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It was a nice day out—the sun was shining, and the air was pleasantly warm, bordering on cold. It was the perfect day for Gojo to take his students out to the track field for some sparring practice. He put everyone into pairs of two: Panda with Nobara, Maki with Toge, and Yuji against Megumi. The rules were simple. No special techniques, black flashes, or weapons—just your limbs and brute force. First one to get knocked down loses. Once the first round was over, they'd swap partners.
Easy-peasy.
Not that it stopped a few of his students from complaining, especially Megumi, who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. Which was exactly why Gojo chose Yuji as his first sparring partner, rather than one of the second-year students. If anyone could get Megumi into the spirit of things, it was Yuji. Sure, Megumi still didn't look thrilled to be there, but he stopped grumbling under his breath, which was a win in Gojo's book.
"Ready whenever you are!" Gojo shouted as he sprawled across the bleachers.
With that, everyone got into position—the first round of sparring matches underway. Gojo kept an eye on each of their fights, watching how each of his students fought and mentally taking notes on where they could improve. Maki, of course, was one of the best hand-to-hand combatants. Despite primarily using cursed weapons, Maki made sure to train her body as well, knowing that if she were to lose her weapon mid-fight, she'd have nothing else to rely on. There was little for Gojo to critique of her, unlike Yuji.
Letting his eyes roam over, Gojo smiled as he watched Yuji and Megumi trade blows. Megumi was doing a fine job of dodging and deflecting Yuji's hits, moving with the grace of a ballerina before striking with all the force of a viper. It was just as Gojo had taught him. Yuji, on the other hand, was a little more clumsy with his dodges, almost tripping over his own feet a few times. Landing his hits was fifty-fifty, which wasn't too bad considering the level Megumi was at. They just needed to work on his footwork.
As for Nobara…Gojo blinked, uncertain as to how exactly he was supposed to go about judging her performance. Perhaps they could work on her ability to dodge her opponent's grasp—once Panda stopped spinning the poor girl around like a ragdoll. Gojo was quickly learning how colorful a vocabulary Nobara possessed, and could already hear the lecture he was bound to get from her later.
Gojo looked back over in time to watch Megumi take a hit square to the chest, knocking him clean off his feet. Megumi hit the ground hard enough to make Gojo wince in sympathy. The kid would be fine—he's taken far worse—but Gojo had a feeling his ego would be bruised for quite a while. Yuji, on the other hand, was clearly excited. His eyes lit up as he cheered himself on, having officially won his sparring match.
"That's a victory for Yuji!" Gojo called out with a grin, clapping his hands together.
Maki grumbled in annoyance while Panda finally let go of Nobara, who made a rather impressive recovery. Yuji's win marked the first victory of the day, meaning the rest of them all needed to step up their game. Turning his attention to Megumi, Gojo's grin faltered. Megumi hadn't moved a muscle, his body eerily still as he continued to lie where he'd fallen.
"What's the matter, Megumi?" Gojo asked, trying to keep his voice light despite the worry flooding his chest. "No need to be embarrassed—everyone gets knocked on their ass once in a while! Just shake it off, kiddo!"
There was no way a little tap like that to the chest could have caused significant damage. Yuji may not have been an expert when it came to Jujutsu—not even close—but he had a pretty solid grasp when it came to controlling his output. His cursed energy had remained the same throughout the entire fight, including during the moment of impact. The amount of energy he was using wouldn't have been enough to leave so much as a scratch. Yet, something was clearly wrong, as Megumi still hadn't moved, nor was he responding.
"Megumi?"
Gojo's inner alarm bells were ringing furiously—spurring him into motion. He was by Megumi's side in an instant, tugging down his blindfold as he assessed the situation. Megumi still hadn't moved an inch, his eyes closed. Most terrifying, however, was the fact that Megumi's cursed energy was growing weaker by the second. Gojo knew that hit couldn't have caused any internal damage—it was impossible—so why—
"Gojo-sensei, is Fushiguro okay?!" Yuji asked as he rushed over, the faintest of tremors marking his words.
Gojo didn't have time to answer him as he crouched down and quickly placed two fingers against Megumi's carotid artery, desperately searching for a pulse. There was none. There was no pulse—Megumi's heart had stopped beating altogether. Gojo's own sank as he immediately began chest compressions. There was no way he was about to lose his kid—not like this!
"Come on, Megumi!"
The entire atmosphere changed as the others caught wind of what was happening and rushed over, their cursed energy flaring in alarm. There was so much shouting as they crowded around Gojo and Megumi, asking too many damn questions. Gojo tried to drown them out—to focus—but it became too much. The moment one of Megumi's ribs snapped, so did Gojo's temper.
"Will everyone shut the hell up!" Gojo's eyes snapped to Maki, who stared back at him wide-eyed. "Go get Shoko, now!"
Thankfully, Gojo didn't have to tell her twice, as Maki turned and took off at a sprint. As for Panda, Toge, and Nobara, the three of them seemed to get the hint and backed off. They watched in silence as Gojo continued performing chest compressions, another rib snapping underneath his hands. The sound made Gojo nauseous, but he kept at it, pushing past the discomfort. Shoko could fix those—she couldn't fix a dead kid.
