Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

At the present time

Yuuji paused for a second to take a deep breath. Sweat beaded on his forehead and the steam from his breath condensed into white puffs. The winters in Sendai had always been cold, but the humidity had a different feel in Shichigahama. Maybe it was the proximity of the ocean and the salt-scented wind.

"You should have thought about it this morning before you decided to torture us." Sukuna's mouth on his cheek did not miss the chance to remind him that everything in his life was a mess.

"Or you could thank me for the constancy" Yuuji groaned, unwilling to acknowledge that maybe going for a run hadn't been the best idea.

"Thank you? If I wanted to, I could keep us in shape without you torturing us by going out for a run at five in the morning."

"You'd sooner let me die of a heart attack. If you don't mind, I'll stick with the torture for the time being."

Any trace of Sukuna disappeared but Yuuji was sure that in some corner, the curse was still laughing at his expense.

"Sometimes I wonder why I put up with you" he sighed before breaking into a run again.

The air burned in his lungs and the mist of his breath drew puffs of white smoke. It was almost eight o'clock when dawn finally broke. In the distance, a dog barked, chasing the stones thrown by its owner. A group of kids passed by.

"Did you see how they screamed? Serves them right." The words accompanied by hysterical laughter from one of the kids in between giggles froze his insides. "Everyone says they're cursed. Fucking witches, I hope they die."

"Hey, you!" Yuuji shouted, stopping. The oldest of the group of kids couldn't have been more than thirteen. " May I ask who's got it coming to them?"

Yuuji approached menacingly with his hands in his tracksuit pockets. 

"What do you care!" The kids were startled and ran away, scurrying away while making foul gestures with their hands.

For an instant, Yuuji thought about chasing them and giving them what they deserved. Defeated, he stood frozen in the middle of the path unable to think.

"There should be no sorcerers in Shichigahama." Yuuji looked around him.

The completely bare trees offered a rather gloomy sight. It was impossible, but his hands could hardly stop shaking. Sukuna would have noticed if someone from the school had broken his promise.

"If they dared to come, our pact won't protect them from me having a very personal conversation with their entrails."

"Okay, enough!" Yuuji closed his eyes tightly, covering them with his hands, trying to erase the image of Megumi slowly bleeding out. He could almost feel the warm blood staining his fingers. "Why does everything have to end in carnage with you?"

"I like the aesthetics." Sukuna laughed.

"The kids looked like they came all the way from the creek." Despite looking no much above fifteen, Yuuji felt terribly old. "We'd better take a look."

The path followed a stream that only carried water on the days when it rained the hardest, and only dried weeds grew along its edge. There was hardly a sound of wind among the leafless trees.

Some days, life in that godforsaken village felt like another prison. Yuuji had the impression of living in a limbo where only the infinite present existed. At times, he was barely able to remember life before his grandfather's death. The time with Megumi and Nobara seemed to be nothing more than a distant dream. All that lived buried in a past to which it was impossible to return. Nothing good could come from being carried away by nostalgia. It was better to resign himself and find some kind of comfort in the knowledge that somewhere, the people he loved were still alive. That was just another day in the monotony that was his life. And so all was well.

Yuuji heard the broken sobs amidst the sound of the wind rustling the tree branches. His legs took off running before he knew it. By a tree, hidden near the bank, two girls were trying in vain to go unnoticed.

"Are you all right?" Yuuji scrambled down to the riverbed, kicking up gravel and sand in his haste to reach them.

Seeing their crumpled and dirt-stained clothes, it wasn't too hard to imagine what had happened to them.

"Makoto... Makoto isn't waking up." The smaller one hugged the other girl's unconscious body tightly as she tried to hold back tears between hiccups. With how much they looked alike, they had to be sisters.

"It's okay, don't worry. We'll help Makoto." Yuuji raised his hands in a sign of peace and, almost telegraphing, crouched down next to them. "What's your name?"

