Chapter Text
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Opening
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Long ago, when the age of curses hit it’s peak in Japan, existed a curse everyone feared.
Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses, said to be a calamity that shook the world and massacred the many.
But when that aged peaked, so was borne a human boy, who, would soon become the man to defeat the King of Curses. That boy would soon be known as many names. Sukuna’s Vessel. Tiger of West Junior High.
But his names went down in history, as the Sorcerer to defeat Ryomen Sukuna.
Someone who went on to become immortal, use black flash at anytime, and held and could use all of Sukuna’s techniques.
That, was the man known, as
Yuji Itadori.
From the defeat of Sukuna, Yuji continued to live and fight curses, until one day, another decision was made. One that would change the future forever.
Instead of destroying the power of curses inside him…
He chose to seal it within himself.
His body could not hold that amount of power.
So it was divided.
Eight fragments.
Eight cursed fingers.
Each one carrying the soul of the boy who refused to let his world shatter into the hands of curses.
And thus the boy who once devoured the King of Curses,
Became the King's prison instead.
Four centuries later, curses have made their way back into Japan once more. But all we knew of the original sorcerers were gone. Only their legacy and children remained.
So, who is to bring Yuji Itadori back into this world now?
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The afternoon sun stretched across the sky, clouds rolling passively as the arcs of sunlight lazily beamed upon the ground.
At Tokorozawa Jujutsu High School, first year Saiyaku stared at the clouds for a solid moment, eyes flittering past bored. His gaze narrowed, sighing with hints of sarcasm.
He was alone eating lunch and finishing up his classes. No-one really sat with him, unless it was another first year. The second and third years strayed away from him.
His appearance wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. His hair was a darker crimson with multiple layers; which he did not care to style). His eyes were always defiant, a simple bright gold with a barely noticeable fade of red around the pupil. He wore a standardized Jujutsu High outfit, the uniform doing little to hide his well built frame.
He didn’t care for loneliness. Friends were passing and unnamed figures. They came and went. However, there was the exception of…
Kuro Tenma, Akane Ibara, and Ren Okkotsu. They were all first years with him, and often hung out with him time to time. Majority of it was spent arguing and chattering over missions.
They were approaching him right now.
“Yo! Saiyaku!” Akane hollered. Saiyaku felt a twitch of anger, gaze flicking to her. Akane was a short girl, with long hair and braided sections. Her eyes were brown, but could definitely pierce even the sharpest of gazes. What she lacked in height she made up in agility. Saiyaku had a tendency to struggle to keep up.
Kuro was a complete opposite of Akane’s loud and confident self. Kuro was more quiet, logical, tactical. He had most of the common sense both Saiyaku & Akane lacked. His uniform was dark, darker than the typical night sky, clashing even with his jade colored eyes and even darker circles under them. His lashes were a bit heavier than normal, and his hair was tied typically in a low ponytail.
Then, there was Ren. An Okkotsu. From what Saiyaku heard, his ancestor, Yuta Okkotsu was a strong sorcerer who held the Queen of Curses, Rika. Since then, the family line had always created strong sorcerers.
Ren was no different. He was what the elders called, ‘a child prodigy.’ Already equipped with seeing and fighting curses at a near young age, he was shaped for a great path.
In Saiyaku’s opinion, he was a boy burdened by an impending and intimidating past. His hair was short, a combination of silver and black, with a sleep-deprived gaze and two hollow, but all-knowing eyes.
Ren was more laid back. He wasn’t like Kuro, yes, he was smart and strategic, but Ren handled his missions mostly with him being a sole attacking offense. Even as a first year, his power could match some of the third years.
“What do you want?” Saiyaku hissed angrily at Akane. She scoffed, eyes gazing at him aggressively, stance and body language stiff.
“There’s a rumor circling around the students. It’s about a broken down shrine somewhere in this school. They say—“
“—it’s a hotspot for curses, and there’s multiple ancient relies and potentially special grade objects in there.” Kuro interpreted. “She’s basically asking if you like to come explore that with us.”
“Ughhh, dummy! I wanted to ask that!”
“Well, you were taking too long, so I shorted it. Better?”
“No! I’m not getting you anything once I go on my trip.”
“I didn’t want anything, Akane. I never said I did.”
“She means it metaphorically.”
“Shut up, Ren!”
“Sorry, sorry…”
“What about sensei? Wouldn’t he be mad at us?” Saiyaku questioned. His eyebrows raised slightly.
