Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jujutsu is beautiful. 

His second life is an utter shitshow, but this makes it all worth it. 

Imagine, for instance, you’re at a beach. Now, you’ve been aware the beach existed, but you’ve never been there before. Never even thought to approach it. And yet, here you are on the sandy shores surrounded by the salty sea breeze.

Perhaps you think to question how you got here or are looking for someone, some thing familiar around you. 

None of that matters. 

The ocean sings a siren song and lures you ever closer to its waters. The horizon stretches far beyond and the colors of the sea and sky mix and blur, only distinct in how the occasional wave dips and rises.

You’re on a boat. 

Land is but a pipe dream. You can't be sure whether you were on an island or a continent before and after a moment, that too ceases to matter for the ocean has never even skipped a beat when singing its siren song. 

And it's there, alone amidst the vast sea and sky, that the call pulls you down. 

You sink. 

You sink and sink and sink and the depths cRuSH you. You choke on the air in your lungs and struggle against the sea’s embrace. 

Let go. The ocean sings to you. Breathe, little thing, breathe. 

You still fight, of course, you’ve never known life without air before. To let go of the little air in your lungs is to drown. 

But the surface of the sea has long since vanished from sight and the result is inevitable. However long you resist, you eventually succumb. 

The first breath of water doesn’t just pour into your lungs. It fills your body, mind, and soul until you can’t begin to tell where the line is. With every drop of water that crams itself inside you you become aware of the vast expanse of it surrounding you. 

It’s everywhere, in everything. 

How blind you must have been, before the ocean called you and opened your eyes. 

Cursed energy is only a little like that, but he finds that the more he tries to describe it the more he seems to fall short of the intricacies of how it works. There’s something inherently conceptual about cursed energy. People tend to boil down the world's mysteries to less grand things and pat themselves on the back as if they’ve cracked the code instead of studied a tattered scrap of a far more glorious tapestry. 

Cursed energy stems from negative emotions. The mere idea makes him scoff. The statement isn’t wrong but that's like saying the sun is on fire. It ignores so much more of what cursed energy is.

A few centuries from now, he muses as he lets his cursed energy wax and wane in his hands, kneading it like dough, Geto Suguru will become disillusioned with the world and decide to eliminate all non-sorcerers in order to create a world without curses. 

What foolishness. 

Koushin, the leopard cat that attached himself to him and never left, yawns lazily and swipes a paw at his hand. Cursed energy reinforces the paw and neatly disrupts his rhythm. 

An amused smile crosses his face and he settles for petting Koushin in lieu of resuming his fidgeting. The cat deems this acceptable, flicking an ear and settling back down into a nap. 

How ridiculous would it be to create a world without curses by killing all non-sorcerers. Then again, it's the ever dull human arrogance that has them discount all other forms of life. Animals have souls, although slightly different, and are thus just as capable of producing negative emotions.

“Sukuna-sama, the villagers have requested an audience.”

Sukuna doesn’t bother to look back, irritation sparking at having his peace interrupted. It dies soon enough, having recognized the voice, but the content of their words do not improve his mood. 

“Enough with this drivel and get to the point, Uraume.”

They hesitate to speak for a moment and it’s significant enough to get Sukuna to peer over his shoulder. The skin around the corners of their eyes are pinched and their lips thin. An abnormal loss of control for them. 

“It’s Akane-san. She’s ill.” Deathly ill, they leave unsaid. Sukuna would not have been notified if it was anything less serious. 

His self control strains, conflicted turmoil bubbling just beneath his skin. “I see.”

He turns back to the garden, a leg dangling off the engawa and lets his eyes roam over the garden. The scenery is irritating. Perhaps he should redo it. 

A leaf drops from the peach tree into the pond, rippling the water. 

“Sukuna-sama?” 

“You’re dismissed, Uraume.” It’s not what they were looking to learn, but they know better than to disobey him. Their footsteps are deliberate, a subtle sign that his orders are followed, but are quickly silenced. 

The quiet is no longer peaceful and the blasted cat is no better, pawing into his lap and squirming when he doesn’t immediately resume his ministrations. 

His claws rest lightly on the thing’s neck and threaten to shred it to ribbons. It would be incredibly easy. Just push down a little. 

The cat meows, short and sharp. He pushes his head back into Sukuna’s hand. Why aren’t you moving? Those olive eyes ask. 

Sukuna stares back into them, all four red eyes open. Koushin looks at him as if he's being particularly dim. 

Ever clever, Koushin looks away first, settling contently on his lap as Sukuna resumes petting him. 

Shifting to lean on one of the support pillars, Sukuna shuts his eyes. He doesn’t need them for this and the visual input has a chance of distracting him. A miniscule one, but existent nonetheless. 

You don’t ever stop sensing cursed energy, but similar to how you can tune out a crowd unless your name is called, it can fade into the background. 

Past the walls of his mansion, beyond the forest, a few hours walk away, the cursed energy of the village comes into focus. It doesn’t take long for him to locate the familiar presence. It’s one of the few with any real control. 

It’s also far weaker than it normally is. 

Suzuki Akane is no one, really. Her cursed energy, though strong for a civilian, is barely enough to count as a Grade 3 sorcerer. Most wouldn’t count her as one, labeling her as Grade 4. 

The Sukuna he should have been certainly wouldn't have given her a second glance. 

But her soul.  

His ability to see souls is definitely tied to his reincarnation, because if the original Sukuna could have seen what he can, he thinks Jujutsu Kaisen would have been a much more tragic story than it already was. 

At this distance, most souls simply aren't visible. In general, souls are restricted and reinforced by flesh and so he needs to have them in sight to truly examine it. 

Akane’s soul is extraordinary. 

Bleeding into her cursed energy, it is no longer an extension of herself, it is her. It's no wonder she has such excellent control over it. Sukuna would have hated anything touching his soul that he didn’t explicitly permit. 

It also made her useless to the sorcerer clans. 

While Sukuna never bothered trying to find out the whole story, she told him plenty over the years. 

As a child, a sorcerer discovered her potential as a sorcerer and brought her back to a clan to be trained as a servant. She doesn’t speak of her treatment there which says volumes of how pleasant it was. The property of her cursed energy was discovered when a spar turned into crippling agony for her as the weapon she was channeling her energy through was destroyed. 

She was quickly sidelined and buried under heavy debt as the clan took out their incompetence on her. After all, they poured ‘a significant amount’ of resources into her. Naturally she needs to repay the clan. 

Nevermind that she was taken from her family and trained for a job she didn't have a choice about. 

It took her many years to buy back her freedom. Any lesser person would have submitted, working for the clan until they died. What use would freedom be when elderly age begins to catch up to you and you have nothing to your name?

Akane walked out the moment the last cent was paid. She took nothing with her, only promising to get in contact with her friends when she settled down. At a time when the life expectancy could reach forty at most for non-sorcerers, she was twenty-eight and resolute in her choice. Even if she could live for at least another decade within the clan, she refused to die under the authority that took control of her life. 

Sukuna crossed paths with her when yet another sorcerer took one look at him and called him a curse. He was passing through the town and didn’t bother to disguise himself because it wasn’t anywhere close to the sorcerer clans. As long as he keeps his secondary eyes closed and hides his additional arms in his kimono, the average person never notices the difference. 

The sorcerer was after a curse Sukuna had just killed and immediately mistook him for it. It was pathetically easy to kill him too, even easier than the curse. Akane was the sorcerer's guide, and not a very willing one. 

Holding a little girl close, Akane had eyed him warily as his attention turned towards her. Watching her was interesting. Her cursed energy flowed from her hands and stretched over the girl as a shield. It also meant she stretched her soul over the child as well. 

It was interesting enough that he didn’t immediately kill them. Witnesses are a nuisance at the best of times and leaving a trail just meant more nosy sorcerers would pester him. Not a bad thing when he’s looking for a fight, but he was on a bit of a self-imposed vacation. Getting mass attention from the clans would cut things short. 

He was not quite sure what he did that made her follow him when he left. When he asked a few days later, after it was clear they were unobstructive and persistent, she said she took a gamble. 

“I have seen man and monster, curse and sorcerer, nobles and beggars.” Her sharp and thoughtful eyes never strayed from his. “You are not a curse, though your appearance would deceive many into thinking so. You are man and thus are so much more terrible.”

The girl, Rin, shifted in her arms and Akane’s grip on her grew tighter for a moment. “The child and I are not strong enough. Should we encounter another curse of that strength, we will perish. I do not expect you to extend protection, but your sheer strength will keep away all but the most dangerous of foes.”

Her face when he then pulled back his cursed energy until it seemed like a normal person was extremely funny. 

Still, she grew on him and Rin was not an irritating child so he let them tag along. Her words did make him think of actually building a place to live though. In retrospect he didn't have to return to the village he was born in. Those villagers hated him and he hated them right back. 

Admittedly, his opinion of strangers was about as negative as it could possibly be. When you look like he does in ancient times, it's so much easier to assume everyone hates or fears him on sight and respond in turn. Akane has done much to make people more tolerable again, however unintentionally. 

Even with illness infesting her, her soul shines. It’s the most remarkable thing. Sukuna has not yet seen another soul perceptible to him when he senses cursed energy, much less at a distance like this. 

Sukuna opens his eyes and finds that the scenery has ceased to be an affront to his sight. It seems he won’t need to redo it after all. 

Holding Koushin with his upper arms, Sukuna stands up and turns to walk to his room. He’s in the mood for a nap and Akane is still fine. He won’t waste his time mourning her when her fate is still up in the air. 

Uraume knows to notify him when she is on her deathbed and no sooner. 

“You’ve decided then?” 

Akane looks up from where she’s running her fingers through Rin’s hair. The twelve year old girl is nearly an adult in this time period. Sukuna just doesn’t see it. How can one look at a tiny slip of a child like that and deem them grown? 

The old crone chuckles. “It’s not a choice to make. I’m old, Sukuna-sama. My time has passed.”

“Hm.” Forty-three is indeed an impressive age to reach with as little medical knowledge available in these times. 

Akane raises an eyebrow. “Not going to demand I drop the honorific?”

Sukuna scoffs, wading further into the house and grabbing the kettle. Uraume makes the best tea, but Sukuna is no slouch. Laziness without ability is incompetence and Sukuna would sooner cut off his own head than be incompetent. 

“You’re on your deathbed. What does my opinion matter to you?”

Her sigh behind him is long and loud. By some miracle, or more likely exhaustion, Rin stays asleep. “Reversed Cursed Technique cannot fix old age, Sukuna.”