"Momo" the girl mumbled with a quivering lip. Her jet-black hair fell messily over her shoulders. A pink backpack was lying on the floor.

"Hi Momo," Yuuji smiled, "My name is Yuuji. Nice to meet you, can you tell me what happened?"

Up close, the girls did not look good. Eyes too deep-set, cheeks too pronounced.

"We weren't bothering anyone when they started throwing rocks at us." Momo began to cry, hugging the unconscious girl even tighter. "One hit Makoto."

Dried blood dirtied Makoto's forehead. Yuuji had seen enough wounds in his life to know that the cut at the hairline was more shocking than worrisome. That she was still unconscious could be a symptom of a brain concussion and that was the most worrisome thing.

"We need to take her to the hospital." Yuuji took Makoto in his arms. "Your parents need to know what happened, do you know the number?"

Momo shook her head.

"Maybe the school, then?"

Yuuji returned to the path. Makoto seemed stable in his arms. Momo followed, running after him.

"They're in heaven. Makoto says we can't visit them."

"Oh!" Yuuji nodded "My grandfather is in heaven too. He was like my father. Who are you living with now?"

"We left the foster home. The rest of the kids looked at us funny."

"Because weird things happen around you?" the deep voice of Sukuna interrupted Momo. Yuuji noticed the tingling on his cheek that could only mean Sukuna had manifested his fangs. "Yuuji, I think you've found your sorceresses."

"You have an eye and a mouth on your cheek!" Momo laughed in delight. "I can do that too?"

"It's a special ability," Yuuji sighed. The lump in his arms began to move. "Oh! Makoto seems to be regaining consciousness."

Carefully, Yuuji sat Makoto down on a bench. The last thing he needed was for her to regain consciousness in the arms of a stranger. Momo ran to sit next to her sister.

"How are you feeling?"

"Who are you?" Makoto's gaze hardened.

"Oh! Sorry. Yuuji. Itadori Yuuji." Yuuji smiled, hiding his hands in his pockets and trying to look as harmless as possible. "I found you by the river and you looked like you needed help."

"No one asked you," Makoto replied defensively. "We can take care of ourselves." 

"I'd like to see it." The mouth on Yuuji's cheek drew a predatory smile.

"Knock it off!" Yuuji slapped his cheek. Sukuna knew him well enough not to get caught. His eye opened on the other cheek and he kept laughing. "Don't listen to him."

"W-what are you?" Makoto pressed Momo against her side and moved as far away from Yuuji as she could without actually getting up from the bench.

"It's a bit long to explain."

"Makoto, you're being rude." Momo wriggled out of her sister's arms. "Can we have crêpes?"

"We've already had breakfast," Makoto's stomach grumbled treacherously.

***

Yuuji picked up the empty plates and set them in the sink over the still dirty bowl of crepe batter. The apartment, if it could be called that, was small and damp. Barely more than a hovel for which he paid 44,000 yen and which couldn't possibly have passed the habitability inspection. The tatami squeaked every time someone stepped on it and one could still see the soot marks when the kotatsu stove had almost burned it out. All in all, those four walls far outweighed sleeping on the street. Yuuji knew what it was like to sleep among trains, stations, benches and any nook and cranny that served as shelter from the wind and cold of the night.

Yuuji sat cross-legged on the floor and stared at the two girls, asleep under the kotatsu. Exhaustion had finally gotten the better of them. Yuuji hardly dared to move for fear of waking them. The world was sometimes too unfair. Yuuji would rather not think about what would have become of him if he hadn't had his grandfather. In his own way, he had been lucky, but those two kids had no one.

"If the TV hasn't betrayed me, Makoto should be woken up every hour to confirm she doesn't have a headache, dizziness, tinnitus, blurred vision or vomiting" Yuuji commented as he searched the internet for symptoms of a concussion. "How can they do something like that to little girls?"

"I guess you don't expect me to answer." Sukuna's voice crossed his mind like a thought.