“Nah, he wouldn’t mind. It’s training.”
“Alright. I’ll go.”
“Great. Meet us there at sundown.”
“But how am I—“
They had already left. It was slightly strange, mostly infuriating.
~
He was at Shibuya crossing. Instead of brightly lit streets, however, it was cracking, broken, and impact marks littered the ground. Ash and smoke fell like flakes from the sky. He could not move his body, but look around.
Flames licked away at his vision, the sound of screams and yells echoing in his ears. Running, screaming sounds of fists meeting, and a voice, clear as day.
“Arm yourself.”
The sound of fire roared and crackled in his ears, as faint outlines of hands traced his vision. The fire wove in colors of neon orange, red, and ashen yellow. It twisted and morphed, turning into a ball, then changing to an arrow. High pitched hums piqued in his ears, as words and voices mixed into his mind.
“What…am I feeling right now?” Tears flowed from an unknown place, dripping down onto the concrete as the world suddenly spun and flickered.
“Good question. I wouldn’t know the answer to that.”
More flames engulfed his vision, as burning corpses sat burning to his body. The crackle got louder, as did the screams.
~
He woke.
Drenched in sweat and eyes wet with tears, heart pounding against his chest. Another nightmare. He’d been having those recently. He can’t tell if it’s just him or someone else.
He didn’t care. His mind groggily summoned up the floor and wall-space around him, as he slapped on his uniform and shoes. Muttering, he stumbled outside, clutching the map tightly with his fingers.
“Where’d he say to meet?” Saiyaku muttered. A moment passed, as his eyes lingered and absorbed the details on the map.
Ah. There it is.
Saiyaku stared in the direction for a moment, before running off towards the ruins.
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Hm? How interesting, there’s a familiar presence near…
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“You’re late!” Akane grumbled as soon as he approached the trio. Ren was already holding his katana, and Kuro stared at Saiyaku with a tired expression.
“Shut up! It’s not like we’re doing this legally!” He fired face. Akane twitched, eyes narrowing.
“Oh yeah? Well then, A—“
“Okay, we get it, enough arguing. Lets go.” Kuro gestured at the shine. Akane huffed, stomping forward to lead the ground.
The closer they stepped toward the shrine, the heavier the air became. Saiyaku felt it pressing against his lungs like deep water.
"You feel that?" Ren muttered. Kuro nodded slowly.
"That's not just a curse... that's a seal."
Saiyaku let his body tense, hands gripped into fists.
As they slowly approached, the more they could see. The shrine was broken down, moss inching across one side and the shattered remains down the other. Seals that were olding in yellow were plastered around the ropes.
The signs were worn down, ink fading. In front of the shrine lay a small wooden red box. It was seemingly untouched, nothing even growing around it.
Akane stared at it warily, glancing towards Kuro. She muttered something under her breath. Kuro shurgged. Ren sighed. Saiyaku approached it. Atop the box was a paper, a seal. His mind scrambled to read the letters.
特別級呪われたオブジェクト - ユウジの指
‘Special Grade Cursed Object - Yuji’s Finger.’
He slid open the opening, revealing a finger. It was similar to a mummified finger, faded purple in color. Yet, it grew a pair of whitened purple flowers, blooming in such a state it looked frozen.
“It’s a finger.” Saiyaku mumured. No-one responded. He turned around. It was dead silent.
“Guys?”
His eyes widened and his heart lurched at the sight. Kuro was on the ground, body heaving, blood flowing from the side of his face. Akane was standing, wobbling, arm bloodied and gushing red. Ren was near Kuro, katana raised and hand over Kuro’s head.
In the middle, facing against them, was a curse. It was humanlike in shape and size, yet its face was different. Two different colored eyes, a face like patchwork and washed out sky blue hair. Its hands extended and changed-transfiguration, Saiyaku assumed.
“Why hello there, little one! My, my, you look so much like someone I once knew!”
Saiyaku drew his fist, clutching the finger as his focus fixated onto the curse. Kuro rasied his head weakly, blood dripping onto the smooth concrete.
“Saiyaku…don’t,” he pleaded, voice weak and consciousness failing him.
“Careful! It’s a special grade!” Ren yelled, eyes drifting between Kuro and Saiyaku. Akane held onto her hammer tightly, a small needle thread in her teeth.
She reared back, spat out the needle, and hit it with her hammer. Cursed energy spiked through the needle, instantly heading for the curse.
