Last Song: Goodbye From Arcane (Specifically A Version Made My Samuel Kim Who Does AWESOME Orchestral

Good Omens Enchanted AU

First off we get a Fem!Aziraphale as Giselle (aka a princess! Aziraphale)

Crowley as Robert (the tired guy that gets dragged into this but eventually falls in love with Aziraphale)

Warlock as Morgan (Roberts Daughter)

Gabriel as Prince Edward (Obviously the Prince who ends up with Nancy) but not as charming and more like a smug bastard

Beezlebub as Nancy (Crowley’s fiancé who eventually falls for Gabriel)

Sandalphon, Michael, and Uriel are the Rulers who will be Queen Narissa (obv the Queen and the one who turns into a dragon) but will be helped by the Four Horsemen to get more powerful

Adam as Pip (the chipmunk that we all fucking love in this movie)

The Them as other animals but they fall in the well with Pip

Hastur, Dagon, and Ligur are the royal advisors and will be Nathaniel (the dude who served the queen and who we hated but felt bad for)

The Them as animals who ended up falling in with Pip. Pepper is a bird, Wensleydale is a fawn, and Brian is a piglet. Can be other animals as well :)

Sergeant Shadwell, Madame Tracy, Anathema, and Newton are city animals. Shadwell is a rat, Tracy is a dog, Anathema is a cat, and Newton is a pigeon

The plot is just like the movie but there is more fighting at the end Bc there are three monsters instead of one dragon. The four horsemen will be the witch but they come earlier. Each of them will try to get Aziraphale to bite the apples. Death succeeds but Crowley is the one who kisses Aziraphale and saves her

Filled with fluff, especially with Aziraphale not knowing how the real world works and YES THE SONGS STILL EXIST

The tag for this is ( #enchanted!omens )

Let me know what y’all think! @neil-gaiman

As someone who has dealt with severe childhood trauma. Let me say, the way Steven is acting is valid. He’s angry, lonely, emotional, clingy, and more violent. Having your psyche be completely shattered will do that.

He doesn’t know what to do with himself anymore. All of his support systems are gone. With childhood trauma, you don’t KNOW you’ve been traumatized. You deny it at times when people tell you. And when you FINALLY come to terms with it, shit hits the fan.

Things will get worse before they get better.

That’s a saying my therapist told me. And it’s true. Dealing with trauma is not easy and will take a very long time. Steven is at his lowest right now. He’s acting out.

I really related to that moment Steven confronts Greg. As a teen who now KNOWS he’s been traumatized as a kid, robbed of his childhood, the anger Steven has at Greg is so real it hurts. At times, you wish SOMEONE was there for you. To protect you and prevent the trauma from happening in the first place.

Greg didn’t have the best childhood either. But he had a childhood. He went to SCHOOL, had a HOUSE, and lived with his PARENTS. That’s what Steven probably focused on. The normality of it all. He never chose to be a crystal gem. Steven rarely knows how to be a human. And he wants to be.

He may have been acting uncharacteristically rude (considering Greg built the temple, raised him alone, and was poor) but there’s still a reason. Steven could have lived a normal life free of war.

Sometimes you want to blame others for what happened to you. Other times you blame yourself.

The Gems finally show up again. What do they do? Tell Steven off for his new powers. Wanting him to suppress it. Saying how it’s dangerous.

They haven’t shown much support for Steven for the longest time. The boy had to help Pearl overcome her own trauma and heartbreak. Then he almost DIED trying to do that and Pearl really did nothing. He helped Amethyst with her self-worth. And they have got the best relationship imo. However. She did SHIFT INTO HIS DEAD MOTHER. Garnet was more stable and showed Steven the love he needed. However, she still has her own problems. Ruby and Sapphire ruined the trip Steven wanted so badly during the Keystone Motel episode. I didn’t see much of an apology. Plus there is the part where the Gems ALL made that fake simulation.

When a child grows up in an unstable household it isn’t healthy for them. It’s damaging. They see what’s going on. All of the negativity and pain is sucked up from them like a sponge. A child needs stability. Which Steven doesn’t have.

That’s why Steven now doesn’t want to tell anyone of what’s happening. For so long he’s been dealing with the gems problems that he doesn’t want to deal with his. He doesn’t know how to. When Steven said why he can’t tell Pearl anything, it really hurt. He says he’ll have to pick up the pieces. Even though it really isn’t his job. But kids that live like that for a while probably think they do.

I’ve live in a household like that. I tell my mom my real personal problems and she will get angry, cry, or breakdown.

You’ve been dealing with your families problems for so long that you feel like your feelings matter far less.

I think that’s why Steven wanted to be with Connie so much. She is one of the only people that can be the rock he desperately needs. Someone he can actually talk to and confide in. He doesn’t want to lose her.

Steven has not gotten any form of therapy and it’s is hurting him severely. The latest episodes make sense to me. It’s gotten too much for Steven. He’s in a lot of pain.

Some people who have suffered a lot WANT to cause suffering and pain to other people. Make them feel what they feel. And now Steven is hurting people. He shattered Jasper. KILLED her. And we all saw him smiling and laughing as he attacked her.

The corruption theory is at its strongest. It could be a message of how someone lets their pain be who they are. That their trauma is all that they are. Or maybe about death. Lots of people say “that person is gone” when talking about their old self. In the promo, they were showing clips of Steven as a kid. The kid who took the worlds problems on his shoulders with a smile and didn’t get much back. Sure he saved the universe and got lots of new friends but what else? Was there anyone to help him in the same way he helped Peridot, Lapis, Pearl, and so many other gems. Steven was basically a therapist when he shouldn’t have been.

Trauma manifests in many, many ways. And these episodes have surely been showing it.

(This was just me rambling. I’m not an expert and just speak from personal experience. Much love to everyone out there!)

YES YES YES

Okay but…

instead of the ending (moving as it was) what if we had:

- Tony being alive

- Tony having another hug with Peter

- And loads more hugs

- Tony introducing Peter to Morgan as her big brother and Morgan being absolutely starstruck to see the boy from all her bedtime stories

- Peter coming to stay at the house by the lake on weekends

- Tony reading Morgan bedtime stories with Peter and the pair of them getting too over the top when acting it out

- Pepper sitting with Peter and going through wedding photos

- And let’s face it there needs to be a do-over wedding where everyone can be there

- Tony building a guest house for the other avengers to come and stay in

- Clint and his family and Scott and Cassie coming by to build campfires and Clint plays guitar while DUM-E acts as the official fire marshall for those roasting marshmallows (Tony ends up chasing him into the woods with a stick after he gets doused with the fire extinguisher)

- Peter and Morgan building forts together

- Uncle Rhodey!!

- Pepper merely shaking and rolling her eyes when she finds them both hanging from the ceiling by their feet waiting to scare Tony

- Tony and Peter doing science together and Peter freaking out with excitement over Bruce

- Nebula staying over and being all shy and unsure at first before Tony helps calms her nerves by teaching her new games

- Tony working on Nebula and kitting her out with new awesome robotic parts

- Nebula being absolutely soft on Peter and Morgan and quietly in awe of how awesome Pepper is

- Happy doing cheeseburger runs and Tony teasing him about fancying May much to Peter’s horror

- Carol being her usual badass self but totally gooey over Peter and mothering him ridiculously

- Natasha and Peter sharing spider secrets

- The Guardians coming to visit with crazy stories and Rocket meeting a raccoon.

- Quill teaching Morgan to dance much to Tony’s horror

- Tony and Morgan sneaking downstairs to have ice pops together on the regular

- Peter finding Tony and Morgan asleep in her little tent outside and crawling in with them

- Peter wearing his spider suit and Morgan wearing her iron man helmet and pretending to fight bad guys (usually a poor unsuspecting Happy)

- Tony, Thor and Steve sitting together over drinks and just laughing together

- Tony being happy and living a full life with his family

"who knows what they still do on tumblr"

us:

uncle/brother sukuna and little yuuji will always be my roman empire

sukuna: he didn't even help btw

Cursed Guardians (A JJK Fic)

AO3 Link

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For something that was supposed to be prohibited or off limits, Suguru had always found entering the catacombs the easiest task in the world. Jujutsu sorcerers were so spread thin that the school could only spare a measly five guards to protect Master Tengen, the sole being responsible for the barriers protecting the human world from the jujutsu world. This left everything else unguarded, including the catacombs, which held some of the most infamous texts in jujutsu. Information that can easily be used against them. 

To make up for the lack of guards, there were several illusionary buildings across the Tokyo and Kyoto campuses. In Tokyo, the number of fake buildings had drastically increased after the incident with Toji Fushiguro. Besides the misleading structures, talismans and other protective seals had been placed on the entrances to important areas. Most sorcerers could not break the seals, but Suguru was not like most sorcerers. 

With a flick of his hand, the bindings covering the wide entrance of the catacombs were cut to ribbons by one of the many curses Suguru had under his control. 

Unlike Satoru, Suguru knew how to remain undetected. The higher ups still had no leads as to who had been regularly breaking the seals to the catacombs for the past two years. It was a feat Suguru was quite proud of. He had used his plethora of curses to shred the seals, before promptly killing it. By doing this, Suguru made the elders think that a random curse had tried entering the catacombs, only for the curse to be exorcized by the powerful seals it had broken. The cursed energy signals were enough for the higher ups to not bat an eye at the recurring incidents. It was fitting. When given the choice, the elders would rather focus all their attention on whatever bothered them than anything that could pose an actual threat to the jujutsu world. The catacombs were not a priority for the elders whatsoever, but Suguru could not be upset by that. Afterall, the neglect of the catacombs were what allowed him to enter it many, many times.

This time was no different. 

“I always forget how musty this place is.” Suguru clamped a hand over his nose as he descended the carved, stone staircase. While it wasn’t a disgusting smell by any means, it still made the teen shudder and feel nauseous. He had a feeling as to what the scent originated from.

Death. 

Suguru was well acquainted with death, considering his line of work. Death did not smell revolting or vile. No. That was the smell of decomposition. Death itself smelled, with lack of a better term, heavy . It was a scent that had a presence to it. Similar to the cleansing, peaceful presence the air has after a storm. It was a scent that made Suguru’s chest tighten and throat close up. There was a barely detectable earthy note to death. It was subtle, but it was enough that Suguru had memorized the distinct smell. It smelt of ancient waters and aging moss. He imagined it smelt of the section of a forest that many find by accident. It’s untouched by man and animal. The clearing is small, only having a small pond and few trees. While the ground is covered by leaves, all the trees are left barren. There is the smallest flow to the pond, causing the leaves on the surface of the murky water to sway back and forth. It was the loneliest part of the woods.

The scent of death permeated every crevice of the catacombs. There was no doubt in Suguru’s mind that these underground tunnels were also used to bury the many corpses of his fellow sorcerers. Jujutsu sorcerers have existed for centuries, so it was highly likely that this labyrinth was also a makeshift gravesite at some point. Suguru did not let that knowledge bother him. He clenched his fists as he continued his journey downwards. 

To light the way, Suguru had summoned several jellyfish-like curses that acted as tiny flashlights. No one was meant to be down here, so it didn’t surprise Suguru that not a single torch along the walls of the caverns had been lit. 

Despite the many tunnels appearing as he got lower and lower, he paid them no mind. As he journeyed further, the stairs became more cracked and weathered. The first time Suguru had ventured here, he had nearly cracked his skull open due to a massive hole in the stairway. Now, Suguru simply summoned a curse with tree-like roots and walked across the pit without issue. Once Suguru spotted the last steps of the winding staircase, he breathed a sigh of relief. His forehead felt sweaty and his body felt quite sore. Considering he had been unconscious for several days, he knew that it was a foolish idea to strain his body in such a way. Suguru could not be bothered to care. 

Finally, his feet met with the floor of the lowest level, the true catacombs. Suguru had to stick his nose into his elbow to breathe in the scent of his shirt. At such a deep level, it was hard to breathe on principle. The smell of dust only served to make things worse. The faint smell of detergent helped Suguru’s chest loosen. After a few moments of adjusting, Suguru raised his head and made his way to the many rotting bookshelves before him. In the years prior, Suguru had taken the time to make a small reading area for himself. In addition, the black-haired boy used his curses to help gather books Suguru found interesting. He had purposely kept his friends out of this hobby of his. While it would be exponentially easier to travel to the catacombs with the help of Satoru’s teleportation abilities, Suguru wanted to keep this place to himself. Shoko and Satoru had never been the studious types, so he knew they would get bored quickly in a pseudo-library like this. 

He made a beeline to his personalized corner in the back of the area. The lowest level was full of dusty books and scrolls, nothing else. It was quite smaller than the upper levels Suguru had explored. Even so, it was still a sizable place. Suguru effortlessly made his way through the many winding paths and bookshelves. Once he spotted his corner, Suguru smiled. 

It only had a large blanket, a futon, several candles, and one pillow. Next to the sitting area was a neatly stacked pile of books. Suguru plopped onto the futon, not bothering to dust it off with how exhausted his body was. He summoned a tiny flame with the help of a curse that resembled a hybrid of a rock and salamander. He lit the largest candle, sighing in contentment once the smell of vanilla and lavender reached his nose. Suguru made sure to place the lit candle in a place that would not pose a threat to the many flammable objects around him. 

Suguru used the elastic band on his wrist to tie his long hair in a messy bun. It was the longest it's ever been, but Suguru enjoyed the look much more than his previous hair style. With his hair out of his face, Suguru sorted through the books until he found the one was looking for. 

THE FORGOTTEN HUMANS: CURSED SOULS

By: Itadori Kaori

A sudden shiver overtook Suguru’s body. Now that he had faces to the creatures he thought were nothing but myth, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. When he had read the book the first time, he thought it was an intriguing story, perhaps theory. He did not think much of it. He didn’t think much of the author either. Suguru had thought that the author was just an eccentric sorcerer with too much time on her hands. Considering the apparent truth to her words, Suguru knew he needed to do research on Itadori Kaori. He had never heard of her before, and he had found it strange for such a modern textbook to find its way in an abandoned labyrinth. At the time, he thought it had been placed by the higher ups due to its possibly ludicrous texts. The elders had always censored the textbooks Suguru and his other peers used heavily. It made sense that such a controversial book would be dumped here. 

The more he thought about it, the more strange the book’s existence became. Suguru shook his head harshly. He had a purpose for being here. He can’t be sitting for hours trying to solve a mystery he had no knowledge on. Satoru needed him. If Kaori Itadori had anything that could be useful in helping Satoru, Suguru could care less who she was. 

Maybe he could multitask. 

Suguru summoned a ghostly owl that towered over him, awaiting orders. “Find any texts written by Itadori Kaori or anything relating to cursed souls. If there isn’t either, try to find anything that has pictures of these creatures.” The teen transferred the images of the six creatures to his owl helper. He had absorbed the curse during his first year. It was a curse that had been spotted in the remnants of a burnt library, already having killed seven people who ventured into the remains. It was a clever curse despite being a grade three. He knew that if there were any curses who were fit for the job, it was this owl cursed spirit. “Bring me whatever you find.” With that, he sent the curse on its way. 

He sincerely hoped this strange woman had answers. 

“Please have something.” Suguru whispered underneath his breath. He made his jellyfish curses gather close so he could see in the dark room. As he opened the textbook, he immediately went to the table of contents. Once he found the most useful pages, he flipped to them. 

He was greeted by a crude drawing of the six entities he had encountered that fateful night. 

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Suguru began to read. 

Throughout all of human history, there seems to be a common phenomenon shared by all eras and civilizations. A cave painting (pictured on the upper left) depicts the outlines of six unknown creatures. This painting has been dated to be more than 40,000 years old. These creatures share no resemblance to the animals observed in previously discovered cave paintings. What’s more, these six entities share no resemblance to any animal, extinct or not. This could be seen as a creative drawing of our ancestors and nothing more if it wasn’t for the fact that there are repeated instances of these creatures appearing in paintings across the world.

For instance, a painting from a temple belonging to a young pharaoh in ancient Egypt (pictured on the bottom right) was discovered. The name of the pharaoh has been lost to time, but the paintings along the walls of his tomb depict two of the creatures beside Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead and afterlife. The appearance of the creatures from a cave painting to a painting in a pharaoh's tomb shows that there is significance to these strange beings. Moreover, one of the creatures, a canine with the skull of another creature atop its head, is drawn next to the pharaoh. The pharaoh is seen petting the head of the entity with a smile. The second creature, a dragon with the beak of a bird, is seen behind Anubis, towering over the god. For a revered god like Anubis being overshadowed by an unknown creature, there is a likelihood that these creatures could have been worshiped in a similar regard as to the more well-known Egyptian gods. 

Suguru felt like throwing up. It should be impossible! That damn shrieking bird is NOT in that painting! Cursed souls cannot be that old! He began flipping through the chapter frantically. 

Sculptures of a woman with roses and spikes have been found alongside the sculptures of the Greek goddess Athena-

Norse mythology depicts a creature made of shadows meant to punish those who it deems malevolent-

Carvings of a cat with spikes have been seen in a multitude of Aztec temples- 

“What the fuck?!” Suguru yelled at the book. He had completely forgotten about the timeline that the author had written to show how the group of entities had been depicted over the past several centuries. When he had read it the first time, he had glossed over most of the details. He wants to slap his younger self for being so ignorant. Quickly, he went back to the table of contents and scanned through the many chapters until he found the section centered around the origins and myths of the creatures. 

Suguru was quick to notice the change in the author’s tone. Instead of a neutral, analytical approach, Kaori Itadori wrote with an almost unhinged passion. It was clear that she was writing with her personal feelings instead of using a more educational approach. It became slightly unsettling for Suguru. It truly felt like this woman was speaking to Suguru like he was an old friend, rambling on about her theories as if she was next to him.

These beasts make the oldest of recorded curses seem like newborns in comparison. Their appearance and descriptions over the past several centuries match those of a curse much more than anything natural to this world. However, there is one notable fact that must not be forgotten. Curses have only been able to appear in Japan. There are no other records of curses appearing in other countries or continents. This is due to Master Tengen’s barrier technique. However, the existence of these six beings precedes the existence of Master Tengen. It should be impossible for such a thing to occur. And it is impossible! The six creatures are not curses, but something else entirely!

Curses are born from human emotions. In the stone ages, there were not enough people to create such negativity. Back then, early humans were solely focused on survival. There was not any room to stew in one’s regrets or sadness. Thus, curses did not exist in such times! But these creatures did! It’s marvelous! Delightfully interesting! I’ve taken it upon myself to study the existence of these beings! I’ve named them Cursed Souls!

Based on accounts from the jujutsu sorcerers of the past, these entities exhibited very notable abilities and behaviors. They are not supposed to be on this Earth, yet they are! In straight defiance to the natural order! It’s so exciting!