With cursed energy, the tea boils quickly and he carries to her with a bit more force than necessary. “Do you doubt my judgment?”

She is quiet for a moment, a single sip of the drink taken, then chuckles. “No. I had thought my power to be useless. Been told just that so often it was nearly ingrained. And then you come along and shred my understanding to pieces.”

Her hands come together in a mudra. Her curse energy twists, a shard splitting off to land inside a humanoid doll. Its eyes open and it stands up. “I am forever grateful to have been corrected, Sukuna-sama.”

Sukuna watches as the puppet walks outside and stands in the moonlight to look up at the sky. He turns back to its controller, her eyes gaining a distance that comes when she splits her vision. 

It’s a pity that she wasted so many years because the sorcerers couldn’t guide her correctly. He’s made her more than a few puppets - mostly out of curiosity - and she has proven time and time again to be a worthy investment. 

Hinako is unique in that it’s humanoid. Due to Akane’s soul mingling with her cursed energy, she shares her senses with all her puppets. Combined with her cursed technique, Hundred Minds, she could have been incredible. Most of the puppets that Sukuna made her were in the shape of bugs or animals, and she repaid him by infiltrating the libraries of the sorcerer clans. 

“And yet you refuse to learn Reversed Cursed Technique.”

Akane shakes her head. “I do not have the will or the mindset to learn it and you and I both know that is half the battle. And for me to learn it to the extent that would be necessary to achieve what you have envisioned requires far more time than I have. No, I will not chase an impossible dream, that’s for the young and foolhardy.”

Sukuna silently sips his tea. “Hardly impossible if I’ve done it.”

Akane rolls her eyes so hard they might pop out of her skull. “And you’re in the prime of your life. Twenty-five and just as eager to take on the world. My old bones are as much a part of me as my technique now. Using RCT to preserve my body would not return me to my youth. And I don’t wish to.”

She grows quiet, mind ruminating on memories she never speaks of. “I am tired, Sukuna-sama. I am so tired.”

Rin gets a pinched expression in her sleep and Akane smooths it away. “Rin has been a blessing. She reminds me so much of myself. I thought my heart would stop when I realized she was about to follow my old path. I could no longer leave her to her fate than curse my child self to that hell.”

She looks up and beckons him to come closer. After a second, Sukuna does. He nearly startles when she cups his face in her hands and smiles so happily he’s certain he’s seeing things. “You have saved us. Rin can live her own life and you have taught me to live mine. I have never thought it possible to defy the clans. This village is small, but all wildfires begin with a spark.”

He really should take her hands off his face. He doesn’t. “So you’ll leave your life’s work to whatever lies in store for it? Rin is hardly capable of succeeding you yet.”

Her eyes turn sad, the smile softening. “This village is just as much your effort as my own. Half the village has been led here by you.”

The hold turns intolerable. He pushes her hands aside. “Hardly.” At most he’s picked the location and set up a notice-me-not, but he was thinking about having a quiet place to rest in between his travels throughout Japan, not shielding the villagers from discovery

Akane exhales slowly and doesn’t argue. Sukuna has no desire to socialize with the villagers, as she is no doubt trying to convince him of again. They are as respectful as they should be and he ignores their dependence on his presence in the area. Their saving grace is not being boring when he deigns to leave his residence. 

The careful peace maintained between them would shatter if Akane got her way. The reality of things is that Sukuna is a monster and he will not change himself for the sensibilities of others. He has spent one life doing so and he refuses to fall into the same bad habits a second time.

“One day you will learn that most of your problems are self-inflicted.” Akane sighs as she turns back to Rin. She kisses the girl’s forehead. 

The puppet comes back inside and assists Akane in lying back down. Sukuna continues to drink his tea. 

Akane’s muscles loosen as she lies on her bed. The puppet sits next to her and her technique is released. Her cursed energy returns and seamlessly melds back with her soul. 

“Grant one last favor to this dying old woman?”

“What is it?”

Her eyes focus on him, her will stretching as she stays awake. Her life currently hangs by a fraying thread, they can both feel it. “Please look after Rin, Sukuna-sama. My death will hit her hard and it will be good for her to have someone to rely on.”

“Uraume would be better suited.”

Akane smiles and shuts her eyes. “I am not asking Uraume-san.”

One breath. Two. The third stutters and never completes. 

Sukuna sits there with his back to the moonlight, staring at a corpse as the soul detaches and vanishes beyond his sight. 

“May your next life be blessed.” He murmurs in a prayer, despite feeling the urge to strangle the corpse for dumping the girl on him. 

Rin sleeps through the night and well past dawn. No one comes to check on them and he knows Uraume has run interference to give them privacy. 

The tea has long since grown cold. 

He doesn’t know how to interact with Rin, a girl forced to grow up far more quickly than she should have. Having her cry on him when she woke to find Akane had passed was traumatic enough that he’d kill just about anyone to make sure it never happened again. Uraume was no help, the traitor never even showing up no matter how many times he summoned him with his cursed energy. 

Fortunately for the both of them, Rin manages to pull herself together remarkably quickly. Akane had arranged her affairs after she recovered from her illness, likely sensing her time was running out. Sukuna only interferes with the funeral, changing it from a burial to a cremation. 

He’s no priest, but he encountered the funeral of a nobleman during his travels. It wasn’t too hard to sneak in and watch the process and his memory is excellent enough that he can execute something similar enough.

Kenjaku likely exists out there somewhere and Sukuna refuses to let them desecrate Akane’s corpse. Also it would be a nightmare for that brain to grab Akane’s technique. The ability to have multiple minds certainly seems useless but Sukuna has no doubt that thing would use it to full advantage. 

Rin has never been a boisterous girl, but she was cheerful enough. That cheer never makes an appearance as she grieves the woman who raised her. 

The villagers are respectful, more than a few mourning Suzuki Akane and Sukuna finds more patience within himself to deal with them. He still passes most of it off to Uraume, who takes the increased workload with aplomb. 

His servant might be distracting themselves with work. He should keep an eye on that. Given wings and set free, Akane was a force of nature. It’s not surprising Uraume got attached. 

After the funeral, Rin stays by his side, quiet as she visibly mulls over what she wants to say. 

Sukuna lets her think, but he does not set aside his plans for her. She follows him as he goes through his day. 

Uraume is presumptuous, preparing meals for the girl alongside his own, but there is little point reprimanding them when their cooking is practically all the girl will eat. Rin has had barely any appetite since Akane’s death and has likely eaten little before it if her weight is any sign. No one can resist Uraume’s food so he generously allows her to eat with him. 

He walks throughout the village and the nearby forest. Small, weak curses have been drawn past the notice-me-not. The grief in the village is not strong enough to draw in anything of significance, but it’s enough for these bugs. He’s lucky enough to encounter a boar and cuts it down quickly with a dismantle. 

The boar is left with the hunter of the village that doubles as the butcher. Times like this, Sukuna misses the modern age more intensely. It’s not like world hunger was solved but for the vast majority it was a distant concern. What he would give to be able to eat all kinds of food freely. 

Hunger is now a familiar ghost. 

At least he’s trained this lot to hold their tongues lest he rip them out. Surprisingly, a few of the villagers reserve some of the leftover meat for themselves when they notice what he hunted. He’s not quite sure what to make of that. Or how no one looks at the buyers with disdain. 

It’s when he settles into meditation in Akane’s home, immersing himself in the wonders of cursed energy, that she speaks up. 

“Please teach me.” Rin doesn’t bow. There are few he extends this privilege to and it would be an insult if she refused it. She knows better. 

Sukuna doesn’t entertain unclear requests. “Teach you what?” 

“How to use cursed energy, Sukuna-sama. I…” Rin looks in the direction of the door. “Grandmother wished for very little in life. But it’s not a coincidence that nearly every family here has at least one person capable of using it, is it?” 

The question is rhetorical. Sukuna allows himself to look at the door as well. Akane has long since despised the stranglehold the sorcerer clans have on cursed energy manipulation. It’s what made her so eager to steal their knowledge right from under them. 

Internally, he grimaces as he recalls just how many families he’s sent here when he identified their children as capable. Damn Akane for infesting him with feelings. He was better off without them.

Non-clan children can typically expect three results if they have enough cursed energy. First, and most rarely, a sorcerer will find them and either negotiate or take them from their families. Akane was the latter. Second, they do not have enough cursed energy to do more than see the curses. Third, when they reach the age of four or five, their cursed energy will activate and a curse will be drawn to them, likely killing both them and their families. 

Soul sight is handy in that even before it becomes obvious the hallmarks of a sorcerer are easy to identify. While nowhere near common, it's surprising just how many potential sorcerers are amongst the public. It's almost ridiculous. He wonders how much of the statistics of accidental deaths come from the population of potential sorcerers. 

All that’s beside the point. Akane was teaching the children with potential how to control their cursed energy so they wouldn't draw in curses. The windows amongst the villagers definitely appreciated the lessons. A few might have benefited from them too. 

Rin continues speaking, “I remember how that man tried to take me away. He nearly did if it were not for you and grandmother.”

Sukuna looks at her, mildly surprised. He would never have expected her to recall that, given how stupidly comfortable the girl was around him. 

“I don’t want that to happen to anyone else.” Rin says firmly, a hint of backbone reminiscent of Akane appearing. “This is my home and I want to be strong enough to protect it. No matter what the cost.”

Sukuna won’t lie to her and say what she’s worried about is impossible. The notice-me-not doesn’t actually do anything to keep people out, just keep them from noticing the area. And it’s less effective on curses than people. Curses are just too in tune with the world to be distracted should something significant occur. He could have put up a barrier, but that’s practically screaming to sorcerers that something is hidden here. There are subtle protections but none of that would be enough if a grade one curse got through when Sukuna is gone now that Akane has passed away. 

“Are you certain? I will not teach a half-baked student. You will either rise to greatness or break under my hands. And believe me-” In an instant, he grabs her by the throat and slams her into the ground. He bares his teeth in a cruel grin. “-that’s not a threat, but a promise.”

Despite her intelligence, there isn’t any fear in those eyes. She holds onto the arm strangling her throat like a lifeline. Perhaps he moved too quickly for her to process the danger. “Please teach me, Sukuna-sama. I won’t disappoint you.”

What a ridiculous declaration. Everything disappoints him. Even jujutsu has failed to meet his expectations at times, if for mostly inconsequential things. Still, no point to crushing her dreams now. Life will teach her that lesson soon enough. 

“Hm. We shall see.” He allows her to get up. Flicking a hand at her, he returns to his meditation and closes his eyes. “Lessons start tomorrow after morning duties.”

