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Megumi shoved open the door the second the car came to a stop, shoving his phone into the pocket and squinting as the mid afternoon sun shone directly in his eyes.
“Okay, I’m off.”
“Are you sure about this?” Ijichi asked Megumi calmly. The teen scoffed and turned back to the man, ducking to be eye level. “The second years will be finishing their mission soon.”
“Yeah, I know,” Megumi said with a scoff. “You should probably be on the road to get them right now.”
“They can wait.”
“It’s fine,” Megumi said, trying to stop the irritation from seeping into his voice too much. “I have a phone. I’ll call you once I’m done. Gojo gave me this mission, he know I can handle it.”
The man in the car hesitated for a long moment and Megumi thought he would protest. That he would tell him the mission was off and yell at him. Ijichi just gave a sigh.
“Very well,” the man said with a nod. Megumi straightened, giving an internal sigh of relief. The man gave one last glance at Megumi before pulling away, leaving the teen to face the curse alone.
——
Megumi had been trudging through the dense forest for nearly an hour before he finally found the cursed spirit. An hour of nearly tripping over roots through the maze of trees which Megumi was beginning to realize were moving.
He had been tracking the cursed spirit best he could, but the energy seemed to be constantly moving. So reasonably, by the time he finally found the damn thing he wasn’t in the best mood.
“Lost li-tle boy,” came a creaking voice from the branches.
“I’m not lost, or little,” Megumi snapped. In a second his wolves were at his side, ears perked and noses high. Megumi could barely make the curse out in the shadows. He pulled a sword from his shadows.
For several long moments neither of them moved. The curse just jittered from the tangled branches as Megumi’s fingers flexed.
Nue wouldn’t help him, the bird could maybe get him up to the spirit but with all the branches it would be ineffective. The space was too small for the Great Serpent, and Megumi was realizing his briefing had known very little about the spirit.
“Sad,” that was all the warning Megumi got before the spirit attacked. The fight that followed was a blur. The spirit jumped down nearly on top of Megumi, threw Black Divine Dog into a tree, and nearly did the same to Megumi.
By the time the curse had been able to well and truly exorcised, the teen was exhausted, sore, and cover in mud and cuts. The trees surrounding him had fallen or cracked, and there was a large clearing created by the fight.
Despite the sun sinking low in the sky, the forest seemed much lighter now, the trees more sparse as those created by the cursed spirit vanished.
“At least there are less roots to trip over,” Megumi mumbled to himself as he began making his way… Megumi stopped, spinning in a slow circle. Then swore. Then swore some more
“God damn curse!” He glared at the place the thing once lay. Megumi had a very good memory. It was something he’d prided himself in. But with the confirmation from the fight that said curse could move some of the trees.
“Fuck,” he breathed. It would be easy to return if he could summon a Divine Dog to lead the way, or Nue to fly him out. But he didn’t have enough cursed energy for either.
“Stupid mission. Stupid forest. ‘Yeah it’s just some creepy woods the locals don’t like, a few people have gone missing over the years and some kid went missing so it’s growing’ dumbass villagers must be really fucking scared all of a sudden. ‘This is the closest point to the curse I’ll drop you off there’ why the hell did I have to walk an hour then? Must’ve been going in circles or some shit.”
He kicked a loose stick as he made his painful way in the vague direction of civilization. The roughed up teen was pretty sure he knew where he was, but the sun was his only true guide and between the fight and the change terrain he could have drifted from his original heading and not even noticed.
“Somebody’s gonna pay for this damn mission. Who the hell found out about this thing?” He grumbled for a while.
“Whatever. I handled it. It was a lot bigger than we expected but I exorcised it all by myself, AND got myself out,” he continued to monologue to himself about ten minutes of walking later. Eventually, as the sky got darker and he walked farther, he turned his frustration to the one person who could always piss him off.
“Look Gojo, I’m just fine on my own. I beat a, I dunno vengeful spirit? Maybe?” Megumi growled in frustration. “Whatever. I beat it totally by myself so stop treating me like some stupid little kid. I can totally-“
There was a metallic clunk and then the world went white. All Megumi felt was pain as metal teeth struck bone. His ears rang and he felt the air leave his lungs. He felt sick, nausea turning his stomach even as his vision returned. He gagged once before he was able to force himself to breathe again.
