Chapter Text
Integrating the cursed spirit known as Itadori Yuji into his family had not been as strenuous of a process as Suguru may have expected it to be. Yuji was, by all accounts, a kind spirit and a relatively shy one when it came to meeting his family as opposed to their initial introductions at the school. Perhaps it was the stress of the day before or the reveal of his personal history that had him flustered, leaving the cursed spirit to hide behind Suguru as Manami’s car rolled up to retrieve him.
To be acknowledged by another person had Yuji a little excited, breaking through the initial awkwardness to exchange greetings and answer whatever questions Manami asked him. Many of these were simple icebreakers to initiate small talk, covering the skeptical looks she was tossing Suguru’s way for his impulsive actions leading up to this point, still in need of a proper explanation as to what had happened before she arrived.
When that summary finally came, Suguru was especially grateful for the faith Manami had in him, or else she may have freaked out quite a bit more over the news that half of King of Curses was sitting between them. Yuji’s own demeanor had a hand in her acceptance as well, making no effort to deny that fact, but also expressing his appreciation for being with them, placating concern over any possible intention to do harm.
“I w-would like to pay back Suguru-san’s kindness.” Suguru stifled a chuckle at the added suffix, something Yuji would continue to do as it was the best compromise between the formality he had given earlier. “ And I hope we can be friends too.”
The actual trial had been introducing Yuji to his girls and subsequently, to the rest of his family.
Suguru was the first to walk into their home, greeted by the sight of Mimiko and Nanako waiting impatiently on the couch with Larue claiming the far corner for himself. Toshihisa leaned on the back of the couch from behind hit, in the middle of speaking with the girls when Suguru’s appearance led to two excited screams and an immediate rush of footsteps to greet him.
Why they weren’t in bed at this hour, the answer was obvious, given the events from earlier, but nonetheless, Suguru caught Miguel shrugging off the fact despite being the one responsible for ensuring such things would still happen. Oh well, extenuating circumstances and all that.
The twins, already worked up, clamored to the entryway refusing to allow Suguru the chance to even say hello.
“Geto-sama! Manami told us that you got a call from that girl—” Nanako started, only for Mimiko to finish her sentence as Nanako juggled the phone in her hand.
“—And that something was happening at Sugisawa High School.”
“That’s the one with that Yuji-sama! Was it him? Did he attack someone?”
“Are you ok, Geto-sama? You’re not hurt are you?”
“At least give him the chance to breathe!” Toshihisa called out, prompting the twins to take a few reluctant steps back for himself and Manami to come inside.
All that was left was for Yuji to poke his head out from around the corner, but Suguru assumed he was allowing him the chance to give an explanation first to smooth this introduction over.
“I can assure you that I am fine. Yes, something happened at the high school. No, Yuji did not attack anyone. An unknown party decided to cause a disturbance by leaving a dangerous cursed object in the hands of ignorant children and I saw it taken care of. The cursed object caused a fair amount of cursed spirits to swarm, which is a dangerous event for anyone, sorcerer or not.” Suguru let out a soft sigh, turning behind him to direct his next few words to the cursed spirit hiding out of view. “Such an event won’t go ignored by Jujutsu Tech, which means Sugisawa’s resident cursed spirit won’t be staying there any longer if he wishes to avoid their pestering. You can come on out now, Yuji.”
A pop of pink appeared at the edge of the entryway, as did a foot and a small hint of the cursed spirit’s kimono as he peered into the room.
“Hi.”
No one in this room should be shocked by the sight of a cursed spirit, which meant it was Yuji’s unique physical appearance that had caught them off guard. Very few looked human, and fewer communicated coherently. Yuji appeared to be around the age of his daughters, give or take a year or two, and while his actual age dwarfed the age of everyone in this room combined, his mannerisms betrayed that.
“Suguru-san.” Yuji placed a hand over his mouth and continued to whisper as he shuffled behind Suguru’s back. “They’re staring! I’m not used to so many people being able to look at me.”
It was rather hard for Suguru not to laugh.
“This is Yuji-sama of Sugisawa High School, but in truth, his name is simply Itadori Yuji. He’s a special grade cursed spirit here of his own volition, and—”
Before Suguru could finish, Nanako dashed forward with a reluctant Mimiko close behind. Nanako poked her head around Suguru, getting right in Yuji’s personal space as she stared him up and down with an indescribable amount of intensity.
Then she poked him in the head.
“You’re shorter than I thought you’d be.”
“I’m sorry…?”