"Stupid question." Yuuji slammed his forehead against the wood of the kotatsu. "What are we going to do with them? It's not like we can just leave them hanging and if they can really control cursed energy someone's going to have to teach them."

"If you want, we can include them in our pact." Sukuna's curse marks burned against his skin and the lids of his second eyes fluttered open, tearing at Yuuji's face.

"No, thank you." Yuuji regained control again.

"You could always call Nanami, he seemed the most reasonable."

"And then?" Yuuji asked distrustfully. After so much time together, he had learned not to take Sukuna's proposals lightly.

"Then Nanami can take care of the problem and that's it" Sukuna replied as if stating a no-brainer. "Perfect, isn't it?"

"If anything happens to him" Yuuji grumbled as he slid his finger around looking for Nanamin's name among the contact list.

Taking a deep breath, he dialed the number. He didn't know what reaction to expect. The rings seemed to go on forever. Maybe Nanamin would never pick up the phone and he could forget that he had even tried.

When he finally heard Nanami's voice on the other end, he was sure he was going to throw up his own heart.

"Nanamin?"

"Yuuji, is that you, are you okay?"

The line went silent for a moment. Yuuji was unable to answer. He had missed him so much. He was convinced that if he opened his mouth, he wouldn't be able to hold back the tears. As long as Sukuna was still alive, Yuuji was still a ticking time bomb in the eyes of the Jujutsu School. Breaking up with everyone and disappearing had been the only solution to an impossible situation.

"I'm sorry" Yuuji noticed a lump forming in his throat. For the first time in a long time he felt like that kid who had met Nanamin when he was only fifteen, "I shouldn't have called."

"You don't need a reason to call."

"But if they find out you're still in touch with me."

"If they try to do anything, Sukuna isn't going to be their only problem." Nanami sounded very convinced of his words. "And now that Fushiguro is the leader of the Zen'in Clan they'll think twice before trying anything."

"I thought he didn't want to know anything about his family." Yuuji noticed the nerves fluttering in his stomach. "How is he?"

"You could call him. Even if he doesn't say it, he clearly misses you. Nobara too."

"No!" Yuuj interrupted him. "No. Things are better this way."

On the other end of the phone, Nanamin sighed resignedly.

"Yuuji, why did you call me?"

"If I had found two orphan girls who are able to manipulate cursed energy and had nowhere to go... Do you think they could stay with you for a while? Sukuna agrees that you are our best option. It's not like they could stay with us. They wouldn't be safe."

"How old are we talking about?"

"Eight and eleven I think." Yuuji scratched his chin. "I didn't get to ask."

"I'll see what I can do." Yuuji could almost see Nanamin rubbing his face resignedly. "For now make sure they have a hot plate on the table and go to bed on time. Give me some time to get my things in order and I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Thanks Nanamin, I knew I could count on you!"

"See you soon, Yuuji. And if you change your mind about Fushiguro, let me know. If you want, I can give him your phone number. Leave it on his roof."

Nanamin hung up before he could answer. Changing his mind was not something that was going to happen. For Megumi, Yuuji was part of a past that was best left buried. It was better to leave things as they were. Ten years was too long for them to be nothing more than two strangers.

"But you still can't get him out of your head," Sukuna's mouth sneered appearing on his cheek.

"Thanks to who?" Yuuji mumbled putting his cell phone back in his pocket.

Chapter Text

Ten years earlier

Since Megumi had arrived in Sugisawa the previous weekend, clouds seemed to have settled perennially in the sky giving it a somewhat gloomy appearance. The town barely managed to be a handful of houses scattered among fields of crops and coniferous forests. Megumi closed his eyes for a moment and concentrated on the light breeze that was blowing at that time of the afternoon. The smell of damp earth and freshly cut grass seemed to haunt him everywhere.

