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The snow that fell to the hard concrete path below was white and powder-like, until Yuji’s boot hit it while he walked forward. Then, it picked up the dark dirt and grime that the heel of his boot had picked up from his walk here. The imprints of footsteps traced a long path behind him that followed on to the train station Yuji had gotten off to arrive here. He starts dragging his feet ever so slightly to see the snow in front of him push up and laughs a bit when his foot accidentally kicks the snow to the other side of the quiet path he had been walking. There’s a small jump from the girl beside him, Ozawa, but a small laugh escapes her too when she realizes it’s just snow.
“I love the snow,” Yuji chirps, with a genuine tone that could also be closely acquainted with a child. “When I was a kid, I used to lay in the snow and make snow-angels all by myself for hours!”
His laugh is a bit gruff, like his voice is too tired to make any more noise, but his smile is big and nostalgic. Ozawa smiles at the sight. “I liked making snow-angels too. Did you make them with friends?”
Yuji looks up at the clouds covering the sky, as if he were counting each individual snowflake falling down. He thinks over his childhood. “Sometimes. The kids in my neighborhood never wanted to stay out as long as I did… guess I ran hot, huh?” He laughs.
Ozawa nods, lightly laughing along. She traces her eyes over the small piles of snow at the side of the road before another idea comes along in her head. “What about siblings?”
Yuji accidentally kicks another bit of snow. He giggles at the sensation. “Siblings? No-...”
Suddenly, a flash of a gentle smile shows in his mind — someone who had doted on him and made sure his life was cared for and protected, even if he brushed him off. Yuji’s heart, that had accelerated at the thought of playing around in the snow, once again slows down to a careful pace at the thought of someone he hadn’t known previously. His smile might’ve shrunk, but it was no less genuine.
“Actually,” he starts. “I have an older brother.”
Ozawa makes a small sound of satisfaction. “Ah, did your older brother play in the snow with you?”
Yuji snorts. “I never got to!”
“Oh, was he busy?” Ozawa gently asks.
Yuji shakes his head. “Well… maybe. We kind of have… a big age gap.” He uses his hands to show a big gap.
Ozawa giggles. “I also have a big age gap with my older brother… he’s 15 years older.”
Yuji gapes. “Oh!? That’s pretty big!”
Ozawa nods, keeping a gentle smile toward Yuji. “Even so, I recently got to get into a snowball fight with him.”
Silence begins to fill in the gap in their conversation as the two keep walking down the straight path, occasionally kicking a bit of snow to the side. Eventually, the sound of children’s laughter is heard from one of the houses on their left. Yuji wonders if the children playing are friends or neighbors. Then, he wonders if they’re siblings. He feels his smile drop as a bittersweet feeling enters his chest. He only ever grew up with his grandfather; memories of his father and mother were futile to find. To him, that wasn’t important anyway. All he needed was his grandfather. Still, he found himself imagining his family one by one — him, his grandfather, and his brother. It was strange because he hadn’t known his brother for long, only two months, but his cursed mind and heart longed for that temporary presence to return to his life, to envelop him in a warm embrace and continue performing the duty he announced he had to do.
Slowly, Yuji feels another form of warmth closely approaching his right side. Ozawa shortens the gap between their shoulders. She bravely smiles. “You should ask your brother to make a snow-angel with you.”
Yuji blinks at her. He returns the smile. “Maybe.”
The two continue to walk shoulder to shoulder. Yuji stares down at the snow on the path before him, and at the snow falling from the sky above. “My brother’s name is Choso.”
Ozawa nods slowly. “Ah, interesting. Who named him?”
Yuji frowns, trying to think of a logical answer. “My mom? I think…”
Ozawa makes a small exacerbated face, a gentle smile still at her lips. “You think?”
- - -
One week later.
The train’s wheels make loud and boisterous noises as it hits against the tracks, hurrying to its next destination. Yuji stares out the window, smiling at the fact that it’s still full of snow. In the seats in front of him sits Megumi and Nobara, each doing their own thing. Megumi is reading some novel Yuji has never heard of, and Nobara is resting her face on her hand, staring out the window at the passing buildings and land.