The girl makes a ruckus in her excitement as she leaves. He wonders how long that enthusiasm will last when she learns her first lesson is conditioning. 

Sukuna sets Rin up with a training plan, leaves Uraume in charge of the village’s protection, and wanders off to blow off some stress. 

Hunting down special grades isn’t an exact science, but they do follow patterns. The easiest thing to do is follow the tragedies. Something strong is bound to pop up. If he’s lucky, there will be a sorcerer or two as well and he might actually have a bit of a challenge. Humans are just so much more fun to fight. 

He does throw a bone to his old morals though. They’re a hindrance in these times, which is why he mostly ignores them, but as long as he has a bottom line they don’t nag him. It mostly boils down to ‘make sure the other guys are assholes’ and ‘if someone fucks around, well, they can find out’. 

One technique he likes to use he privately calls Sonido since that’s where he got the inspiration from. Considering that it helps him break the sound barrier, it's more ideal for long distance travel than combat. He’s working on fixing that, but it’s not his top priority since most opponents are still too slow for him without it. 

It also makes a loud boom. In the disaster riddled Heian era, it’s likely more than a few ignorant civilians are worrying about the anger of the gods. 

Eh. Not his problem.

He takes care to only use it when he’s a safe distance away from the boundaries of his protections. It would be counterproductive to draw unwanted intruders to a location he keeps hidden. 

He goes on a bit of a rampage. Unluckily for him, he doesn’t encounter a single sorcerer. It’s disappointing but he’s moving too fast to linger on it long. The floods of curses he tears through hold his attention. 

This is why he disappears and reappears. Let the curses build up enough and he gets something that might have him break a sweat. It’s not like the sorcerers are all that competent. No matter how skilled or strong they are, this isn’t the modern age. While he has no doubt they have ways of spreading information quickly if necessary, he’s certain they do not use it to go after dangerous threats immediately. 

The class difference of these times means that it sucks to be a weak peasant. Combine that with how the sorcerer clans are almost all involved in politics or nobility in some way and you have even less concern for the masses than before. 

Honestly, when Sukuna first started these, ah, exorcism sprees, he thought a little about the original’s actions and he realized that it’s very likely the modern age came about because of all the sorcerers he killed. 

It’s not something one can understand before being dumped in the middle of it, but even a Grade 4 sorcerer is someone the majority of humans in ancient times can’t handle. Don’t even get him started on Grade 1s or Special Grades, who are like small, highly mobile armies.

And then, these ruling bodies have to constantly interact and go to sorcerers for help in dealing with curses because literally no one else can do anything. Sorcerers have a monopoly on a resource essential to human survival. More than that, they themselves are a threat needing to be kept happy or else.

So OG Sukuna comes around and is a mass murdering cannibal who is way too strong for 99% of sorcerers. He’ll be generous and leave the 1% for Sugawara Michizane. He hasn't met the man yet, but if he sires or has sired the bloodline of the likes of the Gojos and Okkotsu Yuta he’ll need to be careful. 

Anyways, the OG slaughters his way to the top. Maybe more than a bit of that is because of backstabbing. He wouldn't be surprised if someone high up was selfish enough to try for a double knock out. 

Yadda yadda a shit ton of curses and sorcerers die and the OG eventually either gets bored and turns himself into fingers or fucks up and gets himself killed. Oh look, he took a whole fucking lot of people with him. 

And in this period of time where the clans are recovering their strength, the heian era is ending and the ever pressing need for sorcerers subsides. Curses turn from public to private knowledge, eventually leading to the modern day situation in the show. 

Ironically, none of that would have been possible without OG Sukuna murdering the fuck out of everyone indiscriminantly. In a way, he was a natural disaster directed at the sorcerer world which is just the cherry on top. Modern Sorcerers likely still involve themselves with different forms of power, but open and secret power are two very different things.

Not that any of that really matters, considering Sukuna doesn’t plan to die or turn himself into cursed objects. If he gets to modern times again it’ll be because he figured out the secret to agelessness. Constantly running his particular brand of RCT won’t work if he ever stops so it’s on his to do list. 

Aaaannnd if he’s still thinking he’s clearly not focused enough. He handicaps himself to only use one arm and throws himself back into his rampage. 

There’s a certain kind of clarity that only comes when one has utterly exhausted themselves. Mentally. Physically. Emotionally.

Whichever it is, that clarity is perfect for a bit of self-reflection, so when Sukuna decides he’s done enacting population control on the multitude of curses, he relocates to a suitable abandoned building and settles in to do some navel gazing. 

See, cursed energy doesn’t like lies. You can call it whatever you want, falsehoods, wrong information, denial, it doesn’t like it. It may still work with you, but you’ll never be as efficient with it as you could be. 

Sukuna has perfect control over his cursed energy and that’s only a little bit of an accident. The instant he became aware of it, it was part of him. Since he was more of a soul than flesh at that point it meant he skipped the step of “wow how do I make this energy bend to my will” because it was like breathing. Once you do it you just don’t stop. 

Unless you die of course, but if you reach that point you have bigger problems.

It’s only when he thought he should struggle to control it that he actually had any problems with it. He’s still a genius though and after an epiphany that was only a little life threatening, he got it back and figured out RCT to boot. 

Go him. 

Sukuna tries not to lie to himself. As amazing as he is, he has his flaws. He takes them as a good thing. The way he sees it, if something is perfect, it is stagnant and immutable. It loses the ability to improve and thus is finite. Accepting his flaws and accounting for them is the only way to keep them from becoming weaknesses. 

So. He cares. About Akane. And Rin. And since he’s doing the round-up, Uraume too. 

Akane is actually a little bubble of grief in his chest he’s been ignoring until now so he takes the time to recall her as best as he can. He doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to forget her, but when he truly, honestly thinks about it, he doesn’t want her death to leave him unchanged. She’s something Sukuna is sure the original never experienced. He wants to honor that in some way

After a bit of thought, he comes up with something. He’ll grow his hair out to shoulder length, enough to tie it back if he wants. If it annoys him too much he’ll pick something else but it’s a simple enough change to make in remembrance. 

Having something tangible to hold onto soothes the ache of grief into a bruise. He’ll grieve her for some time yet, but it’ll no longer actively hinder him at least. 

Rin is next and the thought of her makes him scowl. He wants to keep her at arms length but Akane had to go hit that idea over the head with a shovel. Before he met her, he would have laughed at the idea of someone putting a child under his care. 

The girl has grown on him like fungus. He’s not seeing much of personality yet, but that might have more to do with how little he was willing to acknowledge her than anything else. Akane had at least had the good sense to keep her mostly out of his sight until she was older. Children are little hellions and nothing can change his mind. Even the ones that try to behave well are trouble because they don’t know any better. 

It might have been slowly poisoning him though. Small, infrequent doses of interacting with her until having her fully under his care became more of a given than a fight. 

Fuck. 

Okay so what does he want to do about this? Hand her the skills to take care of herself obviously, but other than that. He rolls that around a little bit but nothing really comes to mind. Huh. Maybe it will change in the future, but he’s not so attached to the girl beyond what she means to Akane. He’ll come back to this if Rin proves herself of interest. 

Uraume is a far simpler relationship to reexamine. They are loyal to him and it comes with certain liberties he’ll permit them. Uraume is too smart to push Sukuna farther than he’ll allow and the stability they serve him with is reassuring. 

The certainty that someone would follow you to the ends of the earth no matter what happens is a significant confidence booster. 

Though, Uraume has gone above and beyond lately. They deserve some kind of reward. He makes a mental note to let them ask for one and moves on. 

There is… one last thing he needs to contemplate before returning. He’s been avoiding this, but at this point he needs to face the consequences of his actions. 

What the fuck has he. Been. Doing?

No, seriously, the village is disturbing. They actually seem to care about him. He’s had people give him their condolences for Akane and he can’t even tell them off for the pity because it’s not there. They’re all grieving her too. 

It’s not like he gave every family or child he came across access to the village, but there are very few who made the choice to refuse when he did. Some of them even brought normals, extended family or friends, who trusted them. 

Then again, maybe it’s because they don’t have to pay taxes. It’s not like the village is registered with a government so it neatly avoids any war or drafts. 

So money does make the world go round. 

He can probably make Uraume handle most of the work like he does now since it’s only until Rin adjusts to her new responsibilities. Keeping her from them would only be coddling her, no matter what he thinks is an acceptable amount of work for her age. If he wants to change that he’d have to change society and by the time he finishes with that, she’d be grown so what would be the point?

Sukuna sighs and gets up to return to the village. Either Akane’s hope for the village will succeed or it won’t. There’s no point concerning himself with their affairs. He refuses to make himself solely responsible for their wellbeing. They have his protection for now. It’s up to them to make something of themselves before they face the rest of the world. 

“Sukuna-sama!” The distinct sound of shattered porcelain echoes and Sukuna pinches the bridge of his nose. 

Damn brat. In one thousand years that vase would have been priceless. 

Rin pops her head in through the door and instantly brightens seeing him sitting there. She has the good sense to not run, though she certainly doesn’t walk. “Sukuna-sama I did it!”

Sukuna huffs. “I’ll believe it when I see it.” He sets aside the jujutsu texts he was reading and stands. His words do nothing to dampen Rin’s enthusiasm. The girl nearly vibrates in place as she walks with him. 

He rolls his eyes and waves a hand. “Ten laps around the building.”

The moment she has permission she sprints out the door. At least she didn’t use her full speed indoors. She has nowhere near the control to do that safely yet. 

At a much more leisurely pace, Sukuna walks towards the training field he set up near his mansion. Rin is forever a test of his patience. He should not be feeling old yet, he’s not even thirty. 

Sukuna raises an eyebrow when he sees Rin already waiting at the field. He should have made her run more. Unfortunately he cannot increase her seal weights. She’s already on the cusp of the maximum her growing body can handle. Perhaps her clothing? Food for thought.

“Well? Get on with it.” 

Rin immediately kicks off the ground. Before she drops an inch, she kicks off again. Soaring higher. Sukuna counts her jumps. She manages another five before falling. A moment before she breaks her legs she kicks one last time to bleed off the forces. 

Bright eyed and bushy tailed, Rin holds her breath and awaits his judgment. 

He lets her stew in it, she has the lung capacity, and eyes her thoughtfully, hiding the pride the display induced in him. “Unstable and requiring too much focus.”

Rin, unfortunately, knows him well enough to tell that's not the end. She grins. 

Sukuna feels his lips twitch and he nods. “But adequate. The rest shall come with practical application.”

She cheers. Honestly, where did the quiet little girl go? He’s seen her act professional when managing the villager’s affairs. It’s not that she’s incapable. 