Gojo didn't know how much time had passed—fuck, don't let it be too late—when he felt a comforting, but firm hand grip his shoulder, tugging him out of the way. Despite every instinct in his body telling him to shove the person away, Gojo let himself be moved. There was only one person at that time who would dare try to move him away from his dying kid.
"How long has he been down?" Shoko asked as she got to work, pressing her hands to Megumi's chest and letting her positive energy flow into him.
Gojo didn't know how to answer her—he didn't know.
"About four minutes—" Panda hesitantly spoke up. "—maybe six."
Four to six minutes…that wasn't good. Gojo knew that wasn't good. The longer the brain went without oxygen, the higher the risk of brain damage. The chest compressions were merely a band-aid, giving them a little more time. Gojo could only pray that it was enough.
This time, Shoko looked directly at Gojo when she asked, "When did you start chest compressions?"
"About a minute after he fell, maybe less."
Shoko nodded to herself before focusing all her attention on Megumi. The flow of her energy increased, enveloping Megumi's upper torso like a cocoon, flowing and weaving into his chest. Several excruciating seconds ticked by before Megumi jolted back to life with a harsh gasp. Megumi's eyelids fluttered open, and Gojo grinned with relief as he watched Megumi's eyes tiredly roam over him and Shoko, his gaze turning calculative as he tried to discern what was happening.
"Hey, kid—" Shoko kept up her reverse cursed technique as she leaned forward, putting herself in Megumi's line of sight. "—think you can tell me your name and what you last remember?"
"Fushiguro Megumi." Megumi's brows furrowed in thought. "Gojo dragged us all out to the track field for some lame sparring sessions."
"Rude."
Megumi shot Gojo an annoyed glare, which only made him smile wider. That was definitely his kid, sass and all. "I was sparring with Itadori—where's Itadori, is he alright?"
Yuji—shit, that's right. Gojo's smile dropped as he glanced over his shoulder, finding Yuji standing a few feet away. The poor kid was a complete wreck, tears staining his cheeks. Gojo could see the relief in his eyes now that Megumi was breathing and talking, but fresh tears threatened to spill over as Yuji's hands shook uncontrollably. Given how everything went down, Gojo could tell exactly what Yuji was thinking. Evidently, he wasn't the only one.
"Itadori's fine," Shoko assured Megumi before turning her attention to Yuji, her words meant as much for him as they were for Megumi. "You struck him in the chest, correct? If I had to take a guess, I'd say this was a case of commotio cordis—a disruption of the heart's rhythm due to a blow to the chest, right over the heart. It's extremely rare, given the exact timing needed for it to occur, and thankfully isn't the result of any physical damage."
"So I didn't—"
"No, kid—" Gojo cut Yuji off as he stood and pulled him into a sideways hug, feeling his body go stiff in surprise. "—none of this was your fault. It was just shit luck, is all. There's no way anyone could have predicted this, and certainly nothing you could have done to prevent it."
Yuji nodded, the tension slipping from his body even as new tears spilled over. Smiling fondly, Gojo pulled Yuji closer, cradling the back of his head as he silently encouraged the kid to let it all out. God knows he needed it. However, he didn't need an audience, and with that, Gojo turned his attention to the others still crowding around.
"Everything's being handled here. You four head back to the dorms for now." Gojo's tone left no room for debate. The four of them would leave if they knew what was best for them. They could have their time with Megumi later.
Nobara wanted to argue—Gojo could see it in her eyes—but one look at Yuji had her holding her tongue. Despite the front she puts up, Nobara genuinely cares about her friends and would listen, but only for their sake, which was fine by Gojo. He watched the four of them leave before checking back in on Megumi. He looked a lot less out of it, but no less tired.
Shoko was still using her technique, no doubt working on those two ribs that Gojo heard and felt snapping. It was going to save Megumi weeks, if not months of recovery time, but given how long Megumi had been—for all intents and purposes—dead, he would likely still require some downtime before he's allowed back into the field.
"How are you feeling, kiddo?"
"Like shit."
"Fair—you did die on us for a second there."
"Satoru!" Shoko yelled, sending him a glare of her own.
Megumi, however, looked completely unfazed as he asked, "Does this mean I lost the match?"
Gojo couldn't help but chuckle. "It sure does! But hey, there's always next time!"
"I don't ever want to spar with him again," Yuji spoke up, mumbling into Gojo's chest.
"You say that now, but give it a week—two tops—and he'll be knocking you on your ass! After all, he can't be letting the newbie show him up like that. I don't think his ego could handle a bruise that big! Isn't that right, Megumi?" Gojo grinned at Megumi, who, if it weren't for his current condition, looked a second away from throttling him.
Shoko sighed heavily, unimpressed with Gojo's bullshit, but it got an amused snort out of Yuji. That's all that mattered. Of course, despite all his jesting, Gojo had no plans of letting Megumi do anything strenuous until he got the all-clear from Shoko. Even then, he'd give it a few more days—until he was certain himself that Megumi would be okay. Gojo didn't think his own heart could handle another scare like that.
Seriously, Gojo thought with a huff. What's with these kids and their tendency to die on me so easily?