sweet apple - NotForEternity - 呪術廻戦 (2024)

Chapter 1: character creator

Chapter Text

"Darling dearest."

G i v e n N a m e :[Name]

F a m i l y N a m e : Kamo

S e x :Male

H e i g h t :5'10 / 180 cm

A g e : 29

C u r s e d E n e r g y : Yes

C u r s e d T e c h n i q u e :Blood Manipulation -1

• [Name] has inherited a mutated version of the blood manipulation technique that has been passed down the clan for generations. Hence the -1.
• Due to [Name]'s mother having relations with a man outside of the clan's knowledge, her reputation was brought down. To salvage it, she was forcefully wed to a man that was distant cousins with the Zenin. [Name] was born a year after their matrimony. **¹
• [Name] was expected to also have inherited blood manipulation. He had.
• The clan believed that since his mother had had relations with a man outside of the Kamo clan's knowledge, the punishment for that was given to them in the form of a child that had the blood of a sinner.
• [Name] hasthe ability to control people with his blood like a puppeteer, which is something that the Kamo are cautious about.
• [Name] can shoot out strings of blood to control others, which goes against the Kamo clan's beliefs of being peaceful and noble. **²

C u r s e d T e c h n i q u e - S p e c i a l A b i l i t i e s :

• [Name] hasfour special techniques (up until now) that he uses.
• Strings of Master - a technique that shoots out blood from his fingertips. It latches around the victim's arms, legs and neck, and their strength depends on how much blood is being shot out per second. The higher the pressure and content, the stronger the ability.
• Sting of Damned - a technique that can only be activated if [Name]'s blood has been injected into the victim. It needs to be approximately 100mLs or more. This allows [Name] to control the person's body for one full minute, just until his blood has made one full circulation around the victim's body.
• Carrier Pigeon - a technique where [Name] coats small things like daggers and needles in his blood to control where they go.
• Reversed Cursed Technique (Low) - a healing technique that [Name] is still working on. It is slow but there is progress being made.

D r a w b a c k s :

• Hypoglycaemia + Anaemia -due to [Name]'s technique, his blood levels go up and down several times a day. This makes him incredibly hypoglycaemicand anaemic, which requires him to have a high diet of sugar and iron and follow a strict training regime.
• Temperature - due to said health issues, [Name] doesn't do well with both direct sun and freezing cold. He is usually seen with a hat on and has a jacket on hand.
• Tenderness - [Name] can't deal with physical contact on some days because his skin can get extremely sore.

1 - He was born from an unhappy marriage. His father had the technique to imbue things with cursed energy, but that was about it.

2 - The Kamo clan always tries to hide their dark history, so they uphold the image of being high and mighty and peaceful. Everyone knows how strict they are, though.

"Dearest darling,"

Chapter 2: 1

Chapter Text

"My honey."

The advisor's monotonous readings about the clan's matters was a contrast to the raging hunger that was festering inside of one Kamo [Name].

He was bored. He was hungry.

Suffering through a meeting full of dull-faced people and having to maintain a perfect ninety-degree angle when sitting was not how one would describe [Name]'s perfect day. His back was starting to ache and his hands were shaking a little. He hadn't had any lunch because he was busygaming, so now he had to sit through a three-hour meeting with the rest of his clan as they went through their monthly tallying of who did what.

Ugh. He should have never left his room. He wondered how much more of this he had to sit through. His PlayStation was waiting for him with the latest game that he was obsessed with:Farming Simulator.

Yeah, call him a gamer. The best of the best.

[Name] felt a buzz against his thigh, and he fetched his phone from his pocket, trying to be as discreet as possible. The screen lit up with the photo of him posing with Megumi in front of the Odake Falls, the latter's head being drenched with water while [Name] himself looked to be in tip-top shape.

A message banner appeared over the image.

Sugar Daddy #2has sent you a new message!

He swiped on the message, putting in his pin.

Sugar Daddy #2

Hiiiiii!(* ^ ω ^) Would you be a dear and help our baby Megumi out? I sent him to fetch one of Sukuna's fingers and he said that he couldn't find it yesterday(￢_￢;) Just check up on him! I know you have a meeting but it can't be that important(￣▽￣) Thank you byeeeeee

[Name] stared at the phone blankly. The man next to him coughed, and he quickly tucked his phone away.

Well, Gojo wasn't wrong. This meeting is definitely not important since they were talking about how 'well' their last ritual to the gods went. Call [Name] a sinner (most of the clan already did do that) but he really wasn't a child of the gods. He knew that the rituals were only there to gather money for the clan Heads. Such is the way of religion.

The monk that was standing in front of them clapped his hands, face hidden under a red veil. The bells around his wrists jingled at the sudden movement.

[Name] sighed silently as he got up along with the rest of the clan, ready to pray to the gods. f*ck, he was really hungry.

_

"Ohhh, f*ck...!" [Name] managed to say before bending over and throwing up everything in his stomach. Pale yellow vomit splashed against the porcelain toilet bowl, his pale and shaking fingers clenching the rim of the toilet seat.

"Oh, do you want me to get you some water? Advil?" Kamo Noritoshi, bless him, was standing behind him, his usually calm features twisted into a pitying grimace.

"Kill me...urk!" Another heave into the vastness of the bowl, and [Name] groaned as he felt sympathetic pats on his back.

The meeting had ended a while ago, and they were presented with platters of seafood and tall glasses of saké. [Name], one to never use his brain when it mattered, decided to ignore the food and drink about three glasses of alcohol. On an empty stomach.

"[Name]-san, you should have eaten something first before downing the saké," Noritoshi said, crouched beside the older as he rubbed his hand up and down his back. [Name] moaned miserably into the bowl. "This always happens."

Unfortunately, the teenager was correct. Every single time a meeting happened, [Name] would always end up skipping lunch and then down alcohol as if his life depended on it, before throwing up his guts in the bathroom thirty minutes later. And Noritoshi, the absolute angel, would always be there to take care of him.

[Name] panted into the toilet, vomit dripping out of his nose and from the corner of his mouth. He felt paper towels being pressed to his face as Noritoshi cleaned him up.

"I... gotta go to Megumi..." [Name] managed to say, gagging a little. Thankfully nothing came out. "He's on a,f*ck my throat...he's on a mission to retrieve one of Sukuna's fingers."

"Can't Gojo-sensei do that?" Noritoshi asked as he helped the man get up. "He's Fushiguro-san's teacher."

"Gojo's been obsessed with Animal Crossing recently, so he's busy." [Name] said as he was helped to the sink. He washed his mouth out, letting the water sit in his mouth as he tipped his head back to gurgle.

"Animal... crossing..." Noritoshi furrowed his brows, handing [Name] a bottle of water. "What is... that?"

[Name] glanced at Noritoshi through the mirror as he spat the water out and turned the tap off, before guzzling down the water from the bottle.

"sh*t, you don't know that yet, huh? I need to educate you on it." [Name] said as he paused drinking to breathe. "It's the first game Gojo's played on a console. The heathen plays mobile games." He shivered. "And he calls himself a gamer..."

"I don't know what that means, but okay." Noritoshi nodded. "So, you're going to go to Fushiguro-san after throwing up your insides in the family bathroom. Thank goodness you aren't drunk, at least."

"I have the superior ability to be able to stay sober despite the amount of alcohol I have ingested." [Name] boasted.

"You threw up. You can't be drunk if you throw up." The boy said, only to yelp as [Name] faced him and set a heavy hand on his shoulder, eyes serious. "Wh-what? What happened?"

"Who told you that? You're only eighteen, you shouldn't know that." [Name] said. The room was filled with silence.

Thankfully, it was broken by [Name]'s phone buzzing. The man pulled it out, seeing that Megumi had texted him his location.

"So, you're leaving?" Noritoshi asked as he looked over the text. [Name] groaned and leant against the boy. "There, there."

"No empathy, you lot! I can't believe I'm related to you." [Name] moaned miserably, sniffling as his back was pat.

Noritoshi watched the man, who was either fortunately or unfortunately his cousin, shuffle out of the bathroom, a dark, gloomy cloud above him. He was an interesting man, that was for sure.

_

"Uhh, block, block, dodge-" [Name] muttered to himself as he walked down the street, eyes on his PSP as he tapped away. People glanced at himas they walked past, wondering what an adult was doing walking at full speed with his eyes on a gaming device. The way that he dodged people without looking up was amazing. "God, this f*cking boss is going to be the end of me."

His phone buzzed, and he groaned, pausing the game momentarily to check. It was Megumi again, sending him a blurry photo that [Name] could barely make out. It looked to be taken in the middle of a fight since he could make out a bloody fist rocketing towards something offscreen.

"Dammit. Just as I was about to defeat the boss, too." He swore as he sent the boy a quick'hang on,'before pocketing his phone and his PSP in the spray jacket that he was wearing. The night was a little chilly, and with [Name] only surviving on a barof chocolate (thank you Noritoshi), he wasn't having a good time. Now he had to bail his student out, too.

Hands stuffed in his pockets, he began running, knowing that the black-haired teenager had sent the location of a high school nearby. Something something West Junior High or whatever. Apparently, the school teaches grade-schoolers all the way up until senior high school, so he didn't know why it was called that. Maybe Megumi was by the junior building? He wasn't too sure.

Thoughts overtaken by his frankly useless musings, he failed to notice that he passed by the chained up entrance of the school. Only when he heard a large boom as when he looked up, spluttering at the fact that he was nearly a hundred metres away from the entrance. He was quick to run back, easily hoisting himself over the chain-linked fence before sprinting up the hill to the school.

"Jesus, do all schools look creepy at nighttime?" He asked himself in a hushed whisper, slowing down to look through a window to the inside of the building. Something else exploded, and he was knocked back to his senses. He looked up, just in time to see part of the building explode as two bodies shot out from it, one of them being a familiar black-haired boy that [Name] knew. "sh*t, Megumi?!"

He was quick to flex his hand, blood shooting out from the tips of his fingers, which he made into a loop to wrap around one of the pipes that ran along the roof of the school. He pulled himself up, swinging up onto the roof and landing on his feet. His blood returned to him, swirling around his body dangerously.

"K-Kamo-sensei!" Megumi gasped, looking at [Name] with one wide eye while the other was crusted over with blood. [Name] was about to say something, when he saw the giant mass of disgusting green curse writhing in front of them.

And it had a boy in its grasp.

And said boy had launched something in the air. Was...

Was that...

Was that one of Ryomen Sukuna's fingers?!

"Itadori, no!" Megumi's hoarse yell didn't do much as both student and teacher watched, horrified, as the salmon-haired boy ingested the finger, not even bothering to chew it.

"At... at least salt it, man..." The weak whisper from [Name] would have usually made Megumi mad since this wasn't the time to joke around, but the two of them were busy watching Itadori go limp. Before the green curse could eat him, [Name] jumped up, ready to exorcise the thing, only to be blown back as Itadori's head flew back, eyelidsopening to reveal only the whites of his eyes. A tremendous gust of wind pushed [Name] back, but the same couldn't be told of the curse, and Megumi watched, gobsmacked, as the previous Itadori Yuuji with absolutely no cursed energy destroyed the green curse with only the lift of a hand.

"You've got to be kidding me." Both Megumi and [Name] said at the same time, watching as marks grew on the body of the fifteen-year-old. Tattoos that bore the uncanny resemblance to one King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna.

"Ah, the light feels best in the flesh!" An unfamiliar voice laughed as the hoodie that Itadori was wearing was ripped away, and Megumi inched closer to his teacher, who took a step forward to shield the boy. "Where are the women, the children?! I can sense them everywhere, festering like maggots!"

Sukuna stepped up on the edge of the building, arms outstretched. His back flexed, showing off muscles that Megumi flinched at. One punch from the boy even without cursed energy would hurt, that's for sure.

"Megumi, text Satoru for me." [Name]'s voice was low as he tossed his phone to the ebony-haired teen, who quickly obliged with shaking hands. "As strong as I am, I don't know if I'm good enough to go against Ryomen Sukuna, of all curses."

"Finally, my reign will begin again! Ahaha... AHAHAHA!" The creepy cacklingmade [Name] wince, but he felt for his waist, where a vial of his blood was stored. He quietly took it, taking out a small pocket pistol that he loaded the vial in. This technique worked for all curses, no matter how high their level was, so it must work on Sukuna too, right?

"Oi, stop it." He froze as he heard another voice, a calmer and albeit annoyed one. It came out of Sukuna's mouth, and it was easy to see that even the curse hadn't expected it to happen. The marks on his face faded a bit.

"What?" Sukuna asked, one side of his face tattooed while the other side was fading away. "How are you controlling me?"

"It's my body, so I get to control it." Itadori, [Name] guessed, spoke.

"That shouldn't be possible." Sukuna countered.

"No." Itadori agreed. "Now give me my body back." And just like that, the tattoos disappeared, and Itadori shook his head. He turned to the side. "Oi, Megumi, what just-" He met [Name]'s gobsmacked face and Megumi's upset one. "Uh, hi, who are you."

"Um, I'm Kamo [Name]." [Name] greeted, feeling sort of numb. He matched Itadori's sunny smile with his own wobbly one.

"Nice to meet you, Kamo-san! You've got a cool name." Itadori said. "My name is-"

"Itadori Yuuji, under jujutsu laws, I must exorcise you." Megumi interrupted, legs shaky as he brought his hands together to probably summon his demon dogs.

"Hey, what?! Why?!" Itadori squeaked, raising his hands in the air defensively. Before anyone could speak, a ping of cursed energy appeared behind them. Megumi quickly turned to the side, relief evident on his face as he saw the ever-comforting (and sometimes irritating) sight of one Gojo Satoru.

"Yooo, how's it going!" Gojo greeted happily with a wave. He seemed to giggle as he saw [Name]. "And [Name], you came! I knew that your meeting wasn't important... why do you smell of alcohol?"

"Oh! I-" Before [Name] (who was busy scrutinising Itadori to look at Gojo) could finish answering, Megumi hissed.

"Shut up, you two. Not the time." He said, and [Name] grinned sheepishly.

"Whoaaa Megumi, you look super beat up! Wait, lemme take a few photos for the second years!" Gojo whipped out his stupid iPhone 13, taking photos of Megumi, who looked away with an embarrassed blush. [Name] snickered, mouthing to Gojo to send the photos to him and grinning when he got a thumbs up. "Anyway, Megumi and [Name], where's the finger?"

At that, the atmosphere became tense.

Itadori, who was silent all of this time, laughed nervously.

"Um... I may have, y'know, ate it." He rubbed the back of his neck. Gojo stared at him blankly, before turning to the other two.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously." [Name] and Megumi answered at the same time, the latter ignoring when [Name] whispered "jinx" under his breath.

Gojo walked over to Itadori, bending down to look the boy in the eyes. A series of delighted giggling rose from the white-haired man's lips.

"Holy sh*t, you really did eat it! That's hilarious!" He laughed as he stood up straight. "And it merged with you, too. Tell me, can you switch out with Sukuna real quick? Him and I need to have a little chat."

"Uhh, I don't know. The other two seemed freaked out when it happened the first time. And I destroyed that huge curse-" Itadori started, but was waved away with a huff by Gojo.

"Whatever! Don't worry, unlike these two, I'm the strongest." He winked, receiving a scowl from Megumi. [Name] had pulled out his PSP again, the sound of battle music echoing through the area, so he hadn't heard a thing. "Just let him out for ten seconds, okay? I can handle him."

Megumi looked a little nervous, but that was substituted with annoyance as [Name] sat on the ground, clicking away on his game as he hummed along to the music.

"Whatever," Megumi muttered as he sat down, immediately nearly falling over as he realised how injured he was. He leant against [Name], eyes trained on the fight that was about to go down.

"Dodge, dodge, punch, block..." [Name] muttered as he bobbed his head to the music, pressing down on the buttons of his PSP. "This f*ckin' ass. Die, dammit!" He felt a gush of wind blow his hair back, but ignored it. It was probably nothing. "Dude, Megumi, how did you beat this level, I'm so bad at it." He said as his characterdrank his last health potion, bringing his HP up only by halfway.

"Uh, justpractice I guess- Gojo-sensei, watch out!" Megumi's voice was shrill in his ear, but he ignored it.

"You literally beat this guy on your second try. You and your natural-born talent for Streetfighter games." [Name] shook his head with a sad sigh, completely ignoring the last part of what Megumi said.

"Eight, nine, ten!" Gojo clapped his hands, the rubble floating around them falling to the ground as he remained unharmed.

"f*ck YEAH!" [Name] suddenly screamed, making Megumi jump a foot into the air.

"Huh? What, you proud of me, huh? Why thank you!" Gojo said with a boisterous laugh, placing a hand over his chest. [Name] looked up at him, glee having been momentarily forgotten as he blinked questioningly.

"Hah? What, no, I beat the boss." [Name] said, watching Gojo's shoulders slump as a dark and gloomy aura grew around him. Megumi looked over at Itadori, ignoring the two idiots next to him. Gojo looked over as well, just in time to see the marks on Itadori body disappear as familiar amber eyes blinked to life.

"Oh damn, you really can control it! Impressive." Megumi watched Gojo walk over to Itadori, who smiled a little before his eyes rolled to the back of his head as he slumped forwards into the white-haired man's arms when his forehead got a little poke. "Hmm, now what to do with him..."

"Please, don't kill him!" Megumi suddenly said, managing to stand up. [Name] looked up from his console, raising a brow.

"Ooh, personal choices?" Gojo asked, wiggling his brows. Megumi looked momentarily disgusted, before looking away with a sigh.

"... yes." He muttered, glancing over at [Name] as the latter stood up, using Megumi as a wall to steady himself.

"A request from my favourite student, how could I decline?" Gojo cooed, ruffling his hair as he hoisted Itadori on his shoulder as if he were a sack of potatoes. "Anyway, you give that kikuf*cku to [Name] yet? It's his favourite flavour."

Megumi groaned and held a plastic bag up towards [Name], who blinked. When did Megumi get that?

"So, instead of hurrying over here, you bought dessert?" The older man asked, deadpanning as all he received was a happy nod and a peace sign. "I can't believe... holy sh*t, is this strawberry? And straight from Sendai?!"

"You got it, my little cutie!" Gojo winked. Megumi almost threw up.

[Name] was silent for a second, before looking up with a serious expression.

"Can I kiss you on the mouth?" He asked. Gojo giggled, waving his hand.

"Oh, you naughty little boy! In front of the children? Maybe if you ask with a please-" Megumi grabbed the bag from [Name]'s hand and threw it straight at Gojo's face, unfortunately not touching him since he had his Infinity turned on, but it was enough for him to panic and catch the kikuf*cku while dropping Itadori in the process.

"The kikuf*cku!" Gojo wailed along with [Name] as Megumi rushed forward to make sure Itadori wouldn't crack his head open on the concrete flooring.

"WOULD YOU TWO SHUT IT?!"

"Sweet boy."

Chapter 3: 2

Chapter Text

"Honeybun."

The smell of burning incense choked the air in the room. Ritual candles were lit around the floor and hung from the ceiling, lighting the room in a warm yellow glow. The sacred symbols scrawled on various talismans were visible in the low light.

Three people occupied the room. One was unconscious, while the other two were engaged in deep conversation.

"Okay, so there I was, standing in line with that pretty dress, and this bitch taps my shoulder and demands the dress from me! Like the f*cking nerve-" [Name] was ranting to Gojo, only to be suddenly interrupted.

"Ughhh, f*ck..." The sudden groan made the other two occupants in the room look over in surprise. Amber eyes opened slowly as Itadori finally rose from his deep slumber.

"Okay, first of all, rude. I was talking." [Name] said, leaning against the seated Gojo, who looked excited since Itadori was up. "Second of all, good evening, great to have you back."

"Yeah, yeah... also, tell me the rest of that story later because she sounds like a total bitch." Gojo said, receiving a thumbs up from the other man. Itadori blinked, eyes bleary with sleep and confusion. "Anyway, welcome back! How are you feeling?"

"What... happened? And who are you talking about?" The pink-haired boy asked, squinting against the light.

"Ignore what I was saying. You need to be at least at a friendship level of three to unlock that story." [Name] said, hand on his hip. "And whaddya mean? Dude, Satoru, did you give him amnesia, you brute?!"

"What?! No, I literally tapped him on the head!" Gojo waved his hands in front of him as [Name] turned to him with a threatening scowl. "Jeez, I think he's probably faking it. He is going to be executed, after all."

"I'm gonna be what?!" Itadori choked out, eyes wide with panic. He tried to stand up, only to look back and see that his arms were chained down. "Whoa?! Wait, what the hell?!" He looked around, ignoring a highly amused Gojo. [Name] was tapping away on his phone. "Wait... where the hell am I? And what's on the walls and stuff?!"

"That's to keep the demon friend inside of you from wreaking havoc," Gojo said, grinning brightly. "Though, it's not going to do much. That's why I'm here."

"Yo, look at what Ieiri just sent me." [Name] suddenly snickered. He turned the phoneso Itadori could see as well. "It's a f*cking Gojo soap dispenser, hah!" He wheezed. The actual Gojo next to him looked mildly pissed, while Itadori's expression went blank. Weren't they just talking about his execution? "This is f*cking hilarious... whatever, I'm gonna leave. Poor Megumi needs a nurse taking care of him right now, so I'm going to fulfil that role."

"Ooh, with the uniform too?" Gojo asked with a smirk, yelping as his chair was kicked. "Oi!"

"As if! Do you know how much a nurse costume costs?! sh*t's expensive." [Name] shook his head, before making a peace sign with his hands. "Bye boys!"

With that, he slipped out of the room. The two could hear battle music soon after.

"So proud of him for not going on his PSP when he was in here." Gojo sniffled. Itadori tried to raise his hand to ask a question but settled for clearing his throat instead when he remembered that his arms were chained up. "Yes, my dear Itadori Yuuji!"

"Uh, so what was it about my execution again?" He asked cautiously, blinking when Gojo gasped.

"Damn, forgot about that."

-

"So, like, how're you doing?"[Name] asked casually as he stood by the door, arms crossed as he gazed at Megumi. Said teen was sitting on the ground, head and arm stuck in the sleeve of a t-shirt as he tried to seem nonchalant. The pained furrow of his brows was obvious, however.

"I'm just peachy." The boy said through gritted teeth. "Just a normal f*cking Thursday afternoon."

"Huh." [Name] nodded slowly, before his eyes moved back to the console in his hands.

The room was thrown into silence except for the sound of a game character punching someone or something.

"Okay, fine! f*cking help me out, I'm in pain!" The sudden shout from Megumi made [Name] jump. The older rolled his eyes with a huff, closing the door behind him as he moved further into the room.

"Dude, if you wanted help, you could've asked." He said, discreetly taking a photo that he could send to Gojo later, before crouching in front of the boy. "How the f*ck did this happen?"

"Don't call me 'dude', you're like forty." Megumi cringed. "And I don't f*cking know. The meds Shoko-san gave me made me dizzy."

"I'm twenty-nine!" [Name] smacked the boy's hand, before easily pulling the shirt off him. "Kids nowadays... no respect for their parents."

"You're not my dad?" Megumi spluttered, snarling a little as one of the bruises that were blooming on his pale chest was poked. "f*ck off!"

"Piss off, I'm your dad. Gojo's like the creepy uncle." [Name] waved him off, before picking the boy up with one arm and dumping him on the bed. "Ieiri's like the wine aunt but with like... hard vodka. That woman is either high or drunk every time I see her." He mused, ignoring Megumi swearing at him for tossing him on the bed head-first. "Anyway, you hungry?"

"Get out of my room!" Megumi threw a pillow, which was easily caught. "Leave!"

"No." [Name] said stubbornly. "I'm your nurse. Whaddya want for lunch?"

"Jesus Christ, fine! Go make me f*cking... stroganoffor something." Megumi threw another pillow, which hit the back of [Name]'s head when he turned around to leave. "Don't come back!"

Stroganoff. [Name] probably didn't know what that was. It wasn't Japanese food, since Megumi saw the dish in an international cookbook. It was from Russia or somewhere like that.

Hopefully, Megumi would be left unbothered for the rest of the day...

... and literally thirty minutes later, when he was tapping away on his phone, the door opened.

"Who the f*ck-" The smell of peppered beef and cooked vegetables hit his nose, and his mouth fell open as he saw [Name] in an apron, holding a large bowl of what he assumed was the stroganoff. "Are... are you kidding me...?"

"Right? Smells so good, right?" [Name] asked excitedly, slamming the door shut behind him with his foot as he walked into the room, setting the food on Megumi's end table. "I haven't had stroganoff in a while, so I made extra for me as well. We had just enough beef in the freezer. I know you don't like your beef chewy, so it's nice and juicy for you." He enthused, wiping at his lips.

"How the f*ck?" Megumi asked wearily, but he couldn't deny the growl of his stomach. It smelt good. "How do you know how to make it?"

"I dabble in cooking." [Name] waved off the question as he untied his apron and threw it over by the door. He crouched in front of the nicely sized television, turning it on and grabbing two of the PlayStation controllers that were sitting by the console. "Wanna play Smash Bros?"

"You aren't going to leave me alone, so might as well," Megumi sighed, finally giving up in trying to get the [haircolour]-haired man out of his room. He caught the controller as it was tossed to him, shuffling over a little so [Name] could plop down on the bed with him. "I'm going to crush you."

"Not if I get to play as my man Cloud! He's OP as hell!" [Name] said with a challenging smirk, which the younger matched. "Also, I've set a timer on my phone. I'm going to change your bandages in thirty minutes. I've also got some of the kikuf*cku left that I've saved for you, so you can have that after you finish your lunch."

"Whatever." Unwillingly, Megumi's face turned pink as he grumbled. The blush got worse as his spiky hair was tousled. "I'm going to kick your ass."

"Not if I kick yours first!" [Name] cackled.

"Violence against minors is usually frowned upon, sensei."

-

"Yo, you okay, [Name]?" Gojo asked as he blinked at [Name], who was curled on the floor of Megumi's room with a dark aura around him. The white-haired sorcerer and Itadori had just returned from the principal's office, only to bump into Megumi, who was trying to drag [Name] out of his room.

"I beat his ass," Megumi explained simply, ignoring Itadori, who spluttered. "In Smash Bros."

"I was beaten by Kirby..." [Name] moaned, tears in his eyes. Gojo patted his head sympathetically, ignoring Itadori's yelp as Megumi tried to smash the door shut over his skull. "The pink blob..."

"Could you get out of my room?!" Megumi seethed, kicking [Name]'s side. The older only whimpered pathetically, latching onto Gojo's leg. "Gojo-sensei, could you dump him somewhere?!"

"He's just grieving, be nice." Gojo scolded as he walked out of the room, dragging [Name] along since he was still gripping onto his ankle. "Anyway, my dear Yuuji! This is [Name]! I don't know if the two of you are familiar with each other's names yet."

"Uh, Kamo-san and I have met already. I like his last name a lot!" Yuuji seemed to have gotten over his sudden shock of seeing a fully grown man cry over being beaten in Smash.

"He's a teacher here, along with me. He teaches Science and Englishand all the boring stuff." Gojo said, leaning down to pat [Name]'s head again, who wailed.

"Oh! So Kamo-sensei, then! Nice to meet you properly, sensei!" Yuuji bowed before bounding over, grabbing one of [Name]'s hands to shake.

Megumi watched the interaction with nothing but disappointment in his eyes.

"Megumi, go get him a glass of strawberry milk. He's crying." Gojo said with a wave of his hand, which madethe teen rolled his eyes butcooperate since he really didn't want to see [Name] embarrass himself even more.

"Is this normal?" Yuuji asked, poking [Name]'s side before looking up as Megumi returned with the milk.

"This is pretty ordinary," Gojo said cheerfully as he took the milk and held it over [Name]'s head.

Five minutes later, [Name] was sitting against the wall, angrily slurping his milk. The other three were discussing something that he didn't care about.

"There are only three first-years?!" Yuuji asked, shocked. Megumi and Gojo nodded.

"Yep!" The white-haired man popped the 'p' at the end loudly. "And we're going to go pick the last one up in an hour, so go get ready!"

"It's like three in the afternoon, why can't we pick her up later?" Megumi groaned. Gojo only waved him off. The two teenagers watched the man bend over and lift [Name] up by his armpits.

"Anyway, I have stuff to do. I'm going to dump him with Ieiri and then blast off." Gojo looked down at [Name], who was still angrily sipping at his strawberry milk. "... maybe I'll just keep him in my room. He looks like an angry kitty, doesn't he?"

"More like an angry rat, but whatever," Megumi said, before turning around and going back into the confines of his room. Yuuji,meanwhile, watched as Gojo easily dragged [Name] off, whistling to himself.

"I guess it's pretty cool to be living here...I guess." He said, before turning around to go back to his room. He had several posters to hang up, after all.

-

"... what in god's name are you two wearing?" Megumi's voice was almost muted with horror as he stared at the two buffoons in front of him.

Yuuji was wearing a pair of glasses that said 'ROOK' in an ugly red colourand was wearing a sweater that had an oddly drawnelephant faceon it (it was a penis. it was most definitely a penis). The price tag was still on it, saying that it cost a whopping ¥5000. Suspiciously, the security tag was still on it.

Megumi didn't bother to ask and instead looked over at [Name], nearly crying at how awful the man looked. The [haircolour]-haired man was decked out in a pair of large pink plastic heart sunglasses, along with a collar(?) that was bedazzled with fake diamonds. He was wearing a puffy yellow jumper with pink pompoms sewn into it and wasalso wearinga pair of pink jester shoes with pompoms on the end to match.

"Yo." Yuuji raised a hand that was holding a bag of popcorn, while the other hand held a strawberry crepe, which [Name] also had. "We went shopping."

"Don't we look incredible? You missed out on me treating you to fun outfits." [Name] said, waving his free hand as he talked through a mouthful of crepe.

"You literally stole Itadori's jumper. The security tag is still on it." Megumi deadpanned. He looked back, eye twitching as he saw Gojo walking towards them with a pair of heart sunnies similar to [Name]'s, but his ones were blue.

And he had put it on over his blindfold.

"I hate everyone here. I despise all of you." Megumi couldn't help but hiss as he stomped away, only to get his shoulder grabbed by Gojo, who leisurely kept walking despite Megumi struggling in his grip and trying to drag himself away, but to no avail.

"So, where's the third student?" Yuuji asked, watching his teachers as they flicked their wrists down at each other, giggling childishly. Megumi didn't look impressed and looked close to blowing a fuse.

The moment he had asked the question, however, he heard yelling, and the group of four turned their heads towards the commotion, watching a brunette teen gripping an older man's wrist with bruising strength as she inquired about a modelling agency very aggressively.

"That's embarrassing." [Name] and Yuuji said at once, only for Megumi to turn to the two with a scowl.

"Says the two idiots dressed in literal garbage." He spat.

"Whoa. Calm down Jamal, don't pull out the nine... ahaha-" [Name] was slammed down (quite literally) when a large toad appeared above him and landed on his back, throwing him onto the cobblestone ground. Megumi had his foot down on the teacher's head, veins bulging on his forehead from sheer annoyance.

"Yo! Over here!" Gojo seemed to ignore the commotion as he called out to the girl that was abusing the poor man. She looked over, thankfully letting her victim go as she squinted at the freakishly tall albino surrounded by even freakier-looking people and one(1) giant toad.

"Owww, Megumi, my brain! You're hurting my brain!" [Name] wailed, struggling under the toad and Megumi's shoe. The passersby about them gave them a wide berth.

"Cool pet, Fushiguro!" Yuuji was petting the toad, which looked happy about being praised.

"It's not a pet, moron." Megumi scowled. The two of them bickered as [Name] basically cried into the floor.

"So..." A new voice joined them, and the two boys glanced over, blinking at the girl that they had seen before. She was watching them with a slightly disgusted look.

"Everybody!" Gojo clapped cheerily. "This is Kugisaki Nobara! She's our third and final student!" He introduced her with jazz hands, pushing his gaudy glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"Hi! I'm Itadori Yuuji!" Yuuji introduced himself cheerily, seemingly forgetting the fact that he was arguing with Megumi before.

"Fushiguro Megumi." Megumi introduced himself calmly, casting a disgusted look at [Name], who was moaning miserably.

Nobara looked at the two boys with squinted eyes.She seemed to be chatting to herself in her headbefore her face turned to the side and she sighed.

"I'm always stuck in such unfortunate circ*mstances." She muttered, before glancing at [Name]. "And who's the... uh, dude on the ground?"

"Oh! That's our teacher!" Yuuji smiled, before looking back. "Froggy, could you get off him, please?"

"He won't listen to you, he's my shi-" Megumi had started, only for his eye to twitch as the toad obeyed with a garbled croak.

"Someone take me to Ieiri, I think I broke something." [Name] whimpered, before his eyes comically widened. He jumped to his feet with a short scream, glancing down at his sweater. It was covered in dust and dirt. "My jumper! No! I spent so much effort stealing this!"

"Stealing-"

"I have good detergent in my room, I'll give you some," Yuuji said serious, patting the man's back with a nod as [Name] rest his head on the boy's shoulder with relief.

"Freaks, all of you," Nobara said with a shocked laugh, though there was no humour in her words. Just genuine concern and slight fear.

"First of all, love that song." [Name] said as he straightened himself, patting Gojo's cheek (or as close to Gojo's cheek he could get with the Infinity on anyway) as the man texted away on his phone. "Second of all... yeah, being unhinged is my speciality."

"Freaks is a good song... whatever! What's your name, you creep?!" Nobara snapped herself out of the joy of finding a fellow soul that enjoyed good music.

"Kamo [Name]. Uh, teacher of everything that Gojo doesn't want to teach, I guess." [Name] shrugged. "Oh, anyway, Satoru, I saw this incredible cover for my PSP and it's only like six thousand yen so like can you-"

"Is it the Zelda one because I already have it ordered for you baby, don't even worry about it." Gojo pinched [Name]'s cheek, and all three teenagers gagged violently as the two of them swooned at each other.

"I think I'm hom*ophobic," Nobara said. "Or just disgusted by whatever the hell these two things are."

"Been there, done that," Megumi muttered.

"Anyway, we're going on our first mission today! All the way tooooo..." Gojo paused for dramatic effect as he wrapped an arm around [Name], who had immediately lost interest and had begun to play on his PSP. "Tokyo!"

Cue the magical aura that began to emanate from two of the first years. Megumi moved away quietly.

"TOKYO?!" Yuuji screamed, before turning to Nobara. "TOKYO!"

[Name] was violently shoved away by Nobara as the two overexcited teens basically jumped on top of Gojo. Yuuji rubbed his cheek against his teacher like a cat, which was both cute and kinda weird at the same time.

"Chinatown! Let's go to Chinatown!"

"That's in Yokohama, you idiot!"

"Yokohama is in Tokyo, you even bigger idiot! The idiot-est!"

"Okay okay! I will now be telling you where we're going!" Gojo said, clearing his throat as if he was about to deliver a particularly moving speech. "We're going to... Roppongi!"

"RO-"

"-PPON-"

"-GI!"

Megumi watched as the two absolutely idiots,morons,neanderthals, fawned over Gojo as if he was their saviour.

There was a sad*stic voice in Megumi's head that couldn't wait for Nobara and Yuuji to find out that their excitement was all for nought.

Meanwhile, [Name] was busy being an epic gamer as he played LEGO Harry Potter. What an incredible man.

-

Fast forward to about an hour or so later, said gamer was sitting on Gojo's lap (vomits) while he gamed away. Megumi was sitting down next to them, scratching at a bruise on his cheek as he idly tapped his foot along to the music.

"Yo, have you seen that one video of a cat biting another cat that has like... a f*cking breakdown? It's so funny." [Name] suddenly said. He grabbed Gojo's phone, which the sorcerer was in the middle of using. "... who's Sanemi? And that ain't your dick, whose dick pic is that? It's too big to be yo-"

"Hush hush! Show the video!" Gojo quickly covered [Name]'s mouth, smiling nervously at a very disgusted Megumi.

A short while later, thevideowas playing. The audio echoed through the empty street that they were in, drowning out the sounds of screaming from inside the building that Yuuji and Nobara were currently in.

By the end of said video, Gojo and [Name] were cackling, tears of mirth in their eyes. Megumi was silent, face expressionless.

"It's like Gojo-sensei and Nanami-san whenever they're together for a mission." The boy finally said. It was silent for about 0.2 seconds before [Name] wheezed painfully, falling out of Gojo's lap to kneel on the pavement, hacking and heaving at the same time. He was still laughing, and Megumi looked equally disgusted and concerned.

"No way! Nanamin loves me!" Gojo pouted, eyes rolling behind his mask. "That's more like you and [Name]-chan."

[Name] wheezed again.

There was a roar from somewhere above them, and Megumi looked up, seeing an ugly bug-eyed curse with a moustache fly overhead. It was dispelled in a second, the remains falling around them before vapourising into thin air.

Five minutes passed and Megumi was standing with Nobara and Yuuji, watching Gojo perform CPR on [Name]. Before they could see an unwanted kiss scene, [Name] woke up. He then promptly launched himself to his side and threw up the remains of the crepe he'd eaten an hour or two ago.

"Anyway, I was thinking sushi for dinner," Gojo said as he threw [Name] over his shoulder. The soundtrack of the Harry Potter game soon resumed through the street. "Or maybe a Western Restaurant! They've got some sweet stuff there, so [Name] and I could go all out, too."

"Ooh, what about steak?!" Yuuji proposed excitedly, his mouth watering already at the simple thought of food. Megumi ignored them and went on his phone.

"With some nice dessert! Yeah, yeah!" Nobara grinned, fist-bumping Yuuji. "What about you, Fushiguro?"

The three looked over at the black-haired boy, who was busy on his phone.

"So, we could also try Chinese food. This new Turskish joint also opened up nearby..." The three walked away, and Megumi glanced up, swearing under his breath as he jogged to catch up.

Assholes, all of them.

"Aw, what's wrong, Megumi? Why do you look upset?" [Name] teased as he smirked at him from his position of currently resembling a sack of potatoes on Gojo's shoulder. He was still tapping away on his PSP despite the line of vomit that was drying on his chin.

"Maybe it's because he didn't get to choose dinner, pfft-" Nobara snorted, snickering as Yuuji began laughing into his hand.

"Shut up, you f*cking assholes. No, f*cking idiot moronic ugly-ass bit-"

"Sweet as sugar."

Chapter 4: 3

Chapter Text

"Sugar."

"So, theLaw of Conservation of Mass states that matter can't be created nor destroyed. This is the first and foremost law you learn in simple chemistry." [Name] said as he leant against the whiteboard, eyes trained on the three teenagers sitting in front of him.

Megumi was scrawling information down, expression pinched with concentration. Yuuji sat next to him, glancing over at his notes and attempting to copy them down. Nobara sat on the other side of Megumi, doing the same.

"Uh, sensei, whaddya mean? Could you explain?" Yuuji asked, raising a hand. [Name] hummed.

"Megumi, could you rip out a page for me?" He asked. The male did so without questioning anything, handing it over without complaints. [Name] thanked him by making a heart with his fingers, with got him flipped off.

[Name] pulled out a lighter, small and yellow with a little bee on the plastic. Nobara raised a brow.

"Uh, are you allowed to burn sh*t in here?" She asked, only to go ignored much to her chagrin.

"If I burn this paper, what do you think happens?" The teacher asked, flicking the lighter on and setting fire to the corner of the page.

"It burns?" Yuuji asked, confused.

"Yep. So, do you think I'm destroying the paper? As in, am I destroying it from existence?" Megumi watched, squinting at the weird face that Yuuji had as he thought about it.

"No...?" He finally said, answer sounding more like a question.

"Exactly. When I light this paper on fire, it is a chemical reaction, but the molecules and atoms that made it uphave not been destroyed. They have simply either escaped into the air or formed into ash. You can't get rid of atoms. Sure, you can break them down, but you can't get rid of them. The law says that matter cannot be destroyed nor created." [Name] explained patiently, dropping the paper on the floor. The four occupants of the room watched it crumple and burn away, soon turning into a small pile of ash sitting on top of the slightly scorched wooden flooring.

"It's pretty weird to see you actually being useful." Nobara suddenly piped up, which made both Yuuji and Megumi snort. [Name] gaped, before turning to the wall. A dark aura grew around him.

"You made him depressed." Megumi deadpanned, trying hard to wipe the smirk off his face as Yuuji was still giggling next to him. Nobara snickered. "Someone call Gojo-sensei to get him some chocolate or something."

"Oh! I've got a Cadbury in my pocket!" Yuuji suddenly piped up, standing up and fishing for the chocolate in his uniform pockets. He poked [Name]'s back. "Here you go, sensei!"

Megumi and Nobara watched as [Name] held the boy to his chest while tearily ripping into the chocolate. Yuuji looked happy, especially when his hair was tousled.

"You're my favourite, Yuuji. Your son rights have been revoked, Megumi. They belong to Yuuji now." [Name] said, sticking up his middle finger at the black-haired boy, who simply rolled his eyes.

"As if I wanted to be your honourary son. It's a nightmare." He scoffed, going ignored as [Name] began to fuss over Yuuji's hair and immediately began to scowl once the pink-haired boy proudly says that he uses 3 in 1 shampoo.

"Expect a package tomorrow, Yuuji." [Name] said, voice dangerously low. "I'm buying you hair masks and shampoo."

"Uh, okay-" The door slammed open, and Yuuji and Nobara jumped, the latter reaching for her hammer. [Name] and Megumi looked unfazed as they looked at the door, seeing Gojo stand there with his hands on his hips. "Gojo-sensei!"

"Hello, Yuuji-kun!" The man greeted with a small wave, dodging an eraser that was thrown at him full-speed by a certain spiky-haired boy. "Anyway, I'm here for our dear Kamo-san!"

"I'm teaching." [Name] said, despite the fact that he was still holding Yuuji to his chest like a protective mother.

"Boring! I'm sure they know what they're doing." Gojo rolled his eyes. "But I'm going to be taking over this class anyway. You gotta head in for a clan meeting."

"Again?" [Name] spluttered, letting Yuuji slip out of his hold. "I literally went last f*cking week!"

"I dunno, they're your clan." Gojo shrugged, throwing an arm around the man's shoulders.

"Clan meeting? What's that, Kamo-sensei?" Yuuji asked, only to whine as Nobara snickered at him for not knowing.

"Idiot." She jeered. "Don't you know the three high clans? Sensei is part of one of them."

"I only got introduced to jujitsu like... a week ago!" Yuuji whined. "I don't know!"

"There's Kamo, Gojo and Zenin," Megumi said, wincing at the last one. "The Gojo clan is... just Gojo sensei. The Kamo clan is huge and traditional, and the Zenin..."

"They do whatever the f*ck they want." Nobara shrugged. Megumi scowled but didn't seem to disagree. "I haven't heard from them in a while. Wonder what they're up to. They're quiet."

"Wait, why is Gojo-sensei the only clan member?" Yuuji asked. His question went unanswered as [Name] groaned loudly.

"Bro, my PS5 is supposed to arrive today!" He whined, getting his hair ruffled by Gojo, who then squished his cheeks between his hands. "Ugh,wash shoo I do?" He spoke through his squished cheeks.

"Suffer," Megumi said, watching with dead eyes as Yuuji and Nobara decided to try and thumb wrestle. He turned away as he heard Gojo make kissy noises.

"Don't worry, I'll get you something to get your spirits back up." The white-haired man winked poking [Name]'s nose. "I think it'll look real pretty on you."

"Damn, these old geezers are getting more action than me." Nobara sighed. Yuuji sighed with her before he took a moment to process what she said.

"Okay, cool, see ya losers later then." [Name] flashed a peace sign, before dragging Gojo outside the classroom. The three students watched the empty space where their teachers were, before nearly jumping out of their skins as a loud squeal interrupted the silence, followed by delighted giggles.

Gojo walked into the class, still giggling into his hand. His face was pink, and none of them wanted to know what had happened. That squeal belonged to him, after all.

"Anyway, let's talk about how terrible this generation's hairstyles are. We'll start with our dear friend Megumi!" Gojo clapped. Megumi immediately summoned a frog.

"YOU OLD GEEZER MOTHERFU-"

-

"I don't get it, why do they need me here? Half of the time they like to pretend I don't exist." [Name] said with a scowl, lips wrapping around his smokepipe as he sat on the balcony. Noritoshi was crosslegged on the ground beside his legs, his hands busy working any knots out of his hair.

"I'm not sure. Father said that he expected you to pull your weight, [Name]-san." The younger said, glancing up at the other. "I think it's them trying to reign you in."

"The audacity." [Name] huffed, placing his pipe to the side as he batted Noritoshi's hands away from his own hair. His larger fingers took on the job of untangling Noritoshi'shair. "Uncle is quite a bitch... no offence to your dad."

"None taken. He's never kind to you." Noritoshi hummed, leaning back with lidded eyes as he enjoyed the feeling of his cousin's hands running through his hair. "They still fear you, after all."

"Bro, I collect LEGOs in my spare time and I'm obsessed with anything strawberry or honey flavoured. Why is that scary?" [Name] scoffed, lightly scratching Noritoshi's scalp. He glanced up at the moon, scowl deepening.

He'd got there shortly after Gojo told him about the surprise meeting, only to be ushered away into 'his' room, which still had talismans on it, by the way.

An effort to stop the 'demonic' mutation in his body.

"What is a lego?" Noritoshi asked, puzzled. [Name] only sighed, patting his head as he began to separate small parts of the boy's hair and tie them into little braids.

"You're seriously missing out. This is actually painful." [Name] groaned. "I'm going to steal you away for a week and spoil you with sh*t."

"This is why my parents and the elders don't want me to spend time with you," Noritoshi said, but there was a lilt in his voice that showed his amusem*nt. "You're going to poison me with your ways."

"Yes yes, very poisonous." [Name] agreed. He stared at Noritoshi's hair, and for a split second, he imagined it to be longer and smoother. Noritoshi glanced back, and he was snapped out of it when he saw a redbruise that had formed over one of the boy's eyes. "Ah, how is your eye, by the way? I heard you training beforeand the assholes always push you too far."

"It's alright, just aches a bit." He said, hand ghosting over his eye. "Our techniques are strong, but the consequence of using it too much is brutal."

"You aren't wrong." [Name] hummed.

-

He had never expected to be pampered like this but here he was. Sitting in a hot tubwhile women rubbed him down with oils was not on the top of his list of wants, but he wasn't going to complain.

Well, there was no one else in the room except the odd ten guards or so that were stationed around the room with a keen eye on the bather. [Name] was a little uncomfortable, but he tried his best to look unbothered.

Noritoshi had said that his father wanted to fix his relationship with [Name], so he had ordered a meeting. Before that, [Name] was to get ready. This was a part of getting ready.

Of course, he wasn't stupid. He saw how Noritoshi didn't meet his eyes. He saw the way the guards stood around him and blocked the exit to the room. He saw how the women massaging him tried to discreetly push his phone away.

They were planning something, and [Name] wasn't too keen on finding out what that something was going to be.

He heard his phone ring from the top of his folded pile of clothes. It sat quite close to the bath, within arms reach.

He moved to reach for it, only for his hand to be slapped away by one of his masseurs.

"Ah, ah, ah! [Name]-sama, no distractions!" One of the women, Hina, tutted. [Name] offered her his best smile, noticing out of the corner of his eye how the guards looked a lot more alert. Their eyes were fastened on him.

"Hina-san, I'm a teacher. I need to know who's calling me." He said with a laugh. The three women behind him exchanged glances.

"I'm sure that it isn'tthatimportant. Besides, you should be focusing more on us! It isn't nice to ignore a lady, you know." Yua, another woman, cooed. [Name] tried his best to look calm as she hugged him, pressing her breasts against his face.

As a gay man, he wasn't impressed.

"I apologise, but I'll just glance at the caller ID. If it's no one important, then I'll get back to paying attention to you three, okay?" He pressed. The woman between Yua and Hina huffed.

"So stubborn!" She chided. "Fine, here's your phone." She picked it up, about to hand it to [Name], when Hina's arm bumped into hers. All the occupants in the room watched as the device fell into the water with a small splash. "Oh no!"

"Akari-san!" [Name] gaped. The women tried their best to look apologetic. One of the guards coughed in his fist to hide a smirk.

"I'm so sorry, [Name]-sama!" Akari and Hina cried at the same time. [Name] glanced at them, before offering them a smile that was slightly impish.

"Don't worry about it." [Name] fished around for the phone, pulling it out. He wiped it against one of the towels that were close to the edge of the tub. "Gojo got me a new phone, isn't it stylish? Thankfully, it's water-resistant."

He ignored the looked of surprise and thinly veiled annoyance on the three ladies' faces as he unlocked his phone. There were three unread messages as two missed calls from one Gojo Satoru.

'get to school now.'

'emergency.'

'megumi is devastated.'

[Name]'s relaxed expression grew into a worried one as he read the texts. No kaomojis, no exclamation marks, no nothing.

His phone buzzed as another text came through.

'yujjis dead.'

Guards stood with their weapons pointed as [Name] suddenly stood up, hair dripping wet.

The room had suddenly grown colder.

-

The inhabitants of the room remained silent. The only sound was the screeching of metal wheels. A mortuary table was brought forward, a body lying still on top of it. It was covered with a white sheet.

The door slammed open, making mostly everyone in the room jump. [Name] stood there, red-faced and dressed in a red and gold yukata. The clothing was poorly tied and wasat risk of falling apart at any second. His hair was still dripping wet.

"[Name]." Gojo sat on one of the tables, thankfully an empty one. His voice was flat, dead. "You've arrived."

[Name], however, was too preoccupied to indulge the man with an answer. His eyes were on the covered body, irises tremoring as he waited,waitedfor the person under the sheet to get up. To move, to talk.

"I-I'm sorry, it... i-it's all my fault! If I had known-" Ijichi's sobbing voice was interrupted as Gojo raised a hand. He watched [Name] take a shaky step forward. Then another, and another, until he was standing in front of the table. Shoko stood opposite him, her eyes on the wall as she refused to look at [Name], who was usually so laid-back and calm and sarcastic. Someone who was so fun and sardonic... reduced to something like this.

A dull thump echoed through the room as the man fell to his knees, hand clutching one of the legs of the mortuary tableas the other rested on the floor, palm flat to the cold tiles. Ijichi was trembling, not used to seeing [Name] like this. Shoko and Gojo were silent, eyes on the man.

"Did you suspect anything?" Gojo asked as he leant back, lifting a leg to rest over the other. He would have passed at looking relaxed if not for the tense shoulders and sharp expression.

The silence continued after he spoke before there was a slow, jerky nod.

"Oh, [Name]." Shoko frowned, her mask down to her chin as she spoke through the cigarette hanging between her lips.

Gojo simply laughed. There was no humour in his voice.

"f*ckin' knew it." He scoffed. "It was on purpose, wasn't it?" His eyes were covered by his blindfold, but it was clear to see that he was glaring at Ijichi.

"Y-you say that, b-but-"

"They sent three first-years to rescue five people with unclear information on whether they're dead or alive..." Gojo hummed. There was an empty smile on his face as he glanced over at [Name], whose shoulders were trembling. "And on top of that, making them go against a high-grade enemy... f*cking unbelievable."

"I managed to do the impossible by postponing Yuuji's execution so it was indefinite... and what's really messed up is that you managed to 'dispose' of him in my absence with the help of a higher-grade curse, huh? Is that f*cking it?"

Ijichi looked close to tears.

"Even if the other two students died, you thought that doing something to spite me would kill two birds with one stone, didn't you?" Gojo had a terrifying smile on his face.

"N-no, when... but wh-when the d-dispatch was... was decided, no one ex... expected it to be a-a high grade..." Ijichi managed to say, voice shaky and meek. He had covered half of his face with his hand, glasses clutched in his free hand as he tried not to look at theverypissedoff Number One Sorcerer.

"Now, finding a perpetrator for this is also troublesome..." Gojo sighed as he leant back. His smile dropped into a sneer, upper lip pulled back into a snarl. "Shall I go ahead and kill all those guys at the top?"

"It's rare to see you so emotional, Satoru." Shoko finally managed to speak up, tearing her eyes away from [Name]. Gojo stood up, stretching leisurely. The murderous aura around him still remained. "You must have been really fond of this one, huh?"

"I'm fond of all my students." Gojo brushed her off as he walked closer, eyes on [Name].

"Don't pick on Ijichi too much, it's hard for him to stand between us and the higher-ups." Shoko mused as she glanced at the man. A soft snicker left her lips as Gojo stomped his foot down like a child and exclaimed how he could care less for the poor man.

Now calm, Gojo stepped close to [Name]. He leant down, pulling the man into his chest with an arm.

"Oi, [Name]." His voice was quiet. [Name] didn't respond, hair covering his eyes. "Stand up." He pulled the man up alongside himself, his grip still tight around the older, who leant into him.

"I can do anything I want with him, right?" Shoko asked as she moved the sheet off. Gojo hissed slightly as [Name]'s head snapped towards the body, eyes wide and bloodshot under his hair. "Sukuna's vessel..."

"Come on, [Name]." Gojo pulled him away despite how the man began to claw at his arm and stand his ground while being completely silent. "Let's go... make good use of him, okay, Ieiri?" The woman nodded, sad eyes on [Name] as he was taken to a small bench to the side. It was only big enough for one person, so they were squished in together as Gojo forced [Name] to sit. He pressed the man's face into his neck. "Ahhh...I have a bad personality, don't I?"

"You do," Ijichi said, flinching back with a yelp as Gojo tried to slap him.

The two of them went back and forth, with Ijichi mostly trying not to cry as the other talked. Shoko watched them, then watched how one of Gojo's hands tightly gripped [Name]'s.

"Oi, you two." She interrupted their 'banter'. "I'm going to start."

Gojo glanced at her, about to respond, only to freeze as he saw a certain previously dead body sit up. Ijichi's jaw had dropped open.

"Uh, what are you two looking at?" Shoko asked with a raised brow before turning around, only to step back with wide eyes as she saw the one and only Itadori Yuuji having sat up.

"Whoa, my dick's hangin'out!" Yuuji exclaimed loudly.

"Go... Goj... he-he's al... ali-" Ijichi stammered, shrieking as Yuuji glanced at him.

Gojo had a wide grin on his face.

"Oi, shut up. You're being too loud." He leant over to smack the man's leg, gaze never leaving Yuuji. Next to him, [Name] stirred.

Glassy [eyecolour] eyes looked up, fixing onto Yuuji with a stare. The boy blinked and shivered, feeling slightly uneasy.

"U-uh, Kamo-sensei...! H-hi!" He squeaked, yelping as the mentioned man stood up on unsteady feet. Gojo was staring at him, expression masked by his blindfold as he watched [Name] shamble forwards. "Kamo-sensei, what are you- urk!"

[Name] fastened a hand around Yuuji's neck, his other hand gripping the boy's wrist. Ijichi squawked, stuttering and looking between Shoko and Gojo withhysteric cries to see if either of the two were going to do something to stop [Name] from killing someone that was dead ten seconds ago.

[Name]'s hand fell from its position around Yuuji's neck where he was feeling his pulse, making the boy cough and hack.

"Wh-what the hell-" He was interrupted as [Name] let out a shaky laugh.

"You're alive." He breathed. "Thank goodness... I thought that I would have to find a new partner for Stardew Valley."

The room was thrown into silence.

"... eh?" Ijichi spluttered. [Name] leant his head back with a sigh, patting Yuuji's head.

"f*ckin' hell, you scared me. I thought that I would have to share my farm with Megumi, but I'm glad you're still here. That would have been a f*cking nightmare." [Name] muttered. "He's good at streetfighter but he always ruins my f*cking crops in that game. And I'm sure it's on purpose, too! Just to piss me off!"

"Megumi ruins your crops?!" Yuuji gaped. "That villain!"

"Right?!" [Name] slapped Yuuji's back. "I'm glad someone else is aware of Megumi's evil streak."

"[Name]-chan, how about you step away from the naked kid? I don't want you going to prison." Gojo singsonged from behind, and [Name] blinked, thankfully not glancing down as he stepped back. He watched Gojo come forward and snickered asteacher and student highfived. "Welcome back, Yuuji!"

"Yo, I'm back!" Yuuji cheered, before getting a shirt and a pair of pants to the face.

"Wait, you were sad because you didn't have a partner in... what was it, star valley?" Ijichi spluttered. [Name] turned to him, face blank.

"Ijichi... mind your own f*cking business."

"Cinnamon hun."

Chapter 5: 4

Chapter Text

"Pretty boy."

Everything was blurry.

It didn't feel real. Nothing felt real as [Name] walked through the corridors of the large school building. His bare feet padded silently overthe wooden floors, the ends of his poorly worn yukata dragging along the ground.

His phone buzzed in his hand, blowing up with numerous texts and calls. It went ignored as he made his way to the teacher's dorms, trembling slightly from what he was sure was the cold.

The door to Gojo's room was open. He stepped in, weary eyes moving to the large window by the spectacular king-sized bed. He slowly moved to it, eyes on an armchair that was by the window.

He didn't make it. His legs gave away right as he got to the chair. He landed on the floor with a dull thump, knees knocking against the ground as his hands moved to grip the soft velvet of the chair. His shoulders shook for a moment before he let his head drop forward, face pressing into the chair.

it was silent, except for the ticking of the clock that sat over Gojo's barely used desk. [Name] let the silence consume him, letting his brain simmer away to emptiness as he stared at the dark red chair. His nails scraped against the fabric of the armchair, eyes growing lidded as he focused on the feeling of his nails scratching against the plush material.

He barely heard the footsteps. He felt a largehand bury itself in his hair, and he fell pliant under the touch. His hair was tugged up, head gently manoeuvred back. [Name]'s tired eyes met white hair and covered eyes.

"What's this? Soaking up the light of the moon? You look real picturesque." Gojo mused as he lightly scratched at [Name]'s scalp. An amused smile grew on his face as the other let his eyes fall shut.

With a long, drawn-out sigh, Gojo sat on the armchair. He gently pushed [Name]'s head to his knee, watching as the man curled up between his legs, cheek resting on Gojo's thigh. His [eyecolour] eyes were dull: unseeing. Gojo ran his hands through his hair and watched how [Name]'s eyes closed again.

"You can cry, y'know," Gojo said out of the blue, looking out of the window. He didn't receive a response. "You should. I don't think bottling things up is good... but, heh, who am I to say?" He smiled. He looked down, before tugging [Name]'s head up again. Gojo pressed a thumb to the man's lips, pushing until [Name] parted his lips. He began to lightly suck on his thumb, eyes hazy as he looked up at Gojo. The albino pulled his thumb away so he could place it over his own lips.

With a soft grunt, he pulled [Name] up on his lap. He heldhim tight, unseen gaze on the exposed shoulder of the man that was revealed due to how loose the yukatawas on him.

"I didn't change his records yet." Gojo continued. [Name] watched him, still remaining silent. "He's still dead in his papers. I'm going to make him stronger before I reveal him to the world again."

Gojo leant his head back. [Name] pressed his face to the other's neck, breathing deeply. The silence between them lasted for a while.

"Satoru..." The whispered call of his name made Gojo's grip on [Name] tighter. [Skincolour] fingers moved to the blindfold over the albino sorcerer's eyes.

His wrist was grabbed, and despite his eyes being hidden, [Name] could feel his stare. He pressed his chest against the other's before his fingers pulled at the cloth overGojo's eyes.

Fluffy white hair fell over closed eyes as the cloth was dropped, and [Name] released a sigh as a large pale hand slid up the back of his neck. Glacier blue met his eyes for a moment, before [eyecolour] eyes shut as a pair of soft lips pressed against his.

The obi that was tied around his hips fell away as [Name] pressed himself closer to the other. The yukata dropped down from his shoulders, falling around his waist as his upper body was revealed.

Several scars, some small and some big, crisscrossed over his chest and back. A couple of them were set in neat lines, travelling from his stomach to his hip. Others were bigger, having healed poorly and leaving behind keloid-like scars that were still an angry reddish-purple even though the injury happened long ago.

What remained to be the most jarring and painful injury on his body was the ancient Japanese prayers that were burned deep into his skin, covering the middle of his chest. The long fingers that caressed his back could feel more of those scars, leaving feather-light touches along the grooves of the burns.

Satoru didn't look perturbed or disgusted by the scars at all. He watched as [Name] leant his head back as he kissed over one of the burned words that were right over his heart.

"Satoru..." [Name]'s breathy voice called again, and Gojo wrapped his arms around the older man. He stood up, easily lifting [Name] into his arms before carrying him to the lavish bed by the window. He gently lay him down, eyes raking over messy [haircolour] hair and exposed skin as [Name] lay among the plush sheets and numerous pillows, surrounded by the red of his yukata.

Gojo descended upon him, pressing his lips to [Name]'s jaw before sliding back over to his lips. He felt the other sigh into his mouth.

"Gorgeous." He murmured as he pulled away for a bit. His hand moved to [Name]'s chest, laying over his abdomen. Palm flattened against the skin, he slid his hand up, pinching a nipple between his fingers.

"Satoru." The call of his name was louder, and he could see the wet tears that stuck to [Name]'s lashes. "Satoru."

"I'm here," Gojo said, pressing his face into [Name]'s neck, who let out a shuddering breath. "You know that I've got you. Always."

"Was scared..." [Name] whispered, voice rough with emotion as he let Satoru touch him. Love him. Take care of him. "So scared."

"I know." Gojo hummed against his skin. [Name] let his eyes flutter shut as he felt the other pull at the yukata that was around his waist. With a tug, the cold air hit his skin, and he opened his eyes once more. Pools of blue met him, and he was kissed again. "I know."

"Should've been there." [Name] continued to speak, voice breaking at the end. "Should've protected them."

"Not your fault," Gojo said, drawing circles onto his hip with a finger. "You didn't know."

"Suspected." [Name] said, and finally,finally,let the tears roll down his cheeks. "Nori was acting weird. Uncle was acting weird. Guards and women too."

Gojo pressed his thumb under the other's eye, wiping away a tear.

"You couldn't have done anything about it." A hand wrapped around him, and [Name] arched back a little. He bit down on his lip, stifling a sob. "It was out of your control. Even I didn't know."

A muffled whimper left [Name]'s lips, and he was quickly shushed. Fingers carded through his hair as he was stroked, gentle and steady.

"'gumi... he was hurt." He said, voice almost far away. "'bara, too."

"They're okay. Ieiri fixed them right up." Gojo pressed a kiss to the apple of his throat, which bobbed up and down. "Yuuji's okay, too. He's sleeping in the basem*nt, completely unharmed and okay."

"His heart was ripped out." The way [Name] said that made Gojo frown. The older's lips were trembling, red-rimmed eyes filled to the brim with tears. "Satoru... I nearly lost another one."

"You didn't lose him." A quick jerk made [Name] buck up. His hands moved to fist Gojo's shirt, pulling him closer as he sought more contact. The albino was quick to grant him his wish. "You didn't lose another, baby."

