Chapter Text
Yuji doesn’t often find things like sports appealing. He’ll do it for fun, or to prove someone wrong, but for passion? Never. He played on his middle school’s baseball team so he had an extracurricular to do (his older brothers wouldn’t stop nagging him about it). That was until he got suspended from it during his last year due to some fights he got involved in. The important thing here is that sports aren’t things he wants to pursue, so he wanted to drop it in high school, maybe explore an art club or something. Of course, the universe is never on his side because during the last month of his middle school career, his school counselor pulled him aside and made him aware that some high school in Tokyo was offering him a scholarship to play on their baseball team as a batter. Their scouts had apparently seen him playing during his last game and heard about his “behavioural issues” and wanted to “straighten him up” and make him into some legendary player. Yuji wasn’t interested in that, but his counselor insisted and handed him the papers and forms he needed to sign in order to go through with this decision. Yuji stuffed those papers into his bag, the very bottom of his bag, and called it a day. Besides, there were bigger things to worry about.
Unfortunately, this was the biggest mistake of his life. Choso — his eldest brother, great brother, really, but too nosy — was “cleaning up” (read: snooping) and found these papers hidden in Yuji’s bag. When confronted about it, Yuji internally cursed himself, but tried to smoothly cover it up… by stammering over himself and making a fool of himself in front of his family. Choso didn’t take this and wanted Yuji to try pursuing something he was so obviously good at, and now Yuji has hit a crossroads. Caring older brother wanting the best for his little brother vs little brother who doesn’t want to pursue sports but doesn’t really know what to pursue in the future: who will win? If you guessed either of these options you’re wrong.
~~~
“He’s got a scholarship offer for it and everything!” Choso shows off the papers for, maybe, the millionth time to Wasuke Itadori — Yuji’s grandfather who never gets a day of peace in his life with his four grandsons.
Wasuke sits a bit straighter, as well as you can in a hospital bed, and squints to get a better read of the papers. “Boy! Why didn’t ya tell us of this sooner? Did your high school start yet?”
Yuji pouts and stares out the window, like something very interesting is out there, maybe a strange deformed creature will fly on by and take him out of this very awkward situation. He kicks his leg a little. “Yes, grandpa. I already started high school, so there’s no point in me going through with any of this… really.”
“That might be the most stupid thing I have ever heard!” Wasuke spits out. “Choso, can’t ya register him in this? How far is he into high school?”
“I’m pretty sure I can transfer him,” Choso says, looking over the papers again.
Yuji groans. Between his grandfather he doesn’t know much about his school career due to his consistent medical procedures and his older brother who uses technology maybe once every other month, this was going to be a big pain. It really was a miracle his brother managed to get a girlfriend. Yuji can list a million reasons why he shouldn’t go through with this (well, two reasons, but it’s enough).
“I don’t wanna go.” Yuji says as firmly as he can.
Choso looks up bewildered. He blinks. “Why? You’re so good at baseball! I’ve seen you play.”
“Just ‘cause I’m good don’t mean I wanna do it,” Yuji shrugs, bringing up a hand to his neck. “Besides… if I leave for Tokyo, I might be too far to help take care of grandpa. Or I could get too busy.”
Wasuke scoffs. “Is not like I’m alone. I got your brother here takin’ care of me. You need to make sure you do this for yourself!”
Yuji hesitates. He opens his mouth to say something, but his grandfather brings a hand up to stop him. “You keep coming here so often, do you live here? You’re young, so surround yourself with other kids and make sure ya got friends and people who care for ya once you’re on your deathbed too.
“Don’t forget that you’re the youngest. One day, you’ll be the one takin’ care of your older brothers, and who will take care of you?”
Yuji hesitates again. It’s not like he’s friendless, but now that he thinks about it, he doesn’t open himself up to his friends much. Whenever someone asks to hang out with him, he refuses and comes home to help out his brothers, or he goes to the hospital to take care of his grandfather. Right now, he only has two friends, who have asked him to join their occult club, which he has yet to respond to. He shifts on his feet, unsure. His eyes naturally drift to Choso for some sort of stability or help. Choso looks at him softly — eyes riddled with care and determination. Yuji tries pouting again, but Choso takes a deep breath.
