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In his earliest memory, Yuji recalls feeling different. He is sure he is stronger than any human and faster than a car, but he didn’t let it hinder him, despite the number of people who would want him in sports to bring rewards for the schools he attended. He was OK with this, but then he earned another nickname - the Tiger of the West Junior High. He earned this nickname by being undefeated, beating up bullies, keeping order, and being Yuji, who always has to restrain himself from accidentally killing people.
This wouldn’t be an issue despite his delinquent features, like his pink hair or beating up other delinquents. It’s because whenever he gets into fights, his body shifts on its own into a stance of some martial arts, and he can see a strange aura of his opponents that would help him fight. Yuji has never taken any form of martial arts classes; he doesn’t have any memory of it, but it came as easily as breathing, and then the blood lust that would scratch at the back of his skull and ignite in his heart to keep fighting and find someone stronger to fight with for the rest of his life. Someone to keep the ignition going and burning longer and harder, someone who could make him struggle and adapt to their fighting.
Yuji closes his eyes, exhaling to soothe that part of him and continue his regular schedule. He has a sick grandpa to care for and visit in the hospital, and to clamp down on the itchiness of his fingers from stealing medication to help his old man. Yuji isn’t sure why, but that wouldn’t help his grandpa or himself in the future, as it could lead to suicide- Yuji shakes his head. He needs to get to his club!
The occult club is a relaxing space where they discuss anything supernatural and visit haunted locations, enjoying the thrill of being the brave ones, even as the other two members are sometimes too scared. Yuji joined because the club’s hours let out earlier to allow Yuji to visit his grandpa, but also - something about the occult club tickles the back of his head. Yuji isn’t sure why, but whenever they go over lore about demons, some part of him stares, and a voice echoes in the back of his head. Those moments are always concerning; having Yuji up at night, staring at his ceiling as if he had fallen asleep, then he would remember something so terrible that it would forsake him.
He loves his gramps. When he’s at the hospital, his heart has a warm feeling buzzing about, his eyes and face light with an equal warmth, as if to assure him that his gramps is not a cranky old man. Still, the hospital is cold and has a weird smell so it’s to be expected he wouldn’t be in the best mood all the time but they’re doing the best they can to make his time here comfortable- he’s not in much pain and he’s getting regular meals, both from the staff and what Yuji brings in to share with him. His gramps would tell him to make friends and leave him. Still, he disregards that; that’s just not who he is or who he’d want to be, as Gramps could pass at any time. Hence, he wants to be here with him when he goes, so Gramps isn’t alone when he dies, and Yuji is quick to stop him if he talks about how he’s a bother to Yuji. Something about that line of thinking, especially from the people he cares about, boils his blood- it pisses him off. He won’t have any of them thinking that about themselves.
So, no one can blame Yuji for being miffed about the coach switching his club membership to sports, and thankfully, he has won their bet and won’t be bothered about it again. Sadly, he wouldn’t be there to unwrap the item he had taken, as visiting hours were coming to an end. To think this day is where he is thrust into a world of sorcery and curses - a secret society that is kept hidden from the masses, that isn’t capable of seeing such things.
When he started seeing those curses was after his Gramps died - a saddening time where he had truly lost his family—an orphan. At least it was from old age and not suicide. Yuji was filling out paperwork when he was approached, and upon laying his eyes on the individual, he paused. Feeling that scratching need at the back of his head once more at seeing how intense the other teen’s aura was to him. It almost made him salivate at its strength, but it was subdued, which only fueled frustration and anger at the wasted potential due to the lack of will to fight and survive.
Of course, Yuji had to focus as the man asked him about a cursed object on the school grounds. The unprepared teen isn’t sure what is going on or whether he is being pranked, but the box he still has doesn’t contain what the broody teen wasting his potential was looking for. Of course, when Yuji heard that his two friends from the occult club were going to die, something shifted in him; pivoting, he bolted towards the school, unfinished paperwork left behind, and Fushiguro left behind. Yuji ran, focused as he weaved around pedestrians and traffic towards his school and arrived at the front gates in record time. Panting and looking up as he feels the dread piling on. The school looks different, as if a veil that had kept him blind to the world's true nature was suddenly lifted. Yuji grits his teeth and prepares himself as he leaps over the gate and continues in. Suddenly, shards of glass shatter from one of the floors above, and Yuji doesn’t pause or panic. Something so deeply ingrained into him leapt up to see a foul creature - reaching up and trying to devour his club members, and without hesitation, he let his body follow through with the motion of a kick. Watching something so deeply satisfying to crush something, to feel flesh and bone give way and blood - no matter how oddly colored and foul-smelling - spray in the air.
When the creature lets go of his friend, he reaches forward to pull Sasaki away from the creature before he shifts. These creatures have auras - larger than the average human he saw as if made by it, thus his next attack rebounds on it. The next kick was fatal by anyone’s standards - watching what he assumed was the head of the creature launch away from its body and collapsing, his senses gave nothing to indicate it was still fighting to live or to attack once more. Now, without a care, he looks away from the creature as it starts dissipating - something in the back of his head claws at such a scene, as if trying to break a barrier between them and reconnect with it as a whole - and checks on Sasaki.