“Your hair is a very cute shade of pink though. It would look great through this week’s new Snapchat filter— Stand still!” Nanako lifted her phone, hastily swiping across the screen to prepare for a photo, only to frown in disappointment. “That’s not fair! You’re not showing up. Lame!”
“Cursed spirits don’t show up on camera, Nanako. You know that.” Mimiko received a stuck-out tongue from her sister after Nanako moved behind Yuji, assessing his clothes while simultaneously using him as a shield.
“Well, now we know for sure that he’s a cursed spirit!”
“Did you think that Geto-sama was lying to us about him?”
“No! That’s not what I—”
Suguru left the twins to their bickering, relying on Manami to step into Yuji’s rescue in case they overwhelmed him. The three remaining by the couch held concerns that needed to be addressed first.
Larue was the first to speak.
“The cursed object used… Do you still have it in your possession? I had originally thought it was the cursed spirit casting that aura, but I sensed an intensity drawing closer with your steps.”
“Yes. It’s going to be locked away and sealed shortly. It has no inherent use to us, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be putting it into circulation on the black market for a quick sum.”
“And the object itself?” Miguel raised his hand. “What is it? If you don’t mind me asking.”
Suguru could feel the mercenary lowering his eyes from underneath his shades. The topic was unavoidable, so Suguru would take the opportunity to inform the last piece of information about Yuji that needed to be said.
“One of Ryoman’s fingers.”
“At a high school when no one should even be there?”
“The one responsible had a specific target in mind.” Suguru glanced back towards Yuji, bringing the girls’ chattering to an end as he continued his explanation. “The King of Curses we know from legend was not a single special grade curse spirit, but two joined as one. Ryomen Sukuna was the dominant half and the one that got sealed away within these wax fingers. His other half wishes to never be a part of the curse they were again, and since the world would do better with Sukuna remaining sealed away as he is, keeping that other half from merging with him would be in everyone’s best interest.”
It did not take more than a second to connect Yuji and Sukuna with his explanation, but the silence persisted as everyone collected their thoughts. If Suguru hadn’t witnessed the swell of cursed energy from Yuji nor the utter desperation he had in keeping that finger far away from him, Suguru would find it hard to believe that the cursed spirit was related to the monster of legend.
With the gap in conversation, Yuji found it prudent to say something in addition to Suguru’s explanation.
“Sukuna and I are twins. But I-I’m not—I don’t want to hurt anyone if you’re worried about that! I’m not like him. And I don’t want to be!” Yuji clutched his arm as he turned to the floor, mumbling the remainder of his thoughts to the floor. “He’s… not who he—Sukuna can remain sealed away forever. I don’t miss him.”
“And we’ll make sure that doesn’t change.” Suguru then returned his attention to his family. “The purpose of telling you all this is for the sake of transparency. If there are any objections, you would do well to voice them now.”
Yet, when given the chance, no one had spoken against his decision.
“As long as you don’t pick up the other twin, I won’t complain.” Toshihisa shrugged. “He’s supposed to be friendly, right?”
“And if it doesn’t affect my paycheck—”
Larue cut Miguel off with a wave of his hand. “We trust your judgment, Geto-sama.”
From Suguru’s peripheral, he watched the twins nod in agreement. Mimiko was a bit more reluctant than her sister, but nonetheless on board with the outcome of this meeting.
“Thank you all very much. Your faith means a lot to me.”
Yuji bowed his head with his own thanks. “I’m very grateful.”
“You do favors, right?”
Nanako wasted no time to circle back to their previous conversation, still wishing to learn more about the cursed spirit Suguru had brought into their home. The cursed spirit’s ears perked up at this, ready to listen for where this train of thought was leading to.
“If I offer you candy, can you do my math homework for me?”
“I mean I could…” One silent leer from Suguru was enough for the cursed spirit to understand that would not be an acceptable use of his time or ability to change his tune so quickly. “But you’d probably fail if I did it, so it’d be kind of a waste!”
“But your shrine was at a school! How could you be that bad at homework?”
“I didn’t sit in the classes all day! I mean, I’d pick up some stuff here or there, but a lot of it flew over my head even when I did pay attention. Anything with all those symbols with the numbers just doesn’t work!”
“Lay off him, Nanako. Besides, there are no legends pointing to the King of Curses to be a math genius.” Miguel’s laughter was quite infectious, the entire room sharing in it to one degree or another.
The surrounding air had grown comfortable, returning to how it usually felt to have the whole family together on the rare occasions fate would allow it. It wasn’t instantaneous, but over the course of the late evening they all had taken advantage of, conversation had integrated their newest member rather easily. That nervous shell had only been temporary, and soon enough, the excitable energy that had been missing burst forth, and all had settled back to some realm of normalcy.