“I will always be there to help you out, Yuji.” Choso uses his firm “older brother voice”, so Yuji knows he’s being very serious. “That’s my job as your older brother. This is me helping you out. Please, go through with this opportunity. Maybe you won’t go through with sports in the future, but this is a good high school. I’ve read a lot about it, and I think it could help you think more about yourself and your future.”
Yuji feels himself stop shifting on his feet. He looks back over to his grandfather. Wasuke is staring at him with the same intensity. Yuji takes a big, big, deep breath. “I’ll...think about it.”
~~~
Yuji punches his fingers across two of the buttons on the vending machine. The left one is chosen and falls down to the bottom. Yuji picks up the can of blue soda and flicks it open. After taking a sip of the fizzy liquid, he sighs. When it comes to older brother vs little brother, it’s grandfather who wins.
He stares at his reflection in the window of the vending machine. Clicking his tongue, he starts shifting back and forth on his feet. Well, baseball isn’t all that bad. It’s not like Yuji was bored out of his mind playing it. He could probably get accustomed to it. He takes another sip of the soda. Maybe after a year of playing, he could convince Choso that he was truly miserable and go back to his current high school. He takes another sip. Or maybe he could fake an injury and put Choso in over-protective brother mode or something. He takes another, longer sip. Or maybe he could complain to his other brothers and get them to help him out. He takes another, longer sip. Or maybe he could… he feels a tap on his shoulder. Yuji quickly turns around to face who had tapped him.
When he turns, he is faced with the most beautiful human being he had ever seen. A tall, tall, black-haired beauty was staring back at him. The tall, beautiful being had even more beautiful green eyes, and long eyelashes that probably could go on for days. He was dressed in a large black sweater and loose blue jeans. He was also wearing thick and dark combat boots, the same ones his brother likes to wear. The tall beautiful being quirks an eyebrow. “Sorry, can you move over?” He points to the vending machine.
Yuji looks between the vending machine and the beautiful being a couple times before his brain finally catches up and his mouth finally closes. He clears his throat. “Oh! Yeah! Sure, sorry.”
He awkwardly shuffles to the side. The beautiful being nods in thanks and walks over to the vending machine. He starts putting in money and chooses the same fizzy drink Yuji had chosen — perhaps, left was his lucky direction. What should he say? What should he do? He rubs his left hand over his heart.
“What’s your name?” Yuji blurts out.
The beautiful being picks up his drink and turns to Yuji. “Fushiguro.”
Yuji blinks. “First name?”
Fushiguro twists the drink around in his hands. “Fushiguro Megumi.”
Beautiful name for a beautiful being, Yuji decides. “That’s a great name. I’m Itadori Yuji.”
Fushiguro nods. “Nice to meet you.” He starts to walk off.
Yuji panics. A million different thoughts run through his head — number? School? Ask him out? No, that’s too soon, right? Yuji wonders if maybe asking for a number is too desperate. It probably would be more cool to casually ask him for a school name. Fushiguro stops and seems to wait for a bit. His hesitance to walk away gives Yuji some hope that maybe he was interested too.
Fushiguro turns around. “Uh, I don’t mean to get involved or anything… but I heard your conversation earlier?”
Ah, Yuji thinks. That’s really embarrassing and not at all the impression he wanted to give. He did not want to talk about this topic, especially with someone he had just met. “Ah, sorry. I’d rather not talk about personal stuff with a stranger…”
Fushiguro twitches a bit before shaking his head lightly. “No, I-... Well, I was just gonna say… I can tell you have a strong spirit.”
Honestly, how should one take that? Yuji has heard that all his life: “You’re a person with a strong spirit.” He doesn’t take it as a compliment anymore, seeing as many people shove it in his face as some kind of fact or to try and push him down. Fushiguro is saying something he doesn’t care much about, yet he says it with a tone of voice he hasn’t heard yet — firmly and surely. Yuji has heard mocking tones, angry tones, happy tones, even hopeful tones, but never one that sounded firm. Fushiguro wasn’t really saying it as a fact, nor did he sound like he was admiring him, or mocking him. He states it like it’s something he himself believes. So, how should Yuji take it?
