Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Toki wiped the sweat off her forehead. The dirt crunched as she took another step. 

Today really sucked.

Climbing a mountain should've been easy. After all, you either walked up, or you walked down. Being tired wasn’t an issue, so it really should’ve been easy.

This particular mountain had a barrier over it. She was curious as to why. Was there something to hide?

She wanted to see the inside. To explore this mysterious mountain. It was the only reason she'd want to climb one.

Now she has no idea where she is.

“Lost…” She grumbled, staring at the tree in front of her.

It was like a maze in here. The trees stood tall in her way, like a second barrier after the first. It was nothing like the bottom of the mountain.

She really shouldn't have climbed it.

The heat was annoying too. The bright rays of the Sun were blocked by the trees, but the soggy feeling of summer can't really be hidden. Combined with her sweat, it became warmer and warmer. Her extra luggage didn't help either. If only she didn't have to drag around her winter clothes.

She slowed down to catch her breath. Her cooldown was over. Using her ability, she could already imagine the refreshing cold.

She sighed in relief as the chill of January flooded her body.

Ten minutes.

She continued on walking.

It took a while, but she had finally come across something new. 

A small row of walls. There were buildings. 

Finally, a place that's not just endless trees. She could cry. 

She didn't remember there being an entrance at the bottom though. Kind of weird. 

Maybe the barrier hid it? Whatever. She just wanted to rest.

But as she followed the walls to the entrance, a frightening scene greeted her. 

Everything was broken. Pieces of wood and stone littered the area. What could have been rooftops and walls scattered around, poking out from here and there. A giant crater was in the middle of all of this destruction.

What had she come across…? A natural disaster? Tornados? Did a meteor fall?

Her eyes wandered around, trying to find anything. Something caught her attention.

The middle of the crater. It was jutted up, like it was a platform. The original ground? But that wasn’t exactly what attracted her attention.

There was a person. Lying in the center on the platform was a body. Were they okay? 

Toki approached the outer edge of the crater. She was definitely not making it up there. Way too steep to climb. Maybe if she were taller.

The only way to get to the person was to fix the floor… Did she really want to do that?

Fixing the ground would be way more annoying to do than fixing anything else. She has to focus much harder so that it only affects this area. After all, she didn’t want to accidentally fix the whole Earth. She’d probably explode or something if she did that.

But she had to so she could see that person closer. She bent down, touching the floor with her finger. 

Focus. Remember, just this place. Just focus. 

Ten minutes.

The floor returned. Blipped back like the giant hole was never there. Hopefully it was the only thing that blipped back.

She started approaching the person. Are they broken? Just taking a nap? Getting a tan?

The smell of metal answered her question. There was a pool of red around the person. It was blood.

Toki didn’t mind blood. But this? It was too much. Even for her. 

This person–man. There were wounds all over his body.

He was very broken. A giant gash ran down from his throat to his stomach. Like he was carved out. There were also many stabs in his left leg. Even a hole in his forehead.

He was definitely dead. No way he could survive all of that. No way anyone could survive all of that.

…But he wasn’t. 

She could see his chest move up and down. Barely. But he was breathing. Meaning he was alive. Great. And his wounds… they were healing? Did he have powers too?

Toki placed her hand on his body. She could help. Since he was already fixing himself. She could make it faster. 

The wounds closed instantly.

Ten minutes.

Toki turned to look at his face. The hole in his head was gone. It was replaced by some not fully-healed skin. His breathing was deeper, too. Much better than before. 

She breathed a sigh of relief.

She looked closer at the man. He was wearing a school uniform. Was this place a school? And his hair. It was white. She had never seen a person with white hair before. Even the old grandpas and grandmas she had come across during her travels didn’t have this color of white. 

He had a weird color for his hair. Just like her. She wanted to touch it. 

It would be rude to do so, though. She would have to ask first. And he would have to be up before she can do that. Why isn’t he waking up, anyway? 

His eyes were shut. Maybe he’s sleeping?

Toki poked at the man's face, and his eyes shot open. Two light blue irises met her gaze. 

Pretty.

–

Satoru opened his eyes. 

Reversed cursed technique. Finally, on the verge of dying, he had grasped how to do it. 

It's something worth celebrating. Something he wanted to experiment on right away. But not now.

The man that almost killed him was gone. Most likely fighting Suguru by now. 

He felt himself falling asleep due to fatigue, but…

He looks over to what woke him up.

A kid. 

A little girl who’d just seen what was basically a corpse get up, and didn't even flinch.

What a weird kid. 

That cursed energy too. It was quite an impressive amount. 

“Hey kid, what are you doing here?”

“Lost,” the kid replies.

Lost? Inside the barrier? How did she manage to get past the barrier in the first place? 

“You've got some interesting cursed energy.” 

The kid freezes. Didn’t think I’d notice?

