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The cursed energy was felt within a 400 kilometre radius. The source was in Jujutsu Tech's field and Gojo Satoru did not waste time teleporting to it.
The grounds looked unchanged. Nothing out of order, except for a tall stranger with white hair, dressed in slacks and a blue collared shirt. His back to Satoru
"Satoru!" Geto Suguru calls out to the man and quickly ran to him. "Who is that?" The black-haired man asked. There was something strange about this cursed energy. It was almost like...but that's impossible. The man was strange as well. Suguru would know Satoru anywhere and this man, even looking away from them, looked like Satoru.
Satoru moves closer to the stranger. "Yo! Welcome to Jujutsu Tech!" He gives a two-fingered salute. Suguru was a welcomed presence behind him.
"Geto-sensei! Gojo-sensei!" Fushiguro Megumi calls out, running towards the two adults. The rest of the second-years and Nobara were with him.
"Oi, what's going on?" Maki asks when they reached them.
"We have a visitor on our grounds," Suguru replies. Satoru has not turned away from the stranger.
Megumi narrows his eyes, confusion causing his brows to furrow. "Doesn't he seem like Gojo-sensei to you?"
"Ha?" Nobara looks at the man. "The cursed energy feels similar but different still though."
Satoru was the strongest. An imposter would be no problem. What was worrying was that the stranger seemed unfazed by the group of sorcerers that have come to confront him. Also, the nearer he was to it, the more he could feel the similarity in their cursed energy.
"It's rude not to face the person talking to you, you know? So why not turn around." Satoru goads the man. "If you're worried about your ugly mug, don't be. Everyone else is unattractive when standing next to me."
Still no response.
"This is getting ridiculous," Maki says, irritated. At a glance, the man's stance was relaxed. Not at all fazed at the fact that he's surrounded by jujutsu sorcerers. Chills go up her spine and she looks next to her. She sighs. It's just Rika.
"Oi Yuuta." She glares at her friend.
Yuuta doesn't even glance at her. His eyes trained on the stranger. "This man is Gojo-sensei."
"What?" Panda asks.
It seems impossible but the man released more of his curse energy. It was suffocating, like an elephant deciding to step on you.
Satoru begins to gather hollow purple on his fingers.
"You really doing that?" The stranger asked. Satoru snarled, ready to unleash hollow purple on the man. The man turns around and they all let out a gasp. Satoru's face looks back at him.
Or it was his face, except for the eye patch. But that was Satoru's eye, his face, his stance. They were identical and he didn't want to admit it at first but their cursed energies were similar.
"I would really like to eat a slice of cake, so why don't we take this inside?" The man grins and it's beginning to creep Suguru out at how it's exactly like his lover's.
"How do we know that you aren't a threat?" Suguru asks.
The question only seemed to make the man's grin bigger. "Oh I'm always a threat, but not to you. So, again let's take this inside, okay?"
Satoru watches his doppelganger put the sixth teaspoon of sugar into his coffee. "Who are you?"
"I'm Gojo Satoru from a different universe." The man leans back and sips his drink. "Don't worry I'm not on any mission to wreak havoc here."
"Then why are you here?" Megumi asks. Just one Gojo-sensei was annoying but to have another around is insufferable. Although...there was something odd about this man. Something disconcerting. Like a lion playing with a mouse. Letting it amuse him before he strikes. This Gojo Satoru was not their friend. Maybe this is what people felt when they face against Gojo Satoru in a real fight.
The stranger looks at Megumi. His singular eye bright. "Someone stole my treasure from me. I've followed the thief's cursed energy and it led me here."
"What is it? Is it something so special that you have to go dimension-hoping? Can't you just replace it?" Nobara chimes in.
The stranger's cursed energy spikes, sharpens. It sent chills to everyone present, even this dimension’s version of him.
"My treasure isn't replaceable." The cursed energy then stills and calms, but still bared, like a guillotine's blade hanging above their necks. "I don't need your help. I merely require you to keep quiet about my presence while I look for my treasure and then I'll be out of here." He smiles brightly. As if dimension-hopping was something you do when you feel like it.
"Um...Gojo-san..." Yuuta says, "What exactly is this treasure you're looking for?"
He takes another sip of his coffee. "Hmmm...Don't wanna tell."
"This man is definitely Satoru, all right." Panda says.
Maki sighs, "He's every bit as annoying."
"Shake," Inumaki confirms.