The girl is breathing heavily, sweaty, and has splotches of blood on her, but she is unconscious. Even then, Yuji can hear she is struggling to breathe - eyes wide, the pinkette looks around for his second friend. That is, until in the same hallway further down, he sees Iguchi lying there with something on his head. Shifting, he walks over, lays Sasaki down, and crouches to check over Iguchi. Slowly, he reached for the creature on his head, and it seemed to sense the looming threat as it let go and scurried away.
Slowly exhaling, Yuji takes note of Iguchi’s injuries and frowns. He didn’t think to grab anything medical-wise to address the wounds, but for now, he has to take these two out of harm’s way. He mumbles his apologies and lifts the two to carry them out and perhaps call an ambulance for them. That is, until he hears a howling sound that makes the hairs on his body stand up and makes his very body tense in preparation for whatever is to come.
It’s the spikey-haired boy from earlier! He doesn’t know how he knows that, as he doesn’t see him yet, he feels his energy around and coming closer, but it’s strange- it’s like it’s split into three! Two are smaller than the third, which is further away. He could easily take them… He shakes his head to get rid of the thought. Maybe he can give the two to Fushiguro, who could get them medical help.
He doesn’t want the two to die; they might be cowards, but they’d keep going to places that give them the creeps, they’re like the only people in the school that pulled him into their friend group as well! And they brought gifts to his gramps when he was still alive; they’re good people.
A white and black dog passes by him, faster than him, running at the Demon- curse and attacking it, but not doing the most damage; it’d be Fushiguro who does the most damage of the three. The adrenaline coursing through him is enough to keep his focus on the monster, not on how they moved out of the school and onto the roof, and him getting grabbed by the hulking curse. He’s not going to get eaten; he refuses to accept this is where he’d lose! If it’s the finger the curse wants, then that means it’d make the curse stronger, but also himself if he ate it!
The finger tastes gross, like eating the red wax of a Babybel cheese wrapper, heavy, hard to swallow, and makes his stomach hurt. The bile that rises, burning his throat, isn’t bile but Cursed Energy that pulls him out of the driver's seat, and Muzan, the demon of Sorcery, takes control. He wouldn’t let someone else have control of his body for long; it feels too weird not to do something about it, and to not be in control feels annoying.
“What is this…?” A voice reverberates between the shock and annoyance of Yuji wrenching control back. Amusement slowly bubbles from the second entity; “What sort of secrets are you hiding behind this door, I wonder…” He couldn’t get into the door; it’s so tightly locked down that picking it apart would take a while.
===
His dreams are fuzzy, he can only tell that there are some beautiful spirits- one’s a brilliant fire, a flame that lights up the train, another is like a river with a calm front but a rapid change underneath, and then one warm like the sun but unthreatening- so unthreatening he didn’t realize his neck was…
He snaps awake in a dimly lit room, paper strewn about the floor and walls- likely the ceiling as well. He’s tired, but he knows something is coming, something strong! He feels an excited shiver in his spine, snapping away any tiredness he felt in the moment. He tries to get up, but there are ropes keeping him from pulling away too much. The ropes are thick, but that’s all they have on them- well, there are talismans, but it couldn’t do that much, right? They’re not made with anything to strengthen them, so just as the door is opening, the rope snaps in parts- it was not possible to break them fully, but even this much damage is impressive to Gojo.
Yuji’s attention is snapped back to the strongest, awestruck in the same way someone would look at a celebrity. He wonders if he could convince the blindfolded guy to fight him, not Sukuna. Could he figure a way through that weird jelly aura he has- is calling it a jelly even accurate? It doesn’t look to have any weak points, but it’s not the same as the rest of his aura, like it’s a separate part of him creating a shield.
“What a fascinating way to see Cursed Energy… What do you call it? Fighting Spirit?” The other voice echoes in his skull; seeing what he sees from his own eyes, but why is part of their words… Getting harder to understand, as if there is a barrier?
“Oh! Looks like you’re awake and not Sukuna.” Gojo’s voice is on the jovial side, Yuji can’t exactly tell what face the man’s making, and the blindfold helps obscure most of his face.
The two have a back-and-forth about where he is and how the higher-ups have an execution held over his head, which Gojo was able to stall until they get all twenty of Sukuna’s fingers! Congratulations! What? Does Yuji not want to sit around until then? Well, he can join the Tokyo school for Jujutsu, where he can learn to fight curses and save others!
Yuji would agree to it; it’d be better than sitting in a room for who knows how long just waiting and waiting for each finger to be brought to him to swallow. Lazing about in the room sounds like one of the worst options. Fighting curses at least gives him something to do and a way to test his might against other things that could hopefully pose a challenge. An itch grows in him for the potential of good fights or something to fire him up and get him excited, something where he can grow.
“At least you desire to fight against those with strength. You won’t be boring in that regard - oh~ What magnificent bloodlust. Such a shame it’s locked away.” Sukuna’s voice echoes in his head - Yuji now having a name for the entity he is the vessel for.