“Well, whatever. Much bigger issues right now.” 

Suguru and Amanai are in danger. That man must have caught up to them by now.

“Stick close, yeah?” He waves for the kid to follow. 

She frowns a bit, but reluctantly complies. At least she knows she shouldn’t follow strangers. 

It's a short and silent walk to where the entrance to the tomb of the star corridor was. The kid wasn’t really talkative, huh. She’d occasionally glance around, and back at him, but no words. 

He pauses and the kid bumps into him.

Someone was coming. 

Who?

It was the guy who had almost killed him. Is he too late? 

No matter. It’s time for round two. 

“Yo.” He’s going to make him regret not stabbing him in the head with that cursed tool. 

“...for real?” the man’s eyes widened. “And you brought a spectator too?” 

“Just found her.” Satoru glances down at the kid. She's latching onto his sleeve now.

She's staring. Really hard. 

“What's wrong, kid?” 

“He feels weird.” She continues staring at the man.

She noticed that too? This kid is pretty good. 

“Right? He's empty. No cursed energy at all.” 

“Heh,” the man chuckles, reaching for his weapon. “Your little friend’s got good instincts.” 

“Run along, get back. Don’t need you caught up in this.” He nudges the kid. 

She scurries away, ducking into the forest beside them.

It’s not the worst spot, I guess.

–

Toki stared at the two men about to fight from her bush. The makeshift hiding spot probably won't do much, but Toki probably wasn't a target. Yet.

When she had decided to climb the mountain, she didn’t think she’d see whatever this was…

The white-haired man, full of the thing she never knew what to call–cursed energy. 

He had a lot of cursed energy. 

It was a lot a lot. She’s never seen anything like it before. 

She turned to his opponent.

The black-haired man. He feels really weird. Didn’t exist like anyone else.

She had seen a lot of people. Even ghost things. They all had cursed energy. They could all be felt because of that cursed energy.

But this man is different. No cursed energy, just as the white-haired man said. Absolutely nothing.

They were two opposites. Hundred and zero.

Toki watched intently as they fought. Is this what watching a movie feels like?

The black-haired man slashed around with his dagger. The white-haired man dodged it all. 

Then the white-haired man was floating in the air. How was he doing that? She wanted to learn to do that too.

He held out his hand with a hand sign. She could tell it was important. Something was gathering.

“Red,” he said. And that something shot out. 

A red orb of energy. It looked very strong. It felt different though, a new energy. Not cursed energy.

The orb launched into his opponent. He was thrown back several meters into a tree. That must have hurt a lot.

Getting up, the man pulled out a chain from his worm. Toki could tell that the worm was one of those ghost things. She didn't know you could keep them as pets though.

The chain grew longer and longer somehow. What is going on? Was the worm a storage?

The man started swinging his dagger around even more, destroying the nearby trees. Toki hid back even further, just in case. The white-haired man still floated in the air. 

A swing went his way, but he moved his head out of the way. He held out another gesture. More red orbs?

No… it’s different. There was a blue thing too. That one was made of cursed energy.

The two orbs were fusing together. What's going to happen now? 

He flicked his hand.

The purple ball of energy shot out. 

The black-haired man stopped moving. 

His left side is gone. The purple ball removed it. Along with a bunch of trees. The forest was carved out by that purple.

Was the white-haired man the one who destroyed all those buildings earlier? How did he end up with all of those wounds? He was strong. 

“Any last words?” the white-haired man asked.

“Nope…” The black-haired man closed his eyes and breathed out. 

The man said something again.

“In two or three years, my kid will be sold off to the Zenin clan. Do as you please.” 

Silence. It's over now.

Toki slowly emerged from the trees, brushing off some leaves that got stuck in her hair.

“Oh? You're still here.” The white-haired man looked over. 

“Stay here for a bit, alright?” 

Toki nodded. She probably should listen to him. Don't want to anger the man who just destroyed a forest.

She watched him walk off into the place the black-haired man came from.

…

Toki slowly approached the corpse. He still stood tall. 

He's broken now. 

Toki fights the urge crawling up her arm. She shouldn't. He's dangerous. Who knows what would happen.

But he's broken…

Ignore it. 

Ignore the urge.

Toki looks at the worm ghost. It's broken, but still alive. 

“Hi.” She picked it up off the man. 

The worm responded by squirming. Can it understand words?

“Funny looking.” She placed the worm down and glanced back at the man. 

No.

She tries to find something else. Ignore that feeling. She looks at the weapon in his hand… right.

The worm was a storage. 

She turns back to the worm. It was just sitting there. 

“Anything else in you?” she poked at it. 

The worm squirmed again, opening its mouth. A body comes out. The worm’s reply. 

Toki freezes. 

It’s a young woman. Perfectly fine… besides the hole in her head. She could see stuff leaking out.