Nobara groans. “Yuji, you still haven’t told us what we’re doing! Are we getting something sweet or not!?”
Yuji shrugs. “You’ll see once we get there.”
Megumi sighs, looking up from his book. “Stop speaking in cryptics. It’s weird for you.”
“Hey! A guy can speak in cryptics if he wants!” Yuji points a finger up in a matter-of-factly way. “It’s okay to want to sound cool, no?!”
Megumi and Nobara both give him a matching expression that deters him for a moment. They seem unimpressed. Nobara groans again. “Just tell us. Do you even know where we’re going?”
“I know better than you.” Yuji crosses his arms across his chest. “I’m not that much of an idiot, y’know?”
Nobara puts both her hands up in defeat. “Okay, whatever.”
She relaxes back against her seat and stares out the window again. Megumi slides a bookmark in between the pages he was reading and places it back into the shared bag the three were using for this small journey. Originally, Yuji asked them to accompany him as a “spur of the moment” kind of thing. Megumi and Nobara agreed, but Megumi made sure to reign the other two in by reminding them that it was smart to take a bag in case they needed something on the trip (ergo: Megumi is in charge of the bag). He looks up at Yuji, a foreign gentleness — which maybe Yuji shouldn’t consider foreign anymore — appears in his eyes.
“Yuji.” Megumi nearly whispers. “Is there any chance that this trip is about…”
Yuji blinks at Megumi. He makes a small nod, wanting him to just ask.
“...your brother?” Megumi carefully asks.
Yuji sighs. “You can call him by name. It’s not like he’s Beetlejuice, or something.”
Nobara slowly turns her head over to the conversation. “Wait, hold on. Brother? Yuji has a brother?!”
Yuji and Megumi look at her and then at each other. They silently wonder if either of them had ever brought up Yuji’s strange family tree. Nobara gapes, making weird confused gagging noises. “Hello?! I’m part of this group too, right? Explain. Now!”
Yuji makes an uncomfortable expression — something between frowning and trying to figure out the right words to say. “Honestly… it’s a really long story.”
Nobara crosses her legs. “And we have this whole ass train ride. Get to it, Kirby-boy!”
Megumi chortles and quickly looks down once Nobara and Yuji look over at him. He suddenly starts examining the train floor, wondering if this was new material or an older model.
Yuji looks back over at Nobara. “Okay, well… I guess I should start with my mom.”
The train ride went by quickly once Yuji began explaining his entire family tree to Nobara. The conversation consisted of Yuji stating things, and Nobara’s jaw dropping lower every two seconds. Seriously, Yuji was a bit concerned that her jaw would soon fall into hell and pull Sukuna back out.
Once they arrive at the train station, Yuji has the other two follow him to the closest convenience store.
“Oh! Look, this onigiri has umeboshi in it!” Yuji points at the packaged onigiri.
Nobara perks up and jumps in tandem. “Oo! Oo! Umeboshi onigiri!”
The two start looking around at the other flavors, grabbing a couple of other varieties they like. Megumi grabs a small basket and takes Yuji by the scruff of his jacket. “Think for a moment, will you? How are you going to carry all that to the front? Is this necessary for what we came here to do?”
Nobara and Yuji pour all the onigiri they were grabbing into the basket. “Smart Megumi!”
Once they grab the onigiri they want, Nobara and Megumi head over to the refrigerators to grab drinks, while Yuji heads down a different aisle to find the stuffed buns. He slowly goes over each one, trying to find the one he needs. Finally, his eyes land on the two he’s looking for — meat and taro.
<Source: Yuji’s memory>
Yuji sits on the cold, smooth floor of some random place he walked into. He stares at the blood slowly dripping down his hands onto the floor. No one would clean that stain up, and that’s his fault. He feels a chill run through his body, due to his having no shirt, but he doesn’t react. He continues to stare mindlessly.
