Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The early morning light of a new day filtered softly through the window of the dorm room at Tokyo Jujutsu High. The air smelled faintly of wood and grass, maybe it was because the school was near a forest.

Yuuji sat on the edge of his futon, stretching out his arm and yawned. It was weird, he was just a normal student two days ago and now he was being recruited as a sorcerer by a blindfolded person who was now his teacher.

And also surviving an execution, man, that was rough. Postponing it for a later date.

As he stood up to put on his red hoodie and black student uniform jacket, something caught his eye in the corner of the small bedroom.

Hovering about three feet off the floor near his desk was a bright shimmering light. It didn’t look like it closely resembled anything.

Shaped... like a star? Sparkle?

It glowed with a warm golden light, a sharp four-pointed star. It spun in a slow loop, casting tiny yellow light across the floorboard.

Yuuji blinked, reaching his hands up to rub his eyes, but the star didn’t disappear. It just sat right there, waiting for him to do... something?

“Woah, what’s that thing?” He walked curiously to it, his hand hovering over the star. His eyes widened when a bored monologue voice rang out from within his head.

The promise of a fresh start and wearing a new school uniform... fills you with determination.

“Save...?” His finger tapped the small floating window as the words suddenly turned yellow.

Yuuji quietly gasped as the text faded away, gently giving him a warm soothing feeling in his chest as it logged his name... whatever the LV was and the time. The golden star was still silently floating in the corner.

“Huh, that was... weird,” he mumbled to himself, then raised his eyebrow. Wait, that voice. Was that Sukuna doing the monologing?

“Sukuna, do you like my new uniform?”

The curse stayed quiet in his head.

Yuuji huffed a soft laugh before walking over to the mirror in front of the bathroom to check his wild hair, fluffing it up.

It’s you!

He blinked in confusion before snorting, “What?” And so he inspected himself in the mirror again.

Why do you keep staring at yourself? It’s still you.

“... you’re pretty talkative for the King of Curses.” Yuuji’s face broke into a bright smile as he walked out of his room. A soft annoyed scoff echoed in his head as Yuuji left to get ready for the day.

Outside in the main courtyard, Fushiguro was waiting by the steps, hands shoved deep inside the pocket of his pants while watching Yuuji jogged over.

“You’re late,” Fushiguro said flatly, turning to walk toward the main gates of the school. “Gojo-sensei texted. He said he has to finish up a curse exorcism across town, so we're taking the train to Harajuku ourselves. We're meeting him in front of the station."

"Yeah, yeah, sorry! Got caught up looking at... stuff in my room," Yuuji chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck as he fell into step beside Fushiguro.

As they crossed the quiet school grounds toward the train station, Yuuji kept humming softly to himself. In his head, he was half-expecting the voice to pop up again whenever he looked at things along the path.

He paused briefly by the vending machine near the bus stop, staring intently at a bright green can behind the glass.

There's melon soda in the vending machine. It looks sufficiently chilled. 

Yuuji blinked, leaning in closer to the glass and tapping the warm metal frame. "Melon soda..." he muttered under his breath, side-eyeing his own cheek as if waiting to see if a mouth would pop open to mock him.

There wasn’t.

"What are you doing?" Fushiguro sighed, glancing back to see the other looking at the cans in the vending machine like he had never seen them in his whole life. Hopefully it wasn’t a countryside thing.

"Right, right! Coming!" Yuuji jogged to catch up, shoving his hands into his hoodie pocket. "Just... checking the environment, you know?"

"... right" Fushiguro stared at Yuuji before slowly turning away, walking down the path to the train station.

Up ahead, there were already a few people walking through the ticket gate, going in and out of the station. Yuuji slowed his stride as they neared the turnstiles, his gaze catching the faint shimmering flicker of a glowing yellow star hovering just above the IC card reader.

Woah, wait. There it is again!

Yuuji paused right at the edge of the platform, staring at the yellow sparkling star hovering in midair above the ticket gate. It bobbed up and down, casting a soft glow that Fushiguro didn't seem to notice at all.

"Hey, Fushiguro..." Yuuji started, pointing a finger directly at the glowing light. "You don't see that, right? The glowing yellow star thing?"

Fushiguro stopped, tapped his Suica card against the reader and stepped through the turnstile. He turned back, giving Yuuji a look of confusion. "It's a ticket gate, Itadori. Tap your card or buy a paper ticket like a normal person. Stop hallucinating."

Yuuji snorted softly, mumbling to himself as he stepped forward anyway. "I'm not hallucinating..."

Reaching out, he pressed his hand straight into the floating star.

The sight of overworked humans trying to survive the day fills you with determination.

Sukuna chuckled in Yuuji's head. Narrating is fun.

Yuuji blinked when the same ‘File Saved’ appeared over the text before disappearing. What file?

