Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Itadori Yui wished to wake up from this nightmare about now.  She hadn’t watched her grandpa die, a monster hadn’t just tried to eat her, and thoughts of massacres and blood weren’t being plotted in her mind right now. And she definitely wasn’t standing shirtless in front of two men; although men might be stretch because one was a badly beat up teenager, and the other was cackling and taking pictures  of the teen, which brought his actual age in question. The blindfold just made Yui more confused. She did learn the man was called gojo and the teen Megumi.

“So, did you get the special grade curse item that higher ups wanted?” Gojo asked. The teens eyes flicked to Yui and he opened his mouth, but she interrupted.

“Um, sorry, I ate that thing,” Yui said apologetically.

“Really?” What part of the man’s face she could see slackened with disbelief.

“Really.” Was murmured in stereo. Yui looked away embarrassed, wondering how she was going to repay for an artifacts loss. A voice snarled in the back of her mind, spouting ideas of how to kill the two and be done with them. The man’s face took up her full view, and even though you shouldn’t be able to see through a blindfold, Gojo leaned in as if examining a curious bug.

“Heh, looks like they really have combined. Thats hilarious.”  He was so close Yui could feel the huff of laughter the man gave. She took a step back, arms wrapping around herself tighter; a cool breeze across her bare back made goose bumps raise.

“Anything feel off about your body?” Gojo asked. Other than feeling like she being leered at by a man in a blindfold and a teen? Yui shook her head.

“No.”

This situation was getting too much . She glanced behind herself. She needed a new shirt, wanted to go to bed,  and wake up to pretend none of this having happened.

“You think you can let him out?”

“Huh? Who?” Yui startled back to attention.

“Sukuna. The curse you ate. Think you can let him out?”

“Um, maybe?”

“Alrighty, give us 10 seconds.”Gojo stepped away and handed fushiguro a bag.

“What’s this?” Megumi asked, looking at the bag owlishly.

“Kikufuku mochi! A Sendai specialty!” Gojo said, stretching. Food…Yui gasped in remembrance.

“I forgot about Tsu oba-chan! I’m sorry I gotta go. Please excuse me!” Yui dashed away, internally berating herself for forgetting.

The two sorcerer’s watched baffled as the new vessel of Ryomen’s fingers ran away.

“Shouldn’t we be going after that?” Fushiguro spoke up.

“I was hoping I could show off a little in front of my student,” Gojo whined.

“You’re supposed to be the adult, act like one for once!” Fushiguro snapped.

“Bleh, that’s no fun,” Gojo flapped a hand.

“So what should we do about this? The girl has potential to be a vessel.”

“Jujutsu regulations say she would need to be destroyed. I don’t want her to die though.”

“Is this a special request from my special student?”

“…yes.”

“Then who am I, gojo satoru to ignore such a plea!”

“Tsu oba-chan! I’m here!” Yui panted as she entered the lady’s apartment. It was dark; the sun had set long ago, and because yui had been late, Tsu had to sit alone in the dark . The only sounds were the late game show on tv as Yui crept further in.

“Tsu oba-chan?” The old lady was slumped forward in her chair, snoring softly. In this moment, the dark and the woman asleep, Yui could see how old and frail she was, it would be so easy to just reach and squeeze that thin neck, hear that voice choke- Yui shook the thought off, clicking a table lamp on. She sucked in a scream when a greasy looking worm slithered across Tsu’s body, curling around the woman’s exposed neck. The only sign the woman gave of feeling anything was a slight twitch of facial features.

“Tsu oba-chan,” Yui called out, shaking a part of shoulder the ugly thing wasn’t on gently.

“Eh? Oh, Yu chan,” Tsu awoke with a snort, “you’re late today, girl. School clubs keep you?”

“I’m sorry, I lost track of time,” Yui said, “Shall we get you to bed?” With Yui’s assistance, the old woman was escorted to her room, where her day dress was swapped with a night one  and the night medications were given out.

“Let me check those sores before you lay down oba-chan,” Yui  coaxed, pulling out the first aid kit and guiding the woman to lean forward so she could access her back side. As she unpeeled the old bandage, the worm that had been sitting sedately on Tsu’s neck twitched, its body rippling into motion. As if drawn by a magnet, Its eyeless head turned toward the sores, a needle tooth filled mouth unfolding in anticipation. Yui continued her ministrations tensely as the thing oozed closer, its needle like teeth reaching, reaching.

“Don’t you dare!”  Yui snarled under her breath, flapping a hand, trying to wave it off. The worm fell apart with a squeal, sliced into many bits. With a shaky breath, Yui finished the bandaging quickly. She hurried into the bathroom scrubbing her hands. A glance at the mirror, and Yui froze. On her reflection there were marks under her eyes. A investigating hand probed them; an enraged face with four eyes flashed through Yui’s mind, and she shuddered. The marks felt like scars, raised lines of healed flesh; she could almost picture a second pair of eyes emerging from them. Leaving the bathroom, Yui borrowed one of the Tsu’s moth ball smelling shirts to replace the one she’d lost.

“Goodnight Tsu oba-chan. I’ll be back in the morning.” Yui eased the door half shut and went back to the sitting room and cleaned up the well sat chair, vacuuming the crumbs of the food eaten through the day, turning the tv off, and taking dishes to the sink to wash. Washing quickly became a sweeping up when she discovered gojo lurking in the kitchen. Fear quickly turned to rage at the intrusion; give in, he’ll get rid of this pest! let him out!

“There’s nothing but junk to eat in here,” Gojo whined, although he had pulled out one of the chocolate protein shakes. He flashed a smug smile at Yui as he opened it. “So this is what was more important than preventing the world’s annihilation.”

“I’m sorry?” Yui stammered, her hands trembled, twitching to do something.  To strike, do something about this intruder.

“It was rude of you to leave so suddenly,” gojo went on, finishing the drink, “and all for just some old crone?”

“Get out,” Yui said, through gritted teeth.

“Oh?” Gojo cocked his head, opening a packaged bun, “why should I?”

“You are intruding here, and eating Tsu oba-chan’s stuff without permission! She doesn’t get another check til next week for food!”

“So? Just let her die then.” Yui gave a cry of anger, and suddenly her body was acting on its own, a force of unyielding rage launching itself at the snacking man.  Gojo stepped aside, and with a flash of horrified realization, Yui caught herself before she crashed into the oven.

“If you’re here to just try and get me angry, congratulations you succeeded. But I won’t be making more of a mess in Tsu oba-chan’s kitchen!” Yui glared at the man. Gojo’s head was cocked curiously.

“You really are suppressing him. And make it look so easy,” Gojo chuckled.

“What?” Yui asked , caught off guard. She blinked, and Gojo was in front of her again, too close and two fingers touching her forehead.

Chapter Text

Yui groaned. She couldn’t recall how she’d fallen asleep, or why she done so sitting upright. The air smelled musty, of aged paper and candle smoke, but there was whiff of something else, someone’s cologne?

“Good morning,” a male voice greeted, Yui opened her eyes to see a white haired blindfolded man crouched in front of her. “So which one are you right now?”

“Huh?” Yui felt like she was missing some context, but… “I remember you, from last night,” she said.

“Satoru Gojo, teacher of jujutsu high and special grade sorcerer at your service!” Gojo chirped.  Yui tried to stand up, but failed due to being bound in ropes .

“Wait, where am I?” The room she was in was small and had no windows, and every inch covered in paper talismans, the floor littered with paper lanterns.

“A secure place. What do you remember of last night?” More than she wanted to. Grandfather died, the  box she’d given to the occult club, those… things, curses Fushiguro had called them. Yui despairing not being able to help, and the hope of using that finger, accidentally swallowing it and that moment of not being in control. And then

“You followed me to oba-chans house last night!” Yui said accusingly.

“Well, I couldn’t just let a civilian in possession of a special grade cursed object go all willy nilly,” Gojo shrugged. “Seems there’s no problem with your memory.  But we’re here because you’ve been slated for execution!”

“What! Why?” Yui panicked. Gojo reached into a pocket, pulling out a brown mummified finger.

“Because you ate one of these. What you ate is part of a set of twenty, each one containing part of the soul of Ryomen Sukuna. Immensely strong and only get stronger each day.” Gojo explained,  “if Sukuna were to incarnate again, it would mean massacres, a lot of deaths and destruction.”

“Why keep them if they’re so dangerous?” Yui felt the need to point out.

“That’s the problem,” Gojo flicked a blast at the finger, launching it into the wall. When he retrieved it from the crater and brought it back, it was unscathed. “They’re impossible to destroy. The amazing thing is you ate one, absorbed it and are still yourself. His soul has combined with yours.”

“And so I have to die because of that?” Yui sighed, apologizing to her grandfather that she won’t be able to keep to his last words.

Coward, a voice at the back her mind growled.

“Yep! Except,” Gojo drew out the word for drama, “The fact you are still you means that the finger you ate will be destroyed when you die. So I have made a proposition to the higher ups.”

“Higher ups?”

“Stuffy old codgers that have nothing better than tell us how to do our jobs,” gojo waved a hand dismissively, “But! Back to you, killing you now with only one finger isn’t going to help anyone, so I’ve told those old fogies to delay your execution until you ate all twenty, and we could be rid of Sukuna for good!

“So here are your options Itadori Yui! You can die now or wait and collect all 20 fingers and then die!”

The atmosphere of the hospital was stifling now after yesterday’s events. It took all of Yui’s determination not to turn and run, or give in to compulsion to snap and tear the place apart. Now that Gojo had pointed out Sukuna’s presence within her, she could tell which thoughts were hers and which were from him. The constant jabbering of what he’s going to do once in control was giving her a headache. But that wasn’t why she was at hospital right now.

“Setsuko senpai, you’re alright!” Yui sighed in relief as she entered the room.

“Itadori! ” setsuko face was curiously blank, the mind behind it still trying to process what it had seen. “You won’t believe what happened. We were gonna open that talisman and inside was a finger. and suddenly all these monsters were everywhere, and Iguchi, he-” Setsuko was trembling, fists clenched and teary eyed. “This was all my fault,” she choked.

“No Senpai!” Yui scrambled closer grabbing Setsuko’s hand, “if anything, it was my fault. I was the one who found that box and gave it to you.”

“But those monsters-”

“They’re gone. Those monsters are called curses, and people called sorcerers exorcise them. One had asked me about the box and so we had come to the school too. We came just in time.” Yui looked over the next where fellow club member  Iguchi Takeshi was laying, bandaged and unconscious.

“Has Iguchi woken up at all?” She asked.

“No. He hasn’t even made a sound while we’ve been here.”Setsuko admitted, “ Its, it’s almost like he’s-”

“He’s not, senpai. You can hear his heart monitor; it still beats. The sorcerers said they’d be sending someone to heal him tomorrow. He will be alright.”

Liar. You have no way of knowing for yourself. Yui sucked in a shaky breath

The two sat quiet for a minute, hands clasped to for eachother’s reassurance.

“Anyway,” Yui spoke up, “I have more things to do. I’m glad I could see you senpai. Tell Iguchi I said hi when he’s up will you?”

Picking up the tongs for her grandfathers bones was enough for Yui’s mask of composure to break. She choked on a sob, eyes blurring with tears.  Yui was alone now; no more grandfather, her father figure and anchor in life gone. And the world was so big and scarier now and she had no one to hold her steady. In the back of her mind, she could feel Sukuna’s disgust, but there was no stopping the tears.

“Kid? You ok?” Gojo’s spoke uncertainly. The distance he stood away from the girl spoke volumes of how little he knew to comfort a crying person.

“No,” Yui scrubbed at her eyes and took a deep calming breath, “maybe someday.”

She continued her duty, carefully sifting through the ashes and collecting the bones into the urn.

“Who was this?” gojo asked, fidgeting in the  silence.

“My grandfather; he was the closest thing to a father I’ve known.” Yui responded flatly, blinking back tears that threatened to fall again.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” gojo shifted again, “have you thought about what you’re going to do next?” Yui paused in her picking; what was she going to do now?

You are strong hime, try to help others as best you can.

“I don’t know what you want from me. I still have Tsu oba-chan to care for, and there’s my weekend job to do still. They’re not things I want to just walk away from.” Yui started picking again.

“What about becoming a sorcerer? You did say you would be collecting all of Sukuna’s fingers.” Yui set down the tongs and put the cap on the urn; all the bones were collected.

“You still have that finger?” Gojo pulled it out, and Yui held it aloft,  examining it in the windowed light. It looked innocuous enough, until you remembered it literally had been cut off a human hand at some point. The creepier part was that despite the mummified appearance, it still felt fairly fresh.  Yui wrinkled her nose and shuddered; she could feel Sukuna stirring, anticipating the addition of the fingers power.

“I didn’t ask, why twenty fingers, did his toes get cut off too?”  She asked disgustedly.

“Haha, no. Sukuna had four arms.” gojo answered cheerfully. Yui felt a twinge of jealousy; having four arms would’ve been nice to have some of the work days she had. Carrying an invalid for one, or washing dishes. All the little tasks to could get done that much faster with one more extra set of hands.  But if Sukuna had been as destructive as implied; there was a smug rumble in the back of her mind. she frowned.

“And I’m going to have to do this 18 more times.”Yui closed her eyes and tossed the finger into her mouth. The taste made her choke and clutch at her throat, trying not to hurl and swallow as fast as possible. Then a heat surged through Yui’s body; Sukuna cackled and renewed his efforts of taking over. A second set of eyes opened, honing in on Gojo and the urge to rip, tear, sate this bloodlust intensified.

No. Just fast of the it had started, Yui wrapped her essence around Sukuna’s, tucking it back where it came from. The whiplash of the sensations made a breathless laugh bubble up her throat.

“That was disgusting.” She gagged. She heard gojo release a tense breath.

“What little I’ve seen of Sorcerers I don’t care for,” Yui continued, “I don’t know if fighting curses is what I want to do with my life, But devouring Sukuna’s curse seems like something only I can do, so I’ll do it. I don’t want others to die or suffer because I didn’t do anything.”

“It’s ugly work. You’ll probably see some pretty gruesome and dark things if you choose this.” Gojo warned .

“I don’t really have much of a choice, with the  death sentence that’s hanging over my head.”

“Nope! Now let’s go!”

Chapter Text

“Eh? Where Am I going?” Yui rushed to grab the bone urn as she watched Gojo march and open the door, revealing a bandaged Megumi Fushiguro on the other side.

“Tokyo.” The teen said flatly.

“Fushiguro! You’re looking so much better!” Yui said relieved to see the teens injuries hadn’t been .

“You call this better?” Megumi grumbled, pointing one of the bandages. Yui gritted  her teeth behind a smile. She was just trying to be polite. Fushiguro still looked a mess, his shoulders hunched and hollow eyes that spoke of hidden pain.

“Would you rather I said ‘you look terrible fushiguro, how are you even up right now?!’ ” she snapped. It’s been a long day, and the idea she was being taken all the way to Tokyo was not improving it. She had people to take care of here; she would like one thing to stay normal please!

“Anyways,” Yui cut off whatever fushiguro’s response would’ve been, “why am I going to Tokyo?”

“Why, to learn jujutsu of course!” Gojo cheered, “you’re not going to find a better school to learn than Tokyo’s Jujutsu High!”

“Tokyo,” Yui pinched her brow, and counted to five to calm her rising anger. “I have to go to go to Tokyo to do this jujutsu.” Tokyo was a three hour trip one way on the trains from here; six hours round trip. Could she do that each day in between school and whatever else these sorcerers did? There was also another concern.

“How much does it cost? What’s tuition like?” Both men stared at her blankly now.

“My high school has fees for my education. And I have payment plan for it, does this Jujutsu High allow the same?” Gojo shook himself out of his stupor and laughed loudly.

“You’re so funny Yu-chan! ” he patted her head as if she were an amusing dog. “You are a bit of a special case as Sukuna’s vessel, so don’t worry about it. Now, we got to gather your stuff. ” Yui waved the hand off her head as he turned to leave .

“What do you mean? I said I’d be attending, that doesn’t mean I’m moving?”

“Tokyo jujutsu high’s a boarding school. You’ll have housing on campus.” Fushiguro grumped.

“And we’ll be able to better keep you safe! Who knows what kind of curses or curse users are gonna be attracted to a vessel that contains two fingers.” Yui felt cold dread creep up her spine. She’d forgotten about Sukuna; the curse was unusually quiet right now, she wasn’t going to question why.

“Would a curse be able to tell I’m a vessel?”

“Yup!” Gojo popped the p, “even now I can see  Sukuna’s malevolent aura in you, although I’m also masking it with mine currently. And until you learn how to control that cursed energy, it’ll be a homing beacon for every little nasty out there.” Yui shuddered; she didn’t want to be the reason a curse attacked. Especially to Tsu oba chan.

“Ok,” she sighed, “ I need to make one last stop before I get my things. ” a final goodbye to life as she knew it.

If Yui had were to call anyone a mother figure in her life, it would be Tsunade Yamada. Yui had never met her grandmother, Wasuke’s wife, who had passed before she was born. Tsunade had lived next door for as long as Yui could remember; Wasuke had turned to the woman when he had been clueless what to do for a Girl Day, and the rest had been history. Yui spent almost as much time in the woman’s home as her own growing up. And having only had one son, Tsunade had been ecstatic about being able to teach the skills her son considered too “girly”. Yui had soaked up the lessons like a sponge, eager to learn and please. And those lessons had become essential after Wasuke had become hospitalized and Tsunade had gotten in an accident last year.

Insert key, twist. Hear the tumbler roll back, open.

“Who’s there?” A sharp voice croaked within.

“It’s just me Tsu oba-chan! ” Yui shouted as she slipped into house slippers. She glanced at Gojo who was already walking in like he owned the place. Fushiguro refused to step in. “Uh, I have someone with me today!”

“Yu chan? Where were you this morning? I had to call my neighbor for help! There was an awful mess in the kitchen this morning! I think someone broke in. And who are you?” Tsu scolded, turning her angry squint at Gojo.  For a woman whose eyesight was about as bad as a bat, she still could give a sharp stare. Gojo ignored it like a duck with water and paid her no mind though, going to the kitchen.

“Don’t eat anything in there!” Yui warned, then turned back to Tsu, “I’m sorry oba chan… a lot happened yesterday. Um, that’s Gojo Satoru, a teacher at a private high school.”

“A teacher, eh?” The old woman gave the kitchen a considering gaze then back at Yui.  She lowered her voice.

“You’re not in any danger from him are you? I hope Wasuke taught you about dangerous handsome men.” Yui felt her face turn bright red at Tsu’s solemn frown.

“It isn’t like that, I promise!” She sputtered.

“You sure? He looks like trouble. Especially with those covered eyes. No good can come from  man who covers his face indoors.”

“No, no oba-chan!” Yui protested. She knew objectively, that Gojo was dangerous, was her future executioner, and that part of why he was following her was to keep her/Sukuna in check. But she did not want Tsunade getting caught between it all. “I’ve been accepted at a private boarding school that he teaches. He’s here to help me move my stuff.” Yui swallowed, a lump growing in her throat.

“I’m leaving, Oba-chan. Oji-chan’s dead and this school’s in Tokyo. I’m going to be selling our place. I probably won’t be able to come take care of you again.” Tsunade sat still in her chair for moment, processing the words. Her mouth pressed in a thin line, and her eyes became glassy.

“You’ve grown up so fast. I had hoped that would be a little while longer yet,” Tsunade oba said hoarsely, taking Yui’s hand in both of hers. ”Wasuke’s a coward for dying before being able to see you off properly.” Yui gave a watery laugh.

“I wouldn’t be going if he was still here. And I’m only going because people are gonna die if I don’t do something.” Yui’s hand was squeezed gently.

“Don’t think like that girl. People’s lives are their business, not yours. Help me up, there’s something I think you should have.” Obediently Yui helped the woman, who shuffled back to her bedroom and into her closet.

“My great, great, many greats grandmother had a lover from a noble family. I was never told which,  to say the name was to summon them.” Tsunade started saying, “She was given a this as a token of affection. ” she pulled out a thin box. Inside, nestled in silk, was a an ornamented hair pin, a kanzashi.

“My son Chuuya would have only sold this to a pawnshop after I’m gone. This is too special to fall into a random stranger’s hands” Tsunade said, “my ancestor claimed she had slain an evil spirit by offering to do its hair and stabbing the pin into the back of its head.”

“Whoa, really?” After what she’d seen last night, Yui was willing to believe the truth of the story. She gave it another look; a dark wood tipped in silver, with a large pearl and with two red beaded tassels hanging from its head. The pearl seemed to hold an inner glow.

“I’ve never slain a demon with it, but it has been my lucky charm on game nights. Wasuke would throw the biggest fits when he lost!” Tsunade gave a wan smile. “I hope it is as good to you as it has been for me.”

“Woah! Do I get a gift too granny?” Both ladies jumped at Gojo’s interjection; the man  leaned into the closet getting up close to examine the pin.

“A boxing about the ears if I had my way, for your lack of manners and stealing Yui away,” Tsunade snapped the box shut, handing it to Yui, “but you are Yui’s guest. No, gojo-san. I do not have anything for you.”

“Like I’d want anything from this dump heap anyways,” gojo sniffed, leaving the room. 

“I’m sorry for him,”Yui apologized and winced as she was slapped the backside of her head.

“Don’t take the blame for his bad manners, girl.” The old woman snapped, then wrapped the girl in a hug.”I fear for you Yu-chan. You have been the daughter I never had, and I’ve been grateful for that day Wasuke came begging at my door to help a little girl know how special she was on Girl day. You have a big heart that you share with everyone. Make sure you save some space in there for yourself. I foresee some dark times ahead of you. Know that you are loved no matter what.”  The two women hugged again. Yui’s throat closed tight, but she refused to leave this unsaid like with her oji-chan.

“You have been like a mother to me Tsu oba-chan. Thank you.”

Chapter Text

Eyes were wiped, and Yui got busy, cleaning Tsu’s bed and bathroom, and doing a load of laundry. They were chores that Yui had done many times, and would need doing again in a just short while, but today Yui was responsible, and she was in no rush to get them done.

 wench. I should kill you for forcing me to endure this torture! Yui frowned in confusion.

“Torture?”  She murmured, quietly to not catch Gojo’s attention, “it’s just cleaning.”

Only the weak allow themselves to be used by others!

“I’m not being used,” Yui glared at a stain on the toilet she was scrubbing. “I insisted. Who would clean this when Tsu oba-chan can barely stand up by herself, let alone clean a toilet, or carry a basket of laundry to the washer. It is my choice to do these jobs, and seeing oba-chan have a clean home is worth it.”

When i get control of this body, i will make you watch as I rip that pathetic woman limb from limb, rip out her tongue!… Yui let Sukuna’s visceral descriptions fade in the background as she flushed to rinse the toilet, moving over to the sink and mirror.

“You can’t do anything if I don’t let you out,” she said, wiping the mirror free of water stains and toothpaste splatter. Yui gasped  as the two marks under her eyes opened, revealing two burning red pupils glaring out from her reflection.  I get stronger with each finger. You are pathetically weak, and will continue to be; you don’t even want to learn jujutsu. How will you stop me in the future? Sukuna’s voice purred in her mind.

“I’m doing a pretty good job so far,” Yui protested, the towel she was wiping with creaked with how tight she gripped it. “And I am going to learn. I never said I didn’t want to learn jujutsu. I do; but curses aren’t as big a killer as diseases or natural disasters. and those are easier to prepare or prevent against. This jujutsu stuff just another tool, nothing more. You are just the burden that’s  been stuck to me.”

“Huh, that’s one way to look at it.” Yui jumped at the sudden closeness of Gojo’s voice, and Sukuna’s eyes closed. The man was leaning into Yui’s personal space again, staring through her ear as if he could see straight into her brain.

“Who were you talking to?”

“Sukuna. He’s complaining about me doing this.” Yui gave a deprecating smile as she gestured the room. Gojo’s nose wrinkled.

“Can’t believe I’m agreeing with the guy, I don’t get why we’re still here. You’ve said goodbye to that crone.” He complained.

“Oba-chan can’t clean her house by herself. This is my goodbye gift to her.” Yui stated flatly.

“This place is just going to get dirty again.” Gojo pointed out.

“And I’m keeping it from becoming dirty just that little longer.” Yui glared. Gojo shrugged, leaning against the door frame.

“Does Sukuna do anything more than just talk?”

“No. Though he did open some eyes under mine?” Yui gestured to the marks under her eyes, not actually quite touching them with the potential chemical residue on her hands. Gojo hummed thoughtfully.

“What a curious body you have now.” Gojo’s gaze turned downward and Yui bristled, resisting the urge to cross her legs.

“I’m not a side show exhibit thank you,” she said heatedly. Gojo laughed.

“No, but aren’t you curious how a male soul is going to fit in a girl’s body? You sure you haven’t felt any changes?” Yui couldn’t help it; she threw her cleaning rag at the man’s face. It slid off as if hit a wall, falling into Gojo’s hand.

“Stop staring you pervert! I’ve not been changed that way!” Yui felt her cheeks turning red; she was sure an egg could fry on top of her from the heat of her anger and embarrassment. Gojo cackled and left, taking the rag with him. Yui groaned inwardly and hugged herself. She’d never struggled much with her self image before. Grandpa and oba-chan had never made her feel less than herself. She’d always been Itadori Yui. But oji-chan was gone now and a new start… what did that mean to be Itadori Yui? Yui looked at herself in the mirror; pink hair, gold brown eyes.  Yui’s figure was not very feminine, no body curves that manga or anime female protagonists boasted. Instead, she had an athletic build; lean and meant to work long and work hard. And she’d never worked for it, unlike what she’d seen other athletes do trying to achieve the “perfect” body.

“I’m Itadori Yui,” she said to herself, “no one can take that from me.” She tried to smile, but it only came out as pitying. With a sigh Yui got back to work.

“Now before we head to the school we have one more student to pick up,”Gojo announced.

“I need to my stuff still,” Yui said.

“No time! We’ve got to catch the train if we want to meet our third first year on time!” Gojo claimed. Guilt was built in Yui’s gut. Had her saying goodbye really taken that much time?

“I’m sorry,” she said, “can I at least grab a backpack with a change of clothes then? And come back tomorrow to pack?”

“No need! We’ll have someone bring your stuff.” Gojo dimissed, “it’ll be there by the time we pick your classmate and stuff.”

“You’re gonna just order Ijichi to do it aren’t you?” Megumi mumbled. Gojo giggled evilly as he whipped out his phone to text. His excitement deflated from whatever response popped up on his screen.

”Ijichi’s not even available right now! How dare he have other responsibilities.” Gojo whined, “they’re sending someone else.”

Yui wasn’t sure how the man saw through his blindfold as he led the way to the station. Was he actually blind and just was really good at navigating without it?  Or maybe his sorcerer magic skill thing was that he didn’t need his eyes to see. But why the blind fold then? It made no sense. Nothing made sense; Yui wished for a modicum of sense to come back. Just like it didn’t make sense for Gojo to pay for Yui’s ticket. She hadn’t been allowed to get her stuff, wasn’t told how payments for this school worked, and was under a threat of execution. To think yesterday Yui’s biggest worry had been about school clubs. And now, she wasn’t even sure she was sure she was being treated like a person.

Chapter Text

Yui only remembered Tsu oba-chan’s gift  when it jabbed her from her pocket when she sat down on the train. She pulled the box out and settled it on her lap. It’d been so light she’d almost forgotten it was there. She opened it; a Dark wood kanzashi that split into two silver tipped tines. A large painted pearl at its head, two red beaded tassels from it. It all rested on padded red silks.

“Oh? That’s the present the lady gave you isn’t it?” Gojo asked curiously, propping his head on a hand .

“Uh yeah,” Yui said, again the question of how the man could see came to mind. Maybe his blindfold was semi transparent for him to see through?  She glanced at Megumi, who was now staring at the kanzashi with a frown.

“How’d a civilian end up with a cursed tool? I thought the clans kept strict records of all of those.” Megumi asked accusingly. He gave Yui a suspicious glance.

“Who knows?” Gojo said cheerfully, “maybe the higher ups will have a heart attack from the thought of tools being out of their grubby little hands.” He leaned forward. Yui pulled the box close  to her protectively, Gojo’s head tracked the motion.

“Tsu Oba chan said it was given to an ancestor, and passed down since then. What is a Cursed Tool?”

“It’s in the name. It’s a tool that has cursed energy. Regular tools and weapons don’t work on curses, so if a sorcerer doesn’t have a technique, they can use a tool to compensate.” Megumi said when Gojo didn’t respond, who still stared at the box.

The question of how a measly hair pin could affect a curse died on Yui’s tongue as she remembered the story Tsunade shared with her.  She looked down at it again; it still didn’t look like it could kill demons or curses. She picked it up. She was slightly disappointed when there was no surge of a magic, inspiration of what it could do, or some sort sign it was more than just a thing to hold up hair. The kanzashi sat demurely in her fingers, the beads on the tassels swayed with the motion of the train.

———

Nobara Kugisaki looked out her window, giddy with anticipation. She was finally getting out; away from Morioka and going to make it big in the city! What was she going to do first? Go shopping, see the sights? What if she gets scouted as a model or idol?    She’ll need to practice her posing. Nobara  will definitely show those city sorcerers that she’s no country bumpkin, and they needed her! She needed to stay in the city; nothing was going to make her go back. She will not be run out like her old friend. The thought of Saori was humbling; Nobara wondered how the woman was doing now, if she’d been able to find a better life after moving.

The Tokyo station was abuzz with people. Clamorous noise reverberated around her, nothing like the stifling quiet of the country. And the smells! Humanity at its core, grease, crowded bodies and engine exhaust. It all got Nobara’s blood pumping. So much so that she confronted an obvious modeling scout when she’d been ignored. The scout tried to stutter an excuse, but before Nobara could properly get them to explain why she wasn’t a choice, a voice called out “Kugisaki Nobara!” Nobara looked up irritably, angry at the interruption and the injustice of not being scouted. A man in black clothes, bright white hair and a a blindfold was waving excitedly, a sullen dark haired boy and a bemused pink haired girl with him.

“Hmph too bad for you I’m already wanted else where,” Nobara huffed and flicked her  short hair dismissively, leaving the befuddled talent scout in his confusion. She sauntered over to the trio.

“Y’all here from the school?” Nobara drawled, looking over the group. The males were in the typical sorcerer uniforms, but the girl was in regular clothes. Nobara bristled inside; Did that girl think she was too good for the uniform? And why choose such frumpy clothes if you’re gonna rebel against the uniform. One should try to make a statement of themselves.

“Nope!” Beamed Gojo, “we just got off from picking up another prospective sorcerer student.”  He clapped a hand on Yui’s shoulder, who smiled weakly.

“Pleased to meet you, I’m Itadori Yui, from Sendai ” she said politely.

“Fushiguro Megumi,” Fushigiro grunted.

“Pleasure, Kugisaki Nobara, from Morioka,” Nobara said through gritted teeth; were these really who she was going to stuck with the next three years; A dowdy bubblehead and a snotty emotionally constipated guy?  Gojo clapped his hands.

“Well, now that you’ve met, I think both of you country folk deserve a tour of the city, And I know exactly where to start. Roppongi!”

Nobara squealed in delight. Roppongi; all those clubs, dazzling lights, and best of all, fashion stores! She couldn’t wait!