To have traveled there was beginning to seem like a waste of time. The girl had died in the hospital the night before after a week in a coma without Megumi being able to get to see her and the traces of cursed energy that permeated the walls of the room were so faint that they didn't have to mean anything.

Megumi couldn't help but think of Tsumiki. With the latest victim, that made twenty people who had fallen into a sudden coma in the last six months for no apparent reason and at least four of them had died not long after.

The thought that his sister might be next still kept him awake at night.

Megumi wasn't able to understand that the Jujutsu Sorcery Academy wasn't taking it seriously. They were still defending that these were isolated cases while the number of victims continued to pile up. All that was left was to see where the last unconscious victim had been found and pray that it wasn't another dead end.

***

The Third High School of Sugisawa was located at the end of a steep slope surrounded by overgrown weeds. The complex was not much different from those he had seen a thousand times in Tokyo, with its reinforced concrete walls and the chiming clock crowning the central building. The mid-afternoon sun reflected off the windows and barely let him see anything of the interior of the classrooms.

"Nothing here either" Megumi grunted kicking a stone and crossed the entrance with his hands in his pockets.

Seeing him there, anyone would have thought he was just another student among the tide of uniforms that came out as soon as classes ended. The grit of the gravel path rose in his wake as he dragged his feet. The rugby field and athletics tracks were close to the gym where the unconscious girl had been found. Megumi didn't expect it would do much good, but if there was even the slightest chance of discovering something, it had to be there.

Megumi frowned as he saw about ten students gathering near the gym. His first thought took him back to the dead girl. He felt the nervousness tingle under his skin until the screams and cheers enveloped him. For an instant, Megumi didn't know whether to rejoice or be disappointed that it was nothing more than a stupid competition.

"That was amazing! Did you see that? He almost got the ball out of the field."

"Itadori!" the shouts continued like a din, "Are you seriously not going to join the track team?"

"I'm in a bit of a hurry right now." Itadori slipped away ignoring the group.

Megumi barely had time to move out of the way before the boy crashed into him in his haste to escape.

"Sorry." The boy smiled with an apologetic grimace before disappearing with inhuman speed.

The cursed energy arrived an instant later, knocking him nearly breathless.

It seemed impossible. Megumi had barely been able to perceive any power until it had been too late but the amount of energy the boy was capable of accumulating had been insane. There weren't too many sorcerers who could match him except perhaps Professor Gojo and Okkotsu-senpai. A shiver ran down his spine and ruffled the hair on the back of his neck. Such a power, without any kind of control, could only end up bringing trouble.

***

Megumi did not quite understand what had pushed him to extend his stay without telling anyone. Never before had curiosity led him to be interested in something, even less in someone, but two days later he was still there; in a town in the middle of nowhere with barely a thousand inhabitants.

"Are you still in Sugisawa?" Gojo asked with more interest than Megumi thought appropriate. "I thought you'd be looking forward to going back."

"Anything is better than having you around."

"Oh, you hurt me! Don't you miss me?" Gojo asked mockingly. "Or have you met some girl?"

"I'm going to hang up on you." Megumi replied impassively without giving the teacher time to reply.

Megumi hadn't even mentioned Itadori. Staring at the phone between his fingers, sitting on one of the walls surrounding the high school without his feet touching the ground, he couldn't help but wonder why.

"If you're still here they'll end up calling the police, are you expecting someone?"

"What!" Megumi was startled. "Shit, it's you."

" As far as I know, it's me." Itadori planted himself in front of him, his face barely a millimeter away from Megumi's. "Itadori Yuuji. I just wanted to give you a heads up, in case you thought you were going unnoticed."

Megumi felt like an idiot for being caught off guard by the same guy he' d been spying on for two days. The complete absence of cursed energy was still throwing him off. Everyone had at least an ounce just by virtue of being alive. Megumi would have to have noticed something. Seeing Itadori there, smiling like it was nothing, it seemed impossible that it was the same kid whose cursed energy had almost succeeded in paralyzing him just a few days before.