As well as this all had been, there was one topic Suguru had avoided. One he had continued to avoid during the preceding months as it would only cause unneeded friction between themselves and the cursed spirit— Suguru’s plan to do away with non-sorcerers entirely.
For everything Yuji could have been in this existence he was trapped in, defying his nature as a cursed spirit to act with such a kind heart was a double-edged sword.
The benefit to keeping the cursed spirit around was his willingness to protect those he’s grown attached to. Suguru had already witnessed this at the school, but now that he has gotten to know Suguru and his family, Yuji could be relied upon to keep his girls safe when others could not. He was willing to travel if Suguru saw there was no danger in it, and a perk that came with Yuji’s presence beside the company was that he naturally warded off most minor cursed spirits given his status as one league above their power.
Yuji also found no issue with Suguru’s work at removing cursed spirits and doing away with the few undesirable ones he could not find a use for. Despite being of the same classification, Yuji held no kinship with them. They were destructive creatures able to draw his anger out more than anything else, and Suguru was left to speculate if it was because they acted as a reminder of something that had gone unshared.
The cursed spirit saw Suguru’s work as a kindness, but if he was privy to the greater purpose Suguru was collecting them for, there was little doubt his stance would change.
Yuji wasn’t blind to Suguru’s stance on non-sorcerers. ‘Monkey’ had slipped out of Suguru’s mouth on more than one occasion, and if any discussion were to continue from it, the consensus was that while they each had their reasons, changing the other’s mind was a fruitless task.
The topic had been dropped entirely since then.
If Yuji wouldn’t join his cause, Suguru would not force the matter. That was Yuji’s choice to make and one he had already promised to respect. However, that same respect was what left the cursed spirit out of the loop about Suguru’s plans going forward. Knowing the peaceful world Suguru envisioned was one thing, but the method on how to achieve it was what may very well be what ultimately sets them apart once he went through with it.
Delaying that inevitable was something Suguru had spent far too much effort in, something Miguel has haphazardly commented on during their meeting to determine the task Suguru would be paying him to complete that coming December.
Why not find a way to utilize the cursed spirit whose power they had yet to fully measure? Even with only half the power Yuji once had as a singular being, surely against most sorcerers he’d come out on top. He’d make an excellent trump card.
Those were the types of sentiments that Suguru had been continuously reminded of, but as the months pressed on, one counter kept those options from ever being considered.
Yuji wasn’t his trump card.
Orimoto Rika was.
The discovery of Rika and the boy she possessed had been enough to reignite Suguru’s passion from a steady flame to a growing inferno. The power he had worked so hard to build after all these years, the means by which to change the world culminated into one cataclysmic spirit— Rika was practically in Suguru’s grasp. All he had to do was reach out and take it.
Obviously, Yuji had not been informed of how Suguru planned to do it. Nothing about his declaration of war, the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, or even news about Rika herself— the appointed Queen of Curses. Though, it was no lie that Suguru’s own curiosity to know how Yuji would react to such a title. It was a moniker that did the cursed spirit justice, given the sheer amount of cursed energy radiated from just the aura surrounding her. If sat side by side, she could easily rival Yuji’s own power, but with no confirmation on where Yuji’s peaked, it was hard to claim anything concrete if he were to bet on a fight between the two.
Leaving Yuji behind was the best move Suguru could make.
He’d rather seek forgiveness later than be subjected to the cursed spirit’s intervention now.
Still, as Suguru clutched the bloody stump of his severed arm, painfully forcing each consecutive step, the realization of his defeat and what could have been rang through his mind. He’d thought his own Uzumaki technique would have been enough to see Okkotsu Yuta dead and Rika his, but the cursed spirit had once again exceeded Suguru’s expectations.
Soon enough, even standing became too arduous a task, and Suguru took to the closest wall for support as his thoughts tumbled forth with little care.
“Truly the power to change the world… If I had Rika, there would be no need to sneak around gathering curses…” Suguru struggled to breathe, his lungs burning as they worked to keep him going. “Next time… Next time she’ll be mine!”
As his legs gave out underneath him, Suguru collapsed to the ground.
Next time.
Would there really be a next time?
Footsteps alerted him to the incoming presence of another. Suguru’s bangs fell over most of his face, obscuring his vision, leaving his smirk poking out as he turned to who it could possibly be knowing his time was reaching its end.