———

Yui gasped and was excited to hear they were going to Roppongi. Tsu oba-chan had taken her there two years ago to see an art exhibition that her son Chuuya had helped set up. The sculptures and works there had been mesmerizing and beautiful. And the other sights she’d seen on the streets had piqued her curiosity. So, she was disappointed the further from the they went from the brightly lit buildings and Gojo announced,

“Here we are!” The building crumbling in front of them certainly was not a part of Roppongi Yui remembered or heard about. a dark miasma seemed to emanate from it, blaring danger vibes. Kugisaki seemed to feel the same disappointment, expletives  and threats spilling out her mouth with impressive creativity.

“You wanted to experience the city, and here’s a good place to start,” Gojo said, “theres a cemetery nearby, and when you happen to have an abandoned building also, you get a curse!”

“So curses form near graveyards?” Yui asked, head tilting curiously.

“No,” Fushiguro said, “curses form because of humans who feel uneasy and fearful in them.”

“Oh, like at the school,” Yui’s eyes widened in understanding.

“Woah woah woah,” Kugisaki’s rant cut off abruptly, pointing in Yui’s direction, “she didn’t know that?” Yui shifted uneasily as Fushiguro recapped that night at the school.

“You ate a special grade cursed object!?” Kugisaki cried in disgust, “that’s so unsanitary, ew! I’m gonna hurl!” She jumped back as if Yui’s condition was contagious.

“I hadn’t been trying to eat it!” Yui protested,“I just- it happened!”

“You know that doesn’t make it any better? ”

“Hm,” Fushiguro’s tone implied that he didn’t believe Yui, and agreed with Kugisaki, but was at least being polite enough not to say it aloud.

“Itadori, Kugisaki, it is your assignment to clear out the curses here.  Megumi’s staying out here because he’s still recovering.” Yui looked at the building apprehensively; with the broken windows and the cloudy skies, it was the perfect  setting for a horror film.

“Gojo-sa-sensei, I’m technically not a sorcerer yet. And I can’t use cursed energy. How am I going to be a help here?” Yui asked. She heard Kugisaki scoff; heat rose in Yui’s cheeks.

“Oh yeah,” Gojo slapped his forehead in a duh motion then made a show of patting his pockets. “You do have the cursed energy, enough to be considered half a curse really, but using it it isn’t really the same as knowing how to use it. And I don’t have any cursed weapons on me. Oh, you do have that cursed kanzashi, try using that and let me know how it works.”

“Uh- ”

“Come on already! Let’s get this over with so we can see more of the city!” Kugisaki called out from the doorway. Yui looked back worriedly at the two men as she followed Kugisaki.

Chapter Text

Yui clutched the gifted kanzashi in a clammy  hand. It wasn’t that she was scared of an abandoned building; enpty rooms weren’t a problem. It was the anticipation of being pounced upon that was unnerving, and the feeling she had just been dropped in the deep end of the pool. She hadn’t even made it to the school yet, or eaten all of Sukuna’s fingers! Yui would like to think Sorcerer’s weren’t that heartless and give her a chance… right? Or has this all been a ploy? A ‘Ha ha, can’t believe you believed we let you live, you filthy curse!’ Sukuna’s essence flickered within Yui, amused by her panic.

Sorcerers are all the same. All they care about is power they can control.

“I won’t believe that,”  Yui murmured stubbornly, “this must just be a test of some sort. Gojo’s been nothing but helpful so far. It doesn’t make sense he’d kill me yet.”

“Oi, stop yapping to yourself and get busy,” Kugisaki snapped, “we got floors to explore. Let’s split up. You take the bottom half, I’ll take the top.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

———

“You sure about sending those two in alone?” Megumi asked Gojo as they sat on a bench watching the building.

“You have no faith in me?” Gojo whined and slumped in despair, “after I’ve raised you these past 10 years?”.

“The only thing you’ve done for me is put a roof over my head.” Gojo moaned in mock sorrow, clutching his chest.

“Rejected by my own flesh and blood!”

“Stop spouting crappy stuff like that! Especially when it’s not true!” Megumi punched Gojo’s shoulder which did earn an actual wince from the man.

“Ow! I’m being abused!” Gojo cried dramatically, then like a light switch got flipped his expression did a 180 into serious.

“Being a sorcerer is a dangerous job, as you know. Itadori needs to know what she’s gotten herself into. And this is a test for Kugisaki. Curses are formed by the emotions of humans, and in the country side less humans means weaker curses. Curses in a city are a different breed altogether. You’ve seen sorcerers give up or die because they can’t cope. Will Kugisaki die not being able to adapt, or is she insane enough to keep up with the rest of us? And will Itadori be able to handle what is to come?”

They sat for a moment, watching the building for any sign of curse activity. Megumi winced as some of his injuries twinged. The day had gone long and he’d forgotten to bring some pain killers along.

“Itadori doesn’t seem like much of a fighter,” he said aloud, trying to take his mind off the pain. “It was Sukuna that destroyed that school curse. Up til then, that girl had just been trying to get her friends out.” Megumi shifted on the bench. “She hadn’t really tried to get involved until I got hit. And even then it was mostly shouting  and throwing stuff at the thing. Itadori mentioned she hadn’t meant to eat the finger...”

“Don’t dwell on it. The girl’s Sukuna’s vessel now, whatever she wanted. She’s just gonna have to suck it up and do her part. So far she’s not doing badly. I think Itadori’s gonna surprise us all in the end.”

———

“What did you say?” Kugiasaki’s voice was light, but her hand tightly gripped the handle of a hammer. Yui gulped, but steadied herself.

“I don’t think we should split up. We don’t know where this curse is, or how strong it is. How are we going to help each other if we split up?” Yui tried to reason. Kugisaki’s eyebrow twitched.

“Let’s get something clear Bubble Gum Head. You’re not a sorcerer; therefore you don’t have any authority here. Put your big girl pants on and get moving.” She spat. The brunette stomped away, leaving Yui stunned. Whatever, this Kugisaki wasn’t the boss of her. She wasn’t going to be by herself. Yui moved to follow the other teen, when her ear twitched at the sound of movement behind.

“Receipt…. Do you have … receipt?” The voice had an odd reverberation, as if the speaker was gargling jello. A claw brushed against Yui’s hair and her body reacted on its own.

———

“Oh ho, holy sh- did not expect that,” Gojo gave a laugh of stunned disbelief, a hand raised to his mouth.

“What? What was that? ” Megumi tensed  next to him having heard the echo of a boom.

“Itadori has quite the arm on her. Too bad she wasn’t using cursed energy. That slap should’ve decapitated that thing.”  Megumi squinted at the building.

“I don’t see anything.”

“Sounds like a skill issue.”

———

Yui’s panting was loud in her ears. Her blood pounded with the adrenaline  as she stared at what she’d done. The curse was hanging half out of the crater  in the wall it’d made by the force of Yui’s slap. It gave a groan and stirred, whatever made up its brain still spinning. Yui gritted her teeth; she’d forgotten that only cursed energy could kill a curse. There’d been no thought when the thing touched her; just pure reaction.

“I’m sorry sir. But please don’t do that. You could really scare someone sneaking up like that.” Yui bowed apologetically. She winced at the sight of the broken wall. Even though this place was abandoned, she didn’t want to be responsible for property damage. The curse seemed to come to its senses, its single eye focussing on her.

“Receipt?” It quavered. It wasn’t used to situations like this. Humans were meant to be screaming and bleeding by this point. They weren’t supposed to not be scared or unharmed.

“Receipt. Have!” The curse lunged at Yui again. The girl squeaked, bending backwards and as it sailed over her, then swept a leg up and kicked the curse in to the ceiling.

“I don’t want to fight!” Yui screamed at the curse. It hissed in displeasure and pain; that slap and kick was like being hit by a plush pillow fired out of a cannon.

“Fight. Kill!” The curse growled, dropping down and creeping forward. Yui held the cursed kanzashi like it was a holy symbol.

“I warn you! I don’t know how to use this!” She said. The curse eyed it warily; the cursed energy within the item was concerning, but not enough to keep it from the veritable feast of the human in front of it. It lunged again. Yui shut her eyes, arms still held out straight.  she was tackled to the ground. There was a wet schluck sound, the curse gave a pained groan, and Yui grunted as it went limp on her. Yui opened her eyes warily; the curse’s single eye stared through her, body unmoving. She pushed it off her and found the cursed kanzashi sticking out of its chest; the pearl on it was glowing, and in a burst of light, the curse’s was sucked into it. The hairpin fell to the floor with a soft clack, the pearls glow fading back to normal. It was warm when Yui picked it up, pulsing as if it had a heart beat.

“Thank you.” It was the only thing Yui could think of the moment. She’d been attacked, and because of the hairpin, she was alive. And now she had a partner to catch up with. Yui raced up the stairs.

———

“Looks like Kugisaki’s found the curse, but uh oh, there’s another human in the building. Most likely a kid.” Gojo was  giving byplay commentary to ease his boredom.

“Sneaky little thing. Slimy like the frog it resembles, It’s taken the kid hostage. Will Kugisaki be able to handle it? What’s this? Kugisaki’s trying to bargain with it and has thrown aside her hammer. But the curse isn’t open to negotiations! It has the kid by the throat, ohhh! Itadori’s come from behind with a surprise attack! Ouch, but those big eyes would be a weak spot. They’re all staring each other down now. oh?” Megumi tensed and looked up at the shift in cursed energy an a large squat curse came jumping out of the building. Megumi admitted it did resemble a toad, sort of, but as if it’d been made by one of those ancient European artists. One of its eye stalks was bleeding profusely, missing the actual eyeball.

“Should we?” Megumi asked, his hands raising in preparation to summon his dogs.

“Just wait,” Gojo said calmly. The curse spotted them and screamed. As Megumi shaped his shadow puppets, the curse seemed to freeze in midair, its form rippled violently and then exploded.

———

Yui and Kugisaki sat together on the steps of an apartment building. The kid that’d gotten caught up in the whole fiasco with the curse.  Yui picked at her stained clothes, wondering how she’ll be able to get them cleaned. Since Sukuna had torn up her other hoodie, this was the only one she had left. She glance over at Kugisaki, where she was absentmindly twirling her hammer.

“Who’s Saori?”

“Ha?”  Kugisaki snapped out of her thoughts, from glaring over the horizon giving a hard stare at Yui.

“Saori. You said the name when you exorcised that curse.” Yui said, willing herself not to wilt under Kugisaki’s attention. The teen sorcerer’s frown deepened and she looked.

“she was someone I knew as kid. She’d invite me over and give me treats while telling me stories about the city she’d lived in previously. The village hated her. Said she was corrupting it with her city ways. And one day, she was gone. The elders said good riddance, she’d got back where she’d belonged.” Kugisaki’s hammer stopped its twirl, clenched in a tight fist.

“That’s the problem with the country side. They hate anything that’s different from the norm. And I couldn’t stay because I knew they’d come after me eventually. That’s why I’m here, and that’s why I’m never going back!” She spat vehemently. Yui leaned back from the hammer that’d been thrust in her direction for emphasis.

“I guess that’s reasonable,” Yui agreed.

“Hmph,” Kugisaki scoffed, “didnt ask for your approval.” They sat in silence for a few minutes. Kugisaki coughed awkwardly.

“You didn’t do to badly Bubble gum. If you hadn’t pulled its eye out I wouldn’t have been able to use resonance on it.” Yui shuddered from the memory; she’d been hoping the curse would just pop from the kanzashi like the first had, but the eye had just gotten stuck on the tines instead.

“Glad it worked out,” she said weakly. She was sure the feel and sounds of the experience were going to haunt her for weeks.

“There you two are!” Both girls looked up at Gojo’s voice, the man and Fushiguro coming toward them.

“We still have a bit of daylight, if you wanna stay in the city longer. Let’s go!”

“I’m starving! Let’s get some steak!” Kugisaki shouted.

“I wouldn’t mind some sushi,” Yui commented, looking through her wallet for cash.

“Leave it to me!” Gojo gave a thumbs up, “also, good job Itadori on not letting Sukuna out. That would’ve been a pain to clean up.”

“Was I supposed to?” Yui blinked owlishly.

“Nah. Sukuna probably would’ve just gone on a killing rampage. That kid, Kugisaki, and who knows how others could’ve been killed!” Gojo said with too much cheer. “ like I said, a pain to clean up.” Yui felt second hand offense from Sukuna at the veiled insult.

“You’d let a curse take control of your body?” Kugisaki asked incredulously.

“No, and it won’t happen. The things he’s said so far only makes me want to keep him contained .” Yui snapped.

“Are we actually going to go eat or just stand here yelling?” Megumi asked, looking at his phone. He was looking up places to eat and where to find them.

“Right! Oh That looks like a good steak and sushi place, let’s go check it out!” Gojo said, wrapping his arms around all three teens shoulders. Yui herself be dragged, letting her thoughts unwind to review what had happened today. She felt adrift, a balloon whose string had broken and at the whim of the winds and gales. The air that kept her floating was escaping, and she felt that soon she was going to become a withered husk, unless something changed. Hopefully this jujutsu high had an answer.

Chapter Text

The food had been good. Kugisaki had been outraged there was no steak, but the novelty of sushi being brought out on a conveyer belt was enough to sate her needs to see city sights. For Yui, it was enough to distract her  from recent events until Gojo, needing conversation spoke up.

“So, Mission report. What went wrong; what went right?”

“Shouldn’t have underestimated the curse, should’ve just destroyed it when I had the chance,” Kugisaki growled, stuffing nigiri in her mouth. Her face shifted to surprise then  making pleased noises.

“I don’t have any training. It was only because of the kanzashi I’m still here.” Yui said, stirring her miso soup.

“Mm. Kugisaki you have a very interesting technique there. Being able to use that eye to transfer your attack to the curse was ingenious. But hesitating because of civilians will get you killed. Don’t let it distract you again.” Kugisaki grunted, eyes glaring into her plate. “Itadori-” Yui looked up at her name. “What did you learn about your tool?”

“It can kill curses,” Yui pulled the hairpin in question out.  “Oh.”

“Hm?”

“The pearl. It’s bigger.” She distinctly remembered it being just larger than a large marble . Now it was almost the size of a mochi. The pattern on it a little more clearer also, intricate lines crisscrossing like a spider’s web. Gojo hummed thoughtfully and held out a hand. Yui handed the hair pin over hesitantly, scared to see it in other hands. It looked so brittle  as Gojo brought close to his face.

“Ooh,” Gojo’s hand reached for his blindfold. Yui watched the hand intently, wondering what would be revealed underneath, and hoping the pin would come out unscathed. A clatter of dishes nearby made her jump, Fushiguro had attempted to get a closer look himself, and when his still healing ribs twinged, had knocked some plates with his elbow.

“Fushiguro, are you alright?” Yui asked, rushing to help fix the mess.

“Fine,” Fushiguro grunted, wincing again.  By the time they’d straightened everything, Gojo’s blindfold had been replaced and he was twirling the kanzashi slowly between his fingers, admiring how the pattern moved on the pearl. Yui internally groaned at the  missed opportunity.

“Very unique tool you have her Itadori chan,” he said musing, “it absorbs cursed energy, and stores it in the pearl.”

“What for?” Fushiguro asked.

“No idea,” Gojo laughed, “well, I do have ideas, but it’s better to just wait and see. I don’t think Itadori’s in any danger from it though.”

He handed it back, to Yui’s relief and she stuck it back in her hoodie pocket.

After the bill was paid, Gojo led them to a car he said was sent by the school. The three teens crammed themselves in the back while Gojo took the copilot. Kugisaki oohed and ahh’d over the lights and sights as the car made its way down streets. The driver flinched every time Gojo’s hands waved dangerously close during his monologue of what we’ve was on his mind. Fushiguro immediately leaned back and closed his eyes, ignoring the noise around him. Yui closed her eyes, leaning on the window. The glass felt cool  and refreshing to her tired mind.  Jujutsu was still so confusing. And Sukuna’s violent suggestions and insults only made it worse. It was easy to picture how all curses are evil with him in her head and the ones she had seen so far. But was that all that there was to them?

Yui opened her eyes, the city had given way to darkness, the only things she could make out in the dark were the trees close to the road and head lights of an occasional vehicle.

“Kugisaki?” Yui asked quietly, trying not to disturb Fushiguro or interrupt Gojo. She turned to the other Kugisaki had earbuds in, her head bobbing quietly to whatever was playing. Yui reached around Fushiguro, touching the girl on knee. Kugisaki yelped with a jump, earning a pained hiss from Fushiguro when his ribs were elbowed. Gojo glanced back before ignoring them again, and Yui was subject to two glares.

“Sorry,” Yui hunched her shoulders, “I was just wondering if you knew where we were going now.”

“We’re going back to the school,” Fushiguro said as If that’d been the obvious answer

“Oh,” Yui blushed. Kugisaki snorted as she put her buds back in, and Fushiguro pulled out his phone to scroll through. Yui pulled out hers.

It was a cell phone, but technically it was her grandfather’s. Wasuke had used the same phone for 15 years, and he’d never seen a good reason to upgrade. Yui used to have a smart phone of her own, but when it broke 2 years ago and Wasuke had began his treatments at the hospital, it made more sense for her to use his. She was the closest next of kin any medical person would need to call, and anyone calling Wasuke knew Yui. The phone itself was mot very big, its full length fit in the palm of her hand and as wide as one digit on her thumb. It had a tiny screen that wasn’t backlit, the only games it had was snake and brick break, no cameras, and it’s keyboard only had 10 keys. Yui always laughed at the memes that described its model as indestructible, because they were true so far. It’d survived her after all.  She’d forgotten its charger though… hopefully it got grabbed, or else she have to find one on Craigslist, again. Movement from  her  peripheral made Yui look up, to catch Gojo’s head turned slightly in their direction, but with the blindfold it was impossible to tell where he was looking. He didn’t pause in whatever he was telling the poor driver whose knuckles were turning white from gripping the wheel so tight. Yui turned to look out the window again. There were lights out there now, but not lights of a neighborhood or town. There was a cold feel to these lights; they were there for the to expose the hidden, not to welcome visitors.

They blinded the eye, Yui was just able to see they had pulled up to a gate. the driver rolled down his window. Yui could only make out the silhouette of the guard that spoke.

“Yo! We’re back yeah? Just open gate now,” gojo interrupted leaning over. The air intensified, Gojo’s smile all edge.

“Yes sir,” the guard said, going to his booth and pushing a button. The gate opened with barely a squeak, and the group sailed through.

“Why does a school have a gate guard?” Yui asked.

“We’re not at the school yet,” Gojo called,”but Jujutsu tech isn’t just a school; it’s also a base of operations for many other sorcerers. And that means having  residences and businesses nearby. The guards just to keep away any wandering normies.”

True to Gojo’s words they drove through what would be too small to be a town,  but large enough to at least need its own small grocery store. Everything was dark and empty as they drove through, the people long since retired home.

The only thing Yui could make out of the school itself was that it was big. Bigger than maybe her old high school. Maybe that was because it was a boarding school. It needed space to house the students and faculty.

Fushiguro went off on his own to his room once out of the car, and gojo escorted Kugisaki and Yui to their rooms.

Itadori Yui was a puzzle, Satoru decided as he watched the girl dawdle outside the door to her dorm room. She’d been standing there since he’d left 10 minutes ago. Six eyes was a blessing that way; he didn’t have to stay close to keep an eye on someone. He yawned. He would’ve liked to get some sleep, except the old fogies insisted that the “Vessel” be kept under observation for the time being. And since he hadn’t been able to properly assess how strong Sukuna was presently, Satoru was deemed the only one able to keep the curse in check and the girl watched. Satoru really would love to just kill all the higher ups; their paranoia knows no bounds, and they only want to maintain the status quo.  No ambition of recruiting or making greater  sorcerers.

Oh, Itadori was on the move now. Satoru wasn’t there in person to know why she’d stood in one place so long, but the shaking shoulders implied tears may had been involved. The girl didn’t go into the bedroom but instead was going to the common room’s kitchen.  She hadn’t eaten much at the restaurant, maybe she was hungry now.

Satoru gave a giggle and let his thoughts wander; Ryomen Sukuna, devil with two faces, king of curses, the boogey man of jujutsu history, contained in a teenage girl. And the girl was the opposite of everything Sukuna was claimed to be; where Sukuna reveled in death and slaughter, itadori cringed from even a tap. A jujutsu genius in a jujutsu nobody. A man, if gender was a thing for curses, jailed in a woman.  It was a joke on many levels. Satoru would give his favorite dessert to… wait no, he’d give his fourth favorite dessert to have been able to see the king of curses face when he realized what he incarnated in.  Speaking of which. Gojo turned his attention back to Itadori. Still in the kitchen, 15.5 meters below him, .1 meters from the island. There was a bowl and bags surrounding her. Was she… baking?  That was definitely baking. There was a dough being mixed, rolled out, something being spread, then cut. Those were cinnamon rolls! Gojo’s mouth watered at the thought. The assembled tray was put in the oven, Itadori had gone back to island and was cleaning up. With his calculations, once the timer went off he’d have .5 seconds to get down there and take one before Itadori even was looking toward the oven. Wait, Itadori’s pulled out another bowl, and mixing something more. Icing! He needed that too! That complicated things. The icing dripped with a viscosity rate of V, and with the amount of icing his roll needed, there was chance Itadori may spot him when setting down the pan. Not that it mattered whether Satoru was seen or not, he was going to get one of those rolls one way or another. But the challenge! Gojo’s fingers twitched and he licked his lips in anticipation.

Yui was exhausted. Emotionally, physically everything-ally. All she wanted was to crawl into a cave, curl and cease existing. But there were no caves here, and giving up would mean handing herself to the other voice in her head, so she was going to keep going. Giving up also meant not fulfilling her grandfathers last wishes, and obachans wishes even though the woman wasn’t dead yet. Yui didn’t know if they’d ever see each other again. It might as well have been her last words. And so here she was in a kitchen, taking her stress out in baking. She had been just going to make bread, but seeing the cinnamon sugar she decided on something slightly different; Cinnamon rolls. And now those were in the oven, the icing was made, and the mess was all cleaned up. There was nothing more to do but wait. Wait for the timer to go off, wait for her thoughts to drown her, Wait here on this stool, the hum of the oven the only sound here. Yui groaned and gently thunked her forehead against the counter. The memory of curses were still all too vivid. What was she getting herself into? Was fighting and killing these things really what she was stuck with doing until the end of her life? When the last finger of Sukuna was devoured and her execution to be fulfilled? Yui wanted to save and help people, but up til now she assumed that she was going to do through medicine or humanitarian projects. She knew how those helped people. What good did fighting curses do? Curses killed people yes, but people and diseases kill people too. What made curses different?

Chapter Text

Fire. Fire everywhere. The smoke choked the air while the flames devoured trees, buildings, ever creeping closer to Yui and where she stands. There are screams and wails of pain and terror. Underlying these screams is a haunting manic laughter. Yui scrambled away to climb a cliff. Her hands slip on insecure holds, making her heart leap in her throat. The flames climb after her, the stone melting like ice. In the screams are voices.

“Jump. The fire’s warm. Let go. Let it consume you, ” They whispered enticingly.

“I can’t die yet!” Yui screamed, “I haven’t fulfilled my grandfathers last request!”

“There’s nothing left for you. Everything is gone. It’s useless to resist. ” The fire nipped at Yui’s feet. Yui scurried to the top, looking over the ravaged landscape. It was black and barren, the only sign that there had been anything before are black charcoal shapes.  She looked at the fire below. Four burning red eyes stared hungrily back. A maw of teeth reared up, opening wide to engulf the sky. They came closer, closer,

“Little hime,” a very familiar voice broke through the noise, a knobbly wrinkled hand took hers.

“Oji-chan,” Yui gasped,  collapsing in her knees and tears leaking down her face. The old man looked healthier than he had in years, exhaustion and body pains gone. The fiery landscape had vanished; fear replaced by warmth and security.

“Oh, hime” Ojichan said exasperatedly, pulling his granddaughter into a hug and kissing her forehead.

“Oji-chan,” Yui whimpered, “ I don’t know what to do.”

“Do better than me,” her grandfather replied, “surround yourself with loved ones. I trust you.” His voice echoed slightly. “Focus on living little hime. It only lasts so long.” The world around was fading, becoming white. The clouds of wakefulness buoyed Yui up lifting her from slumber.

Yui’s neck and back were aching something fierce were the first sensations she feels. Then there was the smells of cinnamon and cooked bread. The cinnamon rolls! Yui jolted upright, much to the protests of her body. Nothing was on fire, the kitchen still standing. The oven had been turned off, her pan of rolls were on the counter on a hot pad. There were two missing, their spots having been replaced by a paper towel. It had words written on it. Yui blinked at it in confusion, the dregs of sleep still clinging at the edges of her brain. She picked it up blinking the words into focus.

Itadori,

These are delicious! You’re lucky I saved them from burning down the dorm!

You have a meeting at the principal’s office this morning at 8 btw.

There was a little doodle of Gojo at the bottom, blindfold and all. Yui yawned and stretched, trying to get the kinks out of her neck, and picked up the bowl of the icing glaze she’d planned to drizzle on the rolls. It’d hardened from sitting out, so she stuck it in the microwave to melt, then completed her rolls. Yui served herself one, thinking of her dream. She knew science said dreams were ones mind trying to make sense of the day or tell you something, but what did this mean? And Ojichan being there; Yui wanted to believe he actually had been there. If negative emotions could turn into human eating monsters, surely the dead sending a simple message isn’t impossible.

“Surround myself with loved ones,” Yui murmured to herself.  She pulled out the cell phone; she still thought of it as her grandfathers. There were less than 100 contacts on it, 2/3 were Yui’s contacts and ojichan’s were mostly businesses. There was a text from Setsuko saying Iguchi had woken up and hoping Yui was alright. Yui smiled sadly and sent back a reply that she’d arrived at her new school. She put the phone away and looked down at herself, wrinkling her nose. She was still in her clothes from yesterday, the curse blood stains still visible. She couldn’t show up to an interview in this. She glanced at the clock. She had enough time to clean up she guessed.

It was a beautiful morning. Birds chirped merrily, the dew made every plant glisten. Yui would have loved to stop and admire the styled architecture of the buildings she passed. Unfortunately it was already 8, and she was still searching for where the principal’s office. Why were there no signs or directions?  She’s passed those lion statues three times already and she was sure she hadn’t turned around anywhere. And where was everybody? Shouldn’t there be workers on the grounds and since this was a school, where were the other students?

Yui climbed a set of stairs, and felt relief at seeing another person.

“Excuse me!”  She called out running up, “excu- oh, Gojo sensei.” You’d think a man with white hair would stand out anywhere, but when the suns in your eyes people become blob shaped. What Yui had thought was dark hair was in fact just Gojo’s blindfold. And dark clothes aren’t very unique.

“One of my students didn’t recognize me?” Gojo asked dramatically, “She must be blind! Also you’re late to your interview.”

“but I don’t know what building’s the principals office is,” Yui sighed, “can you tell me where to find it?”

“Easy! It’s right here.” Gojo pointed finger guns to his left at the building next to them.

It looked the same as many of the other buildings Yui had passed; square with paper paneled walls with a wide over hanging roof.

“Thank you. Um also do you know what this meeting’s for?” She asked walking over. Gojo followed alongside her

“It’s your acceptance interview. To see if you’ll  actually be a student here. Otherwise we’re gonna have to kick you out.” It was said so nonchalantly that Yui almost didnt react, until the meaning of those words sunk in.

“Huh? Gojo-sensei what do you mean by that?” She started to ask but they gotten  inside and there was an audience. Which mostly comprised of plush toys. Teddy bears, ducks, and more plushies of all shapes and sizes sat around a man who was jabbing a needle over and over into a ball of something soft and squishy. Yui recognized the technique as felting. Her eyes moved from the hands to the face. A neat cut goatee, Square black shades that hid the man’s eyes, with the lines of age and stress accentuated the scowl he was giving Gojo and Yui.

“You’re late Satoru Gojo,” the man growled, his hands not pausing in their task.

“I’m not the one with that had the appointment, you can’t put this on me!” Gojo protested loudly.

“I’m sorry sir-,” Yui bowed and started to say before she was interrupted.

“As a teacher, your students errors reflect on you. You would do well to remember that,” the man said, standing up and putting the craft aside. He turned his attention to Yui.

“So, you’re the new would be student. I am Yaga Masamichi, Principal of jujutsu High,” Yaga introduced himself, “every student that wishes to learn here is tested by me to judge whether they are fit for this school. Know that if you fail, you will leave these grounds, never to come back again.” Yui’s gut twisted in anxiety. She hadn’t wanted to come here in the first place, but somehow being faced with the possibility of being expelled made her want to prove herself.

“I’m Itadori Yui! I like guys like Chris Hemsworth. Please take care of me!” Yui went into automatic introduction mode and gave a small bow. Immediately she sweat dropped. These weren’t other high school girls! She was supposed to be impressing the principal!

“Why have you come here?” Yaga’s voice gave no indication of a reaction to Yui’s words, his expression still stony.

“Huh?”

“Why did you come here, to jujutsu high?”

“To learn jujutsu? Because I ate Sukuna’s finger?”

“So you think you are special because you’ve become the vessel of a special grade object?”

“No! But…”

“And once you learn how to use Sukuna’s power for yourself, and learn about curses and how to exorcise them. What will you do? Are you here to become a sorcerer or do you plan to walk away from all of this as soon as it is over?” Yui blinked, taken aback. What was the principal trying to say? Use Sukuna’s power? She could do that? And did she think she was special?

“I don’t understand…” she started.

“Do you expect to be handed the knowledge of how to use cursed energy on a silver platter and a pat on the back? ” Yaga continued, “do you expect sorcery to just be a hobby you can pick up or drop anytime you like?”

“Um no…?,” she tried. Yaga flung a hand to the side, and a green bear like plush toy rose as if on puppet strings. It turned in Yui’s direction, its muzzle lifting in a flat toothed snarl.

“When one has fully learned to harness and use their cursed energy, to stop using it is to stop breathing. You can use it to save lives, or maim and kill them. So, Itadori Yui, why have you come to jujutsu high?”

“I don’t have a choice. I was told that curses would be attracted to everyone I knew because of the finger. My grandfather asked me to help people, and I want to protect them!” Yui shouted.

“And if you die, will you curse your grandfather and your fellow sorcerers? A sorcerer is no stranger to death, whether it’s them, their comrades, or just casualties. They die without regrets.”  Yaga’s fingers twitched  and the green bear charged forward with a punch. Yui wasn’t sure because of the pain, but she was pretty certain plush toys were supposed to be soft and not able make a head feel like it’d been knocked into next Tuesday. Without pause it came in for another attack, grazing Yui’s cheek as she tilted her head and bent back to avoid another hit. She heard the wall it hit crack with the force.

“What is that thing?” She asked panickedly.

“This is a cursed corpse. By imbuing it with my cursed energy, I can make it do as I wish. I find that a crisis inspires the truth out of people.” Yui blocked a kick with her arm, hissing at the force.

“Can we just not fight?” She asked, “I don’t want anything to break.”

“Then you better come up with a satisfactory answer. Why are you here?” He sicced the bear on Yui again, its attacks unrelenting. Yui dodged and blocked as she could. Was it not enough to want to learn to be a student? What did Yui expect to do after school? Before, she assumed she’d be a nurse or a doctor, use that knowledge to give care to tsu oba-chan and ojichan. She’d wanted to help people, her loved ones. And now that was impossible. Yui stumbled back as the bear landed another kick from its bouncing off the walls. The heat of anger warmed Yui’s stomach. She’d had enough of this stupid thing. She suprised it by tackle, grabbing its limbs and pinning them so it couldn’t move.