Sukuna suppresses a sigh. He had thought she would take longer. He even banned her from using her technique as a crutch. 

“Are your studies complete?” Sukuna asks. 

Bobbing her head, Rin answers firmly, “Yes!”

“Seals, Tools, and Barriers?”

“I’ve studied the first tier of all three and I’ve started on the second tier of seals.”

Hm. Cheeky brat. Still. “Good initiative. Reverse Cursed Technique?”

She droops, pouting, and doesn’t meet his eyes. “Unsuccessful.”

Of course she hadn’t. If she succeeded, he might have to dig into her history because there’s absolutely no reason why that should be possible on top of everything else he’s having her study. 

RCT is one of the techniques requiring conceptual understanding of cursed energy before succeeding. Aside from extreme situations, one would have to be utterly focused on this one technique for an indeterminate amount of time. And that’s provided someone who knows what they’re doing is guiding them. 

He mostly assigned the task to her to keep her ego from swelling. Better she learns personal failure in a safe situation than a dangerous one. Sparring with him does nothing to squash it.  

Speaking of danger. 

“Very well, as I have promised we will set off in the morning.” Sukuna confirms. “Uraume.”

They step forward from where they’ve been watching the display. Sukuna narrows his eyes. There’s a tint of amusement he doesn’t like in them. They say nothing, silently awaiting his orders. 

Tch. “You’ll be at Rin’s service until we return. Handle her affairs in the meanwhile.”

They nod. “May I ask for a boon, Sukuna-sama?” Rin interrupts. 

Sukuna hums. He’s feeling generous so he doesn’t see why not. 

“Allow me to stay with you tonight?” She's trained too well to have visible nerves but there’s a subtle tension in her frame. “I… I do not wish to spend grandmother's anniversary alone.”

He pauses. That’s right. So it’s been a year. Akane’s last request echoes in his mind. 

A breeze rustles the autumn leaves, distracting him from his thoughts. He’s hardly the best person to say this but Akane might try and come back to life if he doesn’t. “She would be proud of how far you’ve come.”

He doesn’t wait for her reaction, already turning to reenter the building. After a moment, Rin catches on and she hurries to reach his side. Daringly, she lightly grasps his sleeve. 

One of his eyes lands on her. She takes far too many liberties with his person. He doesn’t hate it though, so he lets it be. 

Returning to his study, Sukuna doesn’t reach for his previous texts, instead pulling out a goban. Rin helps set up, grabbing the cushions and the go-ke. 

As always, he gives Rin a few handicaps and the first turn. The game progresses rapidly and he waits. 

Rin is quick to speak. “Thank you, Sukuna-sama. For this and for the past year.”

He places his piece and gives her a look. “I thought I told you to desist with that drivel.”

“Mhm.” Her eyes glance over the board. “You have my gratitude regardless.”

Irritated, Sukuna makes a more devastating move than necessary, wiping out a cluster. Rin’s stubbornness tends to come out at seemingly irrational times. There’s no point arguing with her at this moment. 

“You used to terrify me as a child.” He’s thankful it’s her turn. He hides the crushed go stone and picks up another while she’s distracted. “Akane-san was better than I at reading people. I could tell even then. But I think if I insisted on staying away from you, she would have relented.”

He has nothing to say to that. They exchange a few more hands in silence. 

“I don’t think you were very happy before you met us, Sukuna-sama.” Rin tilts her head. “More than anything, that was the worst. I couldn't understand how anyone could be so miserable, like all the joy in the world died.”

She laughs a little. “I had thought if I spent too much time around you, the little happiness I built with grandmother would be stolen. Sucked away into the cloud of negativity draped over your skin. A child’s nonsense.”

Sukuna snorts. He pincers her next cluster, leaving an opening she might… yes she saves it with her next move.

“You’re still a child,” he says flatly. 

She pouts, proving his point. Petulantly, she attacks. The move is just clever enough that he doesn’t punish her for it. “Grandmother once told me the saddest thing in the world is not a tragedy, but the absence of kindness. I hadn’t understood for a long time. I think I understand a little now.”

Sukuna sends her a sharp glare. She better watch what she says next. To his frustration, she merely smiles and turns back to the game. 

A few more hands. “Are you happy, Sukuna-sama?”

He makes his move and keeps his eyes on the board. Happy? He no longer remembers the feeling.

He has felt excited, accomplished, proud, and euphoric. But happy? The closest he gets nowadays is content. 

The absence of an answer speaks for itself. 

“That’s okay.” Rin says with an easy nonchalance. “Happiness is something you work for. We’ll get you there one day.”

Sukuna scoffs. She should keep her head clear of nonsense when she needs to focus. The game is over, she simply hasn’t noticed yet. 

The endgame finishes swiftly. Rin scowls at the board but starts clearing it. “Another game?” 

The demand is shaped like a request. There is no reason to deny it. 

They while away the afternoon playing go. In this moment, he is content. Judging by how her smile never drops, it's visible on his face. 

It doesn’t bother him as much as it should. 

Finding an appropriate challenge for Rin is more difficult than he was expecting. Is it possible he trained her too well?

As Rin eliminates a Grade 2 curse with ease, he decides the quality of the curses in the area must have dropped significantly. Maybe they should be farther from Heian-Kyo and its disgusting deluge of sorcerers. 

Some instinct drew him to Edo though. An odd tug on his senses making him curious enough to bring Rin here for field experience. There’s some irony in her fighting curses on the land that would one day become Tokyo too. 

For the most part he ignores it. As curious as he is, Rin is his priority right now. No matter how confident he is of keeping her safe, it’s the principle of the matter. Like taking a child to a bar- people just shouldn’t do it. 

He doesn’t get much of a choice. 

His head snaps to the side as whatever is trying to get his attention hones in on their - no it’s just him - his location.

“Behind me!” Sukuna snaps. Rin’s eyes widen and she obeys instantly, looking off to where Sukuna’s attention never strayed. 

Heart pounding in his ears, Sukuna struggles to keep the grin off his face. This is the most exciting thing to happen to him in a while and it has shit timing. 

He manages to school his expression into something analytical. Rin huddles close to his back. He can’t tell if she can sense what he does. 

Once, he chased a thunderstorm out of curiosity. In the moments before lightning strikes, there is a short absence of static in the air. 

The change is quiet. One moment, the world holds its breath. The next, it coughs, spitting out an impossibility. 

There’s one- two bodies. The first and most obvious has a head of shockingly white hair. His clothes are torn and tattered, but damningly recognizable. 

If not to anyone but him. 

Beneath the first, the second body is nearly entirely hidden. A hint of pink hair teases over the first’s shoulder. 

A sick dread wells up in his gut. Internal screaming drowns out his thoughts. He knows who these people are. 

A sky blue eye snaps open, locking onto his own. 

Chapter Text

She does not know what she expected to happen when Sukuna-sama ordered her behind him, but two strange men suddenly appearing was not it. 

Sukuna-sama doesn’t stop her from peeking over and that’s as good as permission so Rin looks at the new people curiously. However they are very skittish, or at least the older one is. At a speed that loudly announces his skill in using cursed energy, the white-haired man rises to his feet in one smooth motion, dragging his companion along with him and giving Rin a clear view of their faces.

Rin inhales sharply, a hand coming up to her mouth at the lapse. She can’t tear her eyes away. 

There’s only one other man she’s seen have that distinctive pink hair and he’s right next to her. Once she makes the connection, she can’t help but look for other signs. 

The shape of his jawline and ears. The similar cheekbones. The nose. 

Putting him and Sukuna-sama side by side - or not - and anyone could see the resemblance. The other, younger, man is shorter and slightly slimmer but that’s hardly a significant difference. Rin can’t help but stare at him, bewildered. 

The pink haired man stumbles as he gets his footing. “Gojo-sensei? What-”

He cuts himself off as his gold eyes land on them. The open, confused expression on his face twists with hatred so foreign she can’t help but flinch further behind Sukuna-sama’s back. 

He yells Sukuna-sama’s name as well as other words she needs to take a minute to understand the meaning of. Where have they come from, to speak such a strange dialect? 

She can hear the sneer in Sukuna-sama’s words as he replies. “If you can not speak, say nothing. It would be more useful than wasting the air.”

“What are you talking about?” The man’s frustration is clear in his suddenly understandable words. 

“Yuuji.” The taller man, Gojo, says before speaking in dialect. She thinks it’s the pink haired man’s name. 

Yuuji replies to Gojo, not less hostile but more confused. After a minute Yuuji focuses on them again and repeats, “Sukuna, what did you do?”

A scoff. “Don’t speak to me with such familiarity. I should be the one asking that question.”

Yuuji steps forward. “Don’t mess with me! How did you get out?” 

Indignation flares up. How dare he accuse Sukuna-sama of- of whatever made them appear here! “You are the ones who came here! Don’t blame Sukuna-sama for your mistakes!”

“Rin.” The reprimand is pointed. Pretending she didn’t hear it she steps further to the side. These two might still be a danger, but they’re not an immediate one. 

Sukuna-sama didn’t teach her to hide. 

Gripping her tessen tight, she glares at the two interlopers. The hostility from Yuuji fumbles, dampening from her appearance. Gojo eyes her carefully, but is not nearly as surprised to see her. 

She notes that if these two become enemies, he is clearly the more perceptive, and thus the more dangerous, one. 

Gojo says something to Yuuji who says something back. She purses her lips. They’re speaking far too fast for her to try and parse their words. 

While they are preoccupied, Rin looks at Sukuna-sama and winces. There’s no expression on his face. When they get back she’s in for a lecture. She would prefer if he was visibly irritated. At least then she would have a chance of getting off lightly. 

A pause in the conversation draws her attention back to the strangers. Yuuji’s eyes dart between them with no small amount of misplaced concern. “Why are you with Sukuna?”

She grits her teeth, suppressing the urge to shout something unbecoming. Sukuna-sama speaks before she can lose her temper again. “It seems you are deaf and dumb. To show up and demand answers - has no one taught you any manners, boy? Introduce yourself first. Perhaps we might answer your questions after you explain how you arrived here.”

The insult slides off him like water. Yuuji turns to Gojo once again, likely looking for direction from the older man. Gojo says something short and nods. Maybe they’ll finally get somewhere other than this odd standoff. 

“We were fighting someone.” Yuuji says slowly. “They were about to trap us when- it went wrong. They… did things differently than we expected. And then we were here.”