I believe that they are remnants of a world long forgotten. Souls of people that were not allowed to move on, cursed to roam the lands until they find what will bring them eternal peace. It’s well known that many curses are manifested from the result of a person or sorcerer dying with too many regrets. The connection between death and curses cannot be ignored! Cursed souls are the perfect amalgamation of cursed energy and death. A being of indescribable power being birthed from a death of indescribable agony! It’s inspirational! These beings, based on the many depictions of them throughout ancient times, were revered as gods. The soul has always been an anomaly for us sorcerers to understand. It is not out of the realm of possibilities to say that these souls are from a different time entirely. Perhaps the souls of today originated from the world the cursed souls are from. We are the finalized version of the rough draft the world had to go through to become what it is today. 

The techniques each cursed soul has further proves this theory. Cursed techniques are often hereditary. The most powerful clans are quite protective of their techniques and refuse to have their clan members ‘mix’ with others. In spite of this, the revered power of the Six-Eyes and Limitless technique is held by one of these cursed souls based on reports. It’s a supposedly impossible feat. How can such a creature have such a sacred technique? The answer is simple! The creature's soul originates from the Gojo clan! An innate technique like Limitless cannot appear out of nowhere, it must be passed down through genetics. One way or another, whoever the soul belonged to was a member of the Gojo clan. Like a flower regrowing after a fire. Even if the flower was burnt to a crisp, the roots remained and were able to regrow from the destruction. Cursed souls are the flowers that were destroyed in a fire, only to emerge again, stronger, from, the ashes. Sorcerers today are the seeds that were dispersed before the fire began. Away from the destruction, but still originating from the flower that got burned. 

Though, there is the possibility that there is an even bigger picture I am missing! The intrigue of cursed souls never ends! 

Suguru sincerely wished it did. His head began to pound as Suguru tried to remember what the infuriating bird demon-cursed soul-thing showed him. It was like he wasn’t allowed to remember. Each time he tried to, a white fog would cloud his mind. The author’s ramblings were giving Suguru some much needed insight, but he needed more. 

The cursed soul with that damned beak and tail did something to Satoru’s head. 

As the teen went to rub his temples, he heard the clacking of talons against the rough floor. The owl curse had appeared with several scrolls in its beak. Suguru felt himself smile at the additional information. “Thank you.” Once he took the scrolls from the wispy owl, it ran off to further investigate the catacombs. Suguru was relieved that there was more information on cursed souls than he thought. After placing the old scrolls next to him, Suguru went back to the increasingly distressing book. He flipped a few pages until he found the mythological section. It seemed this part was entirely based on Japanese mythology of the Heian Era. 

The Golden Age of Jujutsu was a time that is remembered by all, fondly or not. In such an era, it would seem obvious that there would be countless reports of these six beings. However, this is not the case. There are only three known reports of cursed souls, all of which occurred during the Heian Era. There have been no sightings or records of these creatures ever since.

Suguru glanced at the three largest scrolls of the bunch. Out of all the books and scrolls he had read in the catacombs, this was by far the oldest piece of literature Suguru had ever found. Carefully placing the more modern textbook on the blanket, Suguru picked up a random scroll of the three. He unraveled it slowly and used two of his jellyfish curses to hold down the edges. It revealed a stained paper with kanji Suguru could barely read. He had once studied ancient Japanese, but was by no means fluent in it.

Brownish-red stains littered the paper, and Suguru was trying his hardest not to think of the implications of having dried blood on a centuries old scroll. 

From what he could read, it seemed to be a report from a healer in the Kamo Clan. 

PATIENT: Kamo Inoko

Inoko’s brother, Kamo Butaro, described that an unregistered special grade attacked his sister during a mission. Both had been sent to exorcize a grade two curse that had been causing trouble for farmers with peach orchards. These are the details Butaro has shared about the mission. Apparently, farmers in the nearby area reported that many of their trees appeared to have been slashed by something with claws. They can no longer enter the orchard without being killed, and a portion of their peaches are being stolen each day. When one farmer tried to collect a basket of peaches, he was found later that night with several holes through his body and a mauled face. The curse was only targeting peach orchards. All other fruit or vegetable farms were left unharmed. One farmer reported that he had an apple and peach orchard, yet the apple orchard had remained intact. 

After hearing the complaints of the farmers, the sorcerer took the case and assigned it to Butaro and Inoko. Upon entering the peach orchard that had been the first to be targeted, both sorcerers felt a presence of a curse much stronger than a grade two. After ten minutes of being inside the orchard, Inoko tried picking up a peach that had fallen onto the ground. The moment her hand made contact, a beam of blood was shot at her hand, slicing it off. It resembled the Piercing Blood manipulation technique of their clan, but it was clearly stronger than both Kamo sorcerer’s own techniques. Butaro stated that the beam of blood was sharp enough to cut not only his sister’s hand, but some of the trees behind them. Butaro stated how he could sense the immense anger the cursed spirit had and decided to apologize. He kept apologizing as he grabbed his sister and retreated. No other attacks followed. At some point, Butaro looked back and saw the cursed spirit’s form. He said that it resembled a large cat, but it had purple fur with a black stripe on its nose. The boy also mentioned that it had several elongated spikes on its back. Each spike had a condensed sphere of blood on top, a clear use of Convergence. 

It has been two days since the attack on Inoko, and she has been put into a coma. After being pierced by the curse’s blood, Inoko soon exhibited signs of poisoning. No remedy has worked and neither has reverse cursed technique. Poisons have always been difficult to heal, so the only treatment option available is to treat Inoko’s symptoms and pray that her body can flush out the poison on its own. 

When first grade sorcerer Hayashi Daichi and special grade sorcerer Gojo Suki arrived on the scene, the cursed spirit had vanished. The only residual that remained was the blood spattered on the peach Inoko had held. 

Suguru had a feeling that the girl hadn’t recovered. Besides the draconic entity, the cat had boggled Suguru’s mind. With how viscously protective the cat was over the infant, he had no doubts that the cat would eliminate any threats to his ward without mercy. The only reason that Suguru could come up with as to why the cat had targeted peach orchards was the color. Even if it was brief, Suguru couldn’t forget the peachy pink of the baby’s hair. Suguru had seen curses obsess over certain things, often the last thing on their mind. It would become where the curse was most frequently spotted at. It could also become the garbled word the curse repeats endlessly. Curses have always been obsessive. A cursed soul was likely to be the same in some regard. 

The other two scrolls were similar reports from healers. While the second described a list of casualties at the hands of the cursed soul with spotted wrappings and the cursed soul with roses and nails, the third was a report of the erratic symptoms of a sorcerer after being hit by an unknown curse. The symptoms were familiar to Suguru. And concerning.

Patient has become incredibly hostile and aggressive. 

Patient exhibits signs of being in intense psychological distress. 

Patient unable to answer basic questions like where they are and what their name is. 

Patient has become increasingly delirious and refuses to eat or drink. 

Patient speaks of being chased and in danger. 

Patient must be restrained at all times. 

Patient shows no signs of improving no matter what treatment.

He felt his breath get stuck in his throat as he scanned the very bottom of the parchment. 

Elders sentenced patient to death after five months of no improvement. 

“Those worthless pieces of shit.” He snarled. Suguru clenched the weathered paper in his hands, uncaring of the damage he was causing to the ancient scroll. Of course the elders back then would be just as cowardly as the elders they had now. The symptoms of aggression and psychological distress matched what Nanami described. Satoru had attacked Nanami and would have attacked Suguru if the blonde hadn’t intervened. He remembered how terrified Satoru had been when he was under that strange trance that fateful night. If Satoru gets worse, the elders would surely try to execute him after labeling Satoru a danger to jujutsu society. 

Suguru felt like throwing up. How the hell was he supposed to heal Satoru if the healers of the past couldn’t do anything?!

The texts were not as useful as Suguru thought. They held no answers! He tugged harshly at his hair in pure frustration. Those were the only reports that existed of the damned things! Suguru bit his lip to keep himself from screaming. He felt his anger surge and did everything possible to get it under control. It doesn’t matter how skilled a sorcerer or healer is, cursed souls were simply on another level of strength apparently. They had no way to defeat them, the only reason the world is still standing is because these creatures were somewhat indifferent to humanity. There were no other reports of attacks, which was a relief, but it was a pain for Suguru. They only got aggressive when Suguru, Satoru, and Nanami seemingly threatened the child. It still made no sense as to why the monstrous entities would go so far just to protect a random baby-

Yuuji is special. Not just special to me. Special to the world. He is the very reason this world exists. Do anything to harm him, and your world will crumble. Though, he won’t be the one to destroy the world. He is the kindest soul in existence. I and the other guardians will be the source of your downfall. You don’t hurt him, and I don’t hurt you. 

Itadori Yuuji must be protected at all costs. He is the core of this world’s continued existence. Never forget that.

The scroll dropped from Suguru’s hands with a loud clatter. 

That was the voice of that horrid bird. He gripped at his head as it throbbed. Suguru now realized why he could not remember the conversation he had with the entity. He wasn’t allowed to remember until it was actually necessary. Like a locked gate only having a key on certain occasions, but the occasion was at random. Suguru had no idea what to cause a memory to come back, it just would. 

Hm . 

Itadori Yuuji . 

Suguru went to grab the textbook by the author of the strange textbook. Having the same last name could be a coincidence, but something inside Suguru was urging him to not disregard the oddity. He flipped back to where he left off in the textbook. The knowledge of the author and the importance of the baby were a mystery Suguru itched to solve. 

But he couldn’t solve it without Satoru. 

He wanted to kick himself over the head at getting distracted so easily. Had he become so selfish that he would put aside his best friends suffering for his own curiosities? He had gotten too accustomed to being in his thoughts for days on end. Facing the result of his self imposed isolation made Suguru feel shame pool in his gut. He had pushed Satoru away and was now suffering for it by being useless in helping his closest friend.

Being strong was something Suguru was familiar with. Helping others was also something Suguru had mastered at a young age. He was always the one to lend a helping hand without thought. Yet when his friend needed him the most, Suguru couldn’t lift a finger. Just wallow in his regrets and self-pity. Satoru had always been there for him, in the limitless user’s own unique way. Whether it was making Suguru laugh until he cried or refusing to sleep for days just to protect an innocent girl, Satoru had a kindness that Suguru lacked. Satoru was genuine in his care for others. 

Of course, Satoru could be the most annoying person on the planet, but that was not who he truly was. His cheery and often arrogant disposition was a facade that Suguru had seen through immediately. Yet, he had done nothing to rectify that. Satoru would allow Yaga, Shoko, or even Suguru himself to hit him. While the annoyed pushes or smacks to the head were definitely warranted, the fact that Satoru would consciously deactivate his Infinity for their hits to make contact stuck with Suguru. If Satoru was as cocky as he makes himself appear, then he would have never allowed them to touch him. But he did. Satoru would be the energetic one with a cheeky grin because no one else could keep a smile on their face. A smile that wasn’t fake like Suguru’s. On the roughest of days, Satoru would still be bright, something that used to annoy Suguru. When they had first gotten to know each other, Suguru had thought that Satoru’s blatant disregard for others was the boy’s true feelings. Satoru would complain about how the weak were so annoying, but would still go out of his way to make sure his missions had as little casualties as possible. He would get genuinely upset if one person got severely injured or died. It was a given that people would die in their line of work, but Satoru ignored that. Suguru had accepted it. He had thought Satoru’s want for there to be no casualties was irritating when they went on missions together. At first, Suguru had thought it was Satoru’s attempt to be better than everyone. It wasn’t. The few times that Suguru had seen Satoru’s front disappear were the times where Suguru realized how good Satoru really was. He wanted to be the strongest sorcerer and stop people from dying to curses, but was so terrified of failing that he pretended that he wasn’t human at all more often than not. Satoru felt like a weapon, not a god. He would say he had to be perfect, but Suguru had seen the tears in his crystal blue eyes whenever Satoru said it. Satoru would melt whenever Suguru touched him, as if it was the last piece of affection he would ever receive. Satoru let Suguru cry into his shoulder whenever he needed and would refuse to leave his room whenever Suguru had a nightmare. Suguru had tried to do the same, but it was never enough. Even though Satoru had never said anything about Suguru’s attempts at comfort, Suguru felt like Satoru deserved so much better. 

Beneath the glasses and the many, many walls that made up Gojo Satoru, there was a boy that was desperate to be human. That was desperate to be loved and seen as a human. So desperate to be held and praised.

 Satoru was the brightest star in Suguru’s galaxy. 

There was not any other way to put it. Suguru held a darkness within him that could only be held off by Satoru’s light. Even though Suguru had to remind Satoru of being polite and kind, he knew deep down that Satoru already was. Satoru was respectful and compassionate to those he thought deserved it. Suguru was courteous to all because that was how he was raised. The mannerisms had been carved so deeply into Suguru’s psyche that the teen was not sure what he truly believed. 

He was only who his parents and teachers sculpted him into. All of his decisions were based on the teaching drilled into him as a child. His personality often didn’t feel like his own. 

The first time that Suguru knew what he truly felt was when he had seen Satoru holding Riko’s corpse while hundreds of people applauded. It was a burning hatred that seared into his soul. Suguru had left behind all of those teachings, becoming an empty husk with no sense of who he was and what to do. Eventually, the words he shared with Tsukumo Yuki ignited something within him. He had been determined to see his plans to the bitter end, but a damned phone call changed everything. 

Suguru was doubting himself like never before. Were his only genuine feelings just hatred and anger for non-sorcerers? Was that all he was without the teachings of his elders to guide him? 

Could he even help Satoru?

“I don’t know anything.” Suguru put the scrolls and books away to wrap his arms around his knees. For the first time since Riko’s death, Suguru felt well and truly lost. There were too many things happening at once, and Suguru felt paralyzed by it all. Cursed souls exist. He needed to investigate Itadori Kaori. Sukuna was reincarnated without anyone’s knowledge. Satoru was imprisoned while his own mind tortured him. Itadori Yuuji was apparently another vital piece of the puzzle, and Suguru had no idea who he was. The world could crumble at any moment if something happens to that boy. 

A loud clatter broke Suguru out of his spiraling thoughts. 

Before him was a large scroll wrapped with black twine. Suguru looked up and saw the owl curse staring back at him. There was a sense of finality to the scroll, meaning that the owl’s search had come to an end. In a hoarse whisper, Suguru smiled. “Thank you.” He dismissed the owl with a flick of his wrist. 

It was the largest and longest scroll Suguru had ever seen. The thick spindles that held each end of the parchment were made of brass. With great care, Suguru unwrapped the twine and unrolled the ancient paper. The weight of the spindles prevented the parchment from curling in on itself. Once the scroll was fully rolled out, which had taken a while, Suguru stared at the contents it contained. 

A grand painting that had become faded from age seemed to stand before the black-haired teen. It was in the style expected from ancient Japanese art. Six familiar figures and two additional ones had been depicted in the painting. It seemed to tell a story. At the beginning of the parchment was a man with pink hair that had been set aflame, holding a toddler that looked to be dead. The words above the painting roughly translated to ‘ The scorned had been punished.’ Suguru felt nauseous as he stared into the despair so clearly drawn into the man’s face. He could almost feel the agony the man was going through the longer he stared. Shaking his head, Suguru read to the next section of the scroll. 

The next artwork was the same man kneeling down before a monster with four arms. In the man’s bloody arms was a round orb, which would have been pink if the parchment wasn’t so aged. The large monster had tattoos all over its body, tattoos that Suguru recognized as belonging to Sukuna, the King of Death. Sukuna had become something of legend for sorcerers, believed to be gone for good. Suguru wanted to yell at the skies for the world being so unforgiving. He ignored his frustration to look at the kanji next to the painting. ‘ A deal is made with the King of Death. A soul for a soul. The king wants the body, the soul, of the scorned for the rest of time in return for saving his son’s soul. The scorned makes the deal with the disgraced .’

There was other kanji, but it was too faded for Suguru to read. From the painting alone, Suguru knew that the man had made a binding vow with Sukuna. Deals that involved souls were always binding, considering how vital the material was to a sorcerer’s very being. The next part depicted the six cursed souls that were forever ingrained into Suguru’s mind. In the center of each entity was an orb identical to the one the man had been holding, seemingly being his son’s soul. The cursed souls themselves were grouped together in an almost diamond shape. At the top, the smiling visage of the birdlike entity stared back at him. On the left side were the feline and canine-like cursed souls. On the right were the faceless shadow entity and metallic-rose entity. At the bottom, the long, spotted wrappings of the mummy-like entity acted as a frame for all. The kanji next to the cursed souls was much harder to read, as if the artist was shaking while they wrote. From what he could decipher, it read as follows:

‘The king’s assistants took the son’s soul, splitting it amongst the six of them. Each would hide a piece of the boy’s soul wherever they saw fit. The ashes and bones of the boy were scattered throughout the world as well, acting as the material the demons would use to rebuild the boy when the time was right. The only being who knew the locations of all pieces was the king’s eldest assistant, the Seer of Infinity. A demon more powerful than the king .’

“More powerful than Sukuna?” Suguru whispered to himself. The legacy that Sukuna left behind was an unforgettable one. All tales tell of the immense power Sukuna held. The armies he decimated in one blow. The countless sorcerers who fell at his claws. However, Suguru couldn’t help but look back to the man Sukuna made a deal with. There were no other accounts of this man, and Suguru has no recollection of Yaga mentioning him during lessons. Though, that wasn’t Yaga’s fault. The elders had censored the records of the Heian Era heavily.  Suguru had felt like he was trying to complete a puzzle with all the pieces missing. It made sense that people as cowardly as the higher-ups would restrict information, but the information itself seemed to be quite important. If there was an entity more powerful than Sukuna, then shouldn’t all sorcerers know about it? If there was a man who had made a binding vow with SUkuna, why hasn’t there been any mentions of him? 

What were the elders trying to hide?

The rest of the scroll looked to be purposely scratched out. Suguru felt his jaw clench so hard his teeth nearly cracked. He couldn’t read any of the Kanji, and the paintings  had been blotted out with ink. 

“Tsk. Those bastards.” Suguru summoned a curse that took the appearance of a thin carpet with tentacles. At the center of the carpet was a glowing, white light. He made the curse slip underneath the scroll, specifically where the paintings had been blotted out. With a snap of his fingers, the curse lit up. The faint outline of the paintings appeared. The teen smiled in relief. “Thank you, Satoru.”

It was the white-haired teen who had taught Suguru this trick. One time, Shoko had accidentally spilled an experimental mixture on a manga Satoru had been reading. The trio had been in Shoko’s personal lab where she studied medicines and other chemicals. The mixture had stained the manga pages quite badly, but Satoru didn’t show a hint of anger. Suguru thought it was because Satoru was rich enough to buy an entire library’s worth of manga, which was accurate. However, Satoru giggled and raised one of the stained pages in the air, making sure the blinding  lights of Shoko’s lab were aimed at the paper. Suguru and Shoko had asked what the other was doing, and Satoru motioned them to come closer. Positioning himself on the ground, Suguru saw that the page of Gojo’s manga had become legible from the fluorescent light. As long as the other boy kept the pages to the brightest angle of light, he could read them.