“You think i’m expecting special treatment here because I ate some crusty old finger?I don’t know who this stupid curse is and why he’s a big deal. I’m here because eating Sukuna’s curse is something that only I can do. Even if I somehow escaped my death sentence and lived a normal life. Everyday when I cleaned a house, was with friends, or even at karaoke,  I’d know that Sukuna’s fingers were still out there and a danger to everyone. I can’t do that. I don’t know what facing death is like, but I do know I will face it without regrets.” Yui shouted, glaring at the Principal. Yaga gave a small smirk, as if Yui had done a good trick.

“Satoru, ” he said, “make sure the girl is properly settled in and that she knows the security arrangements and rules that are in place. ”

Chapter Text

“Gojo-sensei,” Yui began as they walked back to the dorms.

”yes Itadori-chan?” Gojo responded.

“If Sukuna were to get free and regained his fingers, what would happen?”

“A lot of death. Cities turned to ash in an instant, war, famine, that kind of thing. He’s called king of curses for a reason.” 

“Is that all he wants? ” Yui had a hard time believing the only thing anyone would want to do is destroy. It was very single minded.

“Ryomen Sukuna is a two faced, four armed demon from a thousand years ago. But he was human once. All the records that we have of him claim he was responsible for the deaths of many sorcerers. And that he had some concerning tastes in food.” Gojo’s nose wrinkled disgusted

“Is there any way he could be stopped?”

“Hm,” Gojo tilted his head side to side in thought, “well, if Sukuna were to come back with all 20 fingers, it might be a strain…”

“So sorcerers would be able to stop him?” Yui wasn’t sure why she asking. Did she hope there was someone strong enough? Was she hoping the curse wasn’t as dangerous as she feared? Yui was not expecting Gojo to stop suddenly and stare at her. At least, Yui assumed he was staring at her. She looked behind herself just in case. That blindfold really made it hard to tell where one’s eyes were looking. There were only buildings; nothing too unusual. Gojo was still staring, body disturbingly still and mouth slack in apparent surprise. Yui subtly rubbed her cheek; did she have something on her face? Did those slit eyes open?

“Sensei? Is something wrong?” Yui asked when the man still hadn’t moved after a minute. She sighed in relief when the man twitched.

“Do you really not-, did I not-”words seemed to fail Gojo. A laugh bubbled out of him, turning into maddened giggles. “I never did say! Hahaha, you really don’t know!”

A groundskeeper passing by in the background froze, an expression of panic and fear twitched over their features before spinning on their heel and fleeing as fast as they could while burdened with his tools. The air crackled as the laughter continued: Yui felt like a metal pin about to get caught in a lightning storm.

“Sensei?” Yui quavered. Just as fast as the air had changed it vanished, becoming once more the quiet morning.

“Hehe, oh this is too good. ” Gojo wheezed, wiping an imaginary tear and flashing a smile just too wide to be comforting, “I just had a funny thought. But don’t worry about silly old Sukuna.”

“You speak too arrogantly, sorcerer. ” it is a disconcerting, borderline terrifying to feel a voice other than ones speak from their body, Yui concluded later. It was deep, one that spoke from dark alleys and oozed self confidence that immediately demanded attention.

“For that, once I make this flesh my own, I’ll kill you first!” It continued in a snarl. Yui’s heart pounded unsure what to do. She looked at Gojo for help, but the man was at ease, not concerned in the slightest.

“It is an honor to be targeted by Sukuna. I would say great Sukuna, but you’re looking a little… diminished at the moment,” Gojo teased. A rage Yui recognized as Sukuna swelled fit to burst out, and she slapped a hand over the mouth before it could spout anything more inflammatory. Inside she forced the anger and thus Sukuna down, burying the curse so he couldn’t get out.

“Sorry about him,” Yui said when the rage had dropped to a simmer.

“No need,” Gojo laughed, “it was nice to meet the curse.” He continued,

“By the way, I noticed you hesitate to fight. Why is that?” Yui tensed at the question despite herself. It had been asked innocently enough, but the fact a trait of hers was pointed out made her self conscious.

“Fighting never solved my problems,” Yui frowned as she put her thoughts together. When had she come to that conclusion?

It’d started with a tantrum. Yui wasn’t sure what she’d been so upset about at the time, just that she’d been angry.  She’d screamed, thrown things, and flailed whenOjichan had put a hand on her arm. Ojichan had cried out when that arm struck his face, and that had snapped her out of the tantrum. She felt terrible seeing the bandages, the bruise lingered weeks after that. Then more recently, there’d been the incident with Ozawa’s bullies in middle school. She only wanted them to stop; the bathroom had been closed for two weeks for repairs, which happened to be how long Yui’s suspension had lasted. And everyone walked on eggshells around her after. Fighting only brought unwanted results that couldn’t be fixed.

“Punching doesn’t remove anger or sorrow. And violence only leaves a mess for others to clean up.” Yui said aloud, hands twisting together in anxiety. Gojo’s head tilted like a confused puppy, then he shook his head in disbelief.

“You are a strange one Itadori-chan,” he said. They had reached the common area. The pan of cinnamon rolls was still out, so Gojo swiped another roll.

“Mmm,” Gojo moaned with delight as he took a bite, “Yu-chan, you should just stay here and cook for us! We could just bring Sukuna’s fingers to you and we get free yummy food.” Yui blushed at the compliment.

“I’m happy to make food for everyone, but I can’t just let you guys do all the work. Sukuna’s my problem, so I’ll be the one to gather those fingers.” She said graciously.

“Smart answer,” Gojo licked the last crumbs of sugar off his fingers. He was suddenly looming over Yui. “Sukuna’s fingers have been a pain to find. Sorcerers here have only found 6 in the past thousand years. Each finger is different; some are loud, some are quiet, and some are already in possession of another curse. We never know where they could turn up. But now, we have you.” He tapped Yui’s nose. “The Sukuna in you will want to gather his fingers, and is able to sense when they’re nearby.” Sukuna stirred within Yui, most likely insulted at being described as little more than a tool.

“I don’t control Sukuna. How do you know he’ll work with us?”

“I’m sure we could come to an agreeable arrangement.” Gojo winked he flashed a grin, or Yui assumed there was a wink with those words. Gojo’s phone buzzed, and he pulled it out, his lips thinning in distaste.

“Well,  It looks like I’m being called out since everyone else is useless. Since you guys just completed a mission, it’s a free day; so go do whatever you want.” Gojo gave a lazy wave as he turned and left.

Chapter Text

Yui examined herself in the mirror one last time. She hadn’t been sure when she first saw it, but the red accents on the uniform jacket did look good on her. The red hood gave it a cozier feel, and was so soft! The skirt was also embellished with a red trim along the bottom. It made her red boots not feel out of place.

“Well,” Yui said her reflection, “here we go.”

It was to be a in a class of only 3. Fushiguro was already in his seat when Yui found the classroom. Instead of Gojo sensei at the fron though, it was a  woman, her dark hair streaked with gray  and lined with wrinkles. The woman was writing on the board, Yui recognized the characters as English. Part of the words was the woman’s name was written out as Ms. Kamo. She gave no notice to Yui as the girl took her seat. The clock ticking and the sounds of Ms. Kamo writing were the only sounds. As the minute hand reached the top of the hour racing footsteps came from the hall and the door was found open by Kugisaki .

“I’m here!” She wheezed, bent over with her hands braced on her knees. Ms Kamo paused her writing.

“Kugisaki, there is no reason to shout your presence. We see you are here. Everyone could hear you coming in.” She said flatly, then sniffed. “And the fact there’s only three first years means your absence will be clearly noted. Take your seat please and we will begin.”

Kugisaki did so, teeth gritted so hard Yui could almost hear them creaking.

“Curses and sorcerers are not contained to only Japan. There may come a time that each of you encounter a curse, curse user, or a sorcerer that comes from another country. To be able to understand or communicate with them can be the difference between life and death.” Ms. Kamo began, “that is the goal of this class. To improve your language comprehending skills. Not all jujutsu involves cursed techniques or weapons. Words can kill just as easily.” Ms Kamo launched into her first lesson. They were going to start with English, and branch to other languages from there.  It felt odd to hear a mundane subject being taught with a sorcerer twist. Yui felt like she was learning two languages at once; jujutsu and English.

“Um, Kamo sensei-,” Yui raised a hand.

“Ms. Kamo. We are learning English,” Ms.Kamo corrected.

“Sorry. Ms. Kamo, what is a curse user?” Yui could feel Kugisaki and Fushiguro’s judging stares. she faltered under their gaze. Ms Kamo sniffed.

“A curse user is someone who has cursed energy and uses it for their own purposes, or has broken their Sorceror’s Oath.”

“Oath?”

“When a student becomes fully licensed Sorcerer, they swear an oath to the Clans,  their peers and to Jujutsu itself. I’ve said words have power. By taking the Sorcerer’s Oath, one gains an increase of their cursed abilities, and gains the benefits and aid that the Jujutsu Council can offer. Now in English…”

The words washed over Yui as she pondered the new information. A Sorcerers Oath; Sukuna had made his disgust quite clear, and Yui had to admit it sounded suspicious. Kakashi sensei in Naruto had  said to look underneath the underneath, and ojichan had always been vocal about how controlling authority figures like the government were. Yui had already gained distrust for the higher ups because of her execution date. And Gojo sensei had whined about them also. But words having actual power, it sounded a lot like magic. Could she turn people into rabbits or could she fly if she said the right word? Yui was giddy at the idea.

“Is jujutsu taught in a class?” Yui asked at lunch. So far the first class in the morning had been the only one to even mention jujutsu. And Gojo-sensei hadn’t been the teacher for any of them.

Fushiguro didn’t look up from his food.

“The majority of students here have been learning jujutsu since we could walk. Why would I trust a stranger to know how to train me when it’s a clan technique?” He said around a bite.

“So we don’t have a class for jujutsu?” Yui said woefully. She’d been hoping to hear how people discovered how to use cursed energy. It might help her learn hers.

“We already know how to use our cursed energy and what it is,” Kugisaki scoffed, “the only thing we might need to do is make our techniques stronger, but that’s what gym class is for.”

“But I don’t know how to use my cursed energy yet,” Yui protested.

“Not my problem.”

“Didn’t Gojo tell you when he was going to teach you?” Fushiguro looked up frowning.

“No? He got called away for something when i last talked to him.” Yui frowned thoughtfully. Hopefully he came back soon so she could ask about before their next mission.

Gym class was almost like an open period. There was a coach there to chaperone and lead in stretches, but otherwise what each student did was up to them. Yui followed  Kugisaki and Fushiguro to a door covered in seals. She could faintly hear screams and scraping sounds beyond it.

“What is this place?”

“The school keeps a stock of curses for training purposes. Students are allowed to go in and get practical techniques experience.” Fushiguro knocked on the door. The noises behind the door Increased in volume before a loud voice shouted them into submission. The top half of the door opened to reveal a wiry old man in clothes similar to a bee keepers, but a much heavier material. paper seals hung from the hats brim.

“Who are ya? What d’ya want?” He growled.

“1st year students Fushiguro Megumi, Kugisaki Nobara, and Itadori Yui here to train.” Fushiguro said flatly, jabbing a thumb to indicate each of them.

“Eh?”the man tilted an ear toward them, the  reach up to pull a wad of what looked like cotton from his ear. The man eyed them each critically.

“Oh,students, come on in then. Just watch yourself, The fly heads have been stealing my stuff right and left lately. Keep your hands on anything you don’t want taken, or leave them outside.” He pointed to a box. Kugisaki an fushiguro grimaced, Yui just looked confused.

All the teens left their cell phones; Yui debated leaving the Kanzashi, but she ultimately kept it. Inside smelled of many years of incense and dust. Despite the noise they’d heard outside, the room wasn’t full of monsters or curses like Yui expected. Instead there were shelves of boxes, each one with a paper seal.  Some boxes rattled ominously. Most of the noise was coming from a cloud of flying flapping things whizzing down aisles and between shelves.

“Ew, there’s so many,” kugisaki wrinkled her nose.

“What are they?”

“Fly heads. They pop up around in places where cursed energy leaks. They’re a pest more than an actual threat. Can have a nasty bite though.” The man gestured to his suit. “Not much when it’s just one mind you, but in swarm, it’s a problem.”

Maybe I oughta have you youngsters do a little pest control,” the man continued, “these bones are too slow to really do anything about them. Get rid of ‘em, but don’t break the boxes or you’re gonna fight whatever grade is in there.” The teens groaned at the order, but Kugisaki and Fushiguro dutifully got to work. Yui hung back, watching as Kugisaki flung her nails.

“I said watch it!” The old man squawked as nails went through the tiny curses and thunked into wood. Kugisaki cursed, snatched up a fly head, and pulled out her creepy wooden doll. She then bound the two together.

“Resonance!” She shouted striking it with her hammer. A small group of the fly heads squealed as they popped.

“Hm, better.” The man huffed. He turned to Yui. ”why aren’t ya helping your friends, Vessel?” Yui flinched at the title.

“Yes, I know who you. You’ll be hard pressed to find any curse user here that don’t know what you are. And I’ve given you orders; get to it.” The man snatched a fly head out of the air and threw it at Yui. She caught it, and fumbled to keep it contained. Up close, the name fit it; its oversized head was vaguely fly shaped. it had tiny feathered wings and six stubby limbs scrabbled to get out of Yui’s grip. Otherwise it more looked like a pudgy human baby. She pulled out the kanzashi ready to stab. The fly head squealed terribly, and she saw the fear in its eyes.

“I can’t,” Yui let the hand fall, her grip loosening

The man snorted. “Useless.” He took the fly head back and squeezed. Yui yelped, but could only watch the bits dripped down the man’s  glove.

“They’re curses, girl. Not living creatures. A plague on mankind. And it’s your job to get rid of them. Now get to it.” Yui hastily got as far from the man as she could. The back corner had a huddle of the fly heads, a bunch had ganged up on a smaller one. It made Yui angry.

“Hey leave him alone!” She shouted flailing at them. The attacking fly heads just dodged, gibbering and making faces at Yui before turning back to their victim. Yui was not going to allow this. The kanzashi made quick work of the attackers, and Yui scooped up the injured one. It looked very different from one she’d seen before. Same over sized head, but had a beak instead of teeth. Many limbs but one was missing, a purple liquid oozed from the hole it used to be. Its wings had been plucked bare, and many bruises and lacerationsm. It hissed weakly when she scooped it up, but was either too exhausted or injured to resist.

“I won’t hurt you little guy,” Yui whispered. She didn’t know anything about nursing a curse, but cursed she’d be if she didn’t try. She tore a strip of her shirt as a makeshift bandage and gently tucked it in her pocket. She made her self look busy by swatting a few more with her kanzashi. The pearl glowed with each curse it pierced through and absorbed. Eventually the old man whistled for attention.

“That’s enough. Should be a while before they too bad again ,” he said, taking his veiled hat off. He gave Yui a side glance then shooed them out.

Chapter Text

As soon as Yui was back at the dorms she went to the bathroom where she kept her first aid supplies. Caring for tsu-oba Chan had opened her eyes to what supplies she wanted in an emergency. But how much of that knowledge applied to a curse? They weren’t exactly flesh and blood like a human.  It hadn’t turned into mush yet when she pulled it out, but it was in poor condition. There was very little of it that she could think of as healthy skin, with so many discolored splotches and scratches.  The few ragged feathers its wings had quaked like autumn leaves. One of its bulbous eyes was swollen shut. But the most sever was the bloody stump, which still oozed a noxious purple. Yui pulled out her cotton swabs, disinfectant, along with a pair of small tongs and other things she thought she’d need.

“Ok little guy,” she murmured soothingly, “I’m sorry this is probably going to sting, but it’s the only thing I can make it better.” She doused the cotton in the, and gently started to dab and wipe over the little body. the fly head screeched and  flinched with each wipe, little hands and feet pushing each attempt away. The number of them changed constantly, as if a limb only existed as long as it was needed. But the injured stump was always there.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry” Yui chanted over and over. Eventually, dry blood and dirt was washed and wrapped to the best of her ability. The little fly head looked like a mummy from all the gauze that covered it. The uninjured eye glared tiredly.

“I’m sorry, ok?” Yui complained. The eye still stared, wary and untrusting. Yui sighed and cleaned up. As she put the stained scraps in the bin she was struck with the realization: what would she do now? She rescued and bandaged the thing, but where was it going to stay? Would it stay where she kept it? What did fly heads eat? Did they have bathroom needs?

There was a knock on  Megumi’s door. He ignored it. There was another knock, and Megumi ignored it again, turning up the volume of his music. The third time the knocking went on incessantly. Megumi stalked over to the door and slammed it open. Itadori was on the other side, she jumped. Her hands flew protectively to cradle a scarf she was wearing around her neck.

“What?” He growled. his mind was also trying to figure why the girl was wearing a scarf, inside the dorms, late afternoon, when she hadn’t worn one all day.

“I- I just had a question.” Itadori stammered, “you have those animals that you summon, um, do you have to do any care for them? Like feeding or do they have to go for walks or anything?” Megumi’s mind flashed back to when he first summoned his demon dogs, and giving them treats after killing curses. Or playing fetch with them.

“No. They’re just a tool, nothing more.” Megumi said flatly. He’d realized they only did what they were ordered because that was what they’d been ordered to do. When given none, they were like statues, watching only him. It’d been too unnerving. He’d stopped summoning them for fun after that.

“Oh, ” Itadori deflated slightly. Megumi noted one hand rise up to cradle the scarf. “Um, do you have any pet experience?”

“No.” Megumi shut the door and went back to his bed. If Itadori had snuck a pet, he wanted nothing to do with it.

Yui was in the kitchen again. It was getting close to dinner, and she felt the need to cook. Yui was honest when she’d said she didn’t mind cooking for everyone; she enjoyed it, the process of it therapeutic. The motions of cleaning, chopping and stirring relaxed her mind so it could organize its thoughts. And she got a tasty meal at the end of it. The rice was in the cooker, vegetables had been washed and cut up. She was rolling out meatballs currently.

“Oji-chan liked bigger meatballs, but I prefer them smaller because they cook faster,” Yui told  the little flyhead. She’d tucked it into  a scarf as a means of keeping it close to monitor, and so far the curse was keeping quiet. Almost too quiet. Yui kept peeking in to make sure it hadn’t died.

“Have you ever eaten real food? ” Yui peeked at it again. It blinked at her before turning its head away in deference.

“I doubt that man ever took food in there.” She continued, “ you know, he squished one of you guys with his bare hand. Didn’t stop to think about it. Just…I mean, it’s not your guys’ fault for existing. He said it was leaking cursed energy that makes you guys, so it’s their fault for having those leaks. It’s like having a full food pantry and getting upset there’s  holes that mice can get in!” The meatball Yui had been holding sprayed across the counter with how hard she squeezed. That scream, the squish of the body, the residue dripping. The memory played over and over in her head. With a sharp shake of her head, Yui decided she was done making meat balls now. She turned to start the broth instead.

“Anyway, ” Yui said as she stirred, “I think you need a name. What do you think of Kurama?” Even though that’d been a kitsune, and this fly head didn’t live inside Yui.

“Keroberos?” He’d been an animal mascot to a magical girl. But the name felt too long, and that character had been slightly annoying to Yui, until he’d turned into an actual lion creature.

“Luffy?” Not an animal character, but Yui  liked how cutesy sounded. The fly heads beak clacked annoyedly as Yui looked in to see its opinion, then it curled up tight in on itself. If it couldn’t see the human then the human couldn’t see it. It was almost cute in its defiance, kinda shaped like a… not really a ball, a bell.

“Suzu,” Yui decided, “I’ll call you Suzu.” The fly head twitched, and Yui panicked, worried she’d hurt it some way.

“Are you alright?” She pulled it out of the scarf up to eye level. There was no certain way to tell without unwrapping all the bandages, but the fly head was sitting upright in Yui’s hand wide-eyed, as if it was seeing everything for the first time. Those eyes blinked, then focused on Yui.

“Suzu,” it chirped, its beak working out the sound, “ssuuuzzzzuuuuuu.” The sound was somewhere between a kazoo and a party horn.

“Oh my gosh! You spoke!” Yui gasped. She wasn’t sure what was happening, but this was exciting. “Yes! That’s you, Suzu!”

“Ssssuuuuuuzzuuu, Suzu!” Yui squealed excitedly. It knew its name! She set Suzu on the counter, bouncing excitedly. The little curse wobbled to get its balance and looked up expectantly.

“Yes, yes! What about my name? Can you say ‘Yui’?”

“Suzu!”

“Yui. Yuuu-iii.”

“Suzu!”

“What is going on here?” Yui froze. Suzu, oblivious to the sudden tension in the air, continued squeaking out, “Suzu! Suzu!” Fushiguro stood near the kitchen counter, having wandered in attracted by the smells. He had the expression of someone whose brain was trying hard not to believe what his eyes were seeing.

“Making dinner?”  Yui laughed nervously.

Elsewhere…

The water is red in the lake. Giant ribs rise up to the dark sky,  in the semblance of a cage. Occasionally there’s the plink of water dripping from above into the lake; the echoes reverberate. Piles of bones rise out of the water here and there like small islands, but on the largest and tallest pile, made up of skulls of miscellaneous horned creatures, there is a throne. There is someone sitting in it, lounging with a cheek propped up on a fist. Four eyes stare off into space, or more accurately, stare out from their vessel’s eyes.

“A Name,” Ryomen Sukuna clicked his tongue distastefully, “the thing’s lesser than dirt and she’s given it a Name.” Giving a Name was something done for equals, an acknowledgement of one’s power and abilities. It also was a Binding Vow, one of trust. And the girl had done it on a whim. Sukuna smirked; the fallout of this could be amusing.

Chapter Text

Somehow problems were easier to look at on a full stomach. Megumi now only viewed the talking fly head as an annoyance, not a world ending phenomena.  Nobara currently had it chasing a meatball she’d stabbed onto a chopstick. It had an odd hopping gait due to its missing leg, almost like a caterpillar.  It was a sight hard to take eyes off of.

“Suzu!”the curse tensed, shifting its limbs under it. It wiggled its butt, much like a cat does and pounced . The chopstick shifted at the last second, and the curse face planted into the table.  When it didn’t get back up, Yui started to worry.

“You ok Suzu?” Yui poked the curse cautiously.

“Is it dead finally?” Nobara asked blandly. Yui’s probing finger rolled Suzu over so she could see its face. Its eyes were closed, but its chest was moving in regular breaths. A faint buzz of a snore came from it.

“Just asleep, probably knocked itself out.” Yui sighed in relief.

“Shame.” Nobara popped the meatball in her mouth. “So what now, you just gonna keep it?”

Yui looked down at the curse. She wasn’t sure how, but she knew that abandoning or killing the curse was not an option anymore. Giving Suzu its name had felt like something final, the snap of a padlock.

“I gave it a name, that kinda shows I want to, doesn’t it?” Yui said. Nobara’s nose wrinkled.

“I don’t get why you’d even want to , it’s just a fly head. Just know if I find out it in my stuff it’s dead.” Yui nodded in understanding. She tucked the sleeping curse into her scarf, which had been set aside on the table since Suzu wasn’t staying in it.

“What will you do when the adults find it?” Megumi spoke up. It wasn’t a matter of if but when, between them living on campus and Gojo’s Six Eyes.

“I don’t know,” Yui confessed, “but I know I will try to stop them from killing it. I don’t think I can just let it happen.” A cold thought trickled into Megumi head.

“You’re not being coerced by Sukuna are you? You know he is king of curses.” He asked warily.

“I don’t care what Sukuna thinks,” Yui said stiffly, “and he’s been trying to make his mouth appear to bite it. It’s been annoying.” Annoying. The King of curses, whose cursed energy was so dense that just a finger was more volatile than most special grade curses, and Yui called it just annoying.

“Hold up. What do you mean making mouths appear? Like Mr. king of the curses isn’t fully contained in you, and he can just have a mouth that can bite at any time?” Nobara asked aghast.

“No. He’s figured out he can make a mouth appear on my body.”

“That’s disgusting.” Despite sounded grossed out, Nobara’s expression was of idle curiosity. She stabbed another meatball on a stick and waved vaguely near Yui.

“Oi! Sukuna! Here’s a nice tasty treat for you!” She cajoled.

“Stop it!” Yui snapped, slapping the chopstick aside. She wasn’t going to let herself be some sort of side show attraction. And even if she had no fondness for the curse, she recognized he was more than some mindless creature. To treat him otherwise was unthinkable.

“That was stupid to do Kugisaki,” Megumi said, sighing internally in relief. He’d dreaded what the King of Curses would do if he actually decided to react.

“Nothing happened.” Kugisaki grumbled. The three finished their meal in relative quiet.

Suzu woke up as Yui finished cleaning the kitchen from her cooking. It nibbled at the little crumbs of food that had been left out, and chased the rag Yui used to wipe down the counters. It made Yui wonder if the curse even was aware of its injuries. She had her answer when Suzu jumped off the counter, its featherless wings fluttering madly.

“Suzu! You can’t do that!” Yui chastised.

“Suzu?” Suzu’s head craned back to see why its wings hadn’t done what it was supposed to.

“Suzu.” it poked a feather with its beak questioningly.

“Your wings got plucked. You’re gonna have to wait for them to grow back before you fly again.” Suzu blinked and tilted its head, its expression going blank.  A faint tremor shook the curse, its little face turning red in concentration. Suzu’s wings twitched, the skin began to bubble. Before Yui’s eyes, new feathers burst through until the wings were fully covered.

“Suzu,” Suzu sighed, its body slumping in exhaustion. It tiredly twisted around and began to groom the new feathers, making sure each was cleaned and in its rightful position. Yui stared in awe. She felt like she had just witnessed a miracle.

“That’s amazing! They look so soft.” Yui breathed, reaching out, “can I?” Suzu eyed the reaching finger, and peeped an affirmation. Yui cooed; the feathers were indeed soft, like a kittens fluff.

“So soft.” Yui rubbed Suzu’s head affectionately. Suzu puffed up with the compliment and trilled softly, before wincing when Yui found a tender spot.

“Sorry, guess your injuries will take more time huh?”

“Suzu.” Suzu said sadly. It yawned hugely.

“Ah! I bet that took a lot out of you, are you hungry again?”

“Zu,” Suzu blinked sleepily, but nodded. Yui pulled a meatball from the leftovers and placed it in front of the little curse. Suzu snapped it up on a single gulp, it mouth stretching cartoon style to engulf the whole thing. Suzu yawned again, and its eyes looked straight into Yui’s.

“Suzu,” it said solemnly. Yui nodded automatically; she felt like some sort of deal had just been made.

The fly head wasn’t used to consciousness.  it was used to being one of many bodies, greedily devouring any cursed energy they could find, with no thought for where it came from. It had been one of many, and it’d become defective, not strong enough to stay with the rest. And then the human had interfered. The stronger ones had been breaking this flyhead, its energy to be reabsorbed and split between the others, and the human had taken it away. Prevented its siblings from getting stronger, killed them but left the weakest and most damaged one alive. Flyheads don’t know what compassion and charity are; it only knew that the human had taken it away from its nest, its place of birth, and had poked and prodded with stinging smells and hurts, before being wrapped in cloths. And then Suzu had become Suzu, and was aware and learning. Learning to speak,  what was around, and about its Namer. It was human, or human shaped at least, but so much malevolent cursed energy it may have been a curse also. Namer had talked to Suzu and was gentle, things the little flyhead hadn’t experienced before. And Suzu was given food! Flavors and textures had filled Suzu with new stimuli and sated a gnawing pain it hadn’t noticed before. Suzu wanted more. More experiences, more attention from the Namer, more Suzu! But first, Suzu will heal. Then it will show its Namer what it can become.

Chapter Text

Suzu woke up. It was novel, waking up. Suzu remembered times before of closing its eyes for long periods, when its usefulness wasn’t needed. But to sleep meant dreams, when all energy was put toward the mind where and thoughts and memories were explored and learned from.

Suzu had a Name now, and having a name meant being real.

It was dark in this room, but the room Suzu had been born from had been dark also. This one was quieter, peaceful. There weren’t any trapped curses in here, and a sense of disorganized that felt intentional. In her bed, Yui was asleep, blanket tangled around her. Suzu was on a shelf above, in a nest of the scarf Yui had given them. This was unacceptable. They fluttered down onto the bed, giving a soft squeak of pain when its stump leg was jostled. Yui stirred with a hum and rolled over into a more comfortable position. Suzu stayed frozen, waited until Yui settled before  creeping closer. Instincts told Suzu Yui’s cursed energy was a a veritable feast ready to devour. Suzu would grow strong, be so powerful that nothing would be able to stop them! But another part of Suzu, one that had been stirring and getting louder since Suzu was named, that said Yui was theirs, and what was theirs wasn’t supposed to be destroyed or eaten. But surely a little bit wouldn’t be missed?  Suzu was now next to Yui’s pillow, could feel her soft breaths. They had to hobble back when a mouth appeared along Yui’s jaw, snapping at the little flyhead.

“Parasite, ” a deep voice hissed, “you dare try to steal from the King of Curses?”

“Suzu! ”Suzu hissed back. A red eye opened above the mouth, affixed on the little curse. The malice in the air thickened until it became suffocating. Yui stirred again, her expression agitated. The parts vanished along with the tense atmosphere, and Yui’s eyes opened blearily.

“Suzu?” She asked muzzily, “what are you doing?”

“Suzu!”

“Mm. It’s sleep time; come here.” Suzu was scooped up and placed next to Yui on her pillow. She smiled sleepily as the small curse  twisted around, arranging its surrounding to its liking before curling up. While it wasn’t the feast Suzu had hoped, the cursed energy that leaked had to be enough for now.

Suzu was woken again by a loud beeping. Yui groaned and slapped her phone, getting up with a sigh. Suzu popped up from the pillow also, ready for a fight.

“It’s ok Suzu. It’s just my alarm,” Yui said, patting the curse’s head gently.

“zu.”

“Good morning to you too.” Yui began getting ready for the day, being careful about the fly head crawling amongst her stuff.

“No, Suzu you can’t eat my phone.”

“No Suzu, toothpaste is not for eating. And not the hair in my brush.”

“Suzu? Where are you? Ah! Why were you in my shoes! I could’ve squished you on accident!”

Eventually Yui was dressed, and held out her hand to the curse.

“Let’s get some breakfast,” she said. Suzu cheered and crawled up. They then attempted to climb up to Yui’s shoulder, but  was hampered by its missing leg and slipped. Yui scrambled to catch them, and sighed in relief when she did.

“You want up on my shoulder?”

“Suzu!”

“Ok!” From their allotted perch, Suzu flapped their wings excitedly enjoying the breeze as Yui walked.  In the kitchen, Yui was busy pulling out what she needed, like rice and eggs. She noted what they were low on and wrote it on a piece of paper, pinning it to the fridge for later. And got busy. Suzu squeaked appreciatively for the tastes they were able to get. Food was another human thing they enjoyed. Flavors that Suzu had never had before! Curses only tasted of despair, anger, and fear. This food had delicious notes of joy and love, and things Suzu had no name for and was never going to tire of. Too soon, the food was gone, and Suzu was taken back to Yui’s room.

“You gotta have to stay in here while I’m at school, remember? I don’t want you to get killed because I wasn’t there for you.” Yui explained apologetically, “um, there’s some snacks in the drawer next to the bed if you get hungry. Stay safe!”

“Suzu,” Suzu flopped on the bed sulkily.

Chapter Text

Yui was kneeling in the dirt, a spoon for a shovel in her hands. As soon as she’d seen the empty dirt patch outside their dorms, she’d known she was going to put something in them. It needed filling.