Megumi doesn't want to be here. "How do you expect to find it then?"
"My treasure will register as my cursed energy, though it won't be as jarring." He adds softly, "Tempered almost."
Satoru's not sure but the man almost looks melancholy. He didn't know that he could look that soft about something other than Suguru and just like that the stranger shakes himself from whatever had tamed him.
"Well, anyway I should-"
"Oi, what are all of you doing here? Don't any of you have any missions?" Sukuna walks into the room, hands in his pocket. "What was the deal about that cursed -" The pink-haired, tattooed teenager blinks his eyes at the two Gojo Satoru. "What the heck-"
The man's cursed energy spikes again, so much so that the rest of the sorcerers quickly stood up, poised to attack.
The tension was thick in the room. "Ah sorry. You just had a really irritating face." The stranger gives that wide grin again. It was starting to look unhinged to Satoru. He's pretty sure he's not this crazy.
"Hey Suguru, I'm not this crazy, am I?" Satoru asks his lover.
Suguru frowns at the threat because this is what this man is. "No, Satoru, this man is definitely crazier."
"What is going on here?" Sukuna moves to stand next to Megumi.
"Like I said, I merely need to retrieve my treasure and then I'll leave. I don't really care what the rest of you do as long as you're not in my way." The white-haired man calmly finishes his coffee.
"Do you even know where to start?" Nobara questions the man.
The man stands. "I do. The thief is here and he's on his own to the Tomb of the Star."
Then hell broke loose.
The curses came in a blink of an eye. Everyone was caught up fighting the different curses that descended on the school.
Megumi takes out a second-grade curse, cursing how this whole day has gone. First, a different version of Gojo Satoru and now these curses. What was this treasure and how important could it be to warrant all this chaos?
“Oi Megumi! Didn’t that man say that this thief was going to the Tomb of the Star? What if this treasure was some weapon? Someone needs to stop him before he reaches Tengen-sama!”
The reality of the danger has sunk in. This wasn’t just an attack on the school. This was an attack on jujutsu society.
“I’ll go to Tengen-sama and –“ Suguru starts but Panda interrupts him.
“Where are the two Satoru?”
The entrance to the Tomb of the Star was quiet. Satoru looked at his doppelganger. The man had his fists clenched, jaw tight as he stood before the entrance. A dragon who had his hoard stolen and was ready to spill blood to get it back.
“Was it your Suguru?” Satoru asks his mirror image. “I know I’d only show this kind of reaction if someone took Suguru away from me.”
The man doesn’t reply. Footsteps echoed closer towards the two of them. The doppelganger – Gojo – loosens his stance – a lion before he pounces. “No, actually…”
He looks at Satoru, face cold as the winter he was always compared to. “The thief wore Suguru’s face.”
A voice calls out, “Yo, Satoru.”
Suguru ran towards the Tomb of the Star. He hated going there without Satoru with him but now was not the time to be clouded by talons of memory. They needed to figure out what was going on. As he was running, he feels Satoru’s familiar cursed energy and realized that it was away from the Tomb of the Star.
The black-haired man furrowed his brows in confusion. The dimension-hopper said that the thief was on his way to the Tomb of the Star. It would make more sense if the stranger teleported there with Satoru following after him. So why can he sense their cursed energy in another direction? He doesn’t like this. There were too many unknowns.
But he follows the cursed energy and there in one of the hallways was a Grade 1 curse and inside it was Gojo Satoru’s cursed energy. Suguru remembers the stranger’s words. His treasure would register as his cursed energy. The thief kept it inside a curse?
Suguru makes quick work of it and its ashes leave behind a box.
Wait.
Not a box.
A coffin.
Suguru narrows his eyes and carefully inspects it. There doesn’t seem to be any other traces of cursed energy on it apart from Gojo’s. There’s no other way to discern the possibility of other traps other than opening it.
The sorcerer touches it, body stiff, ready for some trap or attack. Nothing comes. His hands shake as he opens the coffin and carefully slides the lid off. Opening it revealed a young man with sakura pink hair and scars underneath his eyes. Without the tattoos, he looked exactly like Sukuna. The young man was alive, but his breathing was faint and he had no cursed energy except Satoru’s. How was that possible?
“Geto-sensei! Watch out!”
Suguru jumped back, avoiding being gutted but not without getting his arm injured. Rivulets of blood started to drip down his arm. Megumi used his divine dogs to kill the curse quickly.