A broken noise left him, and Gojo continued to stroke him, a little faster this time. He could feel the despair, the fear and the anguish rolling off the other in waves.

"Satoru..." [Name]'s breath hitched, and Gojo lay next to him, pulling him to his chest as his hand worked around him.

"You know that I've always got you." Satoru's voice was quiet, so unlike theusual personality of his. "He's okay. You're okay. We're okay."

After a few strokes, warmth spilt into his hand. He smiled at the quiet moan that [Name] finally let out.

Gojo sat up as [Name] pulled himself closer to one of the pillows, curling up around a body pillow. It had a poorly-drawn sketch of Nanami on it.

[Name] watched as Gojo wiped his hand dry with a few tissues. He met blue eyes, a soft smile growing on his face as he received a wink.

As Gojo lay next to him, [Name] moved to press himself against the man. His thighs were still trembling, and a soft sigh left his lips as a large hand moved to still them.

"Can I suck you off?" [Name] asked. Satoru had gotten him off and he should really return the favour.

"Nah, I think I came in my pants." The reply made him let out a dry snort.

"Goodnight, Gojo." Anarm wrapped around him.

"Night night, baby."

-

[Name] leant against the railing, looking out at the clear sky. Nobara sat on the stairs next to him. Megumi sat a little ways behind her.

"He told us to live long." The boy said, glancing down at his shoes. The stark white bandage on his cheek was almost too harsh for the eyes.

"All your problems vanish when you die," Nobara muttered, before sighing. "Is this the first time one of your comrades have died?"

Megumi stayed silent for a while. [Name] stubbornly kept his eyes on the sky.

"First time for a classmate." The spiky-haired boy managed to finally say. They dissolved into silence again.

"... well, you seem oddly fine," Nobara said, her eyes moving to the sky as well. Megumi shrugged.

"You too." He said, glancing over at his teacher. [Name] looked strangely at peace.

"Well, I only knew him for like... what, two weeks?" Nobara clicked her tongue. "I'm not a soft woman. I don't cry for someone like him."

"Yeah," Megumi murmured, his eyes lifting from his shoes to her. [Name] glanced over as well, averting his eyes when he saw how the girl's lips were wobbling.

He pretended not to see the way Megumi's hands shook, too.

"It's so hot." [Name] said out loud. The two students gathered themselves.

"Yeah... I wonder when we'll get out summer clothes." Nobara said afterclearing her throat. She was about to speak again when an unfamiliar woman stepped out from behind one of the nearby buildings, a scowl on her face as she shouldered a bagged weapon.

"The hell? You lot are more depressing than ever." She snapped, a hand on her hip as she glared at both Megumi and the teacher, the latter responding with a peace sign. "Megumi, is this a f*ckin' funeral or something? Jesus."

"Zenin-senpai," Megumi said dully. [Name] rolled his eyes as the woman's lips split into a snarl. It was too early for this.

"Don't call me by my family name you-" Her words were suddenly cut off by a loud whisper of "Maki! Maki!"

She turned to the side, squinting at the large panda and his teenage accomplice that were hiding(?) behind a nearby tree.

"A student really did die yesterday! They're in mourning!" The panda whispered.

"Shake!" His smaller friend whisper-hissed.

Maki froze before her eye twitched and an embarrassed flush covered her face. She looked mortified.

"You should have said that earlier!" She spluttered. "Now I look like some cold, heartless devil!"

"That's exactly what you came across as," Panda said. The white-haired boy next to him seemed to agree.

Megumi and Nobara watched the three quarrel loudly. [Name] simply yawned.

"Who the hell are they?" Nobara asked, and the teacher noticed that she was eyeing up Maki in particular.

Interesting. He would file that away for later.

"The second-years," Megumi said with a sigh. He pointed to Maki. "That's Zenin-senpai, though she likes to be called Maki. She's the best at charms, way better than the rest of us students." He introduced her. Nobara hummed.

He then pointed at the white-haired boy, who was calmly watching Maki and the giant panda duke it out.

"That's Inumaki-senpai. He's a specialist in spells and only talks in onigiri ingredients." Megumi explained, ignoring the confused look on Nobara's face. Inumaki noticed them looking at him. He waved.

"What about that one?" Nobara pointed at the panda.

"That's Panda-senpai." Megumi said.

"There's one more." [Name] piped up. "He's overseas right now, though."

"That's Okkotsu-senpai. He's the only one I can respect openly." Megumi said, leaning back. Both he and their teacher ignored Nobara as she asked for more information on Panda.

"Sorry to bother you guys when you're still in mourning." Panda's voice snapped their attention back to the second-years. "But I want you two to attend the Kyoto Sister School Exchange."

"Ah, I forgot that was coming up." [Name] scratched his head, waving Inumaki off as he bowed at him. "With the sh*tty few days that we've been having, it totally slipped my mind."

"What a great teacher." Nobara deadpanned. "What's the exchange thing, anyway? Even Gojo-sensei didn't explain it."

"Don't call him sensei, it'll get to his head," Megumi said.

"He's a teacher, though?"

"Alright! Shut up." Maki clapped. "Gojo can't be trusted with anything. And Kamo's just too obsessed with his games to do any actual work."

"Wait, why aren't you calling me sensei?" [Name] asked. All he received were shrugs, so he turned around to sulk.

"Anyway, the exchange is with another magic technical college in Kyoto," Maki explained.

"It's mainly for the second and third years, though. Why do we have to do it?" Megumi asked.

"Because those third-yearn scumbags got themselves suspended, that's why." Maki rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. [Name] squinted at Nobara, who seemed to be paying a littletoomuch attention. "We don't have enough people, so you guys gotta come with us."

"What do you do in the event, anyway? Play Smash Bros? We have Megumi here who is incredible at it, he makes Kamo-sensei cry every week." Nobara said, ignoring the offendedgasp that she got from the already sulking teacher. "And if it's the Wii edition, it would be even better! I'm incredible at it."

"I'm not even good at Smash. Kamo-sensei just sucks." Megumi said, ignoring the choked sob from their clinically depressed teacher.

"Well, the events are decided by our principals, actually. The first is a team match, while the other is an individual match." Panda explained.

"Wait, team and individual?" Nobara gasped. "Wait, are we gonna be fighting? With other shamans?!"

"Yep!" Maki grinned, white teeth flashing menacingly. "A sorcery battle where anything but killing is allowed."

[Name], having just wiped his tears away with a handkerchief that he stole from the principal, looked up to see the red flush that travelled down Nobara's neck. He looked between her and Maki, before sighing. He couldn't believe that he was going to have to handle teenage gayness.

"So, you guys are gonna be there, right?" Maki asked with a co*cky smirk, hand on her hip. "Your comrade died, after all."

[Name] watched the two first-years stand up, a steely look in their eyes. A gum wrapper was stuck on Megumi's ass.

"I'm gonna do it." The two said together, determination coursing through their veins.

"Megumi, there's something stuck on your ass." [Name] spoke up, breaking the moment.

"Just so you know, if I think that the training is useless and is wasting my time, I'll drop it," Nobara said, crossing her arms. In the background, Megumi was beating up their teacher.

"Me too." The spiky-haired boy said as he got up from the still body that was pinned under several toads.

"Hah, the audacity of that makes this worth doing." Maki said, jutting her chin up as she grinned down at Nobara, who sent the older her own smirk.

"Lesbians are terrifying." [Name] wheezed out, face smooshed against the dirt ground as one of the toads licked his head.

-

"Hey, did you notice something weird?" Nobara asked as she and Megumi followed after the second years. The boy next to her glanced over, raising a brow.

"What? What're you talking about?" He looked confused. Nobara shrugged as she kicked a pebble away.

"Kamo-sensei. He didn't have a gaming device on him. He wasn't even on his phone." She said. "Kinda weird. I've never seen him without some sort of controller or device in his hand."

Megumi seemed to freeze a little. Nobara stopped in her tracks, watching him curiously.

The black-haired boy shook himself out of it.

"Ah, yeah, you're right. That is odd." He said, shoving his hands in his pockets as he continued to walk. Nobara was still for a moment, before jogging to catch up to him. "Maybe he's trying to break out of that stupid hobby."

"Maybe." She hummed. "But you think there's something wrong, right?"

"Huh? Where did you get that idea?" Megumi said far too quickly. Nobara simply snickered.

"It's written all over your face, you hedgehog. I'm not dumb." She scoffed, before leaning into Megumi's space. "So, whaddya think is up with him?"

"You know what else is written all over your face? Your stupid crush on Maki-senpai." Megumi shot back, smirking as Nobara blue-screened for a moment before exploding into a bright red blush.

"I donothave a crush on her!" She basically screamed. Their seniors stopped, turning around to look at them curiously.

"Ooh, does Kugisaki have a crush?" Panda asked, somehow wiggling (what they assumed) was hisbrows. "Who is it? Tell us!"

"Shake shake!" Inumaki looked excited. Maki looked curious but also slightly amused at the embarrassment over Nobara's face.

"I don't have a crush!" She yelled again, stomping her foot on the ground.

"Lying isn't good," Megumi said, managing to dodge a punch.

As Nobara had her temper tantrum while the second years tried to find out who her crush was, he turned away to get his phone out. He clicked on his messages, before clicking on [Name]'s contact.

He quickly typed up a message, stopping to read it.

'Can you bring me some wonton soup for dinner? And the DVD of Howl's Moving Castle. I want to watch it tonight.'

He bit his lip, before sighing and pressing the send button. His message popped up under a photo that [Name] had sent him of himself and Yuuji wearing fake moustaches.

Hopefully [Name] would agree. And the two of them could watch movies and eat.

And Megumi could hopefully get [Name] to relax. He knew that the man must be stressed. And upset.

He would try his best to get [Name] back on his feet.

"Darling."

Chapter 6: 5

Chapter Text

"Rainy days."

The early morning sun shone down, warming the stone paths and buildings. The sky was nearly cloudless, the sun peeking over the mountains and casting long shadows.

Principal Yaga stood in front of the main building; his office. He was accompanied by two teenagers, one of them looking over the moon while the other looked as if he'd rather be six feet under. In front of them stood three other teens, dressed in the uniforms of their college.

"Introductions!" Yaga barked. "As you know, I am Yaga Masamichi, your principal. These two behind me are the second-year students, who will introduce themselves after you three." The annoyed teen behind him muttered something under his breath. His fellow classmate next to him only grinned brightly, giggling at her partner.

"Shoko Ieiri, nice to meet you." The only woman in the group said, her dark eyes scanning over the principal and the seniors. The purple eye bags under her eyes were extremely noticeable in the sun. She bowed, hands held behind her back instead of in front of her. Yaga only nodded.

The principal's eyes moved to the tall black-haired man next to her. His hair was up in a bun, the school uniform showing off his muscular body.

"Geto Suguru." He said, bowing deeply. Yaga nodded his head. Simple and formal, just like how he preferred.

As his eyes moved to the last student, he couldn't help but twitch with annoyance. He could already imagine his hair going grey.

"Come on, you already know who I am." The albino jabbed with a grin, arm wrapped around his taller friend's shoulders. Geto had a relaxed smile on his face, not the least bit surprised by the other's behaviour.

"Introduce yourself or no admission." Yaga snapped. He could hear the teen behind him shuffle over to hide behind the principal's much larger frame. His friend didn't look surprised, but only amused.

"So annoying!" The albino stuck out his tongue. "Gojo Satoru. Six eyes user, blah blah blah." He didn't even bother to bow.

Yaga rubbed a hand against his face. If child abuse wasn't illegal, he would have smacked him seven ways to Sunday.

"Ito Natsumi! Second-year, Grade Two sorcerer!" The girl behind Yaga spoke as she stepped forward. Her red hair bounced with her steps, a brilliant smile on her fair skin. Amber eyes squinted as she grinned. "Ya better call me yer senpai, 'kay?" She looked behind her, hands on her hips as she narrowed her eyes. The subject of her glare glanced away, hands stuffed into his pockets as he hunched over himself.

"Kamo." Yaga stepped to the side, revealing the boy, who winced. He was pushed forward, growling under his breath as Ito hung onto his arm. "Don't waste time, boy!"

"..." He heard Gojo giggle. Head ducked down, his gaze was on the ground.

"Kamo!" Yaga snapped, and the boy stood up straighter, shrugging Ito off him.

"Kamo [Name], second-year. Semi-Grade One." He spoke quietly, before bowing deeply with his hands firmly held to his sides.

"Woww, already a Semi-Grade One, huh? Weren't you a Grade Two like two months ago?" Gojo gasped. [Name] straightened out, hair covering his eyes. "C'mon, don't act like you don't know me, [Name]-chan!"

"Stop antagonising our senpais on our first day, Satoru," Geto said, face displaying clear amusem*nt. Ito had gripped onto [Name]'s arm again, the latter looking tired of life.

"Are there only two second years?" Shoko asked, hand on her hip. She looked bored out of her mind.

"There was another onebut hedropped out. He was a dick, anyway." Ito said with a shrug. [Name] didn't even blink an eye, too busy fixing his longing gaze to the dorm buildings in the distance.

"The third-years are on a mission. That is why they aren't present." Yaga said, arms held behind his back. "Any questions?" Gojo raised a hand and he wanted to crawl back into bed. "... yes, Gojo?"

"Just wanna say that you look super nice in uniform, [Name]. Better than the kimonos you always wear." Gojo winked at the [haircolour]-haired boy, who ignored him. Ito covered her mouth with a hand, muffling a laugh with a cough.

"Shut up, Satoru." Geto grinned, elbowing his friend. "Anyway, where are our dorms?"

"The second-years will show you," Yaga said, not feeling the least bit guilty when he heard [Name] take in a breath. Ito simply clapped her hands.

"Right then! We'll take it from here, sensei!" She chirped, pulling [Name] with her as she began to walk to the dorms. "C'mon, first-years!"

Gojo and Geto followed (more like Gojo followed with an impish grin while Geto tagged along to see his best friend cause distress to others). Shoko hesitated for a second, but when Yaga turned around to retreat back to his office, she followed the other two boys that were embarrassingly her age.

"So, [Name], picture this. You and me, secluded island, tanning on the beach." Gojo wiggled his brows, blue eyes glinting with mischief behind his tinted glasses. "You're on your back and I'm rubbing sunscreen onto you. Real romantic. And then I lean down and-"

"Kamo, get back 'ere!" Ito managed to snag [Name]'s arm when he tried to bolt away, pulling him to her. "Don't be rude and ditch us!"

"Yeah, don't be rude." Geto grinned. Shoko looked at [Name] with sympathy.

The boy was thin, basically a walking, talking stick. His hair was ridiculously long and shaggy, reaching till the middle of his back. It looked uncut and similar to a dog that had a blowout.

Of course, Gojo would take to bullying a poor thing like him.

"So! First-years get the first floor while us second and third years get the second floor," Ito said, basically dragging [Name] along. The boy stayed silent, letting himself be carried around like a sack of potatoes. "Only us seniors are allowed on the second floor, but I don't mind if yeall come over to visit us!"

[Name] struggled in Ito's hold, which went ignored.

"What are yertechniques? We should get to know each other a bit more, eh?" Ito grinned, herdialect slipping into her words.

"Ooh, where are you from, Ito-san? Hyogo?" Gojo asked curiously. He didn't need to answer her question, since everyone already knew what his technique was.

"Yep! I got a Kansai dialect!" Ito said, before smiling with scary eyes that made Shoko shiver. "And call me senpai, got it?"

"Ah, sorry, Ito-senpai!" Gojo sang, not looking sorry at all. Ito seemed to be happy, though.

"Reversed-curse technique," Shoko said, setting their conversation back on track. "That's all I can do."

"Whaa? That's super cool!" Ito gasped. "Don't doubt yerself! That sh*t's useful! I get hurt a lot so I'll pay ye a lot of visits, 'kay?" She laughed. Shoko nodded, eyes on [Name], who was so limp that she wondered if he had passed.

"Thanks, I guess. I'm thinking of being a doctor." Shoko said with a shrug. Gojo "ooh"ed.

"Wow, future doctor, huh? Super cool!" Gojo grinned. Shoko stared at him, looking him up and down before grimacing and looking away. Geto barked out a laugh as his friend gasped in offence.

"So, what about you? What's yer technique?" Ito asked as she glanced back at Geto.

"Cursed Spirit Manipulation." He replied with an easy smile. "I can control vagabond cursed spirits. After I defeat curses, I can ingest them so I can use them later."

Ito pulled a face.

"... do you at least salt 'em first before eatin' 'em?" She asked. Geto blinked. "Oh wow. Gross."

Gojo released a hyena-like laugh, throwing his head back. Geto slammed his fist into his friend's stomach.

"It doesn't taste bad." The black-haired man said as they walked away from Gojo, who was on the ground holding his stomach with a whine of pain. "There's no taste."

"Good, good," Ito said with a happy smile. They had arrived, the dorm building looming above them. [Name], who was limp and basically dead up until now, tugged at Ito's hand.

"Let me go." His voice was quiet, brows furrowed with annoyance. "You show them the dorms. I'm going to study."

"He speaks!" Gojo gasped as he caught up to them, one hand still on his stomach.

"f*ck off." [Name] said, his expression not changing. He didn't even look at Gojo.

"Fine, fine!" Ito let him go, and the group watched as [Name] darted into the building. "He's room thirteen on the second floor, by the way."

"Do you hate him?" Shoko asked genuinely. Ito had to know that Gojo and Geto would probably bug the hell out of the poor boy, right?

"Oh, god no! He's my best friend. I just want him to have more friends." Ito grinned, apparently not noticing Gojo and Geto grinning with a dark glint in their eyes. Shoko prayed for [Name]'s safety and sanity. "He's too reserved. He's like an angry cat, almost. Just gotta pester him until he likes you."

"That's not how you make friends with a cat." Shoko deadpanned. She went ignored as Ito went into the building, and couldn't help but follow with a sigh. The two other idiots followed, giggling and whispering under their breaths.

This was going to be an interesting few years.

-

"I keep forgetting that Pierre's store is always closed on Wednesday." [Name] grunted. He was curled up on the couch in the Jujutsu High basem*nt, hands clutching his Switch. "I need to buy parsnip seedsso I can finish building the stupid community centre."

"I've already finished the community centre," Yuuji said through a mouthful of popcorn, his eyes on the television as he hugged a little snoring plush bear to his chest. "And I got a horse recently! Her name is Brownie."

"Such an unoriginal name but I'll let it go since you're my sunshine boy." [Name] said as the salmon-haired teen tossed a piece of popcorn at him. It was caught in his mouth. "I can't believe you've already finished the community centre. I gave you the game like last week."

"It's a good game!" Yuuji argued. "And we need to play more! But Gojo sensei wants me to watch movies." He pouted as he turned his gaze back to the TV. It was playing the Titanic. "Also, Leonardo is so hot in this."

"Right? He's super cute. What happened..." [Name] sighed. Yuuji sighed as well. Gojo also sighed.

"Wait, when did you get here?!" Yuuji turned around with a yelp. [Name] grabbed the popcorn so it wouldn't go flying when the plush bear woke up to deliver a hard punch to the side of the boy's jaw.

"Like ten minutes ago. I brought snacks!" The albino announced, climbing over the back of the couch to sit between [Name] and his student. "[Name], lemme play Stardew for a bit!"

"No! You keep gifting everyone trash which makes them hate me." [Name] aimed a kick at the other, obviously not succeeding since Limitless stopped him from doing so. "I'm trying to marry Elliot but you're going to f*ck it up."

"I married Sebastian!" Yuuji said happily as he nursed his jaw. "He's really cute! And kinda emo, but I like it!"

Gojo and [Name] glanced at each other. The matching glints in their eyes were frightening.

The bear woke up and punched Yuuji again. [Name] leant against Gojo, opening his mouth as he was fed a square of chocolate. Yuuji's swears and screams became background noise as [Name] lost himself on romancing his in-game husband.

-

"So, uh, what are you doing?" [Name] asked, watching Nobara fly up ten feet in the air before landing face-first on the dusty ground.

They were in the school oval, which was just a dirty, dusty space that spanned the size of about three basketball courts. No grass grew on in because of one certain incident he didn't want to remember, so it had officially been dubbed as a sparring arena.

"Falling practice." Megumi deadpanned, watching Panda run away after having thrown Nobara. Said woman was chasing after him with a hammer.

"Huh." [Name] blinked. He watched Maki and Inumaki stand a few metres away from each other, yelling at the top of their lungs. There was an "Okaka! Shake, tuna mayo!" and then Maki's outraged cry.

"Sensei, could you train with me?" Megumi suddenly spoke up. [Name]'s head turned to him with frightening speed. "... what?"

"Sorry, you've never called me sensei before. This is a monumental moment." The older said, discreetly wiping away a tear. His student fought the urge to smack him. "Anyway yes, I will teach you, my precious boy." The spiky hair on top of his head was flattened as [Name] patted him.

"I'm regretting this already. I'll go get Maki-senpai." Megumi stood up, about to go to his cousin, only to have the back of his uniform be grasped. "Oi, wait-" He choked as he was pulled back. His struggle went ignored as he was dragged to the sparring arena, a little ways away from the others before being dropped unceremoniously on the ground.

"Alright. Buckle up." [Name] stretched out his arms, sighing as his elbows and spine popped pleasantly. He reached down to touch his toes. "Make sure you stretch. Otherwise, it's going to hurt like hell later."

"I've already stretched," Megumi said as he stood up, muttering profanities under his breath as he rubbed his rear to try and soothe it from the rough fall. "Don't you need to run errands or something?"

"Don't try and get rid of me. I am your teacher." [Name] said, clicking the joints of his fingers. "Anyway, ready?"

"Mhm." Megumi took on a lazy fighting stance. "No weapons or curses?"

"Nah, just hand to hand for now." [Name] said, before stepping back a little. His legs were slightly set apart, elbows drawn into his chest and hands held loose yet ready. His knees were slightly bent, muscles tensed. "Begin."

Immediately, Megumi rushed forwards. [Name] blinked, before stepping out of the way and jumping back as the boy turned to him, throwing a punch.

"Always pause first. Unless you can't, it's best to pause and take in your opponent's stance and if they have any weak points." [Name] said as he quickly side-stepped to avoid another punch. "Your main priority is to end the fight as the winner. The shorter the fight is, the better the outcome would be. Don't fight to kill, fight to disarm or disable. Unless you're fighting a curse... then you can kill."

Megumi grunted, leaping at his teacher. His arm was grabbed and he was forcibly pushed to the side, a foot coming in contact with his side as he was kicked away. He covered his head with his arms as he rolled, before getting to his feet quick enough to block a hit.

"Always hit quick. Sometimes it's best to exchange power for balance." [Name] said, looking as calm as ever. "The leaping attack would have done good damage if it hit, but that attack is easy to stop."

Megumi's eye twitched. He was panting already and [Name] didn't seem to be even breaking a sweat.

He rushed forward at his teacher, aiming for a punch to his face before swapping it at the last minute to an underhanded hit. However, his fist was quickly caught and he was pulled forward. [Name]'s hand slapped over his face and he was pushed back, knees giving away as he was forced to the ground. A plume of dust erupted around them as Megumi's head hit the sandy ground. He was held down, one arm pinned by [Name]'s knee and the other held above him with the man's free hand. He had lost.

The hand covering his face moved, and Megumi sat up, coughing. He felt fingers gently poke and brush over the back of his head.

"That little trick was clever, but it's easy to stop if you make it so obvious that it was going to happen." [Name] said, crouching next to him. "Your head okay?"

"Fine," Megumi grumbled, peeved at the fact that he was brought down so easily. He hadn't even landed a hit.

"Cheer up, you're fifteen. That wasn't bad for someone who's going against a person nearly twice their age." [Name] stood up. Megumi accepted the hand that was offered, pulling himself up. "And when landing an underhanded hit in secret, don't stare at my stomach. I know that you're going to swap fists."

"Shut up." Megumi flipped him off with an embarrassed expression. That attack was a desperate one and he hadn't put any thought into it.

"Haha! Fushiguro, you suck!" Nobara cackled. The two of them turned to her. She was standing a few paces away, hands on her hips and a smug expression on her face. Panda was sneaking up behind her. "Lame!"

[Name] and Megumi ignored her as she began screaming when Panda picked her up.

"Um... did you read my text?" The boy asked, voice quiet. His cheeks were turning a little pink, clearly embarrassed.

"Huh? Oh, the little movie night?" [Name] asked. A grin grew on his face. "Bro, I haven't had wonton soup in ages. And we're going to be watching a lot more thanHowl's Moving Castle. I'm bringing alongPrincess MononokeandMyNeighbour Totoro, too. AndSpirited Away!"

"Shut up! You're being too loud." Megumi hissed. There was a part of him that felt relief as he saw the grin on his teacher's face.

"You better be ready for a movie marathon. And I'm making a sh*t ton of soup." [Name] hummed. The seriousness from them fighting a minute ago was gone.

There was a buzz, and [Name] checked his phone. A scowl grew on his face before he sighed.

"What?" Megumi asked.

"It's Yaga. He wants a meeting." [Name] grumbled. "Seriously. Meetings are all that's been happening to me recently."

Megumi tried to move away as [Name] hand descended down upon him, but ultimately couldn't escape the terror that was his hair being ruffled.

He watched the teacher walk away. Nobara came up to him, panting and red-faced. Panda was taking a break, it seemed.

"So, he doing okay?" She asked. Megumi scowled as she put an arm around his shoulder.

"Piss off, why would I care?" He shrugged her off.

"Tsundere! You're a tsundere!"

"Dewy cheeks."

Chapter 7: 6

Chapter Text

"Sunny smiles."

[Name] slowly chewed on the end of his sashimi, lidded eyes on the open book in front of him. Placing his chopsticks down, he scrawled down a few words, underlining some sentences that he deemed to be important.

His hand reached under the fabric of his kimono so he could lightly scratch his chest. There was a bruise there that was oh-so-kindly given to him by Ito the day before.

There was a knock at the door and [Name] glanced up, the pen gripped in his hand going lax. He stayed silent, before letting out an annoyed sigh as he heard giggling. Standing up, he adjusted his clothing, before placing the pen back in its stand. The geta cushioning his feet clacked against the wooden floors as he walked to the door. He grabbed the handle, pushing it down after he had unlocked the door.

"Whoa." Geto blinked as he stared at him. [Name] offered him an unimpressed stare.

"Right? I told you that he only wears kimonos!" Gojo piped up, peering from behind his friend. The impish grin on his face made [Name] scowl. "Isn't he a cutie?"

"What do you want?" [Name] grunted as Geto stepped past him, walking into his room as if he belonged there. Of course, Gojo had to follow as well.

"Just curious to see what our senpai was doing." Geto glanced around the room, taking in all the traditional designs and items that sat around. There was a shrine at the corner of the room, along with alarge bed on the floor that had a red, tulle-like material draped around it from the ceiling. There was even a little table with a smokepipe on it."Seriously, are we still at school? It's like I've stepped into a temple."

"Boring! Where's the TV? The PlayStation?" Gojo whined, wrapping an arm around [Name]'s smaller frame. He was easily shrugged off as the man moved to sit on the chair by his desk again.

"I don't know what that is." [Name] muttered, ignoring the twin gasps he received. He picked up his pen, growling as it was snatched away from his fingers. "Oi, give that back-"

"Fancy." Geto mused as he looked the pen over. It was a traditional fountain pen; flowers climbing up the side of the barrel. "How much did this cost?"

"None of your business." [Name] snapped. A thin thread of blood spurted out of his thumb that rushed up to wrap around the pen. Geto made a little noise of wonder as the pen was tugged out of his grip and fell back into its owner's grasp.

Gojo watched, blue eyes intense behind his glasses as [Name] wrapped his lips around his bleeding thumb. Geto slapped the man's back to snap him out of it.

"Blood technique, huh? Satoru told me that you're from some bigshot clan like he is." Geto hummed, watching their senpai begin to write again. Gojo hummed.

"Yeah, he's from Kamo. Buncha weirdos they are, always in kimonos and super traditional sh*t. They're so annoying." The albino snickered. "At least [Name] looks cute in a kimono. I do want to see him in other stuff, though. Maybe some real nice tightly fitting clothes." He wiggled his brows. His words didn't bring a reaction.

"Don't be rude." Geto admonished, leaning against [Name]'s desk. He peered down at the mass of messy hair sitting atop the older's head. "Though... as beautiful as you are, you should cut your hair. I don't think I've seen those eyes of yours."

"What I look like is none of your business." [Name] muttered, growing tense as he felt a large hand bury itself in his hair. He barely noticed his head being tugged back, too caught up in the feeling of the warmth that Geto's hand provided. Before he knew it, his eyes met the younger's, and Gojo was there too, peering at him from over his glasses.

"... wow." Suguru murmured. Gojo's hand moved to lightly cup his cheek. "You really are cute, aren't you?"

Finally coming to his senses, [Name] jerked back, a shudder racing through his body as he tried to shake off the feeling of being touched so tenderly. His hands were trembling, and he quickly tucked them away under his kimono.

"You should cut your hair, [Name]-chan! You'd look pretty as hell." Gojo said, and [Name] watched, eyes wide under his hair as the two walked to the door. "See you later! Bye-bye, cutie!"

The door shut and footsteps faded away, yet [Name]'s gaze stayed on the door, heart still pounding in his ears.

-

"No, open your mouth in an 'o' shape." [Name] clicked his tongue. "Watch me." He parted his lips, opening his jaw wide yet not stretching his lips. "Like that."

Yuuji copied him, and [Name] scowled as he saw the state of the boy's lips. "Like this?"

"Do you not use chapstick? Or drink enough water?" The teacher asked, searching through a small bag that was in his lap. "f*ckin' hell, the state of your lips... this is why you don't have a partner."

"Eh?! You sound like Kugisaki!" Yuuji shrieked, yelping as the little bear in his arms tried to aim a punch at him. He closed his eyes and breathed in, trying to control his energy to a stable level once more. He relaxed as he heard the plush begin to snore once more.

"Here. This is my favourite. Helps dry lips." [Name] held up a small stick of lipstick, voice carrying over the sound of the movie playing on the TV. The productwas light pink in colour, and Yuuji "ooh"ed and opened his mouth into the 'o' shape once more. "I get really dry lips because I'm anaemic, so this brand is real nice." [Name] pressed the tip of the lipstick to the boy's mouth, lightly building it up over his lower lip before leaning away. "Now just do this."

Yuuji watched the man sort of smack his lips together with a "pop pop" sound. He tried it himself, humming lightly as he felt the substance on his lips being spread thoroughly. "Whoa, cool!"

"Yep, give it a moment to dry a little. And don't f*ckin' lick it off!" [Name] tucked the lipstick away before pulling out another one that was a different shade yet the same brand. Yuuji watched him put it on. "I like using the darker stuff. I think the light one suits you best because of your hair." He pointed at the mop of pink on the teen's head. Yuuji grinned brightly, popping his lips again. His teacher seemed to swoon at the display, which he didn't see because he was too busy giggling over the lipstick.

[Name] pulled out a handheld mirror, turning it in Yuuji's direction.

"Wow!" The boy gasped as he looked at himself. His eyelashes were dark and fluffy, thanks to a mascara that the older had used on him. His cheeks and nose were brushed over with some highlighter, making his face sparkly in the best way. And finally, his lips were shiny and smooth, and he clapped his hands. "I love it!"

"I can give you some of this if you want." [Name] shrugged. "I have extras."

"Yes please!" Yuuji grinned wide. [Name] couldn't help but crack a smile, leaning forward to ruffle the boy's hair. Unlike Megumi, Yuuji seemed to enjoy it. "Is it expensive? I can pay you back!"

"Don't worry, Gojo buys it for me." [Name] waved a hand in dismissal. "I'll tell him to get a few more for you. How many packs do you want? Ten? Twenty?"

"Uh... maybe two." Yuuji blinked. Damn, Gojo sure sounded rich.

Before the two of them could speak, there was a little blip of energy behind them. Yuuji didn't seem to notice, glancing between the TV and the mirror.

"Something up?" [Name] asked. Yuuji was about to answer, only to yelp as he felt a large hand on his shoulder.

"Nup!" Gojo grinned. "Just wanna borrow Yuuji for a sec. You don't mind, right?"

"Gojo-sensei?!" Yuuji spluttered. "When did you get here?!"

"Yeah, sure. What for?" [Name] questioned, reaching over for the popcorn. He pushed one of the kernels to Gojo's lips.

"Mm, caramel... ah, just wanna show him something! A nice little practical experience." Gojo picked Yuuji up by the back of his hoodie. The boy shrieked, which of course, went ignored.

"Bye." [Name] waved as both teen and adult vanished into thin air. He glanced down at the plush bear that had woken up at the disappearance of Yuuji, before lightly kicking it off the couch. "So ugly..."

He took out his phone, leaning back against the couch. His eyes lit up as he received a message.

Sugar Daddy #1😍 has sent you a new message!

He tapped on the little notification banner, opening up to the messaging app.

Sugar Daddy #1😍

Good afternoon, Kamo-san.

[Name] grinned. His fingers flew over the screen of his phone.

Sweetpea

Hiiiii! God, I miss you so much. Haven't seen you in so long!

Sugar Daddy #1😍

Yes, it has been a while. Gojo informed me of what happened. Are you doing well?

Sweetpea

Of course he did. I'm fine. Just a little shaken up.
I'm okay now. But I could be better if I get to see you :)

Sugar Daddy #1😍

Your flirting is usually ineffective with me.

Sweetpea

'Usually'

Sugar Daddy #1😍

However, I am going to meet you soon. Gojo is planning to have Itadori-kun meet me. I hope that you will be present.

Sweetpea

A case?

Sugar Daddy #1😍

Thankfully not.

Sweetpea

Oh good.
Maybe you and Yuuji would get along. He reminds me of someone.

Sugar Daddy #1😍

Who?

Sweetpea

Not sure.
He's sort of.
Familiar

Sugar Daddy #1😍

Hm.
Well, either way, wehave some time to catch up.
There is a café that I am quite fond of.

Sweetpea

Oh wow, a date?
So forward.

Sugar Daddy #1😍

We've known each other for a long time.
This isn't the most forward thing we've done.

Sweetpea

Forward and blunt.
I like it ;)

Sugar Daddy #1😍

Your taste in men confuses me.

Sweetpea

Believe me, you aren't the only one confused by it.

The clock hit 12:30 and [Name] tucked his phone away, looking a little giddy. Too bad that the other's break was over because [Name] really wanted to talk more.

He stood up from his spot, stretching with a yawn before deciding to head out. He climbed up the stairs, opening the door with a grunt. It wasn't long before he was outside, hands stuffed in his pockets as he let the warm afternoon air caress his face.

There was a loud boom, and [Name] groaned.

"Can't even get one f*cking second of peace and quiet in this place." He growled to himself, looking more like an angry cat since his hair was a mess from the several hours he'd spent in the basem*nt with Yuuji. He began to head to where he had heard the explosion or whatever it was, seeing smoke and dust billowing in the distance.

He frowned as he saw the science building. The front of the structure seemed to be what had taken damage, and through the haze of dust, he sawthelarge and bulky figure of-

"Seriously?" [Name] sighed, clearly tired. He kicked a stray pebble away from his path. "Damn Kyoto students..."

"K-Kamo-san?" Megumi's raspy voice called out as he saw a figure walking towards them. He couldn't really see, the hit he'd taken making his vision all blurry.

"Hm? Not calling your teacher sensei..." The boy in front of him looked up at the sky, hand forming into a fist. "That's one of the most disrespectful things you can do!" The fist came rocketing towards Megumi, who clenched his eyes shut.

"Todo." A small, highly pressurised stream of red shot towards them, hitting the arm that was going for Megumi.

"Gah!" The arm fell to the side, spasming as Todo stumbled back, gripping the appendage. "K-Kamo-sensei!"

[Name] stepped in front of Megumi, the blood shooting out of his finger swirling around his arm. His eyes were dark and an unimpressed frown was on his lips.

"You're fighting in front of the science labs." The teacher said. "There are various chemicals inside, not to mention the giant tank of gas that is stored under this building. Fighting by it could cause it to explode and the area to get destroyed."

"S-sensei..." Todo moved his hand, making sure that all of his nerves were working.

"The exchange program hasn't even started... the hell are you lot fighting for? My poor labs..." Megumi looked away with second-hand embarrassment as [Name]'s sudden seriousness was switched off to mourn over the damaged building.

"Todo!" Panda's voice called, and the trio glanced over to the side, seeing Panda and Inumaki running over. "Sensei! The science labs!"

Inumaki walked over to [Name], patting his back to comfort him as Panda freaked out over the building.

"Tch." Todo huffed, crossing his arms. "Whatever."

"Just use Gojo's money to fix it," Megumi said, hissing as his head gave a throb. [Name] seemed revitalised at his words and crouched down next to his student. [Name] pressed a finger to Megumi's bleeding forehead. "Ow, don't poke at it!"

"Follow my finger with your eyes." [Name] said, holding a finger in front of Megumi's face. Inumaki watched cautiously, one eye on Todo and the other on his teacher. "Good, seems like you don't have a concussion..." [Name] pulled out his phone and turned the flashlight on, shining it in both of Megumi's eyes. "And your eyes are fine. No big signs of internal head injuries, but I gotta check for external ones. You'll probably be just dizzy."

"Yeah," Megumi said, grunting as he was helped up onto his feet. He leant against his teacher, watching Todo and Panda talk but not caring enough to listen.

"Whoa, you look like sh*t, Fushiguro!" Nobara's voice called. She and Maki were coming up over the hill from the entrance to the school. "What, that Todo guy beat you up that badly?!"

"Your uniform is literally in tatters." Megumi deadpanned. "Did Mai bang you up that badly?"

"Injured?" [Name] asked Maki, ignoring the quarrel between the two first-years.

"No. Nobara's fine, too. At the worst, she's just bruised." Maki responded, her hand on the strap of her bagged weapon as she watched Mai reunite with Todo. "Anyway, what are you up to? I usually see you crying in the kitchen most of the time and now you're not there."

"I don't cry in the kitchen-" [Name] spluttered, gasping as Panda and Inumaki voiced their agreement to Maki's words.

Well, Inumaki said "shake" but that means yes.

"Wow, you really are depressed." Nobara blinked. "Lame."

"f*ckin' bullies." [Name] scowled. "I'll drop you, Megumi!"

"I haven't even f*cking said anything!" Megumi yelled, aiming a kick at [Name] that he couldn't follow through with because he felt too dizzy.

-

"What... is that?" [Name] asked, squinting at the sheet of paper. His PSP was held tight in his hands, the game paused so he could try and decipher the contents of the page.

"That, my dear, is the curse we fought!" Gojo said, fanning himself with a hand. Yuuji sat next to him, his eyes on the paper. It was a crudely drawn...thingwith what seemed to be a mountain on its head. Next to that one was a weird blob with a face that had two flowers(?) on it.

"Ah, Gojo-sensei did most of the work! I just stood and watched!" Yuuji was quick to deny his part in the fight.

"So humble!" Gojo cooed, ruffling the boy's hair. "But yes, he is right. I did everything because I'm the best!"

"... pfft." Gojo looked thunderstruck as [Name] turned his face away, shoulders shaking as he covered his mouth with a hand to muffle his laughter.

"Oi! Don't be mean!" Yuuji watched the two, slightly confused on how two grown men could act like this. It wasn't that he didn't like it, he was just perplexed.

"Oh!" The salmon-haired boy suddenly spoke. He pointed at the drawing with the mountain on its head. "This guy had Mt Fuji on his head! It smoked and had lava and everything!"

"Fuji?" [Name] stared at the drawing. "What about the other one?"

"The other one was like... a big tree! They had branches in their eyes! And they were super tall! Like suuuuuper tall!" Yuuji tried to convey the height by reaching up with his arm and waving it around like a madman. "And they could make flowers! Smelt really nice but it made us distracted so they and the Fuji guy escaped."

"They escaped?" [Name] stared at Gojo, who was looking away and whistling to himself. "Gojo, two intelligent curses escaping is probably not good."

"Probably!" Gojo shrugged. "Anyway, I gotta head on over to meet dear ol' Gakuganji, so byeee!" And with a blip, he was gone.

"Who's that?" Yuuji asked, curious. [Name]'s attention was back on the PSP.

"Kyoto's principal." He hummed. "He's old and ugly. And kinda smells like..."

"Ooh, like musty lemons?" Yuuji asked. [Name] blinked at him.

"What the hell. How did you know? Have you met him before?" He leant forward, squinting a little. "And he didn't try to kill you, did he?"

"Oh, I haven't met him! But most people at the hospital my Gramps was in smelt like that." Yuuji hummed.

"... cool." [Name] said slowly, watching as Yuuji turned to the TV once more. With a sigh, he leant back, resting his feet on the teen's lap as he busied himself in his game once more. He didn't want to think about it. "... wanna play Stardew together?"

The TV turned off and Yuuji turned to him with sparkling eyes and a bright grin.

"Can we?! I miss Sebastian! I've got a kid with him!" He gasped, leaning over to grab his Switch from the tea table. "I named her Suki!"

"That's some cute sh*t right there." [Name] commented. "I just proposed to Elliot so I'm about to get married. God, I wish this was real life." He sighed mournfully. Yuuji sighed as well. "Don't do that. You literally have a real-life Sebastian."

"... I do?" Yuuji furrowed his brows. [Name] groaned. This child was hopeless.

"Doe eyes."

Chapter 8: 7

Chapter Text

"Forehead kisses."

He remembered his hands, large and veiny andstrong, comingdown to clamp around his wrists. How a knee forced his thighs apart, how wet kisses were pressed to his jaw.

He remembered his voice, his breaths. He remembered how he would praise him, call him good, call him obedient. He remembered the way he was held close to his chest, hearts beating in unison as they calmed down together. He remembered the deep voice complimenting him, the firm touches along his back and chest.

[Name] groaned into his hands, pinching the skin above the bridge of his nose. Yeah, that dream had him waking up horny as f*ck and he wished that he could go back to bed and resume it. But no, it was already nine in the morning and duty calls.

"Good morning, sensei!" Yuuji's chipper voice greeted him as he descended down the basem*nt stairs. The boy was on the couch, a plate of hot pockets in his lap as he scrolled through his phone.

[Name] made a half-hearted noise that could be taken as both a greeting or as a sound that a dying goat would make. He made a beeline for the small kitchen that was connected to the TV room, setting a kettle on the stove and watching flames lick the steel surface.

"Sensei, do you wanna watch this Korean drama with me? It looks super cool!" Yuuji said from the other room. [Name] stuck his head out of the kitchen, an oreo hanging out of his mouth. He pushed a hand against it and stuffed the whole thing in his jaws.

"Sure." He agreed after a moment of chewing and painful swallowing. "Though, we're meeting someone this afternoon." He heard the kettle whistle and retreated back into the kitchen.

"Who is it? And for what?" Yuuji asked curiously, shuffling to the side as [Name] walked out with a mug of coffee and a packet of Oreos. The teacher sat next to him, making himself comfortable.

"Nanami Kento." [Name] spoke through a full mouth as he grabbed a hot pocket off Yuuji's plate. "He's a sorcerer. He's gonna teach you some sh*t."

The TV turned on, muffling Yuuji's words as Netflix opened up. He was about to click the play button before Gojo showed up in all his glory, blipping in front of them.

"Show time's over!" He clapped, neither Yuuji nor [Name] being too surprised at his sudden visit. They were used to it at this point. "We gotta move! There's a mission in downtown Tokyo!"

"But my hot pockets!" Yuuji spluttered as [Name] began to shove Oreos into his pockets. "My hot pockets!"

"Dump 'em in the fridge for now. We can reheat them when we get back." [Name] was already on his feet, grabbing the plate from the teen so he could rush to the mini kitchen. Gojo ruffled Yuuji's hair to comfort him. "Also, what mission? We have to go see Nanami."

"Yeah, so, uh, there's been a murder." Gojo clasped his hands together, rocking back and forth with a smile. "And Nanamin's been assigned to it. And since we gotta go see him anyway, let's just join him on his mission!"

"He will kill you." [Name] said, face blank. "But it'll be fun to watchso let's go anyway."

"That's the spirit!" Gojo cheered, grabbing Yuuji by the back of his hoodie and pulling him to his feet as he dumped the boy's uniform into his arms. "Go change! We're taking the train so be quick!"

"We literally have a car and a driver, why are we taking the train?" [Name] asked, squinting a little. He didn't like being surrounded by people and curses. Non-shamans usually had minor, small-grade curses hanging off them and trains were usually where these things festered.

"I wanna see the sights! And the place we're going is close to a train station anyway!" The albino replied, clapping his hands as Yuuji ran out from the kitchen, dressed in his uniform. "Alrighty! Let's get going!"

-

[Name]'s eyes were set onto a small, bug-eyed curse that was wrapped around a passenger's neck. His PSP was in his lap, forgotten as its owner busied himself in trying not to gag.

"Should we do something about that?" Yuuji asked, glancing up at his teacher. He yelped inseeing the man's face. "Whoa, you look like you're going to puke!"

"[Name]'s a huge germaphobe if you didn't know." Gojo snickered. "Tiny curses freak him out. One time, this-"

Nearby passengers averted their gazes as the Mortal Combat music from the PSP grew louder, drowning out whatever the white-haired man was saying. A couple of women sitting nearby (who were most definitely trying to listen in despite having no idea what they were hearing) looked miffed at the fact that Gojo's voice was cut off.

Yuuji rose a brow as [Name]'s phone dinged. He glanced at the device, raising a brow.

"Um... who's... uh, 'Sugar Daddy One'?" The boy asked, jumping back as the phone was quickly grabbed with deft hands. [Name] was grinning wide, typing away.

"It's me, of course!" Gojo looked proud of himself, chest puffed out and arms crossed. His smile twitched. "Though... I didn't text him."

"Hugs and kisses Satoru, but you aren't Sugar Daddy One." [Name] clicked his tongue, leaning over and taking a selfie with the man, who was gaping openly. Yuuji hid a cackle behind his palm as he saw the material of his teacher's blindfold begin to grow wet.

"Wa-wait, wait, I'm not your number one sugar daddy?!" Gojo asked, voice breaking as he hiccuped. He went ignored, the gaggle of women from before getting up to find another seat. "[Name]! What about that time you lay back only for my eyes?! Were those all lies?!"

He was politely ignored. In the end, they were kicked off the train, thankfully at their desired stop.

-

Megumi was in his room, tapping away on his phone as he curled up under the covers. Occasionally, he glanced over at the door, face pinched with nervousness.

It wasn't long before there was a knock. Megumi quickly got to his feet, hurrying over to the door and opening it. His nervousness immediately disappeared as disgust replaced it.

[Name] stood there with arms filled with snacks and a large pot of what he assumed was soup. In his mouth were a couple of DVD cases, gripped between his teeth. Drool leaked from the corner of his lips.

"What the f*ck." The boy deadpanned, grunting as he was lightly pushed out of the way so his teacher could get in the room.

"Ow ow, my jaw..." [Name] let go of the cases in his mouth, placing the snacks and the pot down on the side table next to Megumi's bed. "I didn't feel like doing multiple trips! But now my mouth and everything else hurts!"

Megumi grimaced at the older's whines, shutting the door behind him as he moved to sit on his bed again.

"Weirdo." He commented, ignoring the gasp he got. "sh*t, you got pocky?"

"Yeah, I have a hoard of 'em in my room." [Name] hummed. "Now,Howl's Movie Castletime!" He grabbed the case, popping it open and pulling out the CD. Megumi watched as the man fiddled with the DVD player under the TV, sitting back as he grabbed a box of chocolate pocky.

"So..." He started, fidgeting a little. [Name] hummed, signalling him to go on. "Where have you been? All of our classes have been replaced by Shoko-san and Ijichi-san and... uh, they aren't the best." He muttered. Ijichi's constant stuttering and Shoko's regular smoke breaks have really affected their studies negatively. The others didn't seem to mind much, but he did.

"Megumi..."

"What the f*ck?! Gross, stop crying!" The black-haired boy yelped, scrambling back as [Name]'s eyes began to leak. "Stop that!"

"Ugh, I'm giving you your honorary son right back." [Name] sniffled, wiping his eyes. Megumi threw a pillow and it hit him in the face.

"I don't need that sh*t!" The boy snapped, face red with embarrassment. God, his teacher was almost as insufferable as Gojo.

After a few minutes of crying and more screaming from Megumi, the movie was playing on the TV and both males were sitting on the bed, bowls of wonton soup in their lap.

"Howl, my beloved..." [Name] sighed out, ignoring the look that he got from the younger. "Absolute cutie."

"Now I understand why you're obsessed with Gojo. He's your real-life Howl." Megumi deadpanned. He winced at the sharp intake of breath from [Name].

"Don't you EVER disrespect my man Howl ever again." [Name] scowled, wagging his finger in disapproval. "Gojo is a beautiful man but don't you dare compare him to the PERFECTION that is Pendragon."

"I..." Megumi looked tired. He felt tired, too. Maybe this sleepover was a bad idea. "You know what, yeah sure." He glanced back at the TV, seeing Howl fly Sophie to safety. "... Howl reminds me of... he's a little like Itadori."

He saw [Name] tense.

"Howl and Itadori both try to shoulder sh*t they can't handle by themselves." Megumi tried to explain. He tensed as a hand buried itself in his hair, messing it up. For once, the boy didn't yell about it.

"How're you feeling?" [Name] asked, eyes on his soup as he used his chopsticks to push around the noodles. "You watched him die. That sh*t... no kid should see that."

"I've seen worse," Megumi muttered, lips drawn into a thin line. He fiddled with his fingers. "... he told me that he was happy that I saved him. And that he was thankful. The idiot said that with a smile as he was f*ckin' bleeding out."

"Sounds like him." [Name] snorted dryly. "What a sap."

"Yeah," Megumi said. He heaved a sigh. "... I still don't regret saving him."

"You're as much of a sap as he is." [Name] chortled. Megumi scowled, lightly shoving into his side.

"Was." He reminded, heart squeezing painfully as he spotted the way the other froze a little. "I didn't know him much or... like at all. But he was..." He hesitated. "A... a good... a good friend."

An arm wrapped around him, pulling him flush against [Name]'s side. The man grasped a wonton between his chopsticks and shoved it in his mouth.

"Softie." [Name] teased, but there wasn't any malice behind his words. Megumi grunted, trying to pull away before falling pliant against his teacher. "I'm sure that he thought of you as a good friend as well. I'm very sure."

Megumi thought it was odd how the other spoke with so much certainty but brushed it off. His teacher was mourning and he was sorta mourning as well.

"Anyway, I also think that Calcifer is quite hot." Themoment was broken.

"That is literally a ball of fire. What. What the f*ck."

-

"Whoa. Cool." [Name] blinked, staring at the three disfigured bodies that were sitting upright in their seats. It stunk of off-cola and cheesy popcorn, but under that was the dense scent of old blood. It made him gag and step back, covering his nose.

"Here, take this." The tall blond next to him offered a blue surgical mask, which was eagerly accepted.

"Are you okay, Kamo-sensei?" Yuuji asked, tearing his eyes away from the three bodies. He looked shaken but tried his best to play it off. "Why does he need a mask, Nanami-san?"

Nanami, a tall blond dressed in a crisp suit, slid his gaze away from [Name] so he could stare at Yuuji through his goggles.

"A side-effect of his cursed technique. He can smell blood, even if it is inside a body. I imagine that a dead body doesn't smell too good." Nanami pushed his goggles further up the bridge of his nose.

"It doesn't." [Name] spoke, voice a little muffled from behind the mask. His expression looked a little green around the edges but he didn't seem to be at risk of immediately throwing up.

"Oh, cool! What do I smell like?!" Yuuji asked excitedly. Nanami rose a brow.

"Not the time." He said, glancing around the theatre that they were in.

"Good blood. High levels of oxygen and iron, so that's good. Slightly low on sugar, though, since you haven't had anything to eat today." [Name] hummed. He pulled out an oreo from his pocket. "Here."

Nanami ignored the two. He had enough to deal with already.

"There are tracks leading up." He said, his eyes narrowed as he saw the wisps of cursed energy leading out of the room, towards the stairs.

"I can't see anything?" Yuuji questioned.

"That's because you're not trying to see it. It's there. Everything leaves cursed energy, no matter how low it is. There will be traces." He said. Yuuji squinted, before gasping. "I assume that you see it now?"

"Yeah! It's like footprints!" He excitedly bounded after it, bumping into [Name], who was standing by the stairs.

"Yes, it is natural for you to see it. Regular sorcerers can sense it before seeing it." Nanami said as he followed at a slower pace. He glanced at [Name], who was staring up at the stairs.

"Ahhh..." Yuuji deflated. "Why can't you give me more praise?!" He grabbed onto [Name]'s arm, who jumped as his concentrated staring was broken. "Senseiiii, tell Nanami-san to tell me that I did good!"

"I don't give out praises or belittle anyone," Nanami spoke bluntly, watching as the teen was showered with head pats and praises by the teacher. "I stick to facts and I judge based on that. That's who I am. There was a time where I mistakenly believed that society operated the same way." He clicked his tongue. "But enough about that, let's follow the tracks. Kamo, you picked something up, didn't you?"

Yuuji glanced over at [Name], who was looking up at the stairs again. His eyes were narrowed, his posture rigid as if he was ready for a fight.

"... Nanami, there aren't anyother people in this building, right?" He asked, voice hushed. Nanami stiffened slightly.

"No. No one else but us." He said, before beginning to climb up the stairs. "Come. Let's go."

"Cool, let's go all out!" Yuuji grinned, fist-pumping the air as he followed. [Name] snorted from behind him.

"No, where moderate effort will suffice, use moderate effort," Nanami said, hands in his pockets.

Yuuji had a frown on his face. He walked dejectedly beside [Name], who glanced at him with amusem*nt.

"We're just not clicking, sensei..." The boy whispered, upset. "I can't get a read on him. I'm getting nothing...!"

"Don't worry." [Name] mused with a small smile, ruffling Yuuji's hair again. "He likes you."

Yuuji stared at him as if he had grown two heads. [Name] offered him a thumbs up.

"So, was there anything on the surveillance cameras?" Yuuji asked, glancing back at Nanami.

"Curses cannot be captured in photos or videos, but yes, there was something on the cameras," Nanami said, dipping his head slightly. "Along with the victims, there was one young man."

"Oh, so a cursed spirit wasn't behind it?" Yuuji asked as they stopped to let [Name] listen out for anything unusual since apparently, the man had the hearing (and sniffing) ability of a bloodhound.

"Well, most likely," Nanami said as they began walking again, stepping out on the roof. He pulled out a large umbrella, letting [Name] under it since he was the only one who forgot to bring one. Yuuji had his own umbrella. "There is a small chance that the young man could have done it, but that is the police's res-"

[Name] stilled, immediately tensing. Nanami tensed as well, feeling the presence of a cursed spirit. Yuuji didn't understand what was happening but got ready for a fight regardless.

"The stench..." [Name] grit his teeth from behind his mask, eyes flicking to the side. Both adults watched a lumbering green curse seek shade from the rain under a small, undercovered area. Yuuji let out a small squeak, spotting it as well.

"Lu-lu-lunch booooox..." The thing drooled, two big eyes rolling over to watch them from under stringy, wet hair. Its ribs jutted out grotesquely, veins bulging from having to stretch out over the unnatural being's body. Its shoulder cracked, bones bending the other way as it turned to get a better look at them. Pale gums holding large, horse-like teeth shone in the dim light that the sun could provide from behind the grey clouds.

Yuuji threw his umbrella to the side, crouching to get ready to fight. However, Nanami stuck out an arm, preventing him from lunging.

"Stop." Yuuji glanced up, looking annoyed at being stopped. He glanced over to [Name], wanting permission to fight. His narrowed eyes rounded as saw his teacher step back, plugging his nose as his eyes watered. "I'll take care of this one. You handle the one spying onus over there." The boy turned, yelping as he spotted another curse, yellowed teeth glinting from its vertical mouth. "Kamo, are you able to handle the last one?"

[Name] abruptly turned away. He wasn't going to puke, hewasn't.

Blood shot out from his fingertips, wrapping around a pole above him. He swung himself upwards, legs angled so his feet were aimed in front of him, heading dead straight towards the curse that was lumbering on the top of a small room that probably held some electrical wiring of sorts.

Ribs cracked under his boots, he and the curse flying off the roof and landing on the ground. [Name] landed on his feet, watching with narrowed eyes as the curse groaned andtried to right itself.

It was pale and fleshy, blue veins bulging unnaturally. It had one eye buttwo pupils which were moving erratically as it tried to see its sudden attacker.

[Name] pulled out a dagger, running towards the curse. He tried his best to hold his breath, moving to slash the creature's back. It screamed out, blood pouring out of its wounds as it scrambled away before righting itself on two arms and a leg. Its other leg was a mass of flesh hanging onto its back by the thing's tailbone, muscle atrophied into a small, hard mass that jiggled with every movement.

"You f*ckin' stink." [Name] scowled. "And I hope my hypothesis about you isn't true."

"Hooooomewo- rrrrrk! Rrrrrrk!" The curse rumbled, spit flying out from a small orifice that was next to its eye. There were blisters on its skin, filled with pus. A few of them were torn and leaking yellow. [Name] rushed forward once more, jumping over the curse and landing on its back. Plunging his dagger into its neck, he ripped a hole open, blood spurting out. The smell made him throw up in his mouth, but he persevered, pulling his dagger out before severing the nerves that sat at the base of its skull.

Nanami, who had finished destroying his curse and had just watched Yuuji destroy his, turned around with alarm at a loud choking noise.

"Kamo-san!" He turned to rush to the other, Yuuji not far behind as he left his still writhingopponent on the ground.

[Name] had thrown himself away from the dead body of the curse. He had wrenched the mask away from his face right before his insides had rolled and promptly forced him to vomit.

"Sensei!" Yuuji looked scared, standing behind Nanami as the man crouched down, pressing a firm hand to [Name]'s back, who hacked and gagged again, vomit escaping his mouth and dribbling out of his nose. There were tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Move, he needs air," Nanami said as he put his bloodied cleaver away, easily picking [Name] up and carrying him to the edge of the roof where they were the furthest away from the curses. "Kamo, breathe." [Name] pushed Nanami away, bile tickling his throat. His bloodshot eyes met concerned brown ones through the goggles that screened them."Kamo-"

"The curses...!" [Name] wheezed, shaky hand pointing behind them. "Go to them!"

Yuuji looked shocked as Nanami nodded and stood up.

"Nanami-san!" He called. "Sensei's still sick!"

"He's strong. Come with me, Itadori-kun." Nanami called. Yuuji hesitated but followed, shooting one last glance behind him as he rushed to follow after the blond. "It seems that we haven't finished off our opponents."

"Huh? I thought that I..." Yuuji's eyes widened as he saw the white curse that he was battling try to stand up.

Bringing out his cleaver, Nanami walked over to his opponent. Bringing it back, he readied himself, about to attack.

"...!" Eyes wide,his irises caught onto the watch that hung loosely around one of the curse's bony wrists. "Itadori-kun! Don't finish it off yet!"

Yuuji, who was about to kill his curse so he could rush back to [Name], paused. He watched as Nanami pulled out his phone, taking a photo of his curse.

"Have a look at this." He walked over to Yuuji, showing him his phone. "I took a photo of my opponent." There it was, the green arm that had the watch aroundit.

"Huh?" Yuuji tilted his head. "I... I thought that cursed spirits don't appear in photos..."

"They don't." Nanami and Yuuji turned as they heard a third voice. [Name] was on his feet, staggering towards them. Nanami stepped forward, wrapping an arm around the shorter's waist to steady him. He glanced at the sickly man, who grimaced.

"Itadori-kun, please listen calmly." Nanami breathed in. [Name] swallowed thickly, before reaching out to grab Yuuji's hands. "What we've been fighting...

"... they're human."Shoko's voice spoke through the phone."Or, well, were human. You could call them former humans. They're the same as the three bodies from the theatre."

[Name] lay his head back, a sigh escaping his lips as he listened to the woman speak. He watched Nanami pour him a cup of tea. Glancing to the side, he frowned at the sight of his student.

"Their bodies, the structure of them,have been forcibly altered by cursed technique."Nanami frowned at Shoko's words.

"If that was all, [Name] and I would have noticed from the start." He spoke. "The three we fought were full of cursed energy, just like cursed spirits."

"You'll have to ask the culprit for information about that. Only the curse-user can tell you the answer."Shoko sighed."Though, there is evidence to showthat their brain stems were tampered with, which probably created confusion and impaired consciousness in these victims. If they can tamper with the brain, then the curse-user could possibly be able to modify someone to use cursed energy."

Yuuji swallowed heavily.

"The relationship between the brain and cursed energy is still a black box to us, something unknown."Shoko hummed."... oh, right, is Itadori-kun listening? Or [Name]?"

"H-huh? Oh, yeah." Yuuji cleared his throat. "Sensei's here, too." He glanced up at [Name], who was staring up at the ceiling.

"To sum it up, these guys died of shock from having their bodies forcibly altered."There was a pause."You didn't kill them. So don't get the wrong idea about that."

"..." Yuuji swallowed. "Right."

"And [Name], you should have known, right?"Shoko asked. Nanami and Yuuji glanced at the man, who sighed.

"... yeah." He muttered before sighing once more. "Yeah. The stench was f*cking nauseating. Their blood was wrong, sowrong." He shuddered. "Not natural at all. I could hear their hearts beating erratically and they smelt and soundedwrong."

"You knew?" Yuuji asked, voice quiet. [Name] glanced at him.

"I did." He nodded. "I also knew that they were dead. They were already at stage one of decomposition. I'd guess they've been dead between twenty-four to seventy-two hours..."

"You can come down if you want. I'm keeping the cadavers for further research."Shoko offered."Just don't throw up in the lab."

"Uh-huh." [Name] hummed, before cancelling the call and sitting back.

There was silence for a while.

"Either way, the death of those two weigh on me just as heavily," Yuuji muttered. "That said, thisthing..." [Name] couldn't help the amused lilt of his lips at the rage displayed on the teen's face. "... has disgusting taste."

Nanami and [Name] exchanged glances, the former surprised while the latter looked proud.

"Most likely, those residuals were a bluff, meant to lure us in." The blond said, hands intertwined across his lap.

[Name] tuned the rest of it out, his mind racing. He had many things to think about.

"Sweet smiles."

Chapter 9: 7.5

Chapter Text

"Come on, come on!" Ito urged as sheripped clothes out of one of the many bags that were strewn around the room. Her best friend, poor [Name], was standing to the side, several dresses hanging off his thin frame.

"You'regoing to be out there for about ten minutes. You really don't need to dress up for it." He said as a shawl was thrown over his head. He stared at his friend through the thin blue material. "And it's too dark to even see anyone. No one is going to pay attention to what you're wearing."