”Before the hospital, Ojichan had a huge garden. Tsu oba was jealous of his radishes and persimmons. I liked sneaking in to eat green beans and strawberries.” Yui was telling Suzu, who was also digging in the dirt in imitation. Suzu had a glow up since the first day Yui found them. All their wounds had healed, although its leg was still a stump. It didn’t seem to bother Suzu, so she tried not to worry about it. The little fly head was also growing at an exponential rate. Where it once could fit in the palm of Yui’s hand, Suzu now filled both hands and a little more.  Their vocabulary was only one word still, but Suzu made it work overtime to express their emotions.

It was the first weekend of school. Yui felt like she hadn’t had a full day to herself in years. Between caregiving tsu oba, grandpa’s condition, and school, there’d always been something needing to be done. This was the first time Yui was doing something because she wanted to and had the time.

“Are you gardening?” Nobara asked in disbelief, passing by. She was carrying a mesh bag, a towel, and sandals, obviously heading toward the showers. Yui straightened from her kneeling position with an innocent smile.

“Yeah?”

“With a spoon?” The smile turned sheepish.

“I couldn’t find any proper gardening tools.” Yui admitted. Nobara stared. So intensely Yui started to worry. Then the brunette threw her sandals down was such force to make the ground shudder

“Unbelievable… moved to the city to get away from this…. FUSHIGURO!!” Nobara stomped back into the dorms calling out to their third classmate. Yui looked at Suzu in mild confusion and grimaced that Suzu had a hairy leg sticking out of their beak. When Nobara came back, she had changed into different clothes, ragged jeans and a t-shirt. Megumi followed grumpily behind, still in his sleep wear. She grabbed Yui’s shoulder.

“Come on” Nobara growled, “if you’re  gonna be growing stuff, do it right! Fushiguro get over here and show us where the tools are!” She started dragging Yui across the campus.

“It’s too early for this,” Megumi grumbled, scratching his head with a yawn, but he obediently went.

“Suzu!” Suzu leapt latching onto Yui’s back to not get left behind.

———

“You can’t dig a hole and stick seeds in and expect to grow! You gotta beat the crap out of the ground first!” Nobara snarled, viciously stabbing and turning over dirt with her hoe. “Allows air in, and bring all that good crap up so the stupid seeds can shove it down their pie holes.” Yui hummed in acknowledgment, using her shovel to  dig up earth and turn it over. Suzu ran from each fresh clump  to fresh clump, shoving their whole body in to sift through it for treasure. Megumi sat at the edge of the chaos, pulling up weeds.

“What are you planting anyways?” Nobara paused in her attacks glaring at Yui.

“I have summer squash, tomatoes, and okra. I thought flowers would be pretty, but I think it might be too warm to now, but these vegetables I know I’d use in my cooking.”

“At least you’re not stupid and trying something like roses.”

“Green Bell pepper,” Megumi mumbled.

“Green bell peppers? Why? Those are so nasty! ” Nobara gagged. Megumi ignored her, and continued to pluck up weeds.

“Ah! Actually I know a recipe that uses green bell peppers that’s pretty good!” Yui said excitedly. “Tsu-oba’s son Chuuya had a friend that was from Mexico! And made something called pico, um pico desu, oh  Pico de Gato!” Nobara and Megumi stared blankly.

“Doesn’t gato mean cat? Hows that supposed to make me want to eat green bell pepper?”

“Well, it’s like a salad, but without lettuce,  and you scoop it up with chips. It was kinda spicy and tangy. But you couldn’t taste the green pepper. It actually enhances the other flavors. We ate that whole bowl.” Yui tried to remember the ingredients. There’d been onions, tomatoes, green bell pepper, jalapeno peppers, lime juice… she wondered if the okra did grow, if those could go in it. She remembered Chuuya suggesting natto and the friend had blown up, calling Chuuya a bunch of words she didn’t recognize and saying that it was sacrilege. Tsu oba and swatted and scolded both of them for making such a fuss, and told Yui never to repeat the words the friend had said.

“Stop throwing dirt at me Fushiguro!” Nobara squawked, breaking Yui out of her memory.

“I’m just getting the dirt off these roots,” he said, “not like it’s going to show up on the dirt you already have on you.”

“What. Was. That?” Nobara whirled on Megumi, holding her hoe threateningly. A large clump of dirt flew into her face. Silence fell over the group, Nobara’s face blue screening as she processed what just happened. Even Suzu, who had been poking a snail in its shell, froze as the girl’s pressurized outrage threatened to blow. And from the silence came Yui: “uh oh.”

When adults came running over to investigate the screams and havoc that was happening, they found three mud covered teens, one throttling a second, and the third trying to pull the first off. Garden tools and nails were scattered and thrown everywhere. The hoe had ended upon the roof, and the shovel’s shaft was sticking out of a wall, the blade buried so deep it didn’t show.

The garden did get properly hoed and raked, and the seeds planted into neat rows by the end of the day. Tomatoes, okra, and summer squash. The last row was  miscellaneous items Suzu had offered up; the stick of a lollipop, a gummy worm, and the broken handle of a mug.

“You really care for that thing don’t you?” Nobara noted, sitting with her legs sprawled out and leaning back on her arms as she watches Yui help Suzu pat the dirt down.

“I do,” Yui agreed.

“Why?”

“They’re too cute not to at this point. And I’m curious how else it’ll change. ”

“It’s a fly head, a curse. Can’t change that.”

“Yeah, and?”

“They enjoy killing and destroying anything human related.”

“Maybe that’s all they’ve ever known, or been told that they can do?” Yui shrugged, wiping her forehead, “Just because they’re made that way doesn’t mean that’s all they have to be.” Yui was enjoying the warm glow of having her classmates involved with the gardening.  Nobara wasn’t going to ruin feeling. And Yui vowed never to tell Nobara that it was herself who’d thrown the dirt clod.

Chapter Text

Yui paced back and forth in the room. She wasn’t sure why she’d been escorted here, to this small meeting office. Just that she was supposed to be meeting someone. The clock ticking wasn’t helping any either. Yui distantly wondered what to make to eat that night. There was the pork from yesterday, or she could fry some chicken, oh and she had that ginger sauce!  Her thoughts were interrupted by raised voices.

“This is insane!”

“It’s balancing the powers. Gojo stole what was rightfully ours, it’s only fair we take something that he’s set his freaky eyes on.” The door slid open and Yaga stepped in, his mouth set in a firm scowl. He didn’t look at Yui, but came to stand behind her with his arms folded as others entered. Between the three that came in, the one that stood out to Yui was a man in traditional of loose fitting clothes. He also had yellow hair, although she could see the dark roots that revealed its true color underneath. The way he walked and his expression oozed superiority . The door was shut behind them and the trio stood a little ways from Yui.

“This is Sukuna’s vessel?” The blond man asked.

“This is Itadori Yui, yes,” Yaga said. The mans eyes raked over Yui, and the grin grew  wider when she shuddered.

“Itadori, this Zen’in Naoya, youngest son of the Zen’in clan Head.” Yaga introduced, “the Zen’in have a proposition for you.”

“No need for the pomp and circumstance. I’m taking you as my wife, as soon as the contract can be drawn up. It’d be a waste for all that cursed potential to be trapped in a woman.” Sukuna’s rage sky rocketed, even as Yui blinked owlishly; contract?

“I’m sorry, what?” She managed to say through gritted teeth, straining to keep Sukuna from manifesting on her and trying to wrap her head around what was happening.

“You will belong me. On paper and by vow,” Naoya said condescendingly, “ you have the honor of bringing Sukuna’s legacy into the Zen’in clan.”

“I don’t get a choice in this?” Yui asked looking panickedly at Yaga. Naoya laughed nastily.

“That man has no jurisdiction in clan affairs. He’s only here as a formality. You should be grateful for our generosity. Rejoice, not many outsiders have the privilege of marrying into the clan.  Start making preparations. You will be busy after our wedding.” Naoya left without another word, his two followers with him. Yui sat stunnned in the silence.

“Yaga-sensei-” she croaked, throat tight with anxiety.

“There’s nothing I can do about this,” Yaga said, not looking in her. His fists were clenched. “The Zen’in helped found this school and continue to sponsor it. To act against them would be waging a war we can’t afford.” Yaga cleared his throat.

“What I know of  youngest Zen’in, he is arrogant. He will want to make it as big an affair as he can. That takes time. A week or so soonest.”

Yui was escorted back to her room. Sukuna finally was able to appear.

“you are quite the disappointment, ” his mouth murmured near Yui’s ear, in an eerily calm tone, “to allow that sorcerer to take you as property!”

“ There wasn’t anything I could say back there! It caught me by surprise!”

“You should’ve killed him. Strangled him with his entrails and rip out those eyes  and  ripped out his tongue for his insolence.” Yui shook her head violently.

“And after that? He’s the son of a clan head. And i’m just one girl. There’ll be more people upset about his death than mine.“

“You really are pathetic.” Sukuna’s mouth disappeared.

“At least I try to think of other solutions than killing!” Yui shouted uselessly. She stomped to her bed, grabbed a pillow, and screamed into it.

Someone knocked on the door. Yui bolted upright awake, pillow falling off her face.

“Suzu,” there a soft thump against the door.

“Oi Bubblegum, come get your creep! It’s been staring at the door the past 2 hours.” Nobara called out from the other side.  Yui scrambled out of the bed. She almost fell flat on the floor when her feet tangled in her blanket. Kicking that off she opened the door.

“Suzu!” The adopted flyhead zipped up into Yui’s collar bone, nuzzling into her neck and peeping softly.

“Sorry Suzu,” Yui said nuzzling back.

“Bleh,” Nobara shuddered dramatically at the action, then peered at Yui closer, “you look like crap. You sick?” Yui laughed weakly.

“No,” she sighed wearily, “I… I don’t know how I’m feeling right now.”

“Burn it, whatever it is,” Nobara said sagely, “or stab it. That’s what I’d do when something got me upset.”

“Everything makes you mad though?”

“I have a lot of self control and mercy.” Nobara said nobly. Yui couldn’t help but snort at that.

“Oi, what was that supposed to mean?!” Nobara asked outraged, and Yui couldn’t help it; she started to laugh. Nobara seized Yui’s shirt and shook her.

“Stop laughing! I am a model citizen!” She  shook Yui harder unsuccessfully; Yui was laughing hard enough to bring tears to her eyes now. The noise brought Megumi over to investigate.

“I thought you were going to ask if she was cooking tonight, not being a comedy act,” he commented. Nobara dropped Yui, who curled up on the floor giggling still.

“I was,” Nobara hissed through her teeth, “but she looked so pitiful, I had to do something to make it go away!” Megumi hummed and looked at Yui. She’d sat up from the floor, gasping from her laughter and wiping away tears, but her smile was subdued. Suzu wiped up a tear and licked it thoughtfully.

“I’ll go start cooking then,” Megumi stated.

“No green bell peppers!” Nobara shouted after him.

“So what’s really wrong? Did something happen when the teacher called you back after class?” Nobara pushed Yui back in her room and shut the door behind her. Yui groaned and flopped on her bed.

“I think I’m engaged.”

“What?!” Nobara screamed, and Yui found herself being shaken again. “Engaged? To who? Why? How dare you find a man before me! When’s the wedding?  Is he hot?”

Hot? Yui hadn’t been able to think about it at the time, but she guessed Naoya could be seen as attractive. He was blond, even though that was dyed, and even through the clothes,  she could tell he was no slacker. Not fat clung to that face. He might even match Chris Hemsworth’s physique. But Yui missed all those details with the man’s expressions and attitude. He’d Ignored her as person, belittled her abilities, and is forcing his will on her.

“No,” she answered, “he’s disgusting.” Nobara gasped, eyes gleaming gleefully with this gossip.

“No way, who is he? And how come you’re getting married?”

“His name’s Zen’in Naoya. He’s one of the sons of the clan head…” Yui didn’t know much else or how to bring up the other details of the arrangement. What if this was normal for sorcerers, this wholesale of human beings and Nobara would make fun of her for it?

“Zen’in? That’s a huge jujutsu clan! One of the oldest in fact! As old as the Gojo clan too.”

“Gojo? Like Gojo sensei?”

“I forget you used to be a normie. Yeah gojo sensei’s one of them. He’s the clan head actually, since he’s the strongest sorcerer of the age.”

“What?!” Yui sat up to gape at Nobara. The memory of when she last saw him, laughing when she’d asked if Sukuna could be stopped replaying in her mind. Her cheeks burned , but how was she supposed to know?  Nobody had said anything, until now.

“But when’s the big day? And what do I need to be looking for a dress or is this a traditional style wedding?” Nobara brought Yui back to reality.

“I don’t know,” Yui admitted “Zen’in san only seemed to want to make sure we were engaged immediately.” Nobara frowned, her eyebrows furrowing as the exciting wedding plans she was envisioning wasn’t being matched by Yui.

“Why you anyways? Did he know of you before?”

“I only just met him today. And he’s only interested in me because… because I’m Sukuna’s vessel.” An understanding dawned in Nobara’s eyes and she grimaced.

“Men. They’re all the same,” she snorted disdainfully, “they only care about a woman they can show off. Marry him, then make his death an accident so you can steal his money.” Yui choked on a laugh.

“Come on. Let’s go make sure Fushiguro didn’t burn down the dorms. ”

Suzu snored. It wasn’t obonoxious, a soft buzz that matched Suzu’s inhales and paused with their exhales. They also hogged the pillow, so Yui tried using another pillow. Suzu woke, gave a wounded look at being alone, moved over and then took over that one too. Yui usually fell asleep first and never consciously noticed these funny antics, but tonight the prospects of the future were keeping her awake. She was engaged, to a man she’d barely met, just like one of her manhwas! But the feeling tasted bitter; the man’s scornful expression and dismissive behavior had Yui’s stomach tying knots in anxiety.

“It’d be a waste for all that cursed potential to be trapped in a woman.” What was that supposed to mean?! Was Naoya referring to how Yui didn’t want to fight? Or did he think she couldn’t be a strong sorcerer at all, because she was a woman?

“.. have the honor of bringing Sukuna’s legacy into the Zen’in clan.” Yui’s face burned bright red in the dark and her hands dropped to her stomach. Or was it that kind of arrangement? Yui’s read those kinds of stories. Where the woman only existed to bring forth an heir and a legacy. So this wasn’t to be a romantic thing like the stories made arranged marriages sound; this felt more death sentence. Worse than the one of being Sukuna’s vessel, because a marriage involved vows. And if words can have power, could something like vows have power too? Yui’s mouth went dry.

“Sukuna,” She breathed, cleared her throat and repeated in a low voice, “Sukuna.” There was no response, but Yue heard Suzu twitch in discomfort as the air shifted into something more dangerous. She had the curse’s attention.

“Do things like promises or vows have power in jujutsu?” Yui asked.

“What is the purpose of your asking?” There was a familiar twitch as Sukuna’s mouth opened on her cheek.

“Because I have no one else I can ask. The other adult sorcerers here barely tolerate me, Nobara was too excited to take it seriously, and I don’t know when Gojo sensei’s getting back. You are literally my last resort, or are you going to be just like everyone else?” Yui’s fist pounded the mattress as she frowned at the ceiling.

“Suzu,” Suzu’s head rose sleepily.

“Sorry Suzu, It’s just me. Go back to sleep.” Yui stroked Suzu’s head apologetically. The curse yawned and gave a soft sigh as it fell asleep again.

“If I were to answer your question, what would I be given in exchange? I do not give freely.” Yui gulped; what could she offer the King of Curses? If promises and vows had power like she was fearing, this could be a trap.

“Food. It’s been 1000 years since you’ve had a meal right? And Japan has access to foods now that didn’t exist back in the Heian era.”

“You are offering to be my cook?” Yui’s mouth opened to accept automatically, then paused. That had sounded odd, the wording very deliberate. There was also a tingle under her skin; goose bumps ought to be prickling her arms but weren’t. Senses blared for caution.

“I’m willing to make one dish for each question answered,” Yui said slowly, then added “and it has to be truth, not a load of bull.”

“Such a tedious demand,” Sukuna clicked his tongue annoyed, “very well. I will answer a question for every dish I am given and find satisfactory.”

“Ok?” Doing that shouldn’t be too difficult right? There was a twinge within her, a metaphorical brand burning into her soul. “Oh.” Yui breathed, eyes widening.

“Oh? And what has inspired this ‘oh?’” Yui didn’t answer immediately, examining the sensation within her. It was a warmth, but not the warmth of sitting under a kotatsu or drinking hot cocoa might bring, but more the warmth of a fresh blister, painful and impossible to ignore.

“I think I understand now,” Yui mumured, mentally prodding the thing. She imagined a sizzle, the promise had been sparked with her question and was expecting for it to continue as dictated.  “but what were you going to say?”

“I believe I’m supposed to be given something first. 2 now in fact.”

“What, right now?”

“ 3 dishes. I will not do my part until I receive my gift.”

“It’s 1 in the morning! The kitchen is closed!”

“Then you receive no answer.” Sukuna’s mouth disappeared, leaving Yui fuming. Didn’t they have a deal that he’d answer? How dare he… they’d never specified when she’d receive an answer, or what kind of questions the deal applied to.  He’d switched the wording from she’d said too. Well she had gotten an answer already, so Sukuna can wait until morning for his food. Yui turned onto her side to get comfortable. She turned over to the other side, then lay on her back and groaned softly.

“Are promises like this always this annoying?” She asked the air in general. She also ought to think of calling these something more special than just promises. Pinky promises?

There was no response other than the incessant compulsion telling her she needed to cook something.

“Fine!” Yui gave up on sleep and stomped toward the kitchen.

Chapter Text

“Unsatisfying.”

“We’ve tried 10 things so far. You gotta like something sooner or later,” Yui groaned into the counter. She was regretting making the deal with Sukuna already. “Why are you being so difficult?”

“That’s five dishes now. I’ll only consider your part done when I get something actually palatable.” Sukuna’s mouth on her palm stated. It was five in the morning, and Yui had been unable to sleep all night because to this deal. Yui yawned hugely; she ought to think of her own breakfast soon. Since she was so early, she could make something that took time. Like pancakes… and bacon! She started pulling out ingredients.

“Cooking?”

“I got to eat something for breakfast,” Yui said, “and since I’ve got time before I have to get ready, I might as well make something I’ll enjoy. I’ll make some for you too.” She made the mouth disappear but could still feel Sukuna attentively watching as she warmed the pan and placed in the slices of bacon. Pancakes had been a fun breakfast tradition Yui remembered of spending night at Tsu oba-chan’s. On those days Oji-chan had to work overnights. Tsu oba-chan would top them with strawberries and whip cream, and then Chuuya would dab some of the whip cream on Yui’s nose to make her squeal. Too bad there weren’t any strawberries today.

“Suzu.” The sleepy fly head waddled into the kitchen. They’d woken and panicked to not see their human next to them, then smelled the cooking bacon. They came to a stop in front of Yui and glowered up at her.

“Good morning Suzu,” Yui said, transferring cooked bacon to a plate and adding more into the pan. She might as well cook bulk.

“Suzu,” the flyhead stated and a sat back on their haunches and reached up.

“I’m a little busy bud. You have wings, get up here yourself.” Suzu huffed and  fluttered up to the counter. They caught sight of the heap of crispy bacon and made beeline for it.

“If that thing has a taste before I do, there will be consequences,” Sukuna warned, the atmosphere becoming suffocating .

“Fine, fine.” Suzu squawked in protest when picked up and Yui’s other hand reached for the plate. Sukuna’s mouth appeared on it and eagerly crunched up the crispy meat. It was not a pleasant sensation, feeling food being dragged inside a hand mouth. Yui longed to scratch at it like an itch, but she resisted.

“More,” Sukuna demanded.

“I’ve got more in the frying pan, you can have those and that’s it. I need some for Fushiguro and Kugisaki.” Suzu squeaked petulantly as Sukuna ate the second batch of bacon and only quieted when they were given an allotment from the third.  Yui felt like Tsu oba-chan now, appeasing and scolding two whiny children. She was only 16! once all the bacon was cooked, Yui poured the grease into a bowl, and poured on pancake batter. She could use the grease to cook the pancakes and give them a crispy edge while staying soft and fluffy in the middle. When the edges of the batter started looking cooked, Yui flipped it, and hummed approvingly that it was a golden brown. After finishing their bacon strip, Suzu peeked at the cooking pancake curiously.  Sukuna growled warningly.

“Mine, pest.” He hissed from the back of Yui’s hand. The flyhead hissed back defiantly. Yui sighed internally. Gluttons, both of them. What was she, their mom- the flipper froze just before it could pick up the cooking pancake.  She was getting married. To the son of the head of the Zen’in clan. The anxieties and  fears of the previous night came back and Yui’s breathing became ragged. How soon? How soon was that fate going to be sealed? To forever be bound a man that saw her as no more than a prize?

The acrid smell of burnt pancake and plastics hit her nose and Yui yelped at the now charred remains of the pancake and the flipper that had now melted itself to the pan.

“Ah! No!!” She swiftly put the pan in the sink and filled it with water to soak and not set off the smoke alarms. Hopefully there was another pan she could use. Maybe behind these pots?

“What are you doing?” Yui squeaked and hit her head, and came out from the cupboards to find Nobara looking bemusedly at the pan in the sink, then over at the other stuff sitting out.

“Making breakfast? I’m planning for you guys to have some too.” She said sheepishly. Nobara looked over the cook ware again.

“Stop burning crap. That smell disturbed my beauty sleep,” she grumbled, heading back to her room. Yui found another skillet and went back to making pancakes.  She let the repetitive action of pouring, waiting, and flipping fill her mind until she was out of batter. She surveyed the pile.

“Do I need to make more?” She murmured to herself, calculating portions.

“Yes,” Sukuna butt in.

“I wasn’t asking. There’s about 24 I can maybe give you 6 anyways.”

“That is insufficient!”

“You don’t even have a stomach!”

“Suzu!”

“Yes, you get one too Suzu, I promise.” Yui stacked 6 of the larger pancakes for Sukuna, two for her, and the smallest coin sized one for Suzu. She put butter and syrup on them and then picked up her knife and fork.

“Why are you cutting it up?”

“To make them bite sized.”

“I do not need this coddling!”

“I’m not coddling, I’m saving myself from a messy clean up!”

“Food isn’t satisfying if it isn’t a challenge!” Bet. Yui set the hand that had Sukuna’s mouth on it to the side of his plate, just out of his reach and picked up her fork.

“What are you doing? Feed it to me!”

“You said eating wasn’t satisfying without a challenge, so here’s your challenge.” She took a bite of her pancake and hummed happily. Suzu was also making happy noises eating their pancake.

“You’re gonna need a bath after this,” Yui sighed watching Suzu crawl through the syrup puddles to eat. Sukuna growled in frustration. She flinched when one of the slits under her eyes opened, but otherwise she didn’t react as the mouth on her hand extended a tongue that split in two to wrap around pieces of pancake and bring it back into its mouth.  She considered twitching her hand to agitate the curse, but ultimately decided against it. This was meant to be as part of her side of their deal. Yui also wanted to ask what Sukuna thought of the pancakes, but after all the fuss he’d raised over the last foods she’d tried giving him,  the quiet was a nice change. She went back to eating her pancakes and bacon in a contemplative silence.

Sukuna disappeared without a word after finishing, and Yui sighed. That’d been two dishes Sukuna had hopefully liked, if the fact he finished them was any indicator. Maybe it was the fact she’d been trying packaged snacks before that was the issue. She mentally nudged the part she could the promise had written itself. It flared slightly, indicating a question had been asked, prodding  her to deliver a food, but she also had the sense Sukuna owed her an answer now also. That was nice to know. She cleaned up the dishes and then Suzu, who was covered in drying syrup. She tucked the remaining the pancakes and bacon into the oven to keep warm, then went to get ready for school. Yui hoped today was a simple one, she was exhausted.

Mission report 

July 10 2018

West Tokyo city, Eishuu Juvenile Detention Center

A potential Special grade curse womb appeared in the sky over outdoors yard. It was witnessed by Windows and non jujutsu sorcerers. Due to the danger it posed, three first year sorcerers were sent to do emergency evacuation and evaluation. It hatched while the sorcerers were on site. Among the casualties inside were five inmates and one of the first year sorcerers. The other two first years were the only survivors.

Chapter Text

“If the people caught up in a curse’s attack don’t matter, why did you bother saving me?!”

Her hand, her hand it was gone gone gone. Tsu oba’s Kanzashi broken, she broke it failure failure failure. Ignore the pain. Dodge. Move!

“Fushiguro! Go find Kugisaki; get out and then I’m going to let Sukuna out! It’s the only way some of us might survive!”

Deep laughter echoed all around, in her head, in her ears, coming out her mouth. She wanted to join it, wanted to drown out the fear and despair she felt just seconds ago.

Drunk on the high of the curse being eviscerated so easily, she/he there was so much they could do!

Fushiguro’s white shocked face staring at her. The rain was cold on her skin.  A dull ache in her chest to match her guilt.

“I don’t have a noble reason for saving you. It was purely a selfish and emotional one.”

“Funny; that’s the same reason I saved Suzu.”

“Sorry Fushiguro. Live well please.” Darkness

———

“Stay here and be good ok? I’ll be back soon.” That what human Yui had promised. Suzu didn’t like these moments when Yui had to go places they couldn’t follow. But Suzu would be good and wait, because a sad Yui made Suzu feel guilty.  Guilt had a bitter sour taste, and had a tendency to linger. Suzu preferred the happy, pleased flavors when Yui came back and gave them attention.

So Suzu was here, hiding in Yui’s bedroom, gnawing on a pair of crocs for entertainment. It made a fun popping sound when Suzu’s beak pierced through the rubber. They had just chewed the toe off when their whole being erupted in pain. They screamed, their form blurring as the pain overwhelmed every sense of self. The bond that had been woven between the curse and its human was breaking and it threatened to break Suzu.

“Suzu!” Suzu refused.

Cursed energy is made from negative human emotions. Curses form from the  cursed energy that comes from these humans.  Their appearances tend to  be crude reflections of their creators. Human eyes, human hands, human mouths. always carrying a mark of humanity on them, and the stronger they get more human like they become. Suzu was an anomaly, with their bird like beak and many stubby limbs. They’d been meant to be exterminated, broken down into its base cursed energy, but Yui had interfered. Rescued Suzu. Because of this interference and the bond that was created meant the little curses evolution was to be unusual.

Suzu staggered up onto trembling limbs, not caring for the pain, not caring for their body threatening to dissolve and fall apart on them. Their human needed Suzu to pull themself together. Hook like claws flexed as they wobbled to grip the floor. What was once the stump of a leg  shifted to better act as a counter balance. Their steps were shaky, legs too slow, Suzu needed more! wings and feathers, grow grow grow! Yui’s window shattered as Suzu flung themself at it. They needed to get to their hurt and most likely dying human.

Chapter Text

“You are pathetically weak.”

“This place is depressing.” Sukuna’s mind, Yui was discovering, was a still red lake, with bone islands rising out of it. The sky above them were giant ribs attached to a spine. The ribs pierced the ground to form a rudimentary cage. Yui would’ve thought there’d be something grander in the mind of a king who revelled in slaughter, but no, just bones on still water. Yui herself was currently sitting on a large bovine skull to keep out of the damp that pervaded the whole floor. Sukuna himself was seated in a throne like chair atop a mountain of skulls; It was impossible to tell where one had been removed. Yui tapped the horns of her seat consideringly.

“I think… we were set up for failure on that mission,” she said slowly. The figure on top of the throne was silent, his four red eyes stared impassively. Sukuna was also unlike Yui had pictured; no four arms, no monstrous features she could see. He looked almost human, except the four eyes and the black markings on his face that gave an inhuman impression.   

“We were just supposed to check that cursed wombs status; no one mentioned it was close to hatching,” she continued, finger tracing the horn’s shape. “And that curse had one of your fingers… we weren’t told that would be there either.”

“Do you think I care?” Sukuna drawled, leaning lazily in his chair. Yui gave a soft sigh and glanced sidelong at the curse.

“No. I’m trying to understand why this happened. Why three first year students sent out to deal with something potentially special grade? No, that’s not a question for you, don’t you dare take it.” Yui pointed an accusing finger at the curse who’d straightened in his chair, then slouched again.

“I ought to remove that arm for your disrespect,” he growled.

“Shut up, I’m thinking.” Three first years vs a special grade, why was it so critical that it was them to go and check and not someone more qualified? The only reason Yui could think of was because of her. Sukuna’s vessel that everyone wanted either dead or under their thumb. She shuddered to think of Naoya and what he may have planned. But why were Fushiguro and Kugisaki brought into it also? Did those higher ups hate her that much they were willing to sacrifice their own to get rid of her? All because of the curse she’d been burdened with? It wasn’t fair. None of this was fair. She hadn’t chosen to be Sukuna’s host! The horn under her hand cracked as she tightened her grip.

Sukuna was bored. That “special grade” curse had been too dull, the brat had interrupted his fight with Fushiguro just as it was getting interesting, and now, here in his realm, the brat only sat and refused to look at him. He watched bemused when she’d taken the skull, wondering if it was part of a scheme, but no, the girl had only taken it to sit out of the water. It rubbed him the wrong way how she ignored him, that she wasn’t acknowledging his part in all this. Sukuna hated being ignored, but he waited for the girl to act first. Then the crack of bone echoed in the domain. He watched the  brat’s shoulders shake, her body so stiff trying to keep the simmering rage contained.

“I don’t remember giving you permission to break what is mine.” Sukuna couldn’t care less about the skull, but he wanted attention. The glare sent his way with made him grin. Finally the kid was angry. Now they could fight.

“I’m done with them.” The brat growled softly.

“What?” Sukuna blinked.

“I’m done. I quit. I don’t want anything to do with sorcerers anymore!” Yui stood up on her seat and stomped her foot , crushing the skull. She fell into the water with a curse.

“Oh? You’ve figured out the little sorcerers were scheming?” Sukuna grinned. If she hated sorcerers now He could work with it; sorcerers were just pests after all.

“Yeah I did. I don’t care about your stupid imminent return. I’m glad I died before they could turn me into one of them, and I’m glad I don’t have to eat your stupid fingers anymore.”  No no no! This wasn’t how it was supposed to go! She was supposed to be angry at him! Be begging to go back. He still so much to do to this era!

“You’re not dead yet you know,” Sukuna felt the need to point out.

“You mean you failed to actually kill me? Ripping out a heart felt pretty final.”  Sukuna leapt down and was in Yui’s face. “You still don’t seem to understand your position in this situation. Watch you words or-”  He was cut off by a swift knee into his groin.

“That’s for killing me,” she murmured, “and I don’t enjoy my body being used for your sadistic pleasures.”

Sukuna sank to his knees, air whistling through his gritted teeth, one hand bracing the ground. Deep laughter reverberated around the chamber.

“I see. You were just waiting for your moment.” He sprang back up in an attack; Yui raised her arm to block and was sent flying back into a rib pillar.

“Where’d that fighting spirit go? Where’s that bloodlust and outrage? ,”Sukuna shouted, already on her again with more attacks. Yui’s arms were braced as she stoically took the punches, teeth gritted. She was tired; she just wanted give up.

“Your strong hime; go help others. Don’t be like me.” That’s right, she still had her grandfathers words to live up to. She aimed a kick to Sukuna’s groin. It was caught.