“Yuji.” A steady and gentle voice comes from close above him. It was the weird guy who kept claiming to be his older brother, the one who tried to kill him.
Yuji didn’t have the energy to respond so he stayed silent.
The guy — Choso, if Yuji remembers correctly — crouches down to where Yuji sat and tries to catch his eye. He seems overly concerned, especially for someone who doesn’t know Yuji. He tries again. “Yuji?”
Yuji blinks in response, just to let Choso know he was still breathing. Choso’s shoulders seem to relax. He brings his hands up and onto Yuji’s shoulders and shakes him gently. “You must be cold. Let me find something to cover you. Wait here, okay?”
Yuji slowly lets out a small nod, and Choso takes that as his cue to quickly leave. Yuji finally looks up and realizes he’s in a convenience store. He’s at the very back aisle where the lights are all off, except for one that’s blinking on and off, and some are dangling off the ceiling. The other aisles are a mess — produce on the floor and uneven. He slowly looks over to the cashier counter at the far left of the store, near the entrance. There’s a large bloodstain on the wall, and Yuji finds himself imagining some person who would’ve greeted him with a profitable smile and a polite “hello”. Yuji lets out a big breath and quickly focuses on the lowest row of the shelf in front of him.
Suddenly, Choso reappears, sitting down right in front of Yuji and presenting all his findings. He looks a bit proud, but also reserved, like he’s a bit scared of damaging Yuji any further. He’s holding a green apron, one that was used for the cashiers, with all his findings inside. He pulls out a black shirt that must’ve been a back up one in a storage locker that was only accessible for the workers here. Choso hands it over to Yuji.
Yuji stares at it for a moment. Choso seems to pick up his hesitation over using a shirt that doesn’t belong to him. “Just for now.”
Yuji’s hand reaches out for the shirt and grips it tight, slowly bringing it up to his chest. He wonders if this shirt belongs to the person whose blood stains the wall. Tears prick his eyes as everything begins to catch up with him once more — Gojo sealed, Nanami dead, Kugisaki out of commission, where was Fushiguro? Everything Sukuna had done in his body plagues his memories as well. Worst of all, his body had the gall to feel tired and hungry. His muscles were all sore, and his throat felt like sandpaper. He could feel mucus and snot and everything ugly inside of him filling his nose, throat, and liver. His stomach growled: when was the last time he had a proper meal?
Two strong and heavy hands grab his shoulders tightly. A voice, gentle yet strong, pulled him out of his thoughts. “Yuji!”
Yuji looks up. Suddenly, he feels like he’s a small 7-year-old who had scraped his knees, with tears in his eyes waiting for his grandfather to patch them up and tell him he’s an idiot for running too fast.
“Just focus on eating, okay?” Choso’s expression is firm. He pulls back his hands to grab the food he had picked out, a couple of buns — meat and taro. “I’m not sure what you like to eat. I thought meat and something sweet would be good to at least fill your stomach.”
Yuji’s stomach churns. He recalls throwing up some popcorn and soda not too long ago. However, he was starving, and that feeling wasn’t going away anytime soon. His hands shake as he reaches out for one of the meat buns, the plastic covering it crinkles as he grabs it. He brings it to his lap.
Choso grabs one of the taro buns. “I don’t need to eat as much as you due to my… nature. But, as your older brother, I’ll eat with you so you don’t feel lonely.”
Yuji feels a bit of amusement amidst his agony when Choso mentions it again. He mutters out, weakly, “Older brother? You’re still saying that…”
Choso sits up straight at the sound of Yuji’s voice. His face is straight, but he still seems to be exuding this energy as if he’d accomplished something incredible. “Yes. Our father had stitches on his forehead.”
“Stiches? Like the guy who took Gojo?” Yuji continues to mumble words out, like he was relearning how to speak.
Choso nods. “We’re brothers because of that man.”
Yuji sighs, a bit relieved at the weird normalcy happening in this conversation. “I don’t remember my parents.”
