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Welcome to the seaside village of Tokyo, home to the Jujutsu Shrine. This was the village's most iconic landmark. Though it appeared to be just an ordinary shrine, it supposedly protected the underwater realm of merfolk. For you see, this was a village who worshipped these creatures as deities. Yet there were far and few between among those who actually saw them, for they were only known through myths and legends.
Which brings us to the Jujutsu Shrine. Though it had become worn over countless decades, the local kannushis lived to protect it. Their job was to preserve this sacred shrine to keep the supposed merfolk happy, allowing them to protect the oceans. But not a single kannushi has ever laid eyes on a merfolk.
Those were among the countless rules given to kannushi trainees, including a recent newcomer named Yuji Itadori. Dressed in the traditional pine-colored hakama, he joined the ranks after his grandfather's passing, feeling this was something he could do. So here he was, doing small errands for the higher-ranked kannushis. He swept the stone steps, checked the collection box, polished the bronze bell, and other little things like that. But ever since he joined, a simple question started to appear in his head.
"Do merfolk actually exist?"
On one particular morning, Yuji woke up nice and early. Today he was tasked with cleaning the golden fish statues on both sides of the shrine, for they were covered in small vines after a mild storm the night before. It was a very simple task and the vines were easy to remove, no different than previous errands he did in the past.
But once Yuji was finished, he was about to sweep the stone steps when a flash of blue caught his eye as he heard the sound of footsteps scurrying nearby. It was probably a wild animal, so he shrugged it off and tried to carry on as normal.
Then it happened again.
That did it for Yuji. He gave up finding a broom and decided to figure out where those footsteps were coming from. Luckily he didn't have to search for long because he for a single foot peaking out from behind a tree. He slowly walked over to that same tree, carefully not to spook whoever was hiding. But then, just as he was about to reach the other side...
A face came out of nowhere and ran towards Yuji.
The pinkette was surprised with this newcomer. It was hard to tell what he looked like when his face was mostly covered by long, dark brown hair. His slender body was covered in some kind of light blue blanket, probably giving the indication that he wasn't wearing proper clothes underneath. It was clear he recently got washed up, since there was a light tsunami last night. But why was he at the shrine?
"You okay?" Yuji checked, feeling a little wary.
The brunette hurriedly nodded in response. Did he have a sore throat? Regardless, Yuji decided to make the most of his training and try to help out this supposed castaway, if he were to assume his initial theories were right.
"Let me help you out," Yuji offered. "Come with me." But as soon as he reached for his hand, it was suddenly smacked away. Luckily this was a kannushi trainee who wasn't totally dense.
"So you don't like being touched," Yuji concluded. He gave a thumbs-up. "Gotcha. No touching from here on out."
This made the brunette relax a bit, but he still looked a little on edge. Although he still didn't say a word, at least he was willing to cooperate. A quick nod was enough to indicate he understood, this allowed Yuji to escort him to the shrine's shukubo to take care of him.
For a while, things were perfectly fine. Yuji brought one of his spare pine-colored hakama for clothing and a small bowl of miso soup for food. The brunette happily accepted the items and soon he was wearing the spare hakama as his eagerly gulped down the soup. It was kind of like he didn't eat proper food in a long time.
"So what's your deal?" Yuji asked, sitting across from the unknown boy. He took out a scroll and pen. "If you don't feel like talking, you can still write."
The brunette looked a little hesitant, but soon he accepted the two items. He quickly wrote down his story, which seemed to be very lengthy. Eventually he finally set the pen down and he showed the scroll to Yuji.
My name is Junpei Yoshino. I'm a human who was somehow transformed into a jellyfish merman. I spent the past year in the ocean after my human life was ruined by my own actions. I recently met a warlock who promised to help me regain my legs in exchange for my voice. He said I'll regain it once I kiss a human I love. Can you help me?
Yuji was surprised. This boy was transformed into a merman? That was unheard of! Plus Junpei appeared to be 100% human. The pinkette was about to dismiss it when he realized this newcomers wasn't wearing any clothes. And his hair was unusually long, indicating he didn't have access to scissors. Those two factors, along with how silent he was, seemed to indicate the idea of him behind some kind of merman might actually be true. It might be easier to trust him for now.
"Sure, I'll help," Yuji agreed, still feeling a little weirded out. "I mean, I don't know about the kiss thing, but I can help you adjust to living here. I can even ask Gojo if you can live here for a while until we find permanent living arrangements. How does that sound?"
Junpei eagerly nodded in response. He was about to grab Yuji's hands as a way of saying thanks, but he froze up and retracted his own hands.
"What is it?" Yuji asked.
Junpei responded with another message on the scroll.
Ever since I became a jellyfish merman, my skin became poisonous. Now anyone I touch will get burned. I don't want you to get hurt.
"That's it?" Yuji checked. He snickered. "I'll be fine." He saw Junpei's puzzled expression. "It might be a little hard to believe, but I'm immune to poisons. My whole family was cursed with that immunity, so a little jellyfish poison can't hurt me." He reached over to Junpei. "Here. Let me show you."
Junpei was about to move away in protest when he felt Yuji's hands grasp his own. His eyes widened as his lips parted into a mute gasp. But nothing happened. In fact, just as the pinkette said, his body wasn't affected by the poison-coated skin. It was like there was never such a poison to begin with. The two boys locked eyes as Junpei started crying as he smiled slightly. Was this brunette somehow touch-starved because of his ability?
"Here's the plan," Yuji decided as he cradled Junpei's hands with his own. "There's a guy here who's kinda like my supervisor. I'll talk to him to see if you can stay here for as long as you want. If you're uncomfortable about your warlock deal, I'll tell him you lost your voice in an accident." He smiled wide. "How does that sound?"
Junpei carefully nodded in response. "Then it's settled," Yuji said. "Welcome to the Jujutsu Shrine, Junpei!"