Rin waits for more and frowns when nothing comes forth. That’s it? That’s hardly anything. Fine then. They can get the same amount of detail. At least it appears Yuuji is as honest as he looks. An odd thing to think when he shares so many similarities with Sukuna-sama in appearance, but then again, Sukuna-sama is rather straightforward when you learn how to read him. 

“We came here to fight curses.” She says with impatience. “Then you two appeared and interrupted.”

Yuuji furrows his eyebrows. “But why are you with Sukuna?”

Does she really have to spell it out for him? And besides that- 

“You will address Sukuna-sama with respect,” she says, lacing her words with as much poison as she can. “We owe you no answers when you are hardly being honest yourself.”

Yuuji opens his mouth. It clicks shut. He grimaces and shrugs at Gojo, looking lost. 

An aggravated sigh draws all attention. Sukuna-sama takes a long, hard look at the two of them, who visibly grow more tense with his focused gaze. 

Rolling his eyes, Sukuna-sama turns his back on them. “Rin, we’re returning.”

“W-what?” Yuuji yelps. 

Rin blinks and then hurries to catch up to Sukuna-sama’s long strides. Privately, she pouts. She dearly hopes she’ll still grow taller.

“Wait, where are you going!” 

Rin looks over her shoulder to find Yuuji catching up to them, though still at somewhat of a distance. Gojo sticks close to him, asking an unintelligible question that Yuuji hastily responds to. For a moment, she thinks she sees something bright and flinty in those too blue eyes of his. 

Sukuna-sama doesn’t give them another glance. “Take point. Top speed and you better have been memorizing the route on the way here.”

“Yes!” 

Rin is not as practiced in using Sonido and it shows when she needs a few moments to gather the cursed energy properly beneath her feet. It’s far too long, though nothing short of instant would have been enough. 

“Stop!” Yuuji grabs Sukuna-sama’s arm. “Where do you think you’re going?” 

Rin sees red and she whirls, brandishing her fans. “Get your filthy hands off of Sukuna-sama!”

“Why-!”

“Yuuji.” Gojo steps between them, forcing both of them to back off and dispelling the conflict effortlessly. 

He and Sukuna-sama stare at each other, a silent conversation held between them that she only now realizes has been held in tandem with the obvious one. Rin breathes lightly, a primal feeling keeping her from intruding on the moment. The sole warning she gets is the minute narrowing of Sukuna-sama’s eyes before cursed energy explodes from both of them. 

Pressure so strong it threatens to crush her bores down. It doesn’t because neither of the sources are unskilled enough to lose control of their cursed energy like that. To her chagrin, Yuuji is startled but manages to weather the storm with far more grace than she does. 

As quickly as the display occurs, it stops. Brought to a halt by some unknown agreement made between them.

Sukuna-sama briefly shuts his eyes. She recognizes the motion as him suppressing a headache. He looks at her and the little emotion she can make out from his expression makes her relax. It wasn’t a serious confrontation then. 

“Get moving,” Sukuna-sama orders. 

Rin hesitates. She tilts her head at the other two in silent question. “Sukuna-sama?” 

He rolls his eyes. “If they’re capable of keeping up, so be it. We’re not staying here any longer.”

If. Rin squares her shoulders, determination filling her. She doesn’t know what’s going on here. Doesn’t know what these men want with Sukuna-sama or why they’re so stubbornly clinging to them like dogs to a bone, but she trusts Sukuna-sama’s judgment. 

All she ever needs is to have faith in him.  

Satoru understands bullshit. It’s hard not to when it becomes second nature to dish out. It's doubly hard when it’s been thrown at him several times over. So believe him when he says the intricacies of the art of bullshitting are deeply familiar to him. 

This is something on an entirely different level. 

One thousand years lost in an instant and to the same damn mastermind determined to throw the modern age into chaos.

Well. Maybe not only because of that damn brain. 

Yuuji walks in with a large tray of food. Satoru isn’t entirely inconsiderate though and gets up to help set the table. 

The table in the guest house they’ve been given. In the village that Ryoumen Sukuna apparently lives in. And has significant influence on. 

Satoru pushes those thoughts aside. His eyes linger on his student, taking in the subtle thread of tension woven into his spine. It’s a good act, but Satoru has seen him at his most relaxed. Right now, Yuuji is nowhere close. 

“It smells great!” Satoru smiles teasingly. “Managed to figure out the ancient stove then?”

Yuuji smiles weakly, eyes dropping back down to the food. Satoru frowns for a moment before plastering a light smirk on his lips. “Yeah, it was a little tricky, but cooking is rather straightforward. I can’t make anything fancy here though so we’re just having soup with rice.”

Not fancy is an understatement. The soup has some vegetables and meat but it’s lightly seasoned. The bowls they have aren’t exactly jumbo sized either. They won’t fall asleep to rumbling stomachs and that’s it. 

And yet, judging by what he remembers of the time period, they’re eating better than most of everyone else in the country. Famine hardly indicates well balanced meals after all. 

The thought reminds him how much of their current status is reliant on Sukuna of all people. His fingers twitch reflexively into an attack. He picks up his spoon instead. “I’m sure Yuuji’s cooking will be as good as ever! Itadakimasu!”

Yuuji does actually look up when Satoru digs in so he makes sure to over exaggerate how much he’s enjoying it. He’s not exactly lying, home cooked meals are something of a delicacy for Satoru. 

The theatrics manage to put a more genuine smile on Yuuji’s face so mission success! Now to keep it there. 

Maintaining a veneer of normalcy seems to help settle Yuuji’s nerves more than anything else, so Satoru uses the best reference he has for the teen and mimics the time Yuuji had to hide in his basement. 

Hey, give him a break. No one who meets Satoru would ever call him normal. 

Satoru had tried his best to be there for Yuuji, since there was hardly anyone else for the boy to interact with. It was like watering a plant, Yuuji needs socialization to keep from wilting. Kid is a bit like a cactus too, luckily, needing minimal care. Checking on him and making sure he ate seemed to work well enough. 

He keeps conversation light, veering away from delicate topics in favor of a steady stream of chatter to drown out the little situation they’ve gotten into. His student notices what he’s doing but Yuuji is willing to play along. The world can stop ending long enough for them to finish eating. 

It holds off for a bit longer than that, letting them clean up before they end up back at the table and the distractions Satoru makes aren’t quite enough to hold Yuuji’s attention. Which Satoru is a little offended about - he is absolutely the most attention grabbing person alive, past or present - but they do actually have to start cobbling up a plan, so he doesn’t escalate. 

He lets Yuuji gather his thoughts. Whatever he needs to get off his chest seems to be hard to articulate. Not that Satoru blames him. He’s pretty sure that people who aren’t the strongest have to take time to adjust to things. He throws up a basic barrier while he waits, he’s not an amature. 

“Gojo-sensei… It’s just- was Sukuna like this? Before?” 

Satoru raises an eyebrow. Not exactly what he thought Yuuji was worried about. Then again, he’s the most softhearted of his students. 

There’s a cold, calculating part of him wondering how honest he should be. When they get back - and they’re going to get back, Satoru is gonna blast that brain to dust, and also protect his other students - if Yuuji hesitates against their Sukuna it can cost him his life. Or worse. 

Yuuji’s wide, trusting eyes kicks the part of him that wants to look like a good person back to action. “Maybe. Sukuna was always more myth and hearsay outside of death records.”

His student looks stricken. “Then- Rin- these people?”

Satoru shuts that line of thought down immediately. “We don’t actually know what’s going on here. No, really,” he cuts Yuuji off when he makes to protest, “for all we know, they’re a crazy cult putting on a show.”

Things would be so much easier if that was actually true, but Satoru has never been that lucky. By the flat look Yuuji gives him, he doesn’t believe it either. 

“What even happened?” Yuuji asks, moving on from the topic because he’s nice like that. “Kenjaku didn’t act like this the last two times.”

Satoru grimaces. Ugh, no the brain didn’t. Which means- 

“The loop is beginning to stress reality.”  He leans on his forearms and clasps his hands together. “Honestly, it probably should have failed sooner. Going through it all three times before things started going wrong is a bit of a miracle.”

“Is that why we ended up here and not the prison realm?”

The spike of fear the name invokes in him is crushed, buried, and ignored. Satoru tilts his head. “I think we’re more essential to the loop than obvious- and we’re the ones going through it so it’s really obvious. For that matter, Sukuna’s probably the key to all this.”

“Huh?” 

Satoru huffs, amused and a little exasperated. But then Yuuji was always playing catch up with these things, even with all the extra time. The twinge of guilt the thought brings up gets buried with the fear. “Okay, from the top. Recap time.”

Ooh, Yuuji’s deadpan got better. Still the teen is way too nice to argue when they do this to keep all the information fresh in their heads. If Megumi and Nobara- 

“The first time, we lost.” Yuuji looks away and then glances over him like he’s checking to see Satoru is still in one piece. “You got cut in half and Sukuna probably pulled my heart out again.”

“Wait.” Satoru stops him, attention immediately captivated by that word. “Probably? I thought you said he killed you.” Again, to Satoru’s eternal chagrin. His students should NOT be dying. 

Yuuji sits up straighter. “Um, yeah. I didn’t realize it until later but when I compared it to the detention center it was a little different. His arm was more in the center of my chest than on my heart directly, but it would still kill me right?”

“Sukuna wouldn’t miss. If he was aiming for your heart, he would have ripped it out.” Yet another puzzle piece in this mystery and far more questions. “We’ll get back to that later. Take two, go.”

“Uhhh well. Next thing I knew, I was back on the rooftop with Fushigoro and eating the first finger. And then you appeared and we found out we both went back in time.”

When Satoru had realized what happened, he hoped to get there in time to keep Yuuji from eating the finger at all, but he keeps that little tidbit to himself. Yuuji doesn’t need to know. 

Unaware of the dark turn to Satoru’s thoughts, Yuuji grins and thrusts a fist in the air. “And then we kicked ass!”

Satoru laughs, mood lifting, and nods. “We kicked ass.”

Kenjaku, Sukuna, curse users, special grade curses- all of them depended on Satoru having no idea what they were planning. Sukuna didn’t get a chance to step so much as a toe out of line, Kenjaku’s plan in Shibuya was an absolute failure when Satoru let him get up close with purple, and anyone else wasn’t even a challenge when Satoru knew when and where these people would appear.

The grin falters when Yuuji remembers what comes next though. “And then- the world broke.”

“The world broke on December 24th.” Satoru corrects. The day Satoru escaped death for a second time. The day they went back in time. 

Yuuji looks pensive. “And you said you saw something when it happened, right sensei?”