Gojo brings Yuji back to the hospital to collect his gramps ashes and swallow another finger, which still tastes just as bad, before being brought to the school and being tested by the headmaster, oh boy! Fighting the puppet was different; its smaller body made it harder to hit, but the brush of air from missed hits would tear into the puppet when it got closer until it started slowing down, thanks to one leg dangling off and letting Yuji punch it right in the face, scattering its fluffy guts everywhere.
That, and his answer to Yaga’s question about why he wants to be a sorcerer, is why he gets admitted to the school. Yuji doesn’t have much in his house he’d need to bring; there are the ashes of his gramps and a few pictures of him and gramps, but not much else of note.
His two classmates are annoying but in different ways: one’s annoying because he’s not using all he has and seems suicidal when not sparing with a classmate; he wants to wack Fushiguro. Kugisaki is fine, she’s got a fiery attitude! Her aura isn’t too different from Fushiguro’s, but she’s fighting without the same disinterest and blah attitude. She’s a good sparring partner- gets pissed off at him for supposedly not treating her like an equal, but he doesn’t hurt women, his tone is serious as he says a real man wouldn’t hurt a woman.
“How boring…” Sukuna mutters to himself, annoyance and boredom echoing those words.
Yuji mostly dodges when he’s sparring with Maki or Kugisaki. Maki’s interesting- her fighting spirit isn’t something he has ever seen before, it’s half ignited and half squished down like someone weak, but that’s not the case with her at all! Maki’s strong, and he’d say she’s around his level if he’s to guess, so why is her spirit so odd? He wants to learn more about her, and he also wants to learn more about the weird Panda with three different battle spirits!
At least some of the missions are simple, and until Yuji can manage to control the curse energy he now has, he can use a cursed tool. Which feels so strange and uncomfortable in his hand, as he is meant to use his fist and feet to fight and destroy.
===
Gojo said this would be easy, that if Yuji’s in trouble, he has two sorcerers with a bit more knowledge in how to fight curses and could come back to him if his cursed tool breaks, but that shouldn’t happen- even if it did, they’re not fighting a grade that Yuji shouldn’t be able to handle! No way could they be facing a special grade; the higher-ups might not like Yuji, but they wouldn’t toss away two sorcerers with a lot of potential.
Right? At the very least, they’d send them to an easy threat to avoid losing a technique coveted by the Zen’in clan or a technique that aligns with their old-fashioned beliefs... Well, the kids will just have to see, won’t they? They wouldn’t like to lose the one technique they value above all else. As they will later find out, they do not care; the higher-ups will just brush off the deaths as an unavoidable tragedy. If they were to die, thankfully, nobody died, but they could have! They all could have died, and Sukuna would have found a new vessel- one or two fingers would easily be compensated with something else.
The drive to the location was pretty uneventful. The window explained what they should expect on this mission: if there are any dead bodies, and if there’s anyone alive, they should try to rescue them, but not at the expense of killing the curse. That feels wrong, but who is he to question it? Itadori Yuji, that’s who! While getting rid of the curse or curses will be the priority, he would try to save whoever he could. The mission should include trying to save the person; is that not an important part of killing curses?
He smells the blood from where they are during the brief, and instinctively, he knew all those who haven’t escaped are dead. After all, they are weak, and the strong crush the weak. So why is he here to rescue corpses?
===
Yuji’s nerves have been tugging at him, trying to do something- say something? It hasn’t been long that it’s been like this, so he’s chalking it up to the new school and tasks he’s doing, like exterminating curses and having a thousand-year-old curse inside of him. It can’t be anything else that’s making him feel like this, right? Gojo said that while non-sorcerers can’t see curses, they can feel a sense of unease and dread, so this must be what he’s feeling right now.
His instincts are screaming that there is a threat here. Something strong to fight. To see how long it lasts as they exchange blows and spill each other’s life essence.
The detention center looks like it belongs in Silent Hill, thanks to its predominance of the rusty reds and blacks! It even smells like it belongs in a horror movie, rotting and pungent- it makes the hairs in his nose curl up, and the hairs on his body stand on end. Would that mean the curse is stronger than the two he and Nobara were tested against? Maybe? If Cursed Energy is related to power, then this must be what he’s feeling.
It moves, the rusty markings on the walls and floors move like they’re alive with the evil energy around them, not helped at all when they find a dead body slumped against a wall, a hole in his chest… Like the man with fiery hair whose spirit blazed beautifully until it was snuffed out. A sense of familiarity at the level of carnage, the level of violence of something strong doing as it pleases.
“The door is trying to open. Hurry up and remember so I can see what you’re hiding in there!” Sukuna’s voice echoes, but Yuji can barely make out the words at times.
It’s not long after they look at the dead body’s license that Nobara goes missing, fuck, the curse is aware of their presence and is splitting them up? That’d be the smart strategy, but other than Sukuna, all the curses they’ve come across so far are as intelligent as a young child at most, so separating them off is something the curses haven’t thought about.
It should have just been them bringing those trapped in here out without needing to engage the curse, it shouldn’t have come to this! It was a simple mission, but the moment they stepped into the cursed area, they were doomed, weren’t they? They were, the higher-ups are willing to sacrifice kids to get rid of the vessel- did Gojo even make a binding vow with them so they wouldn’t have been able to do this? No doubt the higher-ups put loopholes in their wording so they could get away with this.
