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“Say, Yuji, you want to meet the first years?” Gojo brought up casually during dinner one night, and Geto\s fork slipped out of his hand, almost dropping to the floor had Tsumiki not caught it swiftly from her place by his side.
“The first years at Jujutsu High?” Yuji raised an eyebrow questioningly.
“Where else would they be?” Megumi murmured, and Yuji kicked at him from under the table. “Is that even allowed?”
“We’re allowed to go and we’re not enrolled yet.” Mimiko commented.
“Yuji should be allowed too!” Nanako agreed.
“He is allowed,” Shoko nodded. “We just didn’t want to bring that up with your grandfather and stress him out, but if you want to visit, it should be no issue.”
Now that his grandfather had passed away, Yuji was in Shoko’s guardianship. It had been hard, living without his grandfather after he had spent his entire life around him, but Shoko was wonderful, and he had known her since he was a kid. She was always like an older sister to him so having her around made matters a lot easier to handle.
And of course, he had Megumi and his family too.
“I do want to. You always talk about it and how cool it is so I’d love to see it,” Yuji nodded. “Besides, I’ll be a first year in a few months, right?”
“We.” Megumi corrected.
“Right, we’ll be first years, my bad.” Yuji smiled.
“You will be, yeah,” Geto nodded. “Now is a good time too, considering Yuta-kun will be going away when the new academic year starts to continue his education in Africa.”
“Woah! That’s so cool!” Yuji’s eyes widened.
“Yuta-kun is pretty cool, but he needs to get better with his cursed energy so I’m sending him off to study with someone for his second year. He’ll come visit though, I’m sure,” Gojo explained, waving his chopsticks. “I expect nothing less than the best from my relative!”
“Very distant relative.” Tsumiki deadpanned, and Gojo gasped dramatically.
“Anyways!” Shoko coughed, sipping her tea. “We can go tomorrow if you’d like, after you guys get out of school. It’s a Friday, so we can stay a little late and have dinner.”
“Excellent idea, Shoko!” Gojo beamed.
“I’m full of them.” She raised her mug.
“We’re going shopping!” Mimiko interjected. “We’ll just stop by for dinner.”
“All three of you?” Geto asked.
“Yeah! Of course!” Nanako nodded.
“There’s a sale at one of our favourite stores, we have to go!” Tsumiki’s eyes went wide.
“Okay, okay. Just take your knife, ‘Miki,” Gojo reminded her and she nodded. “All good, just meet us at the school for dinner then.”
Of course, no one could pick them up from school to take them to Jujutsu High because they were all working there, but Megumi had been there multiple times so Yuji was confident he had the perfect guide. “Are we going on an adventure?” Yuji asked, linking their arms together.
“Sure, you can call it that,” Megumi’s lips curled up slightly, not pulling his arm away but instead tugging Yuji gently in the right direction. “Come on, we finish earlier than they do so we’ll catch them right after classes.”
“Tell me about the first years?” Yuji asked when they were settled on the train, shoulder-to-shoulder.
“Maki-san is from the Zenin clan, like me. But she left because… she wasn’t born with cursed energy and they treated her really awfully. She’s very strong though and Tou-san taught her to fight like he taught you. She’s badass, and there’s no one better with cursed tools than her.”
“You think she’d agree to teach me some stuff too?”
“She’d be more than happy I think. She taught Okkotsu-senpai as well and he started off from rock-bottom, but he’s great now,” Megumi nodded. “He’s very good with his katana and he has so much cursed energy it’s insane. He has sort of a shikigami called Rika but it’s actually the remnants of a curse who was his previous love.”
Yuji made a bewildered expression.
“It’s a long story,” Megumi sighed. “Point is, he broke the curse so it’s different now. His technique is really cool, he can copy other techniques for a little while.”
“That’s awesome!” Yuji gasped.
“He’s not a special grade for nothing,” Megumi smiled. “Inumaki-senpai’s technique is cool too, but it has more backlash.”
“Cursed speech, right?” Yuji asked, recalling Shoko talking about it. Yuji would love to try and learn more about Toge’s technique, maybe he could figure out a way to lessen the backlash or make the aftermath of using his technique easier.