"Me an' Shoko are going tacompete ta see who'sgonna be lookin' hotter! I have ta win!" Ito stomped her foot like some child. [Name] sighed, moving to sit on the only available space in the room; the floor.

Ito's room was... messy. The walls were covered ceiling to floor in posters ranging from hot men to motivational posters. There were photos of family and friends, as well as a few photos of [Name] caught sleeping that he was too lazy to take down. Streamers covered the ceiling, along with splatters of paint that came from terrible nights where Ito was struck with inspiration.

"I want to go to bed." [Name] said, voice bordering on the edge of a whine. A refreshing change compared to the dead and annoyed tone that the teen always had.

"Sleep and ye die." Ito didn't even turn away from her quest of searching for outfits. [Name] still shivered at the threat. He was about to curl up and weep on the floor before Ito suddenly turned around, pointing a finger at her friend with an aggressive expression on her face. "And don't think that I'm gonna let ye get off with wearing yer yukata! I'm gonna dress ye up real nice! I don't wanna be seen with a slob!"

"I'm not a slob." [Name] deadpanned. "And absolutely not. I am not wearing any of your outfits."

"Course ye aren't!" Ito looked as if [Name] was the dumbest person alive. "I have a drawer full of sh*t that I bought for ya! I'm gonna make you look real spiffy! Ya don't think that I haven't dreamed of the day where I get ta dress ya up?!"

[Name] didn't like the look in his friend's eye. He could already feel a headache coming along.

"And this time the first-years are with us! Dontcha wanna impress Gojo and Geto? Huh?" Ito wiggled her brows, sticking a foot out to trip [Name] as he scrambled to his feet to escape. She watched the teen struggle to get up from the mountain of clothes that he had landed on, an unimpressed look on her features. "Don't even try."

[Name] let his head drop, a long whine escaping his lips. He flipped Ito off as she began cackling.

He was not excited about this.

-

[Name] wobbled slightly as he walked out of the room, his hand rushing to grasp Ito's shoulder to steady himself. The pair of wooden zori that cradled his feet clacked against the floor.

"Why're ya wobbling? You're fine with these old as hell shoes, aren't ya?" Ito asked, raising a perfect brow. He shot a glare at her from the corner of his eye.

Ito was dressed in a pretty light green dress that went down till her knees. It was frilled and fluffy at the bottom, swishing to and fro with every step that she took. It had long puffy sleeves, cinching around her wrists and elbows. She was wearing a cream beret, which matched her cream heels that clicked with every step. Her lips were a light pink, full and shiny. Her fluffy lashes blinked up at him, and [Name] sneered.

"Die." He hissed. His aggression was quickly dampened as he wobbled again and held onto Ito for dear life.

"No." She replied easily, carefully leading him down the stairs. As they reached the ground floor, [Name]'s gaze snapped onto the doors that lined the corridor. He relaxed as he saw no one there. "The first years are probably already at the venue."

"It's literally a hill behind the training room. Not a venue." [Name] muttered, pulling at his shirt uncomfortably.

He was also wearing green, matching with his friend. The top that he had on was tight, showing off his toned yet lithe chest. The sleeves, however, were long and reached past his fingertips as a kimono would. Cinched tightly around his waist was a long, cream skirt. The waistband of it was as wide and astight as an obi and helped him relax a little. It wasn'ttooout of his comfort zone, so he was doing alright. He still wobbled a little, feeling a little light without the usual heavy material of the traditional outfits that he always wore.

"I don't like what you did to my hair." [Name] grunted, hand moving to grasp Ito's as he grew a little more confident in his steps and felt likehe wasn't going to kiss concrete at any given moment.

His usual long and shaggy hair was tied back in a high ponytail, pins securing any stray strands out of his face except for two thick locks on either side which framedhis cheeks.

"I know, being able tasee must besoootraumatising." Ito rolled her eyes, swinging their connected hands between them. "Stop worryin'! I'm sure that Geto and Gojo are gonna nut when they see ya."

"What does that mean?" [Name] asked, squinting a little. Ito sent him a cheeky wink that absolutely did not answer his question. "Ito,what does that mean?"

"Oh look! We're here!" She spoke loudly as they came upon the foot of the hill. She squinted a little as she saw a figure waving at them. "Nice, Utahime-senpai's here!"

"Great, I'm going to have to put up with her and Gojo screaming at each other." [Name] groaned. He looked as if he wanted to fall over and die.

"Ito! Kamo!" Utahime hollered from her spot at the top of the hill. "Wait, what is Kamo wearing?!"

Ito's grip on [Name]'s hand tightened to almost being painful as the latter tried to run away. She pulled herself and him up the hill, ignoring the boy's pleading of wanting to leave.

"Ain't he pretty? He's got a body under thesh*t he always wears!" Ito laughed as [Name] tried to hide behind her much shorter frame, only to be dragged out by Utahime's strong hands.

"Holy sh*t, I can see your face!" [Name] squirmed as his cheeks were gripped in his senior's hand, his head being yanked this way and that so his face could be seen at every angle. "No way, what the hell? How are you good-looking?!"

"I know, he's adorable!" Ito grinned as she pinched[Name]'s ass, who yelped like a kicked dog. The abuse that he suffered from these people was not worth it.

He managed to wrench away from Utahime. Ito cackled as she watched him scamper off.

He was genuinely terrified of peopleat this point. He glanced back, still running to make sure that he wasn't being followed, which turned out to be a bad idea because he went hurtling into what felt like a warm brick wall.

"sh*t, are you alright?" A hand (an incredibly large one) moved to grip his upper arm so he wouldn't fall over. "Don't run without looking at what's in front of you."

[Name] almost cried. He knew that voice.

"Who are you, anyway? Do you go here?" His chin was grasped and his head was gently tugged up. [Name]'s wide eyes met warm black ones. "... [Name]?"

"It's Kamo to you." [Name] wrenched his face away, cheeks burning red. How embarrassing. "Don't call me by my first name. I'm older than you."

Silence greeted his words, and [Name] took the chance to glance up at the much taller man, faltering when he saw him.

Now that he was able to see him properly, Geto looked...

He was wearing a black shirt, buttoned down halfway to his chest along with tight jeans that really, uh, showed off everything below the waist. Including his spectacular thig-

The hand around his arm tightened, and [Name] hissed lowly, trying to pull away.

"[Name]." The call of his name made him pause and glare up, floundering when he spottedthe dust of pink across the other's cheeks that were easily visible under the large floodlights that had been set up for the event."What are you wearing?"

"I wear whatever I want. What's it to you?" [Name] bared his teeth, only to falter as he felt a hand move around his waist and settle on his lower back. "O-Oi-"

"You're quite greedy, you know." Geto grasped the other's chin once more, leaning down close until [Name] could feel his breath on his lips. "Keeping that pretty face to yourself. It's not nice."

"Stop it." It came out sounding more like a needy whine. [Name] could feel the other shudder against him. "Geto-"

"Come." [Name] grunted as he was pulled close against the other, held tight against Geto's side as the taller whisked him away further from the centre of the event.

"Where are you taking me?" [Name] asked, already knowing the answer to that. He could see the head of white hair in the distance. He tugged weakly against Geto. "Let me go!"

"Not a chance, dear." Geto chuckled.

"Suguru?" Gojo turned his head to the side as he heard footsteps. "Yo! Uh, who's that with you?"

[Name] went red. Was he really that unrecognisable in these new clothes? He was going to burn down Ito's room and everything in it.

"Take a closer look." An easy smile was on Geto's face. "Remember to share."

"Piss off!" [Name] snapped, tugging against the black-haired man's grip, which only tightened. He hated that his heart jumped at that.

"Wait, [Name]? [Name]-chan, is that you?!" Gojo was immediately on his feet, rushing forward. [Name] drew back with an angry hiss. However, the touches and yelling that he expected never came.

Like Geto, Gojo was speechless. The albino looked unsure, eyes wide behind his glasses. [Name]'s eyes watched the way his throat bobbed nervously.

[Name] looked away, feeling too warm and too cold at the same time. His legs were shaky, soft trembles travelling through his thin frame.

Cold hands touched his cheeks, and [Name] grimaced. He didn't make a sound, however, as his head was gently turned. His eyes met tumultuous oceans of blue and he didn't know what to do.

"Gorgeous, isn't he?" Geto's voice rumbled behind him. [Name] had just realised that he was pressed between the two tall men. He couldn't utter a single word. "Such a pretty boy." A shudder travelled through [Name]'s body, and Gojo chuckled, the sound quiet.

"Can't believe you hid this masterpiece behind that shaggy mane of yours." The albino clicked his tongue, and [Name] was being pulled. He felt a little dizzy, feeling himself getting pulleddown onto strong legs, back resting against anequally strong chest.

"How selfish of you," Geto said by his ear, and [Name] realised that he was sitting on his lap. Gojo came down, sitting by his friend's legs as he pressed his face into the older's neck, breathing in the scent of sandalwood incense and tobacco that [Name] always carried with him. "You should pay us back."

Wet muscle lapped at his neck, and [Name] whined lowly. Geto shushed him, chuckling as Gojo groaned against [Name]'s skin.

"I-I don't-" [Name] tried, a whimper leaving his throat as Gojo decided to climb over him and push him down against Geto's chest so he could straddle the older.

"Senpai dearest, Suguru's right. You should pay us back." Gojo's voice was carefree and teasing, but there was a tone of need under it. [Name] was struck with how blue his eyes werenow that the glasses weren't in the way. "Be ours, [Name]-chan."

"H-huh?" [Name] responded intelligently, eyes wide. They rolled back a little as Gojo licked a stripe up his jaw.

"Satoru, you're overwhelming him." Geto laughed softly, fingers lightly brushing against [Name]'s side.

The two watched the way their usually snappy senior was basically turned into putty. It made their hearts skip a beat.

"Why? We've done worse, haven't we?" Gojo grinned. Geto gave him an unimpressed look. "Come on, I want [Name] to be our cute little boyfriend! What's wrong with that? You want it too, right?"

"B-boy-" [Name] stammered, but was cut off.

"Of course I do, Satoru. More than anything." Geto clicked his tongue. "We agreed that we were going to ask him at a later date."

"It's New Years Eve! It's theperfect time!" Gojo argued. "I love you and I love [Name]-chan! Why can't we be official?!"

"Love?!" That seemed to snap [Name] out of it. He sat up, scrambling out of Geto's lap and rolling unceremoniously onto the grass. "You love me?!"

"Huh? Yeah, 'course!" Gojo shrugged, clearly totally serious. Geto simply sighed. "I love you! And Suguru!"

"Get off me, idiot." Geto lightly pushed Gojo away as the latter leant over to plant a kiss on his cheek. He watched with amusem*nt as [Name] swayed a little, looking as if he was about to faint. "You alright?"

"Of course I'm not alright! You, you-" [Name] got to his feet. "You love me?! What's wrong with you?! You don't just say that!"

"You're bright red." Gojo pointed out with a barely stifled snicker. "Aw, don't be shy! You weren't this red even when we f*cked that one ni-"

"Degenerates, both of you!" [Name] pointed a shaking finger at them, somehow growing redder. He shook with anger as Gojo and Geto both winked at him.

"You're going to fall in love with us, I'm sure of it!" Gojo grinned, blowing him a kiss.

[Name] nearly screamed. He was about to yell one more when he heard something akin to a gunshot behind him that made him turn around swiftly.

Fireworks went off in the air, bright purple, red, green and gold. He could hear the cheers of the rest of the school; could hear Ito cheering and what sounded like Utahime encouraging Shoko to cheer.

"Oh." [Name]'s anger disappeared for a moment. "It's twelve."

And Gojo had declared that [Name] was going to fall in love with him right as the clock struck twelve.

"I'm going to kill both of you." Blood swayed around [Name], who was blushing so hard that it would probably boost his attacks. Geto and Gojo were already on their feet, sprinting away. "GET BACK HERE, YOU ASSHOLES!"

Chapter 10: 8

Chapter Text

"Baby face."

"Yoshino Junpei..." [Name] murmured as he thumbed through the file. "Seventeen... goes to Satozakura High. A second-year, huh?"

"Yes. Quite young." Nanami said from his spot on the couch. He was dressed in an emerald greenbutton-up shirt that looked too damn good on him. "His background is all quite normal. Only child and lives with his mother. No father involved in his life."

"Sad." [Name] said as he flicked through the pages. "He looks like a nice kid. Apparently, he's in a Film Appreciation club? Damn, sounds like he and Yuuji could get along."

"Perhaps," Nanami said. He was scrolling through his phone. [Name] glanced over, noticing the subtle frown on his face and how his muscles were still tense. "I can feel you staring at me... do I have something on my face?"

[Name] quickly glanced away, pretending to have been innocently looking through the files despite the light pink on his cheeks.

"... you've been spending too much time with Gojo. He's rubbing off on you." Nanami placed his phone to the side, leaning further back on the couch. [Name] glanced back over to see the blond man pat his thigh. "Come."

Wordlessly, [Name] obeyed. Straddling the other, [Name] settled on his lap, releasing a soft breath through his teeth as he felt a large hand place itself on his waist.

"Good boy." Nanami's lips quirked upwards as a shudder ran through [Name]'s body. "I haven't spent any time with you for quite some time. Allow me to indulge a little?"

A jerky nod, and then [Name] was pulled forward, lips meeting his hungrily. Automatically, he melted against the other, hands fisting Nanami's expensive green shirt as he let himself be pulled under. There were hands squeezing and touching him everywhere and finally, he released a sound.

"Are you jealous of Gojo?" His words came out a lot steadier than he thought they would. The lips sliding down his jaw paused, and [Name] released a long whine as teeth sunk into flesh.

"Don't say his name while I'm having my way with you." A short swear left [Name]'s lips at the possessive growl that left Nanami's throat. "You're mine for today, dear."

"Mmh..." [Name]'s eyes were hazy and lidded already, much to Nanami's pleasure. He pulled the older closer to him, feeling how hard he was when their clothed crotches pressed together. "Nana... mi-"

"I adore it when you call for me," Nanami murmured, pulling away just for a moment so he could work on undressing the other. [Name] was wearing a long white dress shirt with baggy pants and as cute as that looked, he wanted it off. "I would like you to warm my co*ck for me. Can you do that?"

Another nod, stiff and jerky. [Name]'s face was warm, his lips pressed together in a thin, wobbly line as he tried not to lose his mind from the persistent and firm touches that Nanami generously provided him with.

"Words, please," Nanami said, voice a little clipped as he unbuttoned the last button of [Name]'s shirt. He pulled it off, tossing it to the side before working on undoing the knot of the other's pants.

"Yes, sir." A breathy whisper. [Name] bit his lip, grinding down slowly. Pants escaped him and his hand moved to cover his mouth so he wouldn't release any embarrassing noises. They hadn't even started yet and [Name] didn't want to start acting like some virgin by cumming early.

"Still as easy to rile up as ever." Nanami mused as he ran his fingers down the side of [Name]'s body. The whimper he received from that was too good to be true. "Such an obedient boy for me."

"f*ck-" [Name] bit his lip, eyes rolling back as he felt a hand cup him. He was so impossibly hard and Nanami was driving him f*ckingwild.

"Where did the snark go? You were fine moments ago." Nanami, ever the conversationalist, said as he pushed [Name]'s pants and boxers down in one go. An amused gleam shone in his eyes as the older's needy co*ck was freed. It slapped against his navel, head already glistening with pre. "Beautiful, gorgeous boy."

"Kento..." The whine slipped out from between his clenched teeth as [Name] bucked up, breathing uneven and eyes growing misty. A groan left him as Nanami pressed a thumb to the head of his co*ck. "Stretch me..."

"Where's the 'please', dear?"Nanami asked with a quirk of his brow, tongue slipping out to wet his lips. He received the whimpered "please," almost immediately, and who was he to deny the other?

Hand moving to the side, Nanami opened the little drawer under the small table beside the recliner. There was a box of lube in there, which he pulled a packet out of.

Soon, the empty packet sat on the table while two fingers worked into [Name]'s opening, fingering and stretching. [Name] had his ass lifted, back archedas he pressed into Nanami. The blond was pressing kisses into his skin, suckling soft bruises into his collar and shoulder.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, suckling a wetkiss to his chest, right next to a nipple. It wasn't too hard to guess the answer, since [Name] was in tears above him.

"More, please, more." [Name] hissed through his teeth, legs shaking with the effort of holding himself up. A wet sob tore through histhroat as another finger pushed into him. "Yes, yes, yes... Kento, don't... don't stop...!"

Being loved by Kento was so gentle and domestic. [Name] craved it, but craved the intimacy more. The whispered teases, the firm touches...

"Don't cum yet," Nanami murmured. "I have work to do today and I would like you to warm my co*ck through it."

"Yes... yessir-" The gasped moan that left [Name]'s mouth was so delicious that Nanami couldn't help but bring him down for a searing kiss. Open mouths and desperate tongues, they kissed like men starved.

The fingers were pulled out of him, and [Name] scrambled to hold onto Nanami, to kiss him, tofeelhim. The emptiness made him upset and he wanted to be filled. Filled with love and attention and all the other things that he didn't deserve but wanted.Craved.

"Calm." Nanami pressed a hand to the small of his back. "I'll be in you soon, dear. It's alright, I'm not going anywhere." A zipper was pulled down and [Name] shifted to allow the other to push his pants and underwear down.

A condom was brought out and [Name] whined.

"Wanna feel... feel you, please. Please, sir." Hewas more so babbling than anything. The chuckle that Nanami let out made him whine once more. "Please, please...!"

"Alright, alright." Nanami hummed, tossing the condom to the side. [Name] shivered as he felt something large and warm and wet andhardslap against the inside of his thigh. He glanced down, trembling as he saw Nanami's co*ck which was such a dark red that he wondered how the blond was still holding himself together so well.

He shuffled over the large co*ck, ready to sink down. A hand pressed to his chest, and [Name]'s eyes fluttered shut as a kiss was pressed to his forehead.

"Take it easy." The whisper made him shiver, a flustered expression taking over his face. Nanami looked too damn soft and suddenly [Name] was reminded of their teen years where the two of them would run away together to escape Gojo. "I'm not going anywhere." Another kiss, this time to his lips, and [Name] slowly sunk down.

"K-Kento...!" The gasped moan left his lips unwillingly as his head flung back, tears surfacing in his eyes. The stretch was a pleasant burn that had him squirming and trying to take more of the co*ck. Nanami made sure that he wouldn't though. "M-more..."

"Nice and easy." The blond reminded once again, his eyes lidded and strands of hair sticking to his sweaty forehead. He was feeling it, clearly. "Ah... gorgeous... you feel so good around me."

"Thank you, thank you,thankyouthankyouthankyou-" With a final push, [Name] was sheathed around Nanami, panting and shaking and feeling so damn good that he could die. He ground down slightly, before just stopping and letting himself get used to the feeling.

Nanami was whisperingpraises into his ear, hands rubbing his back to calm him. [Name] collapsed against him, boneless and sighing.

"Good boy... you're doing so well. May I start working now?" Nanami asked, pressing a kiss to the crown of his head as [Name] nodded tiredly.

He'd thought too much today, especially with the mutating humans and the mysterious Yoshino Junpei. It wouldn't hurt for him to relax for a while as Nanami pulled over his laptop from the table.

And after Nanami finished working, he could properly destress.

-

Heterochromatic eyes watched, wide and unblinking, at the figure that was walking down the busy streets. It stood in the middle of the road; passersby avoided it without even knowing that it was there.

A tongue slowly slid out, wetting dry, grey lips as it watched, patient and ever-so-curious, as the object of its fascination entered a nearby store. Shaky pale hands moved to wipe sweat against the tattered pants that it wore, a wide smile creeping upon its face. Tremoring palms slapped against its cheeks as it giggled loudly, a rosy blush making its way up its neck and cheeks as its eyes rolled back with a lewd expression.

It had found its new favourite specimen.

[Name] sneezed. A nearby woman offered him a tissue that was waved off. Good god, was the weather turning already? Curse him and his terrible body for being so sensitive to the climate.

"Back already? I saw you here two days ago." The man at the counter said, hisvoice lilted with amusem*nt as he saw who had just stepped in. [Name] hummed as he came forward, stopping at the counter.

His [EyeColour] eyes sparkled as he looked over the delicious pastries and other Frenchpatisseries that the bakery stocked. The various colours and sizes of sweet delicacies were already making his mouth water.

"Can I get... two packs of your dozen macarons, along with two chocolate eclairs and three caramel slices." He pointed out, finger pressed against the glass. He watched as each of his requested pastries were carefully bagged, Gojo's Mastercard clutched in his hand.

He had heard from a little birdie (Gojo told him) that Nobara had a love for macarons since it was quite popular in Japan right now and she had gotten her hands on it. [Name] hadn't spent much time with the brunette and wanted to gift her these just because he wanted to. And it wasn't fair that he was so close to Yuuji and Megumi already.

Well, he'd known Megumi for a lot longer than the other two teens so he didn't really fit here.

Besides, he'd seen thatkillereye for fashion that Nobara had and wanted to take her out for a day sometime. They could drain one of Gojo's cards dry. Not that the man would mind, anyway.

With a quick tap and a swipe, he was out of there with three bags of goodies that he couldn't wait to sink his teeth into.

-

"... these are half-eaten." Nobara stared down at the box of macarons that she had just opened. Out of twelve, only nine remained.

"Uh, Gojo got into them." [Name] supplied the excuse out of his ass, but it wasn't a bad one. Gojo had done stuff like that before, after all.

"Thanks." The brunette said slowly, moving further into her room to place the macarons on her table. The door was left open and [Name] poked hishead in. Posters of built women and men alike were slapped over every surface, along with pages out of fashion magazines and drawings of outfits that Nobara had created.

Funnily enough, the room looked exactly like Yuuji's. Minus the drawings because even if the boy was an absolute angel, his drawings were far from decent.

"Anyway, I'm about to head over to midtown Tokyo for shopping. Wanna come with?" [Name] asked, leaning against the door frame. He pulled out Gojo's golden Mastercard. "I've got Gojo's money."

And then suddenly, the two of them were on their way over to midtown Tokyo in an expensive black BMW, sunglasses adorning their faces as they let the wind rushing in through the open windows ruffle their hair.

"Hair and makeup first, and then outfits," Nobara said, using a finger to push her sunnies further up her nose. [Name] nodded seriously.

"Can't forget about the shoes." He reminded. Nobara gasped with a hand over her mouth.

"Can't believe I forgot... of course, then shoes. And then we can go to a sushi train." She nodded to herself.

"Good. Can't forget about food. We can hit up a bubble tea store, too." [Name] said as the car stopped. The two of them stepped out, cracking their neck and their joints. Nearby people gave them a wide berth, hurrying away.

The two glanced at each other.

"Let's go."

-

"You spent one million yen on clothes?" Gojo asked, squinting at [Name]. Yuuji choked on his curry. "That's unlike you."

"Right? The shops didn't have anything good so Nobara and I didn't get to blow any more money than that. Usually, I spent about three million, so ugh." [Name] pulled out two white bags. "But I did get some anpans!"

"Sensei, don't propose over my curry!" Yuuji spluttered as Gojo immediately dropped down to one knee. [Name] tossed one of the bags to him, which the albino caught with his mouth before skittering away to the corner of the room like some sort of animal.

"Here you go, Yuuji. This is for you." A gleaming smile grew on the teen's face as he got the second bag. "I got you some nail polish, too."

"Thanks, sensei!" Yuuji cheered, giggling as his hair was ruffled. "We can paint each other's nails!"

"Oh, me too!" Gojo piped up from the corner, an anpan in his mouth. "I want purple!"

"I got purples, pinks, blacks and blues." [Name] said. "Got a bunch of different shades, too. Tell me if you want any other colours."

"Will do!" Yuuji grinned, sorting through the nail polish. "I wanna do pink! It'll match my hair! Maybe pink and black... like Blackpink!"

"The Koreanband?" [Name] rose a brow. "Go for it. I'm gonna get just black because I wanna be emo."

"Stop stealing Megumi's brand!" Gojo yelled through his food once more. "There can't be two emos in the family!"

"Yes, there can!" [Name] argued. "I wanna be relatable and cool! Like a teen!"

"Then I wanna do black, too!" Gojo was on his feet, putting his whole soul into the argument, apparently.

"No! Stop copying me!"

"You're the copycat! Blehhh, copycat, copycat!"

Yuuji watched Gojo stick his tongue out and do some odd dance, before looking away with a giddy smile as World War III happened behind him between his teachers.

This was nice. He missed his friends a lot, but Gojo-sensei and Kamo-sensei really made him feel better.

-

He was in his room, sitting in front of his desk. His bed was a mess, along with his wardrobe, which had clothes pulled out of it and strewn about.

A shudder passed through him, and Noritoshi let out a sob, muffling it behind his hand.

He'd heard it, how could he not? Gojo was furious when he crashed the clan meeting. And he'd even pulled him to the side to tell him how crushed [Name] was.

[Name], his hero. His idol. Crying over a dead boy once again.

He didn't want to do it, he didn't! But Father was so mad and so strict andangryand if he hadn't listened he would have hurt his mother and he didn'twant that!His poor mother, who was already suffering so much!

So he hadn't uttered a single word. Kept naively thinking that his cousin would brush the death off as something that couldn't be prevented.

But no.

[Name] had been heartbroken. He had cried and god he hadn't seen or heard his cousin cry in solongand hearing that he was part of what caused it broke his heart. It was his fault and now Itadori was dead and [Name] was blaming himself for it.

He knew that [Name] wasn't dumb. He was scarily smart and he knew everything and anything. He would have known that he and everyone else in Kamo had something to do with the death.

[Name] would know that it washis fault that Itadori had died.

But [Name] had to understand! Itadori was Ryomen Sukuna's vessel and it would have been too dangerous to keep him alive! He had to understand!

He and Gojo were the only ones against the execution of the vessel. The Curse of Kamo and World's Strongest Sorcerer, standing together to defend a ticking timebomb.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." Nori was biting into the palm of his hand, tears leaking out of his shut eyes.

He had betrayed [Name]. [Name], who had stood by him ever since he was a baby and was always there whenever he was pushed too hard. [Name], who defended him fiercely and suffered blows because of it but still didn't falter.

He had failed him. He had betrayed him and it was disgusting and he felt so gross so f*cking gross and bad and he was such a bad person-

And he had to go meet him soon. The Exchange Program was only a few days away and he was going over to Kyoto to stay at their sister school for the event. [Name] was going to be there. He was going to see [Name].

[Name] was going to be so upset and mad and angry. [Name], who always snuck him extra food. [Name], who always stayed up with him to tutor him. [Name], who taught him how to be a normal, regular teenager.

[Name] was going to be sad and it was all his fault.

"Beautiful boy."

Chapter 11: 9

Chapter Text

"Soft hands."

The crying wouldn't stop.

His big, doe eyes stared up at the ceiling, trailing over every little letter that was written on the yellowing surface. The thick scent of incense wafted through the air, making his little nose twitch.

His small hands fisted the thin blanket around his body, pulling it higher up his face.

It was still crying.

He wondered what it was. He heard that it was a baby, which was a little weird. Why was there a baby here? And why was it crying so much? Did he cry this often when he was a baby?

He wondered why the baby wasn't being yelled at. If he made that much noise he would surely be yelled at! And he would be hit, too!

But no. The baby kept on crying and it wouldn't stop.

Crawling out of bed, he hissed as he immediately tripped and fell on the floor. Heart beating quickly, he stayed silent and listened if anyone had heard him.

The coast seemed clear. The baby was still sobbing away.

Climbing onto his feet, he bit his lip to stifle a whimper. His knees were red and sore from the day's harsh training, and falling onto them seemed to have finally split the skin open and allowed blood to lazily bubble to the surface.

He wiped at his knees with the ends of his blanket before wrapping the thin material around himself. He was gonna be stealthy and check out the baby all by himself. He wasn't going to get caught.

Tiptoeing to the door, he slowly began to slide it open. There was a board leaning against it, he realised, and if he slid the door open all the way, it would fall and make a loud sound. Probably the guards' work.

The board thankfully wasn't heavy and he was able to push it to the side with barely a squeak. He was out in the grimy hallway now. His feet were already used to the grainy wooden flooring.

Wrapping his yukata tighter against his body, he stuck to the wall as he hurried along the hallway. There were many doors nearby that lead to storage rooms, but the room he was after was a bit further away where all the ladies that were uncle's friends lived. They were nice and sometimes gave him food and taught him how to play the shamisen.

He didn't know why they were friends with his uncle. Uncle was so mean compared to them. Aunty didn't like these pretty ladies at all. They were all called Oiran which he didn't really understand since all of the ladies have other names.

The crying got louder and louder until he reached the room at the very far end of the corridor, near the exit to the house. He pressed his ear to the door, listening in. He couldn't hear anything apart from the wailing of the baby.

Carefully sliding the door open, he slipped in. His yukata and his blanket trailed behind him as he entered.

The baby was in a small bed. He approached it, standing on his toes to peek in.

"Oh..." He whispered. The baby hiccuped with a sob.

It was very pale and very small. Its face was super red and it had tears and drool running down its face. Its head was covered in a thin layer of hair.

"You look weird." He said, voice hush. The baby sniffled, staring up at him with big, dark eyes. "My name's [Name]."

"Bwahh." The baby blew a bubble of spit. [Name] felt his lips pull into a smile. "Glah!"

"You're very small." [Name] said, reaching down to touch the baby. Its little hand grabbed onto one of his fingers. "I'm eleven. How old are you?"

"Guwoh! Abla!" The baby responded with a gummy smile. [Name] poked at its mouth, giggling as the tiny thing sucked on his finger. "Pblttt!"

"You're really nice. I've never seen a baby before." He pulled his saliva-coated finger away, wiping it on his blanket. He used the end of it to wipe at the baby's face so he could clean it up a little. "Are you a boy or a girl?"

"Rwah!" The response he got wasn't very good.

"I'm a boy. But Tayu-san says that my long hair makes me look like a pretty girl." [Name] said. "I like being pretty! But Uncle and Aunty don't like it. They say I should look more like a boy, which I don't get. I wanna be pretty like Tayu-sanand Kio-san and all the others!"

The baby seemed to coo at his ramblings.

[Name] hadn't ever talked so much before. He felt a little out of breath.

"Hey, why are you here in the first place? This place is only for me and the Oiran ladies. Are you going to be an Oiran lady too? Are you a girl?" He pressed his finger to the baby's head. It giggled. "Can boys be Oirans? Tayu-san said that I shouldn't be an Oiran and that I'm too small and nice."

"Ubuuu!" The baby stuck its tongue out and [Name] giggled. "Awaba!"

"You look like a squirrel." [Name] said, poking its cheek. "I'm gonna call you Risu-chan!"

Risu blubbered, happy with the name.

"Hey, hey, Risu-chan! We should become best friends! I've never had friends before and you can be my first! Which means that you're the best!" [Name] grinned widely, showing off a few missing teeth. Risu squealed, waving its arms around. "Well, that annoying jerk Satoru said that he wants to be my friend but I hate him! He sucks so bad, bleh! And I didn't wanna talk to him and he tried to hug me and I didn't even know him! Uncle made me spar with him too! And, and he was so mean! He hit me and made my nose bleed-"

"Wabuu!" Risu looked upset at the fact that [Name] was sad. The boy sniffled, wiping his nose. "Awobah!"

"We should be friends! Me and Risu-chan, best friends forever!" [Name] looked happy again. "And I'm gonna make sure that the guards or uncle or aunty don't hurt you!"

"Babplttt!" [Name] covered his face with a laugh as Risu spit everywhere.

"Yeah, best friends!" The baby yawned with a sleepy giggle. [Name] yawned too. "But we should sleep first... I'll play with you tomorrow, okay?"

Risu didn't even seem to hear what was said, instead sticking a thumb in its mouth as its eyes closed.

[Name] pat its head before sneaking out of the room. He closed the door before tiptoeing back to his room. Thankfully there were no guards and no one seemed to have noticed his midnight prowl.

Slipping back into his room, he slid the board back against his door somehow before sliding it shut. Dragging his blanket behind him, he climbed into bed, tucking himself under the sheets. The futon was old and saggy and he could feel the hard floor through it but it didn't bother him.

With thoughts of his new friend plaguing his mind, he slept with a smile on his face.

-

"How's training coming along?" [Name] asked as he grabbed the slice of toast from the toaster, juggling it between his hands since it was still hot.

He was with the first and second years in the dormitory kitchen. It was a nice, sunny afternoon and they were all currently recovering from that morning's mathematics lesson.

"I think that we're doing great!" Panda said enthusiastically as Nobara groaned in the background. Megumi couldn't care less as he scrolled through his phone.

"I'm gonna beat their asses," Maki said, a vicious grin on her face. Poor Inumaki scooched away from her a little from where they were sitting on the couch. "They won't see it coming."

"Remember, no killing." [Name] reminded as he lathered a large chunk of butter over his toast. He took a bite into it while still spreading the butter over it. "Yuta forgot that last year."

"Whoa, he killed someone?!" Nobara gasped as she climbed over Panda to gape at their teacher.

"No, but he came super close! Poor Todo didn't see it coming. Mans was in Shoko's care for two weeks." [Name] shook his head in sympathy. His class didn't look too upset about it since they've all had a taste of Todo and didn't particularly favour him.

"Why are you eating toast at 12 in the afternoon?" Megumi asked as he finally put his phone down to stare at the only adult in the room. "You are literally the only person in this room that can cook yet you're eating that." He shot a nasty look at the toast that [Name] was eating. There was a solid inch of butter covering the thing. He probably used up the entire stick of the butter that was in the fridge.

"Wait, you can cook?" Nobara asked, looking interested.

"I can cook a thing or two." [Name] said through a mouthful of toast. He shrugged as he swallowed it down. "I gotta know stuff since I'm on a special diet."

"What, you vegan or something? Keto? Or that weird liquid diet that everyone's raving about?" The brunette asked, brows furrowed with clear interest.

"Nah, it's cause he's unhealthy as f*ck." Maki and Megumi chimed in at the same time. [Name] looked a little offended.

"He's got like no muscle. And barely enough fat so he's terrible in the cold and when it's too warm. And he's got anaemia so he's always dehydrated." Megumi continued. Inumaki nodded with a "shake!".

"Why do you know so much about me? Creeps." [Name] muttered. Everyone except for Nobara gave him a look.

"Damn, unlucky I guess." Nobara snorted. "You born that way or are you just terrible at taking care of yourself?"

"It's 'cause of my cursed technique." [Name] shuffled over to the couches, sitting down between Inumaki and Megumi.

"All I know is that your technique involves blood or something since the Kamo clan's all about that," Nobara said with a shrug. "Guess that makes sense as to why you're anaemic."

"Yeah, being the family curse does that to a person." [Name] sighed as he got comfortable. Megumi hissed as the man stretched his legs out and threw them over the teen's lap.

"sh*t, yeah. You're the Curse of Kamo, aren't you?" Nobara sat up suddenly, eyes wide. "I totally forgot! Wait, is it cool to be the family's curse? Grandmother used to call me a curse too since I wanted to be a sorcerer." She mentioned casually.

"Shake! Tuna, okaka!" Inumaki crossed his arms before holding his hands up. "Bonito!"

"Ah, your parents sound like dicks." Maki tutted, patting his back.

"I swear... none of you has had good parents." [Name] deadpanned. "Buncha traumatised kids... anyway yeah, it's a f*ckin' riot. Showing up at clanmeetings are always super fun. Got tired of them looking at me all of the time but now I enjoy it."

"He went to a meeting wearing a bodycon dress and high heels once," Megumu mentioned casually.

"Lemme tell you that I was the hottest bitch at the meeting that day." [Name]sighed. Inumaki clapped with a nod.

"Seriously?! Wait, you need to show me your wardrobe." Nobara looked excited. Maki let out a loud laugh.

"He's got a full on walk-in closet. It's literally like a whole another world in there." She snorted.

"Like the one Barbie has in Life in the Dreamhouse," Megumi mentioned offhandedly.

"Wait, you actually remember watching that?!" [Name]'s head whipped around to the boy, who shrugged.

"Yeah. Had no choice but to pay attention since you and Gojo were quoting the f*ckin' show the entire time we were watching it. Damn hom*osexuals." He grumbled.

"You're literally gay???" Maki squinted.

"A hom*ophobic hom*osexual." Megumi corrected.

"Barbie is an icon, though! It's a privilege to watch anything with her in it." Nobara gasped. "She was my first gay crush. My gay awakening."

"My gay awakening was Cosmo from Fairly Odd Parents." [Name] hummed. "Or Fred from the Flintstones."

"The... the dad?! From the prehistoric-" Panda spluttered. "And the fairy?!"

"He's a dilf and I'm into that. And yeah, fairy attracted to another fairy I guess." [Name] shrugged. Nobara nodded slowly.

"I can respect that." She hummed. "Cosmo is definitely a bisexual with a mommy kink."

"Wanda is absolutely a dom and you cannot tell me that they were the perfect straight couple. Their relationship was queer-coded as f*ck." [Name] said, high-fiving Nobara as they bonded over cartoon gayness.

The four others in the room watched in silence. Megumi got up and left.

Such is the life.

-

"Baby..." Gojo cooed as he pressed a kiss to [Name]'s collar. "Pretty boy. Pretty baby."

"Satoru... I have sh*t to do, let me go." [Name] clicked his tongue, a ghost of a smile on lips. Gojo nosed at his neck, nipping at the skin there. "The kids did a quiz today and I gotta mark them."

"Ugh, they probably all passed. Just pay attention to meeee!" Gojo whined, lips pulled into a pout. A muffled giggle left his lips as [Name] pressed his mouth onto his for a quick kiss, chasing the other withparted lips when they pulled away. "Come on... please? Just five minutes?"

"You need to go for a mission and you can't be dawdling around here." With a finger to his chest, [Name] pushed Gojo away. "Besides, I also need to cook dinner. Making food for Megs and Nobara tonight, too. How does sukiyaki sound?"

"Delicious." Gojo purred, gripping onto [Name]'s hips and pulling him in closer. "Gonna cook for me and the kids? Like a little househusband? Hmm?"

"You have really weird fetishes." [Name] deadpanned, before breaking off intoloud laughs as fingers dug into his stomach. "Hey, f*ck, stop that! Satoru, that tickles!"

Pinning [Name] to the wall, Gojo snickered as he continued tickling him. One hand moved to grab the older's hands, pinning his wrists above him to hold him in place as [Name] squirmed and laughed.

"Okay, okay, I give! f*ck, stop it!" The giggled plea fell from his lips, and [Name] gasped in the fresh air as he was granted mercy. His eyes were teary from his laughter, and Gojo let out an "oomph!" as he got a jab to the stomach. "Asshole!"

"Heyyy, not my fault that I like your laugh!" The albino whined, leaning down to press a kiss to [Name]'s nose. He took great pleasure at the blush that dusted over the other's cheeks. "You're super cute. Remember when you used to be all snappy and huffy when we were younger?"

"Can you blame me? You were a f*ckin' handful." [Name] snorted, tugging his wrists out of Gojo's hold so he could curl his fingers into the man's jacket. "And you beat me sh*tless when we first met."

"Hey, not my fault that you were a little goody-two-shoes that didn't like to fight!" Gojo stuck his tongue out, hands squeezing [Name]'s hips. "You were a cutie back then, though. You used to blush so brightly when I did things like this..."

[Name] yelped as Gojo ran a finger down his side. Even over his shirt, the touch was felt easily.

"And you used to tremble when I whisperedin your ear." Gojo's breath tickled his ear as the man whispered to him. [Name]'s cheeks were set ablaze, heart pounding heavily in his chest. "Just like this."

"H-hey, stop that, you whor*." [Name] stammered, trying to pushGojo away from him. The albino relented after a second, bursting into loud cackles as he saw [Name]'s face.

"sh*t, maybe not much changed! You're soeasy to fluster, just like back then!" He said gleefully, laughing as [Name] shoved at his shoulder with a grumble. "I love your little reactions!"

"Shut up!" The older whined, complaints going unheard. He quietened when Gojo kissed him, tilting his chin up as he responded eagerly.

Before they could take this any further, there was a buzz in his pocket. [Name] pulled away, patting Gojo's cheek when he began pouting. Pulling out his phone, he rose a brow as he saw Ijichi's number.

"Ugh, it's him," Gojo grumbled. "Ruining the moment."

"Hello? What's going on, Ijichi?" [Name] said as he took the call. He pressed a hand to Gojo's mouth to silence him. "... sh*t, really? I don't- ah!"

Gojo had grabbed his hand by the wrist, licking up his pointer finger and suckling the tip of it. There was a smirk on his face as he refused to let go of [Name]'s hand, even when he pulled.

"S-sorry, uh, just a little distraction." [Name] glared at him, face pink. "Where is this, Ijichi?" He yanked, face going even redder as Gojo took the whole finger in his mouth, wrapping his tongue around it. "M-Minato? Okay, so not too far away... I'll be there quick. What grade was it again? I... alright, sure, thanks."

Cutting the call, [Name] yelped as Gojo pulled him forward, pressing his body against him as he grinned down at him.

"Gojo, I gotta go, let me go!" [Name] tugged, a stray whine leaving him as Gojo ground their hips together. "Sa... Satoru, please-"

"Where do you need to go? I thought we could play!" Gojo pouted, his own cheeks having flushed a light pink.

"There's a curse in Minato. G-grade One. Might be another one of those freak hu-human curses." [Name] bit his lip. His eyes fluttered shut as he was kissed once more. "Satoru-"

"Yeah, yeah." Gojo's pout had grown heavier. He let [Name] go, who stepped back and dusted himself off with a dark blush. "You're gonna be a good boy and go exorcise that for the higher-ups. Then come back and I might have a reward in store for you." Gojo winked, laughing as his arm was slapped.

"Ugh, you suck." [Name] muttered, ignoring the immediate response of a sex joke. "I'm leaving! And go do your own mission!"

"Yeah, yeah." Gojo rolled his eyes before blowing a kiss. "I'll listen to you, senpai dearest!"

"We aren't high schoolers anymore!" [Name] went bright red as he opened the door with a little too much force. He nearly flew back with the door.

"Too ashamed to say that you have a senpai kink?" Gojo teased, before breaking into loud guffaws as the door slammed shut as [Name] immediately disappeared.

"Apple of my eye."

Chapter 12: 10

Chapter Text

"Pouty lips."

The skies were clear as he stepped out of the car. Ijichi glanced at him nervously through the car windows.

"Down that street, huh?" [Name] asked, eyes fixed onto the narrow street between two restaurants. People inside chattered away, not realising or sensing the rotting stench of evil drifting out from the street.

"Y-yes," Ijichi said, hands tightening their grip on the steering wheel. "It's a First Grade, so p-please be careful, Kamo-san."

"Mhm." [Name] felt through his pockets. He seemed satisfied as he felt all that he needed to. "I'll text you when I'm done. Thanks, Ijichi."

He watched the car speed away. Passersby glanced over at him, squinting at his odd clothing choices. They were in Tokyo and [Name] wasn't dressed like a regular Tokyo resident. After all, no Tokyo resident would come dressed in a damn trenchcoat.

Unlike his younger self, [Name] had grown out of his kimono phase. Not to say that he still didn't wear them, but at least he wore other types of clothing now.

He wore a black, sleeveless trenchcoat over a long-sleeved dark grey shirt. He was wearing leggings, preferring that over pants since it helped him move around faster.

He pulled out a black face mask, looping it over his ears but keeping it strapped over his chin. He had to sniff the ugly thing out first before blocking the scent out.

It didn't take too long for him to catch a whiff of it. Stepping between the two restaurants, he walked down the street, the walls less than an arm's length away from his body on both sides. The scent of off-food and dead rodents were thick in the air as he kept walking, eyes and ears out for any signs of the curse.

The street soon merged into a long passage that ran behind all the buildings. Trashcans and large dumpsters lined the walls as he walked, sniffing the air for any clues.

"...!" A sharp inhale and he winced. He picked up the undertone of old blood and rotting flesh that clearly once belonged to a human. He could hear the distant thumping of an uneven and slow heartbeat, along with eerie whispers being forced out of someone's throat.

Licking his lips, he could taste the coagulated blood and the unpleasant sharp smell of urine. He walked towards it, footsteps silent as he slipped the mask over his nose and mouth. He pulled out a mint from his pocket and slipped it into his mouth from under the mask. He couldn't start vomiting like before. That would be embarrassing.

It was in the darkest, dankest and narrowest alley that he found the cursed human.

Or, well, humans.

[Name] pressed himself against the wall, peeking around it. His eyes widened slightly, before narrowing as he ducked back behind the wall.

He could only hear one heartbeat, but the curse...

There were two of them, joined at the hip. Quite literally.

It had two legs and four arms. One head sprouted from a long appendage that was what he assumed was supposed to be a neck. The other was in its stomach, face only half-formed. However, the most noticeable thing about it was that it had incredibly long hair.

It came from the first head. Knotty, matted hair flowed down, pooling around its feet as it lumbered around at an impressive eight or so feet.

It stunk.

The only good thing about this was that the creature had only oneweak human heart. Whatever became of the other one didn't matter since he couldn't hear it.

This thing should be slow. He could hear the blood being pumped around inside it, slowly but surely. Like a person at death's door.

[Name] flexed his hands. The tips of his fingers began to bubble before blood began to pool.

Rounding the corner, he took off into a sprint, hands held out in front of him. A thin stream of coagulating blood spurted out at high force, reaching out and wrapping around the creature's neck.

If he could snap its neck...!

The curse cried out in alarm, its long neck turning around in a wide swing. It had three eyes, two of which focused on its neck while one stared straight at [Name].

He pulled his hands back, making the curse stumble back. With a quick yank, he smashed his fingers to the ground, pulling the head back with every intention to snap its neck...

...only to yelp as the curse grabbed at the strings of blood around his neck. [Name] was basically yanked up and flung, back slamming against the concrete wall. He pulled his blood back, letting the wounds in his fingers close as he quickly rolled out of the way as a slow yet powerful punch was thrown his way.

With a closer look, [Name] could make out not one, but two spinal cords that ran up its neck. They were coiled together, the skin over the bone warping with every movement that the curse made.

No wonder he couldn't snap its neck.

Ducking out of the way of another punch, he leapt forward, pulling his dagger out. He wanted to slash at the stomach-head, which screeched at him, foamy yellow spit flying everywhere.

Something cold wrapped around his ankles, and [Name]swore loudly as he was pulled upwards. Now upside down, he realised that there washairwrapped around his ankles and it was holding him up.

A mouth full of dirty teeth came snapping at him and [Name] immediately lunged with his dagger, piercing through the curse's eye and most likely into its brain. It screamed and threw him aside, thankfully not against a wall this time.

While the thing screamed in pain, he moved forward again, sinking the dagger into the open mouth of the stomach-head and pushing sideways. Blood, gore and insides sprayed over him, brain matter leaking onto the floor. Hand moving to his pocket, he pulled out a syringe.

A large hand slammed against his side and he gasped, immediately feeling the impact as he heard a crack. He was sent careening to the side, choking and spluttering on the dirty floor.

Dammit, he'd fractured a rib. He could feel it.

Ignoring the pain, he stumbled to his feet. Another swing came at him and he dodged clumsily. He stuck out his hand, grabbing the curse's wrist and sticking the needle in roughly.

The curse roared in pain and [Name]'s lips twisted into a vicious smile, eyes flashing red.

The hand that had hit him moved upwards, wrapping around the long neck of the curse, which was now panicking andangry. The hand clenched down, and [Name] watched it with dark eyes as it began pulling at its neck. It tried to pull its arm away with its other hand but to no avail. There was one, two, three yanks before the head was pulled clean off, spraying old blood everywhere.

The curse fell to the ground, gurgling and screaming. Its three eyes were on [Name] as he approached it.

"...don't... hurt... her!" It snarled. [Name] stared, unblinking. "Don't hurt! Don't hurt! Don't hurt! Leave, leave!"

Pulling his dagger out, he held it over the body. With a quick flick and a twist, the curse was sawed in half.

"Sorry." [Name] muttered, wincing as his side throbbed. Standing up, he wiped the blade of his daggeragainst his tights. He pulled out his phone, ringing Ijichi.

"Hey, bring a body bag with you. It was one of those cursed humans." He said into the speaker. "And, uh, some towels and deodorant. I'm literally covered in guts."

-

He wrapped himself up in the backseat. Ijichi was staring at him through the rear mirror, mildly horrified at the scars over the older's body as he bandaged himself.

They were on their way to the address that Yuuji had sent Ijichi. He was apparently at Yoshino's house, which was cute. The kid made more friends and [Name] was pleased about it. He deserved to talk to more kids his age, especially since he hasn't seen anyone other than his teachers after his mini dying episode.

Pulling on a fresh shirt, he wiggled out of his pants. He stared at the bite marks covering his thighs, eyes meeting Ijichi's through the mirror.

The rest of the ride was spent in awkward silence, both parties blushing bright red.

The car pulled up in front of a decent-sized house, quite modern and neat. [Name] stepped out, an arm wrapped around his middle.

"K-Kamo-san, you shouldn't be walking!" Ijichi stressed, stammering as [Name] simply waved him away and headed to the front door. It was quickly getting dark; the last of the sunrays disappearing quickly over the horizon.

He pressed the doorbell, stepping back a little as he waited for someone to answer it. He could hear hurried footsteps behind it.

"Hello, Yoshino house! Who is-" Yuuji was the one who opened the door. His expression brightened. "Sensei!"

"Why are you answering the door instead of Yoshino?" [Name] snorted, hand moving out to ruffle Yuuji's hair, who looked sheepish.

"Who is it, Yuuji-kun?" An unfamiliar voice asked. A familiar kid with dark hair peeked out from being the pinkette.

Ah, Yoshino Junpei. He recognised that face from the CCTV.

"... is this your dad, Yuuji?" Junpei asked, staring up at him nervously. Yuuji snorted while [Name] looked a little scandalised.

"D-do I look that old?! Yuuji, do I look old enough to be your dad?!" [Name] stammered. Yuuji began giggling. Junpei's eyes widened, anembarrassed flush covering his face. "Stop laughing, Yuuji!"

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't know!" Junpei bowed deeply and [Name] stopped his mini-breakdown in seeing that Junpei looked as if he was about to cry.

"Hey, hey, it's okay!" [Name] reached out, patting the boy's shoulder. His eyes narrowed slightly when Junpei stood up, the hair covering his eye briefly giving him a peek of what was behind it.

Cigarette burns.

"I'm Yuuji's teacher and guardian. Not his dad, but..." He shrugged. "He does have honourary son rights."

Junpei looked relieved. He also looked a little weirded out when Yuuji puffed his chest out proudly.

"Eh, sensei, you're standing kinda weird." Yuuji pointed out. [Name] looked sheepish but he waved it off.

"Just broke my ribs like ten minutes ago, not a big deal." He shrugged, wincing at the strain that put on his side. He didn't notice the horrified expression on both the boys' faces. "Anyway, Yoshino, nice to meet you. I'm Kamo [Name]."

"I-I... nice to meet you, too? A-are you okay? Do you want pain killers o-or..." Junpei stuttered. Yuuji nodded aggressively.

"Don't worry about it, Ijichi gave me some." [Name] waved them off. "That's thedriver... we should be getting back home, Yuuji."

"Aww! But we were playing charades! And Junpei's mum's super nice! You should meet her!" Yuuji whined. Junpei seemed to flush, a happy expression on his face. [Name] wanted to steal this kid. He looked f*cking adorable.

"She's passed out on the table, Yuuji." He said, patting Yuuji's back when the boy sagged with a pout. [Name] snickered. "We can... um, see each other tomorrow? If that's okay with your dad, I mean, your, uh, guardian." Junpei glanced up at him.

"Pleeeeease?" Yuuji pouted, blinking up at him with puppy eyes. [Name] was only a second away from signing adoption papers for this kid. Junpei referring to him as Yuuji's dad only made that urge stronger.

"Tomorrow afternoon. We're meeting up with Nanami again tomorrow morning." [Name] sighed, having easily given in. The bright grins on both the kids' faces were worth it, though.

"Okay! Best friend movie marathon is a go tomorrow, okay?" Yuuji had grabbed onto Junpei's hands, jumping in place. The other teen looked a little intimidated, but he had a small smile on his face.

"Sure, Yuuji. Thank you, Kamo-san." Junpei bowed again, yelping as Yuuji hugged him tightly.

The moment was broken when there was a call of [Name]'s name. The three of them looked towards the driveway, seeing Ijichi running towards them.

"Ijichi-san! What's up-" Yuuji started.

"It's Nanami-san! He's hurt!" The bespectacled man panted. [Name]'s relaxed expression immediately broke into one of panic. "A-at the train station, about ten minutes from here. He told me not to tell you but you're probably the only one who can help and-"

"In the car. Let's go, Yuuji." [Name]'s lips were thin, hands formed into fists. Yuuji looked worried and Junpei looked confused and scared. "It was nice meeting you, Yoshino-kun. Yuuji'll be at your place tomorrow afternoon."

"Bye, Junpei!" Yuuji waved as he hurried to the car.

Junpei stood at the door, watching the car drive off.

He knew that the three of them were sorcerers... but they were so nice. And Yuuji was his first friend.

He couldn't help but be excited for the movie marathon tomorrow.

-

[Name] was speedwalking through the empty station. He'd left Yuuji and Ijichi back in the car with an order for the latter to take the teen back to school. There were a lot of protests from Yuuji but [Name] didn't relent.

His pace quickened as he smelt blood that was definitely Nanami's. His ribs protested at the action but he could care less at the moment.

He approached the public restrooms and pushed the door open. His eyes immediately landed on the man that he was looking for, his heart dropping immediately.

"[Name]?" Nanami's eyes opened, gaze on him. "What are you doing here? I told Ijichi-san to not inform you."

"Well, I'm glad he did because you certainly weren't going to tell me anything about this, were you?" [Name] snapped, stepping forward. Nanami grimaced, sighing as [Name] began to unbutton his shirt. "Dammit, Kento, you went to fight a Special Grade all by yourself? Seriously? Are you f*ckin' insane?"

"Gojo-san wasn't available and I was the highest grade for it. I didn't want to put anyone else in danger." Nanami said, voice clipped. He winced as [Name] batted at his hand, telling him to move the arm that was staunching the wound that was in his side.

"You could have called me!" [Name] glowered. "My own mission only took ten minutes at most and I only got minor injuries. I could have helped! I'm the same f*ckin' Grade as you!"

Nanami didn't respond, leaning back against the sinks as [Name] helped him pull his shirt off. He clicked his tongue as the other pulled out his dagger and used that to cut the undershirt that he was wearing clean off.

"And I know you hate overtime, too! You should have shot me a text of your location! We could have finished it off!" [Name] seethed, before taking in a deep breath. He ignored the heavy stare that was on him, focusing on the wound. "How did you get this?"

"Shape-shifting curse." Nanami sighed. "He touched me."

"He?" [Name] rose a brow. He glanced at the injury again, which was still bleeding heavily. "With what weapon? It looks like it f*ckin' cheese-grated you."

"A human-like curse. I do not know its gender but it presents masculine. I will be sure to ask its pronouns next time." Nanami said, hissing softly as [Name] pressed his hand against the wound at the sarcastic tone. "He has the ability to 'touch' the soul of his opponents. That is how he mutated and killed all those non-shamans."

[Name] sighed sharply. Nanami watched as the man bared his teeth and bit into his palm, blood immediately oozing around his teeth. Pulling away, he saw the deep wound shining scarlet under the fluorescent lighting.

With no words exchanged, the taller leant forward, lips around the wound on [Name]'s hand. He began sucking, tasting the metallic liquid on his tongue. There was a sweet tint to it, and Nanami closed his eyes, focusing on the taste.

[Name]'s lips were pursed, eyes set on the wound as he concentrated. He could sense his blood flowing down Nanami's throat and it wasn't long before he felt it being absorbed into the other's bloodstream.

"I'm going to staunch the bleeding." He said, taking a deep breath. He could feel his blood shooting through the veins. Chest, muscles...

He sensed the severed vessels. His blood rushed around it, coagulating immediately and patching up the vessels.

His head ached but he kept going. He hadn't eaten since lunch, which was a good seven hours ago. Using his technique without food took a toll on him.

A rush of air left his lungs as he managed to stop the bleeding. Nanami relaxed, and [Name] grumbled when an arm wrapped around him and pulled him close.

"Thank you." Nanami pressed a kiss to his head, squeezing him. [Name] yelped in pain and he was immediately let go of. "sh*t, are you alright? Did I hurt you?"

"Broke my ribs earlier." [Name] muttered. Despite the annoyance he still held against the other for fighting alone, he wanted contact. Desperately.

"That was the minor injury that you talked about?" Nanami clicked his tongue. [Name] ignored him, face pressed into the other's sturdy chest. "You and I have different definitions for 'minor', I suppose."

"Shut up." [Name] grumbled. His body, which was still tense, relaxed as he listened to Nanami's heartbeat. It was calm and strong, just like always.

"I apologise for frightening you," Nanami murmured, running his fingers through [Name]'s hair. He sighed as the shorter buried his face further into him. "How about I treat you to dinner? As an apology."

"I wouldn't say no to free food." [Name] mumbled with a sigh. He pulled away, grabbing the roll of bandages that were in his coat pocket. "Move your hands."

He rolled the bandages around Nanami's abdomen, pulling them tight.

"Ieiri's gonna have to stitch you up." [Name] said, voice clipped. He paused, before his face flushed slightly. "... stay over for the night. Yuuji's worried about you as well, so..."

"Yes, I'm sure that Itadori-kunis the reason you want me over." Nanami hummed. There was a smile on his face that [Name] scowled at, cheeks blazing red. "But I would like that... I just hope that Gojo won't be a menace in the morning. Do you have any spare rooms?"

[Name] quietened. He looked put out and Nanami chuckled, bringing him in closer.

"I thought..." [Name] fidgeted.

"I'm joking." The blond murmured, leaning down to kiss his nose. "I would like to sleep with you. Platonically."

[Name] flushed.

"Well, it doesn't have to be platonic-"

"Stop talking, Kento!"

"Shining eyes."

Chapter 13: 11

Chapter Text

"Pink cheeks."

The gentle strumming of the shamisen floated through the ancient building. It was covered in cobwebs and parts of the roof leaked when it rained, but the music echoing through the hallways were free and gentle.

There were a few more seconds of pretty music before a loud'twang' broke the atmosphere.

"Ara, ara." Kio giggled into her hand. "That didn't sound quite right, baby."

[Name] sat in front of her, cheeks beet red as he glared down at the comically large instrument in his arms. One of the strings had broken.

"It's too hard!" He whined. Across from him, the woman that had been playing the shamisen perfectly lowered her bachi. Her eyes fluttered open, lips twisting into a smile as she fought back a laugh at the scene of the young child throwing a silent tantrum.

"Pass the shamisen over to me, dear." She said, placing her own instrument down to take the one from the child. The other women surrounding them laughed as [Name] scrambled into Kio's lap to hide.

"While Tayu-san fixes that, why don't I try some makeup on you?" Kio asked, ruffling [Name]'s hair. The boy looked up, a pout on his face. The woman sitting next to Kio pinched his cheek and giggled as her hand was batted away.

"Really? Can you make me look all pretty?" [Name] stared up at the woman, grinning wide as Kio nodded.

"Of course! I'll give you a pretty blush and some nice lashes! Oh, you're going to look so cute!" She kissed the top of his head, laughing as [Name] immediately went red and whined out. "Shush, let me treat you like a baby!"

"But I'm a big boy!" [Name] insisted, climbing into the lap of the woman sitting next to Kio. She kissed the top of his head as well. "Naomi-san!"

"Hush, child. You'll always be our baby." Naomi grinned, her Chinese accent slipping a little into her Japanese. "Now settle down. Let Kio do up your face."

It wasn't long after when the shamisen playing started once more. Tayu played beautifully, and Naomi sang along, voice loud yet comforting. Her chest buzzed against [Name]'s spine as he sat back against her, eyes closed so Kio could apply colour on his eyelids.

It wasn't long after that when the guards came.

-

Cold fingers danced over his waist and [Name]'s face scrunched up in his sleep.

He could hear whispers above him. Brows furrowed, he grumbled out a swear. The voices stopped before there was a snicker.

"Stop disturbing him, Gojo." Nanami's voice was clipped. [Name]'s eyes fluttered open, a yelp leaving his lips as he felt something cold on the back of his neck. "Gojo."

"Satoru?" [Name] reached around blindly behind him, grunting as his wrist was grabbed a hold of and he was forcefully turned to his back. He blinked up at the ceiling, scowling when a familiar head of white entered his vision.

"Goooood morning!" Gojo greeted, a sh*t-eating grin on his face. [Name] groaned loudly before turning onto his side so he could snuggle into Nanami's warm and very bare chest. "Oi, don't ignore me!"

"It's like five in the f*ckin' morning, leave me alone." [Name]'s voice was muffled. He relaxed as a broad, warm hand rubbed his back gently. "Kento's the only one who can stay."

"Why can he stay but I can't?!" Gojo whined, poking [Name]'s back. "Oh, you two gonna get up to something sexy? Can I be there? Pleaseeeee?"

"Kamo's ribs are broken and I have an injured side. We will not be getting up to 'something sexy'." Nanami said, voice bland. [Name] glanced up just in time to see Gojo try and smooch the blond man and be shoved away.

"Injuries never stopped him before!" Gojo whined. [Name] grumbled but didn't fight as he felt kisses being pressed against his back. "Come on, I'm revved up and ready to go!"

"Stop it, you horny bastard." [Name] mumbled into Nanami's chest, stifling a yawn. It was too damn early for this sh*t. Cold hands touched his bare side once more and he shivered violently, trying to meld into Nanami's chest. "Stop touching me! You're cold!"

There was a wounded gasp behind him. [Name] hummed as he felt Nanami kiss his head.

"The betrayal! Oh, the pain!" Gojo cried. "I'm going to tell Megumi about this! I'll tell him that his fathers are fighting and he's gonna be so heartbroken!"

"The moment you mention both of us in the same sentence he'll be outta there." [Name] said, wiggling back a little bit so he could loophis arms around Nanami's neck. The blond chuckled softly, rubbing circles under [Name]'s eye with his thumb.

"No he won't! He's a dedica- oi!" Gojo's hand moved to fist [Name]'s hair, pulling his head back albeit gently. "Listen to me when I'm complaining!"

"You're too loud and I wanna cuddle Kento and go back to sleep." [Name] deadpanned, but there was a flush to his cheeks. Nanami quirked a brow before smirking slightly. His hand moved to hold [Name] by his hair, too. Pulling it back, he relished in the soft gasp as he pressed a kiss to the [Haircolour]-haired man's throat. "H-hey, what're you doing?!"

"Oya? What's this, someone's getting naughty." Nanami scowled as he felt Gojo pet his head mockingly. "Oh, my. Look how red you made our little [Name]-chan!"