Yuji hears something slamming against a door that is chained, locked, and sealed shut. Trying to get through and connect with him… Something to remember that would change everything.
Of course, none of them could deal with a special grade; it doesn’t matter if it’s been around for a long time or if it just appeared, it’d still be dangerous for them to deal with, and the idea of getting away when they don’t even know where their other classmate is! They shouldn’t leave her; she’d die if she were left alone. But a special grade is supposed to be strong, and that’s a fight he doesn’t want to leave unfinished.
It’s fight or die, as they’d even have a chance if they were to fight! But they have to try; if they go down without a fight, they’d be giving up and breaking wishes that were given to them: “Live a good life surrounded by people.” The departing words of his gramps stain his brain.
His body moves on its own; he doesn’t need to think of where to place his feet and the strength he needs in his hits, it’s just muscle memory from a life he left.
“Weaklings make me sick… It’s the law of nature that they be weeded out.” Yuji grits his teeth; something in his very being is in conflict, and he can feel the King of Curses shift to pay attention to what is occurring. The door is rattling.
The way in which Yuji moves is not the way that Sukuna had ever moved, no, not even holding himself how Sukuna would. Yuji holds himself as someone who’s perfected their martial arts, knees squared with his shoulders, a snowflake with numbers crackling beneath his feet, his face schooled and ready to read his opponent's movements.
“Why do you hold back? Why do you protect the weak? I don’t get it! That’s why you’re weak!”
“Open the door, Brat!” Sukuna’s voice is echoing, but he still can’t make anything out! All Yuji needs to do is fight. Fukagawa is still in the room, not yet running, as Yuji has shouted for them to search for their missing classmate.
“Go! I’ll hold it off!” Yuji is trembling, fear crawling up, yet he feels anticipation. Feeling another instinct and desire to let loose. To combat fear with bloodlust and dance this deadly tango to connect so deeply and spill blood!
“I’ll protect you… no matter what.” Something echoes so deeply, as if a vow is so close on Yuji’s tongue. As if Yuji is so close to realizing something, unlocking his true potential, and becoming whole after a missing part of his soul.
His vision sees the cursed energy radiating off of the finger bearer, the cursed energy carries the monsters killing intent with it making it easy to read no matter what the curse throws at him- in fact the more agitated and angry the curse gets the more the killing intent would grow and feed Yuji’s strikes which seem to be magnetized to the vitals of the curse.
Carnage, cranage is the simplest way to describe how this fight’s going. Whenever the curse manages a hit on Yuji, the skin bubbles and pulls itself back together to keep moving, to keep fighting. The splattering of purple blood and red blood is a deadly display. If Yuji’s not able to keep healing, then he’ll die before the curse! But the pain blooming through his body is all he needs to know he’s in for a good time, a time of fists and feet hitting the leathery skin of the curse while the curse returns the attacks with its own blasts of energy.
===
Megumi watches in shock at how fast Yuji moves, parrying and attacking with brutal accuracy and immense power behind each strike, but something looks like he’s holding back- could he be trying to see if the curse would fight back with a stronger intent to save itself? Why would he be playing around with it instead of just killing it? His questions are cut short when Yuji cuts through the curse’s arm like it was butter, and his very arm was a hot knife.
The destruction between Yuji and the curse is unimaginable. He was told to run before the fighting had gotten too big. He feels awful for leaving Yuji; however, the levels of destruction that he’s delivering would be better if there were no accidental casualties like him or Nobara- wherever she is.
Megumi can hear explosions, parts of the building collapsing, and screams from the curse; whatever Yuji’s doing is keeping it fully focused on him. Guilt is eating at him. Yujii shouldn’t be facing a special grade alone, even if it sounds like it’s going in his favor, as tables are quick to turn even when things are looking good. Special grades and anything above grade two are like that- could pull out a special move that cripples the opposition.
He’d hate to be on the receiving end of Yuji’s attacks. Would he hold back against a Human, or would he go just as hard? No way, if he hit a person with the same force he’s using on the curse, then they’d die, turned to red mist from the shock waves. What the hell, is the strength all his, or is it partially Sukuna’s? If it’s all just Yuji’s, then he was seriously holding back during training.
When Megumi is out with Nobara, he finally realizes something. How did Yuji figure out how to use the Reverse Curse Technique to heal and keep fighting? That’s an advanced level of sorcery he shouldn’t have access to or know about, with how fresh he is to this world.
===
Sukuna is impressed; he thought his vessel would have been crawling to him, begging him for help when he realized this wasn’t going to be an easy fight, but no! His vessel is keeping up and reinforcing his body before each strike, and even cursed energy blasts. He didn’t think the vessel could be this entertaining, but he is! The blasts of pressurised CE being sent out at the special grade explode when they hit anything; maybe he’ll let the vessel request his help later on if he’s not able to keep up with his RCT.
His vessel’s attacks look like fireworks, beautiful, destructive if aimed anywhere but the sky. His vessel adapts to what the curse throws at him and hits back just as hard as the curse, but the limits of a Human should show themselves soon if Yuji keeps testing his food. A Human can only go on for so long if they don’t have access to reversed cursed energy or a large pool of CE to draw from. But until that point arrives, he’ll sit back and enjoy the carnage and the wide smile etched into Yuji’s face, the way his eyes devour the curse and all that it tries.