This injury… like mama– 

Toki winces as her head aches for just a moment. 

Something tight squeezes behind her eyes, like something trying to escape.

Toki shook her head around. The feeling slowly goes away.

What was that…? 

She looks back at the body on the ground. 

“...broken,” she whispers. Her voice is small.

Broken things need to be fixed. 

She reaches out. Her palm presses against the woman's forehead. Cursed energy flowing as she does her fixing. 

The dry blood around the hole clears. Bone shards vanish, as if they were never shattered. The wound disappears, like it never existed. The skin smoothens, the dirt clears. 

Ten minutes.

The girl feels warm once again–

No. 

She does not. It should’ve been fine now, yet she still feels cold. 

Toki pulls her hand back and waits. 

One second.

Two seconds.

Five.

She frowns. 

“Still broken…” 

Why?

Why is she still broken?

Why didn’t it work?

Her breath quickens.

It should've worked…

It should've worked.

She should've been fixed!

Toki didn’t get it. She looks fine now. Why isn't she getting up? Why is she still cold? She shook the woman’s body. Get up. Please… 

Is Toki’s power… broken…?

The worm started squirming around, as if sensing the Toki's emotions.

“Mommy… hug me…” 

Those words jolted Toki out of her panic. She stared down at the worm, eyes widened ever so slightly. 

“You don't have a mama either…” Its caretaker just died… 

Toki picked the worm back up. She decided to fix the worm. 

Ten minutes.

The worm, now back at full length, curled around Toki's body. Surprisingly, it wasn't that heavy.

Toki let go of the breath she was holding. It still worked. She still worked. She could still fix things.

“Friends,” Toki murmured, patting the worm. 

The worm let out a small noise of agreement. She wondered if there was something they could do. 

The man's corpse still stood tall.

“Eat that.” Toki pointed to the man's body. 

The worm slowly crawled down from her body. The worm's mouth stretched wider as it consumed the body. Then it went back to normal size. How does that work?

The worm crawled back to its new owner, satisfied.

“Good job.” She picked it back up, patting it on the… body? The side?

While she did, she felt two people showing up. Toki looked towards them.

The white-haired man walks out–a black-haired man walking beside him. 

–

Suguru struggles as he tries to get up. Riko! 

He looks over to where her body was.

She's gone. Nothing would indicate she was ever here, besides the splatter of blood. 

He turns back to the destruction caused by his fight. The events replay in his head. His technique didn't work on that curse.

Master-servant bond.

I couldn't absorb it… because it had an owner?

Suguru tenses as he feels a presence approaching. He looks up in the direction. A person is approaching.

“Yo, Suguru.” Gojo Satoru waves.

“S-Satoru?” His eyes widened. 

Satoru was here. His uniform was torn. Dried blood caked his face and hair. It looked as if he'd been through hell. 

“Is Amanai…?” 

“...Yeah.” Suguru grits. 

“Where is her body?” Satoru looks around.

“In the man’s cursed spirit, most likely.” 

Suguru stares at the ground. Memories of earlier flash before his eyes.

The promise to protect Riko.

Her reaching out. 

Her on the ground…

His fists tighten. He forces them loose a second later.

“...Don't worry. I'm the one who messed up.” Satoru reaches out, lending him a hand. “...That man is dead now.”

“You killed him?” Did he encounter the man again?

Satoru nods. “He was most likely Zenin clan’s Zenin Toji. The sorcerer killer.”

“I see.” Suguru sighs. To think someone like that would have shown up. 

Satoru pulls him up. “Let’s get you to Shoko.”

“Right.” he nods. His shoulders feel heavy. Why did Riko have to die? How could people decide something like that so easily?

Every step feels heavier than the last.

He keeps moving. There is nothing else he can do.

–

Suguru didn’t expect much when he and Satoru left the tomb. But this…

Suguru stared at the scene in front of him. A small girl with an eyepatch stood in front of Riko's corpse. The cursed spirit of Zenin Toji curled around her like a scarf.

“Satoru. Why… is there a child here?” 

“Hmm, I didn’t expect her to have formed a bond.” Satoru replied causally.

“Satoru.” How can he so easily joke about this?

“Don’t worry, she’s harmless. She's the one who woke me up. Got lost on the mountain. Probably sent Yaga-sensei into a panic.” Satoru chuckled.

“What…?” How does someone get lost in Jujutsu territory? There's a barrier for a reason…

“Let’s get you healed first. Can talk about her later.”

The child approached them. She's staring. At him. Why?

“Kid?” Satoru called.

“You're broken,” she said. 

“Uh…” Suguru blinked. His wounds?

The kid reached out. Before Suguru could react, cursed energy surged.

“Hey!” Suguru jerked back. What did she do?

The ache in his body was gone. What?

He checked himself. His wounds were healed.

“Reverse cursed technique…?” 