"I j-just want to sleep!" [Name] whined, stifling a whimper as Gojo ran his finger down his spine. It made him arch back and the twin groans he got at that was not at all reassuring. It wasn't long before he felt it, though. The pull on his ribs made him hiss with pain and immediately all ministrations to his body had stopped.

"sh*t, are you alright?" Nanami asked, sitting up slightly and looking worried. Even Gojo had stopped and was now gently rubbing his back. "I apologise. I didn't mean to make you strain your injuries."

"You should have told me you broke your ribs earlier!" Gojo whined, snickering as he got two glares. "Ugh, whatever! I just wanna spend time with my lovely little househusband here so I'm gonna take a nap, too!"

"Househusband?" Nanami rose a brow. His eyes had sparked with interest. [Name] scowled and pressed a hand over Nanami's face.

"Both of you either sleep and be good little boys for me or I'll kick you the f*ck out." [Name] threatened, ignoring the squeal that he got from Gojo. "What is with people and their weird f*ckin' kinks about making me a househusband? Maybe I should be hom*ophobic like Megumi."

"Didn't he come out to you four years ago?" Nanami asked, squinting a little.

"A hom*ophobic hom*osexual." [Name] hummed, relaxing as he felt a warm chest against his back. An arm looped around him and Gojo nuzzled into his hair. "Good boy, Satoru."

"Mhm, I'm the best boy." Gojo purred. Nanami rolled his eyes, but he wrapped his arms around [Name] as well, caging him between himself and Gojo. "Ah yes, Nanamin! Cuddle me too! Hold my hand!"

"I barely tolerate you," Nanami said, voice as flat as ever as he pressed against [Name], who rolled his eyes but got comfortable. "Are you comfortable, [Name]? Nothing is pressing on your ribs?"

"I'm all good." [Name] yawned, mumbling sleepily as he felt Gojo press a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks, Satoru."

"You gotta return it!" Gojo whined. When [Name] turned to kiss his cheek, Gojo moved his head at the last minute so he could kiss him on the lips instead. "Hah! Gotcha!"

[Name] snorted at the albino's gleeful expression and turned to Nanami. He leant his head up, kissing the blond's lips sweetly and humming when it was reciprocated.

"Thank you," Nanami murmured as they pulled away. [Name] hummed and closed his eyes with a sigh.

"We just had an indirect kiss through [Name]!" Gojo whisper-yelled. Nanami stared at him for a second, before groaning and sitting up.

Gojo stared at him, slightly caught off guard as Nanami scowled at him. He stuck his tongue out and made smoochy noises.

A muffled yelp left his lips as Kento leant over [Name]'s body so he could crash his lips into Satoru's, who was too shocked at the fact that he was being kissed to even respond.

Nanami pulled awaywaaaayquicker than he would have liked and Gojo watched, gobsmacked, as the blond lay back in his original place.

"Nice." [Name] yawned before conking out immediately.

"It's good to see you quiet for once," Nanami muttered, his eyes closing as well. Gojo pressed his face into [Name]'s hair and grumbled, ears a beet red.

He pretended not to notice Nanami's pleased chuckle.

-

"Junpeeeeei!" Yuuji's whine was muffled under the pillow. Junpei, who sat next to him, looked over. A giggle left his lips as he saw Yuuji, who was lying awkwardly on the couch with his head touching the floor and the rest of his body on the cushions. "Have you played any Alien games?"

"I don't really play any games... my console stopped working and getting a new one would be expensive." The black-haired boy said, scratching at the burns on his face under his hair. "Do you mean alien games from the movie franchise or regular aliens?"

"Aliens like the Xenomorphs!" Yuuji sat up, looking excited. "There's this game called Alien Isolation, came out like ageees ago! Kamo-sensei got it for me recently and it's so good! But I can't play it alone because it's scary as heck!" He scooched up closer to Junpei, reaching out to hold his hands. Junpei went bright red but didn't pull away. "You should come over! We can play it together! It's such a good game!"

"I-is is a two-person game?" Junpei asked shyly, squeezing their hands. Yuuji seemed to freeze for a moment before shaking his head with a pout.

"No... but we can take turns! Also, Ripley is soooo hot in the game." Yuuji sighed dreamily. "She's really pretty! Who's your favourite?"

Junpei seemed to sweat. He glanced down at their connected hands but didn't pull away.

"I also really like Samuels. He's..." Yuuji's face flushed. Junpei looked stunned. "Heeeey, don't look at me like that! He's really cute!"

"Y-you're into guys?" Junpei asked quietly in a whisper. Yuuji shrugged with a smile.

"Yeah! I like both! Everyone's super pretty!" He grinned. "I'm into pretty people and people who can probably kill me and look good doing it." He seemed to pause for a second. "... maybe I'm spending too much time with Kamo-sensei. Hopefully, I won't end up crushing on Xenomorphs like him..."

"I... your dad is into Xenomorphs? The aliens? From the..." Junpei looked mildly horrified but there was almost a relieved grin on his face. "And, um... I'm also... you know. Into... into guys. Not girls."

"Cool! Wait, what did you think of DiCaprio in the Titanic?" Junpei yelped as Yuuji basically nearly pinned him down. His face was beet red.

"U-uh, he was... he was cute...?" He tried. Yuuji sat back down properly.

"Have you seen him now?! Have you?!" The warm hands clutching his let go and Junpei almost sagged with sadness. Yuuji pulled up a photo of Leonardo and showed it to him. "Look at him now!"

Junpei squinted before gasping.

"Is... is that the same person?" He asked, zooming into the photo. "No way!"

"Yeah! It's him! Look what happened!" Yuuji whined. Junpei paused for a second.

"... I still think he looks good. Like he would take care of me." He shrugged, a giggle escaping his lips as Yuuji gasped. "What? He would! He doesn't look bad!"

"He doesn't but still! Young Leonardo was such a snack!" Yuuji moaned before gasping. "No way, you into older men?! Dilfs?!"

"Yuuji, no!" Junpei was laughing, tears of mirth in his eyes as he playfully shoved the other. Yuuji was grinning brightly.

"I mean, some dilfs are pretty! Like, um... oh! Johnathan Majors!" Yuuji grinned. "But oooh, you're into Leonardo! Didn't know he was your type!"

"Stoppppp!" Junpei whined. "He's not my type! My type's different!" He playfully bopped Yuuji's head and laughed as the other cried out in mock pain.

"Oh yeah?" Yuuji asked through giggles. "What is your type then? I already told you mine!"

Junpei went red again. What was this conversation? Where was this leading? Is this what friends talk about?

"U-um..." Junpei went quiet. Yuuji was staring at him with such a lovely, patient smile. "I like... um, kind people! Guys, I mean!" He was sweating. "Like... they... he would like the same stuff that I like... a-and we can hang out a lot and go on cute dates! And we could watch movies together and he would be really nice and super sweet-" Junpei's heart jumped to his throat and he quietened down. f*ck, he had said too much. He had said too much and Yuuji was gonna know-

"... I'm stealing that because your type sounds so cute! Aaaah, I want something like that too!" Yuuji whined. Junpei's head shot up, worry leaving his body at theabsolutely adorabledreamy look in Yuuji's eyes.

Good. He hadn't caught on. That would have been super embarrassing!

"U-uh, yeah... yeah!" Junpei rubbed the back of his head. "I guess it's cute..." His thoughts were broken up by a loud, rumbling sound. He went quiet and so did Yuuji. "... was that... your stomach?"

"... no." Yuuji pouted. There was another rumble. "... maybe..."

"...pfft, ahaha!" Junpei burst into giggles and the cutest shade of pink took over Yuuji's face. "Your face!"

"Stoooop, you're mean!" Yuuji whined, before gasping with a grin. "Wait, let's go out! There's a festival next city over, right! Fuchu!"

"... is there?" Junpei asked, tilting his head. Yuuji nodded excitedly. He was sorta like a puppy. "At this time of year? What festival is it?"

"Kurayami Matsuri!" Yuuji bopped Junpei's head. "How could you forget! It's like... the coolest festival this time of year! And today's when they release the lanterns!"

"Wait, is today the fourth already?!" Junpei gasped. Yuuji bopped him on the head once more and the black-haired boy whined. "Yuuji! Don't be mean!"

He yelped as his hand was taken hold of. He was pulled off the couch and if not for his reflexes, he would have fallen into Yuuji's chest.

Thank god. He would have probably died.

"Get changed, get changed! We should go! And get your train pass, too!" Unceremoniously, Junpei was pushed upstairs by Yuuji. "Come on, come on! I wanna eat the street food!"

"Okay, I'm going!" Junpei laughed. Yuuji looked like an excited puppy again and it made his heart stutter.

-

They were on the train.

Junpei tried to ignore them at first. He focused on Yuuji and his exciting recollection of the secondSawmovie that they had watched earlier that day. The way his fluffy hair moved was almost hypnotising.

He heard a snicker. Junpei drew into himself, hand moving to scratch at his wrist with nervousness. Yuuji seemed to notice and quietened down.

"Hey, you okay?" Junpei's cheeks pinkened at the concern. He was quick to nod and smile.

They'd reached Fuchu. There were a lot of people getting off so the two of them decided to get up after the rush had passed.

Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones waiting for that.

"Alright, let's go!" Yuuji got up and smiled at Junpei, who got up as well. As they headed to the train doors, someone passed them, harshly slamming into Junpei's shoulder and sending himbanging against the wall.

There was laughter, before a loud swear.

Junpei shook his head, trying to get rid of his dizziness. He knew who had bumped into him.

Suuna.

The idiot was always hanging around him when he went to school and took great fun in bullying the sh*t out of him.

Oh god, what was Yuuji going to think? Was he going to think how lame Junpei was? How stupid he was to be friends with him?

Was he going to bully him, too?

When his vision cleared, he saw Yuuji. The boy was much shorter than Suuna, but was gripping onto his bully's arm with a tight grip and scary,scaryeyes.

"Oi." His voice was low. Suuna's friend stood next to him, some guy that Junpei had seen before but didn't know the name of. "Apologise."

"What the f*ck?! Let go of me, freak!" Suuna snarled, yanking at his arm. Junpei knew that Suuna was strong, but Yuuji... the pink-haired boy didn't even flinch. He didn't seem to be struggling at all! "Oi, let go-"

"Only if you say sorry!" Yuuji narrowed his eyes. "Junpei's my friend. What you did wasn't nice. I hope it was just an accident." His tone was cheery but anyone could tell that there was a warning under it.

Junpei had known the boy for only two days but he was already so very fond of him.

"Y-Yuuji, it's okay." He muttered, not looking at Suuna or his friend. "I'm sure that it was an accident."

It wasn't, but he didn't need to know that.

"Oi, let go of Suuna, you bastard!" The unnamed friend yelled. He tugged at Yuuji's arm too, but apparently, he was too damn weak since that didn't even do anything. "sh*t, the train's gonna leave!"

"f*ck, okay, sorry!" Yuuji let go of his bruising grip on Suuna's hand and the two turned tail and fled. Junpei was gawking.

"What assholes! Come on, Junpei!" Yuuji grabbed Junpei's hand and pulled him out of the train just as the doors closed. "Whew! That was close!"

"H-how did you do that?!" Junpei stammered, thoroughly impressed and a little scared. Also slightly flustered because damn.

"Huh? Do what?" Yuuji looked confused. "And is your side okay? That looked like it would have hurt!"

Junpei bluescreened as he felt hands over his side. Thankfully bruising hadn't set in yet so it didn't hurt. There was still adrenaline flowing through his veins from that scary moment so he couldn't feel anything except the fact that maybe his heart would explode.

"Junpei? Junpeeeei, hello?" Yuuji waved his hand in front of Junpei's eyes. It was swatted away and the black-haired boy turned to hide his flushing face. "Come on! A feast awaits!"

-

He was an idiot. Yoshino Junpei, the dumbest boy to live on Earth.

It had been literally one second! One second he got distracted by yakisoba and then Yuuji was gone, completely out of sight.

There were people everywhere and Junpei was close to bursting into tears. Everything was so loud and people were brushing against him and he felt so overstimulated by the noises and racket of the festival.

It was almost too good to be true when he saw a mouth of an alleyway to the side that could provide him with some relief from the chaos. He almost threw himself into it, landing harshly against the wall and panting like a marathon runner.

Good god, he was such an idiot. Yuuji was probably looking for him now, worried out of his mind. He was being such a bad friend. His first friend and he ruined their relationship by getting lost. His phone was dead, too. He couldn't call the other so...

He was stuck.

"Eeep!" Something came whizzing at him with high speed and just by luck, Junpei managed to move his head so the thing would hit the wall and not him. A pebble fell to his feet and he glanced to the side, eyes widening with fear as he spotted Suuna and his friend.

They looked pissed, which was an understatement.

"Look who it is, Shiba." Suuna sneered. Junpei's legs were frozen with fear. "All alone... where's the other bitch, huh?"

"Got lost? Where's your date at?" Shiba chuckled, cigarette smoke wafting out between his teeth as he grinned maliciously. "The little pink-haired bitch your boyfriend? Huh?"

"D-don't talk about him like that!" Junpei managed to whimper, yelping as he was pulled forward by the arm and tossed to the ground. It was a miracle that he didn't hit his head.

"Aww, little freak wants to protect his iddle-widdle boyfriend?" Shiba mocked, his friend cackling next to him. "He ain't here to protect you now, is he? f*ckin' gays..."

Junpei narrowly managed to move his arm away in time to avoid a foot stomping down on it. It would have shattered the bone for sure.

"Always knew that you were a little f*ckin' fa*g. Like it up the ass, huh?" Suuna spat, kicking his thigh. Tears were burning in Junpei's eyes. "Pathetic little bitch!"

"I think the real pathetic thing here is the two little f*ckin' bastards deciding to pick on a kid smaller than them for no damn reason." A voice so familiar yet somehow not echoed through the alley. It made everyone pause and grow silent for a second. Heads turned to the mouth of the alley to see who had walked in on the 'little' spat.

Hair pulled back and face done up in makeup, a stunning figure stood by the wall, dressed in a blue and silver kimono with sleeves that nearly brushed the dirty cobblestone floor. The 8-inch tall getas on their feet clacked as they stepped forward, eyes narrowed dangerously.

"K-Kamo-san?" Junpei stuttered.

"We weren't doing nothin'!" Suuna snapped, unsure whether to flee or stay. The newcomer didn't look too strong so maybe he could fight them off?

"You know this girl? Guy?" Shiba narrowed his eyes. It was impossible to discern their gender.

Before any of them could react, [Name] was in front of them. Shiba yelped as a hand smacked against his forehead and sent him falling back on the ground. Suuna looked shocked and then angry.

"Oi, who the f*ck are you?!" He pulled out a fancy-looking knife and Junpei whimpered in fear.

"I-it's okay, Kamo-san! Don't worry about it! It's okay, they're my friends!" He tried to say, sounding feverish and desperate. He'd never forgive himself if something happened to his best friend's father because of him.

"Yoshino, don't worry about it. I doubt that this kid knows how to use a knife, much less a letter opener." Kamo deadpanned. "Seriously? f*ckin' idiot."

"This ain't a letter opener!" Suuna yelled. His hands were shaking.

[Name] sighed, before digging under his kimono. From under his collar, he pulled out a pretty dagger with a silver blade that shone menacingly. Suuna seemed to whiten in fear as [Name] twirled the weapon in his hand and pointed it to him.

"You better not come after Yoshino ever again. Now, scram if you know what's good for you." He clicked his tongue, watching as Suuna immediately fled. Shiba struggled to his feet before following as well. They weren't going to mess with some girl or guy in a kimono wearing 8-inch getasand holding a knife. They weren't looking to get maimed or killed.

Junpei watched them run, body trembling. He leant back against the wall, heaving in deep breaths and trying to calm himself as he squeezed his eyes shut.

The smell of grilledchicken wafted through his nose and Junpei's eyes fluttered open. A stick of yakitori was held in front of his face as a concerned face peered at him.

"Eat up. You look faint." [Name]'s voice sounded kind. Before Junpei could deny it, the older had pressed the stick of chicken straight into his mouth. "Take deep breaths. Nothing's gonna get you."

Hesitantly, Junpei took the food and began to slowly eat it. He could barely taste it since his mind was still in panic mode.

"Did the kids stick you with cigarettes again?" The question made Junpei stiffen. There were eyes on his forehead and he just realised that his bangs were messily sticking up and didn't cover the injuries anymore. In a panic, he flattened them down, tears of humiliation burning in his eyes. "Hey, hey, Yoshino, it's alright! Don't cry-"

A sob leaked out from between his lips and [Name] shushed him, soothingly rubbing the boy's arm. The poor kid was embarrassed, scared and humiliated.

Something cold touched his forehead and he jerked back. He realised that it was... lotion?

"You gotta keep it moisturised. The burns haven't healed fully yet so it's best to keep it nice and hydrated." [Name] explained as he scooped up some more from a little round pink tin. "My skin's ashy all the time so I carry this stuff around. You can also put Vaseline over it, that'll help too."

"O-okay...?" Junpei sniffled, not really understanding what was going on. He nibbled on his chicken.

"Those things aren't too salty but maybe you crying over them would make them taste better." [Name] said as he focused on gently rubbing the moisturiser around and over the burns. "Wait, that wasn't a good joke. Sorry."

"I-it's okay," Junpei mumbled through an awkward smile that looked more like a grimace. "U-um... can I... can I ask something?"

"Sure, go ahead." [Name] shrugged as he wiped the residue of the cream away on his kimono before slipping the tin away.

"How... did you find me? Did Yuuji ask you to?" Junpei asked hesitantly.

"No, I could hear you and the two dickhe*ds going at it from a mile away." [Name] stood up and offered a hand. Junpei took it, clumsily getting to his feet. "You came here with Yuuji, did you? Where is he?"

"We... we, um, got separated." [Name] blinked as Junpei bowed so low that his head nearly touched the damn ground. "Sorry that I lost him! I'm so sorry!"

"Yoshino, don't worry about it." [Name] ruffled his hair. "Yuuji's literally an over-excitable puppy that you can lose super easily. It's more so his fault than yours that you two got separated."

"Don't be mad at him!" Junpei looked almost desperate. He quietened down as [Name] simply shook his head and waved him off.

"I won't be. Poor kid's probably worrying up a storm though, so let's go find him." [Name] didn't look too bothered and Junpei was thankful. He would lose it if he got Yuuji in trouble. It wasn't his friend's fault, it was all his. "Also, I got some red bean buns. You want some?"

"U-um, no thank you." Junpei declined politely as he nibbled on the yakitori. He didn't want to bother the man. He grimaced as [Name] led them back to the exit of the alley. He had just somewhat calmed down as was now going to be thrust into a crowd again. "I-Is there any other way to... um... never mind."

"You don't like people?" [Name] glanced down. He pet the boy's head, who flinched but seemed almost in awe of the feeling of a headpat. "Don't worry. I'm gonna part these people like Moses."

Junpei didn't know what that meant except probably Moses was from the bible. Did that guy... part people?

[Name] took his hand and Junpei nearly jumped out of his skin as he was pulled forward into the crowd. Closing his eyes, he braced for the feeling of slamming into random strangers...

... only that didn't happen.

Opening his eyes, he gawked at the scene of people staring at them... well, specifically, staring at [Name]. [Name], who had pulled out a pretty blue paper umbrella and was using it to hide his face. He looked like one of those traditional dolls that you can buy from doll stores.

"If they find out that I'm a 29-year-old depressed man with an addiction to sweets and tobacco they'll probably kill me where I stand." [Name] whispered, fluttering his lashes and smiling at a couple, who cooed and moved out of the way. Junpei's mouth still hung open as he was gently pulled through the crowd.

He flinched as a camera went off and went bright red as the umbrella in [Name]'s hand moved to cover him. There were coos from people when he accepted it with shaky hands, hiding under it as he let himself be guided through the crowd.

What felt like only five minutes later, he heard a familiar voice shout out his name.

"Junpei! Sensei!" Yuuji barrelled towards them. [Name] gracefully took his umbrella back just before Junpei was literally bearhugged to death.

"Yuuji!" The timid boy yelped as he was lifted into the air and swung around like a ragdoll. His face could rival the sun with how warm it was. "P-put me down!"

"I'm sorry! I lost you! I didn't know where you went and I was worried that those guys from the train were gonna get you again!" Yuuji rambled, looking like a poor, kicked puppy. Junpei wanted to cry and scream at the same time.

"From the train?" [Name] spoke up for the first time since their reunion. He closed his umbrella and slid it under his kimono where it somehow stayed tucked away. He didn't want to know what else he hid in there. "What happened?"

"O-oh, nothing-" Junpei started before Yuuji burst into a full recount of what had happened.

"Two idiots bumped into Junpei on the train! One with like really ugly blond hair and the other had purple hair and they were both stupid! They hurt Junpei!" The pink-haired boy scowled.

"Oh yeah, they were f*cking with Yoshino like five minutes ago. Wanted to beat the sh*t out of them but I'm a whole-ass adult and that wouldn't go well." [Name] deadpanned as Junpei's mouth dropped open. "Next time you see them though, beat them up."

"Aye aye!" Yuuji saluted.

"N-no! Don't do that!" Junpei stammered in horror, going red as Yuuji pouted. It was such a cute expression that he nearly cried.

"Anyway, sensei, whatcha doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with Nanami-san?" Yuuji asked, his arm around Junpei's shoulders. It hadn't moved since their hug and Junpei was slowly dissolving.

"Ieiri healed me and him up and gave me the all-clear. And Gojo had a mission so I couldn't f*ck around with him. Wanted to surprise him with some tasty street food from the festival but he's not due to come back in like two days." [Name] sighed, a hand on his hip. "It would have been so romantic to watch the lanterns with him."

Is everyone here gay because Junpei felt right at home.

"Junpei and I are going to watch the lanterns!" Yuuji grinned and Junpei had to physically restrain himself from crying or screaming.

What.

What the f*ck.

"Cannot believe that you two are getting more action than me, a literal adult." [Name] groaned and Junpei couldn't help falling over that time.

"Oh f*ck, you good?" Yuuji gasped.

"I think we broke him." [Name] whistled.

Yeah.

K.O. Yoshino Junpei.

"Golden Hour."

Chapter 14: 12

Chapter Text

"Dried tears."

Heavy breathing was the only thing one could hear in the dark room. Choked gasps echoed through the space, lungs fighting for precious oxygen as he tried desperately to breathe.

A cough, one, two,and then a wet burp. Liquid splashed against the wooden floor as he heaved, gagging as yellowed spit and vomit bubbled past his teeth.

The door handle jiggled desperately and he glanced up through bloodshot eyes. He could hear a key jam into the handle and there was a click as it unlocked.

Another gag left him and more yellow, this time tinged with red, splattered against the floor. The door had opened before it shut and hurried footsteps pattered over the wood.

"Shh, I got ya." Ito's voice was soothing as she crouched next to him, her hand beginning to firmly rub his back. She didn't seem to care that it stunk or the fact that her feet were only inches away from the steadily growing pool of vomit. "Just breathe, c'mon, Kamo."

Tears burned in [Name]'s eyes, both from humiliation and pain. His aching body shuddered with every gag and he longed to just curl up and die.

Ten, maybe fifteen minutes passed and harsh gags still shook his body andmade him tremble. Thankfully, there was no more vomit. Ito had stood up and [Name] couldn't see past his lashes so he had absolutely no idea where she was.

Arms wrapped around him, lifting him up from under his armpits as he was helped on two wobbly feet. A whimper left him and he couldn't make himself stand, finding his legs collapsing under him.

Ito dragged him to his futon, gently dropping him on the silk covers and fluffy pillows. [Name] moaned as he felt his kimono being undone, sweat covering his body even though he was shivering.

"It's okay, let me take this sh*t off ya. It's too damn warm to be wearing this." Ito muttered, pausing for a second in undressing him so she could rake her hand through the other's sweaty hair. It seemed to calm him slightly, so she continued to pull the heavy clothing off him.

It was a black kimono with intricate gold designs that Ito unceremoniously pulled off and dumped on top of the puddle of sick. She seemed to be satisfied as she used her foot to wipe the vomit away before kicking the soiled outfit to the very corner of the room.

[Name] shuddered with a small whine, eyes clenched shut. Ito was quick to cover him with a fluffy blanket that lay at the foot of the double bed, patting his head before moving to open the window to let more air in.

"I'm gonna kill 'em." She whispered under her breath. "Every last one of 'em. Shoot 'em f*ckin' dead." Her hands were shaking as she opened the drawer of the bedside table, rummaging through it for nausea and pain medication. She'dseen the bruises and the lashings. "f*ckin' bastards..." Thankfully there was a cup of water already on the table. Popping the pills out of their blister packaging, she knelt by the bed.

[Name] shuddered as Ito placed her hand over his cheek. His body seized up in fear, expecting an attack.

"I ain't gonna hurt ya." Her voice was gentle, so unlike her usual fiery tone. "It's me. C'mon, [Name], open yer mouth. I'm gonna give ya some meds for the pain. It'll make ya feel better." She reassured. Worry and guilt and rage festered in her gut but she pushed them aside for her best friend.

[Name]'s mouth opened slightly. Ito propped his head up a little before slipping the pills in, letting him wash it down with a few gulps of water.

The moon barely lit up the room but Ito had enough light to carefully climb into bed with [Name]. She bit down on her lip to stop her tears as [Name] immediately latched onto her, body curling up in her arms despite the injuries he had.

"...t ... sumi..." The whisper was hoarse and Ito pressed a kiss to [Name]'s head.

"Hush now. Go to sleep." She assured, holding him close to her. "I'm right here, 'kay? I ain't going anywhere. I'll protect ya." She hurriedly wiped at her eyes so [Name] wouldn't realise that she was crying.

It didn't take long for [Name] to follow her words. In almost no time at all, he was asleep, silent and finally unconscious.

Ito Natsumi still lay awake as she let herself cry. Eyes at the window, she stared through tothe stars, wishing on her heart and soul to destroy the bastards that had hurt her best friend.

The Kamo Clan was going to pay.

-

There was nothing but chaos.

Yuuji swallowed harshly, hearing Ijichi's muffled sobs behind him as he raced out of the building. It was getting dark, clouds blanketing over Japan as his feet smacked against the concrete as he ran down the steps of Tokyo Jujutsu High.

He didn't know what to do. Dread and fear were building up in him, just like it had moments before he had died all those days ago. He could feel foreign amusem*nt in the back of his mind, no doubt belonging to the curse that was inhabiting his body.

Shy smiles were what festered in his mind, along with shiny eyes and dark black hair. The taste of the strawberry milk on his lips as he saw fireworks reflect off of his new friend's eyes. The feeling of warmth as they hugged. The soft press of lips against his cheek.

Yuuji's eyes threatened to overflow with tears as he sprinted down the street. He'd heard about what happened.The veil overSatozakura High School, the sudden increase in cursed energy...

Nanami and Ijichi didn't want him to go, but how could he not?! That was his friend! His friend was there!

"JUNPEI!" He didn't know what route he had taken to get there so fast. His hands had pushed open the gym doors, letting them slam back violently as he panted harshly. His eyes widened as he met the dark, soullesseyes that belonged to his new best friend. "Junpei, what the hell are you doing?!"

The gym was littered with fallen bodies of high schoolers and Junpei was standing on stage. He was surrounded by a pretty blue glow and Yuuji's throat closed as he saw the origin of the colour.

A giant jellyfish shikigami, holding up a nearly dead and quivering student. Junpei didn't seem to care as one of the jellyfish's stingers began to wrap around the boy's throat.

"Stay out of this, jujutsu sorcerer." His voice was as dead as his eyes as he stared down at Yuuji with distaste. There was no softness or adoration that usually graced his face. There was no more happiness.

Instead, it was replaced with the broken shell of a boy who'd been wronged one too many times.

Yuuji felt his hands shake even as he balled them into fists. There was a teacher there, one that he distinctly remembered to have pulled down the pants of.

He'd laughed about it to Junpei. It was only a few days ago. Where was the boy who joked around with him? Who hugged him as if he'd leave if he held him too tight?

Yuuji didn't remember leaping forward until his fist made contact with the strangely damp and cold body of the jellyfish. The boy that was being held as hostage fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, sobbing pathetically to himself.

"Snap out of it, Junpei!" His voice felt raw from screaming as he watched Junpei jump back.

"You think this is a front?!" Junpei screamed back. Yuuji retaliated with his fists which were once against blocked by the shikigami. "It's not! So back off, sorcerer!"

Yuuji chased him out of the gym, throat closed and eyes strangely wet. He couldn't cry, not now! He was going to snap his friend out of this! And then they were going to go get ice cream together at that one parlour they went to with [Name]!

They were in the school building now. Yuuji let his fist build up cursed energy as he ran up the stairs and turned the corner, dodging a stray tentacle as it came for him. It was fairly easy to see since it was so bright and cast a blue glow over everything.

"I'll say it again, back off, jujutsu sorcerer!" Junpei hissed, his hands clenched into fists. "This is none of your business!"

"That's not something you get to decide!" Yuuji spat back, dodging another tentacle as he rushed in to attack. A frustrated swear left him as he was met with the jellyfish once more.

"What's the point... of sending thoughtless rescue..." Junpei's voice was shaking. Yuuji faltered for a moment, feeling his own eyes start to sting from seeing such a terrible display before him. It was a bad idea since Junpei saw his hesitation and fired an attack immediately. "DON'T MISTAKE THE VALUE OF A LIFE!"

Yuuji let out a choked gasp as tentacles shot by him, wrapping tightly around his body like a cocoon. The feeling of dampness and the cold made him shudder with a yelp as the shikigami wrapped around and around him, covering his face and the rest of his body into a tight and nearly inescapable hellscape.

"People pretend that their heart is everything, but the heart is just the metabolism of the soul. It's all just a delusion." Junpei spoke dully, watching the mass of blue writhe as Yuuji tried to escape. "No one has the right to stop me from taking lives that can be taken. Just close your eyes and don't watch me. I have something to return to."

Despite the pain in his eyes and the guilt festering behind his expression, Junpei turned away. He raised his foot to take a step, only to be pulled back by the shoulder.

"...!" He let out a yelp as the grip on his shoulders tightened. There was a muffled snarl behind him.

"Who the hell are youmaking excuses for?" Yuuji's voice was deceptively calm and Junpei turned, eyes widening a fraction as he saw the pinkette pull himself out of the restricting tentacles. A cry left him as a punch sent him flying, his mind replaying the time where Yuuji had shown his insane strength against Suuna.

That strength, which was now used against him.

His jellyfish was behind him, shielding him against the glass that sprayed everywhere when he and his shikigami were thrown out of the window. He let out an "oof!" as he landed against the squishy creature and bounced off onto the roof of the lower section of the school.

"Why... why doesn't Moondregs' poison work on you?" He asked shakily, eyes widening as he saw Yuuji jump out of the window after him. "Why...? Why are you still in my way?!"

His mother's smile flashed in his mind and tears rose to his eyes.

"... why?"

Gritting his teeth, he clasped the back of his hand just like he had been taught to. Stingers erupted out of the ends of Moondregs' tentacles, which shot out towards Yuuji.

Just before he lands...! If he gets him just before he lands!

Yuuji fisted his hands and smashed the ground in a flurry of blue energy. The shockwave blew back Junpei andthe tentacles of his jellyfish.

"I... have no idea what you're talking about." Yuuji panted, eyes fiery with a light that made Junpei's heart jump to his throat. "Splitting hairs like that... it just means..."

Junpei's eyes widened as a punch came flying for his throat.

"You want to think that you're right, don't you?!" The punch had hit his sternum and had sent him flying back upwards and through the already broken window. His dizzy mind managed to realise that instead of going for his neck, Yuuji had gone for his chest.

He was still trying not to hurt him, despite what he had done.

Junpei landed on his back, a sob leaving his lips.

"I don't know what your motive is, Junpei." Feet landed lightly on the floor as Yuuji climbed through the window after him. Junpei sat up, sobs shaking his frame. "I'm sure you have your reasons, but... does that mean that you'll go so far as to throw your life away?!"

Junpei glanced up, teary eyes meeting Yuuji's. The pink-haired boy looked pained and upset and Junpei wanted to just curl up anddie.

"Something like people's hearts and emotions being fake... can you say it in front of your mother?!" Yuuji scrubbed at his face, which was red and bruised andwet. "People don't have hearts... can you still say that?!"

"THEY DON'T!" Junpei screamed, shuddering and absolutely ruined. Yuuji jerked back, eyes widening at the pain in his friend's voice. "If they... if they do...!"

Tears burned in Yuuji's eyes as Junpei looked up at him with eyes overflowing with tears and cigarette burns having ripped open due to their fight.

"If they do... then are you saying that people cursed my mother and me with those hearts...?!" Thewords were raw, emotions overflowing. Junpei sniffled, another fat sob tearing past his lips as he wailed out loudly. "Tell me, is that what happened?!"

"J-Junpei..." Yuuji sounded close to crying.

"I don't care... not anymore," Junpei whispered, raising a shaky hand. Moondregs manifested behind him. "Right or wrong... I just don't care anymore, Yuuji-kun. It's too much... I just... don't care."

Tentacles shot out, the pointy ends shining in the bioluminescent light the jellyfish provided. The spikes raced towards Yuuji, and with a sharp wet squelch, embedded themselves into his chest and side.

Junpei's head jerked back, hands moving to slap over his mouth. One hand moved to pull at his hair as a cry of horror left him.

"Wh... why didn't you dodge it...?" He asked shakily. "Y-Yuuji, why didn't you dodge?!"

The jellyfish dissipated and Junpei flinched as he heard and saw dark red begin to leak and land on the tiled floor. Yuuji began walking towards him, slow and swaying, and Junpei closed his eyes and braced for a hit.

Instead, there was a slow, pained sigh as Yuuji dropped down on his knees in front of him.

"Sorry..." A toothy smile broke through Yuuji's face. His eyes were sad and there were tears rolling down his face. Junpei reached forward with a shaky hand, wiping them away and stifling a sob when Yuuji leant into his touch. There was blood bubbling past his lips."I talked big when I didn't even know what happened."

"Y-Yuuji..." Junpei whispered painfully. His hands were taken hold of and he was reminded of the times when they had sat together on the couch, gripping onto each other as they told jokes and made fun of badly made horror movies.

"Tell me what happened, Junpei." Yuuji pressed his forehead against the other. Junpei released a muffled whimper. "I won't curse you, I promise!"

"Yuuji..." He whispered pathetically before breaking. He told him, told him of everything that happened. He spilt about the bullying, how he had found a dried and shrivelled finger in the room with his dead mother. How someone had cursed him and his mother. How someone hadkilledher.

"Junpei," Yuuji whispered, hand moving to the back of his friend's neck as he pulled him in for a hug. Junpei fell into him in a rush of apologies and sobs that had Yuuji's heart aching.

"My mum... Yuuji, she's gone...!" The black-haired boy managed to choke out, chest heaving with cries as he trembled in his friend's arms. His only friend. Still his friend despite what he had done. "She's gone and-and I don't know what to do...!"

"Come to Jujutsu Tech with me," Yuuji said, his mind already made up. He pulled away slightly from their embrace so he could look at Junpei's teary face. He used his thumbs to wipe the dirt and grime away from his cheeks and under his eyes. "There are a lot of stupidly strong teachers and really good friends who'll have you back no matter what."

Junpei's eyes widened at the determination in Yuuji's eyes. His expression was open, trusting and so welcoming.

"We'll find the guy who cursed you and your mother together, Junpei." He said, squeezing the other's hand. "And I'll make sure to make them pay for what they did."

A teary smile pulled at Junpei's face, eyes fluttering shut for a moment as Yuuji hugged him close once again.

"Let's fight together, okay?" Junpei squeezed their connected hands.

"Okay." He whispered.

"Ara ara, look what we have here! What a cute little scene!" An unfamiliar voice piped up full of glee. Yuuji jerked back, eyes hardening as he saw the newcomer.

"Who're you?" He asked, shuffling a little to the side so he could protect Junpei if needed. He couldn't tell who this person... no.

They weren't a person.

"Nice to meet you, Sukuna's Vessel." Thecursegrinned, their arm beginning to quiver and rapidly grow in size.

"Mahito-san, wait!" Junpei yelled fearfully before the arm shot past him, elongated fingers wrapping around Yuuji's body and slamming him back against the wall. Blood spurted out of the pinkette's lips as he gasped in pain, wriggling to try and free himself.

He was an idiot! That was the patchwork curse! The one Nanami had warned him about!

"RUN, JUNPEI!" He yelled out, struggling in the curse's grasp as its grip grew tighter. "I don't know what kind of relationship you got with this guy, but run now, please! I'm begging you, RUN!"

"Yuuji, calm down!" Junpei tried his best to reassure him as he got to his feet hurriedly. "Mahito-san isn't a bad... a bad-"

Images of those disfigured humans flashed through his mind. The giant creature that was made by suffering, moaning merged humans.

"You know, Junpei-kun." Mahito sang the honorific as if teasing him in a way. Junpei had begun to tremble again, this time more out of fear than grief. "You're pretty smart, right? But instead of thinking, you tend to make rash, foolish moves... you know that, right?" He giggled, wrapping an arm around Junpei's shoulders. He leant down, lips next to the boy's ear. "Because of that... well, I might as well say it."

A gruesome grinpulled unnaturally at Mahito's lips.

"You're just as much of a fool than those idiots that you make fun of."

"JUNPEI!" Yuuji screamed, terrified of something happening to his friend.

"That's why... you will die." The hand on Junpei's shoulder tightened. "Idle-"

Blood,so much blood.

It shot out in a wave, a claw forming out of it and yanking Junpei awayat the same time a blade sliced through the mutated arm that was caging Yuuji. Mahito jumped back, eyes wide and surprise painting his features.

The blood fell to the ground with a wet slap and all three males in the room watched as it began to slither and flow back towards the shadows.

"... Kamo-sensei?" Yuuji called hoarsely.

A figure stepped out of the shadows, their right arm bare and holding a long, deep gash. The blood was being pulled towards it, being sucked back into their body.

[Name] was dressed in all black and looked like sh*t. There was none of the usual lazy look or the tired frown that usually marred his face.

"Get thef*ckaway from my kids, cursed spirit." The words were hissed out, venom coating them.

Yuuji looked so relieved that he could cry. Junpei was already crying.

Mahito's grin widened, a blush beginning to sear his pale face.

"Finally... finally, I can meet you." He whispered. [Name] bared his teeth, cursed energy building up around him. It made everyone near him feel nauseous and fearful. Mahito started to giggle and clap his hands.

"Curse of Kamo... finally, you've come to play!"

"Forced smiles."

Chapter 15: 13

Chapter Text

"Sad smiles."

Licking his lips slowly, the blue-haired curse glanced around him.

The building was dark and dreary, the early morning sun having no way to shine through the Curtain that he had put up an hour or so ago. He was getting better day by day at his abilities and his first time putting up the curtain and being successful only proved that fact.

"K-Kamo-sensei...!" Sukuna's Vessel gasped out and the grin on Mahito's face only grew, pulling at the stitches that went down his cheek. He loved how unbearably dependant young people were on their elders. It brought him such joy to see those bonds come ripped apart.

Junpei was leaning against the wall, trembling so pathetically that he wanted to laugh. The dumb little thing really thought that life was as simple as punishing those who did you wrong, but clearly, that didn't work out too well for him now, did it?

"Disgusting, disgusting f*ckin' thing." Shivers of pleasure rippled over Mahito's skin as he heard the voice of the man he desperately wanted to meet for so long. The dark [Eye Colour] eyes of the shaman made him bite his lip as his body began to burn with heat. "Hiding in the dark, attacking my kids..."

Kamo's Curse looked absolutely bloodthirsty, waves of cursed energy flowing around him. A giggle burst through Mahito's lips and he pulled at his hair, gripping the light blue strands as he smiled widely at Kamo.

"So long,so longI havewaited to meet you!" He said with a gleeful laugh. "Finally,finally!"

[Name] pulled at the mask that was strapped over his chin, covering his mouth and nose. He looked to be covered in dirt, bruises and blood but that didn't seem to stop him from defending the two helpless teenagers.

"Take Yoshino someplace safe, Yuuji." [Name] ordered. Yuuji stumbled to his feet from where he was slumped against the wall, the injuries on his person seeming to slow him down a little. "Do not argue with me on this."

"I'll come back, sensei!" Yuuji said through gritted teeth.

"Sorry, I-I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! Sorry!" Junpei was sobbing in his hands, blunt nails digging into the burns on his forehead. Bloodlazily dripped down his face.

The scratching ofhis face stopped when strong arms encircled him. He yelped as he was picked up easily, and before he knew it, he was being carried away at remarkable speed by Yuuji.

"Y-Yuuji-" He started, whimpering as he felt warm wetness touch his skin. He blanched as he saw red and realised that Yuuji was still actively bleeding out.

"I gotta get you out of here, Junpei," Yuuji said, takingthree stairs at a time as he sprinted downstairs to try and get his friend out of the building. "I'll give you my phone, okay? And I want you to run as far away from here as possible! Then I want you to call Nanamin-san, okay? Or Gojo! Any will do!"

"I don't... I don't wanna leave you here!" Junpei fisted his hands into Yuuji's uniform. Eyes overflowing with tears, he stared at his best friend with a face filled with fear and desperation. "Please, I don't want to-"

"You have to!" The rise in the volume of Yuuji's voice made Junpei flinch back. The black-haired boy sniffled, wheezing pathetically as Yuuji held him tighter in apology. "I don't want to see you get hurt! And I gotta help Kamo-sensei, okay? And-and then this will all be over after we exorcise the curse! Kamo-sensei likes you and we'll go to Jujutsu Tech together and have sleepovers and movie nights and late-night snacks like we're supposed to!"

"Yuuji..." Junpei whispered. They were outside now and Yuujiquickly yet gently dropped Junpei on his feet. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, I-"

"I forgive you, okay?" Junpei's breath hitched as a warm kiss was pressed to his forehead. Yuuji looked so soft despite the trail of blood coming from his lips and the steadily forming black eye. "Here's my phone." A bright yellow phone was handed to him;the screen was busted. It still lit up and Junpei's lips wobbled as he saw the background photo; aselfie that he had taken of himself and Yuuji while the latter was caught off guard with pizza in his mouth.

The two jumped when there was a sudden sound of shattering glass. A pale body flew out of a nearby window and the shadowy figure of Kamo followed.

"Go, Junpei!" Junpei yelped as he was pushed back, watching with wide eyes as Yuuji ran towards Mahito, whose body had landed on the ground in a heap. Before he could attack, a flurry of blades came from above and the pink-haired boy had to dodge as his teacher came for the curse like a freight train of bloodlust and vengeance.

"Kamo-sensei!" Yuuji yelped, before jumping out of the way as Mahito did his weird elongating arm trick again to try and get him.

"What the f*ck did I say, Yuuji? I told you to run!" [Name] snarled and Yuuji flinched back, clearly caught off guard by the behaviour that the older displayed. His teacher was always sarcastic and slightly eccentric in a fun way so seeing him like this didn't feel good.

"I want to help!" Yuuji insisted, yelping as his arm was taken hold of by [Name]. He was yanked back as Mahito got to his feet with a laugh.

"[Name]! [Name], [Name], [Name]!" The curse sang the man's name out in such a cheery waythat it wasalmost nauseating. "Pretty, pretty name for a curse!"

"You're a kid, you shouldn't be messing with this sh*t." [Name] hissed under his breath. Yuuji was reminded of Nanamin and wondered if Junpei had called the man yet. "You and Junpei should go back to school where you're safe!"

"Sukuna's Vessel and the Curse of Kamo... both in one place! Ah, I've been blessed!" Mahito wiped at his eyes, where tears had begun to flow from. The lewd expression on his face coupled with the full-body blush really didn't make him look appealing.

"No! I'm going to stay and punch the sh*t out of this guy for messing with Junpeiand his mother!" Yuuji said with a scowl. Both teacher and student leapt out of the way as a large, fleshy limb covered in spikes tried to crush them.

"You know, it's not very nice to ignore someone when they're talking." Mahito sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. He glanced at [Name] again and a shy giggle rose from his lips.

"The f*ck's your problem?!" [Name] sneered. The blood flowing from his arm shot up, forming into little spinning circular blades that shot towards Mahito. The curse managed to dodge all of them except for one, which sawed his arm in half.

"It's such an honour!" Mahito cried, not even seeming to notice the fact that his arm was missing. Yuuji sped forward with a punch that was easily dodged. "I've been waiting and waiting to meet you! A human with such a terrible ability that came from such a terrible mutation, and-"

Another blood saw came at him and managed to saw his head in half. Yuuji gagged, stepping away slightly as brain and bone hit the ground with a messy splat.

[Name] watched as cells began to rapidly multiply and regrow in real-time. Within about three seconds, the missing arm and half of Mahito's head had grown back. Hair began to lazily grow out from his scalp.

"Impressive! But not good enough!" Mahito threw his head back with a laugh, blue hair free around his head. It looked to be longer than it was before.

[Name] pulled his blade up to block a punch. It didn't even seem to split Mahito's skin and the [Hair Colour]-haired man had to jump away to stop Mahito from touching him.

"One has to be aware of their own soul first before attempting to even touch me." Mahito sighed. "And it seems that you are... but also not really."

[Name] scowled, his grip on his blade growing so tight that his knuckles had started to go pale.

"You seem to be aware of your soul just enough to cause me to hurt, but not enough to make the injury stay. It's like... if your attack was a mere papercut." Mahito grinned. "Did you get co*cky, seeing my head and arm come off like that? Hmm?"

[Name]'s scowl only deepened as he watched Mahito casually grip his own arm and give it a strong yank. Blood splattered everywhere.

The arm connected back with a wet squelch and a few clicks.

"Curse of Kamo... you really are nothing against me-"

His words were cut off as a strong punch came from above, crushing his head down. Mahito stumbled, seeing double for a moment.

"Hah! Did you not hearwhat I said, Vessel?!" He coughed, seeing Yuuji land in front of his teacher. "You can't touch-"

Blood. It dripped down Mahito's nose and for a moment, there was silence.

"H-huh...?" The curse whispered, touching a finger to his nose. His eyes widened as he felt something wet on his hand. "What-"

Another punch, this time to the stomach, had Mahito doubling over.

"How did you do that?!" [Name] demanded, coming in from the side to grip Mahito by the hair and knee his face. Hard. He heard a crunch on impact.

"I-I don't know! But it's good, right?!" Yuuji stammered, moving out of the way as Mahito tried to grab for him.

"Don't let him touch you." [Name] said, hand moving under his trenchcoat. He pulled out a syringe filled with red and stabbed it into the curse's neck as he tried to stand up. "He'll turn you into one of those mindless human curses."

"Got it!" Yuuji nodded, about to ask what the syringe was, only to fall silent as Mahito started to shriek in pain. "H-huh? What's going on?!"

"You've got a minute, Yuuji. f*ck him up." [Name] grinned, and the teen didn't have to be told twice. Hands forming into fists, he leapt forward, landing punch after punch on the cursed spirit. [Name] looked a little scary right then, grinning with histeeth and eyes having dilated so much that you could barely tell the colour of his irises.

"You maybe be able to maintain the shape of your soul,spirit, but that doesn't mean that I can't hurt you in other ways." [Name] said, words slow as if he was speaking to a toddler. "Humans and Curses have one thing in common; nerves. They both have muscles and bone and sinew. Built differently, but we both have nerves and a nervous system to control our bodies. Just because you can maintain the shape of your soul doesn't mean that I can't have you in pain debilitating enough to have someone who can actually injure you to try and finish you off."

Mahito tried to release a wheezy giggle, only to choke out blood as Yuuji got him in the stomach once more. [Name] flicked his finger slightly and the curse fell to the ground, popping sounds coming from his legs as his muscles clenched up and shrivelled, leaving his lower limbs in a mess.

"Alright." Yuuji yelped as [Name] grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. "Minute's up. Get ready, Yuuji."

Right as he said that, Mahito fell forward with a groan, gasping out and twitching madly. His legs began to regenerate but his nose was still bleeding and his face was covered in bruiseswhich didn't seem to be disappearing just yet.

"So strong... such a good technique...!" Mahito rasped out, climbing to his feet. "Forgive me... for not taking you seriously before, haha...!"

The loving look was back on his face and both Yuuji and [Name] cringed.

[Name] shot forward with his blade and several blood saws behind him. Yuuji followed closely, fists radiating cursed energy as he tried to sync with his teacher so they could finish the fight as soon as possible.

Mahito jumped back, huge pale wings erupting from his back. He took off to the sky, wobbling slightly before landing several metres away.

"First time getting these wings, don't I look pretty?" Mahito grinned, throwing his arms in front of him which began to stretch out and go straight for the two sorcerers that were heading towards him. [Name] used his dagger to slice the appendage in half as his blood saw came straight for the curse's head.

Yuuji had grabbed onto the limb, beginning to squeeze it hard. Mahito winced in pain as he dodged the saw before a smirk grew on his face. Large spikes erupted from his arms and he laughed as Yuuji yelped in pain as the spikes went right through his palms.

"Yuuji!" [Name] called out in concern. Yuuji grit his teeth, drawing a deep breath before yanking at the arm. Mahito didn't seem to have expected that and was easily pulled forward, crying out in pain as the pink-haired teen slammed his forehead straight into Mahito's nose.

[Name]'s blood saw came in and sliced the curse across the torso. Mahito's upper half fell down with a wet splat and Yuuji leapt away as the lower half fell down and immediately connected to the torso again.

Mahito's shirt was in shreds and [Name] could see the marks from where he had injured the other. Jagged lines of weeping blood were left on the curse which was slowly healing.

"Be careful, Yuuji." [Name] scolded. Yuuji made a face as his teacher slapped his blood-covered hand on one of his injured hands. The face dissolved into one of wonder as he felt his injury slowly start to knit itself together.

"How'd you do-" They dodged another attack from Mahito.

"Talk later, Yuuji." [Name] reminded him.

"I don't like it!" Mahito frowned heavily, stomping his foot down on the ground like a child. "I'm the bad guy! Pay attention to me! Stop talking!" His words ended in a yell as he took to the sky once more, arms transforming into long chains with maces attached to the very end. It swung fast and was deadly sharp and neither of the sorcerers wanted to be on the receiving end of it.

[Name] ran forward, dodging out of the way before his blade came down at an angle. It caught the mace and dug halfway into it before the teacher pulled it back.

"Keratin's easy to crack." The man said with a snarky grin. Yuuji watched as Mahito's expression morphedinto a gleeful one.

"Bravo! Bravo!" The curse giggled. Yuuji was caught off guard by the twisted face the man wore and didn't see one of the chain limbs come at him at full speed. He yelped as it wrapped around his torso and sent him flying upwards, squeezing him painfully.

"Oi, let go of him, f*cker!" [Name] snarled, leaping at Mahito, who jumped back and sent Yuuji flying back towards his teacher. The two barrelled into each other with a loud yell, laying there for a split second to gather themselves.

Mahito now stood back, sighing slightly. There was sweat beading on his forehead which was quickly wiped away.

"Sensei, how're we going to defeat this guy?" Yuuji whispered, his heart beating loudly and heavily in his chest. [Name] was staring at Mahito, eyes moving up and down as if analysing him. The curse offered them a grin, which turned grossly loving towards Kamo.

"Beat him f*cking senseless." [Name] grunted before he launched himself out of the way of an oncoming attack. Yuuji retaliated by making a leap towards Mahito and winding his fist back, getting him in the stomach.

[Name] then decided to do something completely disgusting. Landing behind the curse, he punched him square in the back. A snap was heard and then the man grabbed his head and pulled back harshly, successfully snapping Mahito's spine in two places.

"Sensei!" Yuuji gaped, absolutely horrified at the display of... power? Sadism? He could feel glee and hunger at the back of his mind and he shook himself out of it. Damn the stupid curse in his head! But anyway, the fact that his teacher could do something that gross with a perfectly calm look in his eye said that he'd done this stuff before.

Mahito's broken body was thrown to the side and two spinning red saws cut him in thirds. Yuuji snapped himself out of it and aimed a kick at Mahito's head, causing it to fly off to the distance and smack against the cement wall of the school with a nauseatingly wet slap.

[Name] pulled out another syringe and stabbed it into Mahito's torso. Just as he did, the curse began screaming once more. Yuuji could tell that his teacher's attention wasn't on him, but was on the curse. The waves of energy coming off the man were frightening and he didn't really want to go near him. Instead, he rushed to where Mahito's head was and began kicking and stomping the sh*t out of it.

"Motherf*cker trying to hurt my f*ckin' kids-" [Name] was muttering under his breath, staring at the way Mahito's torso was convulsing and trembling. "Bastard hurt Kento too, huh? Must think that you're so high and f*ckin' mighty."

Yuuji grunted as a sickening crunch was felt through his shoe. He moved his foot away, swallowing back vomit as he saw the state the curse's face was in.

Before he could do anything else, there was a gust of wind behind him and a hand pulled him back by the shoulder. He turned, fists clenched only to see blond hair and familiar goggles.

"Nanamin-san!" The relief was obvious in his voice.

"Itadori-kun, please back away." Nanami clicked his tongue, seeing the piss-poor state that Mahito was in. He looked disgusting. Glancing to the side, he saw [Name], who was standing perfectly still except for his hands, which twitched every so often. In response, Mahito's screams got louder.

"Yuuji!" The said boy turned back at the call of his name, eyes widening as he saw Junpei only a few metres away from them.

"J-Junpei?" Yuuji stammered. He glanced back, seeing Nanami and [Name] back away from Mahito's decapitated body. He left the two to it as he rushed to the boy, immediately grabbing his wrist. "What are you doing here?! I told you to leave!"

"B-but-" Junpei started, face going white as he saw the messy fight that was going on. Yuuji blocked his vision.

"Itadori-kun, take Yoshino-kun and head to Jujutsu Tech. Kamo-san and I can handle this on our own." Nanami said, cleaver in hand as he leapt forward to slice at Mahito's torso as it started to mend itself back together. [Name] was right behind him, his blade in hand as went for the curse's neck.

"I can't leave you two here!" Yuuji turned to protest. "I'm the only one that can hurt him!"

"Yuuji's aware of his own soul since his body inhabits two." [Name] said, lifting a leg and kicking Mahito's back as he grew his legs. The curse was sent to the ground and Nanami stomped down on his head. Nanami glanced at the man. "I can hurt him, too. Not as much, but enough for it to count. Go back, Yuuji. Take Yoshino."

"But I want to fight! I want to kill him for what he did to Junpei!" Yuuji's hands formed into fists. Junpei grabbed his sleeve, pulling at it. He was afraid of [Name] and the blond sorcerer. Nanamin or something. That's what it said in Yuuji's contacts, anyway.

"D-don't, Yuuji. We should go. Don't fight." He begged quietly. Yuuji shook his head.

"Yuuji." [Name] turned his head and a certainlook in his eyes made both boys yelp. "Go back. I don't want you here. Kento and I'll handle it."

"[Name]." Nanami called. The man turned, scowling as he saw that Mahito had got to his feet. "And go back, please."

"You can't force me!" Yuuji snarled. Junpei flinched, pulling at his sleeve once more.

"Yuuji!" [Name] sounded pissed but couldn't say anything since he had to dodge out of the way of an attack.

"Ahh, trouble in paradise?" Mahito taunted. "Eh, is that how that saying is used? Well, whatever!" He giggled, dodging out of the way as Nanami came at him. "And wowww, Sukuna's vessel! Is that any way to talk to your elders? What a brat!"

"Yuuji, come on, let's leave!" Junpei yanked on his arm again, heart pounding in his ears. He was about five minutes away from a serious panic attack and he would rather do that somewhere safe and quiet instead of in a literal war zone.

"I can't, Junpei! I gotta get payback!" Yuuji turned to him. "You can go! I've got a GPS on my phone and you can follow it to the school!"

"I'm not going without you!" Junpei shook his head, eyes growing wet out of both fear and frustration. "Please, stop being stubborn!"

"I'm not! I'm doing what's right!" Yuuji grabbed Junpei's hands. "Please, I gotta get revenge for your mother! And for you, too! He tricked you and hurt you! I bet he was the one who planted the finger in your house, too!"

"We can figure all that stuff out later, please!" Junpei begged. Yuuji hesitated, cupping the other's cheek as wipedaway a tear under his eye. "I just want us to be safe, please! We can... we can go to your room and watch movies! Please, let's leave, Yuuji!"

Yuuji stared at him, gritting his teeth. He was at a loss. He wanted to stay and pound that guy's face in, but he didn't want Junpei to cry.

Maybe he should leave-

"YUUJI, WATCH OUT!" [Name]'s voice cut through the atmosphere. Yuuji turned, eyes widening as he saw a sharp blade coming straight for him straight from Mahito's arm. [Name] and Nanami had their blades down on the appendage but Mahito had bent his arm just enough that the blades couldn't cut through his flesh. It was too soft and the blades simply bent it.

Yuuji stayed there, eyes shut as he pushed Junpei away. He was going to take this for his friend. He wasn't going to let him get hurt again, both mentally and physically.

Yet fate was not on his side. He could hear a snort, then a chuckle, and then a full-blown cackle in the back of his mind just as he felt warmth spraying over him.

The cackling in his mind matched the cackling outside of it. He could hear Mahito laugh, wheezy and ugly and gross and downright spine-chilling.

He didn't want to turn.

He didn't want to look.

"Yoshino..." He heard [Name]'s voice, shaky and quiet. "Yoshino!"

"Yuuji..." Yuuji swallowed thickly, turning his head slightly. His vision was blurring, but he could see red.

Red, red, red.

Something weakly pulled at his ankle.

"Yuuji..." Junpei's voice whispered again.

"Save your strength, kid." [Name] murmured, gripping the boy's arm as he lay down. There was a gouge in his stomach and his intestines were literally visible. It was moving and he was covered in blood and Yuuji stumbled forward.

"Y-Yuuji..." Junpei murmured. A smile was tugging on his trembling lips. "You should... really pay attention."

"No... no, no, no..." Yuuji felt bile tickling his throat.

There was blood everywhere.

"I'm gonna save you, okay? Focus on breathing. Nice and deep, nice and deep." [Name] was murmuring. Junpei's eyes were still on Yuuji. He reached out a hand to wipe at Yuuji's face.

When had he gotten to his knees? When had he started crying?

"Jun... pei...?" Yuuji whispered. "No... no, Junpei, no..." His throat was closing and his vision was tunnelling. He couldn't hear anything except his heart and Sukuna's laughter in the back of his mind.

"Help Nanami." [Name] said. Yuuji tried to focus his eyes. He was going to say something, he didn't know what, but he was interrupted. "For f*ck's sake, Yuuji! Just listen to me for once! Junpei's f*ckin' bleeding out and Nanami needs help! I'm staying with the kid to make sure he doesn't die, you hear me?!" Yuuji flinched as [Name]'s hand fell on his shoulder and squeezed it. He could barely feel it. "You wanted to get revenge, right? Then go f*ckin' get it! Show that wretched curse what happens when he hurts people who don't f*ckin' deserve it!"

He glanced down at Junpei, who had closed his eyes. [Name] had both his hands in Junpei's open stomach, doing something that he wasn't in his right mind to decipher.

'Fool, your own stubbornness got your little boy toy killed!'Sukuna's voice jeered at him.'What a useless creature you are. Unable to protect even those close to you, how pathetic!'

Yuuji got to his feet, swaying back and forth. He turned his head, blankeyes staring at the fight going on between Nanami and Mahito, the latter of which was still laughing.

Cursed energy flared up around him, dark and menacing. He couldn't feel anything but he was trembling.

"I'll kill you..." He whispered, taking a step forward. Mahito turned to glance and him, dodging a strike from Nanami.

"I'LL f*ckING KILL YOU!"

"Sleepless nights."

Chapter 16: 14

Chapter Text

"Beating hearts."

He could feel the blood coursing through him, quick and sharp andiron. He could feel it travel through his veins, the speed at which it went as it zigzagged up and down his body.

It moved in a clear direction, travelling down pathways as it delivered oxygen and blood to his body. Felt the way it was pumped through his heart.

It moved with purpose until it met a breach. A breach in the skin, perforatinga vein. It oozed out, spurting at first before oozing gently. Veins didn't spurt blood. His blood pressure was too high.

His eyes were on his arm. He used his nail to scratch at his skin before pressing down. The thin keratin easily penetrated through the skin and invited more blood to bubble forth.

He licked his lips, teeth biting into his lower lip. He watched keenly as beads of red flowed down his forearm and dropped to the floor, staining the white tile.

He was sitting down on the floor outside the morgue. A place where no teenagers should be loitering around, yet here he was.

He didn't know why he was there. Hope? Maybe a dream?

Maybe if he opened the door, he could meet her? Maybe if she was there, sitting up and laughing, he could stop punishing himself like this. Lord knows that Ito would hate him for it. He'd already worried her enough.

But he knew. Knew that if he opened the door, he was going to be met with silence. He was going to see her little body on a table covered with cloth. The table that he had put her on.

Maybe if he hadn't been such a f*cking failure, she wouldn't have ended up there. Maybe she would have been home, laughing with her parents as they sat around the dinner table. Maybe she wouldn't be f*cking dead.

His nails pressed harder and he furrowed his brows. It wasn't enough, certainly not. He had to dig deeper. He had to get more. Rip his f*cking veins out. He won't die. His body can always heal. It'll leave him unable to use that arm for a day or so but it was nothing compared to the dead girl on the table.

He brought his arm up to his lips. He could smell the coppery scent of the blood. Could smell the iron. He licked up the wound before baring his teeth and biting down on his arm. His canines sunk in easily with the amount of pressure he was clamping down with and it wasn't long before there was a burst of red. Blood dripped down on the tile faster than before.

He pushed himself further back against the wall, teeth still in his arm. It didn't sting anymore, but itf*ckingburnedand ached so damn bad. It made him feel good, made him feel like he deserved it but this certainly wasn't anywhere near what she would have felt.

He thought he heard footsteps but he was too focused on biting down. On remaining calm as he prevented the blood from coagulating around the wound. He wanted to bleed. Maybe if he was lucky enough, he would bleed out and die, but the world didn't work that way. Human bodies were wired to survive even under extreme conditions. He could be bleeding out and dying and his body would force him to stop biting.

There was a hand in his hair. He realised that a bit too late as his head was yanked back. His arm came with him, still being held between his jaws. His eyes were open but he really couldn't see.

Well, he could, but he couldn't process it. Couldn't be bothered to.

There were gentle tugs on his arm before all of a sudden his jaw was forced open. A keen left his lips as he jerked back, suddenly having realised that he was not alone and someone was there with him. He prayed that it would be Ito, despite the fact he really didn't want her to see him like this.

He could feel the wound in his arm close and that certainly wasn't his doing. His technique was slow and took several days so there was no way.