“There it is,” Sukuna crowed and easily dodged the fist that followed. He cackled blocking a dodging all the while Yui tried to advance with her punches and kicks. In the end, he caught the back of her uniform and threw her off the top of the spine. Yui fell with a scream, landing face first in the water below. As she pushed herself up to cough out the water, Sukuna landed feet first on her back. When she’d gotten back up on her hands and knees out, Sukuna sat in her back. Yui rolled out with a shrill growl. The curse didn’t fall, smoothly standing up.

“Don’t you dare treat me like a piece of furniture.” Yui spat.

“You’re not dead yet,” he repeated nonchalantly, “and I have a proposition for you. I bring you back to life and in exchange is two parts: one, when I say ‘enchain’ you will give me control for 1 minute. Two, you will forget we had this conversation.”

“No.” It was said on instinct. Every part of Yui’s being revolted against the idea of a ma- the king of curses using her without her knowing. Who knew what kind of damage he’d accomplish in that small time and leave her with the consequences? Sukuna gave  an exasperated groan and rolled his eyes.

“I’ll even add the condition that I won’t hurt anyone if that puts your mind at ease.”

“No it absolutely doesn’t! Why should even trust you to keep your word?” Yui twitched from the question sparking in her soul, but she was learning. Don’t make open ended  deals with the one who basically was the devil.

“I have been remiss on fulfilling my part of our little arrangement haven’t I?” Sukuna mused, “perhaps now is the perfect time.”

“You had asked whether promises or vows were utilized in jujutsu. The layman’s answer is yes, but you already seem to understand that.”

“It’s like a pinky promise tied to your soul or whatever, and it’s an itch I can’t physically scratch.” Yui calmed down and nodded along. She looked back at the sound of a slap. The curse had face palmed, fingers now kneading his brow.

“… ought to kill them for such an imbecilic vessel.” She heard muttered. He cast a long suffering look at Yui. “They are called binding vows, or geas; not that childish name.”

“Oh. Well no one told me before,” Yui said defensively. She thought pinky promises sounded better.

“I will be generous brat, because I’m also explaining how they work. I expect an adequate reward,” Sukuna continued, “Geas or binding vows are contracts sealed to our souls with eachother’s cursed energy. And there will be dire consequences if either of us breaks it.”

“Oh.” So far that made sense as far as anything else jujutsu was concerned, which was almost none. But she knew one thing about the curse.

“I’m not taking your deal. send me back, and I’d be willing to let you have control to eat the food I give you. And I won’t tell anyone about this deal either.” Sukuna hummed thoughtfully.

“I’ll tell you what…”

As Yui’s presence disappeared from Sukuna’s realm, the ancient curse gave a groan of boredom and sent a dismantle at the spine ceiling above him. Like always, when the dust cleared, the spine  was still whole even as the bits that broke off plopped into the water. What an irritating human, so naive and cowardly. Wanting to run away from the sorcerers just because they plotted her death. And her counter offer to his price for bringing her back; disgusting. There was no such thing as ‘compromise’ in Sukuna’s vocabulary. It was eat or be eaten. Strength was the only pure force that mattered. The brats offerings weren’t awful, when she wasn’t shoving that awful packaged things not fit to be called food. It was her only redeeming quality.

Chapter Text

Being a sorcerer was a thankless job. Ijichi Kiyotaka knew this, and knew he didn’t have what it takes to be on the front lines and stay alive. So he made sure he was useful in other ways so no one suspected his loyalties. Chauffeuring sorcerers to their missions, liaisoning between clans, and overall doing the small tedious jobs to make him not stand out but always reliable.  He had thought being a chaperone for three first years on a rescue mission would be a simple job. And now  here he was standing with Gojo in the institution’s morgue as they waited for the autopsy and dissection of a dead student to begin.

“I told them they wouldn’t be able fight the curse,” Ijichi quavered. “But they didn’t listen!” Gojo snorted derisively. The man truly didn’t understand what being a sorcerer meant.

“The first years were set up from the start,” Gojo said dully, “sending three first years to a to a special grade site to rescue people who may have already been dead should’ve been out of the question. The true target was me.  Even though I was able to delay Itadori Yui’s execution, some of those higher weren’t happy with that. The other two students dying would’ve just been more harassment for me. And those old farts made sure I was swamped with missions and clan responsibilities these past few weeks. What a pain, maybe I should just kill them all.” Ijichi choked, recalling that he’d chauffeured gojo to one of those missions. Was the strongest sorcerer going to hold him complicit in this scheme? The door slid open behind them.

“I haven’t heard you make that threat in a few weeks, Satoru,” the new person said, her heeled shoes clacking on the tile floor. Ijichi turned eagerly toward her for aid and distraction.

“Always a pleasure to see you Ieri Shoko!” He said frantically and a bowed. The woman ignored him, heading to the covered body on the slab. She lifted the sheet, face blank, then looked back at her companions.

“Was this one special because they were Sukuna’s vessel?” She teased.

“Hey, I’m just a nice guy who cares for his students,” Satoru said mildly.

Ieri hummed. “And do you really need to torment Ijichi so? He does put himself between us and the higher ups.” Ijichi blushed, swelling slightly from the praise.

“I don’t care.” Satoru’s careless response brought him back to earth.  Shoko hummed indifferent and focused on the body before her again. Young woman, pink hair, great big hole in the chest.

“let’s get started then.”

The path of a sorcerer was forever paved in blood, Satoru thought. Blood of curses, the blood of victims, the blood of sacrifices. And those sacrifices were only to keep higher ups in their positions of power. Nothing noble or heroic about them. And Itadori Yui was just their latest victim. And all of this just to spite him, the Honored One, the Strongest Sorcerer of the age.

“Su…zu. Su…zu,” a small voice echoed in the halls, slowly getting closer. Satoru’s six eyes snapped to its source immediately.

“Uh oh,”Satoru lilted softly, “we have an intruder.”

“What do you mean?”Shoko asked warily. Satoru had a tendency to understate the danger of a situation. It could range from a cat to a special grade curse. The door rattled  faintly as something tiny thumped against it. Satoru stood up, walked over the door and opened it.

“Su…zu,” the thing resembled a feather duster caught in a tornado as it tumbled in. Ragged brown feathers stood up in all different directions. It looked and sounded exhausted, its big round eyes blearily blinked as it took in the occupants. Its Wings dragged on the ground and its body shook with the effort of staying upright.

“How curious,” Satoru’s head tilted like a cat. Beyond the physical state, six eyes revealed its true condition. Satoru was impressed it’d survived getting into the building with its very being and energy threatening to unravel. He was tempted to poke it; would it pop like a bubble?

“Su…”Ijichis hand twitched as it took a wobbly step forward before falling onto its face.

“Zuuuuuu…” it wheezed and went still. Feathers quivered with each shallow breath.

“What is that?” Shoko walked closer for a better look.

“I don’t know!” Satoru said cheerfully. What a nice distraction from current events. “Hand me one of your thingies.” Shoko frowned at the demand and the hand waving at her.

“It’s a - shouldn’t we just destroy it?” Ijichi stuttered, “it’s a curse.”

“It’s not,” Satoru sing songed, hand still outstretched for Shoko, “there’s more to it.” Satoru recognized the pattern of the cursed energy residing within it. But was it something Yui had done, or Sukuna? He knows he didn’t teach Yui to do something like this, and Sukuna strikes him as too proud to make something so weak. Shoko placed something flat and wooden in Satorus hand, a tongue depressor he guessed, thumb sliding over it. That was an irritating thing about Six Eyes. It could see far and wide in 4k hi def, but at the cost of sensory overload that even reversed curse technique couldn’t fully erase. Hence he wore the blind fold to limit sensory input. The stick was making Satoru  wish he had a popsicle right now but first, experiment. He poked the bedraggled thing. It hissed,- the sound muffled because its face was pressed into the floor.

“Going to die on us already?” Satoru teased,   poking again, “but you just got here.” The cursed energy within the creature coalesced, the frayed edges  smoothing over in its renewed determination.

“Su…zu,” it growled, turning its head to glare with one unfocused eye. It bit and latched on the tongue depressor with many small claws. Satoru giggled; Shoko had the mental image of a dragon dangling a toy in front of a kitten.

“You have fun with that,” Shoko lost interest and turned away, trusting that Satoru at least would contain the thing if not destroy it. She has a body to work… HAD  a body to work on. It was now sitting up, holding their head. No chest hole in sight.

“Well that’s something I don’t see everyday,”  she muttered.

“My clothes… where are-?,” Yui asked herself confusedly. She caught sight of Shoko and froze.  Her eyes slid to Ijichi, then Gojo and the fluffy thing. Her eyes widened and she leapt up from the table.

“Suzu! Don’t you hurt them!”

Ijichi screamed.

Chapter Text

It took a few minutes for everyone to settle down. Yui had jumped down from her table to rescue Suzu, hugging the little curse to herself protectively while glaring daggers and yelling threats of violence. Suzu gained a liveliness previously unseen by the sorcerers, flapping wings and screaming happily. Ijichi screamed fearfully at the sudden aliveness of everything. Satoru threw his head back and laughed at the absurdity of events happening in front of him. Shoko sighed and went to find some clothes.

“Ijichi, shut up,” Satoru flicked the screaming man’s ear. Ijichi did stop screaming instead devolving into a tea kettle kind of whine of pain.

“Welcome back, Yui.” The teens defensive posture relaxed slightly in confusion, and then  she reddened in embarrassed realization.

“Here, put these on.” A bundle of clothes tapped Yui’s shoulder.  Yui turned to look at the speaker, and blinked at a tall brunette she didn’t recognize.

“Oh, thank you,” she mumbled, taking it.

“And you two! Get out, let a woman have her privacy!” Shoko snapped at the two men. Satoru tried to protest, but Shoko pushed the man out before he could. Ijichi skittered out with no need of a second warning.

“Um, where am I, and who are you?” Yui asked when the door closed behind the men.

“Ieri Shoko, the doctor and mortician for the sorcerers. You were supposed to be my latest body to use and dispose.” It was all said in a tone that implied Yui’s change of status was more an annoyance than a miracle.

“Oh, sorry.” She turned her attention to the clothes; it was a set of scrubs, but no bra. Not that Yui had a chest that demanded the need of one, but the lack of it was discomfiting.

“Suzu.” A small foot pawed at Yui’s arm for attention.

“And you Suzu! What happened to you? Youre all covered in feathers now!” Yui exclaimed lifting Suzu above her head. The little curse wriggled and flapped three sets of wings; one tiny set where ears might go, a large pair on their back, and a smaller set just below that on. All of them outstretched which gave the vague impression of an extremely large birdy moth. And so many fluffy feathers Suzu’s legs could barely be seen.

“Suzu!” Suzu cried cheerfully, its front feet waved energetically, happy to see their human alive. And Yui was relieved that other than the change of appearance, Suzu seemed healthy and fine.

“Is your thing going to behave when the guys come back in?” Shoko asked

“I can ask,” Yui admitted. Suzu huffed grumpily when she did, but nodded.

“So whatcha got there Yu-chan?” Satoru commented about the beast when he came back in with Ijichi. Yui hugged Suzu tight to her chest, ready to defend them, even if it meant her life again. Even if she still had no clue how to wield cursed energy.

“Suzu’s my friend,” she said coolly, “and they haven’t hurt anyone. Please don’t exorcise them.” Ijichi whimpered but Yui’s attention was locked on Satoru. The man looked relaxed, but she didn’t- couldn’t, trust that here was safe. Sensei had been ordered to kill her in the beginning; had Satoru been a part of this killing plot and was seeing it through? or did he play a part in her engagement? Why hadn’t he been there to teach her jujutsu like Fushiguro had said he would be?

“As sorcerers, we’re obligated to-” Ijichi started but was interrupted.

“No im not!” Yui denied vehemently. She squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face into Suzu’s fluff. Her eyes stung with unshed tears of anger and exhaustion.

“I’m not a sorcerer; sorcerers take an oath before they’re officially considered one.” She quoted miserably. Suzu’s head twisted around and nibbled on her hair consolingly. Satoru burst out laughing, breaking the tension.

“Ijichi, you’re such a weakling,” he jeered, “do you really think something like that can hurt any of us?” Suzu turned back to look at the timid man. They hissed and snapped their beak threateningly, making Ijichi jump.

“It has spunk,” Satoru grinned, “I like it.”

“If there’s no body that need my attention, I’m leaving.” Shoko stated flatly and headed for the door.

“Ah just a moment Shoko,” Satoru stood up and walked out with her. Yui sat uncomfortably in the silence. Ijichi hovered by the door, mopping his anxiously sweating face.

—————————

Shoko stepped out into the night air and Satoru followed.

“You know, I’m really not cut out to be a teacher. I’m really bad at it.” Satoru’s laugh was hollow. Shoko hummed in agreement.

“You are terrible at it; you have no people skills.”

“You’re not supposed to put it like that!” Satoru whined.

“Like anything I say actually sticks in that scrambled mess of a brain of yours.” She drawled, lighting a cigarette. She took a drag, breathing out the smoke in a sigh. “Updating these reports are going to be a pain.”

“Actually, I was going to ask you not to change them. Keep Itadori’s death status as is.”Shoko slow blinked.

“You want me to falsify my reports?” She asked cautiously.

“If Itadori was to go back as she is now, this would just happen again,” Satoru said, gesturing to the doors of the morgue, ”I’m going to get her stronger so she can survive the the next attempt when the higher ups figure out she’s still alive.” Satoru groaned a heavy sigh, rubbing his eyes through his blindfold. Yui being vehement she wasn’t a sorcerer was going to be a problem, Satoru knew it.

“Do you know why I got myself involved with the school?” He asked.

“I assumed it was because you wanted minions to pawn your missions onto.” Shoko said.

“Well, that is a part of it, but I do have a good reason!” Satoru protested.

“I have a dream of reorganizing jujutsu society. As things are, we’re going to destroy ourselves to keep crusty old men in their seats of power. I want to train these students to become stronger, cleverer and pave the way for to raise jujutsu to greater heights. Become even stronger than me!” Shoko’s cigarette end glowed in the dark.

“That’s insane,” she commented eventually, taking one last drag on her cigarette before dropping the end and crushing it under her shoe.

“We’re all insane here,” Satoru said with Cheshire grin.

“So are you planning to hide Itadori forever then?”

“Nah. That’d be impossible. I’m planning on her making a grand return at the Tokyo Exchange Event.”

Chapter Text

“Live well? Those are stupid last words.” Megumi and Nobara slouched against the steps in front of the dorms, baking in the heat, punctuated by cicadas screaming.

Megumi grunted an affirmative. Nobara’s eyebrow twitched; she was trying to make a point, and  be able to move on from this awful grief she was feeling. Grunts were not acceptable responses.

“She’d only been here two weeks,” Megumi mumbled dully. He looked over at their makeshift garden. Despite the effort Yui had put into it, birds and bugs invaded, with one tomato plant left as the only survivor. A mesh tent was erected over it currently in attempt to keep them away. Megumi wondered vaguely when it’d last been watered. And how soon the thing would be gone also, leaving just the dirt patch behind .

“Stupid,” Nobara hissed, her voice cracking. Her lips were quivering. Megumi himself just felt empty. Sorcerers dying were just a part of the job. There was no point to mourn the lost when you’d be joining them soon anyways.

“It’s hot today,” he commented blandly. Nobara rapidly blinked, and swiped at her eyes before her makeup could run.

“When do we get summer uniforms?” She asked with a cough, “these clothes totally aren’t fit for this weather. And speaking of clothes, I’m angry that I won’t be able to get a dress the wedding now.”

“Wedding?” Megumi whipped his head to stare at Nobara in shock.

“Yeah? Itadori was engaged. I was totally gonna be maid of honor and upstage the bride with my dazzling good looks and dress.”

“What do you mean Itadori was getting married? ” Megumi asked. She hadn’t been engaged when they met or else the pinkette would’ve mentioned it right? There’d only been that old lady she insisted visiting before they left.

“Happened that day she got called away after school. Apparently someone in the Zen’in clan wanted to marry her because she was Sukuna’s vessel.”

“What Zen’in?!” Megumi jumped to his feet in shock.

“Oi, you two! You getting in a fight without me?” A third voice drawled. Both first years looked up see a girl with glasses, carrying a bag over her shoulders and looking at them with her hands on her hips. Her dark hair was pulled back in a pony tail, and she was also wearing the jujutsu tech uniform.

“Zen’in senpai,” Megumi greeted .   

“Ugh, how many time do I have to tell you to drop the Zen’in and just call me Maki? ” the girl asked, her nose wrinkling. She blinked taken aback when Megumi was suddenly in her face, seizing her shoulders.

“You live at the compound, was anyone in the Zen’in clan get married?” Megumi asked urgently.

“Married? Cousin Fuyumi and Keigo  announced theirs a few weeks ago…”

“No, more recently. Or did anyone mention someone coming into the clan?”

“Hm…Naobito announced Naoya taking a bride, but who’s ever cared about that freak?”

Nobara snapped her fingers and pointed at Maki with realization.

“that’s was the name! Zen’in Naoya. Itadori called him ugly.”

“Girl’s got that right!” Maki cackled, “who does he think he is, dying his hair that obnoxious yellow?” Megumi zoned out while the girls gossiped. Zen’in Naoya: Youngest son of the clan head. And had almost taken Itadori Yui as a wife. Maki had shared stories about how Naoya treated her and her sister, and rumors what he’d done to other women behind closed doors . And Megumi remembered meeting the man the rare times he’d visited the compound. Naoya had been unbearable, loudly proclaiming how insignificant everyone else was. Why had Yui accepted? Megumi’s mind couldn’t picture the tender hearted girl who had befriended a curse wanting to marry a man like that. Unless… it hadn’t been a choice. Megumi knew that all that mattered in jujutsu was power. Who ever had the power had control over society. And currently that was the Gojo. And the other clans would jump at the opportunity to change that.  Megumi’s fists clenched; and of course it’d be someone like Naoya to think up a scheme like a marriage contract.

Megumi clenched his fists. Cogs of a machine, sorcerers were just that in others eyes. But Yui hadn’t been just a cog.

“Anyways we’re here ask you guys if you’d help us in the exchange event this year,” Megumi registered Maki saying, “if your other classmate wants in too that’s even better!” an urgent hissing started up behind Maki.

“Maki!” A large panda called out, a blond student peeking with it from behind a statue. Their attempt to be inconspicuous failed immediately since pandas aren’t native to Japan, and having to shout, no matter quietly, got people’s attention. Maki was not impressed.

“Maki! Their classmate died just a day ago!” The panda whisper shouted. Maki’s face reddened and didn’t even try to modulate how upset she was now.

“What?! Why didn’t you tell me sooner, now I  look like a total jerk!”While they shouted at each other,  Nobara prodded Megumi.

“Hey who are these creepy losers?” She murmured.

“They’re the second years at this school. Maki is a weapons expert, the Panda is Panda, and the guy with the blond hair and  hiding his face in his jacket is Inumaki Toge.”

The two came closer now that their position was known

“Sorry to bother you just after losing a classmate,” Panda said and clapped his hands-paws together in apology and pleading, “but we could really use your help.”

“Kelp. Tuna.” Toge said, mirroring his classmate’s pose.

“The third years were stupid and got themselves banned,” Maki grumbled, folding her arms with a huff, “and Okkotsu’s not sure he can make it since he’s out of the country.” Megumi hummed in understanding. It would give a bad impression if the school had such a small standing. Especially since the first round was usually a free for all against the opposing school. That’d be displaying weakness, and Megumi didn’t want to be weak. He needed to get stronger. He wanted to break the machine running jujutsu.

“I’m in,” he said firmly, “I want to get stronger.”

“I’m in too,” Nobara added, and shared a look of determination with Megumi, “I’m not getting left behind. We’ll show those Kyoto pussies what we’re made of.” And never let another situation like the detention center happen again.

“Well then,” Maki said, her pleased grin turned fierce, “hope you like eating dirt. Because you’ll be eating plenty of it as we train you.”

Chapter Text

“Welcome! Table for one I assume?” The man in purple robes smiled genially when this hostess ignored the two companions with him. One companion was ashy gray,  had a single enormous eye in middle of his face, and a small volcano growing from the top of his head. The second was a pale white giant, twin branches grew in place where eyes should be. Both gave off a malignant aura of hate, which even if the hostess couldn’t see, the sweat beading on their neck showed they could feel something was amiss.

“Yes please,” the man said. Inside the premises, there was no outcry of monsters or violence, only a waiter leading past tables of other people to a small booth. When he’d been seated, the single eyed curse spoke up again.

“You were saying that you could help us in our plans, Geto?” He grunted, the volcano on his head simmered.

“I said that working together would help reach both our goals,” the human Geto murmured placidly, “but there are two obstacles we need to remove before either of us can make progress, Jogo. First, we need to disable the sorcerer Gojo Satoru-.”

“Disable? Why not just kill him?” Jogo interrupted.

“You’re welcome to try. But I doubt you’ll succeed. Gojo Satoru is hailed as the strongest sorcerer, and there is truth to it. If any of us were to challenge him, we would end up dead.” The white cursed stirred uneasy, while the volcano curse scoffed.

“Don’t compare me to some filthy human.” Geto hummed thoughtfully, unbothered by the angry heat emanating off Jogo. Other patrons of the restaurant were noticing the temperature change, commenting how warm it was.

“Filthy? You have that much hatred against humans?” Geto noted.

“Yes. They are filthy. Creatures whose cursed energy is tainted by the mud they’re made of. Which is how they made up emotions like joy. We curses are pure cursed energy, and don’t act against our nature. We are the true humans that walk this land!” The white curse then spoke after their friend. What came from it was not words, but a sound that caused the brain to buzz unpleasantly, and leaving an understanding of what was said behind.

“Humans only know how to destroy,” it said, “the balance to Nature will be restored when the roots of trees and vines eat their bodies and crush their stone buildings into dust.”

“Stop talking Hanami,” Jogo snapped, “you only speak nonsense yet I still understand what you said.”

“Interesting views,” mused Geto, watching the two interact, “but if you want to do that you’ll need way to remove Gojo from the playing field. ”

“I’ll merely burn him to crisp. Nothing can withstand my fire.” Jogo said.

“I’m afraid you would be the one turned into ash if you went and fought. Which why I have the prison realm.”

“The prison realm!” Jogo screeched, eye bulging and black teeth bared in a grin, “why would you have a cursed tool like that and waste it on a measly human?!” The volcano on jogo’s head bubbled in excitement.

“Excuse me sir, are-” a waiter approached the table, and burst into flame. A coworker screamed, and they combusted. There were screams, attempts to escape, and soon the restaurant was an inferno.

“I’m glad I didn’t choose a more expensive place, ” Geto sighed, wafting away the stinging heat.

“Just hand the prison realm to me, so I can add it to my collection,” Jogo ordered, a cocky grin on his face. “I’ll take care of that sorcerer no problem!” His face fell in slight uncertainty. “What was the second step of your plan?”

“Oh merely that we needed to persuade Ryomen Sukuna or his vessel Itadori Yui to assist in our cause.” Geto said casually, as if he wasn’t in a burning building, and the subject they were talking about was not a calamity in human shape.

“I thought the vessel died,” Jogo exclaimed.

“Hmm, did they?” Geto asked enigmatically, “I guess we’ll see.”he gave a cat eyed smile as a beam above succumbed to the blaze and fell with an ominous snap.

Chapter Text

The car drive was quiet, the only sounds in it being the engine and the occasional whistle from the creature in Yui’s lap. The tension in the air was tight enough that a rope walker could’ve used it to cross canyons. Gojo tapped his leg agitatedly. Driving was so slow, he wished to instantly transport everyone there, but the then they’d have no car to leave with, and teleporting so many times in a short time frayed the fabric of reality a bit.

“Yu-chan,” Satoru broke the silence like a gun shot, “what is your friend?” The sudden voice made everyone startle, the car swerving slightly and getting honked at by a passing car.

“You mean Suzu?” The ear wings on the subject in question perked up, then lowering as Yui stroked their head

“Suzu.” They squeaked and turned its head to blink at Gojo.

“You called it that before, is it a Suzu because that’s what it says?”

“Suzu’s their name, ” Yui corrected, “I’ve been trying to teach them new words, but Suzu’s only said their name so far.”

“Suzu!” Suzu said emphatically. The car twitched again and Ijichi let out a whimper.

“That’s-” he started.

“Ijichi, your job’s to drive.” Satoru pointed a warning finger. Yui stiffened; what had she done wrong now?

“Your Suzu,” Satoru turned back to Yui, “did it start as a curse?”

“Yeah?” Yui said warily.

“Where did you find it?”

“At school. We got asked to exterminate fly heads in a storage room. I hadn’t wanted to, but the old man there was mean and killed one in front of me, cause he thought I wasn’t moving fast enough. So I saw a bunch were attacking one of their own kind, and I, I felt sorry for them cause they were really hurt…”

Satoru’s mind boggled as he listened to Yui’s story. Sorry for a curse! The idea had never crossed his mind before. And a fly head at that! Something so useless and weak, the merest brush of cursed energy could kill them. And Yui had decided that one was worth keeping alive; it was thriving now, and certainly in better shape than when he first saw it in the morgue. It’s cursed energy dense and tightly contained, circulating in a relaxed manner. But what a curious idea; did all curses start as Flyheads or did certain grades emerge with great power?

But that was not important; Gojo’s mind switched from that line of thought and seized the another that had been racing at the same time. Its Name. Words had power, Names were words, therefore Names had power. Names were a separation from the background noise of the world. A stepping stone to sentience. And when a sorcerer is the one doing the naming… it creates a bond. Even now Satoru can see the linking of cursed energy between Yui and the little curse, chained to eachother’s soul. It was no wonder the thing had been threatening to fall apart in the morgue.

“…and Suzu planted some stuff in the garden all by themself! And is very good at clean up when I’m cooking.  They eat everything I don’t use…” Yui was saying, content to share details and how proud she was of her little curse. The curse itself preened under the praise.

“So it’s a little pig,” Satoru teased, “that explains why it’s so fat.” Suzu squawked and puffed up indignantly. They would’ve leapt at the teacher, but was held down by Yui. She stroked them soothingly, still awed by soft feathers Suzu. Her fingers sank into the creamy mottled browns, completely engulfed before she could feel the little body beneath. The feathers shifted in response, stiff in agitation, then settling and fluffing up in as they relaxed under her ministrations.

“Suzu’s been growing really quickly since I found them,” Yui admitted, “they used to fit in the palm of my hand the first time we met.  Now they’re bigger than my head. But they’re not fat.”

“Why did you give it a name, Yu-chan?”

“It seemed silly not to.”  Gojo hummed thoughtfully.

“Who’s in charge of your jujutsu education?”

“I don’t know, nobody would tell me.” And hadn’t that been a pleasant venture. After Fushiguro’s assertion that Gojo was supposed to be tutoring her, she had asked teachers if there was material she could study to get a head start. Their response had been in the negative. Ms. Kamo in particular had an extreme response.

“You are disgracing your educators by asking such a question. You should be grateful you have the opportunity at all.” She’d then targeted Yui with some very complicated questions the next day in class to humiliate her. It hadn’t stopped the girl from experimenting in different ways in her bedroom late at night. Meditating, exercise, or making up chants as if cursed energy could be summoned like a demon. And she’d only succeeded actively using it in her last moments against that curse. And it hadn’t had any effect.

“Well guess what! It’s now me!” Gojo cheered in his seat, shaking Yui from her gloomy thoughts, ”and for our first lesson we’re starting with Why We don’t give Curses Names!”

Chapter Text

Satoru didn’t start teaching until they reached the safe house. And by safe house it was more of a cabin 5 miles off the main road in the middle of nowhere. It consisted of two rooms and a basement, all of them sparsely furnished.  Up stairs was a bedroom and kitchen combined, a bathroom adjoining it.  It definitely was not a place of comfort or luxury. The basement seemed to have been renovated to be a kind of entertainment room with a large tv and couch. It stank of stagnant air, and Yui spied dusty cobwebs in the corners.  The light sputtered when Satoru flicked the switch, startled out of its retirement.  Ijichi stayed out with the car.

“Ew, what a dump. It’s perfect!”Satoru clapped his hands together and spun around to face Yui.

“Right!” He said, “let’s get started!”

—————————

Names. People have names. Pets have names. Even Streets have names. They separate the Special from the Mundane. It’s as if things are just npcs until they have Names. At least that’s what Yui understood from Gojo sensei’s explanation. She were to compare life to an RPG game, Sorcerers would be comparable playable characters. When you mix cursed energy and name a curse, congrats, because it’s just joined your party and you can share strength and abilities with each other. Gojo sensei explained the whole practice was considered taboo because with sharing abilities comes shared vitality. When Suzu gets hurt, Yui will feel it, and if Yui gets hurt, it affects Suzu.

“I’m pretty sure your pet was supposed to die when you did after that mission,” Gojo commented.

“What?!” Yui screamed, holding them up as her eyes scanned her friend worriedly, as if there was something she’d missed since she’d woken up in the morgue. Suzu trilled shrilly, annoyed at being dangled, wings flapping and little legs pushing uselessly against her hands.  There was no damage to find, but the anxiety remained in Yui’s gut.

“Mmhm,” Gojo nodded, “it looked ready to fall apart then. And yet it’s still here. Maybe because you weren’t completely dead. But back to Naming, sorcerers don’t do it because it’s seen as a liability. There may be more benefits of a bond, but there’s only one or two records of Named Curse bonds. They all died soon after discovery. No one else is willing to try it, because what curse would trust a sorcerer, and what sorcerer would trust a curse?”

“I didn’t know any of that,” Yui murmured, and looked at Suzu, “I’m sorry I hurt you Suzu.” Suzu wiggled free and fluttered onto Yui’s shoulder.

“Suzu,” The little curse chided and slapped the girl head with a paw like limb.  They both didn’t know, but Suzu wouldn’t change anything in the world. Actually, what they would change was that Yui should’ve taken Suzu along so they could protect her!

“It wasn’t even the curse that killed me, it was Sukuna! I doubt you could’ve done anything either!” Yui argued, and somberly, “I don’t want you getting hurt. I’m not expecting you to fight for me.” Suzu clacked their beak disapprovingly. In a cursed world it was kill or be killed; Suzu knew that, and knew it was what other curses expected. Silly human, she’ll need to learn not all problems can be resolved peacefully. Silly Suzu for getting attached. If Yui wasn’t going to fight for herself, Suzu will!

“Speaking of fighting,” Gojo interrupted, “we need you to get stronger, so you don’t die again the next time someone wants to kill you. It’s time to begin Gojo’s Super Effective Strength and Fighting Training!”

“Yay,” Yui cheered unenthusiastically, Suzu echoed the sentiment. She had no interest in fighting, but maybe by learning how to fight she can stop them faster. Gojo took no notice of her hesitance, diving into instruction.

“Now from what I’ve seen, you have freaky impressive strength, and would be a great close combat fighter if you tried,” he began, “but that’s not going to be any use against a curse if you can’t use cursed energy.”

Did making pinky promises count as using cursed energy? Yui wasn’t sure, and she was sure nobody, even Gojo would be impressed if she admitted she’d made some with the King of Curses. But…

“Does making vows count, or an Oath? Ms Kamo talked about words and power our first day. I thought she was just talking about something like a magic spells.”

“Do you mean a binding vow?” Gojo asked frowning, “and yes there are chants and incantations that work if you say them with cursed energy. But what did you mean mentioning vows?”

“A Zen’in visited and said he and I were getting married, and that after we gave our wedding vows he’d own me both soul and body.” Yui gulped.

Gojo went very still. Even with the blindfold, Yui felt like whatever was under them was looking straight through her soul. She didn’t want to blink, afraid that the sorcerer was about to respond violently.