Another user? Like Shoko? A child no less? 

“No.” Satoru replied. “That wasn't positive energy. Plus, look at your shirt.” 

Shirt? Suguru looked down. The slashes were gone. His torn uniform–fixed. “This is…?” 

“You've got a pretty interesting technique, kid.” Satoru reached for her head.

She evaded.

“Fixed,” she said. Did she have a technique that could fix things?

“...thank you.” 

“Well, let's go report this mission.”

Right. The mission.

“Yeah…” Suguru walks over to Riko's body.

I'm sorry. 

He looks over her body.

There’s something off about it. Something is different. 

The wound. The blood. Gone. 

He looks up at the kid. 

“Still broken.” she replied, frowning.

Ah.

“Yeah. She can't–” Suguru felt his throat tighten. “–be fixed anymore.” 

Satoru’s hand rested on his shoulder. “Let's go.”

They began walking back towards Jujutsu High. The body in his arms, a reminder of their failed mission. A reminder of his failure.

A reminder of the cruelty.

“You too, kid.” Satoru turns back. She hadn’t moved.

“Oh.” She followed.

–

Satoru didn't know what to think of the kid.

When he first looked down at the presence that had awoken him from his near-death nap, the first thing that stood out was her cursed energy.

Well, not immediately. 

First was her appearance. Dark blue hair. Like a clear, moonlit night. It was quite a unique color.

And her eyepatch. Was it an injury?

Then the coat. That puzzled him the most. What was she doing with a winter coat in this weather?

Finally, he focused on the cursed energy.

It wasn’t as large as his, obviously. But it wasn’t anything to scoff at. She could easily be grade 1 material.

That wasn’t the problem though.

Her reserves weren't even half full. At full volume, her reserves might rival, or even outcompete his in volume.

That was quite an absurd thought.

Satoru’s reserves were already outside the norm, even without the Six Eyes. Yet here was this child. 

Of course, she would still run out, unlike him with his Six Eyes, but still. How did no one notice her before? She should've been easy to spot with her energy.

There’s also her technique. It intrigued him. He recognized that the ground he had ripped up was back in place. She must have done that. 

He had more important things to worry about then, so he left it alone. But now he's seen it in action first hand. Suguru was healed. Even his clothes. 

At first glance, it could be mistaken for Reverse Cursed Technique, as Suguru did. 

Completely wrong energy though. There was zero positive energy in her usage. Only cursed energy, so that was off the tables.

A cursed-energy-based healing technique, then? 

No, cursed energy doesn't work like that. 

Then…

He thought back to her words.

‘Broken.’ ‘Fixed.’

An interpretation of everything as objects?

If she treats everything as objects, maybe it could be possible.

A technique to repair broken objects. Bodies, clothes, everything. Perhaps it twisted the ability of cursed energy to reinforce into repair? 

No. That felt like a stretch. 

Plus, there's something else too.

Suguru's cursed energy. He might have missed it, but the six eyes wouldn't. His cursed energy had recovered. Not gradually. Instantly. 

No. That wasn't right either.

It didn't ‘recover’. 

It returned.

He could feel it being the same as before the Zenin's attack.

And her residuals–gone. 

There were residuals. She left them. Six eyes saw them. But they had vanished right as they were left. Right as she finished her technique.

Even skilled sorcerers had to consciously remove their residuals, but this kid? 

Hers disappeared, as if her technique never activated–ah.

So that's how it is. 

Time. 

Not healing.

Not repairing.

Rewinding. 

Suguru wasn't fixed. He was rewound. Put back into a point before the attack. Her residuals? Pulled into a time before they ever existed. 

What a ridiculous technique. 

He glanced down at the quiet child walking beside him. His smile widened slightly. 

Depending on how far her technique could go…

This kid might be something truly interesting.

He had to find out.

–

Big.

There were buildings surrounding her everywhere.

According to the black-haired man–Suguru–, this place was called Jujutsu High, a school for ‘sorcerers’. 

Sorcerers were people who could see and use cursed energy. Which was made out of negative emotions.

Funny. 

Around eight months ago, she had no idea. Now she's being taught everything ‘Jujutsu’.

She could feel cursed energy since she was younger. Never really cared though.

She thought back to when she started to pay attention to cursed energy.

She didn't really know what it was, but it felt… bad. She avoided places with lots of it.

Especially after that one time.

She had felt a large amount of cursed energy from a building. Decided to explore it. It was a bad idea. 

She sprinted away as fast as she could after seeing what was inside. 

Mama was quite confused at her blabbering about the monster in the abandoned building that night.

According to the two students, those were called ‘cursed spirits’. They formed when large amounts of cursed energy gathered in one place.

They also explained that Toki's abilities were ‘cursed techniques’, which people were born with. 