And so could Suguru. As he commanded the curse to move underneath the scroll, he slowly could see the full paintings. It was a slow process, having to make the curse direct its small light to reveal equally small pieces of the remaining paintings. There were three remaining paintings of the scroll. The first one was a painting of the draconic cursed soul surrounded by what looked like a galaxy of eyes. Around the painting was a cycle of sorts. The start of the cycle was a picture depicting a person making eye contact with the birdlike cursed soul. Next, the person would be marked with an eye on their forehead and collapse and hold their head in agony. Following, they would be shown graphic images to torment their minds. The two next parts of the cycle depicted the person’s hallucinations getting worse and worse. The hallucinations themselves contained a bird the most. On the second to last part of the cycle, the bird seen in the hallucinations appeared on the person’s head, pecking the eye on their forehead. The last part was the eye disappearing along with the images, the person now smiling while holding the bird close. The second painting showed a battle between an army and the man Sukuna had made a vow with. The battle was painted in six stages. First, the army arrived at the throne, which was made of bones, of the man and Sukuna. Second, the army battled the man while Sukuna watched in the shadows, smiling. Third, ten square symbols appear on the man’s hand and he is surrounded by four beams of fire, each appearing to have a different form of matter. Fourth, the charred remains of the army now burn at the man’s feet. Fifth, Sukuna appears next to the man with a hand on his shoulder. Finally, the man is sitting on the throne with the added bones of the army while Sukuna stands behind the man with his four arms ensnaring him. The third and final painting was the man and Sukuna kneeling in front of each other, with one small soul above their heads and another larger soul connecting the two. The six guardians are wrapped around them. Each one has their eyes closed in a deep slumber. 

The scroll ended with a drawing of a little boy. It was so faded that Suguru had to practically shove his head against the scroll to see the tiny sketch. The boy was in the grass with his arms wrapped around his knees, looking onto the horizon. The child is leaning against a great peach tree with the outlines of six peaches, however the outlines were not colored in, making it look like the peaches were missing or even stolen. The boy was crying, yet he had a smile, just the slightest upturn of his lips. 

There was a clear story being told, but Suguru knew it would take him hours to decipher it. From what he could gather, it was a story of pain, bloodshed, and rebirth. The last picture of the little boy by the barren peach tree made Suguru feel a deep pang of sadness. Could the boy whose soul was given to Sukuna be Itadori Yuuji? Was Yuuji the baby the cursed souls were so committed to protecting? Suguru had a strong inkling that that was the case with Yuuji. Killed too young, but unable to rest with his soul and body being split and hidden away. Forced to wait alone until he was reborn. 

Suguru thought about Riko, the girl who was supposed to be lost forever in Tengen without a say in the matter.

With care, Suguru rerolled the scroll and tied the twine around it once more. He knelt by the scroll for a long, long time. He needed to investigate the scroll more, preferably with the help of Yaga and his friends. Additionally, the textbook written by Itadori Kaori still had much to explore. The only reports of the cursed souls needed to be taken as well. However, Suguru only had two arms. He needed something capable of carrying all of this without damaging the fragile scrolls. A personal inventory of sorts.

He knew exactly what curse to use. 

He just didn’t want to use it. 

“Dammit. The things I do for you, Satoru.” Suguru muttered to himself. He sighed shakily and summoned the curse Toji had once held. The long body of the worm made the black-haired boy shiver in disgust. The memories the worm brought flashed in his mind, and Suguru had to bite his lip to stop from hyperventilating. This was the only curse Suguru had that scared him. He had only absorbed it as an act of petty revenge against Toji, with no intents of ever using it. Suguru felt bile in the back of his throat as the worm wiggled and wrapped against him. With his eyes shut tight, he picked up the first writing he felt, shoving it in the worm's mouth. He did it against and again until the large scroll on the ground was left. 

The worm looked at him with its horrid, purple face. Suguru felt its stare and shivered violently. “I hate you. I need you to know that I hate you.” He spat. 

The curse didn’t respond.

He sat on the ground and gathered the heavy scroll into his arms. With his eyes still snapped shut, he commanded the worm to start swallowing the scroll. He truly hoped Toji was watching from hell as his supposed servant now worked for the sorcerers he had tried to kill. 

Once the worm finished swallowing the scroll, Suguru dismissed it and immediately felt the tension within his body disappear. 

He stood to his full height, stretching his arms above his head until he felt multiple things pop. His sore body ached fiercely, but Suguru couldn’t stop now. The last scroll had finally given Suguru what he needed to help Satoru. While the full story within the scroll was yet to be deciphered, a way to free his best friend’s mind had been revealed. 

The cycle surrounding the bird-dragon entity. A bird had shown up the most in the person’s hallucinations. The bird then freed the person by breaking the eye attached to the victim’s forehead. Once the eye broke, the person was freed.

Suguru was likely the one showing up the most in Satoru’s hallucinations, accounting for the white-haired boy’s reported attempts at killing him. Perhaps seeing the one tormenting him the most suddenly helping him would break Satoru out of his trance more efficiently. Or perhaps make the hallucinations weaker if the subject of the hallucination is acting in contrast to the contents of said hallucination. Either way, it’d provide an opening of sorts to rid Satoru of his torment. 

He would free Satoru. No matter what. Suguru will succeed. There was no need to think of another plan if he fails. Because he won’t fail. 

He wouldn’t forgive himself if he failed. 

-

At some point, Shoko had stopped being surprised by the many antics her insane friends got into. Sure, when they first met, Shoko was caught off guard many times by Satoru and Suguru’s high jinks. It didn’t take long for Shoko to become an accomplice herself in their mischief. Now, Satoru could come into her office covered in chicken feathers with Suguru holding a rabid curse like a puppy, and Shoko wouldn’t bat an eye. It sounded like she was exaggerating, but she had seen the chaotic pair do weirder. As innocent as Suguru looked, she knew that it took practically zero convincing from Satoru to make the black-haired boy join in whatever prank the other was conctoing or vice versa. As long as they didn’t target her, Shoko didn’t care. They had tried to prank her once, but then remembered that she is the one with the best snacks and unlimited library of illegally downloaded movies and television shows. 

Their antics made her smile. 

This, however, did not.

“Do you think Satoru would calm down if we unleashed him in a candy shop or some shit?” Shoko spoke around her unlit cigarette. She wasn’t allowed to smoke in Tengen’s corridors, and all her nerves were already fried. Next to her, Yaga sighed heavily, looking like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. In a way, it was. 

“No. Despite Satoru’s sweet tooth, I doubt that would be enough to return him to his normal state.” Yaga grumbled, arms crossed. His sunglasses blocked all view of his eyes, but the girl could see how tense her teacher’s body was. “Any attempts at releasing him would be seen as treason to jujutsu society, ending in our executions.” 

“Worth a shot.” 

“Don’t even think about releasing him, Shoko.” 

“What makes you think I’d do something that stupid? That’s Suguru’s job.”

“To be stupid or release Satoru?” 

No response. 

The girl looked at her teacher. Her teacher looked at her. Tension formed in the air as the elder awaited the younger’s response. Without further hesitation, Shoko met Yaga’s stare head on. 

“Both.” 

“Shoko.” An exhausted sigh escaped Yaga’s lips, he rubbed his temples to ward off the incoming headache. He took off his sunglasses to start rumbling the bridge of his nose as well. He was so damn tired. These kids. They’ve gotten quite attached to one another. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a group of students willing to go so far for each other. In any other world, this would be a good thing, but it is only seen as something to take advantage of in this cruel world. “Suguru will not be releasing Satoru, the decision is up to the elders.” 

“That’s bullshit and you know it.” An unexpectedly sharp tone bled its way into Shoko’s normal monotone. Her passive features twisted in a deadly glare and scowl. The cigarette fell from her mouth as she roughly grabbed the collar of Yaga’s shirt. Despite her small stature, the strength of her iron grip could not be ignored. “Stop turning belly up every time the elders are involved in something!  They don’t care about you or any of us! They certainly don’t care about Satoru! They’re going to try to execute him the second our backs are turned! Because they’re fucking COWARDS!”

“Enough, Shoko-”

A violent tremor shook the ground the two stood on. Instantly, Shoko let go of Yaga and snapped her gaze to the source of the tremor. Or, more accurately, the person.

The one causing the building to shake was the one and only Gojo Satoru, bound from head to toe in chains and protective talismans. However, the talismans were there to protect others from Satoru, not Satoru himself. 

His arms were crossed behind his back and connected to a long chain on the ceiling, forcing the teen’s arms to be in an extremely uncomfortable position. Each leg had a metal bracelet with spikes on the inside, the chain of the bracelets being built into the floor. A heavy belt of chains wrapped around Satoru’s torso for the sole purpose of making it harder for the boy to move and breathe. His mouth was bound tightly with rope covered in more talismans. A much thicker rope was wrapped around his eyes with enchanted fabrics and talismans sewn into every fiber. The cracked floor next to Satoru’s left foot was the cause of the tremor. Satoru had stomped a hole into the floor due to the loud argument Shoko and Yaga were having. His mindless rage returned instantly, causing the boy to thrash in his bindings like a madman.

Drool pooled from the makeshift gag as Satoru writhed in frenzied outrage. He was trying to go towards where he heard Shoko’s voice, but the bindings were not long enough to allow him anything more than a step. Satoru’s muffled howls and screams made Shoko feel nauseous. One of her closest, goofiest friend’s had been reduced to a rabid animal. More cracks litter the floor as Satoru dug his feet into the stone floors, similar to a raging bull. Despite his attempts, the teen was no closer to being free. Satoru was in the middle of a wide room, so he had no walls to lean against or kick . A barrier was put up in addition to Satoru’s bindings. Neither Shoko nor Yaga could go through. It further made Shoko feel like she was looking at an animal at a zoo exhibit. 

“Do you really trust the elders with Satoru?” Shoko whispered, not taking her eyes off of her maddened friend.

“No. I don’t.” 

“Do you trust Suguru with Satoru?” She glanced at Yaga, who was stone faced while looking at his former student. 

“Absolutely.” Yaga spared a quick glance at Shoko before glancing back at the imprisoned boy. 

“Then let him help, sensei. Please.” It was the softest and most vulnerable Yaga had ever heard Shoko. She was normally such a level-headed girl, bordering on apathetic. He felt his doubts wash away at the sheer desperation in her voice. She didn’t show it, but Yaga knew how deeply the teen cared for her peers. 

He placed a hand on her shoulder. Yaga nodded firmly. “Alright.”

For the first time in months, Shoko smiled. “Alright.”

The next couple hours were spent with Yaga and Shoko standing guard over Satoru. Neither of them were comfortable enough with leaving the boy in such a vulnerable state on his own. Each watched with increasing sadness as Satoru’s mind and body deteriorated. His feet were bloodied from his constant kicking and stomping. His ankles were ripped to shreds from the spikes of the metal cuffs. A small pool of blood had gathered beneath Satoru as a result. His wrists were rubbed raw from his thrashing, minutes away from becoming as bloody as his ankles. With his arms being forced to be crossed and raised in the air for so long, Satoru had begun trembling from the strain. His arms were covered in angry, red blotches from the uneven blood flow. To make things worse, the pain in his arms had grown so unbearable that the rope covering Satoru’s eyes became soaked in the boy’s tears. His chest heaved with every breath from the chains around his torso. Despite having reverse cursed technique, Satoru was in no state to use it nor remember that he even had it . Shoko felt useless. She was the healer, yet she was not allowed to go inside the barrier and heal Satoru’s wounds. 

Sporadically, Satoru would have bursts of energy and start howling and thrashing. It was clear that he was trying to go towards where Shoko and Yaga stood, but couldn’t. Whether it was to attack them or not was unknown. There was one terrifying moment where Satoru tried activating his cursed technique. A blue light showed in his palms and the corridors trembled like a wobbly stack of blocks. Shoko would have yelled at Satoru if it wasn’t for Yaga reminding her that it would not snap Satoru out of his trance. Eventually, Satoru’s energy dropped and the glow went away. He twitched and muffled various things for almost an hour nonstop. 

Currently, Satoru had quieted down. His loose white shirt, provided by the lost and found bin the school had, was stained with blood, sweat, and drool. His body was constantly trembling from the muscles being strained for far too long. It looked like his knees would buckle at any minute with how harsh the tremors were. The black pants he wore were too short on his lanky legs and revealed the deep bruising Satoru had given himself by repeatedly kicking at the stone floor. Wheezes escaped the boy’s bound lips. Shoko had no doubt in her mind that his ribs were bruised or even fractured from the tight bindings. Despite his weakened state, she also knew that Satoru was still the strongest in the room. Even with Tengen’s barrier, the miasma cursed energy always held had gotten so thick that Shoko found it hard to breath. It felt like breathing something as volatile as electricity. Her hair as well as Yaga’s had become frizzled from the sheer power within the air. Satoru was still producing cursed energy, likely from his hallucinations causing the boy to think he was in a battle of sorts. However, the cursed energy had nowhere to go due to the talismans and barrier. Moreover, the surplus of energy felt unstable. It reminded Shoko of how Satoru’s technique used to feel when he was a first-year still figuring his powers out. Erratic and ready to ignite at a moment’s notice. 

Shoko had decided to sit down after the first half-hour of watching her friend. Fighting off the want to leave and go smoke had taken all of  her focus. So much so that she barely registered her phone going off. Yaga had to shake her awake. 

“Check your phone. And silence it when you're done.” Yaga mumbled. He patted her shoulder before promptly walking off the opposite side of the room. Neither of them noticed how Satoru’s head tilted towards the sound of Yaga’s shoes clacking against the floor. 

Blinking away her weariness, Shoko pulled out her phone, which miraculously still worked underground. It was a text from Suguru. 

She shot up like a rocket. Relief flooded her so fast that Shoko blurted out, “It’s Suguru!” 

Immediately, a snarl interrupted her mini-celebration. At the name of his supposed best friend, Satoru’s writhing began anew. However, his thrashing was the most violent it's ever been. The air grew thick with power, giving off the scent of ozone. Yaga slapped a hand against his face and groaned. His students were amazing, but stupid. 

“Shit.” Shoko lowered his voice and body. She went back to her phone and read the series of texts Suguru sent her. 

curse_gobbler: @lesbianmalpractice i’ve figured out a way to save @xXxlimitlessfirby42069xXx (Today at 6:08 PM)

curse_gobbler: find a way to get him out of that barrier. i need more time to set up some things on my end. (Today at 6:09 PM)

curse_gobbler: try to send him to the arena we use during exchange events. idc how you do it just do it please. if you can’t do that just send him to the surface and i’ll figure it out. it’s best to have him in the forest (Today at 6:11 PM)

curse_gobbler: text me when you free him pls (Today at 6:12 PM.)

curse_gobbler: if you don’t free him, i will literally kill u and kms (Today at 6:12 PM)

lesbianmalpractice: got it. i think talking shit about u will work. satoru started fucking snarling the second he heard ur name. (Today at 6:13 PM)

curse_gobbler: damn. just get him to activate his limitless and i’m sure it’ll be stronger than tengen’s barrier. (Today at 6:14 PM)

lesbianmalpracitice: u think that satoru’s limitless is more powerful than tengen’s barrier? (Today at 6:14 PM)

curse_gobbler: it has to be. otherwise i can’t do shit. i’m not going to consider anything other than success. i refuse to. (Today at 6:14 PM)

lesbianmalpractice: you’ll succeed suguru. no one knows satoru like u. and when this is all over, we’ll have a movie marathon and sleep for a week. and change satoru’s stupid username (Today at 6:15 PM)

curse_gobbler: i’m looking forward to it (Today at 6:15 PM)

lesbianmalpractice: i am too (Today at 6:16 PM)

“It’ll work.” Shoko whispered to herself. She put her phone in the pocket of her jacket and went to the very edge of Tengen’s barrier. She was so close that she could feel the energy the barrier was emitting. Like clockwork, Satoru lunged towards her, not going very far. One of the spikes within his ankles bracelets had become wedged deep into the skin, but Satoru showed no signs of pain. With a deep breath, Shoko shouted as loudly as she could. “SUGURU IS STRONGER THAN YOU. I HOPE SUGURU BEATS YOU TO A PULP. SUGURU IS GOING TO STOP YOU. SUGURU IS BETTER! SUGURU! SUGURU! SUGURU IS GOING TO SAVE YOU, SATORU!”

“What are you doing, Shoko?! Do you want him to-”

A shockwave of pure cursed energy caused each sorcerer to crash to the ground. Cracks littered the ground, even outside of Tengen’s barrier. Satoru screamed against his binds, thrashing so hard that Shoko heard several bones crack. The scent of ozone intensified until Shoko felt her nostrils burn. She motioned Yaga to come to her and not the line of fire. 

Satoru roared as he jerkled his arms down, causing a sickening snap to fill the air. 

He had broken his arms and dislocated his shoulders to have his hands in front of him. Screaming, Satoru pulled his wrists apart until the skin tore. Eventually, the chain connecting the shackles together snapped. With his arms bleeding profusely, Satoru raised his hands to the rope around his mouth and tugged harshly, immediately breaking it in two. Satoru spat the rope out and gasped deep lungfuls of air.

With each breath, the wounds around Satoru began to close. His reversed technique had finally kicked in with the removal of some of the talismans. Satoru tore apart the chains around his torso like paper, screaming while he did so. He broke into a coughing fit with the sudden decrease in pressure on his lungs. In seconds, Satoru recovered and went to the shackles around his heavily damaged ankles. Eachspike was embedded deep into his ankles. With a frustrated snarl, Satoru raised a hand in the air and chopped off his right ankle. Shoko felt herself recoil at the sight, wanting to instinctively go to her friend and slap him beside the head for being so reckless. However, the ankle was fully restored in the blink of an eye. Satoru repeated the same motion with his other ankle. With everything except for his eyes being freed, Satoru took the time to reset his shoulders. He showed no hint of pain. Instead of agonizing screams or whimpers, Satoru’s lips were moving in an apparent conversation with himself. He stopped suddenly and froze, his lips still busy frantically muttering nonsense. 

Shoko saw how hard Satoru shook. Healing broken bones and amputated limbs took an indescribable amount of cursed energy. Satoru may have a well of cursed energy deeper than comprehension, but he was still human. He hadn’t drank or eaten in days and had just used massive amounts of cursed energy. 

He needed a boost. 

“SUGURU IS AT THE SCHOOL, SATORU! HE’S WAITING FOR YOU!” 

It was exactly what he needed. 