The attacks the curse throws at Yuji are deflected, or the momentum is used against it. Holy shit, his vessel is a good fighter- maybe he should try to fight his vessel and see how he’d handle him instead of a simple-minded curse, someone who could give him an interesting and challenging fight. It might alleviate his boredom, and it might challenge him by showing how the vessel’s limbs were magnetized to the curse’s vital spots, even when it was trying to come at him from his blind spots.
He believes he’s figured out how the technique works. The snowflake on the ground is part of a simple domain with the twelve points acting to sense the direction, while it senses the killing intent or fighting spirit of whoever approaches the simple domain, pulling him to attack before he’s attacked, to strike them dead before they could even react.
However, the King of Curses can see that his vessel hasn’t yet reached the full potential of his Curse Technique. The instincts are there, but how to use them creatively has yet to be figured out. His lower set of eyes looks over to the Shoji Doors that are chained, sealed, even locked with intricate patterns of flowers, fire, and water - multiple elements burying it under layers and layers that would take time to pick apart.
Sukuna can still see the blood splatters; how the door rattles as if whatever is locked away on the other side is struggling to get out. Sukuna wants to see what’s on the other side - to be entertained and watch what sort of entertainment his vessel may provide to stave away his boredom.
“Hurry up and open the door, brat.” Sukuna knows that a lot of his words aren’t being heard properly, but soon enough, Yuji will notice them.
===
His blood runs hot as the fight continues; Yuji feels his expression turn feral, bloodlust overtaking him. To fight so wildly, so invested in this spar- in this fight to see who kills or gets killed, to test his strength against something else that can make him sweat. Yuji is beginning to tunnel vision on the curse in front of him, to push each other’s limits to see who will break first. During this conflict, Yuji doesn’t want to think past his bloodlust - he is finally allowed to let loose. To feel his fist breaking bone and tearing flesh and having blood - even if it’s the wrong color - splatter on and around him.
All that matters is him. His opponent. And this deadly dance, as the sun cannot stop him. Even as his own flesh gives away, parts of him fly off, and blood seeps. He is a demon and can heal all these meaningless injuries.
For once, every part of him is in sync; that something so instinctively deep in him is finally allowed to pursue something so out of reach. It didn’t matter, as the fight around them continued, when something unrecognizable flashed around him. Individuals with blurred faces. Words jumbled. Places he doesn’t recognize feel so deeply familiar.
“The door is right there. You’re so close to opening it, brat.” Yuji feels pride - not needing to beg for Sukuna to save him, and the curse has no reason to ruin that feeling. However, as that itch he has been suppressing for so long is finally scratched, Yuji blinks when he hears a howl echoing throughout the place. He doesn’t sense another attacker, so why…
Oh!
That’s right; the plan he told Fushiguro, but he isn’t letting Sukuna out. The curse is already so beaten and struggling, and Yuji’s injuries are healing. However, he shouldn’t delay even further - he needs to exercise this curse and meet everyone outside.
Welp, no better time than now to finish the curse! Then he’ll look for his classmates- hopefully Megumi’s got Nobara in the time he’s been playing with the curse. He activates his compass needle once again. Final form: Blue Silver chaotic afterglow. The curse has no way to protect itself from such a wide range of sharp air pressurized with cursed energy, red figments of his movements coming from the other eleven points of his compass while he’s at one end, or looks to be at one end, he could be moving through all the points for all the special grade knows!
Sukuna’s claps echo deep within his domain. How impressive it is that he’s sending out so many attacks in so many directions, no chance the curse could get close to him without being blasted full of holes.
The purple blood of the special grade is painting every surface, body caving in from the force of the hits and air pressure, the healing it’s using isn’t able to keep up with the force and speed. The curse’s body is starting to crumble, a simple Leg Form able to put the finishing blow to its unfulfilled life, and letting the finger inside it drop to the floor, he picks it up and puts it in his pocket, then leaves to try finding the other two.
He hopes there’ll be more thrilling fights like that- or fights where he can work out his muscles and get his body back in top shape, where he’d almost be like a demon! Maybe he’ll be able to protect the people he’s slowly growing some kind of attachment to. No, he won’t be able to protect them forever; there’s bound to be more things separating them- higher-ups or curses or curse users looking to murder. He could still spar against them, put them through shit that feels life or death without the actual threat of them dying; they'd better learn something from getting their asses kicked!
When he finds the two he’s covered in blood, all his blood after killing the curse, the purple blood vanished, and No! He did not give either of them a heart attack! They will deny the possibility that it occurred. Their mission reports are different, Nobara talks about the curses she got pulled into fighting while Megumi and Yuji explain what they went through differently- in Megumi’s report he gets across how Yuji took down the finger-bearer by himself omitting the part about his use of Reverse Cursed energy, while Yuji’s report is about how he threw himself into the fight and was having a blast.
===
Gojo welcomes his students back, but really, it should be the other way around, since they got back to the school before him. Shocking, folding space to arrive somewhere quickly should be fast for someone like him, but the sweets in his arms are the answer to why it took him so long.