She couldn't use it until after what those new adults called the ‘incident’, though. What even was that? For some reason, she couldn't remember properly.

Apparently it's normal for techniques to show up when you're six. Once that happens, the clan you were in would then train you to use them.

But Toki was one of those ‘civilian’ sorcerers, Satoru said. Like Suguru. They could only get trained in Jujutsu High.

Toki had asked afterwards if she could join Jujutsu High, but…

“You're still too young, Toki-chan.” Satoru had said. “Are you even in first grade yet?”

How rude. She's seven years old, of course she's been in first grade. She stopped going after being put in that new place is all.

It made sense, though. It's a high school. And kids probably shouldn't see what she saw today. All of that destruction and blood.

She glanced at the body Suguru was carrying. Riko, her name was. She was Toki's first encounter with something she couldn't fix. 

It… scared her.

Yet, she still wanted to join. 

Cursed spirits break things. She had to stop them.

Yes. That was the reason. 

She ignores the warm feeling in her chest.

–

“Well, you guys look like hell.” 

A new voice cuts in. A female voice.

Toki peeks out from behind Suguru. A brown-haired woman was waving her hand. She had on the same uniform as the other two. 

“Hey, Shoko.” Suguru replies. So her name is Shoko.

“Who's Geto carrying?” Shoko walks up to them. She smells like cigarettes. “You guys kidnapped a kid too?”

“Nah, found her standing over my barely alive body.” Satoru bluntly says. “Got lost, she said.”

Yep. She got lost. 

“What.” Shoko's jaw drops open. “You? Barely alive? Seriously?” 

Satoru must be the strongest, for that to be so surprising. She remembers what happened back there. Yep. Definitely the strongest.

“Yeah.” Gojo nods. “Mind watching the kid for a bit? Suguru and I have to go report.”

Are they going to leave her now?

“Uh, sure?” 

“Thanks.” Satoru turns down to face her. “Stay with Shoko for a bit, okay?” 

Toki nods. She watches Satoru and Suguru walk away. She turns to Shoko, who gives her a smile.

“Hey, little girl. Where'd you come from?” Shoko says softly. 

“Lost. Found Satoru.” Toki replies. Today has been quite a journey.

“I see! Must have been tough, having to follow those two.” Shoko jokes. “What's your name? Are you hurt? Is your eye okay?”

“Toki. Not hurt.” Toki answers. If she got hurt, she'd just use her technique. Her eye… can't do much about it.

“Well Toki-chan, could I check just in case?” Shoko holds out her hand. Another technique that needs touching?

Toki hesitates, but then reluctantly nods. 

“Okay, stay still for a bit, alright?” She pats Toki's head. Her touch is gentle. It feels nice. “Your hair is really pretty, Toki-chan.” 

Is it? She was told it looked weird and ‘wasn't a normal color’.

Toki felt a surge of something flow into her. It was nice and cool. Like playing in water on a summer day. 

Her body relaxed. The fatigue she had gotten used to left.

This energy felt familiar. It was the same energy that Satoru used to heal. And for that red orb. 

“What is this?” Toki asked. She wanted to know. She didn't ask earlier, so she wanted to know now.

“Oh? Did you like it?” 

“Nn.” This energy was cool.

“This is called reverse cursed technique.” Shoko explained. “You wanna learn how to use it?” 

That's what Suguru thought her technique was. Is it a healing technique? It probably is.

“Yes.” Toki nodded again, more vigorously. She really wanted to learn it now.

“Well, it's quite simple. First you have to take cursed energy, and you go hya!. Then you have to hyo! And finally you have to hyuhoi!” The brown-haired woman made a bunch of random hand gestures. “Do you get it?” 

Toki blinked. What, did she just watch? 

“You don't get it?” Shoko sighed. “Nobody gets how to do it for some reason.” 

Toki frowns. You could get learn something from that? She couldn’t. Is it just because she didn't know much about jujutsu? Is this how they teach jujutsu?

“What are you guys doing?” A familiar voice calls out. Toki looks over. Satoru and Suguru are walking over. She should ask them later.

“You guys done with your report?” Shoko asks.

“Yeah. Yaga-sensei said he'll take care of the rest.” Satoru places something on Toki's head. “That means we'll have time to hang out with Toki-chan!” 

She's just being touched by everyone now. Okay.

Toki reaches out for the mystery item on her head. It's an apple? Is Satoru hungry?

“Apple?” Toki asks.

“Yep, an apple. We're going to use it to figure out your technique!” Satoru clapped his hands together. Huh?

“Satoru, she's not a science experiment…” Suguru facepalms. “Her parents might be worried. It's getting quite late.” 

“Whatttt, but her technique!” Satoru whined.

Parents… 

“No parents,” Toki says. “Mama… gone.” 

“Mama wake up! Wake up!” a child sobs.

Toki winces at the pain that suddenly appeared again. Something must be wrong with her today. 