He tapped his card on the gate, hearing the cheerful beep as the little plastic doors swung open for him. Hurrying down the steps to the platform, Yuuji fell into step beside Fushiguro just as the electronic chime signaled the arrival of the train.

"So," Yuuji said, grinning as the metal doors slid open, "what kind of crepe are you getting? I'm thinking strawberry cream with those tiny chocolate pandas on top."

Fushiguro stepped into the air-conditioned train car, grabbing a hanging hand strap as the train lurched forward into motion. "I'm not getting a crepe. We’re here to meet the new student and that’s that."

As soon as they reached their destination outside the Harajuku Station, Yuuji quickly explored around the area and even bought a blue flavoured popsicle!

“Ramune Ice Pop” Heals 11 HP

It looks blue and cold.

… a sound inspection from the curse in his head.

He ate it while waiting alongside Fushiguro, leaning on the railing. Happily crunching through the last icy bits of his blue ramune popsicle, the wooden stick held between his teeth.

The stick is bare now. It tastes faintly of wet birch and lingering artificial blueberry.

Yuuji huffed inside his mind, wondering how Sukuna knew of modern related food terms.

"Hey hey, my favorite first-years!"

Gojo cut through the sea of commuters, black blindfold firmly pulled down over his eyes. He looked really out of place, stopping right in front of them and widely smiling. Just by being here, he drew more than a few curious stares from passing high school girls.

Show off.

Yuuji mentally shoved Sukuna before he could really try to voice it out loud.

"Sorry to keep you waiting! The curse across town decided to play hide-and-seek, but I wrapped it up in record time," Gojo chirped, leaning down slightly to inspect Yuuji from head to toe. He tilted his head, zeroing in on the customized red hoodie tucked beneath Yuuji's standard dark Jujutsu High outfit. "Oho? Look at you! So, Yuuji! How does the new uniform fit? Not too tight around the shoulders, right?"

“Yep, it’s really comfortable! Though it kind of looks different from Fushiguro…” Yuuji tugged at his shirt, curiously glancing at his classmate.

“Is it normal?”

Gojo leaned in closer, putting his hands on his hips and tilted his head.

"Of course it's normal! Because I'm the one who ordered the custom tweak for you!" he declared proudly, popping his thumbs against his chest.

Fushiguro closed his eyes, letting out a long, long-suffering sigh.

"I knew it," he muttered under his breath, turning his head away toward the bustling street crowd. "I knew you were behind it."

"Hey, come on, Megumi-kun! Be more appreciative of my creative vision!" Gojo laughed, waving a hand dismissively before turning his full attention back to Yuuji. "You see, Yuuji, Jujutsu High uniforms can actually be customized to fit each student's personal preference or combat style. Since you didn't leave any specific requests on your application form, I took the liberty of adding the bright red hoodie! It accents your energetic vibe perfectly, don't you think?"

“Oh! That makes sense.” Yuuji eagerly nodded his head.

Gojo stood back up to his full height, looping one arm around Yuuji's shoulder and slinging the other over Fushiguro's, dragging the two teenagers together into a cheerful headlock.

"Now then!" Gojo announced loudly, completely ignoring Fushiguro's annoyed attempt to squirm free. "We aren't just standing around Harajuku to admire the fashion! Today is a monumental day!"

Yuuji tilted his head up from under Gojo's arm, blinking.

"Monumental?"

"That's right!" Gojo beamed, pointing a finger dramatically toward the bustling pedestrian street ahead of them. "Today, we go pick up our third first-year!" 

Yuuji's eyes lit up as Gojo finally let go, leaving both teens to smooth down their rumpled collars.

"Wait, for real? We're getting a third?" Yuuji looked back and forth between Gojo and Fushiguro, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Nice! That means our team is finally whole!"

Fushiguro adjusted his collar with a faint scowl, sighing softly. "I told you on the train. There are three first-years total including you. You just hadn't met her yet because her enrollment was finalized later."

“Oh, whoops,” Yuuji laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Right, I was distracted, sorry!”

"Alright, keep your eyes peeled, boys!" Gojo cheered, resting a hand on his hip while looking around as they walked to another area of the city, trying to find the awaited student. "She shouldn't be too hard to spot."

Just a short distance ahead, near a large poster advertising a local idol group, Kugisaki stood with her arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently against the pavement as she glared at the passing crowd.

Yuuji sprinted ahead, practically bouncing on his feet as he approached her. He waved both arms widely while Fushiguro and Gojo followed slightly behind.

"Hey! Over here!" Yuuji called out, a giant grin breaking across his face. "Are you the third first-year? I'm Itadori Yuuji! Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Kugisaki Nobara," she said, crossing her arms and looking them both up and down with an unimpressed look before flipping her hair gracefully. "Be grateful, boys. I'm the only girl on your squad." 