“The Zen’in were going to marry you into their clan,” he said, and it was chilling how softly it was stated. Yui’s arms prickled with goose bumps and she rubbed them nervously.

“Yes.” Yui’s kept her gaze on the floor unable to meet that covered face. The floor boards were warped from age and damp, with gaps wide enough that she could  have dropped coins through into the basement. The air became chokingly thick, yet Gojo was just standing there still as a statue, and just as quickly as it had happened, the pressure vanished.

“Well, it’s hard to marry someone when they’ve been declared dead isn’t it?” He flashed a too wide grin and let out an obnoxious laugh, and Yui joined in a nervous chuckle.

“But! Cursed energy, you see how I have these two sodas here? Watch closely.” He set the cans on a table and stepped away. Yui watched the cans and was duly impressed when each one collapsed in on themselves and sprayed soda everywhere. Suzu hopped over to lick at the sweet liquid. Yui bemoaned how sticky a cleanup that was going to be, especially if it dripped below. What was her sensei even trying to demonstrate?

“One of these is crushed by cursed energy, the other by a cursed technique. Can you tell which?” Techniques? As in you could use cursed energy in specific ways? Maybe even for something that didn’t involve killing or destruction she hoped, eying the cans.

“I don’t see much of a difference,” she admitted finally, ”they both look pretty crushed to me.” Does it matter how it was done if they have the same results of destruction?

“Eh? But I did a super cool technique on that one,” Satoru whined, but he rallied quickly.

“This one,” he pointed to a can that looked squeezed by a fist,” was crushed by cursed energy. And this one,” he pointed to  the other, which had twisted itself into a corkscrew, “was done with my technique.”

“Will I be learning that technique?”

“No, You don’t have one.” Yui felt like the floor had fallen out from under her.  She wanted to whine, scream, throw the ragged couch at Satoru’s smug expression for this unfairness. Sukuna had done what looked like a technique; since she was his vessel, shouldn’t she get something like it? Instead she took a deep breath to calm herself.

“Why not?” She asked snippily, “are techniques some big secret not to share?”

“Techniques are abilities unique to each soul. No two are exactly alike. If you did have one, you’d know. ”

“Oh.” So that meant no kamehamehas, rasengans or bankais then probably. Or none of the magical power attacks she’d dreamt of as a kid. The smile on Gojo’s face was suspicious though. Too thin to be genuine. But Yui chose not to push her luck. Any kind of learning was preferable to being stonewalled.

“So what am I going to start learning to do first?”

Chapter Text

The exercise was explained thus: Yui was to watch films; action, romance, thrillers, spaghetti westerns, B ranked horror, all different kinds. All of them aimed to get visceral emotional reactions from the audience.

“Sorcerers are able to draw on their cursed energy with the slightest emotional responses. The challenge you are going to face is to maintain a steady flow of cursed energy even with the shifts of emotions.” Satoru held out a bear like plush toy. It was wearing blue boxing gloves. “ but you won’t be watching these alone! This guy’s gonna watch them with you!”

“Is this one the Principal made? The style’s familiar.” Yui asked as she took it. It appeared to be asleep. Up until its eyes popped open and it screamed. Yui screamed and let go. As it fell, one of the bears arm swung in a punch, and caught Yui on the jaw and sent her falling back. When she sat up, her sensei had the bear held up out of reach, with Suzu pinned under a foot. The little creature was howling furiously in its inability to avenge their human.

“It’s a cursed corpse yes,”  Satoru said mildly, “it’s set for you to channel just a small amount of cursed energy into it to keep it quiet. As you get used to that, the amount required will increase” Yui warily accepted it, gripped it tightly when it struggled. How did she achieve that first brush of cursed energy? She focused on that memory, every sensation; the numb disbelief of her missing hand,  despair knowing that death literally stared her in the face, anger at the fate that brought her here. Concentrated on those emotions, channeling that energy into the training dummy. She gave a sigh of relief when the bear stilled and went limp.

“Good start.” Suzu scrambled out when Gojo’s shoe lessened its pressure, they leapt on top of the fridge and glared at the man. It wasn’t a very tall fridge, being eye level with the teacher.

“What movie should we start with? Horror, romance? Oh what about this one, the heroine’s annoying, but she dies gloriously in the end...”

Movie Night had been sacred in the Itadori house. Saturday nights were always to be free, no interruptions. Wasuke would cook a large batch of popcorn in oil in his wok, and the fridge was always stocked with drinks just for those nights. Yui remembers the experiments of adding candy or other snacks to flavor the popcorn. Sour candy  been a meh to both of them, but Yui loved adding fire cinnamon gummy bears to her bowl. Grandpa Wasuke preferred adding cheese puffs to his. On very special movie nights Wasuke would do fresh made kettle corn. The two would then settle on their  worn plush couch with blankets and pillows and watch movies until they both nodded off. It’d been less than three weeks ago that Yui had held movie night in her grandfather’s hospital room and they watched one of his old favorites. Yui had even brought along popcorn she’d popped, and had added cheese puffs, the way oji-chan liked it.

———

And so here Yui was curled up on the couch as a randomly selected movie played. She had snacks, she had drinks, even a blanket that Gojo had pulled from who knows where. It smelled sour of dust and too much time spent in dark closets. And she couldn’t relax and enjoy what was playing.  The cabin was a mess that needed cleaning, but cleaning meant she would need her hands, and those were full of cursed corpse, which stuttered awake at a moments inattention.  Where was an extra pair of hands when you needed one? Were there even cleaning supplies in a place like this? Suzu was crouched on the other side of the couch, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce on the thing hogging Yui’s lap.

There were no windows in this basement. Time only passed according to how long it took for a movie to play. The lack of human presence was also unnerving. Logically, Yui knew that being out here was for her safety, but emotionally, she felt like she was being isolated. The bear in her lap twitched and Yui realized her concentration on her cursed energy had broken. Before she could restart it, the bear delivered an uppercut punch.  the force of it sent Yui over the back of the couch, and launching the bowl of popcorn next to her forward onto the floor. As she picked herself off the floor with a groan, Yui heard the unmistakeable sound of tearing fabric.

“Suzu!” She cried and scrambled over to the couch. With a gasp and a groan, Yui was witness to the gory sight of a disemboweled plush toy.  The head was missing, the chest torn open, and its arms flailed weakly as if some battery was draining. A chunk of fabric and fluff hung from a smug Suzu’s beak.

Chapter Text

Yui stared at the scene. There was  popcorn on the floor, the now inert cursed corpse and its remains scattered both on the couch and floor, and then thee was Suzu who was looking up at her expectantly as if asking “aren’t you going to thank me?” Yui closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands with a groan. She held her breath for ten counts, then let it out. Opened her eyes again. No, the mess and Suzu were still there; she didn’t feel the need to scream now at least.

“Thank you Suzu, the bear wasn’t being nice was he?” Yui said lightly, trying to keep her voice steady, “we made a mess though. Let’s clean it up yeah?” Exploration upstairs did reveal a closet that had a raggedy broom with many wayward bristles, a crusty toilet plunger in a bucket, and a scrubbing brush still in its original wrap. Welp, it was better than nothing. Yui grabbed the broom, plucked the stray bristles off and started sweeping.  Popcorn got swept off the couch and the floor back into its bowl then dumped in the trash. And since she had it in her hands, Yui used the broom to sweep the rest of the room, uncovering many generations worth of bug skeletons piled in corners and under furniture, and one very dusty crusted sock from under the couch. And now she might as well knock down those cobwebs in the ceilings too right? With each little cleaning task, Yui found another that she couldn’t let be. The frustration at needing to fix something overwriting the satisfaction of a job completed.  At some point, Suzu took position on Yui’s back, it being the only place that wasn’t being disturbed in the impromptu yet intensive cleaning.

“Suzu!” They whined at the chaos, and flared their cursed energy to emphasize their displeasure. Subconsciously, Yui’s energy flared back in rebuttal while the girl physically continued her work. Suzu blinked; their human hadn’t done that before. The annoying Bright One had talked about Yui needing to learn how to use cursed energy, and loathe the curse was to agree with that human, it was important. But the thing the man had said was for training had attacked Yui, and Suzu couldn’t stand for that. Suzu flared their cursed energy again, brushing against Yui. Yui’s energy pushed back. Suzu’s ear wings twitched with interest. They flared, maintaining a small pressure against Yui. Yui’s energy pushed back again meeting the force push for push.

“Suzu, are you doing something back there?” Suzu chirped back a denial.

“Suzu,” Yui warned, “I felt you do something. I may be new to this cursed energy business, but I think even I would be able to recognize when it’s happening by now . even babies react when their foot’s being touched.” It was not a pleasant sensation, and when Yui felt another prod from her little friend, she gave a mental shove. Suzu squawked in hurt.

“I don’t like that Suzu,” Yui warned. She gagged when she entered the bathroom to assess its condition. More cobwebs, and suspicious signs of mold near the ceiling.  Something was growing in the sink she was not touching without a strong enough acid, the floor toilet had stains in the bowl and around the base. The least dirty thing was the bathtub and even that had various colored stains at the bottom. Yui passingly wondered if going out in the bush  use the bathroom was better. she’d have to wait for Gojo sensei to come back and ask for some strong cleaning agents before she tackled the bathroom mess.

“Suzu.” Yui’s backpack squeaked insistently. The weight on her back disappeared then was back on her shoulder, the head of the cursed corpse in their beak, and shoved it in Yui’s face.

“Yes, I know. You destroyed the thing you thought was hurting me. But it was supposed to help me figure out how cursed energy worked.” Yui said exasperatedly. Suzu gave a hoot discontentedly.

“Suzu…” the little curse fidgeted from foot to foot, an intense focus in its eyes, ”h-help! Suzu help!”the voice was muffled, but still clear. The broom fell from Yui’s hand in her surprise, and she turned to look at the creature on her shoulder.

“Did you just say a new word?” She asked hesitatingly.

“Suzu help Yui!” Yui let out an excited scream, lifting Suzu off her shoulder and squeezing the critter in a hug, spinning in an excited circle. The bears head fell abandoned to the floor.

“You talked! You spoke more words that’s, that amazing! I’m so proud of you!” Yui babbled, “what do you mean help? Like help me use cursed energy?” Suzu nodded emphatically and pushed their cursed energy at Yui. “Help!” Yui instinctively called hers to push back, but the flow faltered when she hesitated, which made Suzu squawk reprovingly and nip Yui’s hand.

“Ouch! I thought you wanted to help! Or was that not what I was supposed to do?” Suzu shook their head, then the energy pushed again. Yui reacted.

“How long are we supposed to do this for?” Yui asked after a few moments of their cursed energy wrestling. It was the opposite of a tug of war; more akin to sumo wrestling, except without the large diapers and oiled men. Just two forces pushing against each other, both unyielding in giving ground, and Yui was slightly embarrassed that Suzu was holding up against her. Something so tiny could resist her efforts so effortlessly. The little curse radiated  smugness as they lounged on Yui’s shoulders as she kept on her doings. At her question, it broke  the  concentration on cursed energy, Suzu gave a stern nip to Yui’s ear.

“Ouch!” Yui yelped, “what’s that for?”

“Helping!”

“Ok ok, I’ll keep doing this.”

“What are you doing?” Satoru’s bemused voice spoke up. From the direction of the basement. And nobody had seen the man sneak in. Both Yui and Suzu screamed.

—————

Satoru was getting bored, which was a shame. An unregistered special grade curse having the guile to try and ambush him in the middle of nowhere? Intriguing. It also being able to hold conversation and speak intelligently? His curiosity was piqued. The way the curse was dressed in that garishly yellow hakama and was so easily riled up that the volcano on its head literally erupted? Hilarious. But thanks to Satoru’s Infinity, there was no threat from its attacks. Nothing to get the adrenaline racing with the thrill of a battle and every moment never being sure if it was going to be his last.

“I should probably just exorcise you,” Satoru hummed to himself, watching the curse’s fall into the lake below, “ but there’s more to this just a random attack. And oh! I could use this as a lesson for Yui-chan!” Warping into the basement was just matter of calculation.

The basement where he’d left the teenage vessel was empty. The tv was still on, stuck on a movie menu. Had that curse just been a distraction for another to find this place? Did Yui run away, could Satoru have misjudged? Many thought and scenarios ran through Satoru head before  creak on floorboards came from above him, footsteps crossing a room. A female voice cried out.

“Ouch! What was that for?”Satoru was at the top of the stairs faster than a blink, ready for anything. Yui’s back was to him, she wasn’t acting in distress. The fuzz ball that called itself Suzu was around her shoulders.

“Helping!” A squeaky voice scolded.

“Ok, ok, I’ll keep doing this.” What was happening between their cursed energies was fascinating; Yui’s pushing against Suzu’s, each wrestling eachother’s to a stand still. The amount of energy Yui was outputting was impressive from compared to where she started. It was also impressive the tiny curse was able to withstand the force considering its size. Satoru didn’t miss the way the little curse allowed bits to flow into itself, eating it like it was cotton candy. But this wasn’t what Yui had been assigned to do.

“What are you doing?” Both Yui and Suzu startled with a scream. Yui spun around, a cleaning rag half raised to throw before she realized who it was.

“Gojo sensei?” A girl radiated confusion, just as Satoru was confused about the rag. He sniffed the air. He remembered how dusty place had smelled when they first arrived; it was lighter now and tinged with something that stung the nose. Vinegar? But that would have to wait, he’d come here with a purpose.

“Yu-chan! We’re going on a field trip! I’m gonna show the pinnacle of Sorcery: Domain expansion.” And without another word Satoru seized Yui around her waist, redid his mental calculations to include the parasite latched to Yui’s shoulders and warped away.

Chapter Text

In a pond, in an open glade, Jogo was having the worst day ever. Humble pie was a bitter pill to swallow. He’d just assumed Geto was exaggerating when the curse user claimed they couldn’t kill Satoru Gojo. Humans were so much more fragile than curses after all, even just a tiny scratch could kill them. And so he plotted to attack the sorcerer in this uninhabited area, far from any other sorcerers to make a point to the other curse user.  But now, Jogo was the one battered and bruised after being treated like a child’s toy. And Satoru had nothing to show of Jogo’s attacks because of that stupid Limitless technique of his. It was now a matter of pride to continue this fight. Jogo would rather die than admit he ran away from a human.

“If I can’t hit him with a technique, I’ll just drag him into my domain, where I’m guaranteed a hit,” Jogo grunted, dragging his aching body upright from the pond he’d been thrown in. He turned his eye upward squinting. Where had that irritating human got to?

The volcanic curse was still standing bemusedly on the water when the trio appeared. They made quite a sight, Yui and Suzu screaming and flailing in suprise and bewilderment, and Satoru holding the girl from the back of her sweatshirt like a scruffed kitten.

“Apologies for the wait,” he said conversationally.

“Where are we?” Yui cried wide eyed. Suzu screeched their displeasure.

“This is Itadori Yui, and her friend. They’re here just to watch.” Satoru continued, unworried with the commotion.

“Suzu!” The feathery bundle in Yui’s arms clacked their beak angrily. Yui blinked owlishly at the person they’d appeared in front of.

“Sensei who is that, and why’s his head shaped like Mt. Fuji?” The curse’s eyelid  twitched at the comment.

“Didn’t ask. Down you get.” Gojo’s grip loosened, and Yui’s legs swiftly tucked under her to catch her weight and she held her breath, expecting to fall through into the water. She couldn’t grab her teacher for her arms were full of squirmy Suzu.  Did her teacher really expect her to know how to water walk like Naruto?! Except, her shoes struck a solid surface, and Yui stared down at the rippling water perplexed. Tiny fish at bottom of the pond swam frantically below her, but she might as well have been standing on a glass floor.

“How is this happening?,” she asked and looked at her sensei for the answer. Satoru opened his mouth, but was interrupted.

“I am Jogo,brat! Remember it when I fry your brain through your ears! And you Gojo!You really brought a kid and their pet to our fight?” Jogo asked insulted. The lava in the his cone simmered dangerously. ”Are you that scared, you pulled the first meat shield you could find?” Yui froze, and she couldn’t help but glance apprehensively to the side at her teacher.  Was this field trip actually a test or punishment? The man stood relaxed with his hands in his pockets. Unflappable. So Yui’s thoughts turned to the curse’s introduction. It had a name; did that mean there was someone it was bonded to, or could a curse name themself?

“A shield?” Satoru’s nose wrinkled with disdain, and he flapped a hand dismissively. “No no, they’re just here to watch. I’m in the middle of teaching her a lot of stuff. Let’s just get back to the fight.” The volcanic curse still didn’t move, staring in disbelief.  Then it grinned as if it realized something, baring soot blackened teeth.

“You’re going to fight while having to protect someone? That just makes you a fool.” Jogo jeered. The plans the curses hoped to enact hinged on Sukuna’s vessel staying alive; to kill them now would be a major setback, and  potentially fall out of favor with the King of curses. Did Satoru Gojo suspect a plot and that was why he’d brought the vessel here? Well, Jogo wasn’t going to any more risk suspicion by playing nice with them. 

“It’ll be fine,” Satoru said blithely with a cheeky grin, “because let’s face it, you are pretty weak Mr yoyo.”

Jogo’s rage exploded. It erupted from his volcanic top and out his ears.

“You insolent brat!” He bellowed,  “I’m going to enjoy sucking the marrow from your bones!”

Yui gulped as she watched the display. She may be new the whole curses and cursed energy thing, but even she  could see the curse in front of them was anything but weak. The malice and torrential heat radiating from it was suffocating. It’s cursed aura even stronger than the curse at the detention center. She flinched hard as a hand patted her head.

“Don’t worry,” Gojo sensei said and smiled reassuringly, “As long as you stay close to me you’ll be fine.” Yui nodded mutely, her shoulders relaxed slightly. Suzu was growling in her arms, attention fixed on the curse in front of them. Jogo’s hands came up, all fingertips pressed into eachother.

“Domain expansion: Coffin of the iron mountain.”

Darkness enveloped them. Then fractured into glowing orange lines of lava that oozed and flowed until Yui, Suzu, and Satoru were stranded on a rock island in a pool of magma. Mountains of molten rock and waterfalls of of lava surrounded them.

“What is this?” Yui gaped she skipped back as a bubble of lava burst and sent sparks in her direction. The heat was blistering hot.

“This is Domain expansion, the epitome of jujutsu sorcery,” Satoru dictated. “you use cursed energy to shape the environment to your will and cursed technique.”

“Creating a domain uses a lot of cursed energy, but the benefit can be worth it. For example, because it’s built around the users psyche, the user would have what you’d call home court advantage. Another is that the techniques imbued into the domain are greatly amplified, with a guarantee to hit.”  Yui ducked as a car sized boulder was thrown at them. Satoru nonchalantly punched it into smithereens.

“Guaranteed?” Yui repeated, watching the debris rain around them. She eyed the curse who was standing on another island, the glow of the lava revealing the frustration in its face.

“Gauranteed!” Satoru affirmed, shaking the dust off his fist.

“The curse at the detention center turned the building into a maze, was that a domain?” The halls had warped around them, the path behind disappeared as soon they’d moved forward. Until the curse had been done teasing them.

“That was an incomplete domain. If it had been complete, none of you would have stood a chance from its guaranteed hit techniques.

“Now there are different ways to counter a Domain Expansion.  One is to use a technique of your own to counteract the guaranteed hit effect.“

“But If my domain is dense enough, it will override the stupid Infinity of yours and you will be hit!” Jogo shouted across. Satoru shrugged.

“Yeah, that could happen,” he agreed readily.

“I hope you’re ready, there won’t even be ashes left of you, Satoru Gojo!” A low rumble filled the air, the islands they stood rocked ominously , the walls started crumbling as the pressure in the air built. A tsunami of lava came rolling toward the two humans

“The most efficient way to break a domain,” Satoru said, voice as cool as a cucumber, even as the volcanic domain threatened to crush them, “is to open your own. When two domains are opened at the same time, it creates a clash the more refined one will break the other.” Everything froze as Gojo’s hand came up, two fingers raised in a gesture. Belatedly, Yui noticed the blindfold, normally tight around  Gojo’s eyes, was now sitting loosely around the man’s neck. She was slightly suprised the man had eyes. Blue eyes as clear and fathomless as the sky, or the ocean, framed in white eyelashes.

“Domain expansion: Infinite void.”

Chapter Text

The world shattered. The silence was too loud. Noise was too soft. the dark was blinding and in the light was everything. Jogo saw life form in puddles, watched galaxies explode. The cold bit harder than an artic blizzard, the heat sizzled hotter than the heart of a star. Both tongue and nose were overwhelmed by the sweetest, most putrid stench that put any cess pit to shame. Gravity was non existent, leaving Jogo with no concept of where the sky ended or if the ground even began. All sensations cycled and repeated over and over, fighting to make sense in Jogo’s brain and never succeeding.  He couldn’t move, could barely think over the information overload happening.

“This is the heart of Limitless. Sight, sound, touch; all of it forcibly happening over and over infinitely. ” Satoru’s voice cut through the incessant signals, echoing and repeating in Jogo’s ears. He hovered just behind the curse. Yui and Suzu tucked under an arm, watching quietly and unaffected by what was happening to Jogo.  Yui felt as if she’d been transported into deep ocean, her sensei’s cursed energy pressed around her like a submarine, while bizarre shapes and lights twinkled in a far distance. Suzu shivered in her arms, their little claws gripped tight with unease. Satoru’s artic blue eyes glowed like beacons. Yui was relieved that she was not the subject of that gaze.  His hand rested on top Jogo’s crown.

“Ironic isn’t it? Even when granted everything, all you can do is die peacefully.”the hand on Jogo’s top tightened its grip. “But I have some questions for you, so I’m letting you off with just this.” Yui watched blankly as with a swift jerk, Jogo’s head was torn off from its body.

Two figures watched the fight play out from afar on a neighboring ridge. Neither wanted to draw the attention of the strongest sorcerer, but were curious how Jogo’s fight would go.  A ring of withered plants grew around Hanami’s feet as the fight drew on and the domains were created. The other watcher, the curse user Geto, could only snort in amusement from his crouched position.

“Well,” Geto commented as Gojo’s domain dissipated, “It seems Jogo has failed. I can’t let my face be seen by anyone from the school to risk saving. I think I’m going head back now.” He stood up and brushed off his robes. He looked over at Hanami still staring intently at the scene below.

“If you want to save him, go ahead and do it. But do curses like you even have the emotions to desire something like that?” He mused. Hanami didn’t answer immediately, concentrating on growing a many petaled white flower from their hand. Her voice creaked of growing roots and budding flowers.

“Of course we do. We are the true humans after all.” She said before disappearing down the cliff.

“Quite the statement, for a curse.” Geto hummed with a thoughtful nod.

Yui blinked; night had returned. she was standing on grass in a glen holding Suzu, the small lake she’d stood on before just a short ways away.  A breeze blew through her hair and rattled leaves in the trees. Her arms prickled with goosebumps from the chill. Suzu was still in her arms, eyes wide and body stiff in shock. A soft thump had her look to Gojo’s stood a few feet away fixing his blindfold back in place.

“Come on, answer my questions why don’t cha? Who sent you?” Gojo interrogated; he was rolling something ball shaped under his shoe. The volcano curse’s head. So whatever had just happened hadnt just been a figment of her imagination or a hallucination. Yui couldn’t help but be in awe over her teacher’s strength. To stop the curse’s attack like swatting away a fly. The teen shuddered; what terrifying power. What had that curse said its name was, Jogo?

“I ain’t saying!”  Said curse growled as Gojo’s shoe pressed down threateningly.

“If you don’t answer, I’ll exorcise you~, although I was going to do that anyways.”

“How did you get your name?” The question came out of Yui’s mouth before she fully processed it, and she became subject to two powerful individuals bemused stares. And in that moment, a third party struck. A wooden stake with white flowers growing out the back pierced the ground near the group. From the impact point a field of a variety of colorful flowers burst up out of the ground. The smells were heavenly, and the blossoms seemed to dance in the breeze.

“They’re so pretty,”Yui breathed, kneeling down and touching a bloom. Suzu wiggled down and bit one experimentally, then gagged at the taste.

“Suzu!” They cried with alarm, pawing at Yui’s arm.

“Pretty flowers,” Satoru sighed happily, and stepped back from the curse’s head he’d been about to crush. It was nice to relax for the mo- he slapped himself. He’d just been fighting a special grade curse. These were not a normal flowers, they must be a cursed technique of sorts. They were sapping his will to fight! Yui plucked one, it’d be a nice bit of color at the cabin. Unseen by her, a woody vine snaked around her ankle and with a sharp tug, lifted the girl off the ground. Suzu let out an enraged scream and leapt at the offending appendage. Satoru turned also in concern for a student who couldn’t exorcise curses by herself yet. While he was distracted, Hanami swooped down and grabbed Jogo’s head. With the volcanic curse secured in her arm, the white plant curse hastened to escape.

“I’m fine; Go get those curses!” Yui yelled.

The root around Yui wasn’t painfully tight, there was no danger- she was being pulled toward a curse that had the appearance of a withered tree stump. The branches it had seized Yui with grew from it crown, wiggling like a nest of snakes. Hollow groans and creaks emitted from it as a mouth of jagged splintered teeth opened along the curses trunk. Suzu clawed desperately at the vine on her ankle, and another branch swatted the little curse off.

“I lied! Sensei, I need help!” In a flash, Yui’s foot was cut free, the curse set aflame.  Yui fell to the ground with a thump, and immediately scrambled to her feet and over to where her friend had fallen.

“Suzu! Are you ok? Did you get hurt?” She asked worriedly, checking over the little guy. A few feathers were looking ragged, and Suzu was covered in dirt, but otherwise unharmed.

“Sorry,” the creature said dolefully as it spat out a beak of mud, “too weak.”

“You gave it a good shot,” Yui said, giving a reassuring pat, ”I’m just glad you’re ok.” Yui looked over at her teacher, who was staring thoughtfully at the distance.

“They got away. And that was another special grade,” he hummed, a finger tapping his chin thoughtfully. “The two must’ve been working together. I wish I could’ve fought that guy! He was way more interesting than volcano head! Yui!” Gojo spun around and pointed dramatically at her. “I want you, and all your classmates to be strong enough to beat that curse!” Yui balked; strong as that volcano? She barely understood what was happening this whole time! And her gut churned the reference to the school.

“Do I need to get that strong?” Yui was no stranger to hard work, she did house work and elderly care after all. But fighting wasn’t anything like that kind of work. It tore down and broke things, didn’t heal or build up.

“Only if you don’t want to die. Besides it’s good to have a concrete goal right?” Gojo said far too cheerfully discussing dying. “So we’ll need to speed up your schedule. You’ll keep watching movies, and then you’ll be fighting with me. And then missions!…” Yui lost track as her sensei spouted out an insane training regime. Inside Yui could only feel pity and disheartened. Were all sorcerers so absorbed in their own world they forget other things exist outside jujutsu?

“… and then you’ll be able to show all those new skills off at exchange event!” Gojo exulted.

“Sensei, I have a question,” Yui raised her hand as if they were in class.

“Yes, ask away!”

“What is the exchange event?”

“…I didn’t tell you?”

Chapter Text

It’d just been a hysterical mother that had begged for them to search for her son at the detention center.

“Please! My son Tadashi, he might still be in there!” And they’d found his body, at least what was left of it. Megumi knew the extra weight was a risk in a curse’s domain.  Itadori hadn’t understood. Had gotten upset.

“If lives don’t matter why did you save me?!” It’d been for purely selfish reasons he’d said after. Nothing noble like “it was what he always did,” or “what one should always do.”  At the end of that first day Megumi had only wished, “not her.”

So why was Megumi here, knocking on the door of that same mother, holding a torn name tag in his hands?

“While we searched the premises, we found your son’s body.” The words came out hesitantly, knowing the doom they carried was only going to cause pain, ”but it was too dangerous to get it out.” A lump formed in his throat. Why was it now that he was feeling emotional? He never knew this woman, or the guy. “I’ll admit I didn’t consider getting the bodies as a priority for our mission. My friend thought differently, but she failed.” Megumi held it out the grubby cloth. “I’m sorry for your loss.” The mother’s face crumpled into grief as she took the name tag.

“It’s—it’s more than anyone else has done for him,” she swallowed thickly, “and, and I’m the only one who will be mourning him. ” she broke down into great heaving sobs, collapsing to her knees. Megumi stayed standing and shifted uneasily, uncertain what he should be doing. He didn’t know how to do comfort. To put himself in another’s shoes and empathize. Unable to see what more he could do, Megumi excused himself from the apartment. People died and the world moved on. And the  Higher ups ordered deemed threats killed. For the good of humanity, or so Megumi had always understood. His heart couldn’t reconcile the idea of Itadori having been a threat though. Her brown eyes had been too soft, too earnest for what was supposed to be the vessel of the strongest curse in existence, or any other eyes Megumi’s had seen before, except his sister’s. Who was in a coma because of a curse seal. He knew the only thing guaranteed in life was that it was unfair. But Megumi now suspected things weren’t as unfair for the ones who ordered sorcerers around. It was…unfair. The troubled thoughts tumbled around in the teen’s head all the way as he made his way back to the school.

————

“You’re late. What took you so long Fushiguro?” Maki asked as Megumi climbed approached. She stood next to the bleachers holding a bo staff against her shoulder.

“I had something I needed to do,” he responded, zipping up his jacket. He blinked nonplussed as he took in the training scene before him that. Panda was swinging Nobara by the legs in a facsimile of a hammer thrower.

“What are they doing?” he asked, nodding in their direction. Panda’s ear twitched, and with a final heave, he threw the girl across the field.

“Falling practice!” The bear called out.

“Fushiguro!” Nobara shouted when she glimpsed the boys messy hair. She spat out hair and dirt from her mouth.  “Switch out with me so I can go shopping for a better uniform!”

Megumi stepped forward, then paused, a question in his mind.

“Zen’in senpai,” he began, turn to his leading peer, “what people do you try to save as a jujutsu sorcerer?”

“Saving people?” Maki’s nose wrinkled in disgust. “Why should I care about saving people?”

“I shouldn’t have asked.” Of course it wasn’t about people; Maki only cared about proving her clan wrong, by showing how much stronger she was than them. Megumi eyed Panda and Inumaki, wondering what answer they’d give. Before he could ask though, Maki twirled her staff with a flourish.

“Both of you are pretty pitiful when it comes to close combat,” she stated matter of factly. The staff was tossed to Megumi. He hefted it, humming slightly at how comfortable it was to hold. “We only have little over a  month and a half to get you guys up to snuff. Land a hit and then we’ll talk about other stuff you want to learn.” Megumi shifted his grip and stance to something more secure, and pounced.

————

On an empty training field, Megumi’s hand shaped to form a dog shadow puppet.

“Demon dog, black!” A dark wolf clawed its way up out the shadow, shook off the residual energy that clung to it, and turned to look at its summoner. Megumi had grown to hate this when he used to summon his dogs as if they were pets. Hated that expectant blank expression, and that this thing had no will to live for anything beyond its usage as a tool. Even Itadori’s curse had more life than this thing. Shouldn’t his shikigami be more lively as part of the clan’s Ten Shadows technique?

“Stop staring at me like that,” Megumi growled. The dog’s ears perked up and stood at the ready.

“Stop it! Do something for yourself. Start acting like you’re a real dog!” He shouted. The shikigami only stared, waiting for the silent command to act. Megumi screamed in frustration and fell to his knees, fists slamming into the ground.