The three teenagers pause. 

“...Toki-chan, what happened to your mama?” Shoko asks.

Toki blinks.

What happened to her mama?

She dug through her brain.

What happened to mama?

What happened?

What happened–

Toki grabbed her head.

“What happened…?” she whispered. What was going on?

Why couldn't she remember what happened?

“Can't remember.” Toki shrunk down into a ball and shut her eyes close. Something falls off of her. “Can't remember!”

“Why!” Toki begged. Let her remember! “Why–whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy?!”

She gasps for air.

“Toki-chan!” Someone shouts. Who is it?

They grab hold of her shoulders. 

Why can't Toki remember?

Cursed energy surges.

“Shoko, get away!” Someone else yells. 

The hands on her shoulders let go.

Ten–

…

Toki opens her eyes. What was she doing? Why was she curled up?

A woman is in front of her. She has brown hair. And the same uniform that Satoru and Suguru are wearing.

“Toki-chan?” The woman looks worried. She reaches out her hand. 

Toki dodges. Where are Satoru and Suguru? They were talking about jujutsu. What's going on? Why is she inside a building?

“Toki-chan?” the woman repeats. Why does she know her name? Is she Satoru and Suguru's friend? Where are they?

“Toki-chan, are you okay?” Another voice asks. This one is familiar. Toki turns to Suguru. He and Satoru are standing a bit away.

Nothing is making sense. She feels something off. Where is her worm? Toki looks around. 

It's crawling around? How did it get over there?

She picks it back up. It curls around her again. Much better. She looks towards the teenagers. 

They all have worried looks on them for some reason. Besides Satoru. He’s staring at her.

“What's wrong?” Why are they looking at her like that?

“Toki-cha–” Suguru starts, but is interrupted by Satoru walking up to Toki.

“What's the last thing you remember, Toki?” Satoru asks, his voice stern. He looks angry…

“Walking. Talking. Can't join Jujutsu High.” And that faint warm sensation.

“I see.” Satoru sighs. “You wanna get something to eat?” 

Food? Toki hadn't eaten in… a long time. She could eat. But if she rewinds herself after, there’d be no point.

Toki looked at the three teenagers and their worried expressions.

Maybe… she didn't need to anymore.

“Okay.”

“Satoru, what–” Suguru tries to ask something.

“Alright!” Satoru plops his hand on her head, leading Toki past. This is fine.

“Let's go get something for Toki-chan to eat!” 

“Gojo, explain.” the brown-haired woman demands.

“I'll explain later, Shoko. Come on, you two. Toki-chan's hungry, let's go eat!” Toki is picked up. This is… fine? Satoru tucks her under his arm, and now she was dangling and staring at the floor. It was kind of fun.

“That is NOT how you hold a child, Satoru!” Suguru shouts from afar. She thinks he's wrong. This is fun.

“Are you sure you're not the hungry one…” the woman–Shoko groans.

–

Satoru stared at Toki, who was munching on a burger. No, not munching. The tiny girl was practically inhaling that thing. How does that burger even fit in her mouth?

She could almost eat as much as me!

“More.” Toki's short little arms try to reach for another burger, but fail. 

It makes sense she's hungry. She's likely not eaten in months.

“Sure, go ahead.” Shoko grabs a burger at the top of Satoru's pile. “Gojo's rich, so you can eat the whole restaurant if you want.” 

Wow. What great friends he has.

“Make sure to drink too. You're going to choke if you just scarf everything down, Toki-chan.” Suguru adds. He was poking at Toki's worm who was sitting next to the window.

“Anyways, start spilling, Gojo. What happened back there?” Shoko pointed a fry at him.

Right. Satoru sighed.

“Toki-chan hasn't eaten for months, probably.” Satoru started.

“And how did you come to that conclusion…?” Shoko blinked. 

Is it really that surprising?

“She's carrying around her winter coat.” Satoru pointed to the coat on Toki's lap.

“That is strange, but how'd you get from that to starving for months?” Suguru asked.

“You really want to know?”

The two continued to stare at him.

“Get ready for a big shock then,” Satoru shoved the last of his third burger into his mouth. 

“Toki-chan here,” He plopped his hand on top of Toki's head. “has an incredible cursed technique.”

…

Silence echoed between the three. Sad crowd. The sound of Toki's sipping of soda echoes.

“Go on?” Shoko said, unimpressed. 

“Well… Toki-chan, go, tell them about your technique!” He patted Toki's head. Best for her explain it herself.

Toki paused, and said “Called Temporal”. Then she went back to munching on fries. What a hungry girl.

Temporal, though. Quite the fitting name. Where'd she even learn a word like that?

“Satoru, just explain…” 

“Well, as you can see by its name, it's related to time. Some sort of time manipulation, isn't that right, Toki-chan?”