“Mn.” Though he’s still half-wondering if it was some kind of hallucination. He thinks about the Sukuna of this time. Thinks about how much more complex the man of the past is to the assessment he made of the curse of the future. Maybe wondering a little less now. 

The vision was fragmented, hardly any of it making sense. Sukuna was bleeding enough that he had to be using RCT to keep going without passing out. The blood flowed as if along pre-drawn paths into some kind of seal or ritual circle. His arms were positioned as if he was holding something but if he was, it didn’t show up in the vision. He chanted- something and then the vision ended. 

However Satoru and Yuuji ended up in this time loop, Sukuna likely had something to do with it.

Confusing bastard. 

“That’s why you said I should try and question Sukuna the third time.” Yuuji continues. “We just did loop two again with me trying to get information out of him.”

Yuuji rubs the back of his neck. “I know I said this before, but Sukuna…” he trails off. He starts and stops a couple of times. “Especially with how different he is now Sukuna didn’t seem all that put together. I’m not sure, but I think Sukuna might have become more of a person the more fingers I ate.”

Yeahhhh. If Satoru had cared, he might have caught on sooner that being split into twenty pieces was not the most mentally sound state for anyone but he didn’t. So. 

“And Sukuna was being a stubborn little shit and didn’t tell us anything useful so the world broke again.” Satoru concludes. 

Satoru got the same vision that time too. A little more graphic even, given that Satoru could make out the blood dripping from one of Sukuna’s hands that must have come from Yuuji, but that’s just one more memory for the nightmare box. But hey! At least Satoru could tell that Sukuna was chanting the entire time. 

If only he could have made it out. 

“So! Take four.” Satoru says cheerfully, not really feeling it. 

“I think I was getting somewhere with Sukuna this time, Gojo-sensei. He doesn’t really have his guard up until at least a few fingers in.” Yuuji deflates. “But then Kenjaku changed things in Shibuya.” 

That’s certainly one way of putting it. Satoru scowls. The shitty brain somehow got a clue and targeted Yuuji instead of Satoru. He got sloppy, too confident in knowing how the moment played out. By the time he realized what was going on, it was too late and the brain trapped both of them in the prison realm. 

“There’s no time in the prison realm, but time is tied to both of us now.” Satoru runs a hand through his hair. “We’re lucky both of us got trapped actually. I don’t even want to know what would have happened if it was only one of us.”

Satoru is even less interested in finding out he or Yuuji would have been stuck trying to get out of the loop alone. Either prospect sends a chill down his spine. 

Privately, Satoru can admit to himself he’s more attached to his cute little student than before but that’s trauma bonding for you. 

Not. That this is gonna keep Satoru from being the strongest. Ahaha yeah he’s fine. Just a road bump. 

“So the prison realm broke and we were thrown here, and with Sukuna no longer inside you but with a past version of him around instead.”

Yuuji bites his lip. “Sensei… shouldn't he still be in me though? I had, like, sixteen fingers.” 

“This is where things start sliding from fact to theory. Yuuji, what do you know about souls?” 

Cold fury sparks in Yuuji’s eyes for a moment before it dies down. “Mahito, the first time anyways since you killed him the other times, said the body reflects the soul?”

“That’s more than anyone else.” Satoru leans back in his seat and stares at the crude roof over their heads. “Hardly anyone knows anything about them. Sorcerers have made conjectures but no one was ever able to prove anything.

“I could go on about the few theories we have but I think you want the relevant one.” Yuuji sheepishly nods. Satoru chuckles. “Yeah so, someone at some point asked if souls could be identical. Short answer is no. Long answer is that even identical twins have differences to indicate different people.”

He scratches at his cheek. “Tearing through space-time was disorienting enough that I didn’t see anything, but I think the bits of Sukuna’s soul in you got pulled to the closest thing to a main body it had. It would explain why we landed right in front of the Sukuna of this time period.”

“But Sukuna’s fingers were fine when separated. Why would they do that this time?”

“The pieces are distinct.” Satoru explains. “Even split apart, each piece was a different part of the same whole. Here, those pieces each had a copy, and because they were split, the Sukuna here is both the native and stronger in soul. If Sukuna was whole, then there might have been a problem as they either killed each other or broke reality further, but that's a moot point.”

It does ask the question of how the hell they merged with their past selves every time the loop started, but (again!) they need to focus on the now. Or the past rather. 

Connections spark to life and he can almost feel the lightbulb turning on over his head. Satoru points a finger at Yuuji’s chest. “Yuuji, that first time, do you think Sukuna targeted your soul and not your heart?”

Yuuji scrunches up his face in deep thought. “I- maybe? I guess it’s possible, but why would he do that, sensei?”

Why would he do that, indeed. Satoru supposes it could have been a fluke that they went back in time rather than whatever nefarious plans Sukuna had for their souls, provided the curse really had grabbed Satoru’s soul when he died as well. He doubts it though. Sukuna doesn’t strike him as the type of man to be anything but utterly certain of the outcome of his actions. 

Belatedly, he remembers he didn’t tell Yuuji exactly how involved he suspects Sukuna was with the time loop. The deception is necessary. Yuuji is far too eager to throw himself into danger. If he knew of Satoru’s suspicions he might intentionally provoke Sukuna for the information when Satoru could do nothing to keep the boy safe from the demon within him. 

“It’s likely he wanted to get rid of us permanently. It’s not like he was ever quiet about the grudge he was nursing.” The lies roll off his tongue easily, hating himself a little more for it. 

A barely there flash of doubt flickers in those golden eyes. Yuuji mulls over his words and slowly nods. “I guess so sensei.” 

There’s a lethargy in the reply that has Satoru taking a second look at his student. The mild slump and frequent blinking now registering as exhaustion instead of confusion. 

“Go to sleep,” he tells Yuuji flippantly. “We can make a plan of action when you’re not about to fall unconscious.”

Like the words were a trigger, Yuuji has to bite down on a yawn. Any arguments die after that. “What about you Gojo-sensei? Aren’t you gonna sleep too?” 

Waving him off, Satoru says, “I’ll sleep in a couple hours. Don’t you have a bedtime?”

“I’m almost eighteen sensei.” Yuuji complains and stands. 

“Ah ah ah! Your body is still fifteen and growing boys need to go to bed on time.”

Yuuji glowers from his oh-so intimidating height of 173 cm. Even sitting, he hardly feels it with his natural 191 cm. 

The teen swats ineffectively at him but goes to bed without a fight. Satoru watches him go, placing an elbow on the table and his chin in his hand. 

White lies leave a far less bitter taste in his mouth. One too many times being honest with Yuuji taught him the kid would nag if he thought Satoru was neglecting his health. While Satoru can appreciate that, sleep is a luxury he can’t afford right now. 

Living under Sukuna’s watch raises the hairs off the back of his neck. The man ruffles instincts he didn't think he had. Threat, they tell him. Danger, they scream. 

Satoru has never listened to anyone telling him what’s good for him. Who would he be if he didn’t take risks any sane person blanches at? 

He’s the strongest. Sukuna had one chance to win and he blew it. 

The village is a more immediate priority. The mere existence of it and of Suzuki Rin contradict the King of Curse’s entire reputation. If this is their actual history and not some parallel version of it (at this point Satoru wouldn’t be surprised) then it brings into question how true that reputation is. 

Not for the first time, Satoru feels the blaze of frustration at not being able to understand the natives. It’s not going to stop him for long of course - please, three days tops for him to become fluent - but the kneejerk disconnect between what’s being said and what his brain wants to translate the words to causes a delay in communication. He already knows the written language, the research binge he did on Sukuna was in ancient Japanese after all, but speaking and listening is going to take even him some time. 

Until then, he’ll have to rely on Yuuji and the instinctive understanding of the language the King of Curses has unintentionally burnt into him. 

Yuuji, bless his heart, is not the best translator. As entertaining as Satoru finds his interpretations, some of the subtext likely flies over his head and that’s the information Satoru needs to know. Context clues only help so much. 

What he does know is that Yuuji is currently hard-carrying this team, and mostly unintentionally. 

Rin-chan and every villager that laid eyes on Yuuji had their shock written on their faces. In lieu of a clear explanation, they’ve defaulted to the obvious conclusion: Yuuji is somehow related to Sukuna.

For that matter, Satoru is convinced they have some sort of connection. That kind of resemblance doesn’t just happen. Not with sorcerers. Not with Yuuji being a vessel so perfect he can suppress the King of Curses himself. 

It’s gotten them more leeway than Satoru thinks they would have had if they were complete strangers. Even Rin-chan, who seems to dislike them after their less than positive first meeting, subconsciously gives them better treatment. Sukuna definitely noticed but said nothing. 

Satoru is crawling out of his skin. What the fuck is the man planning? Sukuna makes absolutely no sense. That’s Satoru’s job! 

And as much as he’d like to be wrong, compared to the Sukuna of the future, this Sukuna seems less like an evil overlord and more of a grouchy hermit. 

Which means something must have happened to change that. 

The paltry walls are barely an obstacle for the six eyes. Past them, he sees the villagers, the budding sorcerers, the forests, the rivers, the- 

Rubbing a hand over his eyes, Satoru forces his vision to refocus on the room. Maybe he should have carried a spare blindfold on him. In his defense, he never expected to lose access to all his spares. 

It’s not like he’s never had to regulate his sight before, but it’s still a constant effort. He’s spoiled himself by letting his blindfolds do all the work. 

He’ll have to get used to it. Unless he can find a suitable substitute here, he doesn’t have any other choice. 

Once the building migraine fades, he picks up his trail of thought. If there’s one major change to the Sukuna they know, it’s that Sukuna actually seems to care about these people. Satoru wouldn’t swear by it, but in comparison to the curse he becomes, this Sukuna is like night and day.

If he was a betting man, he’d put his chips on Sukuna losing these people. Betrayal, death, a catastrophe- whatever the cause, he can’t see this place lasting. 

Satoru gets it. If everyone he cared about disappeared, he’d probably snap too. 

(And wow, he does not need sympathy for a curse right now. He has enough problems already.)

It makes him rethink staying here, because if they do, Yuuji will get attached and they don’t know if changing anything will keep them from getting home.

Unfortunately, Sukuna is their best source of information. Satoru is certain the time loop is still attached to him and Yuuji and the connection is their best chance at returning to their time. The problem is that Sukuna might not have yet discovered or created the technique he used on them. 

So they have two options: stick around long enough for Satoru to find and research a way back or convince Sukuna to help them return to the future. 

They might even have an actual shot at the latter. Sukuna might have been abrasive when meeting them, but he wasn’t hostile. There was a risk when Satoru confronted the man as he was leaving with his student(?) but their body language didn’t indicate things turning for the worse. 