The zori sandals should have given his identity away sooner, but it wasn’t until Suguru forced his head higher did he accept the one standing in the middle of the sidewalk, the sun bouncing off his already bright features— Yuji.
“Suguru-san!”
For a cursed spirit with boundless energy, Yuji appeared to have run a mile with the wear and tear one would expect to prove it. He was quick to lunge forward to Suguru’s aid, assessing his accumulated injuries with trembling hands.
“Yuji, what are you doing here—You shouldn’t be here!”
How was he here? Why was he—Had someone leaked him information? Or had Suguru not given Yuji enough credit and the cursed spirit known of his schemes for quite some time?
“It’s dangerous. The school—The sorcerers will be making their return—You need to—” Suguru sucked in a harsh breath, gripping what remained of his missing arm tighter as his nerves sought to overload his system.
“You’re hurt! Y-You’re arm, it’s… Let me help!” Yuji ignored Suguru’s warnings, choosing to drop to his knees and channel his cursed energy out from his shaking fingertips. “If he can do it, so can I.”
Suguru braced for pain, shutting his eyes and wincing at the sting that followed before an unparalleled sense of relief took over.
The reversed cursed technique.
He shouldn’t be surprised that Yuji knew it. Cursed spirits were natural users of the technique. As a matter of fact, the King of Curses had at least two other techniques recorded, but for Yuji’s sake, Suguru would assume he’d only lied about possessing them due to amnesia—
Yuji’s head slumped forward. His hands fell to his lap once enough was done to prevent Suguru from bleeding out further. While Suguru couldn’t make out his expression, the way Yuji’s hands tear at his kimono made it easy to fill in the blanks as the cursed spirit mumbled under his breath.
“I’m really mad at you, Geto-san.”
They were back to his surname now.
“I had wished to keep you from this—”
“No! That’s not… I’m pissed about this too, but that’s why I’m angry! Your family—You left them behind to almost die alone like this. Mimiko and Nanako… I can’t believe you would do something so cruel to them… and yourself.” Droplets fell onto the back of Yuji’s hands and there wasn’t much Suguru could say to prevent them further.
“Yuji, you need to go before anyone else arrives. You can’t get caught.”
“No!” Of all the times to be stubborn. “I need to help you! I’m going to fix you up a bit more, and then we’re going home together! Your family’s safe. They are waiting for you—Please, don’t make me go.”
The news of his family was the silver lining in all this, but that wouldn’t change Suguru’s mind. He was about to counter, urging the cursed spirit to reconsider his stance and regain some semblance of self-preservation when another figure stepped into view over Yuji’s shoulder.
Satoru.
Whatever expression Suguru was sporting at his appearance had caused Yuji to pick up on the sorcerer behind him, the cursed spirit’s eyes widening at the sudden intrusion. Satoru’s cursed energy held an intensity that even a non-sorcerer could sense the sheer power at his command. That alone would have been enough to spur Yuji onto his feet. And it had.
But instead of fleeing as Suguru would have hoped, the cursed spirit turned to Satoru and firmly held his ground in the space between the two sorcerers, arms spread apart intending to keep the world’s strongest away.
“I won’t let you near him!”
Without his coverings, where Satoru’s eyes held their focus was no longer a mystery. His Six Eyes were already at work discerning that it was a special grade cursed spirit shielding Suguru from him. Whether they could identify anything further until Yuji acted out was anyone’s guess, but Satoru eventually looked past Yuji in favor of addressing Suguru directly without even a hint of a smile to be found.
“Suguru.”
“Satoru.”
Being ignored did not sit well with Yuji, and he took it upon himself to shuffle sideways to interrupt their line of sight.
“Don’t even think about coming anywhere closer. I mean it!”
“And who are you supposed to be?” In defiance of Yuji’s order, Satoru stepped forward with one hand gripping his chin. “Definitely not one of Suguru’s curse users…”
“Yuji, don’t get involved any further.” Suguru shoved against the wall as best he could to sit himself up straight. “Return to the others.”
“I can’t do that. Not without you!”
“You’re not using your technique on this one.” Satoru lowered himself to the cursed spirit’s level, “ Yuji… Yuji. Yu-ji. Why do I know that name? Your energy feels familiar too.”
Was Satoru the one they sent to investigate Sugisawa that night? Or had he gotten the report from a colleague? Even if he hadn’t, if Satoru had come into contact with any of Sukuna’s fingers— and Suguru knew it was almost a guarantee that he had —then he’d know the energy both the cursed objects and Yuji gave off were intrinsically tied.
“Leave him be.”