“I have many memories from when I was in my mother’s womb.” Choso states. He almost resembled a teacher explaining something important to their student. “I’m sure if you recall hard enough, you’ll remember our father as well.”
Yuji chortles weakly. He begins to slowly open up the package the meat bun was in. Then, he picks it apart and bit by bit puts each small piece into his mouth. Chewing felt nearly impossible, but Choso’s words kept ringing through his mind — “Just focus on eating”. While he’s chewing, a quick surprised noise escapes Choso’s mouth. Yuji looks up and sees him chewing on the taro bun in amazement.
“What? Have you never tried taro?” Yuji asks.
Choso shakes his head. “It’s my first time trying something sweet. It’s good.”
Yuji nods slowly. “Yeah, taro’s pretty good.”
The two continue to eat in silence. That’s how it goes for the next couple of minutes. Choso nodding proudly at his choices in food, and Yuji wondering what else he hasn’t tried. Even though this guy tried to kill him at one point, he seems fine now. He kept claiming he was his older brother, but Yuji could get past that for now. Weirdly enough, even though Yuji knows for sure he has never met Choso previously, when Choso speaks about his younger brothers and all their years of hardships, Yuji feels something strange building up in his gut. It felt like he was recalling something rather than being told it. He felt a small pang in his chest for each name mentioned, and his mind started feeling like something was missing. Had he lost that much blood?
Yuji never had any family other than his grandfather growing up, and it was fine. He never needed any other family. Now, it was different. His family was those at Jujutsu tech. It’s not like he felt unfulfilled with his strange new situation. He had people who definitely cared for him, but was it okay if he wished for one more? Right now, as he stood, he wasn’t sure he deserved to stand by the rest of his comrades. After everything he has done, could he truly look them in the eyes again? As soon as the battle had ended in Shibuya, he couldn't remember much, only that he had started running — where and why? He could barely stand up right and kept tripping over himself, completely delirious and lost. Just as the warmth started to leave him, he felt someone use their own warmth to pick him up and back into safety. That someone was Choso.
Choso kept Yuji’s blood circulating. Choso kept Yuji alive. Yuji found himself able to look Choso in the eye. He wasn’t sure he could stand by his friends, but he could sit here in silence with Choso. He selfishly wonders if he could just disappear for thinking he deserved one more person by his side that he could lose. He swallows, looking down at the floor below him. The floor was stained with the blood on his hands — blood that he was unsure was only his.
“Yuji?” Choso gently calls out. “Are you not hungry anymore?”
Yuji takes a deep and shaky breath. “The blood on my hands is too much. It’s on the floor, and even if I clean it with my own hands it’ll get dirtier.”
Choso looks at the floor. Then, he looks at Yuji’s hands. “Then, clean your hands first.”
Yuji shakes his head. “It’s not that simple.”
“Yuji.” Choso says firmly. “To clean the floor, first you must clean yourself. Then, once you’re fine, you can grab a rag and clean the floor.”
“It’s a reminder, Choso.” Yuji says, a bit agitated at himself. “Of the people I killed.”
Silence follows. Yuji is about to continue on when he hears Choso ripping something apart. He looks up and sees him ripping off a portion of the workers apron he had tossed to the side. Choso used the makeshift rag to clean the spot on the floor Yuji was staring at. Yuji blinks at him.
Choso seems weirdly determined. “I cleaned it up.”
Yuji stares at him. Yuji should feel ashamed — ashamed that someone else is willing to clean up his mess. Instead, he feels the same relief a child feels when their parent shows up late to pick them up.
“If this is a matter of whether or not the blood of those people is in your hands, then rest assured it is not your fault.” Choso avouched. “The one who rests inside you bears all the blood on his hands, and uses you as a mask. Do not allow his crimes to lure you into a lake of guilt.”
Yuji blinks back tears. He really should say something back, but he can’t bring himself to. Instead, he silently takes another bite out of the meat bun Choso had given him — “Just focus on eating”. Choso picks up on his discomfort and silently goes back to eating as well.