Fushiguro seems to pick up on Yuji’s unsure thoughts. “If it’s a weird thing for me to say, I’ll take it back. I don’t know you, afterall.”
Yuji doesn’t know how to respond, so he just shrugs. “Not really. Thanks man.” (I guess).
Fushiguro nods and walks off. Yuji wonders if he should’ve just left it off there, or said something else. At the very least, it would’ve been cooler to ask him for his school name. He curses under his breath; he could’ve at least left a better impression. Unfortunately, Yuji’s mouth does not catch up with his brain and now he stands still staring at the figure of Fushiguro Megumi turning down the hall. Before he can mourn, someone grabs his shoulder. He slowly turns around.
“Who was that? A friend?” Choso stares in the direction Yuji was staring.
Yuji sighs. “Choso, you need to find a better way to approach people.”
~~~
Yuji might be going a little bit crazy. Aside from Choso and Wasuke reminding him to make a decision on his transfer, and his other brothers coming home to visit for the weekend, he can’t stop thinking about what Fushiguro said. ‘I can tell you have a strong spirit’. Words like that don’t usually hang over his head, but he can’t help but think about it. The conversation he had with his grandfather and brother didn’t really feel like a good demonstration of strong spirit. He just said what his thoughts were saying. Did that demonstrate a good spirit?
“Yuji~!” Eso calls out.
Yuji looks up from his empty dish. “Huh?”
“You’ve been zoned out a lot lately, are you doing okay?” Eso takes the empty plate and brings it to the sink.
Yuji sighs. “Choso has been nagging me about transferring schools.”
The sound of sink running water feels a bit soothing, just like the gentle motions Eso uses to clean the dish he was holding. “Choso just wants the best for you.”
“I know… but still! I know you all get busy, so it’s good for me to stay here and take care of grandpa.” Yuji rests his chin on his hands. “Besides, I don’t wanna play baseball.”
Eso nods. “Remember when I was in high school, and I didn’t want to join the newspaper club, but it was the only one that was available for me to join since I joined school late.”
“But you liked doing the school paper.”
“At first, I hated it.” Eso dries off the dish and places it back in the cabinets. He shakes the towel and flings it over his shoulder, resting his back against the counter. “But that’s where I met a nice girl who introduced me to magazines, and ignited my passion for fashion!”
Yuji pouts. He sits up straight. “So if I join, you think I’ll meet someone special?”
Eso laughs. “Sure. Wouldn’t that be romantic?”
It wouldn’t be that romantic to meet someone special through a school club, but it might have been romantic to meet someone in front of a vending machine at the hospital. ‘I can tell you have a strong spirit’. Still, Yuji can’t help but want to keep giving aid to his grandfather so his brothers can keep busy. He doesn’t want to be a hindrance.
“I guess.” He tries to agree.
~~~
“Baseball!?” Sasaki calls out after taking a sip from the pouch of juice she was drinking.
Yuji decided he should ask advice from other people, maybe more outside perspectives would change his mind. “Yeah, the scholarship is full-ride as well… so my brothers don’t have to worry about paying for it.”
“So it’s a private school?” Iguchi spouts, sitting up from where he was laying down on the grass next to Yuji.
Yuji nods.
“And it’s in Tokyo, like you checked over the paper and everything?” Sasaki asks bewilderedly.
Yuji nods again. “Triple-checked, actually. It’s pretty far… but when Choso found it, he sounded more shocked as to why I didn’t tell him.”
Sasaki frowns, thinking for a moment. “You said it’s called Tokyo Jujutsu High School?”
“Yeah.” The name was memorized in Yuji’s head by the number of times he read over the paper.
“I heard that school has weird methods of accepting students… They don’t really have entrance exams or anything, but they use other ways of testing.” Sasaki uses her pointer finger to push up her glasses. “I heard a student got in through the means of their occult club! Like us!”
Iguchi brings a thoughtful hand up to his chin. “Maybe we can get a scholarship to their school too…”
“Occult club…” Yuji mumbles. That does sound pretty odd. He shrugs. “Well, that doesn’t really make me feel any more interested.”
Sasaki looks shocked, like he’s said something offensive. “No?! Itadori… I’m telling you that this school is hard-notch! They don’t just let anyone in. So their offer is basically a one in a million chance!”