“Nn hm.”

“Time manipulation…!?” 

“Woah.” 

“Toki, strong. Join Jujutsu High?” 

Really wants to join, huh.

“No matter how strong you are, you're still too young, so no.” Satoru answered. “Once you graduate from middle school, then you can join.” 

She made a noise and reached out for another burger. Shoko promptly handed her one. This kid sure can eat a lot.

“Getting back on topic, are you saying Toki-chan–” Shoko made a circling gesture, "–rewinded time with her technique? We still remember everything though.” 

Satoru shakes his head. “No, not like that. She needs physical contact with stuff to activate her technique–” 

“Touching.” Toki reached out, making a grabbing gesture. 

“–unless she uses it on herself,” he finished. 

“So, she rewound herself? But I could still remember everything when she used it on me.” Suguru said. 

“She picks what to rewind. And it's not rewinding. More like… skipping back in time?" 

Satoru placed two fries down. “Let's say this is Suguru’s body and mind. And this is the time of Zenin Toji's attack.” He placed down another fry behind the first two.

“Toki-chan's technique doesn't reverse you back. It takes you out of the current time, and puts you straight into the earlier time.” He picks up one of the two Suguru fries.

“In this case, just Suguru’s body–” He places it behind the Toji fry. “–was moved. His memories are still up to date.”  

“So… Toki-chan deleted her memories. Like Geto’s injuries.”

That works too. 

“Basically.” 

“Why?” Toki suddenly asks. 

The three look at the girl. She was staring at Satoru.

“Why did I?”

Hmm. How does he explain this?

“You see, Toki-chan. Your brain got overwhelmed. Because of that, you might have activated your technique without fully knowing.” Satoru tried. 

“What happened?” 

What a difficult question to answer. He looked towards the two for help.

“Toki-chan, we know why it happened, but talking about it right now might cause it to happen again.” Shoko explained.

“We can talk about it once you're older, okay?” Suguru added.

“Okay.” 

No questions asked? She really trusts them, huh. 

“Speaking of earlier,” Shoko started. “Toki-chan, do you have a place to stay?” 

Right, Toki's living situation was how this entire thing started. 

“No.” she answered. “New place… lots of kids. Ran away.” 

A children's home? That would make the most sense. Did she run away when it was still winter?

She reached for another burger. What was this, her fourth one? 

“Why'd you run away?” Shoko handed her two burgers. 

“Used technique. Kids scared. Got called weird. Weird hair. Weird eye.” 

Shoko pauses. 

Suguru turns away.

Her eye… another ocular jujutsu?

“Well that's mean. You're not weird at all! I mean, look at these two weirdos here. One can control cursed spirits, and the other…” Shoko paused, thinking. “He's got white hair.” 

She glances at her. “Yours looks better.” 

Gojo Satoru, a weirdo? No way! And what's wrong with his hair?

“My–”

“Control curses? Like worm?” Toki pointed to the inventory curse. Was she excited?

Satoru grumbled. What's so cool about controlling curses. Limitless is way cooler than it.

“Yeah, like your worm.” Suguru nodded. “But it doesn't work on curses that already have an owner.”

“Bah, enough about him! Check out Limitless, Toki-chan! Try touching me.” Satoru held out his hand. 

Toki tilted her head and poked at his arm. Her eyes widened as she stared at the space between them. 

“Cool, right?” Satoru smirked. “Nothing can get past infinity.” 

Toki furrowed her eyebrows, still trying to reach him. 

Cursed energy surges from her. Oh? Trying to use her technique? How would time interact with Limitless anyway–

Satoru feels his hand physically move for just a moment, before Toki's hand is removed by infinity once again. 

He blinked.

Once again. 

Something had slipped behind Gojo Satoru's infinity. Today’s just not his technique’s day.

“Toki-chan what did you just do?” Even if just for a moment, she had managed to touch him. How did she do it?

“Limitless not active. Ten minutes.” the child replied. 

The kid can do that too?

“Well, your technique just gets more and more interesting by the minute!” Satoru chuckles, aggressively rubbing her head. “Skipping time backwards and forwards!”

“Used Propel on Satoru." Satoru…? Eh, alright.

So it's called Propel. Hmm, she never used it on him though?

“Toki-chan, could you remind me when that was?” 

“Satoru lying on ground. Many stabs. Slow healing.”

Satoru blinked. So it wasn't just his reverse cursed technique, but Toki boosting the speed too?

It did make sense. It was his first time using it, so he could have been slower than someone like Shoko. Plus, he was kind of barely alive. 

“Thank you for that.” 

“Can do this too.” Toki places her hands on Satoru. 

“Wha–” Satoru forces his eyes closed as information rushed into his head. Shoko and Suguru's movements. The people walking outside. The flow of cursed energy. He could notice much more than before. Was this perception acceleration?