<End of Yuji’s memory>
Yuji grabs two of each and nods, proud of himself. He notices Megumi and Nobara by the register, handing over their items to the cashier, so he trots on over with his meat and taro buns.
Nobara blinks at what he puts on the counter. “That’s it?”
Yuji nods, happily. “Yep!”
Megumi nods. He looks over at the cashier. “How much will it be?”
“1,898 yen, please.” The cashier scans the final item as Megumi counts the correct amount of money from his wallet.
Once the purchase is made, the three leave the store and calmly walk down a gravel path. The place they were in was a small town, lots of houses spread apart and strong sounds from the pebbles below their feet.
Nobara makes a sound of happy satisfaction when she takes a bite out of the umeboshi onigiri. “Heavenly! So good!”
Yuji takes a bite and makes the same noise of happy satisfaction. “Splendid!”
Megumi shivers as a small breeze passes through them. He pulls his zipper up so his collar covers his mouth. “So, Yuji, where are we going?”
“Graveyard.” Yuji takes another bite from his onigiri. “I thought I already said that?”
Nobara scoffs. “Clearly not! You had us blindly following you!”
“Sorry…”
The three keep walking on silently, watching the clouds for some sort of sign of snow. Suddenly, Nobara perks up. “Oh! I didn’t get to finish asking ‘cause we got here, but… What do you mean you’re related to Sukuna?!”
Megumi stares at the snow on the path before them but seems to perk up as well. Yuji shrugs. “Yeah, I think my dad or grandfather were like… reincarnated twins or something.”
Nobara blinks. “Seriously? Or something?! You’re telling me you’re related to the most evil sorcerer ever and you don’t even know for sure how you’re related?”
Yuji brings his hands as if he’d been accused of a crime he did indeed commit. “I said someone was a reincarnated twin, didn’t I?! Besides, it’s not an accomplishment, jeez. That guy’s the worst…”
“You really do have a weird family.” Megumi states, nodding his head like he was approving of something.
“Wait, hold on.” Yuji points at Megumi. “Isn’t Gojo like… your adoptive dad?”
Megumi looks a bit baffled and annoyed, tilting his head like Yuji has stated the dumbest thing ever. “Benefactor. He killed my dad though.”
Nobara groans. “Yeah, we know. We all saw the note.”
Yuji laughs. “But he raised you didn’t he? Sounds to me like someone’s a bit embarrassed of admitting the father-son relationship he had.”
Nobara laughs along. “Oo! Our little Megumi is getting a bit red!”
“Tsk. Shut up.” Megumi shoves both of them. Nobara and Yuji giggle as they trip, making fun of Megumi’s red face.
- - -
After lighting incense, Yuji sits in front of the stone grave he had traveled here for. He reaches into the plastic bag from the convenience store and pulls out a taro bun and a meat bun, placing them neatly on top of the grave.
“You should’ve known where we were going when he asked you to bring incense…” Nobara mumbles to Megumi. She lets out a little yelp when he pinches her.
Yuji looks at Nobara. “Nobara, this is my big brother, Choso.”
Nobara nods slowly. Yuji points at Nobara and looks over at Choso’s grave. “That’s Nobara. You never got to meet her, but I think you’d like her.”
There’s a couple seconds of silence while Yuji decides what to say. “Sorry… I think you would know what to say, Choso. I wish I asked you more questions, like if you preferred sweet or savory.”
He stares at the name engraved into stone. The reality that he couldn’t reach out to his brother began to set in. “Maybe we could’ve figured out if you liked video games, or if you’d like to watch Human Earthworm movies with me.”
He hears Nobara and Megumi shiver at the mention. It makes him snort. “Nobara and Megumi don’t like any of the movies. They still watch them with me.”
“I asked Ieiri to place your grave near Tsukumo’s since you guarded Tengen-sama together.” Yuji slowly says. “I’m not sure if you two were close, but after her death, you seemed a bit distraught. Sorry to say this, but it made me feel a bit relieved, kinda like a reminder that you’re… alive? I guess.”