The other students went to Suguru, checking that he was alright.
“What happened?” Suguru asks.
Maki wipes her blade, eyes scanning around them for any possible threats coming their way. “One minute the curses were fighting us. Then they suddenly turned around and ran towards this area.”
Yuuta hands Toge his cough syrup. “Toge managed to stop them and then we moved quickly to kill them. But it was really odd.”
Suguru furrowed his brows in thought. “This is a guess, but I think they felt it when I opened the coffin. Whoever this thief is rigged those curses that the minute the coffin was opened, they would move to protect it.” This was disconcerting.
Sukuna responds to their teacher, “But isn’t that curse manipulation? Your technique? Have you ever heard of anyone having the same ability.” He scowls at the implication of an unknown special grade.
“No,” Suguru answers. “This makes the situation much more serious as this trespasser might have more curses he’s waiting to use.”
“So is that the treasure the other Satoru was talking about?” Panda asks and tries to peer inside the coffin. “Woah! It’s a guy!”
“Ha?!” Nobara moves towards it. “Let me see!”
“All this for a guy?” Maki huffs.
“Well, Gojo sensei did say once – Watch out! More curses are coming!” Yuuta warns.
More curses descend upon the group. They fight them off as much as possible while the curses are doing their best to get to the coffin with the boy inside.
Perhaps if there weren’t so many curses, they would have noticed. Maybe if the ambush was not so successful, they could have easily dealt with the threat regardless of the number of curses. However, the cursed energies piled on top of each other like how mounds of garbage just giving off one pungent scent. Undistinguishable from each other. Not even the three special grade sorcerers noticed the activation of a domain expansion until the group of sorcerers were within its grasp.
The special grade attacks and in his surprise, Suguru could only focus on blocking the others. He can’t protect the students like this. They were at a great disadvantage.
“Geto-sensei watch out!”
Who was that? Yuuta? Megumi? Satoru’s going to be so angry at him.
“Domain Expansion – Enchain.”
“Oi, oi, what kind of joke is this?” Satoru chuckles under his breath. In front of them was the accused thief but he wore Geto Suguru’s face like a skin suit. Stitches lined his forehead and a calm smile lay on his lips. He wore a monk’s garbs.
“You know this isn’t actually Suguru, right?” Satoru removes his blindfold and glances at his doppelganger.
“Of course I know that. The Geto Suguru of my world is dead and this parasite stole my best friend’s body to parade itself in.” Gojo replies, scowl prominent on his face.
“I’m used to fighting next to Suguru but should we tag team this guy?” Satoru grins. “Or should I leave him to you.”
Gojo’s eyes don’t leave the figure in front of them. “No. I’d rather you don’t get in my way.” He addresses the fake Geto. “Where is he, Kenjaku? What did you do with Yuuji?”
“He’s resting at the moment,” The figure – Kenjaku replies. “You can stop with the fake concern now. He’s not here for you to fool.”
Gojo’s cursed energy spikes with his emotions. “I will rip you apart for touching him. I won’t hesitate this time just because you’re wearing Suguru’s face.”
“That’s ironic coming from his executioner, don’t you think? You merely kept that boy alive to hold the king of curses. Then you fooled him into thinking you care.” The fake tuts at Satoru’s doppelganger as if he was a naughty child caught doing mischief. “Are you even worthy of having him? What is even the point of you being the strongest when his skin bears the marks of your neglect?”
The man accused snarls at his opponent. Kenjaku continues, “Itadori Yuuji was a brave, brave boy but oh so lonely.”
“I took away that loneliness. Me and the friends whose deaths you’ve orchestrated.” Gojo bites back.
“Oh, I can’t take all the credit. But surely, you’ve realized the pattern,” The man dressed in monk garbs smiles coyly. “His suffering has occurred in your absence. You repeatedly abandoned him and it has led to him getting hurt. At Shibuya, you allowed yourself to be distracted. Admit it, Gojo Satoru. At that station, you yearned for the past. Yuuji was just a placeholder for you.” Triumph paints the fake Geto’s features. This world’s Satoru has never seen such a cruel look on the canvas of Suguru’s face.
“Tell you what,” He offers, tone saccharine. “I’ll offer you a trade. You allow me to go on my way and you can kill this world’s Gojo Satoru. You can go out pretending to be him and then keep this world’s Geto Suguru for yourself.”
