt to live with. Some people had mistaken him for a delinquent or someone even dangerous at first impression. Because that was all it was; a first impression. He had just momentarily forgotten about them now that he was with an old classmate.
“Oh, these? These are nothing. They’re just injuries from an accident some time ago.”
“I see.” Whether the girl was convinced or not, he could not tell, but Ozawa seemed to have decided not to pry any further. The girl surprised him further when she took over the lead of the conversation. “Um..” She shuffled in her seat briefly, tucking some stray hair behind an ear. “Are you free, Itadori-kun? I was thinking of um… hanging out since last time, we didn’t get to.”
“Oh.” Yuuji was a little taken aback. It was not every day that a girl asked him out. Wait, ask him out? No, this was an invitation to a hangout, stupid.
He was probably quiet for a while now since the girl began to take it back. “It’s okay if you don’t want to.”
“No!” He suddenly screeched that received a flinch from Ozawa and some (displeased) looks from the other passengers. He let out a nervous laughter while bowing his head a little. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell, haha.” He scratched his cheek abashedly. “I’m totally free now. Where do you wanna go?”
A smile instantly bloomed on the girl’s face. Pretty. “Can we leave at the next stop? There are many shops around this area.”
“Sure thing.”
The two teenagers talked about a lot of things throughout their ride to the next stop; school, friends and family. The last topic led to an interesting reveal from Ozawa’s end. When the catastrophe happened, her family had to move away to their hometown in Hokkaido for a few months before coming back to Tokyo this year. Their neighbourhood was caught up in the wreckage that was the catastrophe (or the Culling Games but Yuuji kept his mouth shut), leaving their family devastated. Fortunately, they were able to rent out an apartment around her high school. It was still shocking for Yuuji to see someone indirectly affected by the Culling Games. He could only express deep-felt sympathy for her.
Their sombre chat ended when the train reached their stop. They both had not taken their lunch so they decided to eat somewhere. Ozawa was quite familiar with the area, so Yuuji let her take the lead. Ozawa picked a small ramen restaurant known for its cosy atmosphere.
Yuuji, of course, sent a quick text to Choso, informing him that he’d be coming home late. The latter was slightly upset by this (he looked forward to lunch with his little brother), but Yuuji promised to make it up to him.
True to her word, the restaurant was comfy, homely even. Despite the day being Sunday, the restaurant was less crowded. Given that Ozawa had been to this place before, Yuuji requested the girl to order for him. The girl blushed profusely (she does that a lot, the boy noted) as she ordered food for both of them. In the meantime, Yuuji decided it was time to drop the last-name basis with the girl. They were of the same age, so why be so formal around one another? She was flustered at first but was not against the suggestion. The next half an hour was filled by a light cordial chatter and the clanking of utensils against platters.