Megumi looks up. He frowns. “Yuji,” he starts softly. “Looks like the snow is starting to come, let’s not stay out here too long. It wouldn’t be good if any of us caught a cold, okay?”
Yuji nods. “In a moment. Thanks, Megumi.”
Nobara rests her elbows on her knees. She sighs. “Jeez, this is feeling a bit depressing and nostalgic all the same.”
“Nostalgic?” Yuji queries.
“Just thought about an old friend.” Nobara blurts out, sounding a bit tired. “Anyway, this is about you.”
Yuji nods and looks back at Choso’s grave. He wonders what else to say. “Oh, I got you a taro and meat bun. I know you really liked the taro one.”
He pats on each of the packaged buns, as if checking that they were still there. He sighs. “I guess what I’m trying to say with all this is…”
Yuji takes a deep breath. The first snowflake falls on his hair. “Thanks for being my older brother. Again. I can’t say it enough…”
A very strong feeling wells up in his heart and gut. Yuji’s not sure if he’s reminiscing or longing. It’s like he's a small tiger cub, finally old enough, trying to navigate the world by himself for the first time. Yuji lets out a breath of amusement; navigating the world by himself sounded optimistic, even though he was technically still a kid. He grabs some snow in his hand and starts forming a small snowball with it. The form of his snowball is uneven, but he presses it tightly so it sticks together. He places it carefully on Choso’s grave.
“Big brother, let’s play in the snow together when we meet again, okay?” Yuji smiles. He imagines a bright smiling Choso, excitedly accepting his little brother’s invitation to a snowball fight, or making snow-angels. Tears prick at his eyes, knowing that in this lifetime he won’t be able to accomplish that goal, but hopefully…
Nobara’s arm throws itself around Yuji’s shoulder, tightly grabbing him. He blinks in surprise. Her voice comes out forcefully gruff. “Jeez…”
Megumi sighs at the two and brings up his hand to pat Yuji’s shoulder. He offers a soft smile. Yuji’s heart flutters.
Yuji sniffs. “Sorry for causing any trouble to you guys.”
Nobara scoffs, a small puff of air escaping her. “Don’t apologize, idiot. Just cry.”
Yuji, as if on command, feels his shoulders begin to shake. His tears begin to fall, and it’s set in that there’s no Choso to wipe them off. He grabs at his chest, sniffing and holding back choked sobs. He feels Megumi’s grip tighten on his shoulder, and it almost calms him to know he has two people firmly staying by his side despite anything he has ever done. The guilt might try to eat him alive, but Fushiguro Megumi and Kugisaki Nobara will chase it off.
After crying for a bit, he looks at Choso’s grave again. He uses the back of his hand to wipe his face clean. He suddenly feels a chill — it’s snowing and the wind has started to pick up. Yuji thinks it might be the first time he has felt cold in a while. He snorts, deciding to amuse himself. “Choso… I wonder if you also ran hot like your little brother.”
After silently sitting at Choso’s grave for a couple more minutes, Megumi decides to remind them, “It’s starting to get impressively cold. We should head out.”
Nobara crosses her arms and shivers, a small pout formed on her lips. “Good call. I think I might turn into an ice cube if we stay out here any longer. No offense to your brother, Yuji.”
Yuji laughs. “I think he’d get it. I agree, let’s go!”
The three of them pick up their stuff and start heading off. Once they’re on the main path heading back toward the train station, Yuji uses the front part of his boot to kick some snow in Nobara’s direction. Nobara yelps and kicks snow back. Yuji giggles, hiding behind Megumi.
Nobara points at him. “Coward!”
Megumi groans. “Don’t involve me in this. It’s cold.”
Yuji grabs Megumi’s shoulders, using him as a shield. “Hey, Megumi? You run cold or hot?”
Megumi looks utterly confused. “What?”