“So how was your first mission with all three of you together?” Asking his students with a large smile, he has gotten various responses that have raised his eyebrows. Thank goodness he bought so many sweets to share with his adorable first years.
“It fucking sucked! We all nearly died!” Nobara shouted as Megumi let out an exhale, showing how done he was with today.
“We faced a Special Grade and had to escape from an imperfect Domain Expansion…” Megumi explained further, and Gojo wants to see those reports for this mission because his precious students aren't even there yet.
“I had so much fun! The fighting was amazing!!” Yuji’s response was surprising and drew everyone's stares. He is practically vibrating from where he is standing - still full of pent-up energy to keep fighting.
He’s miffed that the higher-ups would try something so scummy; sending first years off to deal with a special grade is stupid! He knows they’re all old bats but he didn’t think they went senile yet, if they had died on the mission he’s sure he might do something reckless- no, he couldn’t do something reckless because it wouldn’t get them anywhere because it’s not like getting rid of the higher ups would get rid of the other problems that would still be around.
Megumi and Yuji don’t mention anything about the usage of RCT, from Megumi’s perspective it’s too strange and he’s sure it must have been Sukuna healing Yuji in exchange for a good fight, and for Yuji it’s not mentioned because he doesn’t see the importance of it and what it’d mean for him if he could use it so early. If it got out that Yuji could use RCT, the higher-ups would have a stroke. But while neither of them would mention it, surely his six eyes could catch that Reverse Curse Technique was used? Yes, his eyes would not let something like that go unnoticed!
“So, Yuji.” Gojo starts, leaning down to about his height, raising his blindfold above his eyes, “How’d it feel healing your own body after-” Gojo gets interrupted by Yuji, who interjects that it was during “-During the fight? Wow!” That’d require more focus than doing it after the fight, to not get distracted while fighting, and to pull your body back together as well! Yuji’s more impressive than he first thought!
“Exilerating! The curse was weak, but it was healing fast after my hits connected, and it blasted energy at me.” Yuji liked the fight, he was able to sink his teeth in like it was a juicy meal but he couldn’t spend as long as he wanted- couldn’t see if the curse would grow in the heat of the fight without dragging the fight out more than it needed to be, he’s pretty sure he would have ended the fight sooner if he wasn’t having so much fun.
What comes out of Gojo’s mouth next can only be described as the beginning of a horror movie as he offers to let Yuji fight him, the way the pinkette vibrates at the offer- asking if Gojo’s serious about the offer, signals that Yuji’s going to pounce on the offer! He eagerly accepts it, much like how a child would pile candy in their basket at a candy store.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Yuji’s going to regret this; they just know he is! He won’t be able to get past infinity, and if the stories from the second year about Gojo hitting them with a lapis-infused punch, Yuji will be expelling the contents of his guts. Yuji manages to keep the contents of his stomach inside and keeps trying to find a way to get past Gojo’s infinity, commenting about how it’s slowing his attacks down from hitting him, but he feels there’s a way to get through it! He knows there’s gotta be some way to get through, but he’s not able to figure it out.
Gojo notices the flare of CE similar to what happens when a simple domain is being made, the pattern is strange as it reads more like a compass but it wouldn’t be able to do much if Gojo just doesn’t inter the barrier, his Cursed energy is being read with Yuji’s limbs being dragged fast to counter Gojo’s attacks and the kid’s now able to strike at lapis with enough force in his energized punches to null it- Yuji’s attack wouldn’t continue after hitting lapis.
Gojo is impressed - especially since he put enough power into that attack to injure, and here is his cute student still standing with barely an injury after countering it. Interesting; He’s still excited for more! This little ball of energy is rip-roaring, ready to keep fighting! That’s the spirit! Yuji’ll be a special grade in no time, minus the fully fledged domain, but getting a simple domain is still really good.
“Let’s keep this spar going, Yuji-kun! I wanna see how far you keep going until you physically can’t!” Gojo calls out, and the only response is a wide smile - almost looking out of place on Sukuna’s vessel face. Gojo chuckles; of course, the one who manages to cage Sukuna is such a battle junkie, someone driven by the thrill of the fight.
===
How did it come to this? The mission was simple, with all three of them falling under the teachings and leadership of Nanami Kento. Someone that Yuji instantly liked, not because of his personality or how he carries himself. But the strength of his fighting spirit is becoming evident to Yuji; apparently, he’s got a binding vow in place to limit the amount of cursed energy he’s using until after hours. They were investigating the three corpses and the possible curse user who may have caused it. Of course, as the investigation continues, Nanami follows the trail of the possible curse, and the three have interacted with the possible curse user, Yushino Junpei. The four were having fun, but the entire time, Yuji felt something was wrong in his gut about the other teen. Something he had to suppress and was confused about, as he viewed Junpei in such a negative light. Is it because the energy he sees around Junpei is different compared to that of other non-sorcerers? Or is it because he can taste something… Poisonous?
Of course, everything went to shit after they left, and all three of them ran to Junpei’s school to see a barrier over it. Megumi curses, and Nobara tsked. Yuji didn’t think; he ran at the barrier despite his two classmates yelling, slipped through, and felt such a strange, watery sensation.