“Yeah. Normally, Okkotsu-senpai will heal his throat with reverse cursed technique after he uses it because it takes some time to get back to Shoko-san.”
“I wonder if I could imbue things with reverse cursed technique,” Yuji murmured. “That would be useful. Like, imagine putting it in food or something! Healing food!”
Yuji’s cursed energy was like Shoko’s, he didn’t really have offensive cursed energy that would be useful to fight someone, but he had reverse cursed technique and he was learning how to heal from Shoko… had been learning how to heal for a long time actually.
“That would be super useful if you could.” Megumi agreed.
“I’ll work with Shoko and see if I can,” Yuji nodded. “Okay keep going.”
“Just Panda-senpai left,” Megumi leaned his head back against the seat. “He’s… a panda. He has cursed energy too but the Principal created him, he’s cool.”
“Just… a panda… okay… cool,” Yuji nodded slowly. “Yeah, no big deal.”
“Mhm.”
The journey wasn’t very long, and soon enough they were off the train and walking up a road towards some structures in the distance. The second they passed through the barriers, Yuji’s eyes widened as he looked around at the traditional buildings and the peaceful atmosphere surrounding them. “This is so cool.”
“We’ll be here every day in a few months.” Megumi nudged Yuji’s shoulder.
“Yay!” Yuji cheered quietly, and Megumi’s heart clenched in his chest. “Where are they?”
“I can call Oyaji,” Megumi took his phone out and tapped on Gojo’s contact. “Hey, yeah we’re here, where are you guys? Oh, okay, yeah we’re on our way. Love you too,” He hung up and tucked the phone back in his pocket. “The field.”
“I love fields,” Yuji beamed. “We should spar.”
“I’d kick your ass.”
“I’m stronger!”
“I have a technique.” Megumi replied.
“I’ll get strong enough that even your technique won’t help, just wait.” Yuji challenged.
“I look forward to it,” Megumi smirked as they continued to walk across the grounds, him leading the two of them to where he vaguely remembered the field being. He didn’t tend to go there, sticking to the buildings whenever he visited. “Oh, I already see Oyaji.”
“Is he… sitting in the shade while they spar?” Yuji spluttered, trying, and failing to hold back a laugh.
“Of course he is,” Megumi sighed. And of course, Gojo knew the instant they arrived because he lifted his head and beamed. “Oh, he’s seen us.”
“Megumi! Yuji!” Gojo yelled across the field. “Come, come!”
“Come on,” Megumi grabbed Yuji’s sleeve and pulled him along to where Gojo was sat. The first years paused their training to cast curious glances at the mysterious pink haired boy trailing after Megumi. “Are you slacking? I’m going to tell Tou-san.”
“Me? Slacking? Never!” Gojo gasped. “You believe me, don’t you Yuji?”
“Uh…” Yuji’s eyes widened at the sudden question. “I don’t know if I do, Oji-chan.”
“Yuji!” Satoru draped a hand over his face dramatically. “No one ever believes in me!”
“Maybe if you acted differently, we would,” Someone deadpanned from behind them, and Yuji whirled around to see a girl approaching with a cursed tool over her shoulder. Her dark green hair was in a ponytail, and she was dressed in workout clothes. “Who’re you?” She asked Yuji.
“Itadori Yuji! Nice to meet you.” Yuji greeted.
“You’re not enrolled yet, are you?” She asked.
“Not yet! I will be in a few months though. Megumi and I will be in the same class.” Yuji smiled.
“Maki, we’ve known Yuji since he was a kid and he’s under Shoko’s guardianship now. We thought he should come see the school and meet you all before he starts.” Gojo explained, standing, and putting a hand on Yuji’s shoulder and the other on Megumi’s.
“Megumi said you’re good at fighting. Would you spar with me?” Yuji asked Maki and her eyes widened just the slightest bit, as if surprised.
“Sure.”
She wiped the floor with his ass. Yuji laid on his back, groaning, one hand pressed to his bleeding nose and the other cradling his, probably bruised, abdomen.
