Work Text:
Beep..
Beep..
Be-
“Ugh..” Yuji woke up to the alarm clock on his bedside table, which incessantly beeped until he slammed his hand on it.
The boy rolls over, beginning to rub the sleepiness out of his eyes when suddenly he feels a weird poking sensation on his eyelids. His fingertips feel way more sharp than they normally are.
Yuji opens his eyes, a bewildering expression on his face as he stares at his hands. Each of his fingers possess long, black fingernails.
Huh??
He holds them up to his face, every one of his fingernails seeming to have grown an inch longer with pointy ends that look as sharp as daggers. The last time Yuji saw nails like these was when..
Sukuna took over his body.
Are these Sukuna’s fingernails?
Yuji had a feeling that something was going to happen after Sukuna had inhabited his body for a couple of months. But it was definitely not this.
The boy was never too concerned about what others thought of his appearance, dyeing the top of his spiky hair pink every now and then for that famous “Yuji Itadori” look. But he remembers that Gojo-sensei had assigned a mission for the first-years today, and throwing a punch at curses will be much more difficult if he has long nails.
So Yuji, still slightly half-asleep, saunters over to the bathroom. He opens the mirror cabinet to search for a nail clipper. Once he finds it, he snips the fingernails over the trash, watching as they fall into the bin. He wasn’t too sure how to get rid of their black color, so he left them alone after that.
The boy then changes into his school uniform, pulling his red hoodie over his head. He then puts on his shoes, which Gojo-sensei jokingly called Yuji’s “lemon pepper steppers,” before heading out of his dorm for breakfast. Going to the commons area, he sees Nobara and Megumi sitting at their usual spot by the window, and gets food before joining them.
“Good morning!” Yuji enthusiastically greets the two, taking the spot across from them.
“It’s too early for this.” Nobara groans, her eyes barely open as she picks at her food.
Megumi looks over at her, “When did you sleep?”
“At like midnight. That stupid essay Gojo-sensei assigned us took way too long.” She laments, hanging her head.
“Well, wake up.” Megumi says, “There's a mission assigned for us at an abandoned hospital in Shinjuku today.”
“I know.” Nobara says, a bit annoyed that Megumi reminded her of something that she already knew.
“But why does-” Nobara stops mid-sentence as she finds herself staring at Yuji’s hands.
Her eyes widen, “Yuji?”
“Huh?” Yuji looks down at his hands. The fingernails were back, grasping onto Yuji’s spoon.
“What the..?!” Yuji exclaims before letting out a sigh. “I just cut them off earlier..”
“Is this a side effect of you inheriting Sukuna’s cursed techniques?” Megumi asks, a trace of fear in his voice. The sight reminds him of his near fatal encounter with Sukuna at the Eishu Juvenile Detention Center.
“I think so. It just happened this morning.” Yuji lightly drums his fingers on the table, the nails making little clicking sounds.
Nobara and Megumi fall silent and carefully study Yuji, anticipating that Sukuna will take over the boy’s body any moment now.
Realizing his friends’ anxiousness, Yuji points at himself, saying with a smile, “But it’s still me! I don’t feel Sukuna taking over.”
The two first-years sigh in relief. Sukuna would never be able to imitate Yuji’s goofiness, even if he really tried.
Nobara extends her hands across the table, “Let me see your nails.”
Yuji does so, giving Nobara his hands to inspect his new fingernails.
“Huh, not bad. Did Sukuna have a nail tech during the Heian era or something?” She laughs.
Yuji retracts his hands, a small pout on his face, “They’re nice, but what am I going to do? I can’t imagine making a fist with these without it hurting.”
The trio thinks for a second, a silence settling over the table.
“A binding vow to keep them short? I doubt they have any actual use of Sukuna's cursed techniques.” Megumi suggests.
“I don’t know. I always see Sukuna with these, even in his innate domain. They might have some connection to his techniques.” Yuji says, now twiddling his fingers back and forth.
“Well if you’re going to have them, you may as well give them a makeover.” Nobara says matter-of-factly.
“What does that have to do with anything?” Megumi raises an eyebrow, having a feeling that he isn’t going to like where this is going.
Nobara shrugs, “I’m just saying, maybe there is a way to make them more practical.”
She thinks a second before saying, “I’m going out shopping tomorrow. How about you guys come with me and while we’re there we go to the nail salon? The place I know is pretty nice.”
Yuji gives her a skeptical look, “Will this really help?”
“Why do I have to go?” Megumi asks, crossing his arms in annoyance.
“Come on guys, it will be fun!” Nobara smiles. There is a certain gleam in her eyes, and her avoidance of his question makes Yuji feel even more skeptical. But he often has a hard time saying no to Nobara, and this was not an exception.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ding,
Ding,
Ding!
Yuji hears the door’s bells chime as he steps into the nail salon with Nobara. He wonders how he even let himself get dragged to a place called “Pretty Nails” while Nobara talks to the receptionist. There is a strong smell of nail polish that coats the air, and Yuji overhears a few customers chatting to their nail technicians about miscellaneous topics while getting their nails done. Yuji nervously shifts his weight to each foot while standing by Nobara. He feels out of place here, like a tiger that has been placed in a savanna.