The school was near silent, the electricity, plumbing, and AC traveling through the building being the most amount of sounds they would hear until coming across the bodies of poisoned students, their breaths raspy like they’re struggling to breathe. Poisoned, coughing up blood, the rivals poisoned the well. Yuji hates this feeling; it’s the worst one he’s had since becoming a sorcerer. It feels like something’s just on the edge of his mind, ready to tip over and come crashing down.
The cause of these poisonings? Some fucking weakling using his shikigami to do the fighting for him, he’s as weak as a sheet of paper! Just like everyone who uses poisons, so weak that they have to use underhanded methods to achieve anything. As he’s a curse user, they’re allowed to execute him. Gojo wouldn’t be happy about it, but do they need a poison user? Someone who couldn’t even handle his own battles in a fair way?
“Oh? What interesting emotions - such hatred. Such a vitriolic reaction that almost makes me jealous that your attention is elsewhere.” Yuji isn’t sure why Sukuna made such a comment, but he is beyond angry and doesn't care. At the moment, he just wants to beat this weakling to a pulp. To show him true strength!
Does Megumi have any shikigami that could heal the poisoning? How long until they die from the poisons? Could they get them to Shoko in time? Is she the only one who can use RCT on others, or could Gojo do it too?
Megumi’s suggestion is pretty stupid, but they need to cover the most amount of ground in hopes of finding the curse user. Plus, Megumi could summon a shikigami to help make the search go even faster, so eventually they decide on which side of the school they’ll search. Megumi will likely find the Curse user first, thanks to his shikigami being able to sniff out the CE of the weakling.
Of course, Yuji was immediately there before the other two, and to say - Junpei is lucky his jellyfish shinigami was there to absorb Yuji’s fists or else the curse user would’ve been blood splatter. It surprised Junpei, but the expression Yuji held was one of pure rage - hatred. Even as the other two arrive, Yuji is shouting.
“You weakling! You’re just like all those other idiots that are so fucking weak they use poison to undercut their opponents!” Yuji shouts out. “Poisoning wells and killing those you’re too weak to fight! Too weak to use your own muscles and training to defeat your rivals!”
Silence is all too oppressive. Before Nobara shouts at him from behind.
“Who poisoned what wells?!” Yuji blinks. Confused by the question. Why does his head hurt so much? There is a sound of something banging on the doors… Why are there so many student bodies… He could’ve sworn that only his fiancée and her father were the only ones…
From this lapse of awareness, Yuji was nearly skewered but avoided the shinigami. As the four seem to fight, Yuji's head hurts so much.
“So close… Open the door, brat.” What door? Why is Sukuna talking to him now, of all times? Of course, that’s when another player enters the battlefield, and Yuji can see the curse aura. To see how twisted and vile it is, how human-looking it is as he steps out and touches Junpei, who recognizes the curse. Even with the brief encounter, Yuji feels his body convulse as he waits to see what happens next.
He can’t do anything to save the weakling, as the curse just transfigured Junpei into something grotesque, something inhuman. He doesn’t have anything to counter whatever the curse did to Junpei or the way it violated his fighting spirit. Then the curse - Mahito - moves to touch him, likely trying to get him to switch out with Sukuna if he’s to guess.
“Yuji!” He can hear Nobara and Megumi shout as the curse lays its hand on Yuji.
Mahito sees the scene shift, and he sees bones and blood, and atop the throne of skills and bone is where the King of Curses sat. Sukuna looks rather displeased at the worm's intrusion. Raising a hand to cleave the fool and leave a warning as he wishes to see his vessel beat the pest to a pulp, and pauses. Instead, his position shifts. Even as Mahito talks and blathers on about some special grade group and gives a pitch, no doubt repeatedly told to him and, thanks to his lack of grey matter, hasn’t figured out he is being used and puppeted by another.
“I will forgive this trespass,” Sukuna’s voice echoes, which makes Mahito pause. “All you have to do is open that door.” Mahito blinks, looking around for this door, and he spots it. There, that looks so out of place in the domain that represents Sukuna’s very soul is a Shoji door. With chains, locks, and various seals. Intricate patterns of fireworks and snowflakes. Blood splatter is visible on the other side, providing a sharp contrast to the designs. Mahito gives a smile - showing how much of an idiot he is.
“I open this door, and you should be able to take over your vessel?” The worm asks a question and walks over to it. Clearly misunderstanding something, but Sukuna doesn’t correct him now. Merely watching - his smirk increasing to that of a smile. The type that shows all teeth. He watches as Mahito reaches those doors, lays his hands on them, and, for a moment, nothing, until the sound of locks opening, those chains falling away, and seals peeling off.
“There! The door is open-!” Mahito says as he slides those bloody Shoji doors open. Then a rush flows past him - so quickly as Pandora's box is finally open. Scenes; no, memories play as they pass by, and Sukuna’s laughter is heard as finally… The King of Curses can see what his dear vessel’s soul has so clearly suppressed or has tried to forget.
Memories start pouring out from behind those bloody shoji doors- monstrous sounds escaping from the shattered doors- sounds that would raise their hairs if they were simply Human, something like muscles and bones breaking apart, memories the vessel had sealed so tightly. Their order isn’t linear; they’re just all coming out, showing each of them in varying details and at varying points in time.