He really didn't know what was happening until he was literally thrown over someone's shoulder. His voice wouldn't work but his eyes had focused. Focused on the door to the morgue. The morgue where the dead girl lay, waiting for him. Waiting for retribution.

He didn't realise it at the time, but it was Ieiri who was carrying him. Ieiri Shoko, someone he'd never interacted with. Someone who always looked at him a little too closely. Someone who seemed to know more than what she let on. Someone who Ito always spoke about fondly despite her never having interacted with the girl.

It wasn't until later when his head had cleared and he had vomited all over the damn bathroom when he realised that Ieiri Shoko was Geto Suguru and Gojo Satoru's best friend. When he realised that this incident, whatever it was, might get to them.

Despite Ito's comfort, he didn't sleep that night.

-

Tubes curled and ran around [Name] as he sat there, hunched over the bed. An IV bagwas attached to him, providing him with fluids and glucose as he worked. A blood bag was hooked to him as well, red being pushed into him every few seconds.

The steady beeping of the heart monitor was the only thing keeping him going. Kept him going despite the many signs of the boy in front of him that said that he wasn't going to make it.

Nanami watched, leaning against the doorframe. There was an almost invisible frown on his face as he checked his watch.

It had been about four hours since the fight between them and Mahito. Three hours since they had gotten back and [Name] had sat down on that chair, working on the kid that had been hurt in the midst of battle.

Yoshino Junpei.

He heard footsteps and turned his head slightly, seeing Shoko. She stank of cigarettes and she looked dead on her feet.

"How's he doing?" She asked quietly, standing beside the blond man. Nanami grimaced. "That bad, huh?"

"He wason a mission before this whole situation." He murmured. "And now he's still going. He is going to burn himself out."

"There's not much we can do." Shoko shrugged. "Yoshino's injuries are too much for me to heal. He's lost a lot of blood and [Name]'s basically acting like VAD for the kid since his heart's given up on him. At this point even if he saves him, he'd be hooked to a machine and be wheelchair-bound."

Nanami sighed. He remembered the last time something like this had happened. [Name] had not handled it well. At all.

"Can you not heal him at all?" He asked. Shoko pressed her lips into a thin line and shook her head.

"At this point, the injury isn't the problem. I already healed his abdomen. I can heal injuries but not something like this. This is mostly... psychological." She seemed to hesitate. "His body is in shock from what happened. He also hasbrain damage from lack of blood. It's beyond my control or abilities to save him."

"f*ck." Nanami said. Shoko agreed. "How is Itadori?"

"Under. I pumped him with anaesthesia. I don't want him barging in here. [Name] told me to." She said. They glanced at [Name]. "I just hope that he succeeds. I don't want this to be like before." With a heavy sigh, she leant against the door. "... not like what happened with little Nami."

He shuddered at the name. Flashbacks to that situation surfaced in his mind. The entirety of the school had known about it. [Name] had snapped and the results were almost catastrophic to himself.

"I believe in him," Nanami murmured. Shoko's lips barely lifted into a smile as she dipped her head in agreement.

-

Yoshino Junpei.

Date of Birth: August 13

Date and Time of Death: August 5, 2:45 AM

-

Yuuji was sitting in the basem*nt. The room was stuffy and warm but it didn't stop the faint trembles running through the boy's body.

He was on the couch, back pushed up against the arm of the brown sofa as his lifeless rose-brown eyes stared at the crack in the paint on the wall. He couldn't hear much except for the slow beating of his heart.

His limbs felt heavy and his head felt absolutely terrible. Everything ached from the tips of his toes to what felt like the ends of his hair. Bandages were wrapped around his body and he felt a little woozy from the sh*t ton of anaesthetics and pain medication that was pumping through his blood.

He could feel Sukuna in the back of his mind. The medication seemed to have sedated him a little, but not as much as he had hoped. Did medication even work on cursed spirits?

His head was itchy. His hand moved up clumsily to itch at his scalp, flinching when he scratched right over a nasty bruise. He didn't remember parts of the fight... had he hit his head?

He worried his bottom lip. His face felt dry and dirty. His entire body felt dry and dirty.

"Oi, brat."Sukuna's voice echoed inside his skull. It wasn't as scathing as usual. It sounded boredand he could imagine the curse's judging stare.

"Shut up." His voice sounded a lot weaker than he wanted it to. His lips wobbled and all he wanted was a hug.

"What, missing your little paramour?"Sukuna jeered. Yuuji's lips pulled down into a grimace that looked only a second away from breaking into a pitiful sob."Poor little thing, so weak and helpless. Can't do anything to save your friend."

"Stop it." Yuuji's voice was deceptively calm apart from the fact that his trembles were increasing. His hands had clenched into fists.

He didn't want to think. He didn't want to remember.

Didn't want to remember the pretty smiles and shy laughter. Didn't want to remember how those smiles had withered into that dead, glassy-eyed look.

Didn't want to think about how his best friend was being operated on right at that moment while he was sitting around doing nothing. He really can't do anything.

He managed to let Mahito get away because his stupid body had decided to fail on him. He remembered passing out in Nanami's arms.

He didn't want to think about how disappointed the man probably was with him. He didn't want to.

A shaky gasp left him. He felt like every breath he took was a sin. He shouldn'tbehere! He should be helping Nanami track down Mahito, or helping Kamo-sensei fix Junpei or even training! He should be making himself stronger so he could take down Mahito and protect Junpei. Make sure that the boy could never get hurt again.

A muffled sob broke through his lips. He pushed his fist into his mouth, biting down on his knuckles to keep his noises at bay. Sukuna was cackling in the back of his mind and it made him tug at his hair despite the fact that his scalp ached horribly at the action.

He clenched his eyes shut and could feel the tears roll down his chin. It made him shudder, the wetness immediately reminding him of blood. Junpei's blood, which had splattered all over him as that f*cking arm went through him. As Mahito f*cking stabbed him.

A sick part of his mind appreciated the nasty wound that Sukuna had given the curse.

The sound of flesh tearing. The image of Mahito's shoulder sawing in half and splitting down the middle of his chest just because of one measly flick of his finger. He wanted to do that. Wanted to do more.

"You enjoyed that, did you?"Sukuna chuckled."The power of only three fingers. Imagine what would happen if I have all of my fingers. I could incinerate that flea just by looking at him. You want that power, don't you?"

"Shut up!" His voice finally raised, shocking himself into silence. His head ached at the sound.

No, he didn't want to do that. Didn't want to do anything that would please Sukuna.

"I could give my power to you. I could help you find him, you know. And then when you do, all you have to do is let me borrow your body for a little. I could make quick work out of that patchwork curse."

It sounded so tempting, but Yuuji wasn't stupid. He may get low grades and be somewhat oblivious, but he wasn't a f*cking moron.

He heard a door open and immediately got to his feet, swaying yet ready for a fight. His fists were in front of him, swirling with energy. He was ready this time. He wasn't going to disappoint anyone ever again.

"I believe that Ieiri-san instructed you to rest." Nanami's voice was as blunt as ever as he walked down the stairs. "With the number of painkillers she shot into you, I am surprised that you're even awake."

The blond had reached the bottom of the stairs. His eyes landed on Yuuji, his words pausing on his tongue.

The boy's fists had dropped to his side but he was still swaying dangerously. Nanami stepped forward, letting a curse slip past his lips as Yuuji's knees buckled. Thankfully, he was able to catch the teen.

"Sit down, Itadori-kun." He clicked his tongue, letting Yuuji gently down on the couch. He didn't expect the boy to jump suddenly as if just realising his presence. "Itado-"

"N-Nanamin!" His voice sounded so raw that it made the blond man wince. Yuuji was staring at him with clouded eyes and a distressed expression. "N-Nanamin!"

"Yes, it's me, Itadori," Nanami said, voice low as he pressed the back of his hand to Yuuji's forehead. Was the boy suffering from a fever? It didn't feel like it, but the feeling of Yuuji's clammy forehead made him wince. Maybe the room was too warm for him? There weren't any windows to open since Gojo had decided to hide Yuuji in a f*cking basem*nt, of all places.

"I'm sorry!" Yuuji cried. Nanami paused. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"What for, Itadori-kun?" The man asked after a few seconds. There were tears in Yuuji's eyes and Nanami sat beside him so he could press the boy down on the couch. Yuuji really didn't want to sit down.

"Sorry, I'm sorry!" Yuuji continued to sob, tears rolling down his cheeks. Nanami didn't know what to do.

He was just like him. Yuuji wasjust like him.

"Calm down, Itadori-kun." Nanami said patiently. "Breathe."

"I'm sorry! I-I let him get away and made everyone mad and get hurt! I'm sorry!" Yuuji continued to cry. "I'm bad, I'm bad! A-a bad person! I'm a bad person!"

"Itadori-"

"It's all m-my fault! My... my fault!" Yuuji writhed in Nanami's grip, trying to move away so he could do god knows what. "I let Junpei get hurt and I made Kamo-sensei m-mad and then I did bad fighting Mahito and let him get away! He got away! B-because I'm stupid and-and stopped you from chasing after him b-because I passed out and-an-"

"Yuuji." Nanami's voice was loud yet still calm. Yuuji sobbed louder and the man sighed, pulling the boy under his arm and pressing Yuuji's face into his chest. Nanami's chest was hurting and he had to look up as Yuuji immediately clung to him and cried into his shirt. "Nothing that happened was your fault. I need you to know that."

He wanted to say that this was what being a jujutsu sorcerer meant. Death and taxes and more death. There was a reason he changed jobs. There was a reason that he f*cked off to the normal world the moment he graduated.

But he couldn't say that to the kid. Yuuji didn't want to become a sorcerer. He was fifteen and wanted to be a child. He wanted to make friends and go to a normal school but here he was now. Held away from his friends with an execution looming above him.

He was surprised that the kid didn't break sooner.

He didn't say much as he sat there and let Yuuji cry. He still didn't look down, fearing that he would see black hair instead of peach.

This was all so wrong. It was all so f*cking wrong.

He shouldn't be seeing Haibara instead of Itadori. Haibara was long gone.

But Itadori had those same shining eyes. He had the same optimism and the same annoying grin when something good happens. He had the same laugh and the same blinding smile.

He was sure that [Name] could see that too.

That's why he was so afraid. Afraid that the man wanted to break the death of Yoshino Junpei to the boy instead of anyone else.

He could feel his phone buzzing against his thigh, no doubt being texts from Shoko enquiring about Itadori's condition. He couldn't answer her as he could feel Yuuji nodding away against him. The sniffles and the hiccuping sobs were slowly dying down and he wondered if the decision he made to come back to the sorcerer worldwas worth it.

Whatever the answer was, he would think about it later. Right then, the least he could do was provide some semblance of security for Itadori so he could sleep peacefully.

"Lost hope."

Chapter 17: 15

Chapter Text

"False prophecies."

Girls nearby giggled as he walked past, their lashes fluttering seductively and hips swaying. Eyes were glued on him, watching every step and every twitch of his hands.

Satoru's attention was on the sky above him, jaw tense as he felt the countless dings of his phone against his thigh.His eyes were sharp and icy behind his glasses, the blazer over his body tensing as his muscles went taut.

Of course, he was here. Just like last time, here he was, miles away from the people who needed him the most. Here he was, his ass in f*ckingHiroshimain all places while the people he cared about suffered back home in Tokyo.

He'd heard the news, after all. Nanami had called him, sounding exhausted as he apologised for his lack of competence in the situation as if Gojo would blame him. As if the situation that took place was something that they had seen coming.

Even Shoko had called, who was so cold and blunt towards everyone nowsince that day. She had sounded upset, he could tell. He'd known her for a while now. He could hear there same resigned emotion in her voice,just like it had been on that day.

His student was bedridden and traumatised. He'd passed out several times due to crying too damn hard and here he was, having just walked out of a f*cking onsen inHiroshima.

But still, even after all that, he still had no messages from the one he really wanted to know about. He'd called [Name] several times and had left several more messages. There were no replies, absolutely zero.

"Excuse me, sir-" A feminine voice piped up, a hand coming to wrap around his wrist. Electric blue met pale green and the woman hesitated, stepping back with a small squeak as the wrist she was going to grab moved away from her grasp. Her friends were behind her, waiting with bated breath.

"Sorry." His voice was clipped. His eyes roamed over her and her friends before glancing away with disinterest. "You all look like fantastic company but I'm a bit busy." Gojo offered a tight smile and before they knew it, he was walking away with long strides, hands in his pockets.

He'd done what he needed to in Hiroshima and the last thing he needed was a bunch of nobodies stopping him from going back to where he was needed. This always happened when he was away.

Maybe the higher-ups really were trying to get on his nerves and entertained the idea of killing them all. He could do it. He was strong. The Strongest.

He felt another buzz and pulled out his phone. There were numerous texts from Ijichi, a couple of them telling him to not go berserk and cost the college money on his behalf while one of them told him that his private flight back to Tokyo was in twenty minutes and that he should really try to not miss it.

He pocketed the device with a click of his tongue, disappearing into an alley. He felt the world shift around him and it wasn't long before he emerged from the men's restrooms in Hiroshima's domestic airport.

He'll have to take a car to the private jet. The longer he had to spend in this state, the angrier he was going to get.

-

Kento's fingers were warm as they rested on top of [Name]'s cold hand. The blond man was watching him. How his lashes brushed against his cheeks, how his lips were slightly parted and how dry his skin was. The heart monitor beeped away slowly and the sun slivered in through the blinds.

[Name]'s fingers twitched and Nanami moved to grip them.

What had the poor man done to deserve a life such as this? It seems as if he was born just to suffer. Nothing good ever seemed to last.

Lifting [Name]'s hand, Nanami pressed his lips to the back of it. He held it close, warming the other with his own body heat. He only pulled back when he felt the man shift.

"Kamo-san." He spoke quietly. [Name]'s brows furrowed and his eyes twitched. He licked his lips, eyes fluttering open. A wince immediately pulled at his face. "Do you want me to close the blinds? I should also get Shoko-san. She should check you over-"

"Kento?" The weak whisper made Nanami stop his attempt to get up from his chair, which he had only gotten through halfway. He sat back down, shuffling a little closer to the bed. [Name] was staring through him, his eyes vacant yet exhausted. He looked terrible. "Kento?"

"It's me, [Name]," Nanami said, voice quiet. "It's the fifth of August, 1:55in the afternoon. You've been out for approximately eleven hours." He continued, clearing his throat. "You put your body through a lot of stress, especially after such a difficult fight. I'm surprised that you're awake." He spoke in a robotic fashion, eyes scanning the other's face.

[Name] was silent. The heart monitor beeped steadily.

"Yuuji." He whispered. "I need to see him. Yuuji, please." [Name]'s hands gripped the sheets of the bed and if Nanami hadn't stood up and placed his hand down gently on the man's chest, [Name] probably would have tried to jump out of bed.

"Not now. You need rest." Nanami spoke, a frown on his face. "Itadori-kun is sleeping. You can talk to him once you're feeling a little better and after the boy has cleared his head. Both of you are not in a good mental place right now."

"Yuuji's sad?" [Name] asked, thequestion sounding so fragile coming out of his mouth. Nanami's expression twitched. "I-I need to... to apologise. Is he okay? Please, let me talk to him, Kento. I... I can't-" Tears were burning in the [HairColour]-haired man's eyes and Nanami's jaw tensed. "J-Junpei and... I was too weak and I couldn't... I couldn't save his friend. I did a bad thing, please, Kento-"

"You have done nothing wrong. You have never done anything wrong." Nanami's large hand cupped [Name]'s face and he leant down, letting the other press his face into his neck. "You are the strongest person that I know. Ieiri-san told me about the extent of his injuries. Saving him would have been next to impossible, even for you."

"If I had tried harder, if I had just..." [Name]'s tears wet his skin but Nanami didn't mind. "If I had been stronger... I was so close, Kento. I was so close and if I had been a second faster then he would have been saved...!"

"Yoshino-kun would have been wheelchair-bound and possibly in a near vegetative state if you had managed to save him," Nanami said, his hand moving to hold the back of [Name]'s head. "He would have died regardless. It was either that he died in surgery or died in a few months or a year from now on if you had saved him."

There was silence for a while.

"You really are blunt, aren't you?" [Name]'s voice was quiet. Nanami's lips thinned.

"Pardon me. I should have worded that gentler." He murmured.

"I don't do gentle." [Name] sounded so tired. Nanami wanted to kick himself.

"I should have escorted Yoshino-kun to the Principal the moment I saw him." He started. "But when he called me and told me that you and Itadori-kun were fighting the shape-shifting curse, I panicked. I lost my head." He swallowed. "I should have been more careful. I should have directed him to go. I didn't expect him to follow me, though, in hindsight, I should have seen it coming."

"Don't try and shoulder the blame, Kento." [Name] whispered. "Of course, he would follow you. Him and Yuuji..." His breath got caught in his throat and a hiccup left him. "Those kids were... they were so close, Kento. Yuuji talked so fondly about him and they were inseparable. He latched on so hard to Junpei since he hadn't seen or talked to anyone his age in so long and they-" He clenched his eyes shut, gritting his teeth. "They were inlove, Kento."

Nanami held [Name] tighter. He imagined black hair and bright eyes once more.

"It's just like what happened with Haibara." [Name] whispered. Kento flinched violently. "It's just like what happened withSuguru."

"Sensei?" A new voice joined in. Nanami's head whipped to the door, which had opened without their notice.

In his pyjamas stood Itadori Yuuji. With messy hair and red-rimmed eyes, the boy looked as sh*tty as he felt.

"Yuuji-kun." Nanami breathed. His grip on [Name] loosened slightly.

"Yuuji." [Name] whispered, reaching out with a shaky hand.

Yuuji took a step forward, then another, before rushing towards his bedridden teacher. Nanami pushed himself back a little as the boy basically leapt onto the bed, arms wrapping around [Name]'s neck as his body shook violently with sobs.

"Kamo-sensei, K-Kamo-sensei!" The pink-haired boy bawled and [Name] didn't take even a second to hold the teen close, pushing his face into Yuuji's hair. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Yuuji..." [Name] whispered. He glanced at Nanami, who stood up and promptly left the room to give the two some privacy. Knowing the man, he was probably listening in on them from outside, anyway.

"I'm sorry! P-please, please, please don't leave! I-I can't have anyone else leave, p-please!" Yuuji continued to sob. [Name] sat up despite the intense fatigue and agony that his body was under. He pulled the boy further into his lap, hushing him softly as he wrapped the sheets around him.

"What makes you think I'm leaving, Yuuji?" His voice was hoarse but gentle as he ran his fingers through the teen's hair. "I'm not going anywhere. Especially not now."

Yuuji pushed his face into [Name]'s chest, his wails growing muffled. He fisted his teacher's clothes, desperately holding onto something.

"Don't cry, Yuuji." [Name] whispered, his bottom lip quivering. "I hate it when people cry over something theycouldn't have done anything about."

"But I could have!" Yuuji heaved, gagging on his own words due to how constricted his throat felt. [Name]'s touch was terrifyingly cold. "I-if I had just listened! O-or if I had been stronger and smarter! I could have done something! I could have stopped you from getting hurt! And I-I could have stopped Jun... Jun-" He heaved out another sob and fell into [Name]'s chest. The older wrapped his arms around him, holding him tight. "Junpei... J-Junpei, please...!"

"I'm sorry." [Name] said, eyes unblinking despite the tears that were actively rolling down his face. "I'm so sorry, Yuuji."

At that, Yuuji's body began to shake. A heartwrenching scream left his throat and he began to thrash, pulling back and letting his fists thump uselessly against his teacher's chest. [Name] let him, staying silent as the boy hit him. He didn't comment on the screams or the pain that the punches, as weak as they were, brought him.

"I'm sorry." He said uselessly once more. Yuuji fell against him, crying loudly. "I'm sorry."

"I'm such... such a useless, useless person!" The teen sobbed. [Name]'s hold on him tightened. "I just... I really can't save anyone! Everyone... Ji-chan... Ji-chan, then J-Junpei...!"

"Stop it, Yuuji." [Name] murmured, his hand on the back of the boy's head. Yuuji's chin was resting on his teacher's shoulder, tears rolling down his face and wetting the man's shirt. "Don't... don't say that."

"M-my fault! I'm a curse, sensei! A-and I'm so f*ckin' stupid I... I should have listened to you! I should have taken Junpei and left! I should have left Mahito to you and Nanamin!" Yuuji's trembling hands moved to wrap around himself, fingernails digging into his arms. "I'm the reason he's dead! I killed him! I-I killed Junpei!"

"You did no such thing." [Name] said, his bloodless hands pulling the teen's arms away from himself. His touch was cold yet Yuuji did not complain. "You blessed that boy with your friendship and your bright soul. You could never harm him, unintentionally or otherwise. Junpei adored you and he was smart enough to make his own decisions. The fact that he stayed was not your fault."

Yuuji's cries had grown silent, except for the hiccups that continued to wrack his pale body.

"That patchworked curse had already gotten to him." [Name] said after a second. Yuuji glanced up with wide eyes. "He hadn't touched him for long but... well, when I was operating on Yoshino, I noticed that his nervous system... hisbrain, had been altered." [Name] cupped Yuuji's chin. "Yuuji, he was going to die regardless."

"... what...?" The boy whispered, so weak and so fragile. [Name] pulled him closer and the boy curled into him.

"If you had gone back to Jujutsu Tech with him, he would have died anyway. I don't know when, but sooner or later his body would have failed on him and he would have died slowly and painfully." [Name] spoke, eyes duller than usual. "The decision that Junpei made to take the hit instead of you? It just got him to his end faster. Trust me when I say that this was the least painful way that he could have passed."

Fresh tears had surfacedin Yuuji's eyes and [Name] lay back, pulling the kid with him.

"It wasn't your fault, Yuuji." [Name] whispered, eyes on the ceiling. "You are not cursed. You're the sun shining in a world full of hate and greed. Nothing that you have done has ended in anyone's demise." He glanced down, meeting the wide eyes of the younger. "So don't go causing any trouble anytime soon, okay?"

Yuuji stared at the small smile that [Name] gave. It didn't reach his eyes and it was clearly obvious that it was forced, but it still made him whimper like a little kid and press himself into the man that he had come to trust and like. [Name]'s hand was in his hair and it made him cry harder, but it didn't hurt as bad anymore.

"S-sensei... I wanna see him." Yuuji whispered as the thin hospital blanket was pulled over him.

"Tomorrow." [Name] said. "For now, you need to rest. You and me both."

Yuuji hummed, his eyes already shut. Exhaustion pulled at him and the tears that he had shed didn't help the case. Sleep was just around the corner yet he was anxious. He could feel Sukuna in the back of his mind yet the curse didn't seem to be speaking to him. His body sometimes unconsciously suppressed the curse (according to Gojo-sensei) but he didn't know if he was doing that right then.

Whatever it was that made Sukuna quiet, he would pray to it. Pray for it to last at least a little while longer.

[Name] watched Yuuji doze off and it wasn't long before the boy fell into slumber. His fingers gently massaged the teen's scalp, his eyes shut as he tried not to think.

The door opened and he sensed Nanami step in. The man took a seat next to him once more and [Name] reached out, his hand being clasped by a larger and warmer one.

"You lied," Nanami said after a moment. "The curse did no such thing. It did not mess with Yoshino-kun's brain."

"What did you want me to say, Kento?" [Name] sounded impossibly tired. His eyes were dark and dim as they opened and for the first time in a while, Nanami was reminded of the fact that the man before him was two years his senior. "That Junpei was perfectly healthy? That there was a chance to save him?"

"I suppose, but lying?" Nanami frowned.

"Should I have told him that if he had left with Junpei, the boy might still be here, alive and breathing?" [Name] snapped. Nanami quietened. "Should I let himblame himself for a death that he couldn't possibly have seen coming? You tell me, Nanami."

"Kamo." Nanami clicked his tongue with a sigh.

"He is naïve, Kento." The other's voice had softened slightly. "A few months back, he didn't know what a sorcerer was. What a curse was." [Name] looked at Yuuji with such gentle eyes that it name Nanami's heart hurt. "And look at him now. Orphaned with a dead friend. Not to mention the execution hanging over him and the fact that the other friends that he had made think he's dead."

"My words were not kind," Nanami said. He squeezed [Name]'s hand. "I spoke from a place of ignorance. Forgive me."

"I could never be mad at you, Kento." [Name] glanced at him. A tired smile was on his face. "I just wish..."

"If I had the choice, I would bundle these kids up with me and go somewhere far away. Maybe somewhere up north. The elders have connections to the west, obviously, but maybe up north... maybe in Scandinavia. We could go there and hide. Live a normal life. Have the kids go to a regular school and learn Maths and Science and English and-and whatever language they speak up there."

Nanami leant down and pressed his mouth against [Name]'s. The older chuckled wetly and didn't respond to the kiss, which the blond didn't seem to mind.

"You don't do well in the cold, [Name]." Nanami reminded. [Name] scoffed, eyes shiny. Neither of them wanted to bring that fact up.

"Whatever, I'll just bundle up." He chuckled. "Find a nice Scandinavian man to hold me through the cold."

"I'm part Danish." Nanami remninded.

"Maybe you can be my Scandinavian man then if you insist." [Name] laughed softly. Nanami flashed a rare smile, bringing [Name]'s hand to his lips so he could press a kiss to it.

"I wouldn't mind." He murmured. "Maybe we should discuss it after you sleep. Would you like any painkillers? Food? Water?"

"You worry too much, Kento." [Name] breathed as he lay back, head nestled in his pillow. It smelt of antibiotics and chemicals, which brought him a strange semblance of peace. "But I'll sleep. I need the energy to deal with Satoru tomorrow."

"Gojo-san is coming? So soon?" Nanami raised a brow as he stood up from his seat. "Ah, well, I'm not surprised. I called him earlier and he did sound... well, not happy."

"That's the best way to put it." [Name] muttered. "I dunno where the f*ck my phone is and I'm guessing that Gojo tried to call or text me already. I don't want to answer and he'll probably take that as me being terribly depressed and unwell."

"I would say that you are a little more than just depressed and unwell." Nanami mused.

"Stop talking, Kento." [Name] sighed. Nanami leant down again and this time he responded to the kiss, moving his lips slow and lazy.

"Sleep," Nanami said. "I am going to talk to Ieiri-san but I willbe back by your side, do not worry."

"Go, Kento." [Name] said, shuffling a little in his bed. He pulled Yuuji closer, wrapping his arms around him as he tried to give both of them the feeling of being loved and cared for. God knows that they needed it now, more than ever.

He watched Nanami leave and it wasn't long before his throat felt constricted again. He pushed his face into the pillow, smiling weakly as tears rushed forth.

Yuuji was crying about how he was cursed with something other than Sukuna. [Name] denied it because he knew better.

After all, he was the one with the word 'curse' in his nickname.

"Broken hearts."

Chapter 18: 16

Chapter Text

"Clammy palms."

The lock clicked, however, the door did not swing open. Rain and thunder beat harshly against the small house with the occasional flash of lightning.

Megumi stood by his bedroom door, a comically large metal flashlight in his hands. Next to him was his sister, who looked nervous yet stood tall with a baseball bat that belonged to her school.

"I'll go first and then you, okay?" She said in a low whisper. Her brother scowled, top lip pulling back in a sneer.

"No, I'll go first, Tsumiki." His words were said in a voice too loud to be a whisper but too quiet to be a shout. Tsumiki frowned at him and shook her head, her messy long hair flying with the movement.

"I'm older so I'll go first! And you should also grab the phone- wait here." Megumi was still scowling as Tsumiki rushed to grab the cellphone lying on the bedside table beside the bunk beds. She tiptoed back and shoved the device into her brother's hand. He nearly dropped it but managed to hold on. "Here. Call Gojo-san if someone bad does come in, okay?"

"I hate him, I don't wanna talk to that weirdo!" The black-haired boy stomped his foot against the carpeted floor. It barely made a sound.

"But he promised to protect us, right?" Tsumiki's grip on her bat tightened. "And he's strong too, right?"

"Yeah, but still." Megumi huffed. "Besides, I can protect us! I can summon the demon dogs."

"You're not that good at it yet, though! Remember when you tried to summon it last time and it didn't work?" Tsumiki reminded, trying not to giggle at the angry pout over Megumi's face. "Besides, it always really tired you out after, too. You nearly passed out last time."

Before the two could continue their quarrel, the door swung open and slammed against the wall. Both children paled, freezing in their spot as there was a very damp thud that echoed almost immediately after.

"Wh-what was that?" Megumi whispered, holding the phone and flashlight close to his chest.

"I don't know... but... I think that the door opened. Someone's inside." Tsumiki whispered, fear visible in her eyes. She stayed close to her brother, feeling the need to protect them both if anything did happen.

A series of wet coughs broke the atmosphere. A gag, and then it was silent for another moment.

"Is that..." Tsumiki started, eyes widening in realisation. Megumi was trembling slightly, pressed against the other. "It sounds like..."

"Haaah... aaah... fuu-uuck... ahhh." Both kids froze, the sounds of pain scaring them to their core.

"K-Kamo-san?" Megumi whispered. Tsumiki had a hand on his shoulder, squeezing comfortingly.

There was a sound, another thud before there was what sounded like a wheeze. The intruder was on his feet, and the two could hear him stumble unsteadily and land harshly against the wall.

"f*ckin'... god, f*ck, it hurts-" The voice tapered off in a whine before more coughs. "S-stup'd... don't... don' wake th' kids, f*ckin'... bastard." More wheezing and Megumi turned to Tsumiki, staring up at her with wide eyes. Kamo never swore, not around them at least.

"We gotta help him." Tsumiki bit the inside of her cheek, looking close to tears with both fear and worry. "Should... should we call Gojo-san?"

"Kamo-san doesn't like Gojo, though," Megumi mumbled. "They don't talk to each other and he always tells us to not tell anything about him to Gojo."

"Yeah, but Gojo-san might be the only one who can help." Tsumiki shuffled her feet. "Kamo-san sounds like he's hurt and I-I'm scared..."

The two jumped as they heard another door open. The rusty squeak told them that it belonged to the bathroom door. It wasn't long before there were several crashes and what sounded like a sob.

Megumi immediately rushed out of the room despite not having thought it through. He stopped in the living room, a flash of lightning outside lighting up the dark stains on their carpet by the open front door.

"Megumi!" Tsumiki rushed behind him, also spotting the mess. Her face twisted into a grimace before she grabbed his hand. "Okay... okay, we'll go check on him, okay?"

"Okay." Megumi managed to say, tearing his eyes away from the door. Tsumiki left his side for a moment just to close the door before returning to his side.

The two snuck their way to the bathroom and peered around the corner. The light was on and they saw the back of their intruder. He was covered in dirtand water, dripping mud everywhere. His body shook with every breath and whimper.

"Shu..." He sounded almost delirious. "Shu-guu-ru..."

Both kids tensed. Tsumiki was about to clear her throat to 'politely' alert him of their presence, only to shriek when the older man fell to his side with a groan.

"Kamo-san!" She panicked, rushing to his side. Megumi stayed by the door, looking anxious in his oversized sleep shirt.

"Suguru..." Kamo-san moaned out once more. His head was bleeding, a nasty gash that was being pressed against the bathroom tiles.

"S-Suguru-san isn't here." Tsumiki was on her knees beside the man. "U-um... Geto-san isn't here... it's me, Tsumiki. Kamo-san, can you hear me?"

"He told us not to talk about Geto-san. Gojo told us, too." Megumi said quietly, gripping the doorframe so tight that his fists had begun to turn white.

"Satoru?" Kamo asked, gagging on his own spit.

"No, no Gojo-san, either." Tsumiki swallowed thickly. "Megumi, c-can you get the first-aid kit for me?" She turned to her brother, who was as still as a statue. "Megumi?"

"O-okay." Megumi mumbled. He glanced at his sister, noticing that there were tears running down her face. The girl wiped them away every few seconds.

The boy moved to the sink, bending slightly to pull open the cabinet underneath. He dragged out a fairly large medkit, pulling it to his sister and the fallen man. Kamo was mumbling something, flinching against unseen enemies.

Opening the bag up, they were faced with equipment that they had no idea how to use. Both children stared at it, before jumping when Kamo let out another groan.

"U-uh... Megumi, help me dump all the things out!" Tsumiki grabbed the bag and turned it upside down. Several items clattered on the floor, including several distressing things like scalpels and needles. She had no idea why that was in there since she was pretty sure that first aidkits were used to stop bleeding and not make it worse.

"Here, use this for his head." Megumi grabbed a roll of soft white bandages from the pile of items. Tsumiki took it, unwrapping it and bunching it up in her hand. She hesitated for a moment before pressing itagainst Kamo's bleeding forehead. The man hissed and Megumi flinched harshly at that. "What... what about infections?"

"H-huh?" Tsumiki was shaking but she tried her best to stay strong for both Megumi and Kamo-san. "Oh right... when I cut my knee open, Kamo-san sprayed stuff on it that made it hurt but got rid of any germs."

"Maybe this?" Megumi picked up a bottle from under what looked like a pack of syringes and a large tube of some sort of cream. "It says... um... sa... sa-?"

"Oh! That's the stuff!" Tsumiki took the bottle and quickly opened it. It was already halfway empty despite the bottle looking brand new. Wow, how often does Kamo usethis stuff?

"Careful, Tsumiki..." Megumi murmured, glancing worriedly at Kamo, who lay almost peacefully. He watched his sister as shecarefully began to pour the liquid over the man's cut, gasping as a large amount poured out and splashed over his face. Kamo yelped, eyes scrunched shut at the feeling of cold liquid over his face.

"Sorry! Sorry, I didn't mean to!" Tsumiki yelped. Kamo's eyes slowly fluttered open, blinking owlishly at the ceiling. "K-Kamo-san? Are... are you okay?"

"... Tsumiki...?" The confused whisper made Tsumiki immediately burst into tears. Megumi gasped at that and shuffled forward before pausing. He really didn't know what to do.

Kamo struggled to get up, a sharp wince pulling at his face. He leant against the wall, panting harshly since the simple action of sitting up tired him out.

"D-damn it... god... Tsumiki, hey, I-" The man wheezed out in pain as the young girl basically threw herself onto him despite the wet clothes and mud.

"T-Tsumiki, he's still hurt!" Megumi fretted. Tsumiki didn't seem to hear and only held on tighter as she sobbed quite violently.

"I-I thought that you were gonna die!" She cried. "You got blood on the carpet!"

"Do... would you like me to clean it?" Kamo asked weakly. He was hurt and now he had to deal with a sobbing child.

"No! Just...w-wait, I gotta put a bandage on your head first!" Tsumiki pulled herself off so she could grab the mess of bloody bandages that she had used to dab at his face. She was trembling and her hand-eye coordination seemed to be failing her as tried to grab the stained cloth.

"No, just..." Kamo winced and leant his head back against the wall. He waited for a few tense seconds. Both kids watched him worriedly "Just... grab the pack of gauze pads for me."

He pointed to a box, which was quickly grabbed. Tsumiki fiddled with the packaging, occasionally wiping her nose against the back of her hand. She jumped as Kamo made a spitting sound, looking up with wide, teary eyes.

"You splashed saline all over me." The man muttered. "Good thinking. You don't want it getting infected." At that, the girl couldn't help but smile through her tears. She pointed at Megumi, who shrunk at the attention.

"Megumi remembered it!" She said, before finally being able to open the packaging. She pulled out a thick pad of gauze and handed it to Kamo when he held his palm out.

"Good thinking, Megumi." Kamo nodded at the boy, wincing slightly when it made his vision spin. Megumi didn't say anything and instead decided to look through the contents of the first aid kit that they had dumped all over the floor.

It didn't take too long for Kamo to patch himself up. Soon enough, he had taped the gauze pad to his head and had taken half a packet of pain medication. The man also had removed his left shoe so he could attach a splint to one of his toes, which looked purple and had fattened with swelling.

"Um..." Both the children were quiet until this point. Megumi had been the one to speak, looking small and anxious in his pyjamas. Kamo glanced over, pausing slightly as he saw the packet of bandaids in the boy's hands. They were pink and Disney-themed and were gifted to him as a sort of gag gift by Shoko months ago. It was lost on him since he'd never watched a single Disney movie. "Can... can I put one on you?"

"Oh! Me too!" Tsumiki gasped, shifting closer to her brother so she could help him open them. Kamo released a breath but nodded. It was cute, but he really didn't want to be sitting on the cold bathroom floor and traumatise these children any further.

Megumi stood up and hesitantly stepped forward with a bandaid in hand. He pointed to Kamo's cheek, and the man wordlessly shut his eyes and leant his face forward. The feeling of little cold fingers against his face made him jump slightly, but soon enough he had abandaid on his left cheek.

"Thank you, Megumi." He murmured. Megumi jerked his head in a nod and stepped back, letting his sister move forward so she could excitedly press a bandaid just under his eye.

"Ah, gentle, Tsumiki." Kamo winced, managing a slightly pained smile when the girl apologised. "Now... let's get off the floor. I need to change my clothes and then you two must be going to bed. You both have school tomorrow."

"I don't wanna go!" Tsumiki whined but got up regardless. Megumi was already standing, silent and awkward as always. "I wanna stay home with you!"

"I'm not going to be home tomorrow, Tsumiki." Kamo said as he managed to stand on his knees. He gripped the rim of the sink before pulling himself up, making a low noise of pain as he leant against it for a moment.

"Kamo-san, be careful!" The girl moved to hold the man's pants. She didn't seem to care that he was wet and covered in grime and dirt. "And you gotta stay home! You're hurt!"

"I have work, Tsumiki." Kamo sounded tired but thankfully not on the verge of collapsing. "I can handle it. It's just the head and the toe, it's okay."

Tsumiki looked mad but couldn't say anything when Kamo began to walk out of the bathroom. He used the wall to support himself and Megumi watched him disappear into the spare bedroom. The boy realised that the cellphone was still with him and was quick to turn it on.

"What are you doing?" Tsumiki asked with a slight sniffle. Megumi didn't say anything as he pressed a few times on the screen before taking a deep breath. "Megumi?"

"Gojo I hate you but please come home. Kamo-san is hurt and-" Tsumiki watched, a little gobsmacked, as her little brother sent a voice message to Gojo. "And... and he was bleeding and I'm s-scared." Tears filled Megumi's eyes and he clicked off the message, hiding a sob into his hand. Tsumiki was quick to wrap her brother in her arms and hush him.

"It's okay, Megumi... I-I know that you're scared but he'll be okay! He's an adult! He knows how to make himself feel better!" Tsumiki assured him. Megumi was shaking as he held onto his sister. "H-he's gonna be okay!"

"But what if he isn't!" Megumi sobbed. "What if he's not okay? A-and he's gonna... gonna die?!"

"He's not gonna die, Megumi!" Tsumiki pulled back, expression stern despite her teary eyes and red nose. "He's super strong! One of the best!" She watched helplessly as her brother continued to sob. Megumi had never shown such strong emotionand now that he had, she was at a complete loss on what to do. It scared her.

She used the bottom of her shirt to wipe at Megumi's eyes, who sniffled.

"I don't want anyone else to leave." He whispered. Tsumiki's lips began to wobble.

"Come on, let's go to bed." She grabbed his hand in her own. "We can both sleep on the bottom bunk tonight."

Wordlessly, both children padded to their bedroom. The small Doraemonnightlight by their bed flickered weakly as the two climbed into bed, pulling the blankets up as they huddled against each other. The storm outside had calmed somewhat, which left both kids to their own thoughts as they sought comfort in each other.

Tsumiki flinched as their door opened. Megumi peered over her shoulder, biting down on his lip as he saw Kamo, who stood leaning against the doorframe. He looked uncertain.

"I'm going to be on the couch." His voice was quiet. Megumi shuffled under the covers. Tsumiki turned to watch him. "... would you two like to join me?"

"We cansleep with you?" Tsumiki asked. The older didn't like sleeping around them so this was odd. "I-I promise we won't be noisy!"

"Yes... yes, you can. Sure." Kamo was nodding, mostly to himself. "I would... like some company."

"Are you scared?" Megumi asked as he began to crawl out of bed. Tsumiki was pulling at the blanket so she could bring it to the living room.

"Not really." Kamo shrugged. He had a haunted look in his eyes. "Just thought that maybe I... we could watch some... uh, Disney movies. Like the ones on the bandaids."

"Oh! Yes!" Tsumiki gasped. Kamo watched as she ran past him and into the living room. Megumi quietly followed behind, glancing at the only adult. "We can watch the Little Mermaid!"

"I haven't watched that one."

"Seriously?! Megumi, we gotta make sure that he watches it!"

Soon enough, all three were on the couch in the living room, sitting in front of the too-small TV. Tsumiki had pulled out the collection of DVDs and was fiddling with the DVD player.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Megumi asked quietly as he gazed up at Kamo. He averted his eyes when the other met his gaze.

"Yes." Kamo nodded. "Yes, I will be fine. I'm sorry for scaring you and Tsumiki. I was careless."

"Just don't do it again!" Tsumiki turned to him with big eyes. "I thought that..."

"I will not," Kamo said firmly as the girl came to sit beside him. He was now sitting between them."I will be more careful next time."

"Do you have to go to work tomorrow?" Megumi asked. The movie was starting on the screen but no one paid attention to it.

"Ah... yes, I must." Kamo frowned a little. "It's important."

"Well, you gotta come back after then! Maybe pick us up from school!" Tsumiki grinned big, showing off the gap between her front teeth.

"Yeah." Megumi agreed. "The others keep on asking me if I have parents and it's annoying."

Kamo's eyes turned sharp but Megumi only shrugged.

"I punched one of them, though. They don't ask much now."

"Megumi!" Tsumiki spluttered, lightly smacking Kamo's arm when she saw a hint of a smile on the older's face. "That's bad behaviour! You're gonna get in trouble!"

"You'll get Gojo in trouble, actually." Kamo hummed. "I don't mind. You should continue."

"Okay." Megumi nodded. His eyes were glinting with determination. He hated listening to Gojo, but Kamo? He didn't mind the man even nearly as much, especially when he was actively trying to cause Gojo a headache.

"Megumi, no!" Tsumiki cried. Kamo chuckled softly.

"Alright, we're missing the movie." He reminded. "I would like to see it, please." That shushed the other two.

The quality was garbage and the sound was even worse, but the three watched the screen with barely a blink. Memories of the night were slowly being pushed to the back of their mindsas the man let the two press against him as they watched. He was a stoic man, one with boundaries, but just for one night, he would let them fall.

Fall for two young kids that needed the care he himself did not receive when he was their age.

It made him realise that he was only still a teenager. Barely eighteen with nothing to his name except school debt and here he was, watching children's cartoons at nearly three in the morning with two kids that had recently lost their parents.

And he had made them worry about losing someone else. How cruel he was.

He glanced to the side and saw that Megumi was already half asleep; cheek smooshed against his arm and soft snoresleaving him despite his lidded eyes. Tsumiki, on the other hand, was gripping his other arm and was watching the movie with a big smile.

[Name] leant back. Call him a softie, buthe really was warming up to the two.

His eyes began to flutter shut around the time when the red-haired mermaid (he forgot the name) got her human legs. He was tired and couldn't help but dose off.

When he woke in the morning, there was a steaming mug of coffee in front of him and a blanket that he had not seen before wrapped around him. He could hear voices in the kitchen.

"[Name]-chan." The voice made his jaw tighten. He didn't have to look behind him to know who it was.

"Gojo."

"Forehead kisses."

Chapter 19: 17

Chapter Text

"Wet eyes."

The dormitory door slid open in a violent fashion, smacking against the wall so loudly that it was a surprise that it didn't break.

"Guess who f*cked up three second-grade curses and saved two little brats?!" Nobara's voice rang out, tone haughty andwaytoo loud for a Wednesday evening.

"Jesus f*cking Christ." Megumi cursed, looking up from the Jenga game in which he was seriously invested. "Tone it down."

"No." Nobara tutted, walking further into the room. "Who're you playing against, bitch? Yourself?" She snickered.

"I got bored." Megumi shrugged. He was playing against himself and seemed to be losing, judging by how half of the Jenga tower was spilt on the table. "Where did you go?"

"Shinjuku!" Nobara grinned as she sat down on the couch opposite Megumi. She threw one of her legs over the other, lightly kicking the table between her and Megumi. The block tower swayed but miraculously didn't fall. "The atmosphere? Brilliant. The outfits? f*cking fantastic! Maki-san and I were in heaven!"

"Uh-huh." Megumi nodded, carefully pulling out a block from his tower. "Where were the curses?"

"Shaddup and lemme finish!" Nobara snapped. "All work and no play with you! That's why you don't have a boyfriend!"

"No, it's not, shut up." Megumi's eyes narrowed, lips pulled into a scowl. "If I'm all work and no play, then you're the opposite. Where's your girlfriend?" His eyes twinkled sad*stically, a smirk threatening to upturn his lips. "Is she too busy being useful instead of entertaining you?"

"That's what you think!" Nobara sneered. "Guess who had two tickets toYayoi Kusama's museum?! Maki-san! And guess who she gave one of those tickets to?!"

Megumi winced at the bright expression the girl was giving off. It hurt his eyes.

"That's right! Me!" Nobara cackled. "We spent like three hours in there! She purposefully had Ijichi-san drive us to Shinjuku earlier than what was needed so we could f*ck around in the museum!"

"Your happiness makes me nauseous." Megumi deadpanned, hissing when Nobara leant forward and easily plucked a block from his tower. "Oi, don't ruin it!"

"I'm not ruining it, jackass." Nobara clicked her tongue. "But ahhh, I can't believe she did that, can you?"

"No, why would she do that for you of all people?"

"I'll cut your dick off, Fushiguro!" Another block was swiped and placed at the top of the tower. "It was so romantic... she even got me lunch!"

"I don't want to hear about your date." Megumi pulled a block out carefully. "I'm hom*ophobic."

"Who's hom*ophobic?" A head of dark ivy green poked in through the door. Megumi sighed at the same time Nobara squealed.

"Maki-senpai!" Nobara called. "Come make fun of Fushiguro with me!"

"It's the only way I can get any sort of joy in my life." Maki sighed as she strolled over, shrugging off the bagged weapon off her back so she could plop down next to Nobara. "I can't wait for today's paycheck to come in. I'm craving yakiniku and there's a really good restaurant further into the city."

"I've never been to a yakiniku place in Tokyo before! Is it good?" Nobara asked as she swiped a block. Megumi held his breath as the tower wobbled and grumbled when it didn't fall.

"sh*t, really? I'll take you with me, then." The older girl shrugged, pulling out her phone. Nobara's jaw dropped and she directed a self-satisfied, smug grin at Megumi. He responded by flipping her off.

The three raised their heads as they heard footsteps, looking to their left where the stairs led to the rest of the dorms. They were on the bottom floor in the common room, where sofas had been haphazardly dumped along with a pool table and a foosball table (Gojo had thought that it would be a good idea).

Megumi noticed it first. A feeling; as if spiders were crawling along his bones and digging their little fangs into his marrow; the deep feeling of despair and the taste of blood bubbling at the back of his throat.

A sudden chill not brought by cold, but by fear and anguish.

His hand knocked over the Jenga tower as he quickly clasped his palms over his mouth. Eyes wide and pupils retracting, he hunched over, breath catching in his throat as his heart began to speed up. He began to tremble, eyes beginning to water.

Memories surfaced of his little cosy house. The home that he had shared with his sister. How he had come home from school one day to this exact same feeling.

The scene of bloodied hands scratching at a tear-stained face. Blue eyes eerie and dull. Screams of absolute heartbreak.

"... sensei?" Nobara managed to croak out, watching the back of Kamo disappear up to the next floor. Maki had frozen, glasses slipping down her nose.

The next moment happened all at once. Megumi stood up and sprinted to the bathroom, throat constricting with the effort of keeping his lunch at bay. Nobara had begun to tremble violently and had curled into Maki, who stayed frozen as she numbly wondered whether the dark and ghostly shadows clinging to her teacher were real or just a figment of her imagination.

Meanwhile, no response was given by their teacher, who was already long gone.

-

Satoru's footsteps were loud and quick as he walked into the school grounds. His hands pulled the blindfold tight around his eyes, his teeth gritting together as he teleported to the underground mortuary. His surroundings changed from the trees and light breeze to metal and cold.

"Gojo." Shoko seemed a little surprised at his visit, her grip on her scalpel having tightened. With a sigh, she turned and dropped the instrument on a tray.

Gojo remained silent, watching as the woman peeled her gloves off and dumped them in the bin. The carcass of a cursed human sat on the table and he pulled the white sheet up over their face as Shoko washed her hands.

"You just missed them," Ieiri said, voice as monotone as ever. "Kamo and Itadori came in about twenty minutes ago." She wiped her hands with a paper towel. "To see the kid's body."

"Is anyone with them?" Gojo asked, hands flexing. Shoko's eyes flicked towards the movement before staring back up at the man's hidden eyes.

"Nanami." She replied simply. "[Name] keeps on trying to leave to 'finish paperwork', which is the flimsiest excuse that I've ever heard. He looks like sh*t and the kid isn't doing any better. Neither of them have eaten."

Gojo's upper lip threatened to pull back in a snarl. Shoko's jaw tensed and she turned away.

"They're in the basem*nt. Nanami's trying his best but he needs help."

"What are you doing, then?" Satoru interrupted. The room fell into silence.

"Satoru." The woman started. "Don't."

Gojo shuffled in his spot, before turning around. Shoko clenched her eyes shut as she felt the space behind her shift and warp, signalling the exit of the other.

A long breath left her. She rubbed her eyes, hands automatically patting her pockets for her cigarettes.

This was going to be a long day.

-

Dull eyes stared up at the cloudy sky, watching the birds fly by. The stink of sewage and pollution was strong in the air as heleant back against the graffitied wall. Smoke puffed out from between his lips as he idly itched his cheek, pulling his knees to his chest as he sat.

The sound of glass being slid across the counter made him shift. He glanced up, only to close his eyes with a sigh as a large pale hand grabbed the bubbling alcohol in the grimy glass.

"'course..." [Name] grumbled, voice a little slurred. He took a puff of his cigarette again, muttering curses when the glass in the other's hand shook before shattering into pieces.

"Oi!" The owner of the dingy little bar barked. [Name] waved him off.

"Don't worry 'bout it, oji-san." He mumbled. "Ya know how he gets. All big and mighty jus' 'cause he thinks 'e's better than me. Damn ya, Satoru."

"You're drunk." Gojo frowned. "And heavily medicated."

"'f the gods are kind enough then maybeee they could jus'... haha, y'know?" A wobbly grin grew on [Name]'s face. His complexion was ashen and his face looked gaunt. "D'ya think that Shoko would find it weird to perform an autopsy on me? I bet it'd be the peak of her career."

He released a laugh as if he'd told the funniest joke in the world. Gojo's lips thinned.

"Oi!" [Name] yelped as he was picked up and thrown over Satoru's shoulder. The cigarette fell from his lips, landing on the dirty ground. His hazy gaze met the ones of the barkeep, who glanced away. "f*ck! Stop... stop kidnapping me, ya brute! Don't take me! I dun' wanna go back!"

"I'm not taking you back," Gojo muttered. He turned a corner in the dingy alleyway and disappeared.

[Name] barely flinched as their surroundings changed. He didn't know where they were but suddenly he was on a bed in some seedy room.

"The f*ck? God, f*ck-" Dizziness hit him and he gagged, but thankfully kept everything in. There were firm hands on his body, pulling off the dress shirt that he'd had on since the day he woke up in the hospital bed. "'m not gonna have sex with you!"

"Do you really think I'm going to take advantage of you right now?" Gojo's voice was harsh and loud. It stunned [Name] into silence. "Shut up and sit still."

The shirt was off and Gojo was fiddling with the pyjama pants that the older was wearing. He scowled as his hands were slapped away.

"I... I can do it. 'm not a f*ckin' invalid." [Name] hissed, hiccuping slightly. His shaky hands pulled at the hem of his pants, trying his best to yank it off. Gojo helped a little, making sure that he wouldn't pull his boxers off as well. It made [Name] flinch. "Don't touch me!"

"I'm not going to hurt you," Gojo muttered, leaning back.

"Like you haven't already." [Name] spat. Gojo was silent. "Go away!"

"You need a drink," Satoru said. "Of water. You're going to end up back in Shoko's care otherwise."

"Just let me curl up anddie, Satoru." [Name] ran his hands through his hair. "'m a f*ckin' failure. Ya should have left me to drink and rot."

"Just lie down, [Name]." Gojo sighed. He looked pained if the crease in his blindfold was anything to go by. "I'll get you a drink."

"Jus' leave. Maybe somethin' bad'll happen again and you won't be here like always." [Name]'s fingernails scratched at his arms, leaving harsh red lines. "'s what always happens. I think it's 'cause I'm a bad luck charm." He shrugged, giggling drunkenly. There were tears in his eyes. "And you're the mighty f*ckin' Gojo Satoru! Bad luck ain't a thing for you, right? You're too strong, and too good and too kind and-and-" He hiccuped, rubbing at his eyes. He leant back, falling onto the mattress. Dust billowed as he did. "Jus'... go away."

His head spun and he wanted to scream, cry and laugh at the same time. He wondered if Kento would be disappointed in him. He'd left [Name] alone trusting that he could take care of himself but look at what had happened.

And now he was crying in front of Satoru, who was probably pitying him like always.

Something cold touched his lips and a hand gently pushed his head back slightly. Cold liquid splashed between his parted lips, being swallowing greedily, and he took a shuddering breath. He hadn't realised how thirsty he was and the cool water provided him with some semblance of relief.

"Slowly." Satoru's voice was by his ear and he sniffled as he felt lips against his temple. "Good. Good job, [Name]."

"Go away..." [Name] mumbled, water dripping down his chin. He turned away, clumsily wiping at his face. Gojo sighed, holding the bottle closer. "I dun' want anymore! I-I wanna leave! Take me back!"

"You know that you shouldn't be drinking." Gojo pulled his blindfold down, his blue eyes dim and bloodshot. The other man didn't turn, too busy mumbling curses. "You're not stupid. You shouldn't be drinking when you're taking such heavy f*cking medications. It can kill you."

"Maybe that's what I f*ckin' want." [Name] snapped, going to swat at the other and missing by a mile. "Don't wanna think anymore."

"Maybe you should have had your f*cking pity party at a place where I couldn't find you," Gojo muttered. "Going to the same f*cking bar that you've been going to since you were seventeen isn't a smart move."

"Go rot in hell, Gojo." [Name] sneered. "Unhelpful f*cking bastard. Go back to wherever the f*ck you were. Probably having fun in an onsen f*cking women while kids died back here at home, huh? You would be the type to do that!"

"Shut up, Kamo." Gojo's own lip peeled back in a snarl, his expression tightening as [Name] threw his head back loosely to laugh. His anger seemed to waver slightly as he heard what sounded like a sob. "Shut up and go to sleep. I'm taking you to Shoko tomorrow. Let her and Nanami see how much of a f*cking mess you are."

"'course you'd like parading me around to show everyone how much of a terrible f*cking person I am." [Name] cackled. He moved forward on wobbly knees, pressing a finger harshly against Satoru's chest. "At least I'm not an egocentric bastard like you! Strongest f*cking Sorcerer my ass! Jus' because you think you're above everyone else doesn't mean sh*t, Satoru! Because guess what you insolent bastard, we're both the f*cking same at the end!"

He laughed, tears beginning to burn in his eyes. Gojo's teeth were clenched together. "We're both useless f*cking bastards! Even though I was here for them, I still ended up letting one die! Just like always! Aren't you f*cking happy for me, hah?! The Curse of Kamo has struck again! Look at him go, letting the people he cares about die in his f*cking arms! Again!"

"[Name]-" Satoru tired. [Name]'s hand shot forward to grip the younger's cheeks, squishing them harshly to stop him from speaking.

"What, pitying me already, Satoru?!" He asked, already completely in hysterics. "You should just let me die once and for all, you know? It'll be better for all of us!"

"Stop talking." Satoru yanked his face away. "Stop talking like that."

"What, you don't like hearing the truth?" [Name] sneered. "Younger you would have agreed, after all. What's the big change, hm?"

"Younger me was a f*cking bastard." Satoru snapped. [Name] yelped as the man grabbed his wrists and pushed him back down on the bed. "I didn't know anything. I was stupid and young and I shouldn't have said anything to you." He stared at [Name], who had gone quiet. "But that was years ago. I didn't know how to communicate. I didn't know how to say sorry."

[Name] stared as Gojo leant down to press a kiss on the older's palm.

"But now I do. I will say it as many times as you want to hear it and then some." The albino spoke. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not being there. I'm sorry for not being there when you and everyone else needed me the most." He kissed his palm again. "I'm sorry for forcing you to watch another kid die. I'm sorry for how f*cking stupid I was. I'm sorry for hurting you. I'm sorry for everything."

"Satoru-"

"I nearly let you die. I nearly let Nanami and Yuuji die, too. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for letting Junpei die. I'm sorry for letting that curse get away. I'm sorry for hurting you so much. I'm sorry for reminding you of our sh*tty f*cking childhood. I'm sorry for everything."

The room was silent. Tears were brimming in [Name]'s eyes and it wasn't long before a sob broke through the man's lips. He began to shake, head leant back as he began to wail and cry. His body fell pliant, sinking into the bed as he finally let himself cry fully.

Gojo remained silent, watching him cry. One of his hands moved to cup his face, drawing light circles into his skin as he let him grieve.

"I'm sorry." He whispered again. "I'm sorry, I love you."

That seemed to make [Name] cry harder. Gojo held him close, resting his head on the other's chest. It felt as if they were back in high school when Gojo used to sneak into [Name]'s room. When he and Suguru used to fight on who got to cuddle [Name]. It used to end with both of them curled around the older and then being discovered by Shoko and Ito.

He missed those days, when the biggest worries were not getting caught smoking and passing class. When the threat of curses and curse users were lower. When he used to pester Nanami and Haibara. When he used to drag Suguru and [Name] to the back of the school to make out.

Before he became The Strongest. Before Suguru became Geto. Before [Name] went through-

"I'm sorry!" [Name] gasped out. "D-didn't mean to! I didn't mean to be so rude and-and bad and mean and-"

"[Name]." Gojo murmured. He kissed the man's forehead. "Don't cry. Please."

He missed Suguru. Suguru used to be better at this than him.

"Want Suguru!" [Name] sobbed. Gojo's breath hitched and he pressed his face into the other's neck. "I miss him! I-I miss him, Satoru! S-so much, I jus' want him back! I want him and you and just-just please... please I want him!"

"I want him too, [Name]," Gojo whispered. "I want us. All of us. Just like before."

The world was cruel and Satoru himself was crueller. He was crying over the man that he had killed. One that he had loved. One that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

And [Name] had to watch it happen.

"Please go to sleep," Gojo murmured. "[Name], please sleep."

[Name] breaths were erratic as he hiccuped. His heart was pounding and he was exhausted but he didn't want to go to sleep. What if Satoru left again? What if something happened? What if-

"I'm not going anywhere," Gojo said. He began to move, hushing the other when he began to panic. "I'm just getting comfortable."

[Name] exhaled shakily as he was pulled into a firm chest. He hated being so f*cking needy but if Gojo left, he wouldn't know what to do. He wouldn't know how to cope.

"Satoru..." He sniffled. Gojo hummed, kissing his forehead. If [Name] had any tears left to cry then he would have. However, he was exhausted and completely out of energy. "Don't leave."

"I won't," Satoru said. "I promise."

A smile more pained than fond grew on his face as [Name] extended his pinky, holding it up to the other. Satoru wrapped his own around it before kissing the other's forehead again.

"I promise. I won't leave you." He murmured. "Not again."

-

"Kamo-sensei!" Yuuji called. [Name] glanced up from his current job of painting his nails. "Look! I finally married Sebastian!"

"Let your nails dry first, Yuuji. You're going to smear it." The older scolded. "But good job! Now you can have kids with him."

"I don't know what to name my kids!" Yuuji whined. He had obediently raised his fingers slightly away from his Switch so he wouldn't smear the polish. "What did you name yours, sensei?"

"Sumi and Nori." [Name] replied immediately. Yuuji squinted slightly at the quick answer. "Just came to mind when I was playing it, that's all."

"Maybe I should name one of mine Meghan." The younger hummed. [Name] squinted.

"You're going to name your in-game kid after Meghan Thee Stallion?" He asked. Yuuji huffed.

"It's an honour to be named after our Queen and Saviour." He mumbled, ears going pink. [Name] was going to beg Gojo to make Yuuji his son.

"Of course." [Name] humoured him. He was more of a Beyoncé fan but go off. "What about the other one?"

"Jennifer."

"For f*cks sake." [Name] sighed and Yuuji only laughed.

It was maybe a month after the incident at the school and both males were healing well. Their physical ailments were already mostly healed, but their mental health was still healing. After the sh*t they had gone through, it was refreshing to see them smile again.

"[Name]-chan, my baby!" The sudden appearance of Gojo made Yuuji jump. The white-haired man had decided to take the stairs down to the basem*nt instead of appearing in the room like usual. "You'd never guess what Nanamin said, the meanie!"

"You are insufferable and I want to hit my head against a wall every time you speak." Nanami's voice called as he, too, climbed down the stairs. "Hello, Yuuji-kun. Hello, [Name]."

"Nanamin-san!" Yuuji grinned, laughing as Gojo whined loudly and collapsed on the couch next to him. "You made Gojo-sensei sad!"

"Good," Nanami said bluntly as he headed to the connected kitchen. [Name] was snickering as he painted his last nail. He had decided to go for a pink theme.

"[Naaaaaame], kiss me better!" Gojo whimpered pathetically as he dragged himself next to the other on the floor, who ignored him. "Wait, paint my nails! I wanna match with you!"

"I got pink as well, sensei!" Yuuji said, showing off his nails. They were pink and glittery. "We should all get matching nails!"

"Great idea, Yuuji! A+ for you!" Gojo grinned. "We'd look like such bad bitches!"

"Don't encourage him, Yuuji-kun," Nanami said as he stepped back into the room. He was carrying a mug of something hot and steaming. "It'll get to his head."

"No, encourage me!" Gojo whined, pouting when Yuuji snickered. "Oh, you should get your nails painted too, Nanamin!"

"Yes! You would look so cute with pink nails!" [Name] gasped, knocking Gojo on his side. The younger wailed, which went ignored.

"I don't mind. I would like to match with Yuuji-kun and you." Nanami nodded, sitting down cross-legged in front of [Name]. "I don't know how to feel about matching with the idiot, however."

"Stop bullying me!" Gojo cried. "My feelings are hurt!"

"I wanna paint Nanamin-san and Gojo-sensei's's nails!" Yuuji gasped. He tossed his Switch to the side before quickly hurrying over to sit beside [Name], who was watching Gojo have his tantrum.

"I would like that," Nanami said, taking a sip of his drink. He handed the mug to [Name], who took it without complaint. It was a mug of Earl Grey tea. "I feel like the glitter would clash with my outfit."