"Does the stalker have a name?"

"Fushiguro" Megumi replied in annoyance. "And I'm no stalker."

"Exactly what a stalker would say! Nice to meet you, Fushiguro! By the way, it's not a good idea to stay late at school. Rumor has it that you see ghosts at night." Itadori waved goodbye, raising his arm as he walked away down the hill. "I'll see you around!"

"Hey!" Megumi jumped up and ran chasing after him before he could disappear from sight. "Itadori! What do you mean by ''ghosts can be seen''? Can you even see them?"

"Everyone knows ghosts don't exist! I'm just saying what the rumors say." Itadori paused, the rays of dusk forming a halo of light around him. "Why do you think I should be able to see them?"

"Because you see them, but they're not ghosts, they're curses. You saw them near the gym, didn't you?"

"No matter what they are, they never bring anything good. If you ever come across something like that, just run away. I mean it."

"I'll keep that in mind" Megumi took his leave, not quite sure what to think.

In many ways, Itadori was just an ordinary high school student. The idea that he might be involved in some way left a strange aftertaste on the roof of his mouth. Any other time, Megumi would have told Gojo by now. That was the only smart thing to do. He just needed to give him a call and he could go back to Tokyo that very night. It wasn't as if he should care in the slightest about someone like Itadori.

"Shit," he muttered to himself.

Without a second thought, Megumi let the shadows envelop him as the cursed energy swirled around him. With a wave of his hands, the darkness transformed summoning his demonic dogs.

"Don't leave him alone, but don't let him see you either." Megumi crouched down, nuzzling them between the ears before letting them run off.

Megumi had long since learned to distrust coincidences. Itadori had to know more than he was saying. The mere thought of having to call Gojo back gave him a headache. He could almost hear him laughing at him. Itadori wasn't even a girl to have to put up with his mentor's tasteless jokes.

***

It was close to midnight when Megumi stopped again in front of the high school determined to find out if there was any truth in Itadori's words. In a few days there was going to be a new moon and the darkness was almost absolute. The buildings drew ghostly shadows, like real Lovecraftian ziggurats.

Without much trouble, Megumi put his foot on the wall and gave himself momentum to climb over the metal gate to jump to the other side. At night, the school looked completely different.  An owl hooted in the distance. Megumi advanced along the same gravel path that led to the gym.

The gym door was locked tight; a rusty padlock kept the thick chain tied around the handles. Without any regard, Megumi let his shadows engulf the padlock, sending it into the abyss. The chain fell heavy hitting the ground with a thud. Without much effort, Megumi opened the door. As soon as he crossed the threshold, a shiver ran down his spine. The smell of polishing wax invaded his nostrils and in the background, the faint sweetish odor of decay.

"Ku-ku-ku-ku." The devilish laughter echoed against the walls of the gymnasium. 

Megumi's footsteps echoed amidst the silence. It was as if at nightfall, that place had merged with another world. The traces of cursed energy could be felt in every corner until it almost suffocated him. It was getting harder and harder to keep walking. His vision began to blur.

"Shit" Megumi muttered trying to form the gesture of his dogs with his hands.

His body lost all its strength. It was as if he had lost any hint of control. Megumi tried to stand but his knees hit the ground, his palms against the ground was the only thing keeping him upright. He was finding it harder and harder to breathe. His legs were like concrete slabs. Despair seemed to have taken over his entire being. His death wasn't going to do him any good and Tsumiki

"Fushiguro! Hey! Fushiguro!" the voice broke the spiral of despair Megumi seemed to be sinking into.

"Itadori?" It was impossible for him to be there.

Megumi barely managed to make out the silhouette in the shadows, his vision getting blurrier and blurrier. The pain in his head wouldn't even let him think.

"Ku-ku-ku." The devilish laughter sounded closer and closer.

"Come on, man. Help me out a little." Megumi noticed how arms grabbed him under his shoulders and dragged him along.