As if a switch had been flicked, Satoru jolted from his prior catatonic state. He locked his covered eyes with Shoko. “ Where. Where is he? ”

His voice was nearly unrecognizable with how raspy it was. It sounded painful, like each syllable was an agony to suffer through. She shook her head to rid herself of her worried thoughts. “He’s in the forest where the exchange event usually takes place! Suguru is waiting for you there, Satoru.” It was clear that the hallucinations were making Satoru see Suguru as some monster to be stopped. Shoko saw how tense Satoru was getting, a viper ready to strike. She backed away and motioned Yaga to do the same. “Yeah. Suguru’s there, Satoru. Suguru is dangerous. He’s already killed people.” 

Before she could breathe, Satoru ripped off the rope around his eyes and bore his maddened gaze into Shoko. He banged his fists on the barrier. “WHO?! WHO DID HE KILL?!  TELL ME NOW!”

Make him use limitless. Make him stronger than Tengen, even if it’s just for a second. He has to be stronger. He’ll die if he isn’t. She swallowed. “Everyone.”

It was silent for a moment before all hell broke loose. The ground, walls, and ceilings trembled as Satoru began to howl a scream of pure loss and pain. A purple glow was starting to emit from Satoru’s palms. In addition, the barrier shook with effort to contain the boy. It got brighter and brighter as Satoru charged up enough energy to blow up the whole country.

“WE HAVE TO GO.” Yaga shouted, grasping onto Shoko’s arms and running towards a random corridor. She ran alongside him, heart beating rapidly in her chest. The howls of rage echoes in the chambers. Shoko felt her lip wobble as she ran and bit it harsh enough to draw blood. 

Thankfully it seemed that Tengen wasn’t upset at them, allowing them to pass through the many doors and pathways. All the while, the entire place shuddered. Debris started falling and the air around her grew hot and thick.

Just as Shoko and Yaga exited the Tombs of the Star Corridor, a violent explosion followed. With his reactivation of Limitless, Gojo Satoru managed to escape Tengen’s barrier. It couldn’t contain Infinite afterall. Moreover, all it takes is a single drop too many to make a container overflow. 

-

Suguru felt his stomach drop the second he heard the explosion in the distance. Both from relief and dread. Relief for Satoru being freed, but dread for what’s to come. When Suguru told Shoko he had a plan, it was a complete lie. At best, he had the torn scraps of a plan that should be over one hundred pages long. For once, he was grateful for his technique allowing him such a large variety of abilities. He would need his adaptability in battle more than anything else. 

The air around him grew heavy with what felt like static. Suguru stood his ground as he saw the bushes shake and trees tremble. He made sure his senses were strained to the limit to detect any signs of Satoru. The snap of a twig, the crunch of a leaf, even the scent of ice Satoru’s skin tended to have. Several of his curses were released into the forest, and he waited until he felt one of them be exorcized.

First one down.

Second.

Third.

Fourth. Firth. Sixth. Ninth. Thirteenth. Wait-

“Oh fuck.” Suguru braced himself as all of his curses were exorcized in moments. He had thought that they would buy him some time, but he had forgotten how powerful Satoru truly was. Especially a Satoru with no restraint. “Please be-”

He didn’t even get to blink before he was tackled into the dirt, a bony knee stabbing into his back. 

His curses were all semi-grade one and above. Satoru had defeated them all in less than a minute! 

For the first time since meeting the white-haired boy, Suguru truly felt afraid of Gojo Satoru.

“I didn’t take you as the one to hide, Suguru. Sending weak curses after me instead of facing me head on. You’ve sure fallen from grace~” Satoru snarled into Suguru’s ear, his hot breath causing the other to shiver. An ice cold hand wrapped around Suguru’s hair and yanked. “Did you really think I’d let a bastard like you escape a second time? No. Unlike you, I learn from my mistakes.” 

Suguru felt like he was about to be scalped with how hard Satoru held his hair. The knee on his back felt more like a knife digging into his spine. Having Satoru talk to him as if he was a monster made Suguru want to curl into a ball and disappear. All the thoughts he had about himself only being capable of hatred and anger reappeared. His eyes watered as Satoru yanked his hair again. He swore he felt something tear. He had been foolish. Suguru had thought that he would be able to handle Satoru, even if it was for a small amount of time. To even assume he was on the same level as Satoru was the most idiotic thing Suguru had ever done. There was no escaping Satoru’s grip. 

“You’ve gotten away with far too much, Suguru. I can’t even look at you anymore without wanting to incinerate you into bits and pieces. Not that you deserve such a swift end. I’ll make it slow. Just like how you tortured me for years, I’ll do the same to you.”

The volatile tension in the air grew, and Suguru was suddenly filled with regrets. Even if Satoru was deep into his own tortured mind and hallucinations, Suguru still felt like there was a level of truth to his words. He had fallen from grace. Suguru had started as a reliable, respected sorcerer, the pride and joy of his family. He was molded to be the perfect little soldier, and he fulfilled that role for years. He always kept a polite smile on his face and made sure to be as selfless as possible. Anytime he tried to do something of his own fruition, Suguru would freeze like a glitching computer. He had no thoughts of his own, only the thoughts of what a ‘hero’ would do and how a ‘sorcerer’ should behave. He had eventually come to see the teachings of his elders as law. He believed in them like a dedicated sorcerer should. He helped non-sorcerer's without hesitation. That was what he was told was right. And wasn’t it the right thing to do? Helping someone couldn’t ever be seen as bad, right? His elders didn’t lie about that. 

So why does Suguru feel like they did lie to him? They only wanted him to be the best sorcerer he could be, that wasn’t something to hate them for.

 But Suguru still did. 

He hated his teachers. He hated his parents even more. Suguru was the first sorcerer in his family line, so none of them knew what to do when their son started talking about seeing monsters in the walls. They quickly grew into seeing it as a blessing to be nurtured. His parents spent almost all their money on tutors, barely having enough for housing and food. Family members who he didn’t know existed flocked to Suguru and showered him in presents to further his career as a sorcerer. They sacrificed so much for him, so Suguru should be grateful. It was the fact that he wasn’t that bothered him greatly. His hatred towards his parents grew so intense that he dreamed of killing them multiple times. What kind of person thinks of killing their own parents? Suguru apparently. He was built wrong, malformed and useless. Saying that he’s a monster was not a stretch of the imagination by any means. His dark thoughts had grown this past year, only further proving Suguru’s point. 

Maybe he should let Satoru kill him. 

Afterall, he was the worst friend in the world. Satoru was friends with an empty shell, and empty shells can’t make a good friend. He just spat out rehearsed lines someone else had told him. Sure, he joked around with Satoru and they had become attached at the hip, but Satoru was friends with the perfect sorcerer Suguru was sculpted as. All of his thoughts and actions were based on those of another. The real Suguru didn’t know anything. What to think. How to feel. Why to continue on. His only true thought was his plan to rid the world of non-sorcerers. It had been the only thing that Suguru had believed in that wasn’t associated with his elder’s teachings in any way. That spoke bounds as to who Suguru truly was. A monster hellbent on killing innocents. That kind of person shouldn’t be Satoru’s friend. Not when Satoru was the most special thing in Suguru’s life. He couldn’t taint someone as pure as Satoru. It didn’t matter that they both had blood on their hands, Satoru’s soul was unstained. Suguru’s was stained by the putrid darkness within him. He had wanted to kill every non-sorcerer with a burning passion. A passion that was his own making. A passion that was just murder. Genocide. That was Suguru. A killing machine. 

A monster who still wanted to kill non-sorcerers. The hatred hadn’t gone away, still raging inside him. He hated those monkeys. Even after everything, Suguru couldn’t let his hatred go. Any normal person would. Satoru would. Satoru was the person that took all the blows so no one else would. Satoru was loud, obnoxious, and infuriating. He enjoyed causing mischief and roped Suguru into his plans every time. Satoru reveled in the mayhem he caused, but there was so much more to him. For instance, Satoru would cause Suguru to laugh until his sides hurt and eyes watered without prompt. He would buy Suguru and Shoko the most lavish gifts just because he could, often showing up with decadent desserts and luxurious souvenirs for the two at any time. It didn't  need to be their birthday, Satoru would just give Suguru the most expensive hoodie he had ever seen and try to justify his random gift by teasing Suguru about his style or some other weak excuse. Hell, Satoru had gifted Suguru a crystal statue of a dragon that was covered in diamonds and emeralds just because it reminded the boy of Suguru's Rainbow Dragon curse. No one had ever given Suguru gifts like that before. He was used to receiving textbooks and weapons on his birthday or during holidays. It was always about Suguru being a jujutsu sorcerer, not Suguru himself. Satoru, for some impossible reason, cared for Suguru. And Suguru was too selfish to tell Satoru to stop. 

Satour was everything to him. Suguru couldn’t imagine his life without Satoru. He was beautiful and absolutely radiant . His one and only.

Yet Suguru was willing to leave him behind.

How many times did Satoru have nightmares of the Toji incident? Of Riko’s assassination and Satoru’s own assassination attempt? Suguru used to hold Satoru and cuddle him every time his closest friend had nightmares or was simply feeling down. He would hold onto Satoru tightly, and the other would hold him even tighter, whispering ‘thank yous’ nonstop. Satoru was someone who grew up without a shred of affection, so he clung to Suguru like a koala whenever he could. How hurt must have Satoru felt when Suguru never showed up to comfort him? Fuck . When was the last time he hugged Satoru? Truly embraced him, not the desperate hug he shared in a half-conscious state with Nanami and Satoru after the disastrous Sendai mission. An actual hug, the ones where no words are shared as Suguru wraps his arms around Satoru’s waist, and Satoru can feel Suguru’s warmth while Suguru can feel the pleasant coolness of Satoru’s ivory skin. The hugs where Satoru nuzzles into the crook of Suguru’s neck with a happy hum, fitting like perfect puzzle pieces against each other. The hugs that last so long that Suguru ends up flopping on his or Satoru’s bed, continuing to hold the other as sleep takes hold of Satoru first while Suguru cards his fingers through impossibly soft snow-white hair before falling asleep himself. The hugs that leave Suguru’s soul so light and whole that it’s physically painful to separate. 

He couldn’t remember. 

“I’m sorry.” Suguru blurted out, his voice shaky and watery. The second the words left him, it was like the floodgates of Suguru’s soul opened. Tears quickly formed in Suguru’s eyes, streaming down his face in seconds. HIs chest heaved as Suguru began to cry for the first time in over a year. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Satoru. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’msorryI’msorryI’msorry -”

He couldn’t stop apologizing to Satoru. There was so much he had done that needed to be rectified. The grip around his hair loosened as Suguru, normally known for being composed and level headed, grew hysterical. His sobbing made his apologies slur together until even he didn’t know what he was saying. He didn’t stop. Even as he felt the dirt beneath his face turn muddy from his tears and snot, he continued to bawl like a toddler. He felt horrible. He felt so lost. He felt guilty and shameful and just badbadbad. 

“ ‘M sorry, Satoru.” Suguru sobbed out, his chest aching with how forcefully he said those words. His very soul was aching, and he didn’t know how to make it stop. He was remembering everything all over again. His parents. His teachers. Jujutsu Sorcery. Satoru. Shoko. Yaga Nanami. Riko. Haibara. Toji .  Finally, Suguru reached his breaking point. All the trauma and pain he had experienced came down all at once. He began to blubber like a child. “It’s my fault! I shouldn’t have left you! It’s all my fault you got hurt! Riko died ‘cause of me. I couldn’t protect her. I couldn’t protect you! And then I left you all alone for months even though I knew how much you were hurting! I ignored you, and I shouldn’t have! I’m sorry, Satoru! I know I’m a monster! I know I’ve caused you so much pain! Fuck, you died for a moment and I wasn’t there! I don’t know how to be there for you anymore, Satoru! I don’t know how to do anything! I’m a fucking fraud! I’m not a hero! I’m not good like you! You have every right to kill me! I’ll hurt more people if I live, that’s all I’m good at! And I’ve hurt you more than anyone else and I can’t do that! I can’t do this anymore, Satoru, so just do it already! Please -”

“NO!” 

The knee on his back and grip on his hair disappeared. It shocked Suguru out of his meltdown, allowing the boy to take a much needed breath. He felt frozen as he breathed in harshly, the air thick with tension. So quiet that Suguru could only hear his own heartbeat and breath. 

“Shut up. Shut the hell up this instant!” Satoru shrieked. In said instant, Suguru felt his heart skip a beat at the unhinged tone. It sounded nothing like the Satoru he knew, his voice was completely unrecognizable. Identical to someone deemed deranged or a lunatic.

Silence overcame them once more. Neither moving an inch.

The trembling breaths of Satoru were the only clue as to where the teen was, which was directly behind Suguru. Somehow, Satoru felt far too close and incredibly far away at the same time. 

“Be quiet, you bastard… Just shut up. Don’t cry like that…Please not like that! I can’t take it. I can’t either. It’s too much.” Satoru whispered in a terrified plea, a complete shift from his prior cold brutality. The weak murmurs of the white-haired teen paralyzed Suguru. “Don’t cry. Please don’t cry. I didn’t mean to…I didn’t… I’m sorry. Come back to me, please…Don’t go…”

Satoru then grew silent for several, tense minutes.

Then Satoru moved.

A few twigs snapped as Satoru walked around a still prone Suguru. He looked down at him, but Suguru noticed the violent shaking of his fists. Satoru, only clad in a dirty shirt and too short pants, had no sunglasses to hide his eyes. The clarity Suguru expected to see was nonexistent. They were foggy and unfocused. His eyelids twitched, and Suguru could see just how unstable Satoru was. His own mind was too exhausted to come up with a plan, energy drained from his outburst. Suguru rose from the floor to his knees, not feeling confident enough to stand. 

Satoru inhaled sharply. He glared at Suguru and barked out, “Don’t say that! Don’t you dare say that, you fucking asshole! Quit throwing yourself a pity party!” The teen then gripped the collar of his shirt tightly and looked at the dirt. His form shook as Satoru’s head twitched. His hands then wrenched to his head and started clawing at his cheeks. Satoru heaved in violent breaths. “Quit acting like him! You’re not him! Right?! Are you him?! But your forehead…It’s not…Is it there?! I can’t remember! Shit, I can’t remember anything!” 

He’s still hallucinating . Suguru remembered with a gasp. His breakdown had left him empty and exhausted. Yet, Suguru had no time to rest. He had to pull himself together and help Satoru. Even so, his mind wasn’t cooperating whatsoever. His body was sapped of all energy, his head pounded, his eyes burned, his stomach ached from both nausea and hunger, and Suguru wanted to curl up in a ball forever. Both his body and mind were useless. It was like trying to tie two broken strings together, only the strings have gotten so weathered and thin that it breaks each time a knot is attempted. Suguru made eye contact with Satoru, feeling like the scum of the earth. “Satoru-”

“Shut up!” Satoru wrenched his body from Suguru like it burned him. He took several steps back with shaking legs. “I’ve heard enough!”

“Satoru, please-”

“BE QUIET!” 

In a flash, Satoru was gripping Suguru by the collar of his jacket, holding him high in the air effortlessly. The forest around them seemed to grow quiet as the two stared at each other. 

Being so close, Suguru saw how terrible Satoru looked. He had forgotten that he had been comatose for several days while Satoru had been awake the entire time. Satoru had been hallucinating for days . Satoru’s body trembled nonstop, and Suguru noticed how translucent and sickly his skin looked. Blood was stained around his shirt and pants, sweat beaded from his forehead, and his eyes were bloodshot. The bags around his cloudy eyes and the slight hollowness of his cheeks meant that Satoru hadn’t slept or eaten since the Sendai mission. 

His body is shutting down. He’s going to pass out some time soon. I just have to wait it out. Suguru raised his tired arms to grasp the hand holding his collar. It didn’t budge, but Suguru held onto it tightly. He remembered the cycle the painting showed.

The bird that plagued the victim’s mind the most pecked the victim's forehead, making the eye on their head disappear and freeing the victim. 

Pecking.

An idea popped into Suguru's chaotic mind, the most idiotic idea he had ever had. But he had nothing else. 

Suguru summoned a curse to drag him back to the ground. The moment its tentacle wrapped around Suguru’s leg and pulled, Satoru jolted in surprise. Once his feet were planted on the ground, Suguru took advantage of Satoru being distracted, wrapping his arms around Satoru’s shoulders. Satoru snapped his head towards Suguru, his cloudy eyes unable to focus. Not allowing Satoru the chance to center himself, he went through with his desperate idea. 

He crashed his forehead down on Satoru’s in a brutal headbutt. 

The painful snap of both their necks was disorienting, a welt already beginning to form, but Suguru seized the opportunity to free himself from Satoru’s grip. Blood streamed down each of their foreheads, but Satoru was the most affected. He went to grasp his head, dizziness causing Satoru to wobble and sway. 

Suguru got into a defensive position, fists ready to retaliate. His eyes frantically searched for an eyeball on Satoru’s head, but he found none. The eyeball must have been symbolic then. That makes things so much harder! I can’t tell if I broke him out of the trance or not! He hissed as the pain in his head intensified. Battling would be impossible with Suguru in such a state. 

“What the hell, Suguru?! Why did you do that?! That hurt!” 

There it is. The bright voice Satoru was supposed to have. His impulsive idea had worked.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry, Satoru! Are you with me now? Can you see me?” Suguru, ignoring his mind’s warning, walked towards Satoru. He had his hands low in a placating gesture. He felt relief, but he still approached with trepidation. Satoru made no moves to attack. In fact, the boy was rubbing the bleeding welt on his forehead with a pout. “Satoru?”

“You’re lucky I can use the Reverse Cursed Technique, or else Shoko would have beat your ass. Damn, your head is like a rock, no wonder you’re so dense sometimes!” Satoru giggled. He looked like the Satoru who Suguru had come to know. With ease, Satoru healed himself and glanced at Suguru with a smirk. However, it faded as quickly as it appeared. Both of Satoru’s arms went limp at his sides. He froze like a statue, boring his eyes into Suguru’s. Disregarding the warning signs, Suguru stepped closer until he was inches apart from his friend. With the most gentleness Suguru could muster, he placed a hand on Satoru’s shoulder with his other hand cupping Satoru’s cheek. The white-haired boy’s head went limp in Suguru’s hold. His trembling grew even stronger, along with Satoru now gasping for breath. 

“Satoru!” Suguru wrapped both arms tightly around Satoru’s chest, knowing what to do on instinct alone. One hand rubbed his back in soothing strokes while the other soothes fingers through Satoru’s hair. The movements were smooth and well-practiced. He felt Satoru put all of his weight on Suguru suddenly. Thinking that he had passed out, Suguru leaned back to gaze at Satoru. Only he was still awake. However, the cloudiness of Satoru’s eyes faded more and more. Satoru’s hyperventilating grew into slow, deep breaths. 

He was back. Satoru was back.

Then he felt Satoru violenting wrench away.