"We could go with just a regular plain pink." [Name] offered. Gojo had sat up and was now making grabby hands at the mug, making a happy noise when it was handed to him.

"What about a star sticker?" Yuuji asked, his eyes on a sheet of nail art stickers. [Name] had splurged (with Gojo's money) on several things todo with nail art. There was a whole box of stuff. "Or a little white moon!"

"I would like the moon," Nanami said. "Gojo can take the stars. He's as bright and as annoying as one."

"And beautiful!" Gojo countered. He was blowing bubbles into the tea. "What do you think, [Name]-chan?"

"You are annoying." [Name] agreed, snickering as Gojo gasped in offence. "But yes, you are very pretty."

"I know!"

"Idiot." Nanami rolled his eyes at the smugness of the other, clicking his tongue as [Name] was suddenly hit with a barrage of kisses. "There is a child present. Stop being inappropriate."

Yuuji was too busy painting Nanami's nails to even notice.

"What, jealous, Nanamin?" Gojo asked coyly. "You can get some too! C'mere!"

"Get away from me, you frog."

[Name] chuckled under his breath as the two men began to quarrel with Yuuji still being as oblivious as ever as he carefully painted Nanami's nails.

Yeah, they were going to be okay. He was going to be okay.

"Hopeful smiles."

Chapter 20: 18

Chapter Text

"Scrunched noses."

The day was as sunny as any other. Birds chirped merrily as they got on about their day, relishing in the warm sunlight that shone upon their wings. A bright and wonderful morning; surely filled with nothing but glee and good fortune.

“For the last time… just because you’re a panda doesn’t mean that you get out of calculus!” [Name]’s frustrated voice leaked through the shut windows of the classroom, along with the snorts and muffled snickers of his students.

“I am Panda. I no understand numbers.” Panda said as he stood on all-fours at the back of the class. Maki coughed into her hand as Inumaki tried his best not to choke and die from holding back his giggles.

[Name] leant against the blackboard, his face covered with his hands as he prayed to whatever god on why such a beautiful morning was being wasted on teaching teenagers the basics of calculus. Why did he get a teaching degree? Did he want to die at the age of 29?

“Roar,” Panda said. [Name] whimpered in his mental suffering.

“Okay fine, get your ass over here, Panda. Kamo's suffering becomes boring after a while.” Maki leant back in her chair; head tossed back slightly to stare at her friend. “Come sit. Now.”

Without so much as a peep, Panda was now in his chair. He valued his stuffing staying inside his body, thank you.

“I am Panda. Now I understand numbers.” He spoke. [Name] sighed. Inumaki released a sound that could be like a frightened screech of an owl. Maki pat his back.

“Great.” Their teacher said. “Let’s talk about logarithms now that we have three students instead of two students and a wild animal.”

“Will we ever use this stuff after we graduate?” Maki asked, leaning her chin against her hand. [Name] snorted.

“Absolutely not. It’s pretty useless in the real world unless you’re going to study a mathematics degree.” He said, glancing over the textbook that was on his desk. “You just gotta get through it for this year. We aren’t even gonna be looking at it in your third year because we’ll be too busy with other mathematical garbage.”

“You’re the only maths teacher I know that hates maths,” Maki said. Inumaki nodded with a “shake,”.

“Because I teach other subjects and choosing maths over that stuff is stupid.” [Name] said. “Like… who the f*ck is gonna choose maths over biology or like… history? Idiots, that’s who.”

“Fair.” Maki shrugged. “I’m more of an English person but go off.”

“That’s because you learnt more English than any of us because you were raised in the Zenin household!” Panda huffed. “Inumaki and I don’t know any! Right?”

“Okaka,” Inumaki said, deadpanning at the panda.

“Oi, I’m not stupid!” Panda gasped.

“Let’s get back to the topic of logs, guys.” [Name] clapped. “Fair warning, it is complicated as most things are when you move from algebra to calculus. You should pay attention if you don’t want to fail and resit your second year.”

That seemed to shut everyone up.

“Great. Now…” He flipped to another page. “Page 102 till 108has some really good theory on logs that might help if you don’t understand fully what I teach today.” Picking up the chalk, he began to write as his students pulled out their own books. “Logarithms is the inverse function to exponentiation. Logarithm is a word of Scottish origin, meaning the proportion or ratio or word…”

The day continued as he taught, the sun inching higher in the sky. The day was becoming warmer; cicadas singing their songs outside as they enjoyed the summer air.

“… and that’s the answer to that equation.” [Name] finished, the chalk squeaking with the last stroke on the board. Inumaki sighed in relief, leaning back in his chair as he closed his notebook. Panda looked deflated and dead at his desk while Maki scribbled down a few more notes before calling it a day. “How did you guys do on that one?”

“I got it.” The only girl said with a nod. Inumaki shrugged while Panda wailed.

“Yeah, that’s typical.” [Name] said. “Don’t worry, I don’t expect you guys to get it right off the bat. We’ll be doing a few more lessons on this and I can host a few study sessions. I’m already doing so for the first years so you guys can join. I can teach two topics at once.”

“Shake.” Inumaki sighed. He really could use the study sessions. He wasn’t terrible at maths, but he wasn’t a genius at it like Maki and Okkotsu are.

“Also, talking about the first years, I think they were planning to order pizza.” [Name] said. That got everyone’s attention. “Better get moving so you can add your orders to the list. They’re mooching off Gojo’s card so go nuts.”

“f*ck yeah!” Maki grinned as she got up, only to grunt and nearly fall over as Panda rushed out of the classroom at inhuman speed.

… which wasn’t really anything special since he wasn’t human to begin with.

“Oi, wait up!” Maki yelled. [Name] watched as she grabbed her stuff and Panda’s books before booking it out of the classroom. Inumaki, meanwhile, took his time to neatly organise his books before bowing respectfully at his teacher and heading out.

His students could really be amusing.

“What a day.” He murmured. It was ten in the morning. “I need a coffee… or some tea. Wait, there’s strawberry milk in the fridge…”

The man mumbled to himself as he got his stuff and exited the room, trying not to drool at the prospect of drinking flavoured milk. He had bought a carton of strawberry milk the day before and hadn’t gotten the chance yet to sit back and relax with the sweet beverage.

“Kamo.” [Name] jumped as his name was called. He looked back, lips thinning at the sight of Principal Yaga. The man was holding a particularly ugly purple stuffie and was in the midst of stitching its head on. “I need to talk to you.” He glanced around. “About Itadori.”

“What?” [Name] turned, not walking towards the man but offering him his time, as limited as his patience was when it came to the other.

Yaga was quiet for a moment before sighing and coming closer.

“The Goodwill Event.” The older started. [Name] shifted from one foot to the other. “How are you going to introduce Itadori to the others? He is still dead in his papers.”

“I’m working on it.” [Name] said. “I need to speak to Satoru about it, and then Yuuji. It’s not going to be easy, since the first years think he’s gone for good.”

“Be quick about it. The event is only two days away.” Yaga said. “I don’t trust Gojo with this.”

“And you trust me?” [Name] raised a brow. “How amusing.”

The tension in the corridor grew. Yaga’s jaw was tense and [Name] looked a second away from either running away or punching the man in the face.

“Make sure that it is done. I don’t want the students distracted from the event.” Yaga said, before turning and making his departure. [Name] stared, eyes not leaving the man’s form until he turned a corner and was out of sight.

“… f*ck.” He mumbled. This was a right pickle.

He didn’t want the others to think that he had willingly withheld the information about Yuuji’s survival away from them. He’d seen how affected Megumi and Nobara were by the boy’s death, especially Megumi. The boy had seen him die, for f*cks sake. How was he going to react to the news of Yuuji being alive?

He needed to talk to Gojo. Try and brainstorm a way to approach this issue without putting pressure on Yuuji since all of this absolutely wasn’t his fault.

Two days didn’t feel like a long time to come up with a solution, but he had to try.

-

“Kamo.” The call of his name made [Name] glance up from his bowl of cake. It was nearly one in the afternoon and the man needed a quick pick-me-up, which came in the form of a strawberry cheesecake.

“Utahime-senpai.” He blinked, wiping at the corner of his lips and licking the cream off his thumb. “Shoko’s in the morgue. I thought you would know that since you two are so close already.”

“I came here to talk to you, you moron.” The woman clicked her tongue.

She was dressed in her usual Miko attire, something that younger [Name] would have found acceptable. Current [Name] wondered how she managed to stay cool in the humid weather.

“Eh? Seriously?” [Name] stuffed another piece of cake in his mouth. “Did you and Ieiri get into a fight?”

“Jesus Christ.” Utahime’s eye twitched with annoyance. [Name] yelped as his shin was kicked harshly. “We’re friends too, idiot. I just wanted to talk like regular friends without that idiot Gojo in the way to make things obnoxiously annoying. Seriously, how do you deal with him?”

“Selective hearing.” [Name] tapped the side of his head by his ear. “I’ve been dealing with him since I was like five. You get used to it.”

“I don’t think I would ever get used to it.” Utahime sighed. “Move over.”

[Name] obeyed, shuffling to the side. He was sitting outside on the stairs leading to his usual classroom building. It was the best place to relax since it was shaded by trees and the breeze was cooler than anywhere else on campus.

“Heard that you’ve been having a really sh*t month lately.” [Name] hummed to show that he had heard as he let the older woman try some of his cheesecake. “Another dead kid, huh? The universe must really have it out for you.”

“The universe had it out for me from the moment I was born, senpai.” [Name] deadpanned. “Seriously. Look at me.”

“Hah!” Utahime cackled. The younger grunted as she slapped his back in mock consolation. “But seriously, how’re you holding up? Shoko didn’t say much. Might have thought that she would embarrass you.”

“Crying and screaming in grief is embarrassing?” [Name] raised a brow.

“Yeah. Imagine doing that.” The woman huffed, shivering at the thought. [Name] was silent for a few seconds.

“sh*t, you right.” He sighed. The two snickered for a bit before the amusem*nt died down. “… it really, well, sucked, I guess. I couldn’t do anything about it.” [Name] poked at his meal. “Again.”

“It was out of your hands.” Utahime glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “Seriously. No one expected a special grade to just show up out of the blue and f*ck with a kid like that. And I’m surprised that neither you nor Nanami got seriously hurt.”

“The kid died.” [Name] said.

“I know. You know how special grades are.” She said. [Name] watched her fiddle with the sleeve of her Miko, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. “Stole them from Shoko. You want one?”

“I prefer my kiseru over that.” He said but accepted a stick from the woman anyway. “These are cheaper, though.”

“How’s teaching going?” Utahime asked, grabbing a cigarette for herself as well before tucking the pack away. [Name] watched as she pulled out a cheap plastic lighter, humming in thanks as she lit his stick first before hers.

“Well as usual.” He shrugged, placing it between his lips to take a puff. “The first years are okay. Megumi is acing his stuff as usual which Nobara hates. The second years are also doing good. The grade average is 79 per cent, which is great since Panda always has a hard time with things since Yaga only taught him how to fight, the moron.”

“Bastard.” Utahime agreed, coughing as she took a drag of her stick. The two hated Yaga for other reasons that weren’t related to the upbringing of his Cursed Corpse but decided to hate on him for that as well.

“… I’m surprised Shoko didn’t kill you for stealing her stuff.” [Name] said after a while. “Guess that’s the power of lesbianism.”

“Shut up, idiot.” Utahime shoved him lightly despite her slightly pinkened cheeks. “Also, I’m trying to get her to quit, anyway.”

“Hypocritical since you’re also smoking.” [Name] pointed out. Utahime shrugged. “Idiot.”

“Oi, don’t talk to your elders that way!” [Name] hissed as his foot was stomped.

“Okay, Utahime-sobo.” He teased, cackling as a disgusted look appeared on the other’s face.

The two stopped their friendly (more homicidal in Utahime’s case since she looked close to shoving the fork that [Name] was eating with straight into his jugular) quarrel when they spotted two heads heading their way. Utahime dropped her cigarette and stomped it with her foot immediately.

“What a waste.” [Name] clicked his tongue. She wasn’t even halfway done with it and now it was gone.

“Utahime-sensei!” The blonde among the two called. She was very short and carried a broomstick. Her pigtails made her odd witch aesthetic look even cuter.

“Nishimiya-chan, Zenin-chan.” Utahime nodded. [Name] took a drag of his cigarette, trying not to laugh when the blonde scrunched her nose in disgust.

“Sensei, just call me Mai.” [Name] eyed the Zenin, Maki’s twin sister. She looked just as vicious as the other. “Since there’s another Zenin on campus and all.”

“You shouldn’t sit next to a smoker, sensei! He’s gonna damage your lungs!” Nishimiya said, shooting glares at [Name]. Utahime tensed when her friend began to snicker.

“Yeah,sensei.” [Name] grinned. “You shouldn’t be here, next to a smoker. It’s no less bad than smoking yourself.”

“Shut your stupid mouth.” Utahime smacked his arm, looking pleased when [Name] whined. “No wonder Shoko can’t stand you.”

“Ieiri doesn’t hate me! She loves me, how dare you!” [Name] gasped, screeching when the woman came for his head and his cigarette. “No, my smoke!” He watched sorrowfully as the cigarette fell and was stomped out. “My smoke…”

“Get a therapist.” Utahime deadpanned, rolling her eyes when the man whimpered pathetically.

“Uh…” Mai started, glancing between the two. She seemed to be making connections in her head that weren’t there in the first place. “Anyway, we came here because we don’t know where to train.”

“Pick a building. Most of them are empty and you can wreck them.” [Name] said. “Some of them need keys which I got since they’re restricted.”

“…” Nishimiya squinted. “You’re a teacher?”

It was silent for all of two seconds before Utahime began to cackle like a witch. [Name] blinked slowly.

“… yeah???” He placed his now-finished bowl of cake to the side. “How do you not know this? I don’t look like a student!”

“I thought you were some low-level sorcerer.” Mai shrugged. “Pigging out on the stairs.”

“HA!” Utahime laughed. [Name] jabbed her stomach.

“But then I guess it wouldn’t make sense since sensei doesn’t interact with people she doesn’thaveto interact with. Which means that you could be a teacher or a high-level sorcerer.” Mai hummed. Nishimya nodded.

“What if it could be both?” [Name] asked.

“…” The two students looked at each other. “… nah.”

“God is testing me.” [Name] said. “Hold me, Iori!”

“Get the hell away from me!” Utahime screeched as [Name] latched onto her. “Ew, gross, disgusting!”

“Love me!” [Name] whined.

“Absolutelynot.” She hissed, smacking his forehead, and laughing when the man backed off to nurse his most likely bruising head.

The two glanced in front of them, seeing that the two Kyoto students had left.

“They lost what little respect they had for you, I bet.” [Name] said, screeching when his shin was kicked once more.

“Spending time with you makes my brain die little by little,” Utahime grumbled. She got to her feet, dusting off her outfit. “I’m going to go get coffee. You coming?”

“Nasty.” [Name] gagged. “I want a milkshake.”

“Yeah, yeah.” The woman sighed, holding a hand for the other to take. She pulled him up, helping him dust off his pants. “… is this Gojo’s shirt?” She stared at the shirt, which had some lettering on it that said, ‘women want me,’ in Comic Sans font. “You’re a gay man.”

“Yeah.” [Name] said. “And you’re a gay woman yet those southern American church shoes 9000 say otherwise.”

“They’re comfortable and good to fight in!” Utahime looked at the boots she was wearing.

“Whatever you say.” [Name] hummed.

He had to be half-carried to the café since Utahime decided that he would lose his ankle privileges for that comment.

-

He was the older one among them. Despite that, he was fidgeting and sweating like a nervous schoolgirl.

"The heat really getting to you that much, Kamo?" Mai asked as she lounged on the reclining chair that she currently occupied. The air conditioning in the room had busted and unfortunately was only going to get repaired tomorrow, so they had to deal with the insufferable summer heat until then. "Damn low-class cheapskates. You would think that they could afford good quality air conditioning since 'The Great Gojo Satoru' teaches at this dump. Ah, damn that special-grade Okkotsu kid for beating up Todo. We could have totally had a pool day at our campus if we had this tournament there."

"Do you want a towel?" Miwa asked, tying her long blue hair up into a bun as she worked on dipping towelettes into a bucket of ice-cold water. "You look like you need it, Kamo-san!"

"No... it's okay." Noritoshi shook his head. He had his hair tied back as well. Exhaustion pulled at his body like a clingy mistress yet he did not falter. Could not falter. He didn't want to disappoint anyone any further.

"What did you think of the weirdo with Utahime-sensei?" Mai asked out loud. Nishimiya was sitting on the floor by Mai's chair, filing her nails.

"Weird to the max!" She huffed. "Like... he looked dirty and so deathly! And he was eating cake! So not good for sorcerers!" She blew on her nails. "You should be on a strict diet! So you can be healthy and achieve your full potential!"

"What did he look like?" The conversation died down as Noritoshi suddenly spoke. Even Miwa had paused wringing out the towels.

"Uh..." Mai and Nishimiya exchanged eye contact. Mai decided to speak. "Short hair? Kinda buzzed at the side. Kinda lanky and thin but not super tall. Annoying, too."

"Yeah! He was being so rude to Utahime-sensei!" Nishimiya grumbled.

"I think they might be a thing?" Mai mentioned offhandedly.

"No way! There's no way! Sensei deserves so much better!"

Noritoshi wasn't listening. He knew who this 'lanky and thin' man was.

"Eh? Kamo?" Miwa asked as she watched her upperclassman turn and swiftly leave the room. "... did something happen?"

The other two girls were too busy gossiping to notice.

"Big smiles."

Chapter 21: 19

Chapter Text

"Tight hugs."

"Not here, Kamo." Nanami's voice was clipped as he stood tall, back against the wall of the corridor that they were currently alone in. His arms were to the side, hands twitching slightly as he sucked in a breath through his teeth.

[Name] was pressed against him, his arms loosely looped around the taller man's shoulders as he pushed his nose into his neck. His lips were against his skin, leaving soft kisses. He trembled as he felt a large hand against his back, further pressing himself against the younger man.

"Kento." His voice was muffled. Nanami released another breath as he felt teeth nipping at his skin. "Don't go."

"You act as if I'm not going to be seeing you again." He said, lightly tugging on the back of the black coat that the shorter was wearing. It proved to be useless since [Name] didn't move. "You know that I have been here long enough already. I have missions to take care of. The higher-ups have several tasks that they would like to have completed this week."

"You just came back to the sorcerer world." [Name] murmured. One of his hands moved to bury itself in the short hair at the back of Nanami's head. "I haven't seen you this... awake and rejuvenated in so long. Let me just... relish in it a little more?"

"[Name]." Nanami sighed, giving in when his head was gently pulled down. He pressed his lips against the other's, humming lowly into the kiss as his hands moved to grip [Name]'s hips. They kissed slowly as if they had all the time in the world. [Name] released a soft noise when he was pulled closer by his hips, his grip on the blond tightening in response.

"Satoru." [Name] spoke into his lips. Nanami sighed and pulled his head back, resisting to give into the urge to smile at the soft whine from the other.

"Yoo-hoo! What's- oh." A head of white hair peeked out from the bend, blue eyes shimmering behind round shades as he took in the sight before him. "Well, well! What do we have here?"

"Go away," Nanami said bluntly despite his slightly pinkened cheeks. [Name] had completely ignored Gojo's appearance and was busy peppering kisses over Nanami's jaw.

Much to Nanami's displeasure, Gojo was quick to skitter forth.

"He's leaving, Satoru." [Name] whined, eyes flicking to the side. Gojo made an "awh," noise, sighing with mock remorse. "We just got him back!"

"You were at my home at least three times a month, Kamo," Nanami said, grunting as Satoru moved behind [Name] so he could cage both of them in a hug with his freakishly long arms.

"How come he's allowed over three times and I get a book thrown at me if I even show my face once?" Gojo whined. Nanami felt older than he was, which wasn't uncommon.

"Because I like [Name] more," Nanami said. Gojo began to sniffle.

"Can you just stay one more night?" [Name] asked. He pressed closer and Nanami unwillingly began to soften at the request. "Please? Just until tomorrow morning, and then you can go. Slip out before the tournament begins."

"I have work to attend to." Nanami heaved a sigh. He clicked his tongue as Gojo began to circle a thumb gently over the blond's temple. He made no move to get him to stop.

"Please?" Gojo pouted. Nanami cringed visibly.

"Please?" [Name] tried.

"Fine." He gave in. Gojo spluttered, which went ignored as usual. "My things are still in your room. I will pack tonight before we sleep."

"Thank you, thank you!" Gojo sighed morosely as [Name] began to press more kisses to the man. He felt left out so he began to whine. "Satoru, do you wanna sleep with us tonight?"

"Hah? Seriously?" Gojo blinked. [Name] turned to him, immediately latching onto the man. Nanami began to brush himself off. "Seriously? You serious? You always have a heart attack every time I'm in the same room as you!"

"Because you kick in your sleep." [Name] rolled his eyes, arms wrapped around Gojo's neck and squirming with a warm face as arms circled his waist. "I can maybe excuse it for one night."

"Satoru." Gojo jumped at the use of his first name by the man that usually didn't call him that. He looked at Nanami, wide-eyed. "Join us. Tonight."

"I, uh, ah-" Gojo began to stammer. [Name] began to cackle, hiding his face in the white-haired man's chest to muffle his laughter. "Shut up! Bleh, idiot, don't make fun of me!"

"Oi, don't call me an idiot! You're the one stammering and blushing!"

"Says the one who was making out with him!"

"Children, both of you," Nanami muttered under his breath as he began to walk away, leaving the two quarrelling teachers behind.

There was a small smile on his face.

-

He was trembling.

It was embarrassing, really. TheGreatKamo Noritoshi, next in line to be the head of Kamo, shaking with anxiety over something astrivialas talking to someone.

His mouth was dry and he desperately wanted a drink of water. The warm breeze coupled with the bright sun and high humidity didn't help his case as he made his way to the dormitories where both the Tokyo students and teachers stayed. He remembered the way there despite having only been there once the year before.

In the distance, he saw Fushiguro and a brown-haired girl. They were jogging, with the girl talking animatedly while the other seemed tired of life.

That would usually make him chuckle. He liked Fushiguro ever since they met when they were younger, but the other wasn't a huge fan of him due to their different views. He doesn't blame him; he didn't agree with his own views either, however, appearances must be kept.

Right now, none of that was in his mind as he approached the dormitories. There was an older man inside, sweeping the tatami floors. The cursed energy that the man possessed was low so Noritoshi supposed that the man was just a cleaner with nothing impressive to show for in terms of sorcery.

"Good afternoon, may I help you?" The man bowed his way. "You are from the Kyoto school, yes? Your school should be staying over at the building by the second training field. It's only a few paces away from here-"

"A-ah, no, I know that." Noritoshi interrupted, bowing his head slightly. "I am Kamo Noritoshi. I was wondering if, ah, you've seen Kamo [Name]?"

His throat was parched. He needed water and he needed to be alone. Both of those things might not be possible for a while yet.

"Kamo Noritoshi?" The older man's eyes widened. He bowed once more and Noritoshi felt restless. "Of course! You are a third-year with Kyoto, correct? Forgive me for not recognising you." He looked guilty.

He hated getting the respect that he did not deserve.

"Kamo-sensei's schedule is hectic and unpredictable." The servant continued. "I just arrived to clean and haven't seen him yet. He may be either out on a mission or in his quarters. He could even be at that one café in the middle of Tokyo, however, I am uncertain. His room is on the top floor if you want to check on him. Second-last door from the stairs."

"Thank you." Noritoshi bowed, offering a tight-lipped smile before turning to the stairs. He took a deep breath.

Taking two steps at a time, he sped up the stairs. He was determined not to chicken out. He couldn't, not now.

It wasn't long before he got to the top floor. He was seeing spots in his vision.

The door second-last from the stairs was open.

He approached, quiet and timid. His hands were sweaty and his face felt itchy and his teeth hurt from clenching his jaw so hard.

"[Name]?" His voice was quiet and cracked like a prepubescent boy. Slowly, he poked his head in. "... [Name]?"

It was empty. The room was clean and tidy and nothing looked out of place, however, it was devoid of the person he wanted to see. Pillows and stuffed animals covered the surface of the giant plush bed in the middle of the room which was partially hidden by a red veil that hung over the wooden beams above the bed. The table to the side of the room was piled with papers and candles, the orange light of the fire dancing across the various artworks on the walls.

"[Name]?" It was empty. Quiet and devoid of life.

"Y'know, it's not nice to sneak into people's rooms without permission." The voice made him jump violently as he turned on his heel, his usually closed eyes flying open.

Gojo had an easy grin on his face as he leaned against the wall a few metres away from him to the right. Noritoshi sucked in a deep breath, coughing slightly as he tried to calm himself down. His hand had automatically reached for his bow and he forced down the urge to grab it and shoot.

"G-Gojo-san." He kept his gaze on the ground. His hand had moved to his chest, clutching the fabric of his yukata.

"What's up?" Gojo stuck his tongue out. "Whatcha doing up here in the teacher's quarters, huh?"

"Just... pardon me, I was looking for Kamo [Name]." Noritoshi bowed low. "I am sorry if I angered you."

"Jeez, you're so nerdy and old-fashioned." Gojo moaned. "Reminds me of [Name] when he was younger. So annoying!"

Noritoshi fidgeted in his spot. He didn't know what to say, especially since the man was acting as if all was right in the world. As if he hadn't pulled him aside and scared the living hell out of him the last time they met. As if he hadn't cursed him and his entire family to hell.

"Whatcha thinkin' about, hm?" Gojo asked. He looked so relaxed and free that it made him nervous.

"Nothing." Noritoshi was quick to answer. "I just wanted to find my cousin. I wanted to talk to him."

"And say what? That you're sorry?" The easy-going aura around the older man warped into a frightening one. The flower vases set on the ground by them for aesthetic shook with the sheer amount of cursed energy that Gojo was emitting. The terrifying sneer that pulled on the older's lips made the teen shudder with fear. "Say that you're oh so sorry for killing a child? For making [Name] bury another kid? Hm? Is that what you want to do?"

"I-I'm sorry." Noritoshi managed to stammer. His ears were burning with shame. Fear licked at his soul. He didn't know what to do. Gojo looked terrifying and the cursed energy around him was twisting with his rage. It was scary how fast the man's mood changed - how quick he was to anger when it came to those he cared about. Noritoshi didn't blame him. He couldn't, since Gojo had every right to be mad at him.

"Nori?" The voice made him freeze. He turned to his left, spotting [Name] who had come up the stairs and was standing at the end of the corridor.

"[N-Name]." He managed to say. He looked back to where Gojo was standing, only to discover nothing but empty space. There was no trace of him. No residual cursed energy, no nothing.

"What're you doing here?" Noritoshi didn't know what to say before he was pulled into a tight hug. He felt lightheaded from the rush of guilt that coursed through his veins. He hadn't realised that he was leaning against the wall, just a second or two away from collapsing. "sh*t, Nori, you okay?"

He was only an inch or so shorter than [Name], yet it still felt so natural to lean into the older. He barely recalled being pulled into his cousin's room, too focused on not breaking down into tears like a child. It didn't seem to work since [Name] had already caught wind of his upcoming panic attack.

"Breathe with me, kid." [Name] said as they both sat down on the teacher's bed. Noritoshi scrambled closer to the man as if he was scared that the other was going to leave. "I'm not going anywhere. I've got you."

His body heaved with sobs yet he refused to let any sound leave his throat. He was embarrassed and disgusted with himself. He shouldn't be the one crying.

[Name] should be the one sobbing. He should be the one screaming and crying and cursing him to hell.

"Nori, it's alright. Let it out. You know I won't judge." [Name] ran his hands through the teen's hair. Nails scratched at his scalp soothingly. "You've seen me cry like a buffoon several times. It's nothing new. You can cry without worrying about sh*t."

"I-I'm sorry...!" He tried to apologise while trying not to heave out his lungs.

"For what, crying?" [Name] clicked his tongue. "Don't be ridiculous. I've known you since you were in diapers. A few tears ain't gonna stop me from talking to you."

That wasn't what Noritoshi was apologising for.

It felt too good, too nice, to stay like this. With his face pressed against [Name]'s shoulder as he cried. His hand on his back and fingers in his hair.

He wanted to stay like this forever. He wanted to be cared for like this. To be this loved.

No one loved him except for his mother and his cousin, the latter of who was more like an older brother to him than anything.

He brought nothing but sadness and cursed luck to the people he loved. He brought his mother pain and suffering while he did the same to his cousin, who still chose to forgive and care for him.

He was a terrible person. So terrible and selfish. Selfish in the fact that he didn't want to bring up the reason he apologised in the first place, just so he could sit like this forever. Relish in the warmth and comfort of the man that had cared for him more than anyone else in his life.

"I wanted to talk to you. I'm really sorry I haven't until now." [Name] sighed. "Especially after the sh*t that went down at that prison with the cursed womb."

Noritoshi stiffened. His grip on [Name] grew tighter.

"I had a feeling that it wouldn't be long before the higher-ups tried to kill Yuuji. Didn't expect it to be right off the bat, though." The man murmured, sounding annoyed. "Guessing that the Zenin bastards along with our own less-than-lovely Kamo family thought this up, along with the dickhe*ds up high."

"I'm sorry, I-I tried to stop them, I-" Noritoshi's words was cut off as hands cupped his cheeks and lifted his head up. His teary eyes met [Name]'s, who looked determined yet soft.

"What, you thought that you had a chance to change those old geezers' minds? That you could go up against your sh*thead dad?" [Name] clicked his tongue. "You better not be blaming yourself for the kid's death, Nori."

"I-I..." The guilty look on Noritoshi's face made [Name] sigh. "B-but..."

"Do not ever try and stand in the way of their commands." [Name] said. "They're dangerous, Nori. They're dangerous and out of their damn minds. They don't care for anyone except themselves. The only reason I'm still alive is so they can make money off me. That and Satoru would probably blow up." He shrugged. "I'm strong. I take out the competition without making a mess or a fuss. It's how I stay alive. You know this."

Noritoshi looked down as a hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Stay out of their way. If they try and do anything sh*tty, just don't retaliate. They will hurt you otherwise." [Name] said. "I've tried, Nori. Several times. It's a wonder they still let me live."

Noritoshi nodded. He knew this. Knew it all too well.

"And get that dumb idea out of your head." The lift in [Name]'s voice made him look up. The man was smiling. Tired, yet still smiling.

"What idea?" He asked, sinking into the other when he was dragged back onto the bed. He basically was now lying on top of his cousin.

"That you were the sole reason for Yuuji's death. You were not. You cannot shoulder the blame that is not yours to shoulder in the first place." [Name] held him close. "I am not mad at you. I still love you."

It suddenly felt like they were younger, huddling together in either [Name] or his room.

"I'm gonna take a nap." [Name] said. "You're joining me."

"I can't leave even if I wanted to," Noritoshi muttered into the other's chest. He was being held tightly and there was no intention of [Name] letting him go.

Outside their room stood Gojo, back against the wall by the door. He looked relieved at the fact that the two of them were getting along. [Name] seemed to be much happier.

"Ah, he's gonna yell at me when he finds out that I scared the little twerp." Satoru groaned quietly to himself. "f*ck. I should get to buying some cake or something so he isn't as angry with me."

"Huh?" [Name] sat up slightly. Noritoshi rolled to the side, falling off of the older and landing on the plush mattress next to him.

"What's wrong?" The younger asked. He looked a little concerned.

"Thought that I..." The man narrowed his eyes. "Nothing. Nevermind." He fell back on the bad. "Nap time!"

"Why do you have a pillow of a random blond man with... wait, isn't this that Grade One sorcerer?" Noritoshi yelped as the body pillow next to him was violently snatched away. He watched his cousin wrap himself around it protectively. "... there is something seriously wrong with you."

"Shut up, Nori."

-

He was running late.

Very late.

He was having a sh*tty day. First, Nanami left early in the morning, souring his and Gojo's mood after the...R-ratednight they had together. Second, the microwave was busted due to Yuuji having woken up sometime at night and microwaving a fork. This meant that he couldn't warm up the delicious chocolate crepes that he had made the night before. Cold crepes with chunky chocolate filling really weren't his style, so he skipped that meal and ate an apple instead before skedaddling away for a mission (the apple was rotten).

Then he had gotten smacked in the face by a low-level Curse User that he was supposed to take out just because he got distracted by a Starbucks billboard that was advertising a 'Dark Mocha Chip Cream Frappuccino.'.

He was able to take out the Curse User easily but unfortunately had embarrassingly copped a bruise on his perfect face from the encounter due to his stupid dumb sugar-hungry brain.

After tying up the garbage Curse User he handed him off to two NPC sorcerers who would rather be anywhere but there interacting with him. Then he headed to Starbucks, found it closed, headed to another one, and found that one closed as well before catching a train to the Edogawa ward so he could get his stupid 'Dark Mocha Chip Cream Frappuccino.'

He arrived at a Starbucks and then had to wait in line for forty minutes because some terrible Japanese Karen had decided to go off on the poor employee that was just trying to do her job. This apparently got the attention of the manager and [Name] had to watch them fight, which ultimately ended with a Grandé cold brew being thrown at the woman's face.

Finally, he was able to get his order in by the poor teary-eyed teenage employee. He wished that tipping was a thing here like it was in America so he could hand the girl a nice wad of cash and tell her to blow it off on self-care because honey, she really needed one with the day that she was having.

Finally,finally, he was outside of Starbucks with his drink in hand. It looked incredible and he had used the late morning/early afternoon sun so he could take some aesthetically-pleasing photos.

Seriously, he had woken up at seven in the morning and left the school at eight. How was it nearly twelve in the afternoon already?

With a deep breath, he placed the straw to his lips before taking a sip.

...

Passersby jumped at the hoarse sob that left the man's throat, yet no one dared go near him. He looked dishevelled enough to pass as some low-level Yakuza.

"B... bitter...!" He hid his face in the sleeve of his trenchcoat, trying to stop his tears from hitting the pavement. "It's bitter...bitter!"

It wasDarkmocha. What did he expect? Of course, it was going to be bitter! What a fool he was.

Throwing the drink in a nearby trashcan, he wordlessly walked to the train station. He didn't utter a sound, travelling silently to his destination. The photos in his phone mocked him as he looked through his gallery. He deleted the pictures, and then came across a random ugly photo of Gojo that he had taken. He deleted that one as well in his silent rage.

It wasn't too long till he got back to school. At least, it wasn't very long for him since he was marinating in his anger and depression.

"... eh?" He spotted a crowd by the principal's building. It was on the route to the dormitories and he was a little confused by all the people. The Kyoto and Tokyo students were all huddled together for some reason, he really couldn't care less. He didn't think he could muster up enough effort to find out what was going on, lest he started crying again.

A sour look pulled at the dead-eyed expression that he once had. He had spotted Yaga, and even worse, that old fart Gakuganji. The universe was out to test him today, like seriously. Of course, today was the start of the stupid tournament thing. f*ck, he was so late.

"Sensei!" A familiar voice called for him and [Name] cringed as he felt the eyes of the two jujutsu principles and all the students turn to him. Nobara was waving at him and he lifted his hand slightly in response.

"It's the deadbeat." Maki's twin sister piped up and [Name] wanted to crawl into a hole and sob. He didn't have the time or patience for teenage angst today.

"You're late." The gravelly voice of the old principal Gakuganji growled at him. [Name] stared at him, a grimace on his tired face.

"It's called having a job." He said flatly. Nobara snickered and he spotted Megumi hiding a smirk behind a cough. The second-years were there as well but they were too busy making faces at the Kyoto students.

"How rude, talking to our principal like that!" Little blondie from Kyoto said, voice shrill.

"Suck my-" A toad appeared behind [Name] so it could smack the back of his knees with its tongue. Megumi didn't look impressed as his teacher immediately collapsed to the ground and made no move of getting back up.

"Wow, you look like sh*t." Maki snorted, watching Yaga try to wordlessly tell [Name] to get to his feet. He was making an ugly expression as he jerked his head upwards several times. [Name] scowled yet obeyed regardless.

"Not having a good day." He muttered. He noticed Utahime, who was staring at him with an unimpressed look. "Don't look at me like that, senpai."

"Don't call me that, moron." She said. She was about to speak once more before the sound of a phone ringing interrupted the awkward atmosphere. Megumi grimaced. He could take a guess at who was calling.

"Sorry, be right back." [Name] spoke through gritted teeth as he turned, pulling out his phone and pressing it to his ear after accepting the call. "It's [Name]."

"Got a new job for you, collector." The voice on the other side was monotone. "Family matters."

"When is it not?" [Name] bit back. "What is it, Tokugawa? Which family do I have to f*ck up this time for the 'Great Kamo Clan?'"

"Family nameNakamura. Lives in Okinawa." The man clicked his tongue. "Next month is when you will go."

"Okinawa? Seriously?" [Name] scoffed.

"A flight will be booked for you." He said. "Family of five. Mother, father and three children. Two girls and an infant boy."

"..." [Name]'s throat was dry. "I... I refuse."

"What?" The voice seemed amused.

"I am not killing kids. I told you this,I am not." [Name]'s voice had gone shaky. He ran a hand through his hair. "Tokugawa, I can't."

"This isn't a choice," Tokugawa said, unbothered. "You know this. You have no choice. Get it done."

"Tokugawa-" [Name] began to plead, only to swear as the line went dead. He grit his teeth, pulling his phone away from his ear and glaring down at it. His hold on it was shaky as he tried not to crush the device in his bare hands.

He couldn't do this. He wouldn't kill children. He willnot.

He heard a scream behind him and was quick to turn. He hadn't ventured far from the group and it didn't take him long to sprint over.

"Nobara?" He called, only to stop in his tracks as he saw Megumi, who was clutching onto Nobara's shoulder with wide eyes. He looked shocked and incredibly,terriblyupset. "Hey, what-"

His gaze moved to the right and his jaw immediately dropped open.

"Sensei!" Itadori Yuuji called from a box. He looked incredibly awkward.

"Kamo...?" Megumi's voice was shaky. He could head a choked noise from Noritoshi, who was somewhere among the Kyoto group.

"Gojo..." [Name] started. He could feel the fuming glares from both Yaga and Gakuganji. The culprit for the whole situation stood by the box with an innocent grin. "Satoru... Satoru, seriously, what the f*ck?"

"A great surprise, huh?" The albino clapped. [Name] was quick to stomp forward and grab the man by his collar, yanking him away. "Oi - wait, [Name]-chan!"

"You f*ckingbuffoon." [Name] was seething. Gojo looked meek.

They needed to take a moment.

"Holding hands."

Chapter 22: 20

Chapter Text

"Pretty eyes."

Cigarette smoke clogged his lungs. Alcohol flowed through his veins and marijuana softened his brain.

Beer was bitter and the whiskey given to him by some tipsy girl wasn't much better. Music boomed in his ears and his tongue felt like cotton and his mouth was sticky with thickened spit. His skin thrummed with warmth yet he was shivering despite the bodies in the room with him.

A hand pulled at his shoulder. A tired hum left his lips, eyes lidded and uninterested as a mouth attacked itself on his neck, suckling away.

He wasn't a big fan of alcohol. It didn't taste nice, not at all. However, he couldn't stop, not now and not ever. He really couldn't. The thought of being aware of his own body terrified him. He didn't want to deal with the consequences of being himself.

The person on him was older than him. Not a surprise, since he was sure that among everyone he was the youngest.

The rim of a glass was pressed to his lips and who was he to fight it? He tilted his head back, barely flinching at the bitterness sliding down his throat.

He was so tired. He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to be anywhere.

Lips on lips, he went through the motions robotically, not fighting yet not responding. Hands in his hair and knee between his legs, he was pushed against the wall. His eyes were too unfocused; the strobe lights not helping the case at all.

This was nothing new to him. He was sin, swimming amongst other sinners. A place like this was fit for him. He didn't belong anywhere.

He deserved to be used here like this. Like some sort of disgusting f*cking toy for someone to use and discard. That's what he will always be.

The hands on his body left and a sharp sting to his face made him flinch. There was someone yelling - a woman. Makeup smeared and eyes bloodshot, she punched him straight in the nose. She smelt like smoke and methamphetamines and he wondered why she was attacking him when she had been caging him in like a ravenous animal only seconds ago.

He licked his lips, tasting blood. Gingerly, he touched his nose, feeling a dull pain that he couldn't really make sense of. Red was on his fingers as he pulled his hand away from his face.

"You know, it's not nice leaving a woman high and dry like that. No wonder she hit you." The voice was deep and gravelly and cut through the fog in his brain like a particularly sharp knife. He couldn't focus, head swinging to the side to try and find where the voice was coming from.

"What the hell did you take, kid?" A large hand settled on his sore cheek. He squinted, trying to make sense of whoever was in front of him, but to no avail. Warm air puffed at his neck before it disappeared. "You stink of weed. Bit young for that, don't you think?"

His head lolled back slightly, the coolness of the wall behind him seeping into his scalp. The same large hands began to travel down, prodding and squeezing his arms and chest and stomach and thighs and-

"There we go." He hadn't noticed it but there was something sharp poking at his thigh. The sudden removal of it made his brows furrow, eyes blinking owlishly at the floor. What was that? What happened? "What the hell did you inject yourself with, huh? sh*t's empty. Why would you put this in your pocket?"

Something was waved in his face and he could only recognise the fact that whatever it was was sharp. The lights reflected off the metal and he hummed, eyelids dropping shut.

"They let anyone in here, huh?" His chin was taken hold of and yanked upwards. He could only make out green. "You're too f*ckin' young to be in a club... huh, wait a sec." Green got closer. "Well look who it is... makes sense that the reject would be f*cking around in a place like this."

The body of the other got closer to him and he realised how f*ckinghugethis man was compared to him.

"f*ck, no place in here to talk." The man grunted, being pushed forward into the smaller.

He couldn't help his head falling forward, cheek pressing against the warm muscle that could be felt through the thin cloth.

He remembered Suguru. Remembered his muscular body. Remembered how he would lay on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"S'gru..." He slurred out. He could feel the other's body rumble with amusem*nt.

"Bit slu*tty to throw yourself on me like that." He said. "I think I'm a li'ltoo old for you."

There was a hand on his shoulder and he was being pulled. He didn't know how to move his legs or how to eventhinkas he was hoisted into the man's arms. He didn't worry, didn't care. This man was warm like Suguru. He didn't care where he was being taken to because he trusted Suguru. HelovedSuguru.

The sudden disappearance of sound made him jerk up. The feeling of being placed back on his feet made him sway and fall forwards before being enveloped by warm arms once again.

"Su... g'ru..." He moaned out once more. There was a steady throbbing behind his eyes that made him tear up.

"'s not my name, kid." The man snorted. "f*ck, can't believe I'm bailing a Kamo out of a f*ckin' druggie nightclub."

Warm warm warmwarm.

He pressed his face into the other's chest. His breathing was ragged and he was shaking and the feeling of warmth burning behind his eyes made him realise far too late that he was about to cry.

His head was pulled back and he realised a finger was probing at his lips. He opened his mouth automatically.

"Your mouth is dry as sh*t." The voice muttered, before snorting as he began to suck on the appendage in his mouth gently. "Drugged up yet you still remember to act like a whor*."

"Suguru..." He managed to mumble around the finger, which curled slightly.

"The kid that eats curses?" The finger was pulled out of his mouth and he instinctively released a cry, stumbling forward. A large and warm arm pressed against his back and he was squished against the warm chest once more, which calmed him.

The voice kept talking yet he didn't pay attention to it. The heart beating behind this man's ribcage was slow and steady andstrong, just like Suguru's. He felt as sturdy as Suguru.

He didn't realise that he was crying now, open and loud. He didn't know what was happening but suddenly he was being pulled away from the warmth of the other and shoved into a car.

"No, no no no no-" He panted under hiccups, trying to sit up yet finding it difficult due to how achy and heavy his limbs felt. There was a hand on his thigh and he saw green once more between the murky shadows in his vision.

"Relax, kid. Called you a ride, and he'll take you to a motel so you can rest up." The hand was now on his chest and his back hit the plush of the car seat. Tiredness overwhelmed him but he still fought to keep awake. "Jesus, kid. You don't even know me well and here you are, trying to cling to me like some depraved mistress. Your little boyfriends back home won't like it very much."

"No, no no...!" The whines left his throat and he received a huffed laugh in response. He felt the presence of the man pull away and the dull sound of a car door closing. The car revved and he fell back as it began to speed away, instantly feeling whatever was left of his vision go black.

When he woke up several hours later in a dingy motel covered in sweat and running incredibly warm, all he could remember were those green eyes and warm chest.

-

"What the f*ck, Satoru?!" [Name] asked shrilly, hand fisting the collar of his partner's tracksuit. Gojo raised his hands placatively, an annoying grin pulling at his face. "No, stop smiling right now! What- Satoru you-"

"Calm down!" Satoru clicked his tongue, patting the top of [Name]'s head mockingly. He yelped as his hand was smacked away. "[Name], ow! Seriously, calm down!"

"No, you stop acting like a f*ckin'-" [Name] backed away, running his hands through his hair. It had started to get long and he tugged on the locks in frustration. "Gojo, you said that we were going to work on this together! That you weren't going to just-" He pointed towards the direction that they came from. "Those people thought that Yuuji was dead! You can't bring him in like this, especially with that scheming old principal from Kyoto! You know he works for the elders! He works for Kamo!"

"Stop worrying! They're not going to do anything to him." Satoru dismissed. "And if they do, our kids will band together! Teamwork!"

"You're not taking this seriously!" [Name] felt as if he was talking to a petulant child. "Yaga told me to introduce them carefully and not cause a scene-"

"You're announcing that a kid came back to life after death." Gojo deadpanned. "There is no way that would not cause a scene."

[Name] hesitated. He had a point.

"Yeah, but still-"

"[Name], this was our best bet," Satoru said. "Introducing Yuuji to the others again earlier would have meant that Kyoto would have found out about it and made a plan to kill him before or on the day of this competition. Doing it out of the blue on the day of the Goodwill event means that they would have no way of making up a good and foolproof plan on trying to kill Yuuji."

"They might still try and kill him today!" [Name] said in distress.

"It will be a terrible and half-baked plan which most likely will just be the old man telling his kids to go all out and just focus on Yuuji instead of the others." Gojo shrugged. "And you know how Yuuji is. Strong and kinda dumb but he is pretty f*cking strong."

"But still-"

"And he will have the other first years and second years protecting him. They're smart, they'll figure out if they're going for Yuuji."

[Name] rubbed his face. Clearly, Gojo had thought about this well despite how stupidly made the introduction was.

"Megumi and Nobara were his classmates." He started. "Megumisawhim die."

"I know." Gojo had a frown on his face. "And I wish that we could have told them sooner so they would have time to recover. Megumi especially, since he thinks that it was his fault."

"Screw his stupid traumatic childhood life." [Name] grumbled. "Making him all insecure and hate himself."

"Oi, his childhood was fine!" Gojo said. "He just had a really sh*tty dad beforewebecame his less sh*tty dads."

"He'll have a fit if you refer to yourself as his father." [Name] said. "Also you were seventeen at the time you managed to somehow pull strings and get guardianship over Megumi. At least I was of legal age."

"He should be glad that I didn't change his last name to Gojo." Satoru grinned. "He would have run away."

"He hated his deadbeat dad but I think he would have hated it more if he became a Gojo." [Name] said.

"Can I makeyoua Gojo?" Satoru asked coyly, cackling when [Name] spluttered. As he always did when Satoru asked him because this wasn't the first time.

"Legally, no." [Name] said, flustered. His hand moved to his collar for a second and Gojo's grin dissolved into a smile.

"In my heart, you're Gojo [Name]." He swooned. "And Megumi is Gojo Megumi. Despite his broody Zenin blood that makes him all miserable and angsty and blame himself for every little thing."

"Stupid kid." [Name] sniffed. He grumbled when Satoru pulled him closer by the waist to press a kiss to his forehead.

"We've both got parental rights over him." The albino grinned. "He'sourstupid kid."

"How grossly domestic." [Name] managed to crack a smile. "But we need to talk to him later. He's going to be pissed and upset."

"Don't blame him." Gojo shrugged. "I'll pick up some oyakodon. Extra ginger on the side."

"Okay, just..." [Name] sighed as he paused. He rest his head against Gojo's shoulder, humming as a kiss was pressed on the top of his head. "It's nothing. We should get going, they're probably waiting for us."

"He'll be okay," Gojo said, pulling away from the older and swinging his arm around the man's shoulders. "Not immediately... but soon."

"Let's go." Gojo didn't mind that his words weren't acknowledged and instead began the relatively short trek back to the crowd assembled near the school office. They had only gone behind a nearby building to chat, so it didn't take too long. The crowd was awkward and silent, with Yuuji still standing sullenly in his box as Yaga and Gakuganji quarrelled by him.

"Yoohoo! We're back!" Gojo waved happily despite the slightly grumpy [Name] next to him.

"Sensei!" Yuuji looked relieved as he tried to clamber out of his box before tripping and falling right back into it.

"Good god, Yuuji." [Name] said, affection creeping into his voice as he made his way over to help the poor boy.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Gakugangi hissed, his wrinkly face twisted into anger.

"Calm down, old man! Take care of your blood pressure!" Gojo tutted. "You're one second away from having a heart attack and dying. Personally, I don't wanna be the one to touch your gross old man body if I have to be the one to carry you to the crematorium."

"Gojo, behave." Yaga scowled as the older principal spluttered with rage.

[Name] had moved to stand behind Nobara and Megumi, who were still shellshocked over Yuuji being alive. He squeezed both their shoulders as comfort.

"Did you know?" Megumi asked quietly. [Name] stayed silent. "... oh."

"We'll talk later, okay?" [Name] said, before ruffling Nobara's hair as he spotted her lips quivering with the struggle of maintaining a calm front. He met Noritoshi's eyes. "He's alright. We're all alright, which is what matters right now."

And he hoped that it would stay that way.

-

"I can't believe the kid is alive." Utahime scoffed. "I had a feeling that you were hiding something. And you were much less broody than I expected you to be."

"I had to keep it hidden." [Name] heaved a sigh. "We had to make sure that no more attempts on the poor kid's life would be made, at least just until he got stronger."

They were in a lecture hall, where the teachers would be observing the Goodwill event. Only he and Utahime were currently occupying the room since most of the other faculty staff were busy preparing everything and he was too lazy to join. Utahime was here because she wanted to gossip or whatever, he didn't really know.

"Must suck being a vessel." Utahime clicked her tongue, leaning back against the backrest of her seat. "Imagine having an angry curse that's thousands of years old stuck inside your body against your will and having people try and kill you for it."

"Not my favourite way to spend the first few years of my adolescent life." [Name] sighed. The door to the room cracked open and Utahime's face brightened as Shoko peeked her head through. "Oh, hey, Shoko."

"Seen Gojo around?" The woman asked, eyes flitting over to Utahime. "I'm planning to move the infirmary closer to the event grounds and I need his teleportation. There's no way I'm carrying sh*t back and forth."

"He's probably bullying Gakuganji." [Name] shrugged. "Utahime, stop making goo-goo eyes at my bestie, please."

"Shut the f*ck up, Kamo!" Utahime barked, aiming a kick at the other's shin. Shoko rolled her eyes at their squabble and took the opportunity to slip away.

"I miss my Switch!" [Name] whined after he nursed the bruise on his shin from the woman's stupid ugly shoe. "I miss Elliot and his handsome face!"

"You're cheating on Gojo?" Utahime asked with a horrified look.

"It's more like I'm cheating on Elliot with Gojo." [Name] grumbled. "He may only be ten pixels but he is my dream man. I love gingers."

"Oh, it's a game." The woman looked relieved. "Also, gingers? The f*ck is wrong with you? Ginger men are so f*cking ugly."

"You're literally a lesbian. You aren't into men." [Name] scowled.

"It's called having a pair of eyes." Utahime scoffed. "Love me a pretty ginger woman but ginger men? f*cking disgusting, they look like greasy diseased rats."

"Wasn't your first relationship with a ginger man?"

"I hate the male species," Utahime grumbled.

"That's pretty fair I think." [Name] shrugged, despite his avid love for men. hom*osexuality was a disease and there was no cure.

"[Naaaaaame]!" The doors burst open and a black and white blur barrelled in. Utahime screeched and threw herself to the side as her friend was slammed into by the mystery figure. "I hate old people! They shouldn't be allowed in public!"

"Satoru, you're crushing me." [Name] wheezed and managed to push the lanky man into the now-empty seat beside him. Gojo whined and decided to yank the other into his lap.

Utahime looked both murderous and uncomfortable.

"I hate gay men." She settled on saying. Gojo stuck his tongue out at her while [Name] was still trying to catch his breath.

"Why would you say that after the lovely talk that we had like ten minutes ago?" Gojo whined. [Name] had recovered and rose his brow at that.

"You and Utahime had a talk?" He asked. "Are you okay?" He asked the woman, which made Gojo splutter.

"Why are you acting as if I hurt her?!" He asked with indignation.

"You speaking hurts me," Utahime said. "We'll fill you in on it later, [Name]."

"No need!" Gojo grinned as he fished out his phone and started typing quickly. [Name] phone dinged and the man pulled it out, reading the text. He didn't look too surprised, just contemplative and slightly miffed.

"You could have just texted me about it as well instead of talking to me!" Utahime screeched.

Whilst the two battled it out, [Name] read over the text again.

He had his suspicions, especially since the increased number of Special-Grade cursed spirit attacks and also because his little cousin had briefly mentioned Gojo antagonising him.

There was a possible mole among the Kyoto students.

"Sweet smiles."

Chapter 23: 21

Chapter Text

"Fleeting kisses."

tw: heavy smut! threesome - poly sex, nanago + [name].

"Haaaah... aaah...!" Fingers trailed down his stomach, clearing a path for goosebumps to rise. His head had fallen back, lidded eyes on the ceiling as he gasped and mewled. A sudden pinch to his thigh and he bucked his hips.

"Ah, ah." His voice sounded smug. [Name] hissed as he felt the pinch once more, eyes rolling back as teeth scraped against his throat. "Such pretty sounds, [Name]-chan."

"Satoru- ah!" Teeth sunk into his shoulder and he whined, high and pathetic.

They were in [Name]'s room. The moon was high in the sky, the light slivering in through the blinds. A soft breeze made the wind chimes on the ceiling clink together, the pale yellow glow of the candles around the room reflecting off the metal surface.

He was sitting on Gojo's thigh, back against the other's shoulder as he spoilt him.

"Such a pretty boy." Satoru cooed, rubbing circles into the older's hip. His blindfold was gone, on the floor somewhere. He couldn't care less, not when he could experience the other man like this. [Name] turned his head and the albino giggled as he felt kisses being pressed into his neck. "Oh? Thank you, senpai!"

The full-body shiver he got from that made Gojo cackle.

"Just wait until Nanamin gets here, baby." He hummed. His hand moved and he pressed the heel of his palm to the older's groin, grinning darkly at the loud whimper he got in reply. "We'll ruin you. That's what you want, hm?"

[Name] was breathing heavily, drool leaking from the corner of his lips. His back met the mattress as he reached out, moaning hotly as a mouth pressed against his own.

They kissed feverishly, all tongues and teeth until there was a harsh knock on the door. Gojo didn't stop, hands pressing and groping as he unravelled the man under him.

"K-Kento-" [Name] managed to gasp between kisses, gasping out a wanton moan as teeth caught at his bottom lip. "Sa-"

"Come in." Satoru all but growled into [Name]'s mouth, hand reaching out and fingers making a beckoning motion. The lock on the door squeaked and popped before the handle creaked and fell.

"Have some tact." A new voice joined the thick atmosphere, the door opening and a figure stepping through.

Kento's lips stretched into a dark smirk as he closed the door and took in the scene of debauchery in front of him. He unhooked his cleaver from the clasp on his back, swinging it and embedding it where the door and doorframe met. A crude lock, but it will have to do.

"'s gonna be expensive t-to repla-aaace!" [Name] moaned, arching back as his shirt was pulled up and warm lips purchased over his left nipple.

"As if I'm incapable of buying the entire world for you," Satoru spoke into skin, suckling noisily as his fingers worked on the buttons of his shirt.

Nanami began to unbutton his own shirt, a small smirk on his face as his eyes met [Name]'s hazy ones.

"You're an addictive little thing, aren't you?" The blond asked, chuckling under his breath as a shrill cry was all he received. He loosened his tie, throwing it over the recliner that sat by the window.

"Mmh... ah, ah, ffwa-" [Name]'s voice abruptly cut out as two fingers pressed against his lips. Obediently, he opened his mouth, tongue lapping at the digits before his lips closed in on the fingers. Gojo shuddered, having briefly paused in ravaging the other with his mouth so he could watch him suckle on his fingers.

"Look at you." Gojo cooed. "Nanamin, isn't he pretty with his mouth around something?" He turned his head, red having settled high on his cheekbones. Nanami hummed softly, letting his shirt drop from his shoulders as he approached. [Name]'s vacant eyes snapped back to attention, gaze fixated on the blond, who reached out to run a hand through his [HairColour] hair.

"Good boy." His voice rumbled, amusem*nt tickling his chest as both Satoru and [Name] shuddered.

"Little slu*t." Gojo teased, shoving his fingers further into the other's throat and snickering when [Name] gagged.

"Gojo." Nanami clicked his tongue. Satoru pulled his hand away, his own lips wrapping around spit-soaked fingers as he glanced away with a smirk when dark brown eyes paid a littletoomuch attention to that action.

"Sir?" [Name] called hoarsely. Nanami lifted one knee on the bed before leaning down, hand splayed over the older's chest as he let his lips hover over his. A smirk played at his lips as a whine left the other's throat. "Please."

"You're asking so nicely," Kento murmured, before letting their lips brush together. [Name] groaned, trembling as the kiss grew deeper and hotter. His arms wrapped around the other, allowing him to pin him down as he relished in the lust and greed that festered among all three of them. "Goodboy."

[Name]'s eyes rolled back, hips bucking up at those words yet again.

"So needy." Gojo sat by them, idly rubbing himself through his pants with a lazy grin. Nanami glanced up before pulling away from [Name], who whimpered at the loss.

A loud groan left Satoru's lips as the blond grabbed him by the hair on the back of his head and yanked, exposing the pale expanse of his neck.

"F-uck!" The albino gasped at the feeling of teeth piercing his throat, a low whine leaving his clenched teeth as a hand moved to cup him through his jeans. "f*ck, Nanamin-!"

"Don't be so pathetic." The blond murmured into his neck. "I barely did anything and you're sounding like a whor* in heat. Are you that easy?"

[Name] watched as Gojo blushed that pretty full-body pink that he always did whenever Nanami was around. He got up, crawling forwards so he could lay his head on Gojo's thigh.

"Good boy, [Name]." Nanami rumbled, glancing down as he pulled away from Gojo's throat. [Name] bit his lip at the beautiful harsh lines and marks left on pale skin by teeth, feeling himself throb through his loose pants. He nosed at Gojo's crotch, eyes going hazy once more as he smelt the heavy and heady scent of the other.

Gojo's hands were shaky as he moved to unbutton his jeans, harsh breaths leaving him as both Nanami and [Name] stared at him with lustful looks.

"Driven only by need, aren't you?" Kento asked, his grip on Gojo's hair growing harsh again as he yanked. [Name] watched as the bulge in Satoru's pants jumped at the action, unable to help it as he began to press kisses against his clothed co*ck. "At least [Name] behaves. You, on the other hand..." Both [Name] and Gojo moaned as Nanami yanked his hair once more. "Defiant and debauched... a disgusting little whor*."

"Mmh, Nanamin!" Gojo whined, eyes rolling back with an ecstatic giggle as a large hand wrapped around his throat. There was a brief moment where silence fell before Kento leant down to harshly press his mouth against the other, groaning deep into the kiss as Gojo immediately began to lick and suck into the blond man's open mouth.

[Name]'s lashes fluttered as he felt a tug at his hair and immediately got to work, using his teeth to yank down Satoru's pants. He placed his mouth over the damp patch over the man's boxers, tasting him through the fabric and nearly feeling himself reach his high at the perverted action.

"Kiss me-" Gojo managed to moan when Nanami pulled away to breathe for a second. "Don't stop, k-kiss me-" Kento pressed his lips against the other once more, hands deftly unbuttoning Gojo's shirt and pulling it off. "f*ck, Kento, f- ah!"

[Name] had pulled Satoru's co*ck free from its confines and had wasted no time as he took it in his mouth. Eyes rolling back, he felt the heavy warmth slowly slide down his throat and released a muffled moan at the delicious feeling.

Nanami parted from him and Satoru shuffled back, letting his back rest against the wall as his chest heaved up and down. [Name] suckled on the man's co*ck with a lovesick expression, hands squeezing his pale thighs.

"[Name]-chan..." [Name] whined into his mouthful at the loving tone. Satoru's lips rose, a similar expression as the other on his face as his hand buried itself into [Name]'s hair. "Such a cute baby... sucking his kohai's co*ck as if it's the last meal on Earth."

[Name] whined once more. A yelp left his throat as he was pulled back, co*ck slipping out of his mouth.

"Sorry, my love," Kento murmured from behind, ignoring Satoru's grumbles. [Name] hummed softly, closing his eyes and focusing on pleasuring Gojo again as he felt his pants being tugged down. "Oh, skipped wearing boxers did you?"

"He was waiting all day for this, hm? Naughty senpai." Gojo teased. "Though I wouldn't have been opposed to seeing him wearing those pretty blue panties I got him a few days ago."

"Y-you would rip them." [Name] pulled away for a moment to speak. "'s what you did with the red ones."

"Yes, I remember receiving those in the mail," Nanami said dryly, a smile playing at his lips as he leaned down to kiss the small of his back.

The feeling of something cold prodding at his hole made [Name] tense with a whimper before groaning as Gojo thrust up, knocking his co*ck against the back of the other's throat. He began to suck eagerly, tonguing at the slit as Nanami worked him open from behind.

"f*ck, such a good whor*." Gojo hissed, head falling back in his pleasure. [Name] seemed to quicken his pace, lifting his ass further up as he closed his eyes and moaned into the younger. "Senpai so good at suckin' dick, f*ck...!"

"You're so vocal," Nanami commented, ignoring a swear directed at him. It didn't have much of an effect since it was half-choked out in a voice high enough to be mistaken for a woman. "Just relax for me, [Name]. That's it, you're doing such a good job."

[Name] slowed down as Gojo tugged his head back by his hair. He pulled his mouth free from co*ck, leaning up for a kiss which he was met with halfway. Gojo hummed and [Name] shivered into the kiss as he felt hands roaming his bare chest.

"Wanna try taking both of us?" Satoru murmured the question. Nanami was pressing kisses against [Name]'s back, who mumbled incoherently.

"I-I can't, too big." He said, flushing as Gojo laughed. "I'm serious!"