"Why did you come?"

"Ku-ku-ku." The laughter ruffled the hair on the back of his neck.

The creature crawled in its eagerness to catch them, leaving a trail of viscous liquid on the floor. Its rotting flesh oozed pus from every pore. A dozen eyes covered its body, the same color as blood.

"Now is not the time, first we have to get out of here." Itadori bit his lip without stopping moving forward.

Megumi could not stop looking at him. He almost didn't remember what it was like to have someone care about him. His demonic dogs appeared out of the shadows, rearing up on their hind legs until they pounced on the infested creature. Snarls echoed along with the snapping of their teeth.

"They're not planning to eat it?" Itadori pressed Megumi against his side, gripping him tightly around the waist, and forced him to keep walking. "Tell me they're not going to eat it."

The two fell to the ground as soon as they crossed the threshold of the gymnasium. Itadori seemed mesmerized by the image before his eyes. The two shikigami tore apart the curse's body as the confines of the creature's domain shattered around them. Stars glittered in the cloudless sky. The early morning breeze smelled of damp grass. The last traces of cursed energy disappeared until there was nothing left.

***

Itadori's eyes sparkled in the moonlight. His labored breathing almost managed to lull Megumi into a deep sleep. Every muscle in his body ached. For an instant, he had believed that this was truly going to be the end of him.

"How did you find me?"

Before he could answer, the two shikigami playfully pounced on Itadori and began to lick his face.

"Hey, stop it!" he shouted with laughter, hugging the two animals, "that you've eaten that disgusting thing."

"Traitors." Megumi couldn't help but smile. It was the first time he''d ever seen them behave like that towards someone.

"You're the type that gets a kick out of stepping into the lion's den, aren't you?" Itadori jabbed his index finger into Megumi's forehead. "What was the plan?"

"If you knew it was dangerous, you shouldn't have come." Megumi replied defensively. "We could have both gotten trapped."

"Not even a thank you?" Itadori's laughter echoed unconcernedly. "It's you who sent them after me, and you're surprised I came to help you?"

"You didn't have to put your life in danger for a complete stranger." Megumi frowned. None of Itadori's reactions made any sense.

"I'm just glad I got here in time." Itadori sat up, shrugging. "You might not have been so lucky."

"Like the girl who was unconscious in the hospital? Was it the curse of the gym that put her in a coma?"

"No." Itadori replied uncharacteristically serious. "At least I don't think so. That ghost has been living in the gym for years and has never caused trouble before."

"But it was only rumors." Megumi rolled his eyes.

" Yeah... It's better than being taken for a fool." Itadori looked away, blush reddening his ears. "I'm glad you're okay."

The stress of the night seemed far away as they lay under the stars watching the vastness. Megumi could barely remember what they had been talking about but for an instant he had felt like any other kid his age, laughing with a buddy over any bullshit. Time didn't matter when no one was waiting for them at home. Megumi still couldn't quite believe that he had told him about Tsumiki and how they had been the only thing the other had for a long time.

He couldn't remember how long the two of them had been lying in front of the gym letting the conversation ramble on without anything else mattering other than being.

"We'd better get going." Itadori stood up, shaking the dirt out of his pants. "It won't be long before dawn and you have a train to catch."

Megumi would have liked to extend that moment at least a little longer, but the first rays of the sun were shining on the horizon.

"Fushiguro! Let me have your cell phone!" Itadori held out his arm, expectantly. Megumi handed him the device before he even considered what he was doing. "Let me know as soon as you get to Tokyo, okay?"

"It's almost a six-hour trip." Megumi stared at the new name on his contact list.

Itadori had given him his cell phone number. The idea that Itadori wanted them to be friends didn't compute in his mind. It was normal for people to shy away from him as soon as they discovered his complete lack of social skills.

"Whatever," Itadori punched him on the arm, "it's just so I know you made it there alive."

"Like I don't know how to take care of myself." Megumi punched him back.