Once she confirms their appointment, the receptionist motions for Nobara and Yuji to sit in the chairs across from two other ladies.
“Misora and Umesaki will be taking care of you two today. Have a relaxing time!” She says before turning back to her desk.
Yuji sits in front of Misora and lowers his seat before placing his hands on the table. The woman has a short black bob that hangs above her shoulders, with dark blue glasses that frame her face.
Nobara sits next to Yuji, relaxing as Umesaki massages her hands. Misora does the same, and Yuji cannot help but feel a little bit of his nervousness peter out.
“Where’s Megumi?” Yuji asks Nobara, looking around for him.
“He said he wanted to go to Sephora.”
Megumi is standing outside, holding all of Nobara’s bags from her shopping earlier. Feeling like it is too much to bear, he opens his shadow and drops each bag into it. He then turns and wanders into the nearby Sephora, looking to buy new mascara.
“So what are we thinking of today?” Misora asks Yuji. She speaks softly, sensing that it is the boy’s first day here.
“Uhh..” Yuji drags, looking at Nobara for help. But she is busy talking to Umesaki about all the different stores the trio went to earlier.
Yuji gives up, “Anything that you think suits me..?”
“Hm..” Misora inspects his black nails, rolling them over in her hands.
She suddenly sits up straight in her chair, her short black hair bobbing up, “Ok! I have an idea.”
She goes over to the back, pulling a shade of red nail polish out. Even though Yuji is not in his school uniform today, he realizes that it is the same color as the hoodie of his Jujutsu High uniform. He imagines wearing the uniform with his matching painted nails, slightly grinning at the thought of it.
Misora files his nails and manages to remove its black color with nail polish remover. She then proceeds to push Yuji’s cuticles back, which makes him wince a bit.
“Are you ok?” She looks over at the boy with concern in her eyes.
“Uh, yeah! It’s just I’ve never done this sort of thing before.” He gives her a sheepish grin.
Misora gently laughs, “I understand. This isn’t my favorite part about the process when I get my nails done either.”
Yuji looks at the woman’s nails, which are painted in a light blue color that slightly shimmers under the lamp.
“Your nails are really pretty.” Yuji says sincerely.
“Thank you!” She responds, “I really like this color, it reminds me of the sky. Even when it is cloudy or rainy, its blue color is always there. And when you can see it, it’s the most beautiful thing.”
Yuji nods. Something about what she said sticks to him.
Soon after attending Tokyo Jujutsu High, the boy was tasked on missions to exorcise cursed spirits and collect Sukuna’s fingers. But this made Yuji face horrifying realities and difficult moral questions that sometimes put him into a spiral. Whether he knew it or not, he had started to forget about the beautiful simplicities in life, like the blue sky. But Misora had just reminded him.
After putting on a base coat, Misora puts one coat of the red nail polish on each of Yuji’s nails. Under the lamp, they look bright and shiny like roses in the sun.
“Looking good, Yuji!” Nobara nods in appreciation as she looks at his nails.
“You too!” He sees that Nobara is having her nails painted a light pink, which matches her stylish summer dress.
After putting on the second coat of red nail polish, setting it to dry, and lastly applying a top coat, Yuji feels a sense of satisfaction as he looks at his hands.
Sukuna, however, feels a little differently. He sits upon his throne of cow skulls, yelling,
Brat! What did you do to my nails!?
Yuji ignores Sukuna’s yelling, and once the top coat dries, he and Nobara step out of their chairs.
“Thank you Misora!” Yuji sincerely says to her as he waves goodbye.
She waves back with a smile, “Anytime, it was nice to meet you! Come back soon!”
After leaving the salon, Yuji and Nobara find Megumi sitting on a nearby bench scrolling on his phone. Before they arrived, he pulled Nobara’s bags out of his shadow and carefully set them next to him on the bench.
“Megumi!” Nobara calls as they walk over to him.
“Look!”
Megumi looks up as Yuji and Nobara hold their nails up to him, excitedly wiggling their fingers back and forth.
After a second, Megumi says, “It’s pretty nice. The colors suit you two.”
“That might have been the nicest thing you ever said to me!” Yuji dramatically puts his hand on his heart, making Megumi roll his eyes.
“Come on guys, let’s get something to eat.” Nobara says as she picks up her bags, “I’m starving!”
“Ooh, let’s go to the restaurant around the corner. Their katsudon is so good!” Yuji points out, already ready to go.
“Didn’t we just go there a few days ago?” Megumi raises an eyebrow.
“But it’s so good!” Yuji and Nobara say in sync, making puppy eyes at Megumi. He gives in with a sigh.
The trio makes their way through the streets of Tokyo, planning out what they are going to order. While they laugh and bicker over the best rice bowl toppings, Yuji looks up into the cloudless sky above. Its brilliant blue color shines through, and no matter what happens next for Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara it will always be there. Yuji smiles as he feels his heart grow with warmth.
She was right, it really is beautiful.