“Why? Why can’t you be anything more than a tool? Why am I no better, so weak?” He asked the world at large. There was no answer, but the dog stepped closer. Megumi looked up at it pained. It was still watching him placidly.

“What a joke we make. Two cursed tools no good for anything but being broken, just like your sister wolf. Just like Itadori…” The wolf huffed softly, whether from the reference to their sibling or something else Megumi couldn’t tell. What good were these shikigami, who wore animal shapes and yet were nothing more than soulless tools. Tools… Megumi wanted to use cursed tools because he felt his shikigami weren’t enough. What if…?  He reached out toward the wolf shikigami; it didnt react to Megumi’s touch; it never did. Those eyes so trusting, so loyal. Megumi closed his eyes and plunged his hand into the wolf’s chest. He gripped the wolf’s core as it fought to unsummon, forcing the shikigami to stay and bend to his will. The wolf keened as its form devolved into shadow and reformed into the shape of a weapon in Megumi’s grip. Solidified, the wolf’s shape was now a hunter’s carving knife, as long as Megumi’s forearm and the shaped like a wolf’s fang. The blade was as black as the wolf’s fur had been. The handle fit his hand perfectly, and as he gave a few experimental swings, it was as easy as if it was part of his own self. He couldn’t help the giddy laugh.

“Look at that, my tool is now an actual tool,” he said lightly, a corner of his mouth quirked up in facsimile of a smile. Maybe he wouldn’t have to keep a store of cursed tools on him after all. He let go of the knife, thinking it would disappear once out of his grip. Instead, it sank into his shadow without a sound. Megumi stared at the patch it’d fallen into. Into his shadow… the boy knelt on one knee. The ground felt rough and sandy, as solid as dirt can be. His eyes narrowed and activated his technique, not to summon anything yet, but in preparation of it. Slowly, Megumi’s hand sank into his shadow, as easy as his summons. His heart pounded excitedly ; could he do more things with these shadows than have his shikigami come out of them? And could he do this with any shadow? The possibilities felt endless

Chapter Text

“Ijichi, I need your rearrange yaga’s schedule tomorrow.” The sorcerer manager twitched, his finely honed sense of survival blaring its warning signals. Nothing Gojo asked for was ever simple, and he outright lied often. Just like the meeting he was supposed to have attended just now; Satoru claimed he’d be on time and yet he was late by an hour!

“Can I ask why? ” Ijichi hazarded asking.

“Sure you can,” Gojo said amiably, swinging an arm companionably around Ijichi’s shoulder. The blindfolded man made a show looking for eavesdroppers before leaning in close to whisper, “can you keep a secret?”

“O-of course I can!” Ijichi stammered quietly. Ijichi knew many secrets about the underbelly of jujutsu society and how it worked; how the Zen’in punished women that were deemed useless, or that the Kamos had arrangements with blood banks to have open access to their stock, and the secret to how yaga created the cursed doll Panda, a cursed doll so sentient, it was almost alive. There were benefits to being just a part of the background. No one took notice of an extra figure unless their sense of normal was jostled. Ijichi was pretty sure Yaga didn’t remember that it was the manager himself who kept track of the cursed items in the institution’s vault; some had gone “missing” just before Panda’s creation. At least, they had been checked out by Yaga, and then announced missing. the principal hadn’t had been assigned any mission in that time, with how much time running the school took from him, but sorcerers were not known for randomly misplacing such valuable objects. Ijichi respected Yaga, especially since the man was his former teacher; so when elders started snooping, and interr- investigating how Panda was created, Ijichi covered the man’s tracks.

Even though it was impossible to see Satoru’s eyes through the blindfold, Ijichi felt like he was being examined under a microscope with all of Satoru’s attention on him.

“You can? Amazing! So can I.” Satoru slapped Ijichi’s back convivially with a laugh at his own joke.”but seriously, rearrange that guys schedule. Make him very late to some meetings; especially the meeting with that Kyoto’s school’s principal.”

“Yoshinobu Gakuganji’s coming to Tokyo!?” Ijichi shrieked hysterically. Was it that time already? There was still a few weeks before the exchange event surely.

“Yeah those two old fogey’s are gonna drink tea and complain about the insolence of youth these days. And about what’s gonna happen during the days of events, but I have some things i wanna say to the old geezer, and Yaga’s gonna be in the way for that.” Ijichi gulped nervously. Gojo fixating on anyone was never a good sign. And Gakuganji was part of the higher ups counsel; Ijichi remembered the old sorcerer had been one of the names to sign off to send first years to the disaster of a mission at the detention center. The hand on Ijichi’s shoulder had tightened its grip, a subtle threat. The manager could only hope the school still stood the next day.

“I shall do my best,” Ijichi quavered.

“Excellent! Oh and while you’re doing that, Yui requested a few things. Be sure to get them to her ok?” A scrap of paper with a list of items scrawled on it was dropped into Ijichi’s fumbling fingers. Ijichi squinted at the terrible handwriting and adjusted his glasses. Clothes… bathing things…rice, fresh veggies, that made sense. Rubber gloves… scrubbing brush…Why was a teenage girl asking for industrial strength hydrochloric acid and bleach?

————

The school bell rang, signaling the end of the day. Bathroom bathroom, Yui needed to find a bathroom before her bladder exploded! Turn down this hall, down these stairs, there! Yui bolted for the closest stall available. One set of slow steps entered, Yui heard the sink run and paper towels pulled from the dispenser.  The doors swung open again, a gaggle of giggling girls swarmed in.

“Ozawa, your hair! I can’t believe Arisawa dumped that milk over your head!” One girl cried, “and it’s stained your uniform too. Let us help you wash it out.”

“Um wait…no, please don’t…!”

There’s the sounds of a scuffle. Multiple pairs of feet enter an unoccupied stall next to Yui. It’s door latches shut.  The sounds of struggling. Ozawa protested, her voice ended up garbling. A toilet flushed, accompanied by jeers and laughter from the group. The world turned red, a rage so hot, Yui felt like she could breathe fire.  The walls separating the two stalls were torn down as easily as cardboard. The bullying girls are screamed in fear. Yui screamed in rage. The girls subduing Ozawa are seized and thrown back. A mirror shattered, the rest flee.  Water starts to flood the floor. The world and colors spins; screams and alarms blare around her. Everywhere Yui looks, fearful eyes stared. “Is this what you wanted?”

Yui jerked awake with a soft intake of breath, heart pounding. Darkness was a heavy cloak, Suzu’s soft whistling snores in her ear.  It’d just been a dream. No, not a dream, but a memory.

Yui and Oji-chan sat in silence at the low table. They’d been silent ever since getting home and were silent through dinner. When their plates were empty, the silence was broken by Oji-chan clearing his throat like the crack of bamboo.

“Yui,”  the old man’s voice crackled, “what am I to do with you?” Yui bowed her head and sniffed tearfully. Her hands gripped her shirt so tightly it threatened to tear.

“I‘m sorry,” she said hoarsely, “just, they were shoving Ozawa’s head in the toilet- and I was right there-”

“I’m not upset about that,” Wasuke cut in, “I am proud that you want to protect others. But I am sorrowed you had to hurt others to do so.” The grandfather cupped Yui’s hands in his, squeezing gently. “I want to these hands to be builders, not breakers.”

“What does that mean?” Yui sniffed snottily, one hand scrubbing her eyes. Wasuke handed her a handkerchief to wipe her face with. He gestured to her hands.

“You have so much potential with these hands. You fixed our roof when you decided it was too dangerous for me to be up there, I’ve seen you save food scraps for the birds, and don’t think I didn’t notice you sneak that kitten in to give it a bath. It’s been hiding in the bushes and almost scares me into a heart attack each morning.”

Don’t let these hands grow comfortable with violence; there’s enough of that in the world. Let these hands be gentle to those who live in fear and anger. Love will prove stronger than the deepest hate.”

Yui’s hands. They were not dainty, small things. Her palms and fingers callused from adapting to the tough labor that gardening, cleaning, and cooking needed. She’d always been useful with these hands. They’d always served her well. Except when it came to music. After the third instrument broke from her unusual strength,  her grandfather had decided Yui would be financially responsible for any musical instrument she wished to learn. Grandfather’s koto still hung on the wall back in the house in Sendai, Yui remembered with a pang of guilt.

Yui’s earliest memories were of her grandfather was listening to him play the koto. An instrument shaped like a large polished board, with many strings stretched along its length. Each string had a little block called a bridge pushing it up from underneath and where it was changed the strings sound when plucked. Every evening before bed, the man would kneel before it, make sure all the bridges on the strings were arranged to his liking, and there would be a pause. The world held its breath for his next action.  Then the man’s hands would dance, fingerpicks flying over the be koto’s many strings, plucking and stroking them to weave a melody that would flow and envelop Yui in its song.  Many a time, Yui would close her eyes to listen, only to wake up in her bed the next morning. She’d been so excited when she’d been allowed to try playing it, the too big fingerpicks kept sliding off her fingers. That didn’t matter though. A single too eager strum, she’d snapped a dozen strings. She’d screamed and burst into tears, for breaking something so beautiful and afraid of being punished. Her grandfather had pulled her into his lap to comfort her.

“Strings are replaceable, little hime” he’d soothed, wiping tears away with a thumb, “ but you have to be gentle. Only a soft touch will make the koto sing beautifully.“  When the koto had been restrung, Grandfather placed his hands over Yui’s hands, guiding the fingers to pluck and strum. It only been a simple tune, but at the time Yui felt like she had played a symphony.

Yui startled awake, a koto’s melody echoing in her ears,  to knocking on the front door. She blinked blearily, wondering if she imagined it. The knock came again and Suzu sat up with a growl.

“Suzu don’t.” Yui’s hand darted out to pin the critter to the bed as they made a move to go to the door. Should she answer it? Gojo sensei didn’t bother knocking and nobody was supposed to know she was here. Had she been found out? Were the Zen’in here for her? The counsel of Elders?She wasn’t going back without a fight in any case. Yui crept out of bed, her heart pounding in her chest. She gave Suzu a stern word and picked up the broom she’d used to clean last night. Then she hid to the side of the door, all the better to hit whoever came in. There was a jingle of keys outside the door, the sound of one slid into the lock. The door knob turned; Yui’s clammy hands gripped the broom handle like a baseball bat. A figure of a man in a suit was silhouetted in the sunlit door way.  Yui swung without hesitation.

Chapter Text

Ijichi do this, Ijichi do that. Everyone wanted Ijichi to do their errands and take their responsibilities, but nobody ever wanted to do something for Ijichi. He didn’t envy the jobs of sorcerers, knew that he wouldn’t last a day in their shoes, but he did wish he could receive the same kind of credit for the work he did.

“I doubt Gojo san even knows how to file his reports correctly, or do his taxes,” the man grumbled as he picked through vegetables.

“Excuse me?”  A worker restocking green onions startled.

“Sorry, just talking to myself,” Ijichi said apologetically and waved a hand airily. The worker smiled and nodded commiseratingly.

“Ah, can I have two of those?” Ijichi asked suddenly, pointing to the bundles of onions. He didn’t know exactly what the Itadori girl was wanting to cook, but onions tended to be a popular ingredient for flavor. The worker happily handed a few and Ijichi continued his shopping. He didn’t remember cooking for himself much when he was a teenager. He’d  gotten by with konbinis and food stalls; there never seemed to be enough time or materials to prepare and cook a proper meal.  There still never seemed to be enough time even now to just take a pause.

“Are you paying with cash or card sir?” The cashier asked politely, startling Ijichi out of his thoughts.

“Ah, card please.” Ijichi replied sheepishly. Transaction completed and bags of food, clothes and home supplies in hand, the nervous manager made his way to the hidden safe house.

Thwack!

Ijichi blinked up at the sky confused. Birds were chirping, the light glinted brightly through the leaves in the trees, and from the firm surface against his back, he was lying on the ground. What had happened? He’d pulled up, carried the shopping bags up to the door… and it’d been locked. So he’d gotten the key and was able to open the door… it was a bit of a blur after that. But the panicked voice above him was familiar.

“Oh Jeez, oh oh crap, I thought- hold on. Don’t get up!” That was Itadori’s voice wasn’t it? Ijichi blinked trying to clear the stars dancing across his vision, and winced as something very cold was pressed against his forehead.

“Of course there’s no ice packs here,” the vessel  agonized as she reappeared in Ijichi’s vision.  Ijichi noted she was an over sized t-shirt and shorts. Why was she in pjs this late in the morning?

“Thankful that fossil of a fridge even had an ice maker,” the girl continued under her breath, before addressing the downed man, “I’ve wrapped some ice in a towel. Can you move your hand to hold it in place?” Ijichi obediently reached and grabbed the bunched cloth that kept the ice contained.

“What happened?” He asked muzzily. The girl’s cheeks pinked and she twiddled her fingers. A feathery face with large bright eyes popped around her shoulder.

“Yui swing stick go crack!” It screamed excitedly. Ijichi winced at the volume; The cold of the ice brought a little clarity and that clarity was that he had a raging headache.

Eventually Yui was able to coax Ijichi off the ground and into a chair.

“I brought in the bags you had on you,” she said, to break the silence.

“Those are for you,” Ijichi speech was slightly slurred, and he was rambling “Gojo-san gave me a list. He never asks if I want to, or am available to, just tells me.”

“I didn’t know he’d ask you to do it, I thought someone was breaking in.”

“I mean why should the world’s strongest do a menial thing like grocery shopping? It’s not the proper use of the Honored one’s skills.” Ijichi’s voice had a whiny edge to it now. “He told me to rearrange Principal Yaga’s whole schedule today so he could talk to kyotos pirincipal. I don’t even have the authority to something like that. Yaga’s not under my jurisdiction. That’s a higher manager’s job, and she’s scarier than Shoko-san.” Yui listened as Ijichi moped about the burdens of being a manager and the lack of thanks he received. Suzu sat on the floor by the man’s shoes, nibbling at shoe laces.

“Ijichi san, are there other bags that need to be brought in?” Yui asked when it was safe to interrupt his monologue. Most of what she’d brought in had been groceries,which made sense since those were more perishable. But if this was the stuff she’d asked Gojo sensei for, there should’ve been more.

“Wha- oh yes let me go get-,”  The man lurched up from his chair, and then Yui rushed forward to catch him before he face planted into ground. Suzu had managed to get the laces undone, and the man in had tripped over them.

“Please stay seated Ijichi-san,” Yui pleaded, “just relax for the moment. I can get them.” It was simple to find the bags in the trunk of the car, and Yui couldn’t help a  twinge of excitement at the sight of the cleaning supplies. Finally she’d be able to get some heavy cleaning done and have a bathroom that she felt safe to use. And a few extra changes of clothes was always a plus, especially since all of hers had been left at the school. All the bags were hardly any weight, so they all got looped through her arms to give the impression of a bizarrely feathered bird. Ijichi sat still in the chair, still a bit dazed, having an unspoken staring contest with Suzu. Every molecule of Ijichi told him the thing was a curse and should be exorcised, but its connection to Itadori stayed his hand.  Suzu large eyes stared innocent and pleading.

“Pet me,” it demanded in a squeaky voice. Ijichi didn’t resist; he gave a soft coo when his hand sank into feathers; the creature twisted it head to lean into the touch. The warbling purr came from the creature elicited a squeaky giggle from the man.

“I got the rest of the bags,” Yui announced as she came in, using her foot to close the door. “Oh, Suzu are you making a friend?”

“Mm,” Suzu hummed as Ijichi’s finger found a particularly itchy spot on the back of their  head, “I’m keeping him.” Yui paused in setting down the bags. Ijichi’s finger froze. Suzu blinked in confusion.

“Suzu, you can’t just keep a person,” Yui chastised, properly setting the bags down to put away contents.

“Why not? You keep me,” the curse asked. They hopped over to the bags to peek in  Yui looked to Ijichi for help. He gave a helpless shrug. The makeshift ice pack was staring to melt, water dripping down the man’s neck.

“ People don’t own other people. You are mine as much as I am yours because of our bond. Ijichi doesn’t share anything like that with us.”  Yui worded out slowly as her thoughts aligned.

“Why’d you let the Strongest keep us here if he doesn’t own us?”

“That’s…” different Yui wanted to protest. Gojo had been nice to offer her a place to stay where no one would find her, and he was going to train her! No other sorcerer had offered that at the school. Yui wanted to know how to use the cursed energy she’d been burdened with, if only so it couldn’t hurt others accidentally. What else could she have done? Ijichi coughed, wincing when his head twinged in pain.

“Gojo-san is very persuasive and has much influence. It is very difficult to defy his wishes.” He said simply, ”Gojo-san is also very protective of students. He doesn’t want Itadori to die and this is the best way he could help.”

“I’m already meant to die when I eat the last of Sukuna’s fingers.” Yui pointed out

“No!” Suzu protested in outrage. They launched themselves at Yui and clung to her front. ”You’re my human! Mine, you can’t die!” Yui swallowed, unease settling like a rock in her gut.

“I’m not going to die yet,” Yui smiled reassuringly; Suzu only frowned back. “Gojo was supposed to kill me when we first, but it was him who convinced higher ups to delay it until I’d eaten all of Sukuna’s fingers.”

“I’m gonna eat one so you can’t! Then you can’t die.” Suzu decided.

“NO!” The shout was in stereo, and it made Suzu shrink half their usual size. Ijichi’s already pale face looked sickly at the thought. Yui had to take a few shaky breaths to calm from her spike of panic.

“Suzu, you do understand who Sukuna is right?” Yui asked, her voice barely wobbled. Suzu’s eyes darted back and forth between the two human uncertainly.

“He’s the meanie mouth that shows up on you sometimes” they answered, feathers ruffled discontentedly.

“Is the king of curses not common knowledge amongst curses?” Yui looked to the manager. Ijichi shrugged.

“Very few curses have the intelligence to communicate at the level your little friend can,” he admitted, “and fewer sorcerers are curious enough to want to know.”

“I know about the king of Curses!” Suzu stamped a foot huffily, “he’s giant and gots four arms and two faces and is the strongest! This Sukuna’s just stuck in your body and demands you feed him.”

Cicada screams came through the window in the silence that followed. How was one supposed to correct a misunderstanding like this? There was no indication from Sukuna that Yui could feel how he felt about the answer. Shouldn’t the curse be offended? Maybe he was asleep or didn’t care about others opinions. A ping from Ijichi’s phone interrupted. All three of them startled, and Ijichi jumped up when he looked at the device.

“I’m late! ” he cried. The damp makeshift ice pack fell, scattering ice bits across the floor. Suzu chased after some. Yui heard some bits fall through the gaps into the basement.

“I’m sorry! Here, take this with you,” Yui sprang up also, and went to the fridge. She dithered looking at the variety of sodas, then grabbed the most popular flavor and a bag of shrimp chips.

“For an apology, and as thank you for bringing the stuff,” she said holding the snacks out. Ijichi stared in surprise at the proffered items, before coughing self consciously and accepting them. The man left and the little cabin was in stifling silence once more. Yui sighed and went to clean up the abandoned towel and the melted ice.

“When’s food?,” Suzu asked, head leaning over the edge at Yui as she crawled under to wipe up a larger patch of water.

“Well with the groceries, we could do a fancy like omurice. Or just simple like miso soup.”

“What’s omurice?”

“An omelette served on rice. I like to put onion, bell pepper, and cheese in mine.”

“Me too! Me too!” Suzu’s wings fluttered excitedly.

“Alright alright.”

“Don’t forget your bargain brat. And I want meat.” Sukuna’s voice was not unexpected, but Yui still twitch at the tug on her cheek where the mouth formed.

“I don’t have many options for meat, but there is bacon.” Yui lrecalled from looking through the bags.

“Hmm, acceptable.”

“I want bacon too!” Suzu interjected.

“You’ll get some in yours too then.” Yui said soothingly. She washed the vegetables in the sink, rinsing them of any dirt and pests that might’ve lurked in them. Washed the rice and started the cooker. Then Yui  pulled out a plate to use for cutting the vegetables. She opened a drawer and frowned and searched the other drawers of the kitchenette and hummed thoughtfully.

“There’s no knives in here,” she mumbled, “that’s going to be a problem.”

“Why?”

“I can’t cut the vegetables or the bacon without one.”

“What if I use my claws?” Suzu asked and raised a foot, small hook like claws extended in demonstration.  Yui poked them and shook her head sadly.

“Not large enough. And your paws aren’t clean. Good for better grip but not cutting or chopping.” A surge of irritation not her own surged in Yui. she braced herself as her right arm twitched and cursed energy flared .The green onions and bell pepper that sat waiting on the plate were blitzed into tiny pieces, perfectly for sprinkling in a bed of egg.

“How’d you do that?” Suzu gasped in awe.

“I, I didn’t,” Yui said weakly, stared at her hand uneasily. She flexed her fingers; the tingle of the cursed technique, it was a cursed technique she was sure of that, the sensation of it lingered but was fading fast.

“Sukuna,” Yui called out.

“What are you standing around for, get cooking,” the curse growled. Yui’s lips thinned; she could push this mystery, and more than likely incur greater debt from the curse to get an actual answer, or experiment herself, and freak out how it happened later.

Chapter Text

The clack of the wooden sandals echoed as its wearer walked sedately down the fake tile hall. Fluorescent lights flickered overhead, emergency vehicle sirens and loud televisions was the background music of this run down apartment complex, but none of this concerned the traveling individual. The man known as Geto eyed the passing numbers on the doors with little interest until he found the one he wanted. The door was dented as if by great force, and graffitied over so many time it was impossible to tell what the original color was. Humming to himself, Geto turned the doorknob and entered the looming void within.

In contrast to the dismal outside, inside was paradisiacal. Clean ocean waters lapped white sandy shores. Tall frondy plants swayed in the salty breeze. Something red and tentacled was playing further out in the water, giving out watery squeals of delight every now and again

“Back so soon?” A voice as mild as a rose’s thorns called out. It came from a figure in a beach lounger under a sun umbrella. The speaker made for a strange beach goer, with his ragged sweater, pale skin and faded blue hair, and the stitching that covered his full body. But the strangest and eeriest thing about the lounger were his eyes. Heterochromatic, one gray and the other blue; both were flat and lifeless, like a painted doll.

“Hello Mahito. it was too pitiful to keep watching. Jogo really overestimated himself.” Geto chuckled as he walked over.

“So the old man is dead then?”

“At deaths door last I saw; Hanami wanted to save him though.” The blank eyes blinked and Mahito hummed thoughtfully.

“it’s your fault that Jogo felt the need to challenge Gojo,” he teased

“No it’s not! I tried to stop him!” Geto protested with a pout, ”it’s not my fault he didn’t listen to my warning about how strong Gojo was.” Mahito snorted, and picked up the book he’d been reading before Geto’s entrance.

“Of course, of course.”  As Mahito looked at his book, the domain shuddered as the front door reappeared. A large white giant with branches where eyes should be came through cradling a round object in her one arm .

“Hanami, Jogo! You’re looking well!”

“You think this is look well!” Jogo’s disembodied head shrieked.

“You’re alive at least.. and since you failed, we’ll go with my plan to seal Gojo at the right time and the right place.” Geto said pointedly. “D day is October 31 in Shibuya. I’ll give more details as the day approaches. Any objections, Mahito?”

The blue haired curse shook his head.

“No objections,”  he smiled beatifically. “Let’s be cunning, as curses should be.”

“Jogo, I want to hear your observations of Sukuna’s vessel,” Geto cornered the volcanic curse’s head after the impromptu meeting. Hanami still cradled Jogo in her arm and glowered at the curse user; as much as a large white being with twigs in place of eyes could glower.

“Why should I tell you anything?” Jogo said haughtily. Being held by Hanami’s arm meant Jogo was eye level with Geto instead of looking up, which would have stoked the curse’s ego, if he wasn’t only a head.

“I’m merely curious,” Geto gave a bland smile. “I was surprised to see that Gojo had them.”

“Tch,” Jogo scoffed, glaring off to the distance, “that sorcerer will pay for that humiliation!  The vessel themself was nothing noteworthy. They were nothing like we’d expect of the king of curses. I only recognized his cursed energy within her. ”

“Hm.. well, it probably wouldn’t have lived this long if they could’ve been recognized as Sukuna.”

“But it been a thousand years since the man walked the earth. How would anyone recognize him?”

“I think four arms and four eyes would stand out in any situation.”

“The vessel wasn’t even male!”

“There was hardly enough material to make it human, let alone a male.”  This was muttered softly, to himself.

“What?” Jogo asked.

“What?” Geto asked back.

“Material?” Hanami asked herself.

“Fun fact: did you know all human fetuses start as female until a Y chromosome activates? So even if it technically they have a Y chromosome, unless it activates the infant will turn out biologically female. Genetics are so fickle.” Geto sighed exasperatedly. Both curses stared blankly. Then Geto snapped his finger with realization.

“Oh by the way, what was that small thing the vessel was holding?” He asked

“I don’t know, a bird, cat? It said it was a Suzu.”

“It was a curse,” Hanami spoke up, “tiny and weak. It tried to free the vessel when I used them as a distraction.”

Geto hummed thoughtfully, a hand coming up to grab his chin.

“How intriguing,” he mused, “are you sure it wasn’t a shikigami?”

“It was more. Acted of its own will.”

“Curious… very curious.”

“Mahito, if you encounter Sukuna’s vessel before October 31, try and learn more about this Suzu.”

”What for?”

”Nothing more than idle curiosity.”

Chapter Text

There were sounds of celebration outside. Voices cheering, music playing, the sizzle of fried foods.

“What’s with all the noise?” Suzu peered out the window curiously. There was no sign of the source, being buried deep in the trees. Yui frowned to herself, doing the mental math of the calendar. How had she forgotten about the Tanabata festival? Grandpa Wasuke had insisted attending each year. When she asked why, Wasuke had shared his reasons.

“To make sure the lovers have a night to remember, on this one night they have together.”

“Who are they? Why can’t they stay together.”

Wasuke had shrugged.

“The stories for why always changes. Whether one is a celestial prince or princess and cannot stay with their mortal lover, or they are a cowherd and a weaver who grew lazy when together,” he shrugged, “it is an ancient narrative. Man meets woman, forbidden love, lessons on being productive, very ancient story devices.”

“It’s just a story then?”

“Just because it’s a story doesn’t mean it doesn’t contain truth.” Wasuke scolded, “and I’ve met the couple. Exquisite robes they wore, fit for the emperor. And very gracious. The gift they gave me for coming was nothing short of a miracle. I always go to show my appreciation.”

Yui’s grandpa remained tight lipped when she begged to know what he’d been given.

“It’s the Tanabata festival,” Yui explained to the little curse. “It celebrates two stars that show up together one day a year, and people make wishes.”

“Why would anyone celebrate a star? They’re just specks in the night sky.”

“Humans used the stars as a calendar and a compass for centuries, oji-chan told me.”

Suzu hummed unimpressed, and fidgeted. Yui could feel the excitement in the air. After stewing in the stagnant cursed energy the past few weeks, it was breath of fresh air. She itched to go out, be among people and not be concerned about the future. Her feet were at the door before she fully registered the action.

“Are we going out?” Suzu asked. They skittered over to the door and looked up at Yui hopefully. Their whole body wiggled with excitement. Were they, could they? Gojo sensei had brought them here to hide from the other sorcerers. What if there was one here? But oji-chan had always gone to Tanabata; and since he couldn’t now, it was up to Yui to continue the tradition, right? The music and laughter rang out again; Yui turned the knob.

Lanterns with trailing streamers fluttered in the soft breeze. Kids with brightly painted faces and masks ran to and fro between stalls, their screams of laughter chased by the scolding of elders. Yui stood at the mouth of the fair, overwhelmed by the sounds and smells. It made her heart ache.

“What’s that?” Suzu balanced precariously on her shoulder, craning to see. Yui looked in the direction indicated.  There was a small pool with a grinning giant rubber duck statue sitting in the middle of it, little ducks and fish pushed around by the current of the circulating water below.

“It’s a fishing game,” Yui explained, her own memories of playing coming to the fore, “you have a net and try to scoop up the little ducks. You win a prize if it has a star on its bottom.” She didn’t mention that the nets often broke as soon as they hit the water since they were made from rice paper. The odds of actually winning the big prize was 1 in a million. The current player of the stall screamed as their third net failed to catch anything. He was swiftly carried away by a stressed parent trying to console the child’s distress.

“I want to try it!” Suzu leapt down, which staggered Yui, and ran toward the stall.

“Wait, Suzu!” Yui pursued, tackled her little friend in front of the game. Their combined momentum caused the two to roll into the pool. The water sloshed dangerously, a few ducks and fish threatened to go overboard.

“Hey! Watch it!” The woman tending the booth scolded sharply.

“Sorry!” Yui gave a guilty smile, “I dropped something and tripped.”

The woman’s severe expression softened slightly and she turned her attention to her latest victim. She explained how to catch a duck with her own special net that definitely wouldn’t break, and offered a second easily broken one meant for the customers. Yui checked to make sure no one was looking and bent close to Suzu’s ear.

“Suzu! You can’t just run up to these things. They can’t see you, and I don’t have any money to pay.”

“Aw,” Suzu groaned disappointedly. Briefly Yui wondered if this was what her grandpa had to put up with when she was growing up. She shoved the despondency away; she was going to enjoy being out of the cabin.

“Even if we can’t play the games, there’s lots of other things to see and do!” Yui said optimistically. It was the same tone adults used when they tried to gaslight children into thinking the cheaply made playground was actually a play palace. And Suzu gave the statement the look it deserved.

“But the ducks,” they pleaded. Yui couldn’t resist those large sad eyes. And it wasn’t like curses could be seen by normal people could they?

“I can’t pay to let you play like everyone else is, but if you sit where others aren’t and put the duck back after you catch it, it shouldn’t be a problem. Just don’t let anyone catch you doing it. I’m going to explore a little bit.” She let Suzu go. The little curse shook themselves and floofed their feathers to fix how messy they’d gotten in the scuffle, and trotted to crouch next to the pool. Yui watched as one paw slapped at a duck, making a splash. Suzu squealed as they got wet, but the lack of catching the duck only made their determination greater. Yui gave a soft chuckle, and wandered down the street.

————

They remembered when they Began. As stars, fixed in the fabric of the sky for humans to use to guide them home. Then came the Names, Orihime and Hokiboshi.  No longer just lights in the sky, but given shape and given reason to Be. Given stories and a reason to celebrate being. A boy and girl, bound to be apart except one night a year. They had been prayed to, pleas for good harvests in the coming months, safety from blights on the land, and promises that they work a productive year. The reunited couple sat in their pavilion listening to the festivities on this night Tanabata, the one night they were together for the year.

“This age is a quiet one,” Hokiboshi sighed as he took a sip of his wine. The drink wa from the harvest of the previous year, to judge how to bless this years.

“You only say that because no one wishes for your protection anymore,” Orihime pointed out, setting a white down piece for their Go game.

“I can’t help it, it is part of my nature as a man!” Hokiboshi’s black piece clicked into place.

“You are no more a man than I am. But you have been shaped into Male’s working nature, My princely cow herder.” Orihime teased with a smile. Hokiboshi glowered then folded his arms with a haughty sniff.

“It is certainly better than being a weaver, and stuck inside at a loom all day, weaver girl.” If this had been meant to be a barb at his lover, Orihime gave no notice. She only sighed and looked out at the festival goers.

“These festivals aren’t the same as they used to,” she admitted, “very few give us proper respect. These humans expect entertainment to be given to them rather than make it. How can we bless them if we are given nothing in return?”