For a long time he stood perfectly still, his eyes squeezed shut as he took slow, measured breaths. It was only when he didn’t feel like vomiting that he cracked open one eye.
The bear trap was recent. That was good, it wasn’t rusted. Megumi highly doubted there were bears in these woods, which meant this had most likely been left for the curse. Bad news was it was strong. He was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to open it, especially not in his condition.
“Fine. It’s okay,” he told himself, digging in his pocket for the phone he probably should have used long ago. A cracked, black screen great him. He wasn’t sure if it was dead, or broken, but despite his best efforts it reminded dark. He wanted to cry.
“Come on Megumi,” he whispered, wracking his brain. He went through every tool he had within his shadows, weighing his options. He had a few knives, and Maki’s spear, nothing that he could pry the damn thing open with without breaking it. He was pretty sure there was a latch mechanism or some springs he could press to open it. That approach meant moving, and if he moved Megumi was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to function, and he would be risking significant damage to his leg.
For a long Megumi just stood there, his hands trembling with adrenaline, his breath hitching with pain. He just wanted to go home. He wanted a nice, steaming bowl of rice, and his warm blankets. He had been so dumb, and now he was stranded in these woods, slowly bleeding out, with nearly no cursed energy.
——
“It’s dangerous to go alone on missions Megumi. Always bring somebody with you. You need someone to watch your back.”
Megumi had pointed out that Gojo never did. That Megumi wasn’t a kid who needed to be chaperoned because of stupid school rules.
“You’re still a first year student, no matter how much training you’ve had,” was all Gojo said in response “I can’t give you special treatment Megumi-kun!”
The man had ruffled the teen’s hair and grinned. Megumi had slapped him away and glared at him.
——
Megumi suddenly regretted that. He regretted it a lot. Tears stung at his eyes and he grit his teeth. He should’ve listened to Gojo.
“Get a grip,” he muttered to himself, wiping his tears away and forcing himself to focus. The sun was setting fast now, the sky darkening quickly. With what little cursed energy he had he pulled Maki’s spear from the shadows. He propped the pole on one end of the trap, and carefully moved to step on the other with his free foot. Weakened by pain and blood loss, it was useless. He didn’t have the strength.
A tear of frustration and exhaustion slipped down Megumi’s cheek as he dropped the cursed tool. He was tired, and his whole body ached. The pain radiating from his leg was only getting worse, and with the way his legs felt wobbly Megumi wasn’t sure how much longer he could last.
Then he felt it. That familiar cursed technique. The teen’s heart leapt into his chest, and with the very last of his cursed energy he summons a single white rabbit. It would be more effective with so many more, but it was all Megumi can do, and the creature understood.
Megumi lowered his cupped palms and the rabbit effortlessly jumped on. Then, with his remaining strength he launched the creature into the air, white fur catches the last few rays of sunlight before it vanished, no longer summoned. Megumi hoped it worked. Hoped the man had noticed the blip of cursed energy and flash of white fur. Some part of Megumi whispers he doesn’t need hope. Because Gojo, with his Six Eyes technique, would always find Megumi.
The exhaustion from depleting his cursed energy finally takes hold, and distantly he feels his legs buckle. Then there are familiar arms around him, lowering to ground, which was accompanied by the sound of creaking metal.
“Yeah, found him- blood loss… -tta cursed energy… it’s bad.. okay, I’ll- hey, you back with me?” The words came in bits and pieces as he wavers on the edge of consciousness before Megumi blinks up at his mentor.
“‘M sorry. Should’ve listened- shouldn’t’ve gone alone I’m stupid and useless and-“
“Shh, hey that’s my favorite student you’re talking about.” Megumi vaguely registers Gojo shoving his phone in a pocket as he readjusts his grip on the teen.
“Didn’t listen when you ordered me not to go alone,” Megumi mumbled into the man’s shoulder.
“I just didn’t want you to get hurt. I can’t loose you kiddo.”
Megumi sniffed and clung a little tighter. He didn’t even have to look to know the man was grinning down at him. Suddenly he was being scooped up with an embarrassing squeak, to which Gojo just chuckled.
“Oof, you really are getting too old for this Megs,” the man said. Megumi didn’t bother to reply. The man’s voice softened, and he murmured, “Okay, let’s go home.”
“I’d really like that dad.”