Yuji almost laughs. “Baseball is not one in a million. Anyone can learn how to play baseball!”
Iguchi plants a hand on Yuji’s shoulder. “Not everyone can learn how to play baseball like you.”
Sasaki nods in firm approval.
Yuji slowly nods and lets out a little sigh. Yuji understands to a certain extent that he’s athletic, but it’s always been something natural, so he doesn’t think of it as something incredible or as a talent. Since he was young, he’s won Sports Day for his class, been invited to sports teams, been invited to play a small game of whatever with other kids in his class. He wonders if there’s anything different about his athleticism now, maybe he’s just older. Or maybe, what he’s been told is true: ‘I can tell you have a strong spirit’. Those words continue to hang over his head the same way a carrot on a stick hangs over a horse’s head.
~~~
The next time Yuji visits his grandfather, Wasuke is knocked out from his last medical treatment, so Yuji fixes the flowers he bought him in a small vase by his window in replacement of the dead ones that have been there for a while. Choso sent a message to Yuji, telling him he’d be there once his shift was over. Yuji didn’t mind the quiet, alone time he’d be getting. However, staying in one room for too long sounds like a nightmare, so he stretches out his legs and starts wandering the halls of the hospital.
He passes by nurses and doctors, ones he has known since he was a little kid. The hospital was not a new place for him, after all. The familiar halls feel more like an attempt at a comforting hug than a reminder that his grandfather most likely won’t check out. It’s more like a reminder of his “strong spirit”. Yuji looks up. His legs have brought him over to the vending machine. He stands in front of it again and stares at his reflection.
The longer he stares at his reflection, the more he wishes it would speak to him and tell him what to do. He feels uncomfortable by how unsure he feels. Was he making a massive mistake not accepting the offer to take a full-ride scholarship into a supposedly good high school under something he’s good at? Or should he continue to stand his ground? The decision once again reminds him of Fushiguro’s words: ‘I can tell you have a strong spirit’. Can he continue to apply the same definition to that as he always has? What does having a strong spirit mean anyway?
All this thinking makes Yuji’s head hurt, so he closes his eyes and just breathes for a while.
*
“I believe in you because you have a strong spirit.” Choso presses a small bandaid on a little Yuji’s knee.
Yuji sniffs. “Strong spirit?”
Choso nods and offers a warm smile. “It means pushing forward, even through things you don’t wanna do… or are hard to do.”
*
Yuji takes a deep breath. He opens his eyes and stares at himself in the reflection of the vending machine window. A hand slaps down on his shoulder. He turns to face him.
Choso smiles, holding up a plastic bag. “I bought snacks.”
“Choso…” Yuji starts very seriously. “Stop sneaking up on people, do you not remember how you met Tsukumo?”
“I’m dating her now, so it turned out fine, no?” Choso starts rummaging through the bag. “I found a good deal on meat buns near my workplace. Here, have some.”
Yuji places his hand on Choso’s shoulder. “I’ll do it. I’ll go to Tokyo Jujutsu High School.”
Choso quickly looks up from the bag. “Really?”
Yuji nods.
“Even though the name is weird.”
~~~
And so, Yuji goes through with his transfer. He helps Choso sign papers and forms needed to transfer him; then he gives a goodbye to his teachers (and friends). Now, all that is needed, Yuji needs to move into his dorm room. That’s right! This place had dorms. Yuji has never slept anywhere that isn’t his home, so admittedly he feels a bit nervous, especially since he won’t be near his family. He thinks Choso might pick up on his anxiety since he keeps sadly looking over at Yuji packing his clothes and other necessities. Well, he’s one of the people who pushed him to make this transfer.
Yuji folds one of his t-shirts, clumsily, before placing it down and sighing. “Choso, you’re the one who pushed me to go. Are you having second thoughts?”
Choso leans against the doorframe. “Should I be happy to see another brother go?”
Yuji laughs. “Don’t make it sound like Eso and Kechizu ran away or died or something!”
“I’m glad they’re pursuing what they want, and I’m happy you’re going through with this, but still…” Choso pouts a bit. “I can miss my little brothers.”
“Don’t get too sappy on me, big brother.” Yuji smiles at Choso. “I’ll try to make the best of this opportunity, okay?”