“Hm?” The curse moved slightly, completely avoiding the bullet with a curious look. His eyes, an evil gold with those darkened pupils, flicked over to Akane.
“Cursed needle threading? How adorable. Sadly, that won’t work on me. What a shame.”
Akane huffed, scoffing as her form stumbled, knees buckling as the red continued to stain through her uniform sleeve.
“Give me the finger, kid.” The curse spoke. “And I’ll leave you all. No more death. Just want the finger.”
“Why?” Saiyaku asked.
“Why not?”
“I wouldn’t ever believe a word you say.”
“And if my word was true?”
Saiyaku gripped the finger tighter. “Not happening.”
The curse stared at him for a moment, sighed, and raised his hand. For a second, he thought the curse was leaving, until he felt a pain in his side. The world blurred and spun as he was sent flying into a nearby tree, wood splitting and creaking. He coughed out, the iron taste on his tongue and his head spinning.
He didn’t stand up. His eyes were out of focus, fists and side body bleeding, uniform ruined as jagged splinters hit into his side arm. He felt his hand go limp as the finger rolled out.
“That wasn’t so hard. Now, the finger.” The curse said. Saiyaku held the finger up, staring at the flowers for a second.
“This is a special grade object, right, Ren?”
“Yes, but—“
“So if I swallow it, I’ll gain cursed energy to rival him?”
“Yes, but Saiyaku, the risks are—“
“Listen, Ren, I don’t give a damn about the risks. If it means saving all your sorry asses, I’ll do it.”
“Saiyaku, I’d highly—“
But it was too late. Saiyaku had already felt the finger slid down his throat without even a second thought. It was a terrible taste, like old oil slipping down his esophagus. He could feel it slide down whole, burning on the way down.
Jeez, since when did eating fingers hurt this much?
His stomach rolled and seized up, body aching as his world darkens. Pain, burning like a flame courses through his body, as a heat built up in his bones. It felt like his skull was going to blow, shoulders shaking as his mind thought of only the pain.
The world gave out as his eyes closed, mind fading to unconsciousness.
~
Breathe. His lungs erupted as he took an inhale, eyes bursting open as his mind began to race. Water surrounded his knees and down, as he sat on a bench—no, a train.
The train had windows, but the windows reflected only a city, unnamed and bright. At his feet swam fish of all colors.
Huh. Weird.
Across from him, sat a pink-haired figure, halfway asleep. His uniform was similar to the ones Jujutsu High wore, blue with a red hoodie and red cuffs. Under his two eyes lay two scar-like slits.
"Who are you?" Saiyaku demanded. The figure sighed. His gaze lingered for a moment, tired reddish eyes.
"You reincarnated?" He asked inquisitively. Saiyaku paused, his mind grappling to try & understand what he said.
“Sorry, what?" The figure frowned.
“Nevermind. Mistook you for someone else.”
“Name’s Yuji Itadori.”
Saiyaku blinked. Thousands of words flashed across his mind. Hundreds of stories, multiple rumors, all about...
"You? You're "The calamity that quelled the King'?”Yuji’s face twisted.
"What nicknames & titles have this world given me?" He grumbled.
"A lot, honestly," Saiyaku stratched the back of his head. Yuji bent forward to examine Saiyaku. Saiyaku took in details. Hain messy & untamed, fading white and pink. A scar across his left eye & mouth. Eyes with red, and an overwhelming presence to match. His thoughts were interrupted, however.
"You look sturdy." Yuji commented. Saiyaku nodded.
"Why are you here?"
"You ate my finger. You are now my vessel."
"Vessel?"
"Yeah. I was a vessel once. Went through all this." He gestued around him. The train clacked as it continued.
“So…what’s ‘this’?”
“To put it simply…my inner domain. It’s me inside you. Technically, since you’re a vessel, I exist inside you.”
“Why’d you swallow me?” He asked calmly, casually, as if swallowing fingers was normal days work.
“My friends were in danger. I was not going to just let them die.”
“Interesting. You’re the type of kid I was back then.”
“Back…then?”
“Centuries ago, kid. Way before anyone in this modern era’s time. Tell me, who are you saving?”
“Ren Okkotsu, Akane Ibara, & Kuro Tenma.”
“A Okkotsu descendant…how intriguing. But not was I was asking. Who do you intend to save, you, or the people around you?”
“All of us.”
“Alright, kid.” Yuji smiled, a tight smile, patting Saiyaku’s shoulder.
“Guess I’m borrowing your body.”
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