Even the action of closing his eyes feels slower. This certainly is a versatile technique.

Toki pulls back as she realizes she is causing him discomfort. 

“Sorry.” she murmurs. 

He opens his eyes again. That was certainly an experience. To think the immense perception of the six eyes could be increased even more.

“Satoru?” 

“Gojo, you good?” 

Suguru and Shoko look worried. 

“Nah, I'm fine,” Satoru brushes it off. “I just didn't expect that.” 

If it was a higher acceleration, his brain probably could've fried. Luckily it was only around double.

“Sorry.” She apologizes once again.

“No, you're fine! That's a very useful ability. How high can you go?” 

“Don't know. Head and body hurt after 3. Threw a rock at 10. Cracked a wall. Never went higher.” Toki explained. 

Not just perception, but speed too? And to crack a wall with a rock… this might be even more useful than the time skipping.

“I see.” Satoru nodded. There are so many things to do. This is going to be fun.

“So are you gonna fill us in or what?” Shoko suddenly interrupted.

“Ah, right. Toki-chan just accelerated my perception. Six Eyes happened.” Satoru pointed to his eyes.

“No wonder you slammed them shut.” Suguru said.

“Yep! The Six Eyes are already straining, so that was quite the surprise. It was quite the experience.” He had so many ideas about her technique.

“Let's get back on topic, you're being too obsessive with Toki-chan's technique, Gojo.” Shoko pointed out. 

“It's an interesting technique, okay?” He's not being THAT obsessive. Plus, Toki seems perfectly fine with it.

“Sure. Anyways, Toki-chan's living situation.” 

Right. He completely forgot about that part. 

“She obviously doesn't want to go back.” 

“Don't want.” Toki-chan confirmed. Satoru didn't know what exactly goes on in children's homes, but dealing with multiple children must be a pain.

“Duh. I'm asking what we should do now.” 

“Yaga-sensei might let her stay in the dorms.” Suguru suggested. 

“No.” Satoru shook his head. “We can't reveal Toki-chan yet.” 

“What? Why?” Shoko sat up. “The dorms are the perfect place for her to stay.” 

“I don't want to let the higher ups know about her yet.” 

“That's why you said to omit her from the report, Satoru?” 

“Yep. We don't know the full limits of Toki-chan's technique. Those old idiots aren't the type to want to find out.” 

Her technique and her cursed energy… She'd likely just look like an unpredictable threat to those geezers. They'd most likely try to restrict or seal her. Maybe even straight up execute her so she can't become a problem. 

“Still, we can't just hide Toki-chan away forever. Where's she supposed to go?” Shoko argued. 

“I can take care of that.” Satoru answered. He can just buy her a room. Money’s no problem.

“Then what about the legal stuff? Are you going to homeschool her? She needs a legal guardian for this stuff. Satoru, it's best to just tell Yaga-sensei.” Suguru rebutted. 

“She doesn't need to go to school.”

“Not your choice.” Shoko turned to Toki. “Toki-chan, do you want to go to school?”

Toki nodded.

“...Fine.” Satoru sighed. “But not today. Let her have today without having those old idiots trying to do something.” 

“Alright.” 

“How are we going to sneak her past the barrier again?” 

“We can just blame Suguru's cursed spirits.” 

“Seriously…” Suguru stared.

–

Toki learned a few things in the restaurant.

Burgers are good. 

She was cooler than Satoru.

She might be in trouble because of her technique.

They returned to the mountain after she finished eating everything.

It was the second time she had to climb this mountain today. It was different from the first.

Her climb up wasn't lonely this time. There were even stairs. They had shown Toki the entrance earlier, after they returned from eating. 

It was a silent walk up to Jujutsu High. Satoru and Suguru were probably tired.

Satoru had complained when he had to carry her up. Because she was very full. Too full. She ate too much.

They separated from her and Shoko after reaching Jujutsu High. Something about reporting Suguru for using his technique without permission. 

She felt kind of bad for Suguru.

Shoko showed her to the dorms. 

“Jujutsu High doesn't have many students,” she explained. “There’s a bunch of empty dorms.” 

She picked the room next to Shoko's. It was the obvious choice.

The rooms were really big. And she didn't have to share. Unlike the place she was at before. She liked this place.

There was a bathroom and a shower. When was the last time she took one? She'd been cleaning with her technique ever since she left.

And the bed was big. It could probably fit three Tokis. Jujutsu High was great.

She hopped on the bed and let her coat hang off the side. Finally, she didn’t need to drag it around with her anymore. Worm also decided to crawl around. It liked the bed too.

Today really was a great day. The best day she had since she woke up to strangers in a new place. 

She shut her eyes and prepared to sleep. The bed was soft, and she left like she could melt into it. It's been so long since she has slept.

Even if tomorrow is bad.

Today was worth it all.