Sukuna probably wants to keep an eye on them. Two strange sorcerers appearing from thin air and determined to stick around? Once Satoru made it clear that fighting them would be more trouble than it’s worth, he could see Sukuna come to the decision to take them back with them. 

Rin-chan might have been the deciding factor there. Any hostilities would have drawn her into the crossfire, and despite her impressive cursed energy for her age, the two of them getting into an actual fight would risk her life. 

Aside from the strange circumstances of their first meeting though, they haven’t done anything irreversible. There’s a mansion out in the forest where Sukuna returned to after leaving them here. So long as they keep the whole ‘being from the future’ part secret and get access to Sukuna’s library, finding a way home isn’t a pipe dream. 

Satoru just has to get Sukuna’s trust, make sure Yuuji (and, let’s be honest here, Satoru too) doesn’t disturb history too much, figure out time travel, and get back in time to ruin Kenjaku’s entire existence. 

“Thank you Itadori-kun. This should be enough firewood for a month at least.”

Yuuji places the ax on the side of the stump and rubs his hands on his shirt. “It’s no problem Shima-san! I’m happy to help.”

Shima-san hums, that ever present gleam of curiosity in her eyes as she watches him. He can’t blame her for staring. Everyone here does it and if he was in their shoes, he’d be curious too. 

It makes him want to squirm though. He feels their eyes on him, heavy with reserved judgment. And yet, there’s expectation too. All derived from a man that Yuuji feels more confused about than ever. 

Sukuna is a nightmare. His own personal demon to torment him. It was through Yuuji’s actions that he ever had a chance to return to the world, so he took responsibility. One he didn’t truly understand until he was faced with the consequences that others suffered for his choices. 

Shima-san waves him over as she enters her house. “Your payment is inside. Come get it.”

Yuuji agrees and follows her. There’s no genkan - he doesn’t actually know when those were invented - but the sack of grain he worked for is by the door so he doesn’t have to worry about etiquette. 

“Still trying to make it through the forest?” 

Yuuji nearly fumbles the sack. He breathes a sigh of relief when it doesn't spill and stands up holding it securely in his arms. “That’s right.”

For some reason, Sukuna lives in the forest instead of in the village. Gojo-sensei said that if they want to work on getting home to everyone, they’re going to have to get Sukuna’s help. They can’t ask the sorcerers for help either, because information about cursed energy is even more restricted now than in the future. As outsiders, they wouldn’t receive much, if any, help. 

Sukuna hasn’t shown up since he brought them here either. He basically just handed them a house and some supplies, deemed it good enough, and washed his hands of them. 

He can’t help but feel almost slighted? Yuuji probably has some kind of twisted stockholm syndrome, but he’s been dealing with Sukuna for about two years now and the curse has never ignored him like this. 

And then there’s Rin. 

“I may not know much about what people like you get up to, but I’ve seen Suzuki-chan grow up and you’re not about to get past her in there by charging through like a mad cow.” Shima-san comments. 

“I still have to try.” Yuuji says. 

The thing is, Suzuki Rin is a genuinely nice person. He hasn’t heard anyone in the village say a bad word about her. She took charge of the village after her grandmother passed and at a very young age too. She’s the kind of person Yuuji would love to get to know. 

But she’s also a sort of unofficial apprentice to Sukuna? No one has called Sukuna her master or she his student, but she’s very obviously learning under him how to use cursed energy. 

Yuuji can’t help but recall the moment he and Gojo-sensei first appeared in this time period. Seeing Sukuna with his own body again made him feel cold inside. Yuuji reached within himself and found Sukuna’s cursed energy, but Sukuna himself was gone. 

Sure they were about to fight the King of Curses again, Yuuji only held back on his impulse to attack because Gojo-sensei said that not everything was adding up. He only noticed he was speaking differently when sensei pointed it out.

He would have beaten the answers out of Sukuna if he had to, but Rin stepped out from behind Sukuna of all places and made it clear she was on Sukuna’s side. 

And Sukuna didn’t kill her for impertinence or whatever. He was protective even. Yuuji didn’t think Sukuna could even care about anyone but himself. 

Sukuna’s always been a big ball of hatred and misery inside him. Simmering with rage no matter what was going on. It was better than when his anger burnt cold though. That was the absolute worst time to try and poke the sleeping dragon. And the more fingers he collected, the more chilling his fury became.

He’s persistent though, especially when Gojo-sensei asked him to get information out of Sukuna to figure out what his plan was in the original timeline, so he did figure out a few rules of thumbs to follow with the contrary curse. Sukuna always reacted better when he didn’t actively mention becoming a sorcerer around him and played to the curse’s sense of pride. 

(There were a few times, when he was dragged or barged into Sukuna’s domain, where the curse had an unreasonable expression on his face. Yuuji never got an answer for what it was for when he was sent away and cut off every single time.)

They played at hunting the other, circling and chasing their tails and fighting over the agency of Yuuji’s body. For every piece of information Sukuna gave up, the curse made sure to take his price from him three fold. 

Rin stood by Sukuna’s side in defiance of all that. Defended Sukuna with everything she was made of. And Sukuna defended her in turn, a kind of gruff kindness in actions that lacked the edge of cruelty he was so accustomed to seeing in the curse. 

Yuuji just doesn’t understand. 

“You’ve been good to us the few days you've been here.” Shima-san says thoughtfully and Yuuji snaps back to attention and hopes he didn’t get too lost in his head. “So I’ll give you a piece of advice. Sukuna-sama set up the forest to serve as a testing ground for Suzuki-chan to apply her studies. She knows most of it by heart but not all. If you want to have any chance of making it through, you’ll have to find the stuff Sukuna-sama arranged recently.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

Shima-san shrugs. “Why not? Sukuna-sama wouldn’t have brought you to the village if you were a threat,” which Yuuji still finds weird, that Sukuna is protecting an entire village of people, “and if he had an actual problem with your actions here, he would have made it known. Suzuki-chan is being overprotective, barring you from seeing Sukuna-sama like this. It doesn’t hurt to tilt things more in your favor.”

Yuuji smiles and thanks the woman, only letting it turn strained out of her sight. It feels a little like lying to have all the villagers show him goodwill just because of how much he looks like Sukuna. He’s not sure what he’d say to correct them though. 

‘Oh it’s a coincidence. I just happen to be his vessel for when he turns into a curse. And also I’m from the future where he massacres a lot of people.’

He’d probably get Gojo-sensei and himself run out of town. 

Glancing at the sky, he hurries back. Gojo-sensei likely already brought back the meat. It might spoil if he takes too long. 

Sukuna has reached enlightenment. 

Forget the Buddah, this is the true key to understanding the universe. The fallacies of a mortal life peel away from him, the burdens of paltry things like breathing becoming an afterthought. 

Koushin meows and gets off his face. Sadly, with the return of access to his airways, so too do his troubles. 

The leopard cat meows louder and then starts to yowl, screeching up a storm for Sukuna to feed him. 

Ugh. If only he accepted Uraume feeding him, but no, Koushin will only eat if Sukuna hands him his food. The thing is just so picky with people. 

He’s lucky that Sukuna is so fond of him. Sukuna’s sure the cat would have starved otherwise. 

Standing and walking to the dining room, Sukuna folds his hands into the sleeves of his kimono. Koushin trails him at a steady pace, quiet now that he’ll be fed. 

Uraume already has breakfast ready and is holding out Koushin’s bowl for Sukuna to take. He doesn’t bother rolling his eyes anymore, sitting down and placing the bowl on the floor. Koushin immediately digs in. Why it has to be Sukuna handing him his food is a mystery.

“How are our guests?” Sukuna asks, paying more attention to his meal than getting an answer. 

Uraume is as attentive as always, replying, “Itadori-kun has endeared himself to the villagers and is still attempting to make it through the forest. Rin-chan is equally determined to hinder him in his quest.

“Gojo-san seems to have adjusted to the language and is speaking with the villagers regularly. He’s left the village on a few occasions, but I have been unable to see where he went. Notably, he’s kept these trips from his student. He is entirely capable of coming here himself, but claimed it was good training for Itadori-kun to succeed before he forced an audience with you when asked.”

Right, so, Sukuna’s ability to run from his problems is ever dwindling. “How far has he gotten?” 

“If he continues at this pace, he should arrive tomorrow.”

And by the rule of protagonists going above and beyond deadlines, that means Sukuna should expect intruders today.  

Fuck.

Sukuna doesn’t ask any more questions, sinking into thought. Uraume doesn’t disturb him, collecting the dishes in silence once Sukuna is finished eating.  

He’s not really sure what to do with Gojo and Itadori. Their mere existence here gives credence to his theories about how space-time works with cursed energy, but it’s not worth having to deal with canon or the actions of his canon-counterpart. 

Letting them loose on the world, and thus no longer his problem, was tempting but the chance has come and gone. Foiled by the very cause of the issue. 

Their souls are also incredibly interesting, but he shouldn’t go poking at those no matter how much his curiosity is clawing at the door, screaming to be set free. It seems like a good way to have to fight Gojo without the World Slash. 

He doesn’t plan to die anytime soon, so that’s a bust. 

Is it even really his problem? Who says he has to do anything with them? They’ll probably get all kinds of wrong ideas about their-

Sukuna drops his face into his hands. All four of them. Uraume won’t say anything about the lapse of control. They’re good like that. 

After a few minutes, he sits up, takes a deep breath, and glares at the wall. Alright, it might have slipped his mind that Itadori should have canon him trapped in his body. The lack of the King of Curses means that this is either not the canon versions or something fucked up when they got sent here. 

Considering how Itadori recognized him immediately, he’d bet on the latter. 

Admittedly, Sukuna was more preoccupied with the shock of seeing Itadori and Gojo in the Heian era. He supposes it was enough for something to have occurred. Either the other him got obliterated with his existence here, or a resonance was forced and he merged with him. He’ll have to meditate later to find out if anything has changed.

It can wait until he’s no longer at risk of a sudden incursion of main characters though. If he was able to ignore the world for a week and have no noticeable side effects, another day or so will do nothing. 

But with the King of Curses no longer contained by Itadori, Sukuna needs to be prepared to be pestered by the time travelers. Even if he doesn’t instigate interaction, those two will certainly stick around to make sure he doesn’t become a murderous cannibal. 

Sukuna takes a moment to lament his conscience, as that’s the very thing keeping him from punching all his problems.

Except- it isn’t. 