Satoru’s eyes widen. Limitless against limitless was always an impossibility. What chaos a fight like that would cause.
“It will be our little secret,” Kenjaku whispers.
Satoru looks at the other white-haired man. He didn’t know how his mirror image got to this point and how the other Suguru died. There was a lot Satoru doesn’t get about the situation but he knows himself. There are little things he cares about in this world. A long time ago, he took his heart out of his chest and kept it somewhere safe. That’s why Suguru has it. Along the way, he learned to care about others. His students. Shoko. Nanami and Haibara. And because the love of his life and his family was living in this world, he’ll continue to protect it.
So this curse user, or whatever he is, saying that Gojo Satoru went to all this effort to fool someone into thinking he cared was a complete lie. No one can tell Gojo Satoru what to do.
Besides, Satoru can finally name that look in his doppelganger’s eyes. It was obsession. Devotion. Adoration to the point of devastation. He was in love. This treasure was not some object that can be replaced but a person so precious that he would bleed the world dry just to get them back.
The Gojo Satoru from a different timeline…
…where Shibuya was razed to the ground…
…where Itadori Yuuji was Ryomen Sukuna’s vessel…
…where Geto Suguru made a choice that defined their paths for a long time…
…where when he was cut down, he chose Itadori Yuuji....
In this moment, the Gojo Satoru tamed by Itadori Yuuji bared his fangs at this enemy that has orchestrated their suffering. In this moment once again and every single one hereafter, Gojo Satoru chose Itadori Yuuji.
“Domain Expansion – Enchain”
Light. Not from the fluorescents on the ceiling of Jujutsu Tech but from the sun. A breeze fluttered Suguru’s bangs and he blinked his eyes as if waking up from dream. He was on his back and a giant sakura tree swayed its branches above him.
As he tried to sit up, a face entered his vision. The boy from the coffin. He gave an easy smile, boyish and charming. “Slowly now,” he said. “I’ve healed the wound on your arm and my domain should have healed the minor injuries your friends had. My domain renews strength, too! Kinda like those power-ups on video games.” The boy grins, welcoming and ethereal.
“Oi,” Sukuna gathers his curse energy and marches to the pair. “Who are you and why do you look like me?”
Suguru only noticed because he was so close to the boy but his hands started to shake, eyes flitting nervously between the people around him. Was he afraid? Of Sukuna? This was his domain, wasn’t it? He had the power here. It was certainly an odd one. Suguru has never heard of a domain that heals.
“Ah…um…yeah, sorry for not introducing myself. I’m just a bit confused at where I am,” he continues to smile at them. Suguru was noticing a lessened sincerity, though. He’s beginning to think it was purely Sukuna that was causing the discomfort. “I’m first-grade healer and special grade vessel Itadori Yuuji.”
“Special grade vessel?” Maki asks. “I’ve never heard of anything like that.”
“Ah,” the boy’s smile continues to diminish the further into this conversation they get. Questions were waves that eroded the edges of his familiarity. “I’m one of a kind,” he responds quietly.
Nobara studies the pink-haired boy and his odd scars. “Well, I suppose we need to go get Gojo-sensei and his doppelganger. They –“
“Gojo Satoru is here?!” The boy exclaims. Suguru sees it. The shift in the shine in his eyes, like a load lightened, as if just the man’s name was a warm coat on a cold rainy evening. In just that one statement, the boy’s confidence resurges. The name of the strongest alone evoked a feeling of protection. The boy was a mystery, but his face was an open canvas. No hint of guile. How refreshing.
“Ah Itadori-kun, we have two Gojo Satoru here at the moment. One of which is looking for his treasure that apparently feels like his cursed energy.” Suguru says. It was amusing how flustered the boy looked at that statement.
“Don’t tell me this brat and that weirdo…” Sukuna scowls. “How did he con you?”
“I’d rather you not insult Satoru-san like that,” Yuuji responds, tone cold and biting. A breeze sweeps the sakura petals.
“Oh, sorry about him, Itadori-kun,” Yuuta appeases. “He’s always been a bit rude like that.” He sends a smile at the pink-haired sorcerer. “I’m Okkutsu Yuuta by the way.”
“Oi, why are you –“ A grunt of pain cuts off Sukuna’s statement. He gives Megumi a scathing glare.
“We are in his domain,” the other sorcerer whispers harshly. “And we don’t know who he is and what he wants. So I suggest you stop antagonizing him.”