With a snap of his fingers, a light bulb of recognition had gone off in Satoru’s head.
“The missing school spirit from Sendai. So this is where he went. Figures, considering I sensed your cursed energy all over the place too, Suguru.”
“You're correct. He hasn’t realized he’s bitten off more than he can chew. We have unfinished business, Satoru, let’s keep it between us and let this one run off.”
Just go.
Disappear.
This may be your final chance—
“I’m not weak!”
Yuji’s cursed energy flares in offense, shaking the nearby buildings in a turbulent storm. The display lasted mere seconds, akin to when a child would stomp their foot on the ground, but he would not be dismissed so easily.
“I may have been gifted the name Itadori, but my origin is that of a Ryomen!” Much to Suguru’s dismay, the cursed spirit raised his fists and shifted in feet, in anticipation of a fight breaking out between them. “I am Ryomen Yuji, the title of King is just as mine as his, and I won’t let you harm Geto-san. I don’t fear you!”
There really was no going back now.
Yuji’s words were meant to intimidate, and if it were any other sorcerer before him, Suguru would have bet on his success. But this was Gojo Satoru, and Suguru knew him far too well to believe that he would be intimidated by anyone or anything, especially the cursed spirit who appeared no older than the students he regularly taught.
At most, Yuji managed to crack a grin on Satoru’s face.
“King… as in King of Curses? This pipsqueak?” He waved his thumb in Yuji’s direction, barely taking the cursed spirit seriously.
“Half.” Suguru supplied. “Ryomen Sukuna, the name history remembers, is his twin.”
“Huh. Who knew? And after all the trouble you went through to corner Okkotsu, you didn’t involve him…” Satoru was already filling the missing information with his own assumptions, shifting his eyes back to Yuji to test his reactions, amused to find the cursed spirit flinching and reluctant to fight. Yuji wouldn’t do harm unless he had to and Satoru was currently in the process of learning that himself. “Here’s the deal—”
Yuji lowered his eyes as Satoru addressed him personally.
“—I won’t harm Suguru. But I can’t let him go either. This game of ours has to end, it can’t be avoided any longer.” Blue eyes now turned to Suguru, despite Satoru continuing to speak to the cursed spirit in front of him. “He needs to pay for what he did today. The attack on the school. Kyoto and Tokyo… The best he’ll get is imprisonment for life if I push hard enough. The council might be willing to agree, considering no one wants to piss off the King of Curses. Am I right?”
Something down the road catches Satoru’s attention, driving him to stand and face where Suguru had last seen Okkotsu.
“I need to attend to my students. Can you both stay here for a minute?”
Both Yuji and Suguru blinked at the odd request, but before Satoru could even take his third step, Suguru called out after him.
“The very same students you sent to fight me? You knew they wouldn’t win, all to set Okkotsu off.” The underlying accusation of callousness spoke for itself and Satoru would stop to turn his head back and answer it.
“I trusted you. I trusted that a man as principled as you wouldn’t kill a young sorcerer without reason.”
And with that, Satoru walked away. He either had enough trust left to believe they truly wouldn’t leave from this post, or he knew he’d track them down easily given the extent of Suguru’s injuries. The latter was most likely.
“Principles…” Suguru let out a coarse laugh as he attempted to stand, unable to even accomplish that in the sorry state he was in.
Yuji returned to Suguru’s side, summoning his cursed energy to continue treating his wounds. As weak as he was, Suguru still made the attempt to silently shoo the cursed spirit away, but Yuji continued to refuse him as he worked.
“Geto-san. I’m not going anywhere. If I can heal you fast enough, maybe we can—”
“Enough.” Suguru rested his hand on Yuji’s head, beckoning the curse to stop and focus on his voice. “I lost today. I’m grateful to even speak with you now and to hear that everyone else is well. I’ll bide my time and rejoin the others eventually, but for now, this is how things will be. There is no reason to push our luck further than we already have.”
A cough tore through Suguru’s throat. He had grown unbelievably tired, enough to let his head hit the stone and his eyes drift shut.
“G— Suguru-san!”
“I’m fine. You healed me, remember?” Suguru forced a smile to ease Yuji’s concern. “Satoru won’t exorcize you without good reason. He’s not like other sorcerers, especially the council. And once he gets to know you, I’m sure he’d prefer keeping you around then seal you away as Sukuna was. Maybe with all his power, he’ll find a way to destroy those fingers where I could not. You can trust him.”
Trust, huh?
Suguru didn’t think he still had any of that left. And yet…
“Take care of yourself, Yuji.”