Sukuna frowns, contemplative. Technically, the biggest issue he has with those two, isn’t that he wants to kill them. It’s that he never expected to be confronted with canon. But this isn’t canon anymore. If he wasn’t a glaring sign, the two impossible people appearing in this time is definitely a metropolitan billboard. 

So what the fuck does it even matter what he does? Clearly the future isn’t going to turn out like canon anyways. Might as well fuck it up further. 

Some deep fragmented part of him whines at that thought, holding onto a story he doesn’t wish to follow. There’s an attachment he didn’t realize survived. The story - the characters - they still mean something to him. 

He’s stopped caring about people except the few he couldn’t stop barging into his life and now he finds out that the once fictional- people have slipped under the radar. 

Oh great. He’s acting like a wuss because their opinions of him actually matter. Get him a cardiologist, he needs a heart removal stat. 

Pissed off, he snarls at himself. Fuck that. He’s long since promised to never change himself for other people. He doesn’t care that these two are canon characters. 

He’s Ryoumen Sukuna. If they have a problem with that he’ll cut them down like everyone else.

Sukuna stands, absently correcting for the cat that jumps off the furniture and onto his shoulder as he exits the room. Koushin curling around his neck keeps him from going for his more violent methods of stress relief.

He heads for his workshop. Pounding clay sounds like a good idea. Rin broke that vase a while back anyways. 

Satoru is almost impressed. This forest is a bit of a maze. 

Barriers that herd anyone who enters onto invisible, twisting paths. Seals which distract, mislead, and trick the unwary. Cursed tools ‐ in the form of traps! - that activate on anyone without proper control of their cursed energy. And all of it is compounded with signs designed to guide you through if you answer a question, and how accurate the guidance is depends on your answer. 

He’s absolutely stealing this to use on his students when he gets back. Maybe just stealing the testing grounds all together. He would have heard of stuff like this if they lasted long enough to make it to the modern age, so he might as well take it rather than have them lost to history. 

But, he’s got a wayward student to track down first. 

Yuuji and Rin-chan have left enough of a trail in their bouts that even if he didn’t have the six eyes, it would be easy to follow their path. Satoru amuses himself by piecing together how the fight went as they grew closer and closer to the final destination. 

Here, Yuuji used divergent fist. There, Rin-chan triggered a trap she made Yuuji dodge. And over there, Yuuji pulled off a black flash on Rin-chan and capitalized on it to push forward in a burst. 

Seems both kids are holding back the big guns though. He doesn’t yet know Rin-chan’s technique, but he doubts Sukuna would have wasted his time on someone without potential. She reminds him a little of Megu-

Aw, Rin-chan is pouting. How cute! But naturally Yuuji was able to make it to Sukuna’s estate. Satoru taught him after all and so Yuuji would never lose to Sukuna’s student. 

Yuuji turns a little and Satoru grins and waves eagerly. Yuuji waves enthusiastically back. Rin-chan pouts harder but waits for him to catch up.

“Gojo-sensei! How’d you know I made it through?”

“I didn’t. Just thought I’d check to see how far you’ve made it. Lucky me that you got all the way here.”

Rin-chan clears her throat, squinting at them both. “If you’re done, I’ll guide you to Sukuna-sama as per the agreement.”

“Eager, aren’t you?” Satoru muses. 

Rin-chan huffs and folds her arms. “The quicker I bring you to him, the quicker you finish your business with him, and the quicker you leave. Sukuna-sama doesn’t need loud idiots like you pestering him any longer than necessary.”

Yuuji subtly twitches. He always does when Sukuna is referred to by ‘sama’ which is a lot around here, and by what he’s dug up, not entirely unwarranted. From his investigations, the livelihood of the villagers is dependent on Sukuna sheltering them from the multitude of disasters in this era, natural and manmade both. 

“How do you know where he is?” Yuuji asks. “I can’t find him from here.”

Rin puffs up in pride. “Of course you can’t. Did you think just anyone can walk in here? The protections have a deterrent effect on anyone without permission to be here.”

Oh, is that what that thing is for? Satoru flicks a glance at the seal anchor nearby. Mm, he might be a little rusty, but it looks like she’s telling the truth. Within the marked area, the senses of any intruders are tilted slightly to the left. The main purpose of it is to suppress the ability to sense cursed energy in the area. 

Satoru is better than that, so it feels like a low, constant buzz on his senses. A pest, not a problem. Yuuji might have some trouble though, so it’s a good thing they’re not here for a fight. 

Although, he should try and goad this Sukuna into one at some point. Not only would it be nice to be more familiar with his fighting style to use against their Sukuna, but if there’s one thing Satoru is sure of, Sukuna would be an actual challenge to go up against. The time loop drained all the fun out of fighting. It would be nice to have a fight requiring some actual brain power. 

“Where is he then?” Yuuji says as he looks around.

Rin-chan rolls her eyes and starts walking. “This way.”

Yuuji looks at him and shrugs, trotting off after the girl. Satoru takes the rear, half his attention on the kids, half on his surroundings. 

There’s a lot of information you can pick up by simply paying attention to detail and living environments tell you more about a person than most things. 

The estate is large, but not obscenely so. Each room and building they pass was purpose built and not left to disuse. The material used in their construction is of quality and the craftsmanship is elegantly simple. 

Sukuna didn’t skimp on the landscaping either. Within the estate walls, several trees and plants are placed in locations at an angle to draw the eye. Very few are purely decorative too. Nearly all the trees and bushes are for some kind of fruit. There’s a couple of tea trees and edible plants, but anything else has either medicinal or poisonous effects. He makes a mental note to keep Yuuji from sticking random things in his mouth around here. 

However, the walls are sparsely decorated. Most of the interior design draws from strategic placement of furniture. This place is not meant for spending extensive time indoors. 

A curious flare of cursed energy gets his full attention. Rin-chan and Yuuji are headed that way so Satoru picks up the pace and is greeted with a sight that he’s certain the higher ups would have called an irreverent use of cursed energy. 

Sukuna, in a carefully controlled and precise manipulation of divine flame, finishes firing the vase in front of him before deigning to spare them a glance. Several other vases nearby tells of how long he’s been doing this too. 

Satoru can’t help the mildly maniacal grin on his face. It’s utterly ridiculous that the technique he’s seen used to completely overpower special grade curses is now used for making vases. And they’re not even cursed items! They’re entirely mundane. 

“Is this your day job?” Satoru poke-pokes the beast. “You sell overpriced pottery by the roadside and hope to find a sucker?”

Sukuna gives him an irritated look, but actually seems to bite back his first response. “It’s a hobby,” he says instead. “I see you’ve finally learned how to speak the language. It only took you, what, three decades?”

A muscle strains in his cheek. Okay, good to know Sukuna was always this sassy. No need to- “Three days actually. That makes this my sixth language. How many do you know? Two?”

Sukuna scowls and narrows his eyes. He exhales slowly and then looks away from Satoru to Rin-chan and Yuuji. “I see you two have finally stopped raising hell in the forest. Shall I take your presence here as a sign that I no longer need to restore the forestry every other day?”

Rin-chan blushes while Yuuji just looks perplexed. “I- yes, Sukuna-sama. I- No. We will be far more restrained in the future.”

Astonishingly, Sukuna softens. Maybe the better phrase would be ‘becomes less frosty’ because it’s less that he’s no longer as straightlaced and more that the distance in his attitude fades to something more approachable. 

“Don’t be foolish. If you’re not putting your full effort into improving yourself against the obstacles out there, then I need to replace them with significant improvements.” Rin blanches. 

“Simply reduce the frequency of your endeavors to something more manageable. I doubt you’ve been keeping up with the theory this past week and I know you have asked for Uraume’s assistance far more often. They are not to do all your work for you.”

“Yes, Sukuna-sama.”

With his student chastised, Sukuna looks at Yuuji, who’s still tongue tied, and then brings his attention back to Satoru. He would be more offended if the whole interaction between them wasn’t so intriguing. 

“Well, what have you come to see me for sorcerer?”

It’s probably a good thing Satoru didn’t come here with much of a plan and more of a guideline because with everything he’s seen and heard, connections and conclusions form in his head faster than he consciously becomes aware of them. 

“Well, assistance in researching time travel with cursed energy would be appreciated if you had any material to spare.” Satoru quips, dead serious. 

Yuuji’s eyes go as wide as dinner plates and dart between him and Sukuna. Rin-chan drops her jaw. Contrarily to their students, Sukuna isn’t surprised at all. 

“What no shock? Disbelief?” 

Sukuna scoffs. “If you were trying to hide it, you were utterly failing. Even dismissing the abnormal quality of your clothing, there are too many inconsistencies in your behavior. Combined with the strange circumstances of our first encounter and that one,” he points at Yuuji, “and there aren’t many other conclusions to come to.”

Satoru smirks. Sukuna really is a genius. If they wanted to have any chance of pulling the wool over his head, they would have needed to come fully prepared to do just that. If he already suspected, it was better to come clean from the start. 

“Yeah that’s true.” Satoru agrees, grin stretching wider. “So? Can we expect some help breaking space-time or should we look elsewhere?”

Sukuna sizes him up. “Tell me, why should I help you? It hardly benefits me to hand you everything you’re looking for on a silver platter.”

“Learning how to bend the forces of reality to our whims isn’t interesting enough?” Sukuna gives him an impassive stare. “Alright, fine. What do you want then?”

Sukuna blinks and Satoru congratulates himself on catching him off guard. Sukuna takes a moment to think, having not expected to be asked for his demands. 

“Knowledge,” he finally says. “I’ll give you access to my library on the condition that you improve it with any information not already in it to the best of your ability. The deal will only last so long as we both agree to continue it and either of us may choose to discontinue the agreement after notifying the other of the termination.”

“Throw in your full cooperation with my research.” Satoru bargains. “I have clan secrets I won’t part with otherwise and you clearly have some idea of how time relates to cursed energy. I don’t think you have those laying around your library.”

Sukuna studies him, debating how much he wants to involve himself. Satoru already knows he’s going to agree. For people like them, stimulation such as this is a rarity. 

“In exchange for my full cooperation in your research and access to my library, you will make a physical copy of any knowledge you have not currently in my library to the best of your ability. Either of us can terminate this vow after notifying the other of the termination.”

Satoru raises an eyebrow at the adjusted phrasing, but they clarify the details at most. “I agree to those terms.”

The chains of the vow ensnare both their souls. Satoru can feel the cocky smirk on his lips. 

Step one, complete. 

Chapter Text

In a perfect example of exactly why Sukuna very sensibly (and not at all impulsively) spent the past week pretending he didn’t exist, Itadori Yuuji barrels headfirst into the tentative