Satoru stumbled to a random log with his hand covering his mouth. He used the log as support as Satoru began to gag and retch. Because there was no food to throw up, Satoru was left uncontrollably dry-heaving. On autopilot, Suguru went to Satoru and helped get his hair out of his face. It was second nature to be near Satoru, so Suguru ignored the ozone tint of the air to rub Satoru’s back. His mind was so discombobulated that Suguru forgot the delicate circumstance he was in. 

The sun had begun to set when Satoru stopped retching nothing but stomach acid. Satoru spit on the ground and shakily got up. When Suguru tried to help Satoru stand more stably, he realized that there was more going on with Satoru than Suguru thought. He seemed to be in reality, but his behavior was off-kilter. Satoru pushed Suguru away, the evening sun casting a deep orange glow on the forest and teens. There were no signs of Satoru hallucinating, but Satoru was still acting strange with his wide eyes locking with Satoru’s. 

“Are you-”

“You were going to defect and kill all non-sorcerers, right? Get rid of the ‘monkeys’. Killing hundreds of people and your own parents. You were gonna do that, right?”

All of Suguru’s veins turned to ice. “How-”

“Don’t give me any bullshit, Suguru. You had a plan to annihilate all non-sorcerers from Japan. I need an answer. No excuses. Did you plan to exterminate non-sorcerers and defect from Jututsu society? Yes or no?”

It felt like Satoru was towering over Suguru, a god looking down upon mere ants. Suguru clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white. Was Satoru paying attention when Suguru brokedown? Did he know beforehand? No matter how Satoru obtained the information, he was expecting Suguru to respond. With no doubt or hesitation, Suguru answered. “Yes.”

“Why.” 

It took Suguru by surprise to hear Satoru not scream at him or kill him for his plans. He blinked, waiting for any further responses from Satoru, but the teen simply stood stiffly with a piercing gaze. Suguru looked down at the dirt. He scowled at the memories that flooded in. Riko. Toji. The applause. The deafening fucking applause. “They’re monkeys, Satoru. Their inability to control cursed energy has caused us jujutsu sorcerers to die fighting the curses they create! Jujutsu sorcerers die day in and day out because the monkeys continue to live! That’s all they are, Satoru! What have they ever done for us? Have they died for us?! Have they ever tried returning the favor?!  The answer is they haven’t! We die for them . We fight murderous curses constantly for them . We have our comrades slaughtered for them . I have to consume and absorb curses over and over and over again FOR THEM ! AND THEY’RE NOT EVEN GRATEFUL! THEY’RE MONKEYS WHO KNOW NOTHING BUT TO APPLAUSE FOR THEIR OWN STUPIDITY! Listen, Satoru! Without the monkeys, we wouldn’t have to fight curses ever again! This country would be much better off with only jujutsu sorcerers! I hate those monkeys, all they have ever done is be cruel and ungrateful, and I’m not going to be convinced to believe otherwise.” The more Suguru spoke, the more emboldened he became. The hateful passion ignited once more, and Suguru told Satoru the plan he had been cultivating for a year.

 It was disturbing to see Suguru go from staying calm to completely melting down to yelling out all of his digressions with humanity. He knew it was wrong of him, but the control of his emotions had vanished. He was a sea of anger, regret, and grief, the waves moving him in all directions with no chance of allowing Suguru to choose where he went. He was unstable. Satoru was unstable. Both boys were in horrible headspaces, only having each other to lean on, not knowing how the suffering within them grew worse and worse. 

“You hate non-sorcerers.”

“I do…”

“Non-sorcerers are monkeys that contribute nothing to our world.”

“Yeah. They are monkeys. I can’t see them any other way.”

“...”

“...”

“Was Riko a dumb, drooling  monkey that deserves to die?” Satoru asked with an eerily calm voice. His expression was hidden due to the lack of light from the setting sun. He cocked his head to the side and scoffed. “Would you have killed her yourself if she was still here?”

All of Suguru’s fire went out. He didn’t know the answer to that. Suguru was planning to kill his parents since there were no exceptions in his quest for eradicating monkeys. The thought of killing Riko made bile rise in his throat. Suguru scoffed. “She’s dead, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Quit deflecting Suguru. I need an answer.” Satoru replied coolly. The two best friends looked like they were about to face each other in a battle of the death.  Dark orange shined on Suguru’s features while a reddish-orange encased Satoru. A foot apart. Face to face. The Strongest. 

While Gojo Satoru had been broken out of his hellish reprieve, his brain was permanently altered. The trance causing him to hallucinate was broken when Getou Suguru made contact with his forehead. He had unknowingly fulfilled a binding vow. In exchange for making the psychic attack exponentially stronger, a way to break it was implemented: the main subject of the hallucinations must make skin to skin contact with the victim head. No one that had suffered under the psychic attack had ever managed to be freed. The first person to break out of the trance was Gojo Satoru. However, there was more to Gojo Satoru’s trance. Unbeknownst to Getou Suguru, Gojo Satoru had been given over two decades of information in the span of a couple days. His brain suffered permanent damage. In an act of pure impulsive and reckless thought, Gojo Satoru made a gamble he would have never made prior to the attack.

“If you tell me that Riko is a monkey who deserves to die, and you mean it whole-heartedly, then I will join you and help eradicate all non-sorcerers. I’ll even make a binding vow that will ensure my loyalty if you have doubts. Just tell me you hate Riko, and I’ll go with you to make your plans become a reality.”

Out of anything that Satoru could have uttered, this was the most unexpected outcome of all. In no world did Suguru imagine that Satoru would agree with him and join him. It should be impossible for someone like Satoru to be willing to do such a thing. A binding vow was a serious matter in all cases, and Satoru just opened himself up to one. Imagining Satoru by his side while they get rid of all monkeys was both a pipedream and Suguru’s worst nightmare. He couldn’t do that to Satoru. He was too good of a person. 

Yet he was offering his aid and loyalty. All Satoru needed was Suguru to admit what he truly thinks about Riko, that she is a monkey like the rest of non-sorcerers. 

If Suguru admitted such a thing and meant it, then the binding vow would be fulfilled immediately. Satoru would join his side and defect from Jujutsu Society. He could finally leave. His plans were no longer farfetched with someone like Satoru by his-

Someone like Satoru would hate every second. 

He couldn’t do that to Satoru. Making Satoru suffer in such a way would be the cruelest thing Suguru had ever done. Satoru meant too much to Suguru. He couldn’t drag Satoru from his place in the stars to the dark hellscape Suguru belonged in. 

And to top everything off…

Suguru couldn’t say Riko was a monkey and mean it. It would be a total lie. 

Would he have to give up on his plans? He wanted to stay with his friends, but wanted to leave and get rid of the monkeys that caused them to get hurt. Haibara was killed by a curse. A curse spawned from non-sorcerers. His friends would never suffer again if he eradicated the source of all curses. 

Riko was a non-sorcerer. 

Were there curses that spawned from Riko’s negative emotions? 

How many sorcerers were killed by those curses? Should she-

 I want to be with everyone longer!

I want to go to all kinds of places with everyone!

I want to see all kinds of things and do more!

Riko loved life and wanted to see all parts of it. She loved life more than anyone he had ever met. She was like the little sister Suguru never had. 

Let’s go home, Riko-chan. 

Yeah!

But a bullet through her skull snuffed out her light. 

What if he was the one holding the gun, seeing her as just another monkey to exterminate?

Non-sorcerers were monkeys. Riko was a non-sorcerer, but was she-

“She’s not.” Suguru gasped out. His eyes immediately began to water. “She didn’t deserve to be killed! All she wanted to do was stay with us and Misato-san! That’s all she wanted, Satoru! But that monkey Toji shot her before she had a chance to live that life! She and Misato-san were the only good non-sorcerers, but they’re dead! There aren’t any other non-sorcerers worth sparing left! Don’t you remember how those monkey’s applauded Riko-chan’s death?! None of them are worth sparing! None!” 

“What makes you think a society of sorcerers would be better?!” Satoru snapped back. He grit his teeth in a snarl. “Sorcerers are worse than non-sorcerers! If non-sorcerers are monkeys, then I’m a fucking monster!”

What?

“Satoru, you are no-” Suguru instantly went to shut down such false claims. 

“OF COURSE I AM!” It felt like Suguru had been slapped in the face. Satoru marched over towards Suguru and pushed him. Hard. There was so much force that Suguru was sent slamming into a tree, causing the bark to splinter and crack. Satoru wasn’t finished. His rage was palpable in the air. His eyes seemed to glow with how intensely they glared at the black-haired teen. “I BARELY EVEN TOUCHED YOU, AND YOU WERE SENT SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET! SORCERERS ARE MONSTERS COMPARED TO NON-SORCERERS! AND I’M THE WORST OF THEM ALL. YOU KEEP SAYING HOW NON-SORCERERS ARE MONKEYS, LIKE THEY AREN’T EVEN HUMAN ANYMORE! JUST PESTS TO BE REMOVED! WHAT DOES THAT MAKE ME THEN, HUH?! I’VE KILLED PEOPLE! I’VE HURT PEOPLE! I’M MORE OF A MONSTER THAN ANYONE ELSE! DO YOU KNOW HOW BADLY I WANT TO BE HUMAN?! I DON’T WANT TO BE SOME FUCKING WEAPON! I NEVER ASKED TO BE A SORCERER, AND NON-SORCERERS DON’T CHOOSE TO SPAWN CURSES! I’LL NEVER BE A HUMAN! NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY!”

A blast of pure cursed energy shot from Satoru’s palms. The explosion that followed caused several trees to crash and even more ignite in flames. Tears of utter rage flowed down Satoru’s cheeks. He went to Suguru and yanked him into a standing position. With the sun almost set and the fire spreading, the forest looked to be bathed in crimson. Satoru gestured a sweeping hand towards the growing inferno. He let out a painful laugh. 

“This is me, Suguru!” Satoru let Suguru go unceremoniously and spread his arms wide. “In a society where non-sorcerers with no abilities are deemed monkeys, then I can only be this! A monster of pure destruction!” Satoru said cheerily, sending another blast of cursed energy through the forest, causing a crater to be formed where the great trees once stood. “This is me holding back, Suguru! What would I be in your perfect society if I can do this, hm~”

Suguru looked at Satoru in horror. No. The only monster was Suguru. Satoru wasn’t. If he was a monster, then Suguru didn’t know what he would classify at. His body was covered in scrapes with bruises quickly forming. Something had definitely fractured and blood was pouring from the cuts on his skull. Even so, he stood tall. “You’re not a monster! You save people with those powers-”

“I don’t.” Satoru whispered. It was then like all the energy had been sapped out of Satoru. Finally, the dehydration, sleep deprivation, and lack of food caught up to the boy, even someone as powerful as Gojo Satoru. He collapsed into Suguru’s arms, who had instinctively gone to catch him. Satoru’s body couldn't take it anymore. While Satoru remained conscious, he felt the exhaustion within his very bones call for him. He refused to give in. “I don’t save people, Suguru. I never really have. I’m much better at the opposite. Shit, I had already killed two people before I even turned ten! How wild is that? You know, I killed the puppy I was given for my seventh birthday after one day of having her. I accidentally petted her too hard and snapped her neck. And that was me trying my best to be gentle! That’s me, Suguru. I’m a freak of nature. So…How can you hate non-sorcerers so much if I’m worse?” 

The blistering heat of the fire was uncomfortable, but Suguru kept holding Satoru despite the rising temperatures. It was getting harder to breathe with the smoke from the forest fire that had gotten out of control. They needed to move, but Suguru stayed put. He couldn’t move if he tried. He was in a state of utter shock. Processing Satoru’s words was frying Suguru’s brain. He still couldn’t wrap his mind around Satoru seeing himself as anything but incredible. Suguru placed his cheek against Satoru’s soft hair. “I’m sorry, Satoru. You’re not a monster. You’re the complete opposite. You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen, and everything about you makes me feel like I’m in the presence of an angel more often than not.” Suguru let out a small smile when he felt Satoru snort at his words. He ignored the flames as a wave of serenity came over him. It felt like they were in their own bubble of sorts. “To be honest…I don’t know who I am or what I believe anymore. I hate non-sorcerers, but labeling Riko as a monkey would be tarnishing her name. I don’t know what I’m doing anymore, Satoru. That’s why I distanced myself for all this time. You were figuring things out while everything around me was unraveling. I didn’t want to drag you down with me. I thought I’d get my shit together, but I didn’t. I just got worse.” Suguru tightened his hold on Satoru at that. He had gotten to his lowest, darkest points this past year. No good came out of his self-isolation. “I still don’t know what to do now, but I do know that I’m not leaving you. I want to stay by your side if you’d let me. Maybe we can figure things out together. I found out so much about cursed souls, and we’ll need to be ready for Sukuna. We need to prepare for a lot of things. I’d be a dick and an idiot if I left now. I’m staying. I understand if you don’t want to be friends with me anymore after this, but I’ll still help you and the others in any way I can. I promise, Satoru. I’ll be with you in whatever way you’ll allow me.”

Satoru shifted in his hold, a sign to be let go. Feeling anxiety ice his nerves, Suguru loosened his embrace. He prepared himself for Satoru’s rejection and scorn. He deserved it after all he put Satoru through. 

Instead, Satoru didn’t yell. He didn’t look upset whatsoever. He rolled his eyes with such fondness that Suguru felt his cheeks burn far hotter than the flames around them.

He cupped Suguru’s cheeks. 

“This is for being an asshole and leaving me alone for a year.”

Satoru slapped him. A red handprint immediately started to form on Suguru’s face. “I deserve that.” 

“You do.” Satoru then cupped his cheeks once more. His eyes shone in joy, but Suguru had no clue what was the cause of Satoru’s happiness. Is it because he’ll be free of Suguru? It made sense if so. Suguru was a blight on Satoru’s future. He was horrible and selfish. Bad all around. Someone like him didn’t deserve to be around someone as perfect as-

 Satoru pressed his lips against his own. 

Oh . 

Before Satoru pulled away, Suguru melted into the kiss. Satoru let out a happy hum and wrapped his arms around Suguru’s neck. Neither of them cared about the sweat, blood, and dirt that covered the other. The kiss seemed to last for centuries despite being a few seconds. 

“That’s for staying.” Satoru whispered against Suguru’s lips. Both took in some much needed air, faces centimeters apart. “I’m not letting you leave.”

“I’ll hold you to it, Satoru.” He smiled into their next kiss, both of them suddenly insatiable now that they finally had a taste of the other. The months of loneliness and longing were over. Suguru didn’t feel lost anymore. He had Satoru and the others to help guide him down a new path. It would be a slow process, but Suguru wouldn’t be alone for a second of it. 

As their kisses got deeper, Suguru felt a hole within his soul, a hole he didn’t even realize he had, fill. He felt complete. 

The taste of a curse was vile. Curses taste like a rag used to clean up shit and vomit. He was the only person who knew the taste, calling it disgusting would be a massive understatement. No other sorcerer had the misfortune of knowing what a curse tastes like. Suguru had to be trained from a young age to swallow the putrid monsters. Overtime, he’s gotten used to the taste, but it was still as unpleasant as ever. 

The taste of Satoru couldn’t be more different.

Kissing Satoru was now Suguru’s favorite thing in the world. He tasted like mint, which made sense considering Satoru was always cold to the touch, and sugar, likely caused by Satoru’s infamous sweet tooth. Minty and sweet. It was Suguru’s new favorite flavor, and he was content if that’s the only thing he tastes for the rest of his life. 

When they finally separated, Satoru placed his head in the crook of Suguru’s neck, the white-haired teen’s favorite spot. Suguru could feel Satoru smiling against his neck. “Heh. You like me~”

“Maybe a little.” Suguru smiled in turn. 

“So are we boyfriends now? ‘Cause I will kick your ass if you friendzone me.” 

A warmth Suguru had never felt before bloomed in his chest. “If that’s what you want, then I’d be happy to start courting you.”

“Pfft. Courting? What is this, the eighteen-hundreds?” Satoru teased. It felt so familiar that Suguru couldn’t help but hold Satoru even closer. The other wiggled until his lanky body was fully seated in Suguru’s lap. “I think we should call ourselves something.”

“Do you not like the term boyfriend? We can label ourselves as partners or something else you’re more comfortable with if that’s the case. I can’t think of the terms beside partner or lover, but I’m sure there are others we can look into.”

“Nah. All those sound fine actually. We can be all of the above, including being best friends because no one is allowed to take that spot. Though, you wanna know what I would love you to use to refer to our awesome new relationship?”

“What? Dumbass and Smartass?”

“The Strongest.” 

Suguru felt the warmth in his chest bloom once more. Tears pricked at his eyes, but his smile was so wide his cheeks hurt. “You sure you want to share that title again?”

“Mhm~ It’s lonely at the top, ya’know? You’re the only other person who understands me and can actually stand besides me as an equal. You deserve the title. I won’t let anyone take it away from you.” Satoru felt his eyelids grow heavier and heavier. “I think I’m going to pass out at this point, so gimme a goodnight kiss.”

“We’ve been together officially for like ten minutes and you’re already that needy?”

“You love it though~”

“Yeah, I do.” Suguru kissed Satoru, fully intending on spoiling the other for the rest of time. A tiny hum came from Satoru as their lips met for the umpteenth time. Said happy hum that Satoru makes when kissed was now one of Suguru’s favorite sounds. 

“OH MY GOD.” 

Suguru jolted and parted from Satoru, adrenaline coursing through his veins. It seemed like Satoru’s warning of passing out wasn’t a joke, he was unconscious and didn’t react whatsoever to the loud noise. He looked towards the person who yelled and suddenly wanted to curl up and die. 

It was Shoko and Yaga. 

“When I told you to do magic, true love gay shit, I didn’t mean it literally!” Shoko crossed her arms with a huff. “So kissing sleeping beauty was what broke the spell, Mr. Loverboy?”

“Shoko, I am going to strangle you.” 

“With what arms?”

“...”

The girl cackled at Suguru’s lack of response. She went towards him and knelt by his side. Her demeanor turned softer. “He’s okay, right?”

Suguru nodded. “Yeah. He hasn’t eaten or slept in days, so his body probably had enough and forced him to rest.” 

“Good. He’ll need to take it easy for a while. His cursed energy is all over the place from the lack of food and sleep. Him hallucinating probably contributed to that too.” Shoko looked around the burning forest and whistled. Behind her, Yaga was commanding his army of cursed corpses to put out the fire, swearing like a sailor. “You two sure did a number on the forest. It’s going to take a while for it to grow back…And put it out. Got a firefighter curse?”

“...I actually do.” He ignored her laughs to summon a giant elephant curse. It had several trunks and stood on two dinosaur-like legs. Suguru had found it near an abandoned water canal, emptied out after several people drowned in one night. The curse had been apparently killing any person, mostly delinquents, who tried to explore the canal. He commanded the curse to spray geysers of water over the forest. Each trunk helped extinguish the flames even faster. 