“The shamans declared us evil, destroyed our shrines and convinced other humans that we were nothing and it was them who purified the lands.” Hokiboki sneered. “They sought the power that we had, and found its inverse. They’ve corrupted the blessings our kin gave.”

“The pollution has been growing every year. I fear what will happen if it covers the whole face of the land.” The two celestial beings pondered what awaited in the future and basked in the excitement and wishful pleas of attendees. the black and white  Go stones clicked as they were set on the board.

“Oh,” Orihime’s hand hovered over the board, her hand paused in its placing of a tile. Hokiboshi clicked his tongue, and growled frustrated.

“Beaten again,”  he muttered, then he stiffened also. There was an ominous tone to the air, so low it can’t be heard, but felt and sent shivers down a spine.

“We seem to have an intruder,” Hokiboshi commented. ”Another shaman come to ‘cleanse’ us of filth?”

“Not quite, I think,” Orihime said; she had caught sight of the source. “They are a guest, unlearned of the shaman ways. But they carry a heavy burden. One you ought to be familiar with dear husband. He was once like us.” Hokiboki’s eyes widened as it clicked in his mind who this was.

“We should go be gracious hosts and welcome him.”

Chapter Text

Yui wound through the decorated paths past stalls and sideshows. A street actor statue came to life as people paused to take a picture with it. A man was doing a one man play with his shiba inu as his costar; the dog displayed many tricks such as dancing on his hind legs, and doing a shrill howl that could be considered singing.  Vendors shouted sales pitches and demonstrated how great the product they were holding was.  The scent of fried foods wafted in her face every few steps. It made her stomach growl.

“I don’t have the money,” Yui reminded herself as a mantra. Her wallet had been lost at the detention center, destroyed along with her phone. She hadn’t had the courage to ask Gojo about replacing either.

As she ventured deeper down paths, Yui  realized not all the festival goers were just humans in costumes. One figure playing a shooting game had tusks jutting up from his lower lip and also had three eyes, all of them squinting to focus. A costume stall being run by a spider with a woman’s face was showing a stork legged person what colors complimented them best. A group of red skinned humanoids with overly long earlobes and noses guffawed with each other at a story’s punchline. They also were passing a ceramic jug of a liquid, the vapors of which burned nose hairs and eyebrows off. Yui’s feet came to halt as she puzzled over the sights. There was no fear or malice permeating the air, just the excitement and energy of many humans enjoying an evening of celebration. And these being weren’t trying to ruin the occasion, but were rather taking part in them. Nothing like the curses she had experienced previously. What was this?

“So strange. What kind of curses of these?” Yui murmured to herself.

“I’d be more entertained if they were curses,” Sukuna’s mouth opened up on Yui’s cheek. Yui groaned; phrased like that, she couldn’t not ask another.

“What are they then?”

“Payment first. Get me one of those meat sticks.” Of course that was why he popped up. The smells of food stalls they passed were all tempting;  the skewers of fried chicken which Sukuna had indicated made Yui’s mouth water. They were just sitting right there in front of her, all she had to do was reach out a hand…

“I can’t,” she said instead, ignoring her own growling stomach. “ I told Suzu earlier, I don’t have the money. It wouldn’t be right for me to steal.”

“You let it play by its own rules,” Sukuna pointed out, “why are you insisting on playing by these humans rules? You aren’t just a human now, you’re more than that. More powerful. Show these weaklings their place and take what is your right!”

“Shut up! Letting Suzu splash in water unseen by humans is completely different to what you’re suggesting,” Yui snapped irritably, closing her hands into fists and folding her arms across her chest lest Sukuna get any ideas. “I don’t think I’m better than them. And this isn’t a game where what I do doesn’t matter.”

“Who said this was a game? It’s merely survival of the strongest.”

“Tonight is not about survival! It’s about being a human and enjoying time with other humans!” Yui slapped Sukuna’s mouth closed, against the curses displeasure. She marched away from food stalls, the temptation was still strong.

When her head cleared in fresher air, Yui found herself in the gardens of the park that hosted the festival. There were people here too, young couples that had snuck away from the noise to have time to themselves, children whose energy couldn’t be confined and needed open space to run. A fireworks show was being set up on the banks.

“Come all, come all, make your wishes before this night of celebration breaks!” A woman’s voice called out. A small booth  further the path was set up for people who wanted write and hang up their yearly wishes.  It was being run by  the petite woman front of it, a sumo sized man behind her sat in the back. The comical size difference of the two was humorous, but stranger  about the couple was their apparel; they looked like they’d stepped out of a heian era painted scroll.  The woman wore extravagant robes of green, with a silver lotus blooms pattern in high quality silks. Her hair had been carefully made to frame her face as it was pulled up into a bun , and she wore an intricate ornament reminiscent of a loom on top. The man’s robe was red and had cows in fields of grain embroidered in black and gold. On his head a black silk cap cradled his skull;  calligraphy brushes served as hair pins to tie the long hair into a top knot. Outfits that were completely out of place amongst concrete and electrical lighting.

All around the booth, decorative tanzaku ribbons fluttered in the breeze.  The woman made eye contact with Yui and gave a warm smile and beckoned the girl over. Out of curiosity, Yui approached. She couldn’t feel any cursed energy, the air even this far from the festival still buzzed with the excited festivities.

“Isn’t it a little warm for all that clothing?” Yui asked. She was only in her t-shirt and shorts, and still the heat was overwhelming.

“That’s why it’s only worn on special occasions,” the woman said with a wink, then gestured to the table, “make your wish. The summer stars are listening.”

“That’s just the story told to kids,” Yui blurted. Despite her grandfather believing in them, she’d never felt one way or the other.  The woman’s smile fell slightly, and she shared a look with her partner.

“You won’t know until you try,” the woman said softly. Yui met her eyes and jolted. Where one would expect an iris and pupil on a white sclera, the woman’s was a literal glowing star on a dark sclera.

“You’re not human,” yui murmured, eyes flicking between the couple.

“And what does it mean to be human, eh?” The man grunted. He’d been staring at a Go board while the two women talked, but now was looking at Yui. She could see the man’s eyes were also stars. The question threw Yui for a loop.

“I don’t know. But humans don’t actually have stars in their eyes,” she said baffled.

“My lady wife’s eyes are beautiful, no?” The man took his wife’s hand and kissed it softly. The woman’s hand stroked the man’s cheek softly; he leaned into it. The tame yet intimate gesture made Yui’s gut twist. Curses were supposed to only care about killing and tormenting humans weren’t they?

“You guys  aren’t like any curse I’ve met before,” she coughed awkwardly to break the two out of their affectionate stare down.

“Just like a shaman. Assume everything not human to be a curse,” The man rolled his eyes.

“Then what are you?”

“Would you like to make a wish first?,” the woman asked.

Yui looked over the table; Cheap colored paper tanzaku. The kind for them who didnt bother making their own. Tradition said the written wishes were to be pinned to bamboo stalks after.  It was always the first stop Yui had made with her grandfather in previous years. Grandpa Wasuke made sure they had written and decorated theirs at home before coming.

“Wishes are to be made in private. Not aired for everyone to ooh and ahh over,” He’d told her, “and it’s the proper way to greet the honored guests. They like to be remembered.” Last year Yui had wished for her grandfather’s failing health to improve, to see her graduate from high school. Numbly and on autopilot Yui picked up the paper slip and pencil. Numbly she wrote, and numbly she hung it from the bamboo. It was not as prettily decorated as the ones around it, but it was something that felt needed to be done. She closed her eyes, trying not to let tears fall, and clapped her hands together in a prayer. If the stars really did answer wishes, that maybe they could answer this one. And then Yui could see her grandfather again-

A bell tolled.

Chapter Text

The bell tolled. The note echoed and vibrated through Yui’s bones. It made her vision blur, making impossible to see. Yui wondered vaguely if she was caught in another curse’s trap. When her vision cleared she was no longer on the outskirts of a festival but in the night sky. Yui’s feet were set on solid ground, as if it were glass. Below her, earth moved in its orbit in what seemed a lazy fashion in a sea of stars. The strange couple were there too, still in their resplendent clothes, but gone was the booth.  In here, their inhumanity became enhanced. Their skin so pale it glowed, the clothes shimmered as if the sky had been woven into its threads. They sat at a table that a small wooden box sat on. There was an empty seat cushion in front of the table, waiting innocently for Yui to take it. Despite the ominous change in scenery, Yui couldn’t help but feel calm.

She blinked; she knew who these figures were; as if they had introduced themselves personally.

“You’re Orihime, the weaver princess,” Yui said, and thrust a finger in the man’s direction. “And you’re Hikoboshi the cowherder!” Hikoboshi guffawed at the girl’s dumbfounded expression.

“You look so suprised,” he chortled, wiping a tear. “Who did you think we were?”

“But you’re just stories!” Yui blurted. Then, because the strange nature of events she added, “aren’t you?”

“That is not something we can decide for you,” Hikoboshi said somberly, “it’s up to you to decide. But! We have received your wish. The ritual of wishes has been observed, and now we can speak freely.”

“My grandfather said he met you before,” she said unsure what else to say.

“We have spoken to many mortals. Few remember the experience. The one who called himself Itadori Wasuke was one of those few.”

“We first thought he was his brother. Their energies are so similar,” Orihime added, ”Our paths first crossed when we paid our respects to his teacher the Fallen Star.”

“Grandfather wasn’t a twin. And didn’t have any siblings,” Yui protested, her hands balling into fists. What did these peo… beings want from her? Why couldn’t they just say it straight? In Her growing  frustration, Yui didn’t notice Sukuna’s stirring.

“He is a twin,” Hikoboshi corrected, “a twin whose other half never died, who you carry within you.” The air grew heavy as Sukuna made his displeasure known.

“Are you seriously suggesting that my grandfather was Sukuna’s twin brother?” Yui couldn’t decide how she felt about the idea. It was preposterous! Ridiculous! Insane! Her oji-chan was nothing like the king of curses!  Wasuke had been gentle and kind. Sukuna was malicious and vicious. Her grandfather had been the most important person in Yui’s life. Sukuna was her bane. Both their names don’t belong in the same sentence!

“It is so. They’re bodies formed together in the womb, when hunger forced one to eat the other.  Their souls branded and were bound to eachother. And because Sukuna never passed through the cycle, the bond has endured.”

“I don’t believe it. Where’s your proof?”  Yui shook her head disbelievingly. Hikoboshi nodded to the box. It was small and beautifully painted with lotus flowers; Yui eyed it with distrust.

“When he spoke to us,  Itadori had expressed concerns for your future and wished a boon of us. He knew he was going to die, and he left this in our care and asked we would give this to you. He .” Yui warily nudged it, and when it didn’t spring a trap of any kind, she picked it up. It felt familiar. She had the impression she had seen a box like this before. Maybe in her grandpa’s closet? The lid slid open without problem and Yui could only stare at what was within. A mummified finger, purple brown with age and dried out lay innocuously within. Wrapped around one of its joints was a silver ring etched with a kanji Yui didn’t recognize.

“Enchain.” Yui watched in horror from within as Sukuna wrenched control and swallowed the finger. Then even her sight was taken away and the world went black.

When Sukuna had first incarnated in Yui Itadori, it been the awaking from a full nights sleep into Christmas morning. Sukuna had been aware of time passing while sealed in his fingers, but only in the way someone stirring in their slumber before settling back into dreams. But, incarnating and seeing how humanity’s population grown uncontrolled and  so many were gathered I large numbers in one place Sukuna couldn’t wait to make the maggots scatter in the wake of their imminent destruction. But then the brat had ruined that by wresting back control of the vessel. But Sukuna was  patient, he could wait a little longer. And then there’d been the second finger, and the split second hed taken over, before it had been ripped out again. Then he’d eaten the third finger and chiseled a crack in the brats control that he could use. And he made use of it now, as the girl stared at the finger the two stars and freely given. Once he ate this one he was going to slaughter the two- Sukuna metaphorically choked . He hadn’t  even given the ring on the finger a glance. His fingers had survived untouched through the years, and Sukuna was the strongest, what could such an insignificant item possibly do to him? An unseen force wrenched Sukuna from the body’s control and back into the innate domain.

Within a dank bone ridden cavern, two figures were in a stand off. Although Sukuna was up in his chair, because he had a reputation to uphold.

“Hello brother,” Itadori Wasuke said calmly.

Chapter Text

If asked by those who watched Itadori Wasuke grow up, they would he had been an unruly child. That he used to scream, bite, and attack everyone and anything, even his parents. But there came a day the boy stopped attacking, and stared. He stared at the world, at people like he was putting them under a microscope. Never spoke, only stared. There was speculation that the boy wasn’t “all there” in the head. Which in a way was true. Itadori Wasuke’s soul was incomplete, and he knew it. It made it impossible to tell the difference between humans and what he called the Unseeables.  The creatures that had humans parts, but had a feel about them that made Wasuke feel nauseous being near them.  He watched the humans interact with each other all the time, and the Unseeables interact with eachother all the time. But never did a human and an Unseeable interact. But they both tried to get Wasuke involved in their doings. It meant Wasuke grew up an oddity among his village.  The Unseeables and humans that treated him kindly, he treated kindly. But the Unseeables and humans that treated him ill, Wasuke reciprocated tenfold. But the knowledge that he lacked something that everyone else had ate at him. Wasuke knew whatever he was missing was out there. It was the same as knowing where each part of your body was while blindfolded; Wasuke couldn’t tell where or what it was, only that it existed. That he somehow, had been born incomplete, and so it was his life’s mission to find it.

So when he was old enough, he searched. And found that some Unseeables were figures of myths and legends, or fears and anger made solid and walked upon the face of the earth. The first time he met another human that could see an Unseeable, it had been the exorcism of a nature spirit that was trying to restore its land. Great trees had grown and ensnared construction crews and vines tore cement wall to fall on human within the buildings. It was malicious, yet had given Wasuke a flower as a token of peace once he had convinced it he would not to destroy its plants, or build there. Then the sorcerer had stormed in, shredded the spirits domain and eviscerated it into nothing more than a smear. The person claimed to have rescued Wasuke from its influence.

“Sorcerer,” was whispered by an Unseeable later, as if saying it aloud would summon one. Wasuke was told they were humans who didn’t try to understand these unseen spirits, only erased them.  He decided then they were to be avoided if he didn’t want to dragged into their ranks or else killed.

And Wasuke continued his search. Searched for that part of himself he knew existed but had no name for. He sought guidance from the  spirits and yokai he’d come to know and was directed toward the Tomb of the Star.

“How curious.” A crone had murmured at seeing him. “State your business.” Her form was bowed in half with age, and her wrinkles had wrinkles. The skin paper thin one could almost see the blood pumping through the prominent veins on the back of hands and neck. But the woman’s eyes were bright and as sharp as an eagle’s.

“I, I don’t know,” Wasuke had said, confessed.

“Hmph, I think you do.” The woman sniffed unimpressed. “This way.”

“You feel like Him,” the woman commented as she led to a cave. It took all of Wasuke’s control not to barrel past the woman into it. It was there; that missing piece was in there!

“Him?” He echoed blankly. The woman nodded at the cave, and with that permission, Wasuke charged in. Far inside, where light had been swallowed completely, and surrounded by the constant sound of dripping water, Wasuke had to pause for breath, and pulled out a flash light. He yelped and dropped it when it landed on a grotesque mummified face.  Four sunken eyes, skin dried and drawn tight over the skeletal form. The mummified corpse of a giant with four arms sat in a meditative pose on a small island in the undercave pond. Stalactites and stalagmites surrounded it like a fanged maw. The whole of it glistened from a layer of minerals that had dripped from the watery coated rocks above. Wasuke waded  the knee deep water in the pond to get close.

“Who are you? What are we?” He asked the corpse. Shinto priest robes were draped over its form. A small stalagmite was growing from the tall cap.

“He was Ryomen Sukuna, King of Curses,” the old woman had followed in and stood with a lantern. The light cast sharp shadows in the room blade like shapes.

Sukuna. The name resonated in Wasuke’s core. Sukuna. Wasuke could picture the owners carmine eyes that would have been in the empty sockets. Felt the echo of the man’s power. Sukuna. Wasuke knew this was key to what had been missing.  Sukuna had been a part of him; or had Wasuke been a part of Sukuna?  Wasuke’s eyes devoured each detail of the mummified remains .

“Where are his fingers?” Wasuke growled when he came to the stump hands.  Who dared desecrate the dead like this? Of his souls kin?!

“You do not know. “ It was a statement, not a question. Wasuke got the impression the woman wasn’t in the habit of it. She shifted the lantern in Wasuke’s direction, he winced as it flashed in his eyes. “Ah. Curiouser and curiouser.  You truly are no sorcerer.”

“No,” the man snapped, “They’re bullies and idiots, all of them. Where are Sukuna’s fingers?”

The old woman, who later introduced herself as Tengen, told the story. Sukuna’s exploits and notoriety in life, his defeat, and how the fingers were scattered across the face of Japan. She also taught the jujutsu arts in exchange for domestic services. It had been centuries since the old crone had a personal student, one that didn’t have plans of using the learning to further their own reputation and prestige. It amused her to see the man absorb the knowledge of barriers and seal work like a desert wanderer who had just found water.

Life continued to move on. Wasuke found love with a woman, and together they had a son Jin, who was as normal as any human could be. Curses and the Unseeables became less important compared to the miracle of a son he had.  And then Yui was born.

Two figures were in Sukuna’s domain. One stood on the bloody lake, the other sat on the bony throne atop the bony mound. Both wore white robes with black trim, both had similar square shaped faces.  One face was lined and his eyes clouded with age; the other face had four red eyes that glowed with malevolence and distaste. The air sizzled with Sukuna’s displeasure.

“Well, well, well.” Sukuna sneered, “a roach seems to have intruded into my domain. ”The older figure didn’t give Sukuna a glance as he gazed around the domain. He clicked his tongue unimpressed at the decor.  A bone stool bubbled up out of the water.

“Excuse this old man for sitting down, these bones aren’t what they used to be.” The mans said with a loud grunt. “I wasn’t expecting the ring to get eaten along with the finger.” the old man sniffed and rubbed his nose. One of Sukuna’s eye twitched. The man stared placidly back. The only sound in the cavern was dripping water from the stalagmite spine above.

“Funny that you turned yourself into a cursed object. Am I supposed to be impressed?”

“Hm? You’ll have to speak up, my hearings been shot since that demolition project back in ‘72. Or was it that concert in ‘81? ”

“You are wasting my time.”Sukuna warned.

“Eh?” Wasuke blinked owlishly then snapped his fingers. “Oh! Cursed objects, mm, that’s right. No. No, actually. It’s not a cursed object. I wasn’t about to risk my soul in its incomplete state for a thing like that. The ring was only supposed to hold a memory. But i think, because you ate it and our shared souls has made me into something more.” He huffed a chuckle. “This really was only to be a memory for Yui to be able to see and listen. Yui never liked it when I talked about her parents, and I guess I wanted something a bit sturdier than a journal or a video when she came looking.”

Sukuna sent a series of dismantles at the man’s head.  Wasuke just shifted in his seat to let the technique pass harmlessly over him. Sukuna snarled and leapt from his chair. The punch was caught effortlessly.

“From the moment Yui was born I knew you were there.  That her fate had been tied to something deadly and what should have been my responsibility. I shouldn’t have been convinced to leave the fingers be. What kind of grandfather am I that my granddaughter has to carry my burden?” Wasuke’s cheeks were wet with tears, but his eyes were shrewd and clear, locked on Sukuna. Wasuke rose off the stool still holding the fist. Sukuna tried to pull away but Wasuke’s grip was like steel. Wasuke now loomed over the cursed being. No longer a frail old man, but Karma given form. A mirror of himself, of a form Sukuna hadn’t seen in millennia.

“How? How do you have that form?! Return it to me!” He screamed. He tried to punch or kick, but a hand caught each limb. Dismantles or cleaves skimmed harmlessly across a well muscled torso.

“Finders keepers. You left it out where any one could’ve taken it.” A mouth opened on Wasuke’s stomach and grinned smugly. Sukuna, for the first time he could remember, felt the faint prickling of fear. He still couldn’t break free. The four arms pulled him closer.   Teeth closed with a crunch.

Chapter Text

Gojo Satoru was many things. A teacher, a sorcerer, and amazing human being, and jujitsu’s greatest weapon. It was what he’d been born to be after all. And weapons aren’t human. But Gojo Satoru had learned; learned how to be human, in those few short years of high school. And hadn’t been from any adult or teacher, but his classmates. Shoko, Nanami… and others.

Satoru appeared with barely a whisper in the basement of the cabin. The lights were off, so was the tv. None of Satoru’s senses pinged that Yui or her little curse were in the nearby surroundings. In a blink he was high in the air, looking down on the tiny world below, stretching out his Six eyes. Any curse or sorcerer that thought they’d get away with this will have The name Gojo Satoru tattooed - there was Yui’s pet, in the middle of what looked like festival grounds. Why was it out by itself? Where was Yu-chan? Why was it wearing cheap plastic jewelry, the kind kids would win in games, and what was it trying to do at that game stand? Satoru was there in a thought. Yui’s little curse was practically buried in the plastic stuff it was wearing. It was currently hovering over a large plush toy  hanging from a game stall’s frame. A tiger easily 5 times its size, with baby like proportions, and colored yellow with orange stripes. Every time a person passed by the stall, the curse ducked behind the toy as if to hide from being spotted. It didn’t make sense because curses weren’t visible to humans. Why was it separated from Yui? He approached the game stall.

“How much to play?” He asked. The teen, who had been staring at their phone before now startled, but rallied quickly. They rattled off the price, and nearly fainted at the large bill handed over. (Zupa?), or whatever the curse was called, now noticed Satoru’s presence, and squinted down at him suspiciously.

“Don’t bother about change,” Satoru waved off any protesting sputters, and picked up the darts. The things were severely blunted to the point where they were more likely to bounce off than stick to anything, but Satoru wasn’t the greatest for nothing.  Bullseyes all the way. While the overwhelmed teen tried to collect their frayed nerves from this eldritch event, Satoru collected the large plush tiger. It wasn’t even that soft, made of cheap microfiber that wouldn’t survive a single wash. But Satoru had questions, and he was going to get the answers he wanted. It didn’t hurt to have a bribe.

“Hey, that’s mine! Get lost old man!,” (kudzu?)  pounced on the toy’s head as soon as Satoru was a fair distance from the stall. Satoru realized that the reason there were so many games and food stalls set up was for some kind of celebration. Was it a holiday? The only ones Satoru couldn’t be bothered to forget was the new year or Christmas; it was still too soon for either. There was a lot of star iconography; it unsettled Satoru. It brought memories of unpleasant times.  And the curses; there were so many. Crawling around the streets like flies. Partaking in the festivities as if they had any right to. Satoru needed to search fast.

“Ooh, taiyaki, that looks good!” Satoru hummed to himself. He needed a distraction to keep calm. There were too many normal people here to warrant letting loose this anxiety coiling in his chest. “Hey chicken, go get me some taiyaki, and I’ll let you have the toy.” Said bird fluffed up indignantly at the name, and glowered up.

“Yui doesn’t like me stealing,” it said defiantly.

“And yet you stole that tacky jewelry.”

“No! I won it! Fair and square! All the other kids got em, so it only made sense I got some too!”

“Well, you didn’t win this tiger,” Satoru gestured the toy tucked under his arm, “I did. But I might be amenable for a trade: taiyaki for the tiger.” The cheeky grin he gave made the little critter shudder, no doubt in response to his energy’s pressure increasing. It looked at the fish pastry stand Satoru had indicated.

“Just the fish cake?”

“We’ll see! It’s gotta have that sweet sauce on top also.” Determination crossed (Spitoon’s?) beaky face, and they took off, necklaces and bracelets clacking. The sorcerer watched in curiosity. The critter fluttered around the front of the stall, watched how the people came up and ordered. Watched how the pastry treat was cooked and passed from cook to customer. Satoru tapped his foot impatiently. Just as another customer was about to take their freshly baked fish shaped treat, a brown feathery blur swooped down and snatched it right out of the pastry maker’s hand. Both humans gave different exclamations of dismay and shock, and it turned in appalled chatter

“Did you see that? I can’t believe it!”

“That bird snatched it right out of my hand!” The stall owner apologized and rushed to fetch another pastry. The customer gabbled at them about videos they had seen of other birds doing similar thefts. Satoru held out his hand and a taiyaki fish wrapped in a paper cover dropped into it. Satoru bit into it;  sweet pancake drizzled with caramel crunched and creamy chocolate filling filled his mouth. It was street food; cheap ingredients cooked cheaply. that wasn’t the point of it. It was pure humanity; food made to fill, but not necessarily to be filling. but in that moment it was ambrosia and a balm to the panic that broiled within. Satoru couldn’t help the happy squeak he let out. His bliss was interrupted when (Scuzzy?) chirped in alarm, and their head swiveled frantically.

“Yui!” It squeaked, and darted off. Satoru chased, still munching his pastry.

Satoru wished the thing would move faster. If Yui truly was in danger from a curse, the pace it was moving was abysmal. Ijichi could move faster than this, and that man’s jujutsu abilities were a sorry sight. The weaving through crowds and around the festivals attractions was tedious. And Satoru was still carrying the stuffed tiger. It wasnt like it would get in the way of any battles in any case. And it would serve the little curse right for being so slow if it did get destroyed. Finally, outside the festival grounds and into the trees and grass, there was a sign of something. A Torii gate, off the  walking path near a grove of bamboo covered in paper ribbons. (Scooby doo?) dove through it without hesitation, but Satoru paused. This wasn’t curses domain; those have barriers and built from the user’s cursed energy. To project their inner mind into the real world. This gate was an actual object; solid beams of wood stacked on each other and painted bright red. What made this unusual was the swirls of energy within its doorway. It would be invisible to anyone else, but with the six eyes and being hyper vigilant as he was, Satoru did not miss it. Positive and negative energies entwined together and created a mesmerizing pattern through the frame within the gate. Satoru gave  the surface a prod. The energies within the gateway rippled energetically, not repelling his intrusion but instead yielding.

“Well, who am I to ignore an unlocked door?” Satoru said to himself and walked through.

Stop. Assess. Stars, stars everywhere. Above him. Below him, a glittering galaxy of novas surrounded Satoru. And below, the earth, with its constellations of cities dotting the continents. With his eyes, he could watch a car traveling a lone dirt road in the americas or a pod of whales breaching in the pacific ocean. This wasn’t just the construction of a domain, this was real.  He was outside the earth and seeing it as it was. It made him feel small. Distractions, distractions. Assess! In what could only be the center of this place,  sat two stars, up close and bright; they wore human guises, Satoru could see their nebulous true forms tucked within. They sat at a low table that held a bounty of foods. Mostly foods he had seen at the stalls and tables set up outside. Yui sat across the table from the pair.  She didn’t look injured or under an influence of any kind, but her expression held a blankness of having lost the thread of the conversation. Her little curse friend glared at the stars from the safety of Yui’s lap.

“Peace, youngling,” the larger male star said placatingly, “we desire no harm to your master while she is our guest.”

“We seem to have gained another unexpected guest also.” The smaller and female sounding star announced, her attention turned toward Satoru. All eyes turned toward him, and Satoru straightened up, slapping on a mask of cocky and cool.

“Gojo sensei,” Yui blinked owlishly. Did she not realize what danger she’d gotten herself in?

“Yo! You two seem to have kidnapped my student. That’s a serious offense you know,” he said cooly.

“A shaman. And the star touched at that,” the male scoffed to himself, then spoke up. “Greetings One touched by the Stars.”

“Greetings One touched by the Stars,” the female echoed, “be at peace and be merry. We celebrate this night of reunions. Will you not partake?”

“How can I when my student is keeping company with two powerful curses?” The last word tasted bitter on Satoru’s tongue; it didn’t feel right, but what else could they be? But he did come closer and sit cross legged and arms folded at the table. The female sighed like a school teacher disappointed in a student. It made Satoru’s skin crawl how human it sounded.

“They didn’t kidnap me sensei,” Yui said hurriedly, “They’re the stars Orihime and Hikoboshi. It’s a holiday for them, and my grandfather always had me do the rituals of making wishes to them.” She looked down in her lap. “They knew my grandfather.”

“Is that what they said?” Satoru raised a skeptically. “And you believed it? I thought your old pops was normal.”

“He was! Or I thought he was. But I’m remembering stuff. Superstitions and rituals he always insisted on. Like Tanabata, making wishes. Incense at shrines”

“Those just feed cursed spirits egos.” Hisses and growls echoed erupted. The starry constellation creatures that stood like sentinels in the background did not like what the world’s strongest had said.

“Insult us again Star Touched, and you will be removed from this realm.” Hikoboshi warned.

“Try.” Satoru bared his teeth in a grin.

“Peace.” Orihime’s simple word washed over all in a wave. She met Satoru’s eyes.

“This is a place of communion, not of violence. And we are not here to discuss what we are. The man who called himself Itadori Wasuke gave us a task, and we have fulfilled it. Itadori Yui is our guest, not a prisoner. She and all of you are free to leave as you please.”

“Such benevolent beings ” Satoru said scathingly. Orihime’s calm didn’t flicker.

“We are the product of human belief. To assist and answer human prayers is written into the fabric of our very being. To act against it would only break us.”

“Eh, don’t know, don’t care.” Satoru flapped a hand dismissively, and turned to Yui. Placed his hands on his hips like a stern parent. “You little miss didn’t have permission for this little excursion. I’m going to have to think of a punishment for running off like this.”

“I’m sorry sensei,” Yui bowed apologetically and scratched the back of heard, “I just remembered it was Tanabata and how important it was to Oji-chan. It felt important to come. Oji-chan had left me one of Sukuna’s fingers, sensei.”

A finger. Two cursed spirits had given his student a Sukuna finger, supposedly that the grandfather had left for them,  and they still claimed to be peaceful? The table erupted from the force of Satoru’s cursed energy flaring. Food and sauces flew in every direction, missing the humans only because they hit limitless. Hollow purple hovered in Satoru’s fingers.

“You know, I was going to wait until I took Yu-chan back to her room, but I think I’ve had enough of this playing nice, now that I know you were only trying to bring back your king sooner” he said through gritted teeth. The Star couple only sat and watched him calmly.

“Gojo- sensei, stop!” Yui tried to launch herself at her teacher, try to redirect  the arm holding the purple orb, but limitless kept her at bay.

“It wasn’t them that had the finger, it was my grandfather! And whatever he did, Sukuna’s gone quiet! Sukuna took over to eat the finger; there was a silver ring on it that was made by grandfather. Right after it got eaten, I felt Sukuna get forced back into his domain. I’m alright! These people have nothing to do with this! Please stop!”

“They’re curses Yui. It’s our job to see them properly exorcised.” Satoru flicked the attack forward. It is hard to describe what happened next, other than nothing did. Yui watched in horror as the force of purple streaked toward its target. But never seemed to reach them. Then the purple light was snuffed out.

“We are stars, One Touched by Stars. What you see of us in this sky has already travelled millions of light years and is no longer there.” Orihime intoned. “It is just a memory of what was.”

The trio found themselves back in the park. In the background, human festivities continued. There was no sign of the torii gate that Satoru had entered, nor the stand Yui had been at. After triple confirming there were nothing around him, Satoru made a decision: It was time to move Yui back on campus. She was a danger to herself if she was going to be trusting curses like this. And he needed to look further into who exactly Itadori Wasuke was. No normal human just happened to find one of Sukuna’s finger, survive, and know to give it to a granddaughter. And how had the man been able to change one when not even Satoru himself could put a scratch on one?