A small tear wells up in Choso’s eye. “Your big brother is very proud of you.”
Yuji lets out one more light laugh before going back to packing his items. It doesn’t take long, seeing as Yuji has about 3 possessions to his name (an exaggeration, but he doesn’t see the need to be overexcessive about things, he can’t even decide between a red t-shirt or a white t-shirt for the day). Once he’s done, Choso offers to drive him over to the school, to which Yuji accepts. On the drive over, Yuji decides to get some serious thinking done. Firstly, his scholarship was given to him on the basis of being part of the baseball team, but it had many things written on it:
Dear Itadori Yuji and guardians,
We, at Tokyo Jujutsu High School, are proud to offer the Baseball Team Batter Scholarship to Itadori Yuji for his excellence at batting during his middle school career. We have received notice of your child’s behavioural issues and have decided to mandatorily straighten him up along with his participation on our baseball team. Here are our conditions:
Itadori Yuji is to join Tokyo Jujutsu High School’s baseball team:
-As a batter
-Through try-outs
-After medical examination
After he has joined, he must:
-Maintain grades on or above the passing line
-Hold up excellent and exemplary behaviour
-Keep steady attendance
Before he can join the team, he must turn in these forms:
-An official doctor’s note stating he is physically fit for performance
-Updated list of vaccinations
-If joining school year late, approval of transfer to school + new class schedule
Itadori Yuji will also be mandated to participate in a behavioural club to encourage good behaviour and good studying habits. Our best students will be tutoring him and helping him keep his best behaviour. To offer further reassurance, we will pair him up with one of our best tutors via lottery.
We hope you join our family. Thank you for reading all the way through!
Signed,
Principal Yaga
That’s what Yuji remembers from the letter. There might’ve been more official information on it, but the finer details he left for Choso and his grandfather to decipher. It didn’t take long for Yuji to get a transfer approval, so by the following week he had started his move into Tokyo Jujutsu High School. The room he was moving into was bigger than his room at home, so that was nice. He had a lot of closet room, which was good for the hoodies he had brought. There was a bed that came with white bedsheets, and plain walls that were begging for posters to be hung up. For the first time since Yuji decided to come here, he feels excited. Choso helps him unpack and organize everything nicely into the closet space. He hears him mumble something about getting him new sheets, but that will be a bridge they cross later.
“Itadori Yuji?” Someone knocks on the door.
Yuji and Choso turn to face them. It’s a brown-haired woman, probably nearing her thirties, with eye bags so prominent it makes you want to beg her to go to sleep. She has her hands stuffed in the pockets of a long white lab coat, and she wears a bored expression as she looks between the brothers.
Yuji raises his hand. “That’s me.”
The woman nods. “I’m Ieiri Shoko, your school’s nurse and one of your science teachers. Satoru was supposed to give you a quick campus tour today, but he’s at a conference right now, so you’ll get to meet him later.”
Yuji nods. He turns over to Choso, who is already looking at him. Choso nods reassuringly. “Go on.”
Yuji nods again and faces Ms. Ieiri. “Okay, let’s go.”
Ms. Ieiri gestures for Yuji to follow her. They walk through the halls of the dorms, which have a mix of wood and wallpaper depending on which hallway you walk down. The campus itself definitely felt like an old campus, a lot of the building had older designs — kind of like the type of buildings you saw in those black and grey photographs in history books. Yuji could feel his nerves slowly turn into excitement. The classrooms also alternated between looking like something more old-school and looking modern.
“Why is there a weird mix between new and old on this campus?” Yuji asks, staring into an empty “old-school” classroom.
Ms. Ieiri stares in the room as well. She shrugs. “Probably because the owners don’t see the need to renovate what’s not broken. Just know that your upperclassmen use the older rooms, you’ll be in the modern ones.”
She takes a lollipop out of her pocket and tosses the wrapper into the small trashcan by the entrance of the classroom. She sticks it in her mouth. Turning to Yuji, Ms. Ieiri points to the lollipop in her mouth. “Want one?”
Yuji shakes his head. “I’m good.”
“Well, let’s continue then.” Ms. Ieiri leads Yuji over to the teacher’s office.