Once the fire was fully extinguished, Yaga made his way to Suguru. He crossed his arms and glowered at them through his sunglasses. 

“You and Satoru will replant the forest as much as you can after you both are recuperated.”

“Anything else, sensei?”

“You and Satoru will have detention for a month.”

“WHAT?!

“HAH! HAVE FUN IN DETENTION, LOSER!”

“SHUT THE HELL UP, SHOKO!”

“You kids will be the death of me…”

.

.

.

TWO YEARS LATER

.

.

.

“Oi, Suguru!”

“Hm?”

“Have you seen Gumi? We’re playing hide and seek and I can’t find him for the life of me!”

“Nope!” The giggling head of spiky hair proved otherwise, but Suguru said nothing. Nanako and Mimiko, the girls Yaga found in a village two years ago, were brushing and braiding his hair as he lounged on a chair by the pool. His girls wouldn’t be here without Principal Yaga, who he now held a deep appreciation for. Back then, with Suguru, Nanami, and Satoru barred from doing missions until they recovered, Yaga had taken on the brunt of missions for them. When he came back one day with two, terrified girls, Suguru took it upon himself to take care of them, considering that Satoru had his hands full with Megumi and Tsumiki. It had taken a very long time for the girls to trust someone other than Suguru, but they had shown tremendous progress. While they were wary of all adults, the girls had warmed up to Satoru’s kids fairly quickly. The four of them bonded over having idiots adopt them, gossiping about how Suguru couldn’t cook to save his life or how Satoru couldn’t read them bedtime stories without laughing or pointing out the plot holes. According to Megumi, who was the youngest yet had the most… creative insults, Satoru and Suguru were ‘dumber than rocks because they can’t figure out how to make pancakes and I bet rocks can figure it out if they were alive and had hands, and rocks look cool while they look like old people’.

The kids were terrors, but Suguru and Satoru adored them nonetheless. Currently, they were at a beach house that Satoru had bought on a whim one day. It was grand and luxurious, but with too many hiding places for someone as adept at hiding as Megumi. He took hide-and-seek far too seriously, but it was worth it to see the smile on his normally grumpy face. Tsumiki was on his lap, painting Suguru’s nails a bright blue color, and he had no intentions of taking it off afterwards. 

“You sound suspicious…” Satoru placed a hand on his hip.

“Whatever do you mean, Satoru? I’m just relaxing with the girls.” Suguru replied with a mischievous smirk. “How long have you been searching?”

“Two hours and thirty one minutes.” 

Suguru barked out a laugh from Satoru’s dead-serious tone. He could see the beginnings of genuine anxiety form in Satoru, so he decided to give him a break. “That’s such a shame. I was planning on ordering from that place that sells ginger chicken meatball hotpot. I guess we’ll have to try cooking something her-”

“NO!” Megumi popped his head underneath Suguru’s lounge chair. “Get the ginger!”

Satoru never fully recovered from the cursed soul’s psychic attack. His nerves were always in a state of being shot and frazzled. While Satoru’s personality was still intact, he was much more prone to act irritable and impulsive. He was also forgetful over the simplest of things and would meltdown if someone didn’t help remind him. Suguru would need to talk with Megumi about perhaps easing up when it came to hide-and-seek, considering how disheveled Satoru looked. With a relieved sigh, Satoru walked over and plucked Megumi from his hiding spot. For once, Megumi didn’t try to kick Satoru, letting himself be held. Suguru guessed it was due to how perceptive the little boy was. He likely noticed how stressed out and panicked Satoru was. Visibly relaxing with Megumi in his arms, Satoru finally noticed the makeover the girls were giving Suguru. 

“Lookin’ good, Suguru!”

“Of course I look good. I have the best stylists in Japan.” Suguru replied easily. He felt his heart warm when he saw the proud smiles on Nanako and Mimiko’s faces. Tsumiki also shone like the sun with her grin, but she refused to take her focus away from Suguru’s nails. 

“Maybe I can get an appointment-”

Before Satoru could finish his sentence, he snapped his head to the sky and placed Megumi on the ground. “Get inside. Now. Stay in your rooms and don’t come out until one of us says so.”  His tone left no room for arguments or questions. Tsumiki, the eldest of the group, took Megumi’s hand and nodded at Satoru. She helped the twins to the house, giving the two a thumbs-up of reassurance. 

Suguru stood up from his chair, trying to see whatever Satoru was seeing. “What’s going on-”

Once again they were interrupted. 

An arrow the size of a person appeared from the sky. Satoru had activated his Infinity, preventing the arrow from falling. With far better control of his technique. Satoru carefully lowered the arrow until it was floating in his palm. When his Six-Eyes detected no hidden threats, Satoru allowed the arrow to make contact with his hand.

“What the hell is that?” Suguru stared at the object in awe. It was made entirely out of metal, covered in intricate carvings that looked to be handmade. 

There was a note attached. 

Satoru and Suguru glanced at each other. The arrow wasn’t to harm anyone, but send a message. It was quite the unorthodox way to do so. Satoru placed the arrow on the chair Suguru had been relaxing in. The note attached looked to be taken from an ancient scroll. It wasn’t made of paper but papyrus, a material that hadn’t been used in centuries.

The message itself was the oddest of all. 

GOJO SATORU AND GETOU SUGURU,

I AM SURE YOU REMEMBER OUR BRIEF MEETING IN SENDAI. OR HAVE AT LEAST HEARD OF MY REAPPEARANCE. REST ASSURED, I DO NOT ATTEND ON ATTACKING YOU SORCERERS, HOWEVER ANNOYING YOU CAN BE. 

THIS LETTER IS A SUMMONS OF SORTS. REFUSE TO COME, AND I WILL TAKE THAT AS A BLATANT INSULT. I’M NOT ASKING, BUT COMMANDING IT. THERE IS DISCUSSION TO BE HELD ABOUT A THREAT THAT IS ON THE HORIZON. WE HAVE A MUTUAL INTEREST IN PROTECTING WHAT IS OURS, SO I HOPE YOU CAN SEE HOW SERIOUS THE SITUATION IS. THE THREAT GROWS BY THE DAY AND I MUST ADMIT THAT MY MIGHT ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH. I AM NOT INTERESTED IN BATTLING OR GOING TO WAR. MY RESURRECTION WAS HIDDEN BECAUSE I DESIRED IT TO BE SO. MY DESIRE TO FIGHT HAS EBBED. I AM WILLING TO FORM A TRUCE OF SORTS. HOWEVER, MY MERCY WILL ONLY GO SO FAR. DO NOT CROSS ME AND I WILL NOT CROSS YOU. 

IN EIGHT YEARS TIME, A CURSE USER AND THEIR ENTOURAGE OF SPECIAL GRADE DISASTER CURSES WILL ARRIVE. THERE ARE DETAILS I WILL NOT DIVULGE IN. THERE IS RISK TO REVEALING SUCH INFORMATION, AND I WOULD BE A FOOL TO DESCRIBE EVERYTHING ALL AT ONCE. 

I WILL WAIT FOR ONE FORTNIGHT. COME WHEN THE SUN HAS FRESHLY RISEN. FAIL TO ARRIVE AFTER THIS TIME, AND I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN MYSELF. I ALSO EXPECT YOU NOT TO INFORM YOU PATHETIC ELDERS ABOUT THIS. THE ONLY OTHER PEOPLE I WILL ALLOW TO COME IS KENTO NANAMI AND IERI SHOKO. ANYONE ELSE WILL BE KILLED ON SIGHT. THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING. 

BELOW ARE THE DIRECTIONS TO THE MEETING SITE. 

DO NOT DISAPPOINT ME. 

“Sukuna wrote us a letter.” Suguru whispered. The memories of his third-year of high school came flooding back in. “Do you truly believe it's just a summons and not a hidden murder attempt?”

“No. He’s telling the truth.” Satoru said with such certainty that it caught Suguru off guard. He gripped the note in his hand, scanning the directions Sukuna had left. They were vague, but Satoru was familiar with the shrine Sukuna had mentioned. “We’ll have to ask Nanami or something to babysit for a day. I’ll request a day off for the both of us-”

“You are seriously considering going?”

“Duh. What? Are you scared~” 

“As if. Let’s meet the asshole.” 

“There’s nothing to worry about! Sukuna sounds like he retired from being a genocidal maniac. And we’re the strongest so he doesn’t stand a chance against us.”

“Yeah. We are the strongest.”

“Always will be.”

IM SEEING ALL THIS RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON FANART AND RAYA AND NAMAARI HAVE A BUNCH OF SCARS. WHICH MAKES SO MUCH SENSE CONSIDERING THE WORLD THEY LIVE IN. BUT DISNEY IS LIKE “NOOOOO WE MUST MAKE ALL PRINCESSES BE SMOOTH SKINNED, BIG EYED, SAME FACE, BEAUTIES”

CURSED SOUL MEGUMI! MEET CHIMERA!

From the poll, it seems like this goopy boy was next on the roster. It was more difficult that I thought to get his spikes right. And even now they’re not perfect by any means. I’m a writer not an artist :,)

Anyways! This is Chimera, one of the six guardians in the story. He stays hidden in the shadows most of the time, but will appear if he needs to. His design is inspired mainly by WD Gaster from Undertale. Specifically, the artworks that depict Gaster as a goopy mess. Chimera is similar. The goop is a reference to the goo Megumi’s shikigami turn into once his technique is released. It’s also a reference to Megumi’s domain appearing like it’s made of ink (the domain is where Chimera gets his name). He can only speak in quiet warbles or clicks. He is more vocal through his eye lights, which he can shift the appearance of. He uses this ability to entertain Yuuji at times. It’s like a little picture show for him :)

Onto the drawings! The first one (top left) is the closest I could get to having Chimera look like he is made of ink. The sharpie I used was not the best so he looks more dull without the filter. The second (top right) is what the drawing actually looks like. Chimera has tiny eye lights and does not have too much details on his body or face. He also frequently appears in a tinier form for convenience or out of moodiness. The third bottom left) is my first concept design for Chimera. I kept all the elements the same except I made him goopier and with floating balls of ink. The small chart that depicts the meaning of his eyes is still canon and I’ll definitely be referring to it in the future. The fourth (bottom right) is just to show a sticky note I found at work of tiny drawings of blob chimera ^^

Until next time!

Cursed Guardians (A JJK Fic)

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There was something truly comforting in a well-made dessert. It was easy to tell that there was clear effort put into the sweet treat. Skill too. Experienced bakers could create the most delicious of  foods with the simplest of ingredients. They can make any dessert look beautiful as well, so beautiful it hurts when you have to take a bite. Candy was not as much of a labor of love, but it brought memories of happier times with its burst of sugary flavors. Additionally, it was a great way to get a quick energy boost when your curse technique burns through energy like a steam train. All in all, sweets had never been associated with anything negative. 

So why…

“Why am I crying?” Satoru spoke with his mouth full of the pastry he just bit into.

He had never been a person with manners. No matter how many times his clan elders or Yaga or even Suguru reprimanded him for his total lack of respect and etiquette, Satoru remained the least polite person on the planet. His tears streamed down his face, causing the teen to taste a slight saltiness when his tears reached his mouth. 

“Beats me. I only teared up when I tasted it for the first time.”  A man in a blindfold with stark white hair replied as he leaned back in his chair with a grin. He was dressed in a black shirt and white pants. The outfit’s resemblance to the man who had nearly killed Satoru had made the younger boy shiver. When the elder explained why he wore the ensemble, all of Satoru’s worries were mostly put at ease. He was a tall man that made Satoru feel like a toddler in comparison. Scars littered every inch of pale skin visible. It looked like the older one had been put through some shredding machine and lived. Despite his scarred skin, the man didn’t seem to be in any pain as he stretched his broad arms over his head. “You’re just a cry baby.”

Quick to forget the sadness Satoru was feeling, he dropped his fork to slam his hands on the small table. “I am not, old man!”

“Hey! I am not old!”

“Says the man with gray hair.”

“We have the same hair color, kid.”

“Nope. Mine’s more of a snow-white. Your’s is definitely much duller ‘cause you’re old.”

“...I think I finally understand Yaga now.” 

“Because you’re both old?”

A lollipop was thrown at Satoru’s face, no Infinity to prevent it from touching. However, the teen didn’t care. It felt nice to be a normal teen with normal teenager capabilities. Even if temporarily, the perpetual weight on Satoru’s shoulders was lifted, and he relaxed further into his own chair. Wiping his eyes with his hand and placing his fork down, Satoru picked up the fallen lollipop and began unwrapping it, only to find that the candy had been broken from the throw. He frowned. “You’re a dick.”

“That makes you one too, little shit.” 

Gojo Satoru looked at his apparent alternate self with a raised brow. It was hard to believe the man considering he had been a monstrous entity who had terrified Satoru hours ago. Well, it felt like hours had passed, but Satoru had no idea as to how much time had passed in the real world. One moment he was fighting for his life and the next he was at a bakery eating with a man who shared too many similarities with him. While the reprieve from battle was appreciated, Satoru knew that Nanami was still missing and Suguru was likely panicking with him out of commission. When he had first appeared in this strange mindscape, Satoru was horrified to find that all his powers were gone. Even his Six Eyes had disappeared. Before he could panic, the man currently eating with him had popped out of nowhere. 

“Kid, I know this is really confusing for you, but I need you to listen to me.”

“I can’t let you leave until I’ve shown you what you needed to see.”

“There’s no need to be scared, little me, you’re with the strongest sorcerer in the world! Gojo Satoru, the original! Just call me Infinite, ‘kay?”

It was quite difficult to believe that Infinite was not who he said he was, but Satoru knew better than to trust anyone’s word besides his own…Or maybe Suguru’s and Shoko’s. Whatever. No one else’s opinion mattered to Satoru. However, this older version of him was hard to ignore. Especially since the man had taken Satoru on a tour of the best bakery he had ever seen. Infinite had shown the teenager this place, which somehow served all of Satoru’s favorite treats. Even the more obscure desserts that Satoru had tried on a whim and loved. For example, the manifested bakery served the strange crunchy, fluffy thing that was covered in powdered sugar that Satoru had tried in a sketchy convenience store a while ago. He did not even know what the treat was, but it appeared in the strange bakery all the same. No one knew about Satoru’s more random sugary finds. Listening to Satoru’s rants about regular desserts was more than enough, so nobody wanted to learn about Satoru’s odder adventures in satiating his infamous sweet tooth.

The evidence was on Infinite’s side, but Satoru was nothing if not stubborn. 

Not having his Six Eyes was the main reason as to why Satoru was so hesitant to trust the man. If he had his ability to see the unseeable, Satoru would not have had this many doubts. However, the pastry that Infinite had just given him only proved he was telling the truth even more.

On the outside, the pastry did not look like the perfectly constructed desserts Satoru was used to buying. It was a simple apple pie that had definitely seen better days. The crust was golden brown, but it was quite uneven and lumpy. An attempt at a lattice was on top, asymmetrical and torn in some areas. Despite how rough it looked, the taste of the pie itself could only be described as comforting.  The pie was warm like it was just taken out of the oven and was stolen before it could completely cool because someone had gotten tired of waiting. Besides the literal warmth of the pastry, the delicious taste made Satoru delightfully warm inside. It was cheesy to say, but the boy didn’t care. Saturu was someone that could not emit heat of his own. His peers always joked that he could make a snowman shiver or freeze water if he touched it. No matter what he did, his coldness never went away. People would flinch when his cold hands touched them suddenly. He couldn’t provide the comfort his friends gave him. Compared to Satoru, Suguru was a living heater with his constant heat. Whenever Suguru embraced him, Satoru melted into his hold. Satoru could never do the same for his best friend. Or anyone. 

But he was warm right now. 

The gooeyness of the apple filling caused memories of gentle touches and lullabies to appear. All the spices and sugars mixed wonderfully to produce a taste so comforting that tears spilled from Satoru’s eyes the moment he tried it. While the crust and lattice were not pleasing on the eyes, its buttery flavor made all the tension in Satoru’s body dissipate. 

There was an additional element to this pie, however. It was delicious and comforting and so warm…yet there was a sadness that permeated each tiny crumb.

“I’m sorry that you can taste his feelings in the pie. I know he would have hated that, but this place is made of my memories, so I can’t change it.” Infinite sighed and placed his chin on one of his palms. There was an untouched slice in front of the older man with steam gently rising from the fresh pastry. 

“He?” Satoru let his surprise show. He did not have his glasses either to shield his expressive eyes, so the teen had all of his reactions on full display.

“Yup. He. I know that Yuna-san had made it for us when we were children, but someone very dear to me tried to replicate it.” A raspiness made its way into Infinite’s voice, revealing how difficult it was for him to talk about this cherished person. The elder cleared his throat and offered a soft smile. “I told him about it one day, but I was surprised that he remembered it…It tasted just like her’s.” 

“Yuna-san…” Satoru whispered.

 The woman had been his primary caretaker after his parents died. He had been too little to remember the short time his father had been with him before sickness took him. Yuna was part of the staff that specialized in caring for Satoru’s needs as a young boy. The others treated it like a box to be checked, but Yuna treated Satoru with so much love that he had genuinely thought she was his mother. After a harsh scolding from an elder, Satoru stopped trying to call her ‘Mama’ or ‘Kaa-san’ entirely. Still, he adored Yuna and was uncooperative to anyone that was not her. It got to the point that Satoru refused to listen to his tutors during lessons, his martial arts teachers during training, and especially his instructors meant to teach him about everything surrounding jujutsu sorcery. All because they were not the only maternal figure Satoru ever had. Evidently, the elders were not pleased with the little boy’s worsening rebellious behavior and presented the child with an ultimatum. Either he obeyed and behaved like a respectable person or they would never let Satoru see Yuna again. As any five-year-old would when told such upsetting information, Satoru had a complete meltdown and sobbed for his favorite caretaker. Despite the child’s heartbroken wails, the elders treated it like a tantrum from a spoiled brat. They had simply dragged the crying child to his room and ordered that he could not leave until he apologized for his horrid behavior. Unbeknownst to Satoru, the elders had also commanded that all staff, including Yuna, were not allowed to enter Satoru’s room for the rest of the day. If they went into his room, then the elders would see it as treason and offer a punishment fitting for such a crime against the clan. Without anyone to comfort him, Satoru cried and cried and cried until he ran out of tears. He nearly made himself pass out when his sobbing grew into hyperventilating. He wailed for Yuna over and over again, becoming more upset the longer that he was left alone. 