"We aren't doing anything you aren't comfortable with," Kento assured. [Name] assumed that a glare was shot at Gojo since he suddenly looked sheepish.

"I wasn't gonna force him!" He whined. "Have more faith in me!"

[Name] felt hands leave him and took that as his chance to crawl into Gojo's arms. He shuddered as he felt his co*ck press against the other's, whimpering softly as Gojo pulled him tight and ground their hips together.

Fingers prodded into him once more and he hummed as he leaned forward to bite and nip at Satoru's neck. He placed his teeth over the purpling marks that Kento had left, leaving his own marks to overlap his.

"I love you." He murmured. Gojo squeezed him in response and a smile pulled at his lips as Nanami kissed the nape of his neck.

Tonight, he would let himself be spoilt by the two men who had no reason to love him. Yet they did, and he wasn't going to complain.

"Put it in..." [Name] whined, huffing when Gojo snickered and lightly slapped his ass. "Don't mock me, I'm older than you!"

"You sound like you're eighteen all over again." Gojo laughed, breath hitching when [Name] slowly began to grind their hips together. "F-f*ck, yeah, jus' like that... good boy."

"Satoru-" [Name]'s eyes rolled back, a long whimper leaving his lips as his nipples were pinched.

"You're our good boy, right senpai? Jus' ours, all ours." Satoru pressed a bruising kiss to his collar, shuffling back when Nanami shuffled forwards.

"Just ours." The blond hummed, hands coming to grip [Name]'s hips. Gojo hummed as [Name] let his head drop forwards onto his shoulder.

[Name] cried out as he felt the head of Nanami's co*ck bully its way into him. The delicious stretch made him keen loudly, teeth finding their mark on Gojo's shoulder. The man hissed, swallowing back drool as he met Kento's eyes as the blond sheathed himself inside the oldest among them.

"f*ck." Nanami hissed, trying to keep his breathing in control as he felt the walls around his co*ck tremble and tighten. Gojo mouthed at [Name]'s neck, who was moaning and whimpering andf*ck, were those tears?

"I love it-" [Name] blabbered, crying out once more as Satoru bucked his co*ck up against his. "F-feels so ffu-huckin' good, ah, sh*t!"

"You look so pretty like this." Gojo cooed. "Face covered in tears and drool, mmh! Pretty, pretty little boy."

"P-pretty." [Name] stuttered, hands moving to bury themselves in white hair as he surged in for a kiss.

"Pretty boy," Nanami murmured, pressing forwards and squishing his co*ck into the other. The perverse squelching sounds made him shudder as he pressed kisses upon kisses to [Name]'s scarred back. They felt inseparable - all three of them.

"Love you-" [Name] gasped, wailing when Kento pulled back and thrust into him like a starved man. "K-Kento-"

"f*ck, moan for us-" Gojo groaned, hand slipping down to fist his co*ck as he leaned back and let Nanami f*ck [Name] into him. [Name] was sobbing, each thrust landing sharp and true right against the special little bundle of nerves deep inside him. "Yeah, f*ck yeah,f*ck yeah!"

Kento didn't do anything half-heartedly. He was as diligent and accurate with his f*cking as he was with his sorcery abilities. He would gladly lose himself in the feeling of being surrounded by thrumming warmth that sucked him in every time he pulled back.

"Ya like Kento f*ckin' you, don'tcha?" Satoru nipped at [Name]'s earlobe, right under the small ruby-red studs that Gojo himself had gifted him months ago. "f*ckin' ya like an animal, co*ck deep in ya-" [Name] whined, eyes crossed and drool leaking andf*ckwas that beautiful or what? "You like a big man manhandlin' you, hm? You'd take everything to be f*cked like a pretty little slu*t, won'tcha?"

[Name]'s hands scrabbled at Satoru's chest, blunt nails leaving red lines that blossomed forth in their desperate wake. Kento stayed silent, teeth clenched as he squeezed [Name]'s hips with a bruising grip as he f*cked him like a rabid animal.

"Stop talking-" [Name] gasped, keening as his co*ck was gripped tightly. "S-Satoru... Satoru,don't-"

"What?" Gojo looked feral as he wet his lips with a grin. "Gonna tell me what to do,sen-pai?" He punctuated each syllable with a twist of his hand and [Name] was squirming, not being able to move forwards or back.

"Gojo-" Nanami grunted out and Gojo's hand automatically loosened as if he expected the blond to tell him to knock it off. Instead, he met blown-out brown eyes and messy, sweaty hair sticking to his forehead andf*ckhis heart was in his throat. "Satoru-" Gojo bucked up into [Name], who whined and pressed his face into the pale column of his neck. Nanami glanced at the back of [Name]'s head and smirked. "Keep going."

Oh.

Oh.

He didn't need to be told twice. His fingers were long and more than enough as they wrapped around both his and [Name]'s co*cks, rubbing and pumping them in tandem. [Name] squealed, hands gripping his shoulders as he squirmed and cried out.

Nanami straightened and Gojo stammered as [Name]'s hands on his shoulder were covered by much larger ones. Nanami was leaning over, strands of blond in front of his eyes as he began to f*ck [Name] once more, keeping his eyes solely on Gojo.

Satoru's own gasps and moans joined [Name]'s wails as time went on and it wasn't long before things began to pick up in pace.

"Kento, Kento-" A sharp smack to his ass made [Name] sob. "Sir, 'm close, soclose!"

Gojo was in a pure state of bliss, hands working them quickly as he began to reach his peak. Nanami was hammering into [Name], quick and shallow, yet it was enough for [Name] to come hard and fast, moaning like a sinner as he spilt into Gojo's hand. He was blabbering, trying to f*ck into Gojo's hand yet that proved to be difficult since Kento's thrusts knocked him off balance every time he tried.

"Pretty, pretty, f*ck-" Gojo groaned. "Gonna cum, baby. C'mon, just a lil' bit longer and... and...haaah-" A long whine left Satoru's throat as his eyes rolled back and his co*ck twitched before spurting white. His mouth quickly found [Name]'s, moaning into his lips.

The kiss was dirty and sinful and Nanami swore, hips stuttering before he spilt into [Name] with a loud groan, who moaned with a shaky sigh.

"Full..." He mumbled. Nanami hissed as [Name] squeezed around him. "Don't... don't pull out."

"No, not yet." Nanami sighed, head tilted slightly to the side to glance at Gojo. The man was panting and heaving, a stupid grin on his face as he floated in the afterglow of his org*sm. Unwillingly, a smile pulled at his lips.

"Cute." Gojo quipped and the smile disappeared immediately.

"Die," Nanami said despite the softness pulling at his body and soul that threatened to reveal him. [Name] sighed.

"Please, let me just exist for a moment without you two quarrelling like children." He moaned tiredly. A quiet"yes, senpai."from Gojo made him scowl.

"Sorry, my dear," Nanami murmured, pressing a kiss against sweat-soaked hair. It was grossly domestic and the giddy smile on [Name]'s face made Gojo laugh.

"We should stay like this." The blue-eyed man said. "'s nice. Real nice."

"I'm not planning to leave till dawn," Nanami said and Gojo smiled as their eyes met. Nanami looked away first and Satoru laughed. "I have no qualms about your suggestion."

"Good." [Name] mumbled. "Just... stay like this for a bit longer?"

"Of course," Nanami said. Gojo replied by wrapping his arms around [Name]'s waist and pulling him in closer.

It wouldn't be long before Satoru said something annoying again and Nanami berated him for it, but for now, it was peaceful and quiet.

Despite the sinful sex they had that would make any Christian clutch their rosary, it was clear to tell that their relationship went beyond that. It went beyond physical touches and bruising kisses and all that crap.

But, well, that was for another day.

"Long kisses."

Chapter 24: 22

Chapter Text

"Pretty face."

"No, the denominator always stays the same when you add fractions."

It was a sunny afternoon as the small family of three sat in the living room, surrounding the worn Kotatsu by the couch. The curtains were pulled and bound to the sides of the windows, allowing plenty of light to shine into the quaint home.

"Sorry, I forgot!" Tsumiki giggled sheepishly as she looked down at the open notebook in front of her, pencil scratching lightly against the paper as she fixed her answer to one of the several mathematic questions lining the page. After a moment of silence and more writing, she glanced up at her mentor, who was busy writing down more questions in another book. "Is this right?"

[Name] glanced away from his work to check, offering a slight nod. A grin grew on the young girl's face as the teen leant over to scrawl a tick mark by her answer.

"Good job. Now keep working on the rest until I finish writing up Megumi's questions." [Name] glanced to the side, where Megumi was busy sketching on a sheet of crumpled paper.

"I already know how to do it." The boy mumbled, concentrating on his drawings. "I already know how to answer the ones in the textbook."

"I know, which is very good." [Name] nodded. Megumi pinkened slightly at the praise. "But these are different questions. I made them up so the answers aren't going to be in your textbook."

"Huh?" Megumi glanced up, brows furrowed. The baby fat on his cheeks puffed out as he pouted slightly. "Then how do I know if my answers are correct?"

"Because I know the answers to these already." [Name] explained. "Since I'm nineteen, I already know all this stuff. I learnt it back when I was in your year in school."

"Whatcha drawing, Megumi?" Tsumiki asked. Her eyes sparkled when her brother held up his sketch, which was of two dogs with little red spots on their heads. "Oh! Cool! Puppies!"

"They're my dogs," Megumi mumbled. "I can't fully make them yet but that's what they look like."

"Have you named them yet?" [Name] asked, eyes on his notebook as he continued to write.

"No." Megumi shrugged. "Gojo said to name one of them Inugami."

[Name] stopped writing for a moment, brows furrowed. He mentally cursed him, since what kind of idiot would tell a seven-year-old to name his pet dog (pet was a strong word) Inugami? Especially with the inumagi being the highlight in the stories parents told their children to spook them from being naughty.

"Do you know what an inugami is?" He asked. Megumi shrugged once more. "Good. Don't name them after that."

"Isn't that a... a bad spirit?" Tsumiki asked, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. "Mia-chan from class told me that her mama told her that an inugami would drag her away if she was bad!"

"Yes, it's a demon spirit of a dog." [Name] said. He'd encountered a couple of them before, thankfully all smaller variants. "Bad people make them. It would be best if you didn't name your dogs after it, Megumi. They're better than the inugami."

"You've met one?" Megumi asked, suddenly interested. Tsumiki also looked curious.

"Yes. Multiple." [Name] nodded. "I met one when I was with Gojo. It pulled his pants down and ran away."

Tsumiki immediately burst into giggles and Megumi looked smug, most likely tucking away that information as blackmail material for later.

"That was one of the nicer ones." [Name] continued. "There was one that I had to defeat that hurt a lot of people in this village down in Miyazaki. That one was big and not very nice."

"Did you defeat it?" Tsumiki asked, eyes shining. Megumi had shuffled closer.

"Well, I can tell you about that fight if you get through another... twenty minutes of study." [Name] glanced at the clock, making both kids groan. "Twenty minutes and then I shall get started on making some strawberry mochi, too."

Tsumiki looked interested. Megumi simply sat there with a glare.

"You two can help me knead the dough." [Name] said. "Unless you don't want to. I could always ask Gojo to come and help... but you know what would happen then."

"No, he'll eat all the mochi then!" Tsumiki cried. "I'll study! Megumi too!"

"I didn't say yes! Don't say yes for me!" The boy complained, yet grabbed the notebook that [Name] had been writing on. It was filled with simple multiplication questions, which he began to scan over. [Name]'s lips twitched upwards as he began to solve them, leaning back with a soft sigh as both the young children dissolved into silence as they began working.

He wondered how rewarding it would be if he got done with all this sorcery business and pursued a career in teaching.

"You look so down." Utahime frowned as she leaned back in her seat. Her gaze was on [Name], who was tapping away on his phone with a vacant expression. She peered at the device, frowning as she saw that all the man was doing was opening and closing out of random apps. "Jesus, [Name]."

"'s fine." The man shrugged, before pocketing his phone with a sigh. His face looked sullen as his hand moved up to scratch at his cheek. "I'll be fine. It's not every day you let your kids down into another spiral of depression."

"Stop that." [Name] yelped as Utahime delivered a smack on the back of his head. "You had nothing to do with that. That was all Gojo's fault. Besides, you couldn't have gotten the news to Fushiguro and Kugisaki without at least one mental crisis, anyway. It's not every day your friend comes back from the dead."

"I could've told them in private." [Name] scowled to himself. "Instead of... of..."

"Stop moping. What's done is done." Iori sighed as she wrapped an arm around [Name]'s shoulder, who clicked his tongue yet leaned into it. "You can talk to them after this. Give them time to think. They're both probably ticking time bombs now, especially that Kugisaki girl. She's spunky."

"I know, she's an icon." [Name] sighed. "She's gonna kill me."

"It's okay, you deserve it." Utahime slapped his back before moving away back into her own space. [Name] groaned miserably.

"What's this, a wake?" A voice snorted and Utahime glanced to the side, seeing long pale blue hair and crimson lips twisted into a smirk.

"Could technically be the opposite of one." Utahime grimaced. "Hello, Mei Mei."

Mei Mei was a tall, imposing woman whom everyone had a crush on at least once. Even [Name], a gay man, had felt nervous around her back in his younger days.

"Chin up, we're going to be seeing children beat each other up in a minute. It will be a great source of entertainment... and money." Mei Mei went to the back of the room, sitting down in one of the chairs. She threw one leg over the other. "Are you two interested in making bets on who will win? I personally have my money on Todo Aoi."

"I'm not betting on children." [Name] groaned, still looking miserable. "Where is Satoru? I want to yell at him."

"I don't like seeing you two fight. It always ends with gross kissing and I don't want to be a part of that." Utahime grimaced. Mei Mei simply laughed, one eye peeking out from behind her braided hair.

Soon, others began to fill the room. Principal Yaga and Gakuganji filed in behind Shoko, who sat beside Utahime. The latter looked disgustingly happy and [Name] only sulked more.

"Kamo, where is Gojo?" Yaga asked, brow twitching when the man turned away from him to curl up in his seat and mope. Before he could ask any more questions, the doors swung open and Gojo Satoru strutted in with all his glory.

"I'm here!" The albino grinned, sticking his tongue out at Yaga before he moved over to [Name]. He easily picked the man up out of his chair and sat down in his place, pulling the older into his lap, who immediately held onto him. "So cute, [Name]-chan!"

"I'm going to end you after this stupid event." [Name]'s voice was muffled. The threat made Gojo coo and kiss his head.

"Let's give the students ten more minutes and then we can start." Yaga ignored them. "Mei Mei, the crows?"

"All in their places." The woman said. "If you can offer me an extra fifty-thousand yen, I can send more out."

"No, I don't want more crows." Yaga scowled. The wall in front of the classroom lit up, showing various screens that were being recorded through the eyes of Mei Mei's crows. "This is enough."

"Suit yourself." Mei Mei shrugged, a small pout pulling at her features. Quiet battle music echoed through the room and all eyes turned to the front, where [Name] was.

"I love having a gamer boyfriend." Gojo sighed happily.

"Disgusting. I would never want to be your boyfriend." [Name] muttered, tapping away on his phone. Shoko rolled her eyes as she heard a quiet sob.

"Men." She sighed.

"Gay men." Utahime sighed from next to her. They both shuddered.

Yuuji squirmed as they walked to the Tokyo students' meeting room in silence. He lagged behind Megumi and Nobara, eyes on the ground as he tried to focus on his breathing. In his training of trying to keep his cursed energy to a stable, unwavering level, he had found out that meditating and focusing on his breathing helped calm him down and recenter his mind.

He exhaled softly through his mouth as he wiped his palms against the pants of his school uniform. Maybe listening to Gojo-sensei and popping up out of a box was a bad idea. Not only did his friends look stricken, but Kamo-sensei also looked horrified as well, and the man knew that he was alive!

He stole a quick gaze at the two walking in front of him. They were silent and walked with their heads held high, despite the shaking shoulders and trembling hands that Yuuji easily picked up on.

"Um..." He cleared his throat, flinching back as he heard Megumi take in a sharp breath. "Can... can we-"

"Talk? Is that what you want to say?" Yuuji yelped as Nobara turned on her heel, pointing the head of her hammer at his face. The little pink heart on it flashed menacingly in the late morning sun. She looked furious. "Really? Now, after what, two months of not letting out a peep about you being alive?! Now you want to talk?!"

"K-Kugisaki-" Yuuji tried, hope tickling his chest as Megumi placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. He was still turned away from him. "... Fushiguro?"

"Let's go, Kugisaki." Megumi ignored him. "Don't waste your time."

Yuuji's eyes widened. His bottom lip wobbled and he couldn't help but reach forward with splayed fingers, catching the sleeve of Megumi's shirt.

"F-Fushiguro, please!" He begged, frowning as his hold was ripped away. He looked towards Kugisaki with desperate eyes. "Kugisaki! Please, just listen!"

"Tch! We have no time for that!" Kugisaki remained stubborn, even when Yuuji reached for her. There was a small seed of guilt growing in her as she heard the other whimper. "I'm not a simple woman! I don't forgive easily, especially when you pulled a stunt like that!"

Megumi glanced back, swallowing thickly as he saw Yuuji's eyes fill with tears.

"Let's just go. I don't want to talk about this anymore." He muttered, grabbing Nobara's arm to gently pull her with him. The girl followed, only to grunt as a body threw itself against hers. "H-huh?" Megumi stumbled as an arm pulled him in as well.

"Oi, Itadori!" Nobara scowled, fighting the sudden weight. Her struggles slowed as she felt Yuuji begin to shudder.

Megumi's mouth grew dry as he heard a soft sniffle, and then a sob.

"H-hey..." He stammered, not knowing what to do. Nobara had fallen silent, exchanging a slightly panicked glance with Megumi before they both glanced back.

"'m sorry..." Yuuji's voice was thick with emotion. Nobara and Megumi flinched as the other looked up, eyes red and tears rolling down his cheeks. "I-I...I'm sorry!"

"H-hey, don't cry." Nobara tried, turning around to fully face Yuuji as the boy pulled away. His hands were furiously rubbing at his eyes and hiccups left his lips. Megumi's hands had rolled into fists and he couldn't look away from the miserable sight. "Itadori-"

"I'm sorry!" They both yelped as Yuuji bowed, still very much sobbing. "I'm sorry, I-I'm so sorry!"

"C-come on, hey, it's okay-" Nobara tried, glancing over at Megumi so he could try and help. Megumi kept his lips zipped.

"I-I wanted to see you guys and I couldn't and- and I really tried! I tried so hard! B-but Gojo-sensei wanted me..." Yuuji hiccuped, pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes. "H-he wanted me to stay hidden! A-and I couldn't say no because I-I didn't... didn't wanna see you guys without getting stronger! B-because of me Kugisaki got hurt and Fushiguro had to fight Suk'na a-and-"

His friends had gone silent. Nobara's bottom lip had started quivering.

"A-and I still let you down! I let everyone down a-and I'm trying to get better so please, please jus' give me a chance!" Yuuji cried. "Gojo-sensei and Kamo-sensei a-and Nanamin-san all helped me get strong so 'm better at... at fighting and stuff! So I don't let you guys down again!"

The poor boy was blubbering and stumbling over his words. Megumi was speechless.

"P-please, I'll beg if you wan' me to! Please, just don't stop being friends with me! I-I'll be better, I promise! Please, p-please don't leave me!" Nobara had had enough and had thrown herself onto the pink-haired boy, holding him tightly against her. Yuuji immediately reciprocated, holding onto the girl tightly as if she would disappear if he let go.

"Hey, hey, i-it's okay." Nobara's eyes were wet as she pressed her face into Yuuji's hair, who was slowly sinking to his knees. "Itadori- no,Yuuji." She swallowed thickly, her hands moving to card through his pink hair. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't want to make you so upset, I just wanted you to know how upset we were. We care about you, you idiot!"

Yuuji heaved another sob, curling into the shorter girl.

"I care about you guys, too!" Yuuji cried. "So much! I-I never had such close friends before and-and-" Something he said seemed to have made him freeze and cause more tears to stream down his face. He pressed himself against Nobara once more, trying to muffle his sobs.

Megumi was still on his feet, watching the scene with wide eyes. He could almost hear his sister's voice in his head, teasing him about his awkwardness when it came to basic human emotions.

"Sorry." He managed to say. "I, uh, didn't mean to make you upset."

Yuuji pulled his face away from Nobara's shoulder for a second so he could gaze up at Megumi. His face was blotchy and his eyes were puffy and he looked so,sosad.

"It's okay." His voice was quiet. He didn't meet Megumi's eyes.

Megumi took in a deep breath.

"Okay... we, um, we'll talk more after the Goodwill Event. Maki-san and the others are probably waiting for us." He murmured. He watched as Yuuji quickly got to his feet, turning away from them to rub his eyes as if they hadn't just witnessed the borderline panic attack that he was subjected to only moments prior.

Nobara got to her feet as well, using her sleeve to rub her eyes as she sniffled. She met Megumi's eyes and huffed.

"Don't look at me." She grumbled, moving to Yuuji's side when he turned back around. He smiled,f*ck was that a relief to see, as the girl gripped his hand, squeezing softly. He squeezed back.

Megumi scuffed the ground with his shoe.

"Fushiguro?" Yuuji's voice was meek. He glanced up, once again not being able to tear his eyes away from the watery smile that he was receiving. "I-I hope you aren't too mad at me... and thanks, for, um, not killing me on the spot, haha." He chuckled softly, using his free hand to scratch the back of his head. "Sorry for freaking out on you guys like that. I, um, didn't mean to."

"It-" His voice cracked and Megumi flushed with embarrassment. "It's okay."

"Oi, don't beat yourself up over it," Nobara said, swinging her and Yuuji's connected hands. "Happens sometimes, no biggie!"

"Yeah, I've been trying to work on it," Yuuji murmured with a shy smile.

"It's happened before?" Megumi couldn't help but blurt out. He didn't want to see that happen ever again. He didn't like it, not at all.

A hypocrite, since he himself had gone through it before.

"I-it's always happened but now it's gotten worse because-" He froze, and both Nobara and Megumi spotted a dark shadow settle over his gaze. "Ah, never mind! Let's go, okay? I wanna meet the other second years!"

"Oi," Nobara said, eyes narrowed. "Talk to us, peach boy."

Yuuji smiled wide.

"Peach boy?" He giggled.

Nobara's cheeks pinkened as she huffed. "That's beside the point! Look, we're friends who take care of each other, right?! So talk to us!"

Megumi watched as Yuuji's expression flicked to something sad.

"Later." He promised. Megumi flinched as Yuuji smiled at him. "Let's go, yeah?"

"Yeah." He mumbled, turning and beginning to walk.

He could hear both his fellow classmates follow, but his mind was on Yuuji. On Yuuji's tears. On his sobs. On his despair.

A boy who shone with nothing but happiness, reduced to something so... so...

He didn't want to know what happened. He didn't want to. He was afraid, afraid of whatever it was that made such a happy and joyful boy into something so hopeless and miserable.

The anger he felt towards Gojo and Kamo wavered slightly. Maybe they had a good reason for not telling him that Yuuji was alive.

Maybe it was for the best that they kept it quiet.

"Soothing touch."

Chapter 25: 23

Chapter Text

"Soft hands."

Birds chirped overhead, their silhouettes racing along the ground as they flew with quick little flaps of their wings. Their tiny bodies weaved through the clouds, dipping down now and then to fly above the trees. Their feathers brushed against the leaves, little hearts beating furiously with adrenaline and what could only be compared to human joy.

The scratching of pen against paper stopped abruptly, ink pooling under the nib of the pen as it paused against the ivory sheets.

[Name] was frowning, wincing slightly as the sudden thrumming in his head ceased. He watched the birds disappear overhead, above the school buildings and over the Torii gate until he couldn't sense their little bodies anymore.

It was a bad day for him, it seemed. He was too sensitive, both with his technique and his emotions. There were days where he couldn't will even a single steady stream of blood out of him to attack, and then there were days like this. Days where he could feel the blood coursing through the veins of others, both animal and human; could feel how their hearts pumped to send their blood flowing; feel the chemical composition of their bodies despite them being rooms away from him. It drove him insane and hurt his head. The feeling clamoured up in his brain and slithered down his spine and rattled his teeth and he couldn't do anything but suffer through it.

Biting the inside of his cheek, he took a deep breath before averting his attention from the steadily declining pain to what he was so focused on previously.

A crossword book lay open in his lap, and [Name] tsked as he lifted his pen off the paper. There was a small pool of ink that he had carelessly left behind on the pages, which no doubt would soak through at least ten pages into the book.

"Six letters, to set fire to..." He read, brows furrowing. "Hm... ignite, perhaps?" He counted the number of boxes, a pleased smile pulling at his lips as he wrote down the answer that fit perfectly in the puzzle.

It was an English crossword, gifted to him by Ito. She had picked it up from a bookshop in the city on her last mission and had told him that the book was "crazy among the local Americans," in the United States. How she knew that was beyond him since she was Japanese and had never visited America in her life.

"To render motionless, as with a fixed stare. Nine letters, across." He mumbled to himself. Ah, that was a tough one.

He wasn't an expert in English, but being born into the Kamo line and being the nephew of the clan leader made sure that his education was a top priority, despite how hated he was. He was brilliant at languages and knew how to read, write and speak not only Japanese but also English, Chinese and Korean. He aced his studies and frequently got a hundred in all of his exams, but nothing ever pleased his uncle.

He clicked his tongue. Now wasn't the time for that.

"To render motionless, as with a fixed stare." He repeated to himself. "... fixate? No, that doesn't make sense." He clicked his tongue once again.

His concentration broke as he felt a thrum in his veins. Strong, slow and steady, he felt a beat pulse in his head, deep and reassuring. The grip on his pen slackened and he blinked.

It didn't hurt.

"Senpai?" The familiar voice shook him out of his stunned state. A voice that always grated on his nerves, but filled him with warmth and reassurance today. "Aren't you usually sulking in your room? I'm surprised to see you out here."

Geto Suguru was a tall, tall man with broad shoulders and large muscles at the ripe age of sixteen. While [Name] himself looked like a sick, gangly teenager, Geto looked old enough to vote and do adult things like buying a house.

[Name] willed a frown on his face as he curled into himself, eyes on his puzzle book as he tried to push all thoughts of Geto Suguru out of his mind despite the boy standing right in front of him. He tried to think about the question, something-something render motionless or whatever it was.

"What're you doing?" He turned quickly to the side, avoiding a hand that was descending upon his head. He was used to this by now, and Geto only laughed. "Read me well, huh?"

[Name] stiffened as the boy took a seat next to him on the wooden patio. They were in front of one of the many storerooms in the school, one that was rarely visited, hence the reason [Name] chose it to be his little relaxation spot.

Not that it mattered now. One of the two biggest headaches in his life was sitting right next to him. He couldn't get much relaxation in if the reason he needed to be relaxed in the first place was glancing over his shoulder like a creep.

"Get away from me." [Name] snapped, shifting back a little. He began to scooch to the side, ignoring the amused smile Geto was sending his way. "Leave me alone. I need some privacy."

"To do what?" Geto asked, voice lilted. There was a glimmer in his eyes. "To write in your little puzzle book? What are you, eighty?"

"Leave me alone." [Name]'s ears burned as he heard Geto's deep chuckle. He still felt the other's heartbeat; slow and steady.

"You should be glad that Satoru isn't here." Geto was grinning. "He would bully you for even looking at that thing."

"As if he doesn't bully me regardless of what I choose to do in my spare time." [Name] huffed, trying his best to focus on his crossword andnotonhow oddly beautiful Geto Suguru's heartbeat was.

"Aw, I didn't know that he was hurting your feelings." Geto pouted in a mocking tone. "Wanna talk and hug it out?"

"Go be a nuisance somewhere else." [Name] scowled. His scowl only deepened when Geto began to shimmy closer to him. In retaliation, he scooched further away. "You and Gojo are always together. Where is he now? Just because he abandoned you does not mean you get to disturb me in my moment of peace."

"You're so uptight, you know that?" Geto asked, not blinking an eye at the snide comments the other was throwing at him. "Don't wanna talk to me because I'm not from a big hotshot clan?"

"What do clans have to do with it?" [Name] kept his eyes on his book. "You could be the clan leader of Zenin or Inumaki for all I care, and I still wouldn't like you."

"Aww, that's so sweet of you." Geto grinned, leaning to the side to pat [Name]'s head, who hissed like a feral cat. "Maybe you're just afraid of the fact that Satoru and I are the strongest."

"As if." [Name] scoffed. Geto smiled and [Name] wondered why his heartbeat was matching his own; speedy and nervous.

The two of them dissolved into silence. Geto was on his phone and [Name]'s shoulders loosened. Maybe he could pretend that the other wasn't there and try and finish his crossword.

To render motionless, as with a fixed stare...

"Fascinate."

"f*ck-" [Name] swore, hand flinging back automatically in surprise. Warm fingers wrapped around his wrist and [Name] face burned as he realised that he had almost smacked Geto, who he had his back pressed to since he had decided to scramble backwards in his panic.

Geto's chest rumbled with laughter, sending shivers down his back as he lurched forwards, lips opening and closing like a fish as he tried to blabber out something he wasn't in the right mind to say.

"Sorry." Geto smiled and [Name] looked away, his book held close to his chest. He wished his hair wasn't in the bun he had put it in since he desperately wanted to hide his face.

"Don't do that!" He spat. Geto raised his hands placatively.

"I was trying to help." He shrugged, that easygoing smile still on his lips. "Fascinate. That's the word you're looking for."

[Name] paused. He glanced down at the puzzle, counting the boxes in the crossword.

"To render motionless, as with a fixed stare. Nine letters, across." Geto said, leaning back on his arms. "Fascinate."

He was right. After a pause, [Name] reached for his pen, which has rolled to a stop next to Geto's thigh. He glanced up, flushing at the amused expression on the other's face before snatching up the pen. With shaky hands, he scrawled in the word.

"Thanks." He muttered. Geto hummed.

The two dissolved into silence once more. [Name] swallowed and read the next one.

"Provide funding for. Five letters." Geto read out loud. He watched [Name]'s brows furrow in thought, not able to help the smile on his face.

"Endow." [Name] said, scribbling down the word. His eyes lit up when it fit and helped towards getting the next answer. "Oh, and this one is censure, then. Toexpress severedisapprovalof, especially in a formal context."

"Is there even a theme for this crossword? Seems like several random words just put together." Geto hummed, leaning forward to get a better look at the page. [Name] let him.

"I don't know. Ito purchased it for me from a bookstore in the city. Said that it was 'all the rage'." He spoke. "Though it did have a sale sticker on it, which probably meant that the store was trying to get rid of it."

"She probably didn't know what else to get you since you're such an uppity little thing." Geto teased. He laughed at the offended look sent towards him.

"I am not!" [Name] said haughtily. "I am not that hard to shop for. And it is not as if I told her to buy me anything, anyway. Besides, I would have been happy with something as simple as... as... as a pen! Or even a beverage! Or a small snack!"

"Yeah?" Geto grinned. [Name] stared at him for a second before scowling.

"Why am I talking to you, anyway. You're annoying." He grumbled.

"No one can resist the Geto Suguru charm, senpai dearest." Geto sighed. "It is an unfortunate curse that traps all. Not even a little grumpy boy like you can resist."

"I'm older than you!" [Name] snapped. "Go away!"

"You're a grumpy little boy to me." Geto teased, laughing at the scandalised look being sent to him. "And a cute one, too. You're such a pretty thing, especially with your hair up like this."

"Die in a hole." [Name] hissed, getting to his feet. He was nervous and flustered and his heart was beating like crazy. The only thing he was glad about was that Gojo wasn't present at that moment. He could barely deal with one flirtatious asshole, but two? He would be six feet under. "I'm leaving. I'd rather be anywhere but here with you!"

"Aw, I love you too." Geto made a kissy noise and [Name] released a strangled noise, turning on his heel and stomping away. He could hear Geto's laughter behind him.

He didn't have time to wonder why the other's heart was beating so fast. Not when his own was pounding like crazy.

-

"Wow, I wonder why it is that all the Kyoto students are going after Yuuji." [Name] wondered out loud, voice flat. Gojo shook with silent laughter next to him. "It is a mystery. What could it be? Do any of us have any ideas? Can you tell me why that is, oh dear Principal Gakuganji?"

Shoko covered her face, her own body shaking with amusem*nt. Utahime looked done, but also mildly amused.

Yaga stayed silent as Gakuganji shook with rage next to him.

"It is a mystery." Gojo snickered. "It's as if they're all trying to kill him. That's so weird though, since you know, that's not allowed."

"Hm, it certainly isn't, Gojo! Wow, who could have known? What do you think, Utahime?" [Name] turned to her, expression as empty as his voice, despite the high-pitched tone he was talking at.

"You sound like Dora the Explorer." Shoko snorted as Utahime immediately looked away from [Name] so she could try and hold back her laughter.

"Can you show me the skan*y, scheming old bitch?" [Name] asked, only to yelp as a pen smacked his head. He glared at whoever threw it, pouting when he realised that it was Yaga.

"Holy sh*t!" Gojo cackled suddenly and [Name] looked back over at the screen, spluttering when he saw Todo punch Yuuji straight in the teeth. "Damn, kid hits hard!"

"I bet he could beat up Gojo," Utahime said. "If Gojo didn't have his Infinity or his Six Eyes."

"I think everyone could beat Satoru if he didn't have his Infinity or his Six Eyes." [Name] spoke, ignoring the whine next to him. "His hand-to-hand combat is sh*t."

"No, it isn't!" Gojo gasped. "It's great! I may have been sh*t at it when I was younger but I'm waaaaay better now!"

"I don't believe you." [Name] dismissed him. "I can beat you."

All of a sudden the whining was gone and was replaced by wiggling brows and a suggestive smirk.

"Shut the f*ck up, Satoru." Shoko said, not even looking at the man to know that some garbage flirtatious comment was going to fall from his lips.

"I didn't even say anything!"

"Be quiet!" Yaga shouted, shutting down the talk between them immediately. Gojo was pouting, leaning his head against [Name]'s shoulder, who decided that it would be fun to verse Utahime in a very serious match of rock-paper-scissors.

A fun game to play while your kids were getting beat to hell on screen.

-

They sat by the budding wisteria tree; knees pressed to their chests and elbows touching. The sky was clear, nothing but light azure all the way around. Cheery and sunny, perfect for a day out.

"'s not fair." Yuuji's voice was quiet. [Name] stirred from next to him. "It's such a pretty day. People are probably out having fun and..."

"It's good." [Name] shifted, arm moving to wrap around the teen's shoulders. "He would like it, don't you think?"

A smile pulled at Yuuji's face and he shrugged.

"Yeah." He murmured. "He likes the sun."

"No wonder." [Name] laughed a little. "He liked you, and you're the definition of sunshine."

A flush took over the boy's face, which deepened as his hair was ruffled. They both fell silent again, staring at the graves in front of them.

"Aren't only sorcerers allowed to be buried here?" Yuuji asked, leaning against his teacher. "How did they allow Yoshino-san's grave to be here?"

"I pulled a few strings." [Name] smiled, staring at the headstone depicting the name 'YoshinoNagi'. "I didn't know her, but I think that she would have liked to be buried next to her son."

Yoshino Junpei's grave was next to hers. Both graves had several sticks of incense burning in front of it, along with flowers and a few fruit offerings. A bottle of saké sat by Nagi's grave.

"I'm gonna visit every month," Yuuji said, eyes on the smoke fluttering forth from the incense. "And I'll bring food and flowers so I can eat with them."

"That's very kind of you, Yuu-kun." [Name] said affectionately. "I think they would like that. Junpei, especially. Maybe you can bring along your laptop and watch a movie or two as well. You both liked watching movies together, right? Like those splatter films and stuff."

"Yeah! That would be really great!" Yuuji nodded vigorously. "And you should come too, sensei!"

"Obviously. We can all marathon together. You, me and the Yoshinos." [Name] hummed. He played with the boy's hair as he fell silent again. "Wanna know a secret?"

"Mm? Secret?" Yuuji asked.

"When Megumi was younger, he hated this place." [Name] smiled fondly, reminiscing. "He used to always think that the dead were going to rise up out of the ground. Didn't really make much sense since all sorcerers are cremated before burial." He shook his head. "Satoru made him watch zombie movies for several months straight as a family bonding strategy and it didn't really work."

"For real?" Yuuji began to giggle. "Wait, how long have you known Fushiguro?"

"Since he was five." [Name] said. "Satoru and I have parental rights over him. I helped raise him. I blame his broody nature on his biological family's genetics."

"Whoa... so you're like, actually his dad?" Yuuji asked excitedly. "Does he call you dad in private? Does he call Gojo-sensei dad?!"

"I think he would rather die." [Name] deadpanned. "He called me dad once on accident when he was ten and he still has nightmares about it. He nearly called Gojo dad once as well but he smacked himself in the face after and has never repeated it again."

"Wow." Yuuji blinked. "That's kinda emo."

"Right?!" [Name] laughed.

The birds overhead chirped. An hour passed and Yuuji stood up.

"Ready to go?" [Name] asked, getting to his feet as well. Yuuji nodded and [Name] watched as he walked over to the graves, bowing low. He was saying something and [Name] looked away, not wanting to pry.

His eyes caught on a lone grave further into the graveyard. Moss grew over the stone and wildflowers dotted the space around it. Despite that, the stone slab where offerings were presented was clean and free from any debris. A bouquet of wilting daisies was placed next to it.

A single name.

Nami.

"Intertwined fingers."

Chapter 26: 24

Chapter Text

"Honey."

"Yeah, so then I went 'ta the store, right? And guess who I saw, ta' pretty boy from the magazine! Standing right 'ere in the fitness aisle!"

It was a cool day. The skies were filled with fluffy white clouds, shading the earth from the sun. A breeze was always present; moving through the emerald leaves of trees and keeping the temperature to a pleasant, crisp 21 degrees.

"Obviously I had to talk to him! 'Cause I can't have jus' seen 'ta pretties' man of my dreams an' justnothave talked 'ta him!"

There weren't many people out on the streets. It was only around twelve at noon, and most people were at school or work. Besides, they were out in the countryside anyway, so it made sense that only a few people were out and about. The population in the village was small, even when compared to most tiny villages around Japan.

"There were all these girls, though! Jus' chattin' him up all willy-nilly! And boy was it kinda cringy 'ta see!" A pebble on the sidewalk they were walking on was kicked away, whizzing past the grass growing between the cracks on the pavement. It careened down the edge, off the bridge they were on and into the river below.

"An' I didn't wanna seem like all those girls! So I tried 'ta do my shopping and jus' watch and finally they all left the poor guy alone! And obviously, I took my chance an' swooped right in!" Occasionally, a small car or a mini-truck would bumble past. A few drivers smiled or waved at them as they drove past.

"An' we hit it off! And guess what, I got pretty boy's number!" Finally, they stopped walking.

"... huh?" [Name] blinked, going cross-eyed as his companion shoved her phone in his face. It displayed a number, with the contact name being 'Keiichi-kun' with several heart emoticons next to it. "First name? Already, Ito?"

"Yeah, he told me to call him by his first name! And guess what, guess what?" Ito drew closer. [Name] grimaced and leant away. "He kissed my hand goodbye when he left! Isn't that so romantic?"

[Name] began to walk away, a sour expression on his face as his best friend swooned behind him. He grunted as she threw herself onto his back, wincing as the bag strapped behind him pressed against his spine.

"You are going to undo my uniform." He grunted, choking slightly as Ito's arms wrapped around his neck. "Heavy!"

"Oi, don't talk to me about my weight, ya rude f*ck!" [Name] yelped as the girl kicked at his shin. He sighed in relief as he was let go, leaning down to rub at his sore spot.

"You should not pursue anything with him." He said as he stood up straight. Ito frowned, yet still grabbed [Name]'s arm as they walked. Anybody watching would assume that the two of them were a couple, especially since Ito was pressed against the other, yet they were truly only friends.

"Why not, ya prude?" She huffed. "He's handsome, kind, super rich an' handsome." She listed, ignoring [Name]'s raised brow at mentioning 'handsome' twice. "Literally to die for! Even you said that he wasn't a bad-lookin' dude!"

"That is not the reason." [Name] rolled his eyes, adjusting his uniform. It was a dark blue yukata; lines of red peeking out under the folds for more colour. The Jujutsu High buttons were sewn onto the wrapped collar of the garment.

Unlike his traditional uniform, Ito's was much more modern. A tight-fitting skirt and a cropped shirt, paired with a pair of stockings and white shoes was her school attire. Her buttons were on her shirt, which was barely holding tight against her rather... voluptuous chest. There was a bow strapped around her torso; a quiver of arrows at her waist.

"The fact that he only paid attention to you despite the hundreds of women always piling up around him. The fact that he immediately gave you his number, which a popular magazine model should not do. The fact that he showed an intimate gesture such as kissing your hand in public..." [Name] listed his reasons, ignoring his best friend's infuriated huffs. "You should check if anyone photographed that moment. If so, you are going to face a lot of backlash from his fans."

"Bo-ring!" Ito waved him off. "Seriously, yer such a buzzkill! Jeez, no wonder I'm yer only friend!" A cackle left her lips as she was elbowed. "Nah, I wanna see where this leads! Maybe I can get a totally hot boyfriend out of this!"

[Name] rolled his eyes.

"Or maybeee... he might even be into men!" Ito winked. "No one knows his preference or whatever, right? So what if he's just a stinkin' hot gay dude? Would totally break my poor heart but that means I can set ya up with him!"

"No." [Name] blanched. "Absolutely not. You are not setting me up with a suspicious boy from a magazine."

"Boy? He's our age!" Ito laughed. "And why not? It'll be cute as hell! Ya did say that he was attractive!"

"Yes... for a girl." [Name] struggled as Ito kept yanking at his arm. "He is attractive in the way a man is to a woman who prefers men. He is... not my first choice."

"Wowie, what's this? The great Kamo [Name] tellin' me his choice in men? I must have ascended to heaven!" Ito fell back with a sigh, not blinking an eye as [Name] fumbled to catch her.

"You would be descending to hell if I had it my way." The boy spoke irritably. "And all I said was that he was not my first choice. Relationships are not for me and they never will. I would rather get eaten by a curse." [Name] glanced away with a sneer, only for it to fall as his eyes widened. "... like that one over there."

"Huh?" Ito turned, spluttering when she saw a large, four-legged fish...thingcrawl over a house. It was a nasty shade of blue and was leaving mucus-like stuff everywhere. It pulsated and released a warbled screech before darting around the house and out of their sight. "What the f*ck?! I thought that ya could sense it when they're close?!"

"You distracted me!" [Name] hissed, hand moving to the bag on his back. His hands were quick as they deftly unzipped the bag, reaching in to firmly grasp at the studded leather handle of his weapon.

The sound of chains rattling snapped Ito out of her stupor as she quickly grabbed her bow.

"Wanna hit up the new yakiniku place after this?" They had begun running. Ito had been the one to ask the question, glancing at her friend from the corner of her eye. The other had pulled out his weapon and was busy wrapping the chains of it around his forearms and back. The red fabric of his bag fluttered against his side as they ran.

"Okay." The simple reply made her grin before a wince pulled at her face. There were spikes on the chains, which had dug into the boy's skin. The chains began to glow a dull red, beginning to move on their own. At one end of the chain was a short blade positioned like a small scythe. On the other was a small yet heavy mace.

"Y'know, ya look real sexy with a kusarigama." Ito stuck out her tongue. The two were near the house and they could hear the gross, wet screech again.

"Focus." [Name] snapped. The chains around him flailed in his annoyance.

Ito's laughter was almost deafening as the two stood to face the large curse. For now, everything was as it should be.

Happy.

-

It was sudden. He hadn't been prepared for it at all.

Busy with his current obsession on his Nintendo Switch, he hadn't expected anything to go amiss apart from maybe a student or two getting knocked out.

But when all the talismans depicting the incantations of the curses that had been let out to roam in the forests of their school suddenly lit up in flames, he didn't know what else to do but stare.

Charred wallpaper was all that was left. The room was silent.

"What the f*ck?" Shoko managed to say, getting to her feet. Utahime and Gojo were quick to follow, tense and frowning.

"They all burned red. Tokyo students killed all of them?" [Name] sat up, dropping his Switch to the side.

"As the GTG -Great Teacher Gojo- I would love to think that my students killed them all." Gojo tilted his head, brows pulled together under his mask.

"They also burn red when exorcised with non-registered cursed energy." Yaga was on his feet. Gakuganji looked constipated as he stayed seated. His eyes were wide, hands shaking as they held his cane tightly.

"An outsider?" Shoko asked.

"An intruder, maybe." Mei Mei was frowning. Her crows were flying, yet the screens didn't show anything out of place. "The crows didn't see anything... does this mean that Tengen's protective barrier isn't working?"

"I'll go confer the status of our security with Tengen." Yaga nodded to himself. He turned to the other occupants in the room. "Satoru and Principal Gakuganji, go down to the field and try to rescue our students. Mei, stay here and try to locate the students. Utahime, go with Satoru as well so it's easier to cover more ground. Ieiri, get the medical ward ready." [Name] frowned as Yaga turned to him. "Kamo, go to the cursed artefacts warehouse."

[Name]'s eyes widened. He knew what Yaga meant.

Sukuna's finger. In the warehouse.

"f*ck." He said. "f*ck!"

"The goal is no casualties. Let's go." Yaga said. There were nods before the principal was out the door, Shoko hurriedly following.

"Alright, old man! Time for your walk, let's go!" Gojo clapped with a grin, pushing his hip against [Name]'s. The latter was too stressed to respond.

"Let's go." Utahime waved at Mei Mei, who sent a thumbs up as she worked on sending her crows out.

[Name] and Gojo, along with Gakuganji and Utahime, were out of the building before anyone could blink. The old man could keep up (surprisingly) as they took off down one of the winding pathways, heading straight for the forested grounds. Gojo was running along the shingled roof of the buildings next to them, which was totally not annoying and infuriating for Gakuganji at all.

There was a mass of black writhing high up in the sky. It began to bubble before starting to rapidly expand.

"f*ck, a curtain!" [Name] yelled. Utahime swore as she spotted it as well.

"Gojo, quick, go!" She yelled, spluttering as she received a very chilled-out "nuh uh!". "What?!"

"Too late! It's already done." He called. "Whoever it is prioritised the curtain's effect over the visual, which is why it looks half done yet is still complete."

"Seriously?!" [Name] hissed. "Whoever did this is skilled. Being able to control the effect and visual over the curtain like that..."

They skidded to a stop at the foot of the curtain. The path [Name] had to take was to the right, which led to the warehouses. He stayed for a moment, however, just to see everyone off.

Gojo reached out and everyone flinched at the loud crack that echoed through the space as the man's hand was repelled. His palm was smoking and Satoru gagged, wiping it against his pants as the sour scent of cursed energy hung in the air.

"What?" Utahime furrowed her brows. [Name] tried to touch the curtain, blinking as his hand went through with no issues. The woman tried it as well, and it was the same for her. "We can all go through, why can't you?"

Gojo was quiet for a second before a toothy grin pulled at his lips.

"I see." He hummed. "Gramps and you, go on ahead. It seems that this curtain... well... in exchange for denying Gojo Satoru entrance, it gives everyone else free access!"

"What the f*ck." [Name] gaped. Utahime had startled as well, but she was quick to nod and slip through the curtain. Gakuganji gave Gojo a glare before doing the same. "Whoever is behind this..."

"They're a very skilled curse user indeed." Gojo hummed. He glanced to the side before reaching out, gripping [Name]'s shoulder. The shorter looked up, meeting hidden eyes and a small smile. "Be careful."

"You too." [Name] managed to say, suddenly feeling a little flustered at the sincere smile. He turned and Gojo watched him disappear down the path.

Now, it was time to get a crack on and see what fool decided that it would be a good idea to try and hurt his students.

-

It was oddly silent as [Name] sprinted down the path. The sky was devoid of birds and no crickets sang their songs in the trees.

It was clear to see that something was wrong. He felt it in his gut; swirling and hissing like a cauldron about to boil over.

He broke through the line of trees, coming to face three large warehouses. Three large guarded warehouses with no guards in front of them.

There was no blood and no voices. [Name]'s hand crept to his dagger, clutching the leather grip of the weapon like a lifeline.

The soft creak was what made him flinch. His eyes zeroed in on the middle warehouse, where one of the side doors had opened. His footsteps were silent and swift as he made a beeline over to the door, posture in a half-crouched position so he could immediately dodge any oncoming attacks if there were any.

He peered through, seeing nothing but darkness. He pushed the door open wider so daylight could get into the space, breath hitching when he saw that the large building was devoid of any items. Cursed objects and countless other prized weapons were stored in here and they were all...

Gone.

He heard something fall in another warehouse and was quick to move, darting over to the sound. There was a small door, yet his eyes were on the windows. He glanced up at them - the windows being a few metres above the ground. Jumping up quickly, he gripped the iron bars shielding the glass and peered inside.

Two figures, speedily loading things into wooden boxes.

One with blue hair.

Light flooded into the warehouse as the door into the building was destroyed, sending wooden splinters and jagged glass everywhere. The force of the break had shaken and shattered the windows; light catching the glass shards as they rained down.

"f*ck!" The bald intruder yelped as a flurry of red sent him crashing into the wooden crates, sending weapons flying everywhere.

He wasn't the target, however.

The blue-haired man choked out a scream as hands wrapped around his throat and sent him to the ground.

"I should have known-" Mahito's face had split into a grin despite his features turning blue due to a lack of oxygen. The figure on top of him was snarling, pressing down tighter. "My favourite... favouritecurse!"

"You motherf*cking bastard!" [Name] was seething, seeing nothing but red. Red and that god-awful shade of blue that belonged to the thing that hurt his students. His f*ckingkids.

Mathito's companion - a bald brute with heavy purple eyeshadow - had gotten to his feet. With almost no effort, he lifted one of the crates with a yell, throwing it at [Name].

Not even batting an eye, [Name] cracked his neck to the side. Blood spurt out, forming a thin flat membrane with jagged edges that had no problem absolutelydestroyingthe crate. The cursed energy swirling around the blood shaped it into a thin blade, which was quick to slash at the unimportant opponent that [Name] hardly gave two sh*ts about.

His focus was on the dirty, writhing and absolutelyf*ckedcurse under him.

He barely heard the bald guy fall yet was quick to pull his blood back into his body. The wound on his neck was sealed quickly with barely a scar.

He let his nails dig into Mahito's throat, feeling sick and sad*stic joy as he felt blood pool around his fingers.

Mahito writhed before a small mass of flesh began to bubble on the side of his torso. [Name] twisted his body to the side as a large appendage shot up, trying to skewer him. It missed and [Name]'s fingertips burst open, blood weaselling its way into Mahito's own bloodstream through the shallow cuts on his neck.

"I'm going to kill you." [Name] promised with a sneer. Mahito coughed before grinning, and [Name] snarled as the curse began to shrink under him. He tried to grab him from the odd, worm-like form that he was turning into, swearing when spikes erupted all over his tiny body. It shredded his hands and turned them into a bloody mess, which [Name] tried to heal but then couldn't be bothered to. Not when he had a curse to kill.

However, the curse he wanted to kill wasn't sticking around.

The small worm-Mathito sprouted a pair of wings, taking to the air and dodging out of the way of [Name]'s dagger.

"I wouldlooooooveto stick around." Mahito sighed, voice pitchy in his new form. "But I've already gotten what I needed. He would be mad if I wasted any more time." He hummed, not elaborating on who 'He' was.

"I'm not done with you." One of Mahito's wings was sliced and he dropped to the ground with a wet splat. [Name] closed in, all blood and daggers as the worm mutated into a child-like version of the curse. [Name] slashed, snarling as he dodged back.

The two chased each other around the warehouse and it wasn't long before Mahito got tired of the little 'game'.

"You know-" Mahito dodged a blood saw. "I wanted to be nice and not hurt you. But you're really testing my patience!"

[Name] grunted as Mahito swung at him with an arm, which elongated and got his leg. Something cracked yet [Name] couldn't feel the pain. He slashed at the arm, cutting it neatly in two.

A wince pulled at Mahito's face yet he kept grinning. [Name] clapped his hands, the skin at the back of his hand tearing open and shooting out blood. It smacked into Mahito, sending him flying through a wall.

Spluttering out dust, the curse looked up to see [Name]'s pissed face as he exited through the hole in the warehouse wall and out into the sun. The day was beautiful despite the bloodshed.

"Seriously." Mahito sighed as he got to his feet. His nose was bleeding. "You really are insatiable, aren't you? You would be such a good addition if you were on our side."

A chunk of brick flew at him, which was dodged. [Name] was coming at him again.

"Then again, he probably doesn't want you to join. Not yet, anyway." Another mention of the mysterious person. Mahito sidestepped an attack.

The two kept going. Attack after attack, [Name] didn't seem to tire. Mahito, however, was looking rougher by the second.

"How is it that you impress me every time we meet?" The curse laughed, showing off a missing tooth that [Name] had punched out. "You only get stronger and stronger!"

There was a sudden boom - earth-shattering and loud. It shook the ground and made [Name] stumble. Mahito seemed to grin wider and [Name] sprinted forward, his dagger aimed at the curse's throat.

A crate smashed into his back, sending the man crumpling to the ground. Weapons littered around him, along with the broken remains of the crate. It had been thrown with a lot of force.

"Y'know, you were ignoring me. S'not very nice." The bald guy from before stepped out into the light out of the gaping hole in the warehouse wall. "I hate being ignored."

The black trenchcoat that [Name] had been wearing had torn across the back, showing only a sliver of skin that was beginning to darken with a bruise.

"Uh oh." Mahito said, cackling as in no time at all, [Name] had picked up a nearby weapon (an axe) and had thrown it full force at the man. "He's strong, be careful! [Name] is no joke, Yozo."

He clearly hadn't seen the axe coming, so it wasn't a shock when Yozo dodged to the side clumsily and almost tripped over the debris on the ground.

[Name] stood up, swinging slightly. He turned, hair covering his eyes. Yozo grit his teeth as a flash of red showed from under the [HairColour] strands.

"Oi." [Name] said, voice rough. "Get outta my way."

A tremble passed through Yozo's body as [Name] suddenly flew by him, paying him no attention. Mahito was the target. He was a nobody in the teacher's eyes.

And it made him angry.

But Mahito had taken quickly to the skies. There were wings on his back again and he dodged attack after attack.

"Would love to stay and chat, pretty!" Mahito giggled. He reached in his pocket and threw a bunch of... something. "But gotta go! You play nice with Yozo, okay?"

And then he was gone.

[Name] had failed. Again.

Yozo came for him and [Name] snarled, turning to the man with an outstretched arm.

"...!" Wide-eyed, the bald man stopped in his tracks. His eyes slowly looked down. "... ghk...!"

It was the dagger, coated in blood. The blade had elongated and had stabbed through him.

[Name] didn't look even the slightest bit perturbed as he stepped closer. The dagger sunk in deeper before being pulled out, and Yozo could barely utter a scream as it was pushed back into him.

"Scum." [Name]'s voice was cold. "Waste of f*cking space."

And Yozo was on the ground. Blood pooled around him and [Name] pocketed the dagger.

He should be following Mahito. Try and find where the bastard's hiding place was so he could ambush him and finally kill him for good.

However, that plan couldn't come to fruition any time soon. The small things that Mahito had thrown before he left were changing and growing, and [Name] could only swear.

Several deformed humans wearing the Jujutsu High uniforms were approaching him. It was easy to tell who they were, especially with the employee I.D.s around their bulging necks. They were the guards that were stationed around the warehouses before everything went to sh*t.

"f*ck." [Name] muttered. He glanced to the side and saw a familiar red bag. There was a tear on the side of it, which revealed a sharp blade.

It went ignored as he readied himself to fight. He couldn't leave, since the risk of these cursed humans wreaking havoc on the school was too high. He would have to ignore the Mahito situation for now.

[Name] clutched his dagger.

How was he going to explain this to the others?

"Bloodshed."

Chapter 27: 25

Chapter Text

"Soft laughs."

The marks on his back burned as he sat on his knees, whispering prayers under his breath as he clasped his hands in his lap.

He could feel eyes on him. Could feel the hatred, the disgust and the anger. Could feel the cool wind against the back of his neck. Could feel the presence of the guards.

Yet all he really cared about feeling were the gashes on his back.

A shocked gasp left [Name]'s lips as cold hands pressed against his back. A scream left his lips at the sharp burn of salt entering his wounds - tears beginning to gather in his eyes.

"Keep praying, boy!" A foot came down behind him on his toes. "Do not falter!"

His head bowed forwards, a shaky whimper left his lips. Yet despite the pain, he kept praying. His fingers kept counting off the stringed beads in his hands despite how badly they were shaking.

Another scream left his lips as thumbs pressed into the wounds. They were tearing the skin and it hurt, yet he had to keep praying.

"Oh, dear Gods! Forgive this pitiful life for being born with sin! Forgive his clan! Forgive Kamo for rearing such a sinful and dark soul!" The elders in the room chorused. [Name] sobbed, yet joined them.

"Forgive me for being born, O' Holy One! 'Tis not the fault of you, but the old ways of the clan. Forgive me for being the bastard child of Kamo, born full of sin!" He cried, letting his forehead slam against the concrete flooring. The smell of incense choked him yet he kept praying; kept bowing.

"He is the sin of Kamo personified! The Curse of the Kamo clan! A curse whose dirtied feel soils the land and whose hands stain the sky!" The bells on the wooden staff in the elders' hands jingled almost deafeningly. "Forgive him for being born! A curse who we must raise as our own, lest the Holy One grows angered!"

Another unbearable press of foreign fingers on his back. [Name] kept crying, the pain making him dizzy. Fingers dragged along the marred skin on his back and suddenly his head was yanked up by his hair.

A cold finger covered in red pressed against his forehead, writing something that [Name] was all too familiarwith.

He let his head drop back down, eyes shut as he felt the familiar drag of cold paste against his back. The low rumbling of prayers still echoed in the background yet he tried his best to shut it out.

Shut everything out.

-

"Oya? Lookie here!"

The familiar voice made [Name] want to quite genuinely kill himself. He rolled to his side, pressing his face against the cool grass.

He was lying under a tree that overlooked the school gymnasium. The wind was cooler up here and the grass was soft and the shade was great. The branches spread out thickly above him; spindly hands reaching towards the sky. They danced in the breeze, quiet and peaceful.

What wasn't quiet were the twin pairs of footsteps heading towards him.

"Watch it, Satoru. You know how grumpy he gets without his nap." Geto's laugh made [Name]'s cheeks feel warm.

He turned his head slightly to catch a glimpse of the two newcomers.

They were dressed in their all-black uniforms. Gojo had his signature ugly glasses on. Geto smiled like all was right in the world.

[Name] looked away, grumbling to himself as the two began to make themselves comfortable. Geto sat by his head, and Gojo flopped down right on Suguru's lap.

A spark of jealousy flared in his gut and [Name] curled into himself. Now wasn't the time.

Actually, there would never be a time. He shouldn't be thinking about this. Never. Never ever. There was no space for it. No time and no reason for it.

For his newly found feelings.

A tug on his hair made [Name] scowl as he leant back and blindly slapped the offending appendage away.

"Boo!" He could hear Gojo pout and that irked him.

"This is my spot, leave me alone." [Name] spoke irritably. If it was just Geto, then it would be okay(no it wouldn't, stop that). But GetoandGojo? Not only were they both annoying but Gojo really f*cking got on his nerves.

He hated Gojo. Despised him.

"Since when? Me and Suguru come up here to make out and have sexy fun times all the time!" Gojo shot back, yelping when Geto smacked the back of his head with a click of his tongue. His glasses fell off his nose and [Name] took that moment to catch them and throw them across the campus. "MY GLASSES!"

"Oh no, his glasses," Geto spoke in an uncaring tone, snickering when Gojo scrambled off him to retrieve them. He didn't seem bothered, only mildly amused. There was a slight upward tilt to his lips.

[Name] turned back around to watch the blades of grass by his head. He could feel his headache lessen by the second.

"What's got you sulking all by yourself?" Geto questioned as he leaned back on his arms. [Name] could feel his eyes on him. "Where's Ito-senpai?"

"'m not sulking." [Name] muttered. "I am allowed to be alone without Ito being next to me."

"Ah, you two had a fight." Geto nodded. [Name] turned to look at him, annoyed.

"We did not." He scowled. "I just want to be alone."

"So something happened to you and you don't want to talk to Ito-senpai about it." Geto smiled lazily and [Name] could only blink in shock.

How did he...

"No." He spoke abruptly. "It does not matter. She will find out soon."

"Sounds vaguely threatening." Geto mused.

The two fell into silence. [Name] had moved his attention to the branches of the nearby tree that were spread above him. The emerald leaves danced in the cool breeze.

Fingers lightly touched his head. [Name] froze, but didn't speak. Didn't utter a single word.

The tips of those offending fingers began to rub at his scalp and [Name] relaxed, a soft sigh leaving his lips. His ears felt warm yet he didn't move away, letting himself get carried away in the soothing feeling.

He shouldn't be doing this. He was playing with fire. This wasn't good.

"You're stunning." Geto's voice was soft and rumbly. It made [Name] flush and turn his head away. "Cute."

"Don't." [Name] warned. He could feel the other's chuckle. Could hear his speedy heartbeat.

"Why not?" Geto asked quietly. There was a smile in his voice. "You're lovely. Pretty as a picture."

It was silent. [Name] swallowed thickly, a soft noise leaving the back of his throat as he felt a soft tug on his hair. It was out today and spread around his head like a halo. He turned slightly to look up at Geto, feeling his mouth grow dry as he met dark eyes. They were filled with an emotion he didn't want to delve into understanding.

"... use that line on Gojo." [Name] muttered, biting the inside of his cheek until it bled. The iron taste didn't help him focus. His eyes were still on Geto. On his warming cheeks. On his lips.

A pink tongue slipped out to wet them and [Name] shuddered, turning away.

"I've got enough lines for the both of you," Geto said, his fingers continuing their ministrations on [Name]'s scalp. "I told you already."

"And I told you to stop it." [Name] said under his breath. "Leave me alone, Geto."

"Good f*cking god, how far can you throw, [Name]!" The familiar whiny voice immediately caused [Name] to shuffle away, rolling to the side to stare at the tree.

"Found it, Satoru?" Geto asked with a laugh, holding a hand up to accept the sunglasses that Gojo held towards him.

"It landed on the roof of the science building! Seriously, senpai, how much do you eat?!" Gojo whined as he flopped down in Geto's lap once more.

"Not enough," Geto murmured as he used his foot to lightly kick [Name]'s back. He didn't notice the flinch, too busy cleaning Gojo's glasses with the loose fabric of his school pants. "Here." He slipped the glasses back onto Gojo's face, humming as the albino swooned and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He looked happy. They both looked happy.

[Name] felt nauseous.