Nobara is forming a snowball with her hand, a devious smile has appeared on her face. Megumi realizes what he was insinuating. Quickly, he ducks as Nobara throws a snowball at his face. Yuji also manages to duck. Unfortunately for Megumi, Yuji has much more strength than he could ever hope for and easily is able to make him stand again. Megumi yelps when another snowball hits his chest. He makes an annoyed noise. “Cheaters!”
Nobara and Yuji laugh as Megumi struggles to get out of Yuji’s grip. Yuji decides to play fairly and lets Megumi go, which is a major mistake because Megumi is quick to grab snow and launch it at Yuji’s face. Yuji licks some of the snow off his lips. Nobara scrunches her face up in disgust.
“Ewww!!” Nobara is forming another snowball with her hands. “Yuji, that was on the freaking floor!”
Yuji shrugs, a small chuckle leaving him. “I’m not picky.”
Megumi snorts, shoving his hands in his pockets. “You both are just gonna get colder.”
“That sounds like some loser talk, Megumi!” Yuji announces. He starts picking up more snow to make a snowball.
Megumi’s shoulders perk up. He turns right when Nobara and Yuji both launch snowballs at him. Their aim is bad because they’re laughing too hard, and Megumi thinks they might be a bit delirious from the cold.
Yuji seems to have an idea. He points a big innocent smile at Megumi. “Megumi! Bring out the dogs!”
Megumi gives him a judgemental look. “I’m not bringing out my dogs.”
Yuji pouts. “Please! It would be so much more fun with them!”
Nobara looks at Megumi as well, bringing up her hands in a pleading position. “I second that! Please!”
Megumi scoffs. “No.”
“Please!”
“I said no.”
“Pretty please!”
Megumi ends up bringing out his dog and watches as it runs around with Yuji and Nobara. The two are giggling and using a stick to play fetch with it while they walk to the train station. A small smile appears on Megumi’s face, even a small tired sigh comes out as well.
Once they reach the train station, Yuji and Nobara bid a sad goodbye to divine dog, and Megumi mutters that they’ll see him again at some point. The train arrives relatively quickly. Yuji hears sighs of relief from Nobara and Megumi once the warm air of the train hits them. After a couple of minutes of sitting on the train, Megumi and Nobara knock out. Yuji feels a fond feeling bubble up in his heart staring at their resting faces. He hears about Nobara’s nightmares frequently; Megumi talks about his nightmares every once in a blue moon, usually due to Yuji and Nobara’s intervention. Yuji thinks he talks about his own nightmares the least, but he doesn’t usually dream anyway. He sighs and looks out the window. The passing buildings and fields, the people in those buildings and fields, the people yet to come — Yuji thinks about it all as he watches everything pass by. He almost smiles, seeing nothing, like he’s finally able to take in the beauty of the world after being thrown into it.
A small rumble comes from his stomach, like the rumbling he feels underneath his feet as the train clacks against the tracks. He quietly grabs the plastic bag that was in Megumi’s bag and looks through it. The extra taro bun he had bought was still there. He grabs it and sets the bag in the seat beside him. Slowly opening the packaging, he then brings it up to his lips to take a big bite. He chews, taking in the sweet flavor and the chewiness of the bun itself. He stares at the purple color, wondering if Choso also liked the color purple. Yuji likes all colors, maybe blue or red the most.
Yuji smiles softly. “I can see why you liked the taro one.”
He takes another big bite, feeling a bit bittersweet now. He sighs deeply. “I should eat a good meal once I’m home.”
Yuji begins to wonder if he should cook something for Megumi and Nobara. Ideas begin to formulate in his mind.
…he is reborn as his brother in the next.
Bonus
“Ah! Yuji, why didn’t you wake me up!?” Nobara uses her pocket mirror — the cute pink one with little gemstones and stickers decorating the back — to check the red marks on her face from when her sleepy head fell on the window.
Yuji shrugs. “You looked comfortable.”
Megumi uses his sleeve to wipe some saliva off his chin. “Are we back at Jujutsu tech?”
“This train doesn’t go to Jujustu tech.”
“What.”