The teacher’s office had modern looking desks in an older looking room. It was all wooden floors and dim lights — it felt better suited to take a nap in, but Yuji could see teachers doing work. Next was the nurse’s office (and Ms. Ieiri’s office). It was tidy and modern, but it looked more like a lab than a nurse’s office. Yuji spots a flat metal bed (table?) in the far corner of the room; he shivers, thinking he might’ve gotten deja vu. Ms. Ieiri quickly grabs a key and gestures for Yuji to follow her.
They head on over to the locker rooms. She unlocks the boy’s locker room. “I won’t go in, but here’s a look at it since you’ll be on the baseball team.”
Yuji squints at the insides. It’s a whole lot bigger than the one at his last school. Were there rows in this locker room!? Yuji gapes. “I thought there weren’t that many students?!”
Ms. Ieiri pulls him out of the room and locks the door shut. She gestures for him to follow her out to the field. “There aren’t, but the owners like to host home games to show off their wealth. Here’s where you’ll be training and playing.” She gestures to the large baseball field.
Yuji takes a look around. The field was a good size, and there were plenty of seats for an audience to watch games. He nods slowly. “Woah…”
“Since it’s school hours, you won’t be seeing many students roaming — not that there are many students to begin with — around until the bell rings in about…” Ms. Ieiri pulls her left sleeve up to check a watch wrapped around her wrist. “15 minutes. If you want, you can keep looking around.”
“Ah, thanks…” Yuji says as Ms. Ieiri walks off. She waves back at him before fully committing to walk off. Yuji shrugs. He’ll be roaming these halls once he starts attending class anyway.
~~~
Yuji should’ve roamed the halls before he officially started class.
Just as Ms. Ieiri has noted, there aren’t many students roaming the school’s halls. Yuji wonders if everyone in the school knows each other, or at least know of each other.
Yuji stares down at the schedule in his hand. He’s nervously trying to figure out where on Earth 1-1 is while trying to not look lost and confused. His anxious head nods might give it away. The bell has already rung, so now he just looks awkward — shuffling around and squinting at the different class titles as students speed walk to their classes. Math is listed as his first subject, which is absolutely atrocious. Who likes doing math in the morning? As he’s groaning in shame, he accidentally knocks into a wall, and when he looks up, there it is: Class 1-1. Yuji almost cries from joy.
Upon entering the classroom, he notes that it’s very tidy and organized. There’s not one thing out of place, even the students are sitting in their seats in very tidy ways. He feels a bit creeped out by it.
“Are you the new student?” Calls a soft yet firm voice.
Yuji turns to look at the teacher — long black hair falls down his back, which has a neatly tied knot at the top, his eyes are dark and slim, and he’s dressed in a nice and fitted suit. He didn’t look at the name of this teacher, but he’ll figure it out eventually. Yuji nods and walks up to him. “I’m Itadori Yuji.”
The teacher offers him a small smile. He gestures to the class. “Nice to meet you, Itadori. Please introduce yourself to the class.”
Yuji nods and turns to the class. “Hello! I am Itadori Yuji from Sendai! Please accept into your care!” He says it in a practiced manner… because he did practice it. There’s no applause or anything, just light nods and sounds of affirmation.
The teacher nods and gestures to a seat at the front of the classroom, near the door. “There’s an empty seat right there, next to Fushiguro.”
Yuji does a double-take. “Fushi… huh!?”
“Fushiguro?” The teacher points to another desk at the front of the classroom.
Sure enough, there was Fushiguro in all his glory. He looks incredible in the school’s uniform — pretty and neat and proper. His eyes are focused on a book he was reading; he looks very calm and unbothered. Yuji could feel his heart beat faster with excitement. Fushiguro’s cool and relaxed demeanor make him seem all the more cooler. He gathers his courage, and with his head held high, Yuji walks up to Fushiguro.
“Good morning, Fushiguro!” He yells with utter excitement.
Fushiguro looks up from his book bewildered. He seems to look around as if there were any other Fushiguro’s then looks back at Yuji and points to himself. He frowns a bit. “Uh… do I know you?”
Glass breaks, ceilings fall, and wind crashes in Yuji’s face — Fushiguro doesn’t remember him. He knew he should’ve asked the school question.