At some point, Satoru had fallen asleep on the floor and woke up to see that it was night. The child felt sick to his stomach, dizzy, thirsty, and very hungry. His dried tears and snot were uncomfortable on his face and his head pounded from his breakdown. Satoru tried calling for Yuna one last time and started to cry all over again when she didn’t show up. Before his sobbing could transition into ear piercing wails, a gentle knock stopped him. Yuna had finally appeared with a soothing smile on her face. At the time, Satoru was too young to notice the fear and despair hidden in the woman’s dark brown eyes. All he knew was that she hadn’t abandoned him and immediately ran to hug her legs tightly. Her warmth washed over Satoru’s body as her gentle voice chided him to be more careful. Yuna gently pried Satoru off and revealed the steaming pie she had in her gloved hands. She had two objects in a pocket in her still messy apron. With his focus on the dessert, Satoru stopped crying and smiled widely with his stomach rumbling. He tugged on her apron, and Yuna let out a warm laugh as she sat down. She took off her apron and placed the pie on top of it, taking off her oven mitts to take out a fork and a water bottle she had swiped. Unsurprisingly, Satoru clambered into her lap and begged for his dessert. When the child usually did this, Yuna would remind Satoru that he needs to eat properly. However, she allowed him to sit in her lap, knowing how horrible Satoru’s day was…and how it was her last day with the energetic boy. In her soothing voice, she spoke of how this dessert was from America and that it was her favorite guilty pleasure growing up. The pie itself was gorgeous with its perfect crust and braided lattice. She told Satoru that she wanted to apologize for being so late and that she wanted him to eat however he wanted tonight. Satoru, too happy to be with his caretaker, did not see Yuna’s watery eyes and quivering lips. He agreed and stabbed his fork into the pie unceremoniously, scooping it into his mouth. When he asked if Yuna was going to eat, she shook her head and said this was all for him. It was delicious and made Satoru forget the trauma he had experienced at the callus hands of the elders. The rest of the night, Yuna told stories that made Satoru giggle and sung lullabies until Satoru fell asleep. 

When Satoru would wake up, Yuna was gone. 

Forever. 

Satoru bit his lip to stop it from quivering. He never spoke of his clan for a reason. His disrespect towards the elders and other clan members was very intentional. When Yuna disappeared, Satoru got quieter. At first glance, it seemed like an improvement to the others. They would be proven wrong as Satoru would spend the rest of his childhood being angry and aggressive towards everyone. In fact, the young boy ran away often, ignoring any attempts at punishment with a scowl. When the elders tried threatening him after his twelveth time running away, Satoru threatened them back and told them how they had no right to boss him around. The preteen spoke about how he would kill them without remorse if they tried reprimanding him again. He said how he would make their deaths as slow and painful as possible because that’s what ‘old, useless geezers like you deserve’. With his piercing, murderous gaze, Satoru successfully managed to terrify the elders enough that they left him alone.

He had gotten used to being alone. 

After Yuna’s death, the members and staff of the Gojo clan feared Satoru, and Satoru never bothered to change their perception of him. In fact, he threatened them often growing up as his strength grew exponentially by the day. The disconnect that formed between Satoru and any other human being made befriending others impossible. Satoru had to treat the world around him as if it was more fragile than glass. A simple high five from him could break someone’s wrist if Satoru was not careful. It was not worth the effort in Satoru’s opinion to restrict himself at all times if he wanted to play with weaklings. Though, labeling others as weaklings was his immature way of dealing with his lack of friends growing up. In actuality, an aching loneliness permeated every waking moment of his childhood, something Satoru hid with a cheeky smile and even worse personality. Spending most of his time by himself caused Satoru to become an arrogant egomaniac. Who wouldn’t? No one had the power he had. No one could best him in a fight. He was leaps and bounds above his own teachers and sorcerers.

 Everything changed when he met Suguru for the first time. As a fellow special grade, Suguru understood Satoru on a level no one else did. He, Suguru, and Shoko were the only first-years and would become quick friends from spending every single day together. Suguru and Shoko spoke to him like a person, not a god to be feared and revered. It did wonders in weakening the god-complex Saturu had begun forming. He had been truly happy with his friends. 

Then there was Riko’s death by Toji’s bullet. 

Then there was Toji nearly killing Satoru and Suguru.

Then there was the devastating loss of Haibara. 

And Satoru had been alone again. 

Shoko had become buried in her studies in medicine and healing, so she never had time to do anything anymore. Any time spent with her was short and silent as Shoko smoked countless cigarettes or fell asleep mid-conversation. The following months after the failed Star Plasma mission were a blur for Satoru as he spent many sleepless nights mastering his techniques and being sent on endless missions. He lost count of the amount of nightmares Satoru had. He would wake up screaming more often than not, but nobody came to comfort him. In the past, Suguru would break down Satoru’s door the second the black-haired teen suspected something was wrong. This time, Suguru never came. Suguru rarely spoke after the incident, no matter how hard Satoru tried. It was like talking to a wall. Any words Suguru did say were quiet and empty, nothing like his usual lively and smooth voice. When Haibara died, Nanami had locked himself in his room for days and refused to interact with anyone outside of missions. It was a loss that hit the group hard. Satoru, Shoko, Suguru, Nanami, and Haibara had been a tight-knit group for a long time. Despite this, they spent no time grieving together. Satoru would try to go to Suguru when the grief got too great, but the other was somehow even more unresponsive than before. At that point, Satoru gave up. The higher-ups sent Satoru on more missions with the loss of Haibara and Nanami being ‘unavailable’. Words were not enough to describe the agony that Satoru had felt when he was no longer allowed to be sent on missions with Suguru. He had noticed the decline of his best friend first-hand. Suguru never smiled anymore and his usual neat hair grew tangled and greasy. Even with the presence of his remaining friends, the loneliness that Satoru had thought he had forgotten about crept up behind him like a spider about to entangle its prey. 

“Makes you think a lot, huh?” Infinite’s voice broke Satoru out of his whirlwind of thoughts and memories. For a moment, Satoru had genuinely forgotten about what he was doing. With a knowing smile, the scarred man stood up and pointed to the endless land before them. “Now that I’ve let you reminisce for a bit, it’s my turn to walk down memory lane. Come on, I’m on a time limit here.”

Satoru could barely mumble a response before Infinite warped them to an unfamiliar house. It looked like it was straight from a magazine. While decorated, the place held no sense of warmth or coziness. Based on the pristine state of the white couch, carpet, marble, everything , it was obviously not lived in. Infinite towered over Satoru, a feat most could not accomplish with Satoru’s own lengthy limbs, lips pressed into a thin line. Infinite gestured his head to the side that led to the kitchen, expecting Satoru to follow without a word. Which he did. There was a heaviness in the atmosphere that was preventing the chatty teen from saying anything. Once they reached the kitchen, the reason for the heaviness was apparent.

A boy with pink hair was sobbing next to an open oven. He was curled up in a fetal position, his legs being hugged tight by trembling arms while his face was buried into his knees. Still without his six-eyes, Satoru could not pinpoint the nature of the crying boy or the place he was in. Based on Infinite’s earlier words and the blurred edges of the house, this was a memory of his older doppelganger. However, the painful sobs of the boy made any attempts at analysis halt in Satoru’s mind. Upon getting a closer look, Satoru saw the broken remains of an apple pie on the floor. The pan was metal so it was not broken, but the pie itself was damaged. The identity of the ‘he’ Infinite had mentioned earlier clicked. Satoru could see why Infinite had sounded so pained when speaking about the boy. Even Satoru was feeling an ache in his chest as the boy continued to sob uncontrollably. He was younger than Satoru, which made the ache even worse. The warmth of the open oven was overshadowed by the sheer devastation the pink-haired boy was emitting. At first glance, it could be seen as silly for someone to be so broken over dropping a pie. However, Satoru knew better than to assume the boy was crying for that one reason.

Footsteps from behind Infinite and Satoru alerted them of another presence. Infinite was stone-faced with his fists clenched tightly. Glitches seemed to occur in Infinite’s body, reminding Satoru of a faulty video game. However, the new arrival prevented any further questioning. A man that looked exactly like an unscarred Infinite ran into the kitchen. The crying boy did not react to the man’s gentle nudges at all. 

“ Yuuji-kun, what’s wrong? We’ve been looking for you all day, and you haven’t responded to anyone’s calls or texts. ” After closing the oven door, the man knelt down in front of the boy, carefully taking the boy’s trembling hands into his own. He kept his movements slow and gentle, treating the younger like a spooked animal. A soft sigh escaped the man as the boy’s cries continued. Eyes identical to Satoru’s own held a mixture of grief, pain, and anger. It was a look that Satoru had had when he had learned of Haibara’s death. Clearly, this boy meant a lot to Satoru’s second look-alike for the man to have such a reaction. Without hesitation, the man embraced the shaking boy, hands soothing over his back. “ We were so worried, Yuuji-kun. You know how dangerous it is to travel alone with Sukuna and Kenjaku out there .”

The name of the most feared entity in the world caused Satoru to jolt. Sukuna was supposed to be a thing of the past, no chance of him ever appearing in the future. Satoru glanced at Infinite again, but could gather nothing from Infinite’s expression. The glitches, however, had gotten more frequent. Satoru ignored the unease in his gut to observe the two on the floor. Besides sharing the same eyes and hair, the man held a similar cadence to Satoru’s voice. It was deeper, but all the other tells were the same. He simply sounded and looked like an older Satoru. On the other hand, Infinite looked more like a broken copy of Gojo Satoru. 

Satoru decided to call the man hugging the pink-haired boy Gojo. Infinite had his own name, and no version of Satoru would be left nameless! Additionally, he hated being called Gojo as it made him feel old. Thus, making the name choice perfect for this older version of him! Said version was speaking quietly to the boy, continuing to rub the poor child’s back. Eventually, the sobs turned into sniffles, and Gojo leaned back. Yuuji, which is what Gojo seemed to call him, was reluctant to let go. Gojo held the boy’s hands again to supplement the absence of his hug. As his thumb soothed over smaller ones, Satoru noticed how Yuuji’s hands were covered in scars. The skin of his knuckles was worn and bore heavy scarring. What caught Satoru off guard was the missing pinky on his left hand. Based on the gruesome scars left behind, it was likely that the appendage had been ripped off.

With a worsening feeling of dread building within him, Satoru had no choice but to watch the broken exchanges between Gojo and this ‘Yuuji-kun’ he cared so much about. The words they spoke to each other in comfort had the complete opposite effect on Satoru. Mentions of Sukuna, Megumi, someone named Kenjaku, something happening in Shibuya, the ominous Culling Games, the date December Twenty-Fourth, and so much more that Saturu did not understand. He felt especially sick at the talk about saving Megumi, the little boy Satoru had unofficially adopted last year, from Sukuna’s grasp. Countless apologies flooded from Yuuji’s lips, which were met with gentle reassurances from Gojo. From what Satoru had heard, Gojo was Yuuji’s teacher. It seemed ridiculous to imagine himself as a teacher, but Gojo acted like helping his distressed student was as easy as breathing. The clear adoration and trust Yuuji exhibited for his teacher only disproved Satoru’s doubts. 

“Is that why you ran off to this safehouse? To make this for me?”

“...Yeah. Your fight with Sukuna is tomorrow, Sensei, so I wanted to make the pie you told me about. Do something good… But I messed up…”

“Nonsense, Yuuji-kun! Your cooking has always been the best, and I bet your baking is just as good! The pie isn’t unsalvageable! The stuff is still in the pan, so let’s bake that stuff! We wouldn’t want it to go to waste!”

“But Sensei-”

“But nothing! We’re going to bake this pie, it’s gonna be delicious, and then we will go to eat dinner with the others, okay? Choso will probably refuse to let you go for the remainder of the day, but no one is actually mad at you. Everything is going to be alright, Yuuji-kun. Your Sensei will win, and this mess will finally be over. Does that sound good, Yuuji-kun?”

“Yeah…Yeah it does.”

Yuuji uncurled completely and lifted his head. Before Satoru could see any other features besides the boy’s golden-eyes, the surroundings around them disappeared into a void of black. All the dread that had been building up within Satoru reached its peak as he saw the glitching form of Infinite towering over him. His mask was still on, but Satoru could still feel the other’s gaze boring into him. 

“Do you finally believe me?” Infinite tilted his head like a curious bird. His arms were behind his back, further increasing Satoru’s unease. 

“Huh?” His sudden fear had clouded over Satoru’s more rational mind. He was frantically trying to remember what Infinite was talking about, but his chaotic thoughts offered no answers.

A giggle left Infinite. “Do you finally believe that I’m Gojo Satoru? I’ve made the effort to prove that I am telling the truth. I’ve shown you things that no other soul is supposed to know. I was generous enough to show you a memory of mine to prove that I’m not a mindless curse. It was even a memory that held information that will be useful to you in the future.” 

The question unsettled Satoru. It reminded the boy that the pleasant bakery Infinite had shown him and the memories Infinite had resurfaced and shown was not done out of kindness. Taking away his Six Eyes and Limitless technique was not done to give Satoru the reprieve he desperately needed. No. It was all done for Infinite’s benefit alone. He had been foolish to even entertain that such a monster could be his alternate self. His guard had been let down from the painful memories and nostalgic sweets. 

This was all an illusion conjured up by a twisted abomination. 

Nanami and Suguru still needed him. 

“No. I don’t believe you. You were pretty damn convincing, but it wasn’t enough!” Satoru readied his body for a fight, lifting his fists. His powers weren’t back, so Infinite had the advantage in a potential battle. Even so, Satoru was not going to let this monster continue to manipulate him any longer! “You’re not me!”

“Is that your final answer?”

“YES! You’re making me hallucinate because you’re a fucking monster!”

“Ugh. I knew you were going to be stubborn, but I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt. Sorry, kid. I don’t have the time to convince you any further, so we’re gonna do things my way.”

“Wh-”

In a blink, Infinite grabbed Satoru by the throat and lifted him into the air with one hand. His blindfold had vanished, revealing eyes that caused terror to surge through the teen. The grip on his throat was too strong for Satoru to escape from but not tight enough to suffocate. However, Satoru was only capable of extremely shallow and painful breaths, making his remaining strength dissipate. He had no choice but to stare at Infinite’s crazed face. Each glitch that appeared on Infinite’s body revealed the true nature of the creature slowly strangling him. The eyes of Gojo Satoru had always been his most well known feature. Seeing his eyes on this imposter was more unsettling than Satoru wanted to admit. While the striking color was the same, Infinite’s pupils were a cloudy white. It was the cloudiness that marked the end of a life. The eyes of a corpse. Not to mention, there were six of them. The main pair was staring at Satoru like a piece of meat. The upper pair of eyes were completely black while the lower pair was fully clouded over with blood leaking from them. Satoru tried to thrash around to escape, but the appearance of claws stopped him. This was it. This was the monster that had tormented Nanami and made Satoru feel weak for the first time. 

“I’ll make this quick. I am the cursed soul of Gojo Satoru, a sorcerer who perished in a world that no longer exists. It’s like resetting a computer. All the information is gone, so you gotta start all over again. Us cursed souls are like some random codes that stuck around. Make sense?” The squeeze to Satoru’s throat did not allow the teen to answer. Infinite’s hand did not budge even with the frantic clawing and thrashing from Satoru. “Codes can get corrupted, though. So corrupted that there is no resemblance to what they were prior to said corruption. That’s a cursed soul. We are what little remains of an erased world. We’re a sliver of a whole. So you can imagine that we’re not all there.” Infinite used his other hand to tap at the side of his head. His crazed expression grew into something dangerous as the grip on Satoru’s throat tightened so suddenly that Satoru’s vision went black for a moment. 

When the grip eased, Satoru felt tears prick at the corner of his eyes. Black spots were still in his vision, and his chest was in agony from the lack of oxygen. All of his struggles proved futile in Infinite’s iron grip. His words were swirling in Satoru’s head. While it was there, it wasn’t sinking in yet for him to form a coherent thought about it. Wheezes escaped Satoru’s lips and his hands tried to claw at Infinite for the umpteenth time. His lungs ached, yet his heart was pounding in his ears. Fear surged through Satoru as Infinite suddenly squeezed harder. His grip tightened and tightened and tightened until Satoru could feel his eyes bulge out of his head. The black spots grew, and the ache within his lungs turned into an inferno of pain. His body was screaming at the boy to take a breath, but Satoru’s windpipe was currently being crushed. Tears of pure terror flowed down Satoru’s throat. His mind was blaring alarm bells, telling Satoru that he would die if he did not take a breath. It hurt . Satoru’s chest spasmed with the desperate attempts at taking in a breath. He could not stop his body from trying to get air, causing indescribable agony for the poor boy. Fuck. He was going to die. He was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it this time. Suguru and Nanami still needed him! He couldn’t die! But his brain was fuzzy and his chest hurt too much to care. Satoru felt a wave of exhaustion hit him. His eyes were fluttering and his limbs had gone slack. 

Then Satoru was released.

Immediately, Satoru inhaled deeply to get as much air as possible. He held his throat as a coughing fit overwhelmed him. All his prior dignity was shattered as pitiful sobs shook Satoru’s lean frame. His resolve to defeat Infinite was gone. The mere thought of the other made Satoru scramble frantically to create distance. Infinite was staring at Satoru like the teen was an animal in a zoo exhibit. His body had grown long and spindly as Infinite slowly stalked towards Satoru’s retreating form. Even with his slow gait, Infinite reached Satoru once more. When he was close enough, Infinite crouched down and stared at Satoru, who had stopped trying to get away. 

“My bad. I lost myself for a bit there. This stable state doesn’t last that long, ya know? That’s why I’m in a bit of a rush.” Infinite grinned at the shaken teen. Sweat covered Satoru’s heaving form, caused by the fear and strain from being strangled. “I intended to show you everything slowly. Ease you into it. But convincing you to believe me took more time and effort than I thought, so you don’t have that luxury anymore.”

“Show me what.” Satoru spat with a raspy voice. 

“Everything I suppose.” Infinite sat down with his legs crossed. Though, it looked more like a snake coiling itself up to strike. “We’ve always been the strongest. It’s our burden to bear that cannot be shared with anyone. Afterall, we have something no one else has. Our Six-Eyes are much more powerful than you think. It transcends time. We can perceive something as long as we want and no time would have passed in the real world. Currently, seconds have only passed. Suguru has not realized what is going on. I’ve already shown Nanami what I need him to know and I will soon talk to Suguru. The aftermath of showing you three such things will be much more time consuming in reality than the act of speaking with you in the first place. Don’t worry though! Suguru and Nanami will be alright! I’m not as sure as to what will happen to you, though.”

The mentions of his friends caused Satoru to tense. Is that why Nanami suddenly disappeared? If Infinite had been aggressive and terrifying with Satoru, then who knows how unstable he would be with Suguru. What had Infinite shown Nanami? What information does Infinite need to show him? Satoru gritted his teeth. He was sick of Infinite’s vagueness. “If you’re in such a rush, just spit it out already! I have never been very patient with ugly pieces of shit!”