“Good fight. You’ve got the basics down, and you have a lot of natural physical strength,” Maki praised, offering him her hand. He moved his own off his abdomen, took it, and let her pull him up, steadying him. “You alright?”
“Mhm, fine,” Yuji nodded, letting his technique flow from his fingers and heal his broken nose before he directed it to his abdomen and felt the pain ease. “All good.”
“Reverse cursed technique,” She commented. “You don’t have an offensive cursed technique.”
“No, I don’t. That’s why I asked Suguru-san to train with me.”
“Hmm,” She nodded, patting his shoulder. “You’ve got blood on your face. Come on, let Megumi fuss over you.”
“Maki-san –” Yuji spluttered.
“Don’t even try to hide it, I can see it clear as day.” She waved him off, hefting her cursed tool over her shoulder and starting to walk back to where Gojo and Megumi were stood, now joined by the other first years.
“What the fuck,” Yuji muttered, running to catch up to her. As soon as they were close enough to the others for them to see the damage done, Megumi rushed up to Yuji, grabbing his face in his hands and tilting it left and right. “’M fine.”
“Where did you get hurt?”
“Nose and abdomen but I healed it, all good.” Yuji assured him, pretending to ignore the knowing look Maki shot him.
“Good spar then?” Megumi asked, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket, and wiping away the blood smeared around Yuji’s nose.
“Yeah!” Yuji nodded. “Great spar.”
“He’s got potential.” Maki commented.
“High praise from Maki,” One of the first years said. He had black hair, and there was a katana in his hands. “I’m Okkotsu Yuta, it’s nice to meet you Itadori-kun.”
“Nice to meet you too, Okkotsu-senpai!” Yuji beamed. So this was Okkotsu Yuta. Yuji could feel the cursed energy rolling off him in waves. “So you must be Inumaki-senpai then!” Yuji turned to the white-haired boy whose collar was zipped over his mouth. “Nice to meet you!” He signed.
“You can sign?” Toge signed back, his eyes wide.
“Yes! One of my grandfather’s friends was deaf so I learned how to sign so I could communicate with him.” Yuji beamed.
“He’s teaching us too.” Megumi said.
“Cool!” Panda exclaimed. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Itadori!”
“You too, Panda-senpai!” Yuji replied. It was an actual panda, he thought, this school was insane. “Uh, where’s Suguru-san, Satoru-san?”
“He’s…” Gojo trailed off before his eyes lit up. “There he is!” He pointed behind them, and Yuji whirled around to see Suguru rounding the corner, his dark hair pulled up in a bun and his hands in his pockets. The pink-haired boy grinned, waving excitedly, and getting a small wave in return from him.
“I see you’ve already met everyone.” Geto said when he was close enough.
“Maki-san and I sparred!” Yuji said.
“Did you?”
“Yeah! She broke my nose!” Yuji continued with the same excited tone. “I healed it, don’t worry.”
“More worried about Shoko biting Satoru’s head off for getting you hurt on your first visit.”
“Nah, it’ll be fine!” Gojo shrugged. “He’s fine!”
“I am fine,” Yuji nodded. “Shoko-nee-san won’t bite his head off.”
“She better not, I’m too young to be a widow,” Geto sighed. “Hungry?”
“Are we cooking?”
“Oh, you got him started now, Tou-san,” Megumi stifled a chuckle. “He’s going to cook a feast.”
“You cook, Itadori-kun?” Yuta asked.
“I love cooking!”
“I’m sure when Yuji starts next semester, you’ll all be eating like kings every day!” Gojo said.
“You said that like you won’t show up to try and steal our food,” Megumi rolled his eyes before making a surprised sound when Gojo wrapped an arm around him and ruffled his hair. “Oyaji, please.”
“Cheeky little shit.” Gojo patted the top of Megumi’s head before loosening his hold to just an arm around him.
“I’m more than happy to cook for everyone. Good opportunity to try new things and get better!” Yuji jumped. “I am hungry now though, and the girls will be here soon and I don’t want them to have to wait for food. Shopping makes them hungry.”
“A hungry Tsumiki is an angry Tsumiki.” Megumi nodded and Gojo shuddered.
“Hurry!”