"I should go." He muttered as he sat up, ignoring the curious looks sent to him by his underclassmen. Geto's eyes held a deeper understanding. "I'm meeting up with Ito."

A lie, but not really. He wasn't going to meet up with Ito, but she would find him anyway.

"You sure you aren't just trying to get rid of us?" Geto asked with a wry smile. Gojo sighed overdramatically.

"What have we ever done to you to make you hate our existence so much?" He whined. [Name] flipped him off.

"Being born." He deadpanned as he got to his feet, ignoring the shocked gasp and soft laughter.

He didn't want to think about it.

There were more comments being thrown at him but he ignored them all as he walked away, heading to his dorm room.

He felt sick.

-

His eyes surveyed the area keenly, looking for even the slightest bit of movement. He was searching; probing around for any clues or remains of the large curse that he had attacked.

Gojo frowned, his eyes skirting over a pool of purpled blood. He knew he hadn't killed the big thing, whatever it was.

Turning around, he felt his surroundings change and his skin fizzle. Suddenly, instead of the dense forest, he was at the entrance of Jujutsu High. Not the main one, but the side. It was the one closest to the medical ward.

"Got the creep in one of the warded rooms." Utahime was the first voice he heard. She was talking to one of the auxiliary managers and had turned quickly towards him at his arrival. She had noticed when the air changed around her and Gojo materialised into existence, being used to it from way back in their teenage years. There was a scowl on Gojo's face and the woman matched it. "I can't believe this happened on our watch."

Satoru ignored her words, already knowing that he was going to be privately meeting Tengen later. There was no way that something as big as the curse he fought came into the school grounds 'just by luck'. Someone had let it in, and he was going to wreak havoc until he found out who it was, and then some.

"Everyone back?" He asked Utahime, who still seemed tense.

"Principal Gakuganji delivered one of the curse users to a holding cell. He's the only one we've found." Utahime had her hands on her hips, not looking at him. She seemed worried - had every right to be. "Fushiguro and Itadori are in the infirmary in Sho-Ieiri'scare." She quickly corrected herself, as if Satoru wasn't aware of their relationship already. "Kugisaki is with them. All my students have been taken care of and counted for as well."

"[Name]?" The question was out before Utahime had finished her words. Gojo looked frightening; with his eyes that were almost glowing blue and the way he stared down at her. His muscles flexed under his clothes.

Utahime shook her head.

"Not back yet." A wince passed through her as a hiss left Gojo's throat. "He can handle himself, he's a Grade One sorcerer, Gojo."

"Doesn't matter-" Before Satoru could finish, one of the guards posted outside the entrance to the school gasped. Both teachers turned to him and then turned to what he was pointing.

"K-Kamo?!" Utahime's heart dropped. The guard had already left, presumably to go get Shoko. Utahime followed.

Gojo stayed, watching the scene.

[Name] was limping towards them, injured yet still moving fast. Blood covered him, head to toe, and trailed behind him like the mucus of a snail. His left ankle looked twisted a misshapen as he dragged it behind him. He looked, for the lack of a better word, deranged. His lips were set into a scowl, teeth bared and eyes wide with fury.

His hands were bloody and mangled. They were a mess, blood still actively dripping from them despite the fact that some areas looked scabbed over.

One of his hands was clutching a shirt. A shirt that belonged to the body of a man that he was currently dragging along with him.

[Name] halted when he spotted Gojo, who was staring at him with emotions that he couldn't even begin to identify.

He couldn't even speak, lest he collapsed with exhaustion. It was a blessing when Gojo began to walk, and then run towards him.

His hand loosened on the shirt of the man he was dragging along, letting him drop on the dusty ground. He swayed as he stepped forward, vision swimming alarmingly.

A soft sigh left [Name]'s lips as his frail body was embraced, which finally let him give up control of his legs. He pressed his face into Satoru's neck, panting open-mouthed as he was lifted up with strong arms. There were words being murmured to him but he didn't know what they were. Didn't really understand.

His forehead hit Satoru's jaw as his consciousness finally slipped away from him.

-

"Wah! First base!"

Utahime scowled at the incessant noise, holding her hands over her ears as she watched Gojo try and coach a baseball game.

"This is upsetting to watch." She murmured. [Name] was next to her, who stirred. She watched the man yawn widely. "How are you managing to sleep in this chaos?"

"I think Shoko injected enough meds in me to take out three f*cking elephants." He mumbled drowsily.

"[Name], my beloved! How about you come here and show how to bat like a real man?!" Gojo's voice crowed and Utahime began to seethe. She watched [Name] get up, swaying on his feet unsteadily as he made his way to the court. As much as she wanted to punt Gojo into the sky, a more sad*stic part of her wanted to see how this would turn out.

"Satoru..." [Name] moaned as he stepped onto the field, whining as he was embraced by a squealing albino. "I want... cheesecake."

"If you score, I'll get you anything!" Gojo rubbed [Name]'s head, cooing and fawning at him.

"Ew, that's Utahime-sensei's boyfriend, right?" Nishimiya commented from her place on her broom, which was hovering above Mai.

"Gross." Mai eyed [Name] with a scowl. Noritoshi stood near them and found the commentary to be amusing, yet didn't chime in.

The bat was handed to [Name], who stood ready to bat. Gojo turned him around since he was actually facing the wrong way.

"Sensei, are you sure?!" Yuuji hollered from the stands. Nobara was the pitcher, and she looked ready to kill. "Please don't die!"

"Alright! On my mark!" Gojo readied his whistle. With a sharp "tweet!", Nobara threw the ball, which curved as it headed straight for [Name].

The audience watched as the ball whizzed past [Name], who stood with a concentrated expression.

...

"... eh, [Name], the ball-"

Gojo was cut off as [Name] swung,hard. The force of swinging the bat sent [Name] forward, slamming down hard against the dusty ground.

"OHMYGOD, [NAME]!" The field descended into chaos as Gojo knelt by [Name]'s body, wailing loudly. Utahime began to laugh loud and unrestrained, holding onto her stomach.

"FWAH HAH HAH! f*ck, THAT'S FUNNY!" She cackled, leaning forward and laughing so hard that tears began to surface in her eyes.

"... eh?" Nishimiya blinked. "Oh, wow. That's... sad..."

Mai looked borderlined disturbed and disgusted.

"So this is who our teacher wants to date..."

"KAMO SENSEI, ARE YOU OKAY?" Yuuji's voice was panicked as he rushed to [Name]'s side, who had passed out cold from swinging the bat too hard. Gojo was actively crying, his blindfold damp with tears.

"Did he say... Kamo?" Mai rose her brow, suddenly interested.

"There's no way he belongs to the Kamo clan, right? He's too weak for that." Nishimiya shook her head in disbelief.

"[Name], please get up, you're embarrassing me." Noritoshi finally spoke up as he began to walk towards the centre of the panic.

"... first name?" Mai squinted. "Since when does Kamo know... oh." She paused. "I guess he really is part of the Kamo family, then. Probably a janitor or something."

"Jeez, since when did the Curse of Kamo become solame?" Nobara jeered.

None of them noticed Mai and Nishimiya as they suddenly came across their realisation.

"... so heisa powerful sorcerer and a teacher at the same time." Nishimiya gaped. Mai slapped her forehead with her hand.

"No wonder he and Utahime-sensei get along so well. He'sgay." She groaned. "Of course. Sensei doesn't get along with straight men."

"Which is valid. I still hate him, though." Nishimiya frowned. "... not that I'm hom*ophobic or anything."

"I am."

"Mai-san, no-"

"Wide eyes."

Chapter 28: 26

Chapter Text

"Teary eyes."

The club was as loud and chaotic as usual. The scent of sweat and alcohol hung like a thick, disgusting miasma in which several bodies swayed and danced. The strobe lights were at full strength, spinning and flashing neon-coloured lights over the moving bodies. Apart from that, the large room was dark, which made it difficult to distinguish faces.

[Name] was back, pressed against the wall with a glass of whiskey in his shaky hands. Unlike before, this time his body was free from any drugs, apart from the tobacco vapour that still clung to his lungs. His shadowed eyes darted from one person to another, seemingly trying to find someone particular.

A body pressed against him and he was quick to dart away, disappearing among the people on the dancefloor. He could hear the whines of complaint from whoever it was that wanted him for the night.

Squeezing himself out of the wall of bodies, he appeared by the bar. Draining his glass in one go, he slid it across the table. His sweaty hand deposited a pocketful of change and soon his glass had been topped up.

Bringing it to his lips, he took a long sip, his gaze moving from one person to the next. It wasn't long before he found who he was looking for.

Twin green eyes stared straight at him and [Name] felt a shiver run down his back.

He turned back to the bar and spat out more change, grabbing another glass of whiskey before making his way to the terrifying eyes that had met his gaze.

He was wearing a tight-fitting black shirt and sweatpants as he sat by the wall. [Name] approached him, trying not to let his nervousness show as he held the glass of whiskey towards him.

A second passed before it was accepted, and [Name] released a breath he hadn't realised he was holding.

"They fine with letting a kid in, huh?" The deep rumble of the older man's voice made [Name] shudder as he sat on a chair that was facing his mysteriousacquaintance. "I think I saw at least a dozen underage girls partying it up by the bar there." A large finger pointed towards the bar and [Name]'s gaze was on the man's hand, which was veiny and large and calloused and-

"Yes... well, they do not care. Besides, I am a legal adult now. Just not legal enough to drink." [Name] swallowed thickly, hiding his nerves behind his glass. "This is one of the major hubs for illegal alcohol and drug trades... why is the sorcerer killer in a place like this?"

"Caught on to my identity, have you?" The lazy, lopsided smirk that [Name] received made his heart flutter and his cheeks grow warm. "Can't a man kick back and relax once in a while? Killin' people takes a lot out of me. Besides, the alcohol is cheap as f*ck here."

[Name] ducked his head to hide his burning face as the older threw his head back to chuckle. His shirt stretched over his abdomen, highlighting his toned muscles and large chest. Under the strobe lights, they looked incredibly attractive.

"Zenin Toji..." [Name] murmured. "I think I remember you. From years back."

"Flattered that you kept a face like mine in your memories." Toji grinned. "I go by Fushiguro now. I got no connection to those Zenin bastards."

"You're married?" [Name]'s spit caught in his throat. His eyes were wide as he looked up at the giant behemoth of a man. Fushiguro looked entertained.

"What, that big of a surprise? I don't exactly have an ugly face. Tons of women want me." Toji cackled. He leant back, one arm behind his head as he sipped his whiskey. The glass looked tiny in his hand.

"You married to get rid of your family name." [Name] muttered. "That is..."

"Smart? I'm aware." Toji grinned. "Broke free of the last f*cking chains those bastards had on me. You jealous, Kamo?"

[Name] bristled at the mention of his last name. Toji was quick to notice and rumble out a laugh.

"Yeah, I remember you." He smirked. "Tiny as f*ck when I met you. Those Kamo elders used to beat the sh*t out of you, huh? The only people you talked to were the prostitutes your stuck-up uncle hired. Must have been a pain."

[Name] glanced away, taking a sip of his whiskey. He could feel Toji's keen eyes on him.

"And now what, you're in the Tokyo Jujutsu Tech school? Busting your ass for people who couldn't give two sh*ts about you?" Each word Toji said made [Name] tense. It wasn't as if the older was incorrect. "If I were you I would have given up already. I'd much rather throw myself off the nearest skyrise than deal with that bullsh*t."

"But you dealt with the same things and look where you are at now." [Name] interrupted, his free hand bunched up into a tight fist. "You have built up a rapport and fame as one of the most dangerous individuals in Jujutsu society. You get contracts for assassinations and you have broken free from your clan. You would not have gotten this far if you had decided to end your own life."

"I guess so." Toji shrugged with an easy smirk. "Why, you thinkin' of joining the underground killing career?" Before [Name] could say anything, Toji leant forward, casting his shadow over the younger. "Because I know you've done it before, Curse of Kamo."

[Name] felt himself start to pale. He e glanced up, meeting dangerous green eyes once more.

"They are not contracted kills." The teen managed to say, his voice stiff. He flinched when Toji chuckled and leant back once more. "They aren't... I'm not-"

"You aren't getting cash out of it?" Toji supplied with a wry grin. "Jeez, Kamo really just uses you as their errand boy, huh?"

[Name] stayed silent. Nervous.

"You're eighteen already, aren'tcha? Go find a girl and get hitched." Toji shrugged before a teasing grin grew on his face. "Well, I doubt that your boyfriends aren't gonna mind, though."

[Name] was about to spit out that it wasn't that simple, before a dark flush began to burn on his face at Toji's last words. Gojo and Geto's faces flashed in his mind and he wondered briefly what they would think about the fact that he was currently at the world's seediest bar talking to a man who was regarded as an enemy to Jujutsu sorcerers.

"Forgot you were gay, my bad," Toji smirked teasingly. [Name] scowled. "Gay marriage ain't a thing here, unfortunately. You might have to go somewhere up west to get that sh*t done."

"Piss off." [Name] cursed instinctually, flushing when he heard Toji laugh. "It is not funny."

"It kinda is." Toji grinned. "Ah, whatever. It's not any of my business."

[Name] watched him warily, feeling his cheeks burn as Toji tipped his entire glass of whiskey down his throat in one go. His eyes followed the Adam's apple on the man's throat, watching it bob with every swallow.

He flinched when Toji let his hand fall on the table heavily, the glass making a loud clinking noise as it hit the rusty metal surface (that would probably give someone tetanus).

"I'm gonna get going." [Name] watched as the man stood, his eyes flicking over his body with barely hidden interest. Toji's thighs, his waist, his chest, his abdomen, his cro-

"Okay." [Name] managed to say, watching as Toji sent him a smirk and barely a dip of his head. His [EyeColour] eyes were on him as he watched him leave, feeling his heart pumping in his ears as he watched the man disappear among the crowd of dancing people.

He sat for a while longer, his glass of whiskey forgotten on the table as he continued to stare.

He didn't know what to do.

-

Yuuji sat against the headboard of the bed, his arms wrapped around the giant Kirby plush that he had gotten as a gift from [Name] a few days ago. His face was pressed against the soft material as he busied himself mulling over his own thoughts.

"The resemblance is uncanny." Nobara snorted from her place on the computer chair. She was spinning aimlessly, her head tilted slightly to the side as she watched her pink-haired friend.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Yuuji snapped out of his thoughts as he took in the happy expression on the plush. One that he certainly did not match right then. "Kamo-sensei got it for me."

Megumi shifted from his spot on the floor. His hands were busy with a Rubix cube, which, after a few more failed attempts, he tossed to the side. They were currently in his room.

"So... the teachers knew about you being alive?" He asked quietly. Nobara shot him a look as if warning him to be gentle on his questions.

"... yeah," Yuuji admitted, squishing plush-Kirby's little hands between his fingers. "N-not all of them. Um, Gojo-sensei and Kamo-sensei knew. And Ieiri-san, Nanamin-san and Ijichi-san too. No one else."

"Eh? Who's Nanamin?" Nobara asked, her eyes squinted. "Is he another auxiliary manager? Don't think I've heard of him."

"No, he's a Grade-One sorcerer. Nanami Kento. He went to school with Gojo and Kamo." Megumi said as he leaned back against the leg of the bed frame.

"He's super strong! And really nice. He's nice to me." Yuuji smiled. "It was fun to be around him and Gojo and Kamo-sensei."

"How? Gojo and Kamo are so annoying. Nanami-san is the only level-headed one." Megumi deadpanned.

"You know that guy as well? Jeez, why am I missing out on the fun stuff?" Nobara groaned. Yuuji giggled softly and both Nobara and Megumi exchanged relieved looks.

"Nanamin said that he knew you too, Fushiguro." Yuuji piped up. "Said he knew you since you were a baby!"

"Seriously?!" Nobara pitched forward. Her chair wobbled dangerously.

"No, he knew me from when I was like... five," Megumi spoke irritably, looking cross when Nobara dramatically gasped. Yuuji began to snicker and Megumi looked away with flushed cheeks, his annoyance receding a little.

"Yeah! And Kamo-sensei said that he's basically your dad!" Yuuji said, which made Nobara lose her balance on her chair and topple forward. "Oh sh*t, Kugisaki!"

"Shut the f*ck up, Nanamin is your dad?!" She wheezed from her place on the floor, the rolling chair on top of her. She tried to get up.

"No, Kamo-sensei is his dad! And Gojo-sensei!" Nobara fell once again, banging her chin on the floor.

Megumi looked irritated yet moved forward to pull the chair off her body, ignoring her as she began to yell in shock. Yuuji hurried to help her off the floor, pulling her onto the bed and laughing when she toppled on top of him.

"You need to stop spending time with them." Megumi scowled, rolling his eyes as Nobara clutched onto Yuuji as she yelled about how much sense this new information made.

"It makes sense! Like, look at Fushiguro's hair! It's the same ugly style as Gojo's!" Nobara cackled, which made Yuuji dissolve into snickers.

"And Megumi has the same pout on his face that Kamo-sensei gets when he's sulking!" He grinned. Megumi watched in dismay as both he and Nobara began to laugh and roll around like children on his bed.

"I'm not related to them, idiot!" Megumi grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at them. It hit Yuuji in the face, which made him splutter before he grabbed it and threw it back, yelping when he threw it too hard and sent Megumi to the floor.

The three of them dissolved into a playful pillow fight, yelling and shrieking with joy as they chased each other around. The Kirby plush watched over them as they wrestled each other on the floor, their squeals filling the air.

[Name] stood outside the door, a fond grin on his face as he listened to the chaos on the other side. He wanted to knock and invite the three of them out for training, but listening in on them now, he didn't want to interrupt.

He was glad that they were getting along.

-

[Name] tensed as he felt the energy shift behind him.

He was in the library, thumbing through a literature book for next week's lesson when he felt it. He turned, watching Gojo materialise out of thin air.

"Satoru." He spoke warily. He was met with silence.

[Name] grunted as Gojo pitched forward, wrapping his long arms around him and pushing him back against the bookshelf. His cold nose pressed into [Name]'s neck.

The two of them stood there for a while, silent and unmoving until Gojo began to push [Name] back further. [Name] hissed softly as the wooden bookshelf and the several books on it began to press painfully against his back.

"Ouch, Satoru, that hurts!" He yelped, squirming in Gojo's arms as he tried to push him back. "f*ck, you're heavy! You're such a brute!"

He leant forward and bared his teeth, sinking it into Gojo's neck. It made the albino flinch and [Name] sighed as the arms around him loosened.

Blue eyes met his [EyeColour] ones, which was concerning since that meant that Gojo didn't have his blindfold on. Gojo was staring at him with a dull expression, which eventually broke to let through a crooked smile.

"Can't believe you bit me." He stuck his tongue out and [Name] grumbled. Gojo's fingers moved to the spot where he was bitten, lightly rubbing the pads of his fingers over the grooves that [Name]'s teeth had left. "Kinky."

"Shut up." [Name] rolled his eyes. He turned, moving to place the book he had in his hands back on the shelf. A yelp left him as Gojo pushed him, corralling him against the bookcase so his chest pressed almost painfully into the shelves. "Satoru!"

"Whaaaat?" Gojo groaned, his nose pressed into the nape of [Name]'s neck. [Name] shivered as he felt the other's warm breath hit the sensitive skin of his neck. "Stop being annoying, jeez."

[Name] hissed as Gojo bucked his hips forward, driving [Name]'s own hips into the bookshelf. He tried to look back, grunting when Gojo pressed his face harshly against his neck with enough strength to keep him still. Hands gripped his hips, squeezing and pressing.

"What's gotten into you - ow!" [Name] squawked out a yell when Gojo pinched his hip through his pants. "Satoru!"

"Shut up for a sec, will ya?" Gojo grumbled. [Name] took a deep breath, letting his forehead thump against the row of books on the shelf in front of him.

They stayed silent, with Gojo taking in deep lungfuls of air by [Name]'s ear.

"I like you like this, all sweet and pliant under me," Gojo whispered against his ear. [Name] scowled and tried to writhe out of Gojo's hold, yelping when the taller drove his hips forward, which caused [Name]'s hips to smash against the shelves once more. "Stay still."

"Satoru, f*ck off!" [Name] hissed. He wasn't in the mood, especially when he knew that something was wrong. "Let go of me!"

"Why? You'll let me f*ck you, right?" Gojo mumbled, and [Name] cried out when teeth sunk into the side of his neck. Gojo's arms wrapped around him, one of his hands moving up to wiggle under [Name]'s shirt. "You always do."

"No, I won't! f*ck off!" [Name] growled. He finally mustered enough strength to throw his head back, knocking the back of his skull against Satoru's forehead. "Stop being a f*cking creep! I get it, you had a bad day! Don't try and f*ck me against my will to forget about it!"

Gojo's arms immediately fell from [Name]'s torso, who took in a deep breath before turning. Gojo had stepped back, his white hair covering his eyes.

"No, don't disappear on me now." [Name] said firmly, reaching out and tightly grasping Gojo's wrist. He was glad that Gojo didn't have his Infinity up.

It was his turn to push Gojo back until the albino's back hit the bookshelves. [Name] scowled up at him, his hand moving up to fist Gojo's hair. That got a pained wince out of the man, the blue of his eyes peeking out from behind his hair. There was a certain dullness to them, along with what looked like regret.

"Don't f*cking run away." [Name] warned icily. "You met with the higher-ups, huh? Let me guess, Soichiro was present? My dickhe*d uncle? The head of Kamo? And Naobito too, the head of Zenin?"

"You dumb f*cking sh*t, thinking that you can get your frustrations out by not talking to me and trying to f*ck me. That's not how I want this sh*t to work and you know it." [Name] took in a deep breath. He hissed angrily as Golo silently reached out to cup his cheek and slapped his hand away. "I can't f*cking look at you right now, stupid bastard."

"... yeah, talking like this makes me feel better." Gojo's voice was raspy and he winced as [Name] let go of him and stepped back. "... I should go."

"Yeah, you should. Get out of my sight." [Name] snapped. Gojo swallowed thickly. He pushed his hair away from his face. His eyes were dull, exhausted and upsettingly bloodshot. "Don't want your apology. Leave."

"... mmhm." Gojo slouched and little and [Name] turned away, not wanting to look at him any longer. He tensed as he sensed Gojo getting closer, relaxing slightly when he felt something crinkly and plastic being pushed into his hand. "... sorry, baby. I'm sorry."

[Name] didn't answer, listening to Gojo leave. His footsteps grew fainter and fainter before they disappeared and [Name] sighed, letting his head thump against the shelf.

He brought his hand up, a slightly fond glimmer in his eyes as he eyed the pink hard candy that was given to him by Gojo. He unwrapped it and pressed it between his lips, letting the sweet burst of flavour distract him from his oncoming headache.

"Idiot." He mumbled. He was used to Gojo's behaviour and if it was any other time, he would have let the man use him. However, the sheer arrogance of the albino's words today as he treated him like an everyday prostitute made [Name] burn with anger. "Bastard."

He took a deep breath before pulling out the literature book he had slid onto the shelves before. He knew Gojo would be back in a few hours, so until then, he should get some of his work done.

He'll figure out if he should forgive him or not later.

"Cute smiles."

Chapter 29: 27

Chapter Text

"Shining eyes."

"W-wait, Suguru-" [Name]'s eyes rolled back as he was kissed. A knee forced itself between his thighs and his hands reached out, finding purchase in Suguru's hair as he responded eagerly to the kiss despite his earlier words. "F-f*ck...!"

"Yeah?" Geto smiled against his lips and [Name] couldn't help but sluggishly turn his head, biting his lip when teeth nipped at his jaw. "Come on... look at me."

"I-I have got class, I need to go," [Name] flushed as a hand pressed against his side. Long fingers danced across his ribcage and he shuddered. "Suguru..."

They were in the hallway of the science building, hiding behind lockers that served no purpose. [Name] had been caged against the wall with Geto's much taller frame pressing against his body.

"Someone is going to see us... Suguru-" [Name] let out a little stuttering noise that was soon swallowed by Geto's mouth.

They kissed hungrily. [Name] tried to turn his head away a few times, only to fall into the trap of sweet words and coy smiles once more before his mouth was devoured again by the other.

"You're so pretty," Suguru murmured against his skin as he sucked deep bruises into his collar. "I love having you like this."

"S-so you have said..." [Name] licked his lips, swallowing back any embarrassing noises as his hands scratched lightly at Geto's scalp. "Geto-"

"No, that's not what I told you to call me by." There was a particularly hard nip to his skin that made [Name] whine all high-pitched and lovely-like. Geto did it again so he could hear it once more.

"Suguru..." [Name] breathed, sighing into his lips as they kissed once more. The knee between his legs shifted and pushed up higher, making [Name] squeak. "N-no, wait, stop...!"

"You're so cute." Geto's chest rumbled with a laugh and let his knee drop. It still remained between the other's legs. "I'm so lucky to touch you like this... Satoru would kill for this opportunity, you know."

[Name] bristled at his name. His annoyance was quickly soothed by a pair of lips that suckled at his neck over his pulse point.

"Let him see what I see," Suguru spoke against his flesh. He held [Name] tighter when he tensed. "Let him see how lovely you are. How beautiful. How perfect."

"N-no..." [Name] whispered, his head dropping back against the wall as Geto's lips moved higher. "H-he is insufferable and I cannot stand him."

"Get to know him," Geto murmured as he nipped at his earlobe. A smile pulled at his lips when [Name] let out a barely muffled squeak. "Get to know him like I know him. You need to know, lovely. You need to truly know what he's like."

[Name] ran his hands through Suguru's hair, pulling it out of the bun that it was in. The other didn't seem to mind.

"Know him like I know him. You need to." Suguru murmured. "Know how pretty he is. His lovely giggles. How his ears go red when he blushes. How his nose scrunches when he smiles."

[Name] watched the fond expression on Suguru's face. He brushed his fingers over the other's lips, pulling back with a fierce blush when the tips of his fingers were kissed.

"You love him." [Name] murmured. He knew this already.

"Like how the moon loves the sun." Suguru's lips quirked up into a smile. The edges of his eyes crinkled. "He is my soulmate. My partner. My heart."

[Name]'s own heart ached. He couldn't resent Gojo for taking Geto's heart. Not when it made Geto smile so beautifully.

"What are we doing, Suguru?" He asked softly.

Suguru leant down to press a lingering kiss to his forehead. He was still smiling.

"Satoru told me I have a bleeding heart, you know." He chuckled. [Name] looked up at him with wide eyes. "I can love more than one."

"No, you can't, Suguru." [Name] murmured. He looked away and frowned when Geto pulled his chin forward so they were staring eye to eye.

"I want you," Suguru said. Plain and clear. "I want to hold you. To kiss you and love you and call you mine. If I am the moon and Satoru is the sun, you are the stars."

"Satoru wants nothing more than to call you his as well. You know us, honey. We're greedy.Sogreedy." Suguru leant forward and [Name] began to squirm, his face warm. "I have two hands, hm? One to hold you and one to hold Satoru. There is no 'you or him'. It's youandhim for me, [Name]."

"Suguru..." [Name] hesitated.

"Tomorrow. Bright and early." Geto continued. "I want you with us. To that one restaurant near the skytree."

"Wait, you don't mea-"

"Satoru and I want you with us. We want to know you. Therealyou. Not just the one that beats Satoru's ass in hand-to-hand and swears worse than a sailor at us." [Name] flushed as Geto's chest rumbled with a laugh. "Well, we love those parts of you, too."

"You both planned this." [Name] complained. Geto smiled, sensing no real animosity towards him or Gojo for the first time in his life. "Bastards."

"And you have the chance for a one-in-a-lifetime date with said bastards." Geto kissed the palm of [Name]'s hand. His eyes were gentle as always. "Well... more than that. I want more than just one date."

"Leave me alone." [Name] grumped and Suguru smiled widely, knowing he had managed to convince him. He leaned down once more and [Name] entire body sagged as he was kissed. Suguru chuckled into his lips as they kissed, soft and innocent, before pulling away. "I hate you."

"I know." Suguru smiled, finally letting his grip on the other loosen. He watched fondly as [Name] fussed over his uniform and grinned widely as he spotted a barely hidden hickey under the collar of his yukata, knowing that he had put it there. "Pretty boy."

"Shut up." [Name] flipped him off.

They walked to the science classroom together. [Name] was in the lead and Suguru followed close behind, calm, cool and collected as always. It wasn't class time for him. Just [Name].

"Su-gu-ruuuuuu!" The familiar sing-songy voice made [Name] cringe harshly, which made Suguru snort with a grin. They were at the door to the science class when Gojo came barrelling down the corridor, arms spread wide open.

[Name] dodged to the side as Gojo nearly ran him over in his excitement to see Geto. Suguru clicked his tongue with a fond smile as Gojo basically threw himself onto him, pressing loud and exaggerated kisses to his cheeks and lips. Suguru caught his face and pulled him in for a real kiss, which Satoru giggled happily at.

"My class is on at the moment, please be loud elsewhere." [Name] spoke, an irritated tick growing on his forehead.

Satoru turned and [Name] blinked at the grin on his face. It wasn't the usual snarky and mischievous ones that he was usually subjected to.

It was soft. Gentle. Adoring.

Lovely.

[Name] cheeks burned and he turned, immediately sliding the classroom door open the moment Gojo looked as if he was about to say something.

"Yo, [Name], yer late!" Ito was the only one present in the class. "Sensei went on a toilet break so-"

She spotted the flustered expression. She spotted Gojo and Geto behind her friend. She spotted their soft gazes and loving smiles.

A devilish grin grew on her face and [Name] snarled as he slid the door shut aggressively behind him.

"Not a word, Ito. I will slit your throat."

-

The day was bright and happy. It was a nice 25 degrees out and the breeze ruffled through the leaves of nearby trees.

"So what do we think? Hotpot?" Nobara asked as she kicked a pebble that was in her path on the sidewalk. It flew a few feet forward before being lost in the grass somewhere.

"I'd kill for some barbeque right now." [Name] moaned, holding his stomach. "That mission took it out of me!"

"You literally just sat there and laughed while the three of us had to fight the damn curse," Megumi spoke irritatedly. "You did nothing."

"Yes, he did! He cheered for me! Pumped me up!" Yuuji and [Name] shared a fistbump. Megumi deadpanned at the interaction and Nobara seemed to ignore it for the sake of her own sanity.

"Thank you, Yuuji. I know that you will always have my back." [Name] sniffled, ruffling the boy's hair. Nobara and Megumi watched as Yuuji leaned into the affection like a happy dog. They could almost imagine the tail wagging behind him.

"There's a yakiniku place nearby," Megumi said as he scrolled through his phone. Nobara and Yuuji cheered and [Name] seemed pleased. "It's near a tobacco store."

"Oh, good! I do need to get some more. Shoko recommended a brand the other day, which was weird because she doesn't seem like the type to roll her own cigarettes. She's way too busy for that sh*t." [Name] piped up.

"Eh? You smoke, sensei?" Yuuji asked curiously. Nobara scowled.

"Idiot, can you not smell it on him? It's some weird herbal blend or some sh*t that grannies usually use." She gagged. "It's what like every old person smokes back from where I'm from."

"Oi, don't call me a granny!" [Name] gasped, trying to smack the back of Nobara's head playfully and yelping when she smacked his hand away. "I'm only 29!"

"Too old," Megumi said. He seemed smug at the horrified expression on his teacher's face.

"Ehhhh? Wait, I still didn't know that you smoked! You don't smell like cigarettes!" Yuuji sniffed his teacher and Nobara gagged. Megumi only rolled his eyes.

"I have a kiseru that I use." [Name] supplied, ruffling Yuuji's hair once more as they walked. He ignored when Noraba called him lame and old-fashioned. "And I use a more expensive batch of tobacco, mixed with other herbs and stuff. It doesn't smell like regular cigarette smoke."

"He's been smoking since I knew him." Megumi shared. "It's f*cking gross."

"I distinctly remember you stealing my kiseru and stuffing it full of grass from our yard and trying to smoke it yourself." [Name] shot back with a grin, cackling when Megumi immediately turned bright red. Nobara began to laugh as she swung an arm around Megumi's shoulder, who hissed and tried to wrangle her off.

"No way! Megumi, you're such a delinquent!" Yuuji gaped. He punched Megumi's arm and yelped when he got a kick to the shin. "Ow! I'm complimenting you, don't hurt me!"

"I was seven! Can you stop bringing that up every time you talk about smoking?!" Megumi growled. "I think you've told Nanami-san about it several times!"

"I actually only told him twice and both times I got an hour-long lecture about keeping stuff like that away from kids." [Name] shrugged. "Utahime is the one I gossip to the most about you."

"Bastard!" Nobara held Megumi back from bashing his teacher as he began to yell and spit.

"The Kyoto teacher? Oh yeah, the two of you are friends, aren't you?" The brunette asked curiously. She grunted as Megumi tried to jump. "Down, Fushiguro, down!"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. She was my senior when I was in school." [Name] held his hands behind his head as he walked. It seemed that Gojo was rubbing off on him. "She and Gojo used to throw hands all the time. She hates him."

"Gojo? Last name?" Yuuji noticed. Panic began to well up in him. "Wait, did you and Gojo-sensei get in a fight?! You never call him by his last name!"

"Yuuji-" [Name] was cut off as Yuuji basically grabbed him around the waist and lifted him up as he hugged him. "H-holy sh*t, Yuuji!"

"Damn, boy." Nobara and Megumi stopped struggling for a moment to watch.

"Don't fight! You and Gojo-sensei are like my dads! I don't want my parents fighting!" Yuuji wailed. Passersby avoided them and didn't make eye contact.

"Let me down!" [Name] yelped. He sighed with relief as his feet touched the ground. "Jesus Christ... but also, you think of me as your dad?! That's so f*cking cute!"

"Here they go again." Megumi deadpanned as he saw the teacher and student duo hugging and crying once more.

"What, you jealous, Fushiguro? Jealous that Yuuji gets more affection than you?" Nobara teased. "Ehhh? Do I smell jealousy? Do I, do I?"

"Shut the f*ck up you fake brown-haired bitch." Megumi kicked at Nobara's knees. Yuuji and [Name] stopped hugging when the other two began to fistfight in the middle of the street.

"Okaaaaay, so, let's go to the yakiniku place!" [Name] wrapped his arm around Megumi's neck and pulled him back, ignoring the fact that he had begun to choke. Yuuji had just straight up picked Nobara up in his arms and was holding her above his head like a prize.

"Whoa, the view's great!" Nobara gasped, momentarily forgetting about the fact that her nose was bleeding.

"Yakiniku!" Yuuji cheered.

The group began to move once more, with Megumi still struggling under his teacher's arm.

"Wait, so did you and Gojo-sensei have a fight or not?" [Name] looked back at Nobara, who had asked the question. He paused as he saw a very serious expression on Yuuji's face that honestly... he had to try not to laugh.

"Yeah, don't worry about it." [Name] waved it off. "Satoru and I fight all the time. Next time I see him, I'll smooch him till he passes out."

"Ew, too much information! Gross, gross, gross!"

-

The baby was crying again.

[Name] was in his room. He couldn't sleep. His entire left side was aching and bruises decorated more than half of his face. His uncle had been angry today and had punished him for not doing as well as he had expected in his sword-fighting classes.

He lay his head against the dirty wall, listening to the baby wail and cry.

He got to his feet shakily. Wrapping his threadbare blanket around him, he tiptoed over the talismans and incense littering the floor of his room. He snuck out of the room, making sure to not make a noise and alert the guards, though he doubted that he would be heard over the shrieking baby.

He pressed close to the wall in a half-crouch as he moved down the long hallway. The lights in the courtesan rooms were out, which meant that everyone was asleep.

At the very far end of the corridor, a light was on. A candle - flickering unsteadily. [Name] froze as he saw a shadow: a woman. A woman, silent as she held the crying baby in her arms.

"Risu-chan..." [Name] whispered fearfully. His little heart dropped at the thought of someone hurting the baby.

His footsteps picked up and he peeked around the corner, freezing once more.

It was a woman. She was wearing a tattered kimono as she stood above the baby crib, holding the baby in her arms. Her hair was swept back and dirty, and her face looked pale and shiny from tears. Her eyes seemed almost vacant as she silently shook the bawling child in her arms, not seeming to be bothered by the crying.

The floorboard creaked under [Name]'s foot. He yelped silently as the lady tensed. She held the baby closer, her breathing ragged.

It was silent apart from the sobbing baby.

"Who... are you?" [Name] asked softly. The woman seemed to jump and [Name] flinched when her head snapped to look at him. He hid behind the sliding door, only his eyes peeking out.

The lady stared at him before all the fear in her body seemed to melt. [Name] watched as she forced a smile on her face. A terrible one, even faker than the ones his uncle gives him.

"Hello." Her voice was soft. Like windchimes on a foggy day. "Who might you be?"

[Name] stayed hiding. He looked at the woman, and then at the baby.

"What... are you doing with Risu-chan?" He asked, his voice wobbly with fear. "D-don't... don't hurt it, okay?"

The lady seemed confused.

"Risu-chan?" She parroted back quietly. She looked down at the baby and then seemed to smile as realisation hit her. "Oh, my son? Risu-chan... is that what you've been calling him? How sweet." Her smile looked a bit more genuine. "I suppose... he does look a little bit like a squirrel, doesn't he?"

[Name] flinched as the woman tried to step closer to him. Risu-chan began to cry harder, and the lady flinched as well.

He watched as she shakily got to her knees to sit down.

"Come." She beckoned him forward. "Do you want to see him?"

"Who are you?" [Name] asked a little louder. He came away from the door, standing in full view with his tattered blanket around him. The lady seemed to grow saddened at the sight before calling him closer once again.

"You can just call me your aunty, okay? Yourobasan." She said gently as he drew closer.

"Obasan..." [Name] murmured. He glanced down at the baby, who was sniffling and whimpering. "Risu-chan..."

The woman, his brand new aunty, giggled. It sounded choked and dry but still somehow real and genuine.

"Risu-chan..." She smiled softly. [Name] sat down on his knees in front of her. "So cute... did you come up with that name?"

"Mhm." [Name] nodded. Risu-chan hiccuped and wailed once more, before pausing when [Name] reached out to hold its hand. The baby looked up at him, its little face all splotchy and red.

"His name is Noritoshi," Obasan said quietly. "Kamo Noritoshi. He's my son."

[Name] blinked. He looked up at his aunty. She was smiling down at Risu-chan.

"Nori... toshi?" He asked quietly. Risu-chan wasn't Risu-chan anymore. It... no,he, was Kamo Noritoshi. "If you are my obasan... he's my cousin? Myitoko?"

"That's right." Aunty smiled gently. "He's your little cousin. The son of KamoSoichiro."

The world stopped spinning. [Name] immediately scrambled back. His sudden movement startled Noritoshi and he began to scream and cry again.

"U-uncle's baby?" [Name] asked shakily. His aunt had tensed at his panic. "N-no... no, he is my uncle's baby?"

The woman's eyes moved to his face. To the colourful bruises. To his neck. To the blue and yellow marks that looked just like fingers.

Tears surfaced in her eyes.

"I know. I know." Aunty began to speak, but [Name] had gotten to his feet already. He ran, ran all the way back to his room. His bare feet slapped against the worn tatami flooring as he ducked back into his room.

He's been playing with the baby all this time. The baby that belonged to his uncle. His scary uncle that hit him till he bled. That sometimes let him starve.

He curled up on his bed, shaking and whimpering. Cold wind seeped in through the barred vents.

He had forgotten his blanket in Risu... no,Noritoshi'sroom.

"Quick breaths."

Chapter 30: 28

Chapter Text

"Hushed voices."

He stood in the airport, standing by one of the large ceiling-to-floor windows that looked out to the flight lane. Occasionally, a plane landed or took off, and passengers that boarded or got off the planes looked like ants from his perspective.

He had to fly private. A small mercy in his world of losses. Of course, the plane wouldn't be anything fancy. They never spent more than a single yen past the bare minimum.

[Name] huffed a breath out of his nose. Reaching into his coat pocket, he rummaged around, his fingers brushing against plastic.

Pulling it out, he gazed down at it. It was a small pink hard candy, the same brand that Gojo liked. Unwrapping it, he placed it on his tongue, letting it melt slowly instead of biting into it.

He gazed at his reflection in the window, the dying sun outside making it easier to see.

He was wearing black jeans and a dark grey turtleneck, covered by a large ash-grey overcoat. A beret that was pulled low hid his eyes, which were bruised from a lack of sleep. Black boots covered his feet.

He ignored the looks that he was getting. He looked suspicious as hell and he didn't blame people for staring. The occasional security officer walking by wasn't missed by him either.

[Name] raised his head as he spotted a small jet roll into view outside the window. With a sigh, he picked up his bag from its previous position on the carpeted floor next to him.

Nausea began to churn in his gut.

He headed to the terminal, ignoring the jealous looks from a few people when they realised that he was a passenger flying private.

Well, they wouldn't be jealous when they found out the reason for his flight.

His mouth felt dry yet grossly tacky.

"Flying private. To Okinawa." [Name] murmured as he approached the terminal. The lady eyed him up and down, noting his outfit (which despite its simplicity, reeked of money). He showed the woman his phone where his ticket details were stored, and soon he was being escorted to his plane.

Okinawa.

[Name]'s lips thinned. His eyes lowered. Vomit tickled the back of his throat.

Okinawa.

-

"Nah, nah, nah! Ya gotta listen to this song! It's good!" Ito's voice was as loud as usual as she hung off [Name]'s shoulders. "It's American!"

"And we're Japanese." [Name] said flatly, grimacing when his cheek was pulled.

"So what?! Ya know English, so you'll understand!" Ito grinned, pressing one of her white earbuds further into her ear while the other dangled freely from the cord. They were connected to the pink iPod stuffed in the back pocket of her jeans. "Just listen! It's good!"

[Name] scowled.

They were walking through downtown Tokyo, in Shibuya. They had recently finished a mission and were heading to an ice cream parlour to celebrate before taking the train back to school.

"Hey, quit it!" [Name] yelped as one of the earbuds was forced into his ear. An English song began to blare in his ear almost immediately and he winced.

"'s a new song! Jus' released!" Ito snickered at [Name]'s cross expression. She eagerly watched as her friend listened to the song.

"... my humps... my lovely little lumps..." [Name] repeated the lyrics of the song slowly, the English rolling off his tongue easily. The expression on his face was both confusion and muted disgust. "... what the f*ck?"

"Dunno what tha' means! I think 'humps' mean ass? Maybe? You're the English expert here!" Ito shrugged easily, yelling out when her iPod was swiped. "Hey, wait! I like this song! Don't change it!"

Ito watched with a pout as [Name] searched through the iPod. The song stopped before the opening notes to 'Stay With Me' by Miki Matsubara began to play.

"I guess this one ain't bad, either." Ito sighed morosely, grumbling to herself when she saw [Name]'s head beginning to bob with the beat. "I wanted to listen to the other song, though!"

"Listen to that in private when you aren't with me." [Name] spoke, tucking the little iPod back into Ito's jeans pocket. He ignored his friend's grumbles and moans, instead focusing on the song playing in his ear as they both walked.

The ice cream parlour soon came into view. [Name] hid a yawn behind his hand.

After they ate and got on the train, he would indulge in a nap.

"Oh sh*t, look!" Ito yanked his arm and [Name] stumbled. Passersby giggled when Ito wrapped her arms around his waist to steady him. "Look what's stuck on the door!"

[Name] held off on smacking Ito upside on the head in favour of looking at what she was talking about.

"A couple's special! If yer a couple, ya get the strawberry and vanilla deluxe sherbet ice cream sundae to share!" Ito squealed. [Name] moaned in pain when the woman pressed a sloppy kiss to his cheek. "Come on,boyfriend, let's go get some ice cream!"

"You are a thorn in my side." [Name] huffed, yet let Ito pull him along. He clearly had no real qualms about it and was eyeing the photo of the delicious-looking sundae stuck on the glass door.

The little bell hanging above the door chimed as the two of them entered.

The moment they did, however-

"I swear to you! We're a couple! Really!" Gojo's voice was high-pitched, loud and annoying. In his arm was Shoko, who looked bored and mildly entertained. Geto stood a little ways away from them, recording the situation on his phone as he hid his laughter behind his hand.

"What the f*ck." [Name] deadpanned.

Ito grabbed his arm with bruising strength when he tried to run. She was serious about wanting her special couples' sundae.

"For the last time, sir, this sundae is for couples only. If you aren't a couple, I can't give it to you." The tired worker said as if she'd repeated this a hundred times before. Knowing Gojo, she probably had to.

"Sir?!" Gojo stumbled back in shock. "I'm 16! SIR?! I'm a high schooler!"

"Oh, sorry." The woman spoke again, clearly uncaring.

"Satoru, just buy the regular f*cking sundaes we usually get." Shoko sighed, rolling her eyes when Gojo pulled her closer. "For f*ck's sake, man."

"I'll prove it! I'll prove we're a couple!" Gojo shook his fist in the air as if he was an old man. "I'll kiss Ieiri on the lips!"

"Ieiri? Isn't that a last name?" The worker asked, leaning against the register. Geto seemed to be in hysterics as he struggled to stay silent. "If she's your girlfriend, you should be calling her by her first name."

"She likes being called by her last name too! Isn't that right, my lovely beautiful Ieiri? Oh, her eyes are as beautiful as the stars! No one can be as pretty as my little cutie patootie Shoko-chan!" Gojo sighed, leaning against Shoko and making smooching noises. Shoko looked increasingly disgusted.

"This is nauseating." [Name] muttered. He watched the scene with muted horror and mild disgust.

"Shoko's a lesbian isn't she?" Ito whispered to him. "I'm pretty sure I've seen her write fanfiction of her and Utahime-senpai."

"What, gross." [Name] turned to her, an incredulous expression on his face. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Ito nodded. "And she writes fanfiction about brutally massacring Geto and Gojo."

"I can respect that."

"PLEASE! I SWEAR WE'RE A COUPLE!" Gojo was on his knees as he wailed like a toddler. Geto managed to turn off his phone before dissolving into hysterical tears, laughing like a maniac as he leaned against the wall. Shoko had moved to stand next to him as she uncaringly scrolled through her phone. "I MAKE SWEET LOVE TO HER EVERY NIGHT!"

The worker seemed to ignore him. Her attention moved to Ito and [Name], the former having her phone out as she snapped photos.

"Sorry about that. What can I get you two?" She asked, a dead-eyed expression on her face. She seemed tired of life.

"S-senpai...?" Gojo turned to look up at them, hope shining in his eyes. His bottom lip was wobbling. "Please! Tell this mean lady that I'm in a committed relationship with Shoko!"

"Can we get the Couples' Sundae?" [Name] ignored him as he held out his card. Ito was snickering behind him.

"E-eh...?"

"Certainly." The woman nodded, taking his card as she processed the payment.

"EH?!"

"Shut up, Gojo." [Name] said, clearly irritated. He yelped as Gojo leapt for his leg, wrapping his arms around it like a damn koala. "Oi! Let go, you f*cking idiot!"

"How come you got it?! How come you got the Strawberry and Vanilla Deluxe Sherbet Ice Cream Couples' Sundae?!" Gojo wailed. "You two aren't even a couple!"

"Ya don't know that!" Ito winked. "See, last night, I f*cked [Name] till he-"

"Ito." [Name] rolled his eyes with exasperation lining his tone.

"NO FAIR, I WANTED TO DO THAT TO HIM!"

Thankfully, Geto, who seemed to have recovered, came forward to pry Gojo off [Name]'s leg. [Name] watched with a scowl as Gojo hugged Geto and began crying into his chest like a wife whose husband had just gone off to war.

"There there, Satoru." Geto patted his back with mock sympathy. Gojo continued to cry.

"You both aren't in a relationship! You're a gay man, [Name]-chan!" Gojo wailed. [Name]'s brow twitched.

"What the f*ck gave you that stupid idea?" He sneered. He turned to smack Ito when she let out a loud "wellllll."

"'s okay, [Name] is my cute little boyfriend for today." Ito wrapped her arms around one of his, leaning up to press a loud kiss to his cheek. [Name] carelessly batted her away.

Ignoring the twin pairs of jealous eyes glaring at her, Ito turned to Shoko.

"Do ya wanna join us for sundaes, then? We can sit at one table together!" Ito grinned. She smacked a palm over [Name]'s mouth when he went to protest.

"Sure. You're better company than them." Shoko easily agreed, ignoring the offended gasps she got.

"I'm not complaining. At least we get to talk to our cute little [Name]." Geto grinned.

[Name] muttered a swear, ignoring Geto, who carried Gojo bridal-style to a table since the latter was still making a loud fuss.

The sh*t he had to deal with.

-

They were in the city.

Nobara chewed on her gum as she scrolled through her phone. She pinged the group chat once more, a tick mark growing on her forehead when she still received zero responses.

Shielding her eyes from the harsh sun, the young woman squinted over at the entrance to the underground Shinkansen. In the shade stood her teacher, [Name], who was smoking his kiseru as he fiddled with his Nintendo Switch.

"Sensei, they still aren't replying!" She called out, using her hands to cup her lips to project her voice more. Passersby jumped at her yelling, but she couldn't care less.

[Name] lifted his head, pushing his sunglasses up to assess Nobara. He took another drag from his kiseru, blowing out rings of smoke. A nearby child pointed at him with awe on their face, only for their mother to pull them away.

"Be patient! They're probably having a lover's quarrel somewhere." [Name] called back.

Nobara huffed an amused laugh before shaking her head and glancing back at her phone. It buzzed with a text.

Girl Gang🤪

Fushiguro Megumi
We'll try and make it before you and Kamo-san get there from your mission. We'll catch the 1:40pm train.
12:23pm

Peach-boy !!!
ya ya ya ya! we will beaat you there! ask sensei if we can stop at the sughi train😆😆😆😆
12:23pm

Fushiguro Megumi
*beat
*sushi
12:24pm

Peach-boy !!!
😅😅😅
12:24pm

Lesbean
we don't even have to ask him. the bastard's already drooling over the prospect of eating the matcha cake from there.
12:24pm

Peach-boy !!!
waaaaahhh dont be so mean to him nobara!!!!
12:24pm

Nobara rolled her eyes but scrolled further down the chat. Those were the old messages.

Girl Gang🤪

Lesbean
oi
oi
oi
oi
ffs where are you guys
damn gays cant even pick up the f*cking phone
2:45pm

*5 missed calls from Lesbean*

Lesbean
sensei thinks you that you guys are having a lovers' quarrel
omg is that true
so knew it i knew the two of you were secretly getting it on
2:52pm

Lesbean
omfg srsly where are you guys
kamo literally had time to grind, stuff and smoke two whole fills of his old people kiseru
you guys are so lame
we'll go eat without you
3:04pm

-New Unread Messages-

Peach-boy !!!
OMG NOABARA NO!!!!
😰😰😰😰😰😰😰😰
were so sorry gojo-sensei kidnapped us from thbe train
PLEASE DONT EAT WITHOUT US!!!!!!🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
3:11pm

Fushiguro Megumi
Gojo said that there was a curse and took us to go flower shopping.
But then there really was a curse that we ended up fighting that ate the flowers.
So we had to watch Gojo stomp the curse to the ground without using any of his cursed energy.
3:11pm

Lesbean
girl wtf
are you serious
3:11pm

Peach-boy !!!!
ya
it was a little scary
he stompped it till it looked like blueberry jam
3:12pm

Fushiguro Megumi
He isn't right in the head. But we all knew this.
3:12pm

Lesbean
wtf is wrong with him
wait who were the flowers for?????
Kamo????
3:12pm

Peach-boy !!!
YA YA!! its so cuteeee!
3:12pm

Fushiguro Megumi
Gojo and Kamo-san got into a fight I think. I'm not sure what it was about.
Usually, Gojo f*cks around and buys the entire stock of roses for Kamo when he feels like it.
But this time it was a lot more serious? They must have had a really bad fight.
3:14pm

Lesbean
srsly???
but Kamo looks fine tho
are you sure?
3:14pm

Nobara looked up from her phone to where [Name] was standing.

[Name] was holding his kiseru in his hand as he got yelled at by an aggravated mother who was holding her palm over her son's mouth and nose. The son looked like he was about to pass out from his mother literally suffocating him.

Nobara watched [Name] breathe smoke onto the lady and watch her dramatically fall to her knees while her son escaped and ran away.

Girl Gang🤪

Fushiguro Megumi
Yeah.
Gojo asked the florist what flowers mean forgiveness.
He bought a giant bouquet of Lily-of-the-Valleys.
3:14pm

Peach-boy !!!
i hope that gojosensies
i hope that gojo-sensei and kamo-sensei figure things out sooon!
i dont like seeing themn sad 😢😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
3:15pm

Fushiguro Megumi
It's not as if the bouquet was useful anyway.
The curse ate it.
3:15pm

Lesbean
wow
didnt know that gojo had it in him to actually apologise
he seems too proud of a guy to do that
3:17pm

Fushiguro Megumi
Yeah.
But Gojo and Kamo-san have known each other since they were kids.
And have been through a lot of things together.
They really value each other.
3:18pm

Peach-boy !!!
ya!!! like us !!!!
weve been through a lot!!!
and i value youe guys !!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
3:18pm

Lesbean
ew whatttt
gay
but also jasdldlws yuuji youre going to make megumi explode lmaoooo
you know that he cant handle mushy stuff
3:18pm

Peach-boy !!!
hehehehehe >:)
i made megudmi blush
hes looking and me and qkndsms anjs
jwdljs/1323
3:18pm

Lesbean
o sh*t
lmaoooo he killed you
rip you will be missed
also
'megudmi'
3:19pm

-Fushiguro Megumi has been changed to 'Megudmi'-

Lesbean
megudmi
3:19pm

Peach-boy !!!
megudmi!!!!!!!
3:20pm

Megudmi
Kill yourself.
Change it back.
I hate both of you.
3:20pm

Lesbean
😘
3:20pm

Peach-boy !!!
aaaaaaa megudn=
megudmi
o wait !!!! trains here!!!! see you soon nobara!
3:21pm

Nobara looked up with an excited grin (don't tell the boys that) as she quickly made her way to the aboveground entrance to the Shinkansen. [Name] was busy cleaning his kiseru to get rid of the blood as he prepared to put it away.

"They're nearly here." [Name] nodded to her as she approached. Nobara raised one of her freshly waxed brows (thank you Kamo-sensei).

"Huh? Did they text you as well?" Nobara asked, wrinkling her nose at the scent of smoked herbs that clung to her teacher's clothes.

"I've been tracking Megumi." [Name] lifted his phone to show a tracking app. It had a small icon of Megumi's grumpy face on it. "I chipped him when he was sleeping."

"YOU WHAT."

"Just kidding, it's just a tracker on his phone." [Name] waved off her concern. He whined when his shin was kicked. "Ouch! Mean!"

"Dick." Nobara stuck her tongue out. [Name] copied it.

"What the f*ck are you two doing?" Megumi's exasperated voice echoed as he and his spiky hair ascended from the underground escalator.

"Sensei! Nobara!" Yuuji cheered from behind him. Megumi grunted when Yuuji leant his whole weight on him, struggling to stand straight. "Sorry, we're late!"

"No worries, Yuu-kun." [Name] affectionately ruffled the boy's hair when he came bounding up to him. "I'm just glad that you guys are here. I saw that you guys stopped randomly and f*cked around for a bit near Harajuku. Everything alright?"

"Eh?" Yuuji began to sweat. "H-how did you know?"

"He's got a tracker on my phone." Megumi supplied with an annoyed expression. "I should turn it off."

"Last time you turned it off you went missing for five hours and I had to have a helicopter come in and rescue you from a f*cking fishing boat in the middle of the Sea of Japan." [Name] deadpanned. "You know I don't care where you go. I just check it to make sure you're safe."

"Whoa, is this a father-son argument that we're witnessing?" Nobara whispered loudly to Yuuji, who was openly gawking at the fact that Megumi had somehow ended up in the middle of the ocean.

"So this is what it's like to have a dad..." The pink-haired boy whispered back. Megumi's head snapped in their direction to glare at them.

"Are you trying to guilt me into feeling bad for having a parent?" Megumi snapped, slapping his hand over [Name]'s face when the man let out a sob of delight at being referred to as a parent.

"Yeah." Nobara shrugged. "Feel bad for us. We're orphans."

"Yeah, Megudmi! Feel bad!" Yuuji pouted. A short scream left his lips when Megumi kicked him in the stomach.

"Technically Gojo and I have guardianship over you two. Sorta. It's complicated." [Name] looked down at his freshly painted nails.

"KAMO-SENSEI IS MY DAD?!" Yuuji shrieked.

Nobara and Megumi watched as the boy tackled their teacher to the ground as tears fell from his eyes.

"I want to be an orphan again," Nobara stated.

"What is wrong with him? It's almost fascinating." Megumi deadpanned. "Whatever, come on. Itadori has been complaining the entire train ride on how he was going to die of starvation if he didn't, and I quote, 'get that meat in me'."

[Name] began to giggle from his spot on the floor. Yuuji pouted as he loosened the death grip of a hug he had on the man.

"What?! It's true! I'm hungry! And I really want a chicken skewer from the sushi place!" Yuuji pouted, huffing grumpily.

"Yuuji, my sunshine boy, let's get some meat in you." [Name] managed to wheeze, letting Yuuji pull him up. A few people gave him judgemental stares. [Name] blinked before a gross expression grew on his face. "I did not mean that in a dirty way. What the f*ck, you guys."

Just before they could depart, [Name]'s phone rang. He looked down at it with furrowed brows.

Sugar Daddy #2 is calling...

"Eh? Satoru's calling me." [Name] clicked his tongue.

The trio of first-years exchanged knowing looks.

"Wait, answer it! It might be important!" Yuuji bounced in his spot, flapping his hands nervously when [Name] tried to put his phone away.

"Huh?" [Name] blinked. "Aren't you guys the ones who always complain when he calls me because, and I quote, 'we go on and on like an old married couple?'"

"That never happened. You're gaslighting us." Nobara denied as she gaslighted him instead. Megumi didn't participate in the conversation but seemed as if he was taking her side.

"Pick up the phone!" Yuuji whined. [Name] looked at them weirdly before sighing and picking up the call.

"Yo, Gojo? What's up?" He asked a little awkwardly since three overgrown children were peering up at him with frightening intensity. "... what? Speak up, I can't hear you."

The trio of first-years glanced at each other.

"What do you mean? No, I'm not free. I'm taking the kids on a day out. Just finished a mission with Nobara and-" [Name] paused when all three kids began to protest.

"No, it's fine! We can go by ourselves!" Yuuji said hurriedly. Nobara nodded fervently and Megumi, surprisingly, also nodded. "You can go with Gojo-sensei!"

"What's with the sudden change of mind? Usually, you love it when I tag along." [Name] rose a brow before he grew pale. "Oh god, is this what it feels like when your kids get older and don't want you around anymore?!"

"Stop hyperventilating." Megumi snapped as [Name] knelt on the floor. "Just go. We'll be fine."

"Shut up, Satoru! I'm having a moment!" [Name] snapped into his phone when Gojo tried to speak. Nobara groaned.

"Just give us Gojo's credit card!" She spoke irritably. [Name] held it up as he sobbed.

"It's actually a debit card." The man sniffled as the girl snatched it up. Yuuji knelt to hug him.

"It's okay, sensei! We'll get you a souvenir!" He assured, patting his back.

"Doesn't matter. He's here like three times a week." Megumi rolled his eyes. "Ginza is practically his second home."

"Can you blame me?! They have great stores here!" [Name] whined. His eye twitched as Gojo's voice yapped something unintelligible into his ear. "Die, Satoru."

"Okay, whatever, now go. You're annoying." Nobara huffed, kicking at [Name]'s back, who fell over with a pathetic sob.

After a moment, the man stood up with a sniffle. Yuuji dusted him off with a beaming grin.

"Ugh, it's fine. I'll give these in to be dry-cleaned tomorrow." [Name] grumbled to himself. He glared at his phone before sighing. "Fine, I'm coming, Satoru."

Just as he said that, a car horn beeped from the train station parking lot nearby. It was a black Lexus, which flashed its lights at them. The tinted window rolled down to show the nervous face of Ijichi.

"You did not get f*cking Ijichi to drive me there." [Name] deadpanned into the phone. "He's not your personal driver. Where's the dude that you actually hired to be your personal driver?"

"Gojo fired him becauseapparentlyhe looked at you with 'sin in his eyes.'" Megumi quoted. Nobara and Yuuji wondered what it was like to be rich.

"Poor Ijichi." [Name] groaned. He cut the call with Gojo before turning to the teens. "Alright. Remember, don't talk to strangers. Don't eat food that strangers give to you. Don't go-"

"Oh my god, we aren't kids! We're fifteen!" Nobara snapped, looking irked as she crossed her arms.

"I'm used to it. He says this all the time." Megumi rolled his eyes. "He even says it to Gojo."

"Because that man cannot be trusted." [Name] sighed. "One time he accepted a box of mochi from an admirer that gave him the sh*ts for a week."

"What the f*ck." Nobara deadpanned. Yuuji looked disturbed at the fact that he now knew that.

Megumi looked unsurprised.

"Whatever. I'll get going, then. I don't know what Gojo has planned. If you don't hear from me, it's either because I'm dead or I'm getting my back blo-" [Name]'s words were interrupted when Megumi threw a small toad shikigami at his face.

"Stop. You're disgusting." Megumi groaned. Nobara gagged as she covered Yuuji's ears.

"Damn, nobody appreciates me." [Name] whined sadly, holding the toad in his hands as it let out a ribbit.

After another few minutes of quarrelling, [Name] waved the kids goodbye as he headed to Ijichi's car, still holding the toad. The trio of teens watched as the man got in the car before it zoomed away.

"... seriously, you really think that there was a quarrel between him and Gojo-sensei?" Nobara asked. Yuuji seemed to agree. [Name] seemed to be completely unbothered.

"Yeah. How did you guys not notice?" Megumi rose a brow. "His tone was different when he spoke to Gojo."

"It literally sounded the same," Nobara said impassively. "What are you on about?"

"Shh, Nobara! Don't you know?" Yuuji spoke in a hush. "Megumi's the Kamo-sensei whisperer!"

"Shut up, Itadori," Megumi spoke exasperatedly as they began to walk to the nearest sushi restaurant. He grunted when Nobara wrapped an arm around his neck. "Oi!"

"Ooh, look at you. You've got parentsandyou're the Kamo whisperer." Nobara ruffled his hair, cackling when Megumi swung at her.

"Don't bully him, Nobara!" Yuuji whined, wrapping his arms around Megumi's arm. "He's sensitive!"

"Oh my god, I hate both of you." Megumi tried to wrestle away. "Let go, Itadori! Jesus, what do you eat?!"

"Are you calling me fat?!"

"Oh my god, Megudmi. You can't just call people fat!"

"Literally kill yourselves I hate you-"

"Muffled giggles."