His nasty remark only elicited a laugh from Infinite. “Spicy! I forgot about how bratty I was as a teenager!” In seconds, Infinite’s jovial tone disappeared. His constantly switching moods were disorienting for Satoru, but he knew he was slightly similar in that regard. The air grew impossibly colder as Infinite stood and walked a good distance away. Despite his glitching form, Infinite had no problems with moving. His arms spread wide as the glitches took over his body. Where a man once stood, there was no the same beast that had terrorized Satoru. A shriek of laughter left the beak of the creature as Infinite crawled on all fours to the horrified teen. Somehow, his talons left gouges in the empty void as if he was walking on a real floor. Infinite’s tail spread out to the fullest, countless eyes staring at Satoru with the intensity of a thousand suns. 

All of Satoru’s limbs were paralyzed. Despite his desperate desire to run, Satoru could not make a single finger twitch. His body was not listening to his brain's frantic commands.

A distorted voice filled his ears, and Satoru felt his heart stop.

You’ve been a pain to deal with, kid. You’re lucky that I need you alive or else I would have killed you long ago. 

Listen. This world is a new, altered copy of an old one. What occurred in the old world we cursed souls are from cannot happen again. This is why I need to show you and your friends certain pieces of information. I’m sorry for attacking you. I’m not supposed to be able to speak or think this clearly in the first place. It’s a secret that you have to keep. My awareness is underestimated, and I’d like to keep it that way. So no telling. Especially Sukuna! 

And if you do tell, no one will believe you because I will revert back to a beast the moment I’m done speaking with you boys. This may be the last time I’ll ever get to be lucid again, so you better shut your trap and listen.

I know that you don’t deserve this, but I don’t have any other options. We’re the strongest in every world, kid. I was hoping that you would be able to live a more peaceful life than mine, but the world is a cruel place. Listen very carefully, okay? Sukuna has returned. His allegiances and goals are much more beneficial than before, so I highly suggest gaining his trust. You have the chance that I never did of having a better world, but you will need Sukuna’s help. A much greater evil will emerge, and you will lose without Sukuna. If he thinks for a second that you or the other sorcerers are a threat, then he will kill everyone. 

If you are going to listen to anything, listen to this. Sukuna’s sole purpose in life is to protect Itadori Yuuji. It’s my and the other cursed souls' purpose as well. We will not show mercy if Yuuji is harmed by any of you. That is a promise. Got it? Good. Moving on.

As an inheritor of the Six-Eyes and Limitless, your brain is capable of handling vast amounts of information without imploding in on itself. What I showed Nanami and will show Suguru is miniscule compared to what I am going to show you. 

You will receive twenty-nine years of information in the span of twenty-nine minutes. The memory I showed you earlier was real, and you will see many memories like it. I don’t care if you don’t believe me anymore. It’s your funeral if you don’t.

If you are idiotic enough to ignore everything I have said, then I will take matters into my own hands to ensure that Yuuji is safe and cared for. Trust me when I say that you do NOT want that to happen. You may be my alternate self, and I do want you to live a good life, but Yuuji’s happiness is my number one priority. 

Now, then. Are you ready?

“N-No…” Satoru gasped out. He wasn’t ready. He didn’t want to be ready. Ever . What Infinite had just told him was already frying Satoru’s brain. How the hell would he manage to handle over two decades of information?! Having the constant input of his Six Eyes was one thing, but such vast amounts of data, memories, and whatever else is too much! The past year has been so horrible already. He didn’t want to know anything that Infinite had to show him! So what if he’s the strongest?! He’s just a teenager! 

Are you scared?

The strangely gentle tone spooked Satoru. He still could not move, but he was able to grit his teeth in frustration. “I’m not! I don’t want to listen to your bullshit!”

It’s not bullshit. I know this year has been hard. I went through the same thing, only it got even worse. 

“You’re not me for fuck’s sake!” His angry shout sounded more like a choked sob. A quiet hum came from Infinite in response. Satoru’s head pounded from the stress while his lungs continued to ache fiercely. He hated him. He hated Infinite so much. “JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!”

Suguru was supposed to defect today. 

Satoru froze. 

This very night, Suguru was supposed to leave Jujutsu High in secret. He was supposed to leave on a train, get assigned a sudden mission to a village whilst on the train, go to the village, and slaughter every civilian in it. Over a hundred died by Suguru’s hand in a single night. This night. If I hadn’t intervened and caused trouble in Sendai, you would have never been sent on this mission with Nanami. Neither of you would have called Suguru. And Suguru would have done the same thing he did in my world. Because I intervened, Suguru is with you instead of that train. 

“Suguru was going to…” The teen trailed off before he could finish such a terrible sentence. His desire to defend his best friend was competing with the many worrying signs that Suguru was going down a dark path. Satoru had seen the emptiness within Suguru grow by the day. He noticed Suguru’s lack of scolding when Satoru would say something rude about non-sorcerers. He is aware that with Satoru and Suguru being assigned separate missions, Suguru has spent more time alone than ever before. He has heard Suguru mutter to himself time and time again when the black-haired boy thought he was alone. He remembers Yaga’s concerned eyes when Suguru stopped participating in class. He knew that Suguru had been distancing himself from everyone the day after collecting Riko’s corpse from the Children of the Star facility. Satoru’s denial was completely shattered with his last thought.

The few times that Suguru spoke, it was always about getting rid of the ‘monkeys’.

His mouth went dry at the realization that Infinite was trying to help Satoru. The person who benefited the most from Suguru’s presence is Satoru. Losing Suguru would be too devastating for Satoru to handle. If Infinite, this crazed monster, was telling the truth, then he had to experience the loss of his one and only today. 

It’s in the world’s best interest if Suguru does not become a curse user. You’ll need to stop him from such a fate. If you fail and Suguru commits to his plan of massacring all non-sorcerers, then you must do everything you can to keep him alive. His abilities are greatly sought after by an entity named Kenjaku. No matter what, Suguru cannot come under Kenjaku’s control. Kenjaku takes over the body of his victims by switching their brain with their victim’s body. They can mimic the behavior of their victim perfectly and they can copy the cursed technique and cursed energy of the body they inhabit as well. The only way that you can detect Kenjaku’s presence is a scar that appears on the forehead of whoever they’re possessing. The scar looks like stitches. 

If all else fails, kill Suguru and make sure to burn his body immediately. Don’t let your feelings get in the way. Having Suguru live is the best choice. I don’t want you to have to go through what I did, so please listen to what I have to say.

Tears burned behind Satoru’s eyes, but he refused to let them out. The images of his future self killing Suguru mercilessly invaded his mind. He didn’t want that to happen. 

He would make sure it never happens.

“I’m ready. Show me everything.” Satoru steeled himself for the influx of information. His mind was cycling through the names of the people Infinite had mentioned. Sukuna. Yuuji. Kenjaku. He repeated the names in his head to commit it to memory. “You said we’re the strongest, right? The strongest is supposed to protect the weak. Heh. That’s what Suguru used to tell me.”

And he would be right. Despite what he did in my world, my Suguru always had more sense than me. It’s likely that the overload I’m about to give you will cause a degree of brain damage. It won’t kill you, but it will have an effect on your sanity. Hell, you might be stuck in a mindless state for a few months. In my opinion, as a fellow Gojo Satoru, you’ll wake up in a couple days with some screws permanently loose. You’ll have Suguru to help you, so I see no future problems with your diminished sanity. Sound good?

Satoru let out a wet laugh. He pushed down all his worry and dread with a harsh swallow. The boy smiled widely with a cocky look in his eyes.  “Well, we’ve always been the strongest, not the sanest, right?” 

Right! Good attitude to have, kid. I know I’m making you sacrifice a lot and not giving you a choice to say no. You’re still so young. You should be enjoying your youth with your friends. 

“Yah don’t say.”

Let me finish brat. It’s likely that Kenjaku is going to be an even bigger threat than before. You’ll see why that’s super bad really soon. 

“Ooo! Lucky me!”

I deserve that, I’ll admit. Anyways! I’m sure that Kenjaku will take ten years to stir up trouble like they did before. You’ll have a decade to prepare. Take care of Megumi and keep an eye on Suguru and Nanami. I might even pop in for a visit during those years. Who knows? Maybe I’ll let you see Yuuji. 

“To be honest, I do want to meet the kid.” A much more genuine tone made its way into Satoru’s voice. 

As would anyone else! Now, I need you to remember not to tell anyone. Use these years to grow stronger and develop a bond with Yuuji. If Yuuji likes you, Sukuna and his vessel Ryomen will…tolerate…you. The higher-ups cannot know about any of this. They won’t believe you and will try to send you to the loony bin anyway. Just talk about it with Suguru and Nanami. Shoko and Yaga are trustworthy, so do as you wish with that. Utahime too. However, you cannot trust Mei Mei or Gakuganji. The old geezer is obvious as to why he’s trustworthy. I can’t remember how Mei Mei is at this age, but the Mei Mei I know only speaks in cash. Maybe try to change that? It’s not a priority but it’ll be a relief for your wallet!

“Huh. Thanks for the tip.”

You’re welcome. And, kid?

“Hm?” Satoru locked eyes with Infinite, who was now centimeters away from his face. The birdlike creature gave the boy a musical trill. The mask around his face disappeared and Satoru saw Infinite’s six eyes again. This time, they were clear, no cloudiness in sight. They each held immense relief and gratitude in them. Satoru took a deep breath, knowing that the banter was over. “So…You gonna do it?”

Infinite cooed in response, getting even closer. He was so close that Satoru could feel the white fur and colorful feathers tickling his chin. The scent of the beast was strange as well. It was like breathing during winter. The air was crisp but it made your nose feel cold. It was an even odder sensation to feel the beast’s fur when Infinite wrapped around Satoru. It was soft and dense with the occupational fluffiness of a feather. Additionally, the outer layer of Infinite’s white fur was cold, yet Satoru could feel the warmth of the bird’s core. It took Satoru a few moments to relax in Infinite’s grip, but he eventually caved in with the lack of attacks on Infinite’s end. It was like being hugged in all directions. Satoru could not help but think of the penguin documentary Megumi had forced him to watch two nights ago. He remembers how Megumi, who was normally grouchy and quiet, lit up as he explained how emperor penguins huddled together to preserve warmth during arctic storms. 

Satoru definitely felt like a penguin at that moment.

It was nice. 

The tip of Infinite’s sharp beak suddenly pressed against Satoru’s forehead. On instinct, the teen closed his eyes. His thoughts all came to a stop as Satoru solely focused on the warmth on his head. Of all things, Infinite’s beak was the warmest part of the bird’s body. It somehow made Satoru relax even more. Warmth was always good in his mind. Infinite spoke once more within the teen’s mind, his voice much more subdued than before. 

You will experience all my pain, all my anger, all my loss within moments.

It’s gonna be agonizing, but you’re strong. Stronger than anyone. 

You’ll be shattered, repaired, and shattered again. 

But you’ll come out stronger. Stronger than me. 

You may feel more alone than ever before after this.

But eventually…

You’ll be happy. So, so happy. I promise you that, kid.

No matter how tough it gets, just remember that everything will turn out amazing in the end. 

I know that you’re going to suffer, but I also know that you’re going to be loved. Megumi may not show it now, but he loves you so much, kid. Yuuji has barely been in this world, but I can already see the endless love he’s going to have for you. 

Suguru is going to love you if you give him the chance to.  Don’t miss that chance.

You’re a good kid. A real good one. Remember that, okay? 

Satoru’s Six-Eyes and Limitless technique immediately returned in full force. 

Everything turned into a blinding white. 

Your life will turn out so much happier and longer than mine could ever hope to be. 

__________

The first thought that went through Suguru’s head was simply: OW .

It felt like every inch of his body had been battered and bruised. Even the tips of his fingers ached. Normally, Suguru would try to sleep off any ailments that he had, refusing to go to Shoko more often than not. As a special grade sorcerer, Suguru was strong enough that most curses were not able to place a scratch on him. The only injuries he ever sustained on missions were the occasional bruise or cut. Sore muscles were not a new thing for Suguru, but the aching within him felt different than a strained muscle. 

All his energy had been sapped away. Suguru’s body desperately wanted to go back to bed, but his mind was too active and chaotic to allow him any opportunities to rest. Reluctantly, the teen opened his eyes with the grogginess of an elderly man. Once he managed to sit up, Suguru wiped the crust from the corners of his eyes and tugged on his cheeks to further wake up. After a few minutes, Suguru was awake enough to notice the strange room he was in. 

He was in the infirmary.

“I see you are awake, Getou-san.”

The quietness of Nanami’s voice caused a jolt of adrenaline to shoot through Suguru. He was startled, sure, but most of his shock came from how beaten Nanami was and the memories that came with his wounds. 

Nanami and Satoru’s terrified pleas. A shriek of laughter. Six monstrous entities. Eyes. Too many eyes. A baby. A bloody man with white hair. The existence of cursed s-

In an instant, Suguru jumped from his bed to kneel next to Nanami’s. His legs were too unstable to keep the older teen upright, so his short journey to the younger caused several things to crash. He grasped the white sheets of the infirmary bed tightly. His breathing turned heavy as he bored his tired eyes into Nanami’s surprised ones. Suguru analyzed every part of the blonde’s face. Once he was sure that Nanami was not a hallucination and was actually a living breathing person, he sat back on his heels with a sigh. 

Never one to beat around the bush, Nanami broke the silence quite bluntly. “You’ve been unconscious for nearly six days. Yaga-sensei and the higher ups are looking into the entities we encountered on our mission. There has also been a halt on all missions for the three of us until Yaga deems us fully recovered.” His left arm went to rub his injured right arm, which was currently in a sling. The hospital gown he was wearing did little to hide the countless bandages wrapped around the boy. There were more than a few burns across Nanami’s pale skin as well. When the younger noticed Suguru’s staring, he sighed like he had aged ten years. Nanami, someone who made sure to look everyone in the eye, was currently glancing anywhere but at Suguru. In fact, the underclassman was staring at the ceiling like it was the most interesting thing in the world. “Gojo-san is currently being held in one of Tengen-sama’s strongest cells. He woke up a day after I did and immediately tried to attack you. I tried to intervene, but he did not hesitate to attack me as well.” Nanami numbly gestured at his injuries. 

“Satoru attacked you?” Suguru felt like he was in an alternate dimension. The Satoru he knew would rather live without sweets than live in a world where he hurts the ones he cares about. Moreover, Satoru was disrespectful to the higher-ups, but he was smart enough to play along with their cowardly orders. He was strong enough to get away with his behavior, so to hear that his best friend was imprisoned did not sound real. What’s worse, Tengen’s barrier was being used to contain Satoru and Satoru alone. Those barriers were strong enough to keep all curses in Japan, preventing them from spreading into other countries. The fact that one of those barriers is now holding Satoru like a dog in a pound made white-hot anger flow through Suguru. 

“It was done to prevent Gojo-san from killing you.” As if sensing Suguru’s incoming rage, Nanami was quick to respond. Once more, the blonde sighed heavily, his exhaustion evident from the sickly paleness of his sin and the dark bags beneath his eyes. “We were all given hallucinations of some sort by the entity that resembled a draconic bird of prey. Shoko-san said that it’s likely that Gojo-san’s Six-Eyes caused him to experience a much worse hallucination than us, thus causing him to be in an altered state upon waking up.”

“That damn bird.” Suguru snarled beneath his breath. When he tried to remember what the shrieking menace had shown him, Suguru’s head immediately grew fuzzy. It was shocking to hear that Satoru had been restrained for Suguru’s sake, but that was not what was weighing on his mind. What concerned him most was Nanami’s mention of Satoru’s Six-Eyes causing his best friend to suffer intensely. No matter how hard either tried, Satoru could not explain his ability to Suguru and Suguru failed to understand the poor explanations Satoru provided. It was something that could not be put into words, something Suguru hated. To put it simply, Suguru liked knowing things. He refused to be left in the dark about anything, so he often went out of his way to gain any knowledge he lacked on a mission or lesson. This included going to forbidden areas to learn the stories Yaga was forced to omit during teachings. 

And Suguru knew just the place to get the knowledge he needed right now. 

“Shoko-san warned to not exit the infirmary without her permission.” Nanami said monotonously. Though, the boy did nothing to stop Suguru from shakily exiting the cramped room. 

“You got hurt. Satoru’s imprisoned and not acting like himself. I don’t need to know anything else.” While stern, Suguru made sure to keep any anger from his voice. His mind was still reeling, but time was of the essence. He could not afford to waste time being shocked or waiting for Shoko or Yaga to inform him on what happened. Satoru was still in that awful trance, and Suguru did not trust the higher-ups or the Gojo clan elders to not take advantage of his best friend. Every second wasted was a second added to the torture Satoru’s mind was going through. Despite his greasy hair and messy hospital gown, Suguru felt stronger than he has in months. He nodded reassuringly at Nanami. “You need to rest much more than me, Nanami-kun. I’ll take care of things from now on. I apologize for making you take on the work I was supposed to do, I have been weak for far too long. Thank you for carrying that extra burden, but it is now my turn to take it back.”

To anyone else, it would seem that Nanami had not reacted whatsoever to Suguru’s words. However, Suguru had known Nanami long enough that he knew all the tells of the stoic boy’s body. Nanami’s eyes, albeit slightly, had a watery tint to it. His right hand, the hand that Nanami used to carry his blade, twitched. It showed just how much Suguru’s words had meant to him. 

The edges of Nanami’s lips twitched up in a ghost of a smile. “Thank you, Getou-san. Though, to me,  your strength was not diminished in the least. It was simply redirected to something else.” Nanami returned Suguru’s nod. When the underclassman looked up, there was a knowing spark in his eyes. “Be careful with your studies.” 

“I will.” 

.

.

.

After stumbling into his room for proper clothes, Suguru found that there was a fresh uniform left for him on his bed. The suitcases he had packed prior were tucked into a corner, which nearly made Suguru pass out from panic. However, he quickly calmed down when he read the note attached to his uniform. 

If you’re reading this, then I assume you lost enough brain cells to go after Satoru despite being unconscious for several days. Dumbass. 

Here’s one of the uniforms you packed up. You better tell me about those suitcases or else I’ll cut off all your hair and burn it. I’m sure Satoru will help me hold you still. Dumbass. 

Satoru’s meant to be the idiot of the group, so do some magic true love gay shit to bring him back. I can’t handle more than one dumbass at a time. 

Good luck, lover boy.

-Shoko

Suguru had simply pocketed the note, ignoring how his face felt like it was about to burst into flames, and changed into his clean uniform. It was almost pitiful how eager Suguru had been to leave Jujutsu High and the Jujutsu world in general just days ago. Yet, his entire plans had been put to a screeching halt by a loud-mouthed white-haired boy he cared too much about. No one was stopping him from leaving. Hell, Suguru’s suitcases were still fully packed. It’d be easy.

But the thought of leaving now only caused bile to rise in Suguru’s throat.

With one last look at his suitcases and empty room, Suguru made his way to his destination with no further hesitation. 

The Catacombs of the Disgraced Ones

the absolute chaos we could have had 😭

wish we could've seen more of these three together ;_;