Yuuji meets Yuuta with a smile and even looks at the others with a hint of familiarity. “I know who you all are. The version of you in my world were my friends.”
“Were?” Nobara speaks up. The young man looks at her like someone died, but now was not the time to unpack all that.
Suguru tries to get the group back on track. “Itadori-kun…”
“Oh, call me Yuujji, Geto-san,” his smile picking up.
“Yuuji-kun,” he says to the boy kindly. “We need to get to Satoru. Thank you for healing all of us in your domain and stopping that special grade. I would certainly like to ask questions about it, but now may not be the time for that.”
“It’s no problem. I hope everyone is feeling better.” He looks at Inumaki. “Oh, Toge-senpai I hope it worked on your throat, too.”
The other boy send him a thumbs-up and a soft smile.
Itadori Yuuji was kind. He was sunshine after a storm and cool rain on a sweltering day. If this boy truly was that Gojo Satoru’s treasure, no wonder he was so enamoured.
“Thank you for all your help, Yuuji-kun. Another healer I know doesn’t fight, so we can protect you when you release your domain.”
Itadori Yuuji looks at him. “Satoru-san described you well, Geto-san.”
“And what did our mutual trouble-maker say?”
“That you were kind.”
Geto Suguru understood then why Gojo Satoru was so enamoured with this person that he would defy the odds to get him back. Itadori Yuuji believed in people. He believed in you and that made you want to be better for him. Suguru was under no misunderstanding that Yuuji was naïve. No, the pink-haired healer knew the nature of people. The nature that once almost caused Suguru to throw everything away including Satoru. But Yuuji believed anyway. He believed in something that his Satoru told him about a person that he might have not met. He healed a group of people because he knew their counterparts. This young man was afraid of Sukuna but healed him still.
More importantly, Itadori Yuuji believed in Gojo Satoru because he loved him. Loved him enough to defend him – the strongest sorcerer. Such ardent devotion. What wouldn’t you give to be worthy of that love?
Gojo Satoru of another timeline bared his fangs and killed his prey until only ashes remained. He was seated on the ground, arms resting on his bent knees. Kenjaku was gone but he can’t calm down. Not without Yuuji. The audacity that parasite had, spouting those lies. But he hopes Yuuji doesn’t have those same doubts.
Before Yuuji was taken and when he had the boy swallow his eye so he would be able to find him, he told Yuuji to believe in him. Believe in him one last time, that he would protect him. Save him. What a joke. Though Yuuji’s suffering was not his doing, his negligence led to it. What was the point of being the strongest when he couldn’t protect the people that mattered? Couldn’t protect the person that he has failed over and over again? Who was he to ask Yuuji to believe in him after everything that’s happened? Before this whole mess, Yuuji barely even talked about Shibuya. He flinched at every mention of Sukuna. Why would Yuuji want to come back to him?
A better person would let go. Yuuji deserved freedom after living with a monster inside of him. He deserved peace and Gojo Satoru’s life was always rife with chaos. However…He can’t. What is the earth without the sun? He can’t let Yuuji go. A better person would convince Yuuji that he’s better off without him. But Satoru never claimed to be the better person. For as long as Yuuji will have him, he will stay.
This world’s version of him finishes answering his phone. “Suguru and the others are almost here.”
Gojo Satoru of another timeline wonders if he says Yuuji’s name just like how this version of him says Suguru’s. They were never like that. Him and his world’s Suguru. Perhaps even before meeting Itadori Yuuji, his heart already screamed his name.
He starts to move towards his doppelganger when a weight slams into him. Only thanks to his reflexes was he able to keep his balance.
“Satoru-san.”
His name was uttered and he was gone. His arms move to embrace the precious person clinging to him but he couldn’t completely embrace him. Arms up but a distance from the body pressed against him, scared of him breaking. His eyes glanced around him, moving quickly from person to person. He looked lost, unsure what to do with the affection this person pries from him without bursting, bewildered at the euphoria surging through his body. His blood surging against his veins and into the cavern of his heart echoing nothing but a name.
Yuuji. Yuuji. Yuuji. Yuuji.
“Yuuji.”
“I knew you’d find me,” his love whispers into his neck, like a secret meant only for them.
A tear drops from his lone eye. “Thank you for believing in me.”
Gojo Satoru of another timeline allows his arms to finally close around the love of his life.