"Hey, what's with that look?" Yuuji asked, his smile faltering into a confused puppy look as he glanced down at himself. "Is something wrong with my hoodie?"

Kugisaki pinched the bridge of her nose, muttering loud enough for both of them to hear, "A guy who looks like he eats potato chips for dinner and a guy who looks like he broods in dark alleys... What did I do to deserve this?"

"I heard that!" Yuuji laughed, taking a step closer and extending a hand toward her.

“I hope we could be friends though!” he smiled at her, just as Fushiguro caught up to them. “We’ll be the coolest group of students ever!”

Kugisaki paused, staring at Yuuji’s friendly look and his ridiculous mega-giga watt smile. She may need to invest in sunglasses. Her eyes softened with genuine surprise before she let out a soft breath, shaking her head.

"You really are a dummy, aren't you?" Kugisaki sighed, though the harsh edge in her voice melted away. She reached out and gave his hand a firm shake. "Fine. But I'm setting the standards around here. If we're going to be 'the coolest group,' you two better not embarrass me in public." 

Fushiguro glanced between the two of them.

"Don't encourage him, Kugisaki," he muttered, his tone flat as ever. "He already hallucinated once at the ticket gate."

“Hey!” Yuuji squawked, waving his hands around. “I did not!”

Kugisaki raised her eyebrow, staring at Yuuji before back at Fushiguro.

"Now that everyone has properly bonded," Gojo chimed, cutting right in between and beaming down at the three of them, "it's time for your very first group assignment! And no, it's not buying crepes."

Nobara's eyes narrowed instantly. "Wait. We just met. Don't tell me we're going straight to work?"

"Bingo!" Gojo sang out, turning on his heel and gesturing for them to follow. "There's an abandoned building with a minor curse infestation. Consider it a warm-up exercise for our shining new trio!"

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months.

Yuuji had grasped that those little pop-up screens and the playful narration from Sukuna every time he “saved” was like a game. The EXP was Experience Points and LV was Level to see how strong he was becoming.

In every mission, he went and exorcized curses. Slowly feeling himself become stronger. In his mind, he thought that if he became stronger, he could save everyone.

But then he started to notice something odd. He felt like he was becoming numb. When he held Nobara’s hand while she tried painting his nail, he felt… distance. She was talking to him, but he couldn’t focus on her try as he might.

When Yuuji was first starting out his spar with Fushiguro, Sukuna’s check narration was kind of goofy and sarcastic. Though it was funny to hear it in his head while trying to dodge a punch.

Fushiguro Megumi. HP 120/120. He looks like he skipped breakfast.

A few weeks later, he checked his stats on the ‘save file’, grinning as his LV went up to 6. Though it went up really little? He had exorcised so many curses at this point.

Fushiguro Megumi. HP 140/140. Looks stressed. Offer him a soda?

A month later, he checked his stats again on the ‘save file’, LV 11. He had become a lot stronger.

Fushiguro Megumi. HP 155/155. Target's favoring his left leg.

There was something wrong with him, and something wrong with Sukuna.

Yuuji went back to his room after a terrible day, standing in front of the bathroom mirror and washing his face. He had failed, he failed Junpei. Though for some reason, he didn’t… he didn’t feel hurt as much as he thought it would.

It was so easy to hurt Mahito, he had actually killed the curse. He only felt triumph and satisfaction as it died by his hands.

But he had never seen Nanami’s expression look so disturbed. At…

At him.

He splashed the water at his face again before looking straight at the mirror.

It’s still you. Unfortunately.

Yuuji quickly dried his face and walked back into his room.

There it was, the glowing star was still there.

When he walked over to it, trying to gently cup his hands under it. The glow didn’t feel warm as it used to, it felt… cold.

The ease in which you ended that life… fills you with... determination.

“It… it doesn’t…” Yuuji shakily tapped the save button, but he felt heavy. Everything felt so numb. It felt so much easier to kill, not exorcise. 

And at times, he felt his own control over Sukuna slipping. He wasn’t sure who was doing the talking anymore.

Look at you. You didn’t even blink when you caved that pathetic curse’s skull, brat. You’re starting to look a little more like me.

Yuuji stumbled back, shaking his head.

“No. I'm not like you!” In an accident, he pulled up another stat screen, showing something that made his heart drop to his stomach.

Execution Points… for EXP? It wasn’t Experience Points?

His eyes flickered to the short information above the Execution… Points.

Level Of Violence… LV.

“I… got it all wrong…?” he said quietly before sitting on his bed silently. He was becoming more detached to everything… because of this?

Yuuji stared at the black floating window while Sukuna stayed surprisingly quiet in his mind. His hand hesitantly hover over the reset button.