“Akaza-dono!~” A grating voice sings out, cold hands touching his shoulders, and a face that just screams to be punched rests to the right of him, rainbow eyes and platinum blond hair that looks to have been splattered with blood. He’s quickly met with an arm slicing open his head from the mouth up, but that doesn’t stop the blond as he’d regenerate fast.
“Hakuji.” The soft voice of his wife comes, fireworks lighting up the night sky, illuminating her face, her eyes catching the light, a rosy blush covering her cheeks.
“Akaza.” The name is said with anger and disappointment, like an owner scolding their dog for failing their task. Killing the Flame pillar wasn’t enough; he was supposed to bring the boy and his sister to lord Muzan, but he could only kill Kyojuro.
“Live an honest life.” He came back to his father’s body hanging from the ceiling, pain racing through his whole body, unacceptable! Why him?! The rage in his heart fueled him to attack the grown men in his small town, swinging on anyone who came too close, the criminal tattoos that brand his skin, and the sharp teeth marking the Demon child as what he is.
A battle between what must be the vessel and some.. Man? Curse? It’s gotta be a curse with those six-eyes and the speed at which he has, the range he has with his sword is insane, and the fact that the vessel is able to keep up with it and give the older curse a fun fight. He still loses to the older male, but he’s not absorbed into the flesh of said male.
The place he’s in in some of these memories looks unreal, but it could simply be a domain they’re all in. Shoji doors in various styles adorn the place, with wooden bridges and stairs connecting it. He’s fighting two males, one who has a fiery mark on his forehead and one who has a whirlpool on his cheek, the two using forms that bring out fire and water moving to cut his head and while the fire user is able to cut his head off eventually there’s still time- he’s still moving and trying to fight, trying to overcome this and regrow his head!
Mahito will die, the intrusion into his soul? Unacceptable, but it will not be Sukuna who punishes the curse! It’s going to be whatever the curse set free, whatever was contained behind those chains and bloody shoji doors. The sound of the doors creaking fills the innate domain; the smell of blood is pungent. There’d be no time for Mahito to react to whatever’s making the sound before his head is caved in, forcing him out of the innate domain. Then, from Sukuna’s perch as he slowly walks down from his throne, he can see something violently striking the foolish worm that thinks to address him, much less approach him as an equal.
“Finally… Show me everything that makes up your soul, brat.” Sukuna says as he steps past those Shoji doors after Mahito’s presence was removed from their domain. Whatever has attacked Mahito allowed Sukuna in - welcomed - since he is living so closely to his vessel’s soul.
Mahito’s physical body still has his head, but it’s caved in, and he’s stunned from both the speed and the attack that hit his soul. It gives the Human more than enough time to wail on him a bit until he refocuses on the fight, fuck, he’s been put on the back foot! This Human is relentless in getting in close and slamming his feet and fists into the curse, forcing him to heal over and over again like some kind of monster! Not Human nor a curse, but something else: the bloodlust coming off the vessel is something Mahito wasn’t expecting from anyone but the King of Curses.
He might have just set off a deadly weapon by opening that door upon Sukuna’s request! Whatever that thing was that killed him is not normal, not something he’s seen in any soul he’s touched up to now. He has very few openings before he needs to reinforce his body to try minimizing the damage done. Mahito’s not sure if he’d be able to get away! It’s like the Human is focusing on nothing but carnage.
The Special grade needs to escape! He needs to get away from this demon!
Nobara and Megumi are stunned at the sight, the curse’s blood splatters everywhere, his own blood coming into the mix as well as the curse so desperately tries to fight back, clothes ripping and would reveal tattoos that were not there before- three black bands on both his arms like criminal branding, but.. But that can’t be Sukuna in control, or else they’d all be dead! They do not see the curse coming from this alive; the bloodlust is massive, but clearly directed only at the creature that invaded his soul. Any attempts by the curse to transfigure itself to try to get away are stopped by Yuji, who aggressively pulls him back to continue the beatdown, using the environment around them to aid it.
Yuji doesn’t even look like himself - his expression is that strange mixture of rage and crazed battle junkie mania. So hyper-focused on Mahito that he ignores Nobara and Megumi as he continues to attack the special grade. His very presence - his Curse Energy - has seemed to dramatically shift.
“Itadori!” Nanami shouts as he makes his way in, and for a brief moment, Yuji does stop. Blinking in such a confused manner, as if he had forgotten his own name, which allowed Mahito to slink away even as Megumi’s shadow and Nobara’s hairpin missed. Thanks to how small his body was reduced. Yuji sways, owlishly blinking in such a confused manner. Even as Nobara grabs him and shakes him - shouting his name and calling him potato head and demanding answers. Yuji seems to barely recognize his name. Sometimes, addressing it, and a few times looking so confused as if they were calling him by some stranger's name.
Then Yuji falls unconscious, all three shouting, blurring into nothingness. Yuji’s - no Akaza - no Hakuji - no Yuji!
…… Who…? Are…? They…? Who… Is… Us…? What… Are… We…?
All three of them are untangling the mess of memories between them. Who is Yuji Itadori? Who is Hakuji? Who is Upper Moon Three: Akaza?