Chapter Text
Fushiguro Megumi stood on end as the innate domain of the special grade fingerbearer disappeared into nothingness. He could feel ominous cursed energy radiating from the building he had exited, and he knew that same energy did not belong to Itadori Yuuji.
Ryomen Sukuna had taken over once more, now having defeated the fingerbearer without even an ounce of effort, and having reclaimed another twentieth of his cursed energy and souls.
“He's not coming back.”
Sukuna appeared behind Megumi, who did not even notice his presence until after the king of curses started talking.
“Don't be afraid. I'm in a good mood, after all. Let's chat for a bit.”
Without even waiting for a response, Sukuna was now facing Megumi.
“I know what the brat and you coordinated. I guess he just didn't understand the repercussions of trying to use me. And now, he's paying the price. He's having trouble taking back control.”
Sukuna grinned as Megumi shuddered.
“But that's not going to last, is it? So I thought to myself: ‘What can I do?’”
Sukuna then ripped off Yuuji’s clothes, and plunged a hand deep into his chest. Megumi’s eyes visibly widened at the king of curses’ choice to harm himself.
Blood gushed from Sukuna’s mouth and his newly opened chest cavity, as he proudly declared:
“I'm gonna take this brat hostage.”
He pulled out Yuuji’s heart, and threw it away.
“Without a heart, I can function - but he cannot. If he dares swap back now, he will die.”
“However, just for good measure.”
Sukuna pulled out the finger he had obtained from the fingerbearer, and consumed it.
“With that, I am as free as a bird. You can fear me now, because I am going to kill you for no reason.”
“You’re wrong. Itadori would switch back no matter what, because he's that type of person.”
Megumi claimed, to which Sukuna cackled.
“You think the brat gave a shit about you? He couldn't even save himself! Do you know what his last moments were spent thinking? It was spent crying about how weak he was! Prattling on and on about his regrets, so much so that I wish I could sew his mouth shut. I know for a fact that he doesn't want to kill himself!”
With a grin, Sukuna immediately rushed over to Megumi, who prepared an upper body block, but instead got hit in the stomach.
Megumi then began to think.
Sukuna could restore his heart, as the arm Itadori had lost had been regrown with reversed cursed technique. He could also maintain his heart’s function through cursed energy, but..
If Megumi could convince him that he couldn't win without being forced to pump his heart all the time, he'd be forced to regenerate his heart, and Yuuji could return then!
Right now, Sukuna had 3/20s of his own soul.
Right now, Megumi had a chance.
But could he even do that, when he froze up solid in front of the 1/20th of Sukuna’s strength the fingerbearer embodied?
No.. it's not about whether he “could” do it. He MUST do it!
If he didn't do it, who would?!
Sent flying back, Megumi struggled to cushion his fall with Datto as Sukuna already caught up, very clearly telegraphing a punch before Megumi dodges it, causing the ground to crack and the rabbits to die.
Megumi desummoned Datto as he summoned Nue instead, with Orochi clamping down Sukuna and Nue acting as the main damage dealer with its electrified wings. The combo continued on for three strikes before Megumi sensed Sukuna preparing to unleash a shockwave, just like the fingerbearer had done - and desummoned Orochi, trading it in for Gyokuken, which stood beside him and had its eyes trained on Sukuna.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
Sukuna complained before flash stepping before Megumi without warning.
“Put more curse into every strike you make.”
Megumi then attempted to use Gyokuken to cushion Sukuna’s punch, only to have him break the hand of the divine dog instead, landing a punch square on his jaw.
Megumi was sent flying once again as Sukuna appeared behind him, launching a kick that sent him flying skywards. The wounds manifested themselves immediately, causing him to spew blood.
He then landed onto the ground, with Sukuna looming over him.
“Is that it?”
Sukuna asked him once more, as he summoned two Gama to wrap around his legs and attempted to make him slip and fall over.
The cogs in Sukuna’s head were turning, as he figured out Megumi’s technique. He then pressed his hands against the ground, performing a handstand and ripping his legs free from the two toad shikigami.
“Nice technique there.”
He complimented, as Megumi slowly got up.
“Your technique relies on shadows to summon shikigami, unlike regular shikigami summoned with charms.. interesting. Based on the shikigami I've seen, yours are themed around animals.”
Sukuna then stroked his chin as he looked at Megumi.
“Then why did you run? You could've confronted the curse. Maybe then it wouldn't come to this.”
He shook his head.
“Your talent is a treasure, and it's most definitely wasted on you. No matter. No use crying over spilt milk.”
“If you weren't so pathetic, maybe you would've gotten me to regenerate my heart.”
Sukuna grinned as Megumi knew he was found out.
“You’re risking your life over nothing. This brat isn't worth that much. You should leave while you’re ahead.”
Megumi’s eyebrows scrunched together as his head was feeling a mash of emotions.
“Why did you save me?”
Yuuji’s voice asked him.
His mind goes back to Tsumiki. How his bedridden sister, who was the best sister he could've ever asked for, the one who shouldn't befall such an illness, much less a curse, was cursed regardless of her good deeds.
He thought back to Satoru, the supposed “strongest” who was broken from the very beginning by the shackles of jujutsu. Yet, despite this, he remained kind and never wavered from his path, unlike his friend who had strayed.
Karma isn't served justly; Tsumiki and Gojo are both prime examples of that.
He believed that Jujutsu Sorcerers served as yet another cog in the machine of karma.
Yet, why should he be a cog in a machine that's faulty?
Why should he serve his whole life to a system that's not even fair?
And so he, Fushiguro Megumi, refuses to be reduced to a mere cog, much like his surrogate father, Satoru Gojo!
Cursed Energy started surging out of Megumi as though a beacon of light instead of the shadows his technique uses. His eyes glint with renewed vigor, as his body shifts into a fighting stance.
“So THIS is where you start burning through your life!”
Sukuna grins, this grin unlike the previous.
“So SHOW ME, FUSHIGURO MEGUMI! SHOW ME YOUR TRUE POWER!”
His stance remains relaxed, as Megumi bursts forward with increased speed, catching Sukuna off guard-
BLACK FLASH
Sukuna was taken aback by this sudden strength, sent crashing through buildings and into a ditch with black sparks surrounding him. He turned to see Megumi’s eyes glow with determination, his soul quaking for his sole objective.
Save Yuuji.
Yet, Sukuna’s face never changed from his expression of manic glee, instead adding onto it a layer of intrigue.
That intrigue quickly turned into horror as Megumi shouts:
“DOMAIN EXPANSION.”
Even as an incomplete domain, Chimera Shadow Garden swirls around the king of curses and the awakened treasure as a large puddle of shadows.
Megumi couldn't grasp the concept of domain barriers, so instead, he opted to have none at all.
That said, it wasn't an open barriered one like Sukuna’s own, but rather just a standard domain without any sure-hit effects.
“Gyokuken.”
“Nue.”
“Orochi.”
The three shikigami rose without a hand sign, as Megumi launched forward towards Sukuna, his domain changing positions to accommodate for the summoner’s new position.
Sukuna attempted to clash his own fist with Megumi’s, but his feet sank into the darkness as another black flash from Megumi crept up Sukuna’s arm, breaking the bones within and sending him bleeding and flying across the domain.
He tumbled on the ground as he found Gama tugging him into the shadows and into the depths below.
The king of curses broke free from the frogs’ hold, as he stood and evaluated his opponent.
‘With this crazy power trip of his, he'd lose more energy than I do. I can attempt to incapacitate him, but the boy’s got some sort of red and black cursed energy that forced me to stay back. I can attempt to outrun the domain, but the shadows would tug me under if I dared to run backwards.’
Sukuna’s grin faltered.
But it stayed.
‘This seems like favorable odds. After all, I've endured far worse in the Heian Era and came up alive-’
Taking advantage of the momentary distraction shown from the king of curses, Megumi had Gyokuken plunge its paw into Sukuna’s flesh, and straight out of his lungs.
‘Shit! I can't have my cursed energy maintain two separate vital things at once! I've got too little for that!’
Sukuna was stuck in between a rock and a hard place. He couldn't expand his own domain, because of his flex on that fingerbearer a few minutes ago, he's still suffering from cursed technique burnout.
On one hand, he could regenerate his heart and his liver, and then he'd have full cursed energy to strike at the awakened Megumi.
On the other, he could go as he is now, and risk losing the fractions of his soul he had in his possession currently.
He couldn't have that if he planned on killing Gojo Satoru, who he admits would probably match his full power.
In the end, he made a gamble.
He gambled it all on the fact that the brat’s body wouldn't be able to recover so quickly.
He gambled it all on the fact that he could kill Fushiguro Megumi before the brat took control once more.
And he had failed that gambit.
As he used his reversed cursed technique to regenerate his body, Yuuji took notice as did Megumi.
“NOW!”
Megumi shouted, as Yuuji stopped Sukuna in his tracks.
“G-gah..”
Sukuna was forced into the background as Yuuji tumbled onto the soft shadows of Megumi’s domain expansion.
Megumi had won, as he had pressured Sukuna enough to regenerate his organs.
At the same time, he himself was exhausted as he tumbled onto the ground himself, releasing the shikigami and the domain as he fell into a deep slumber.
~Later~
“-gumi-chan.. on.. wake..”
Megumi stirred as his sleep was broken up by Gojo, his blue eyes examining his surrogate son’s status.
“He's awake!”
Gojo smiled warmly as he hugged Megumi tightly, nearly dealing as much damage as Sukuna had done.
“I was so scared, Gumi-chan! If you had died right there fighting Sukuna, my heart couldn't take it! Tsumiki’s already in a coma.. I can't risk losing you!”
Megumi wanted Gojo to stop calling him that, but he was too tired to do so. Despite Gojo’s unconvincing smile while delivering these words, Megumi knew he was genuine. His heart said so.
“I heard you landed two black flashes and also expanded your domain! Is that true, Gumi-chan?”
Megumi was in disbelief at how much his surrogate father/sensei knew.
“How did you-”
“Yuuji told me. Looks like you really fought hard against Sukuna!”
“...”
Megumi didn't know what to answer. He then switched to another question.
“Is Yuuji alright?”
“Yuuji? He's fine. Sukuna healed him so well that Shoko didn't even need to use Reversed Cursed Technique. Worry more about yourself.”
Gojo replied enthusiastically, much to Megumi’s relief.
“That's good..”
Megumi said.
“It's okay. You’re just gonna be recovering from burnout for a while, okay? Remember, if you need something, just call Shoko. I've got a mission to do.”
With that, Gojo clasped his hands left via teleportation, leaving behind a fruit basket and a card. The card was plain and white, and Megumi could tell it wasn't Satoru who bought this.
He looked at the contents, and was met by this:
“Fushiguro:
I hope you get well soon. Thank you for believing in me, even during Sukuna’s stunt. I know we both have different thoughts about who to save, but I've figured out the answer. Maybe our own convictions are both right. See you soon back with us!
Yuuji”
Thinking about the fellow sorcerer he'd saved, he can't help but smile even through his mostly mitigated injuries.
This event was but a sign of his true potential, the potential that Satoru said could even match his. He had to work harder, such that another scenario like Sukuna taking over once more could not happen again.