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It was finally over.
It was as if the world’s weight finally lifted off him. As his body grew colder, his smile grew bigger. Blood pooling beneath him, while many would say it was scary, he embraced it.
After almost seventy years – Yuji Itadori was free.
He heard murmurs around him, some concerned, some pained. It didn’t matter, Yuji still smiled as he felt the last of his breath escape his lungs, his vision going dark.
The sound of birds chirping as he opened his eyes in a patch of grass that was in front of Tokyo Jujutsu High School. Above him, he saw the two familiar faces he hadn’t seen in so long.
Nobara Kugisaki, her dyed ginger hair cut in the familiar bob she wore during their first year at school. Her left eye was free of the eyepatch and scarring, her tawny-colored eyes full. Her hands were on her hips, a scowl on her face.
“Finally, Itadori!” Nobara scoffed heavily. “Took ya long enough, asshole!”
The other familiar figure nodded next to her. Megumi Fushiguro with his spiked, black hair, his face free of the scars that he was once burdened with from the aftermath of Sukuna. His dark blue eyes were narrow and sharp, always taking in information.
“You sure like to be dramatic,” Megumi’s soft murmur added.
Yuji felt his eyes sting, his chest heavy. He sat up, seeing that he was wearing his first-year school uniform, free of blood, tears, and years of neglect. His left hand was fully restored, the scars that decorated his face and body finally healed after so many years of battles and survival.
“Hi, hi, Yuji!” another voice called out, full of pep and excitement.
As Yuji stood up, he glanced behind him to see his former teacher and role model waving as he walked towards him. White hair practically glowing under the sunlight, forehead free of stitches, his clothing a causal yukata a sky blue that was like his eye color. He finally approached his former students, a proud smile on his face.
“Gojo sensei!” Yuji shouted back, feeling the urge to hug him. He felt his body become heavy as he noticed others he knew over the years coming to greet the new arrival.
Nanami was the first to approach, his blonde hair tousled as though he was somewhere with a constant breeze, although he was still wearing his royal blue button up, his beige slacks prim and proper with not a wrinkle in sight. He was smiling, a true smile that Yuji had never really seen before. A young man stood next to him, a brunette with the mushroom-styled haircut, him wearing a typical Jujutsu High uniform, his own smile on his face.
Shoko stood behind them, her eyes finally free of constant eyebags from sleepless nights. There was no cigarette in her hand, no longer having the need to smoke. Ino was waving with a wide grin, his face mask sitting on his head like a typical beanie.
More and more people approached Yuji, people he hadn’t seen in years. Todo, who had shouted with a proud “BROTHER!” as he rushed forward, threw his arms around Yuji and crushed him with a bear hug. Choso had made his way to Yuji, a small smile on his face finally able to see his little brother again, ready to formally introduce him to Eso and Kechizu. Former classmates and friends from Yuji's time at the school flocked towards him, which included his old senpais such as Toge Inumaki, Maki Zen'in, and Yuta Okkotsu.
“You sure took your time getting here,” Gojo cheekily joked once everyone arrived.
“Just had to handle a few things,” Yuji sheepishly laughed, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Yuji.”
Yuji froze, the voice that greeted him was rough and gravelly.
“Gr-Grandpa…?” Yuji choked out. He pushed his way from the entourage of old friends and made his way to the man that raised him for fifteen years – Wasuke. “Grandpa…!” Yuji felt tears fall as he threw his arms around his grandfather, feeling the familiar warmth of his grandfather’s embrace.
“You did great, Yuji,” Wasuke assured, a small smile on his old face. “You did a hell of a lot better than me.” He let go of Yuji and glanced at the crowd of people that were waiting. “We were waiting a bit for you.” He then gave a rare smile, one that Yuji knew he would’ve inherited if he had truly aged.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to…” Yuji admitted, his voice cracking, a hand rubbing at his stinging eyes. “I just… wanted to do what you told me to do. Help people.”
A chuckle escaped Wasuke. “You did more than that, Yuji,” he says softly. “You helped so many people just by being you, you changed the world around you, and you got a whole crowd of people who love you and waited for you.
“Welcome home, Yuji.”
And Yuji had never felt more alive than at that moment, tears fell and stained his cheeks. He was crying, truly letting his emotions out, for the first time since he was a teenager.
“I’m glad to be home.”
“Why… is he smiling?”
Yuka Okkotsu, a young woman with large round eyes and a soft face, approached the cooling body of the once powerful sorcerer Yuji Itadori. The scene was quite crude – deep gashes in the man’s body, a man that looked barely older than herself, blood was splattered around him and pooled beneath him.
Yet he was smiling, as though he was waiting for death.
“Maybe… he finally got what he wished for,” Tsurugi, Yuka’s elder brother, replied.
Yuka glared at her brother. “Wishing for death? How absurd!”
Tsurugi shrugged. “If you lived as long as he had, watching everyone you knew and loved die… would you want to live?” He gave a small smile. “He looks as though he finally returned home.”
The two siblings just continued to stare at the lifeless body, the smile forever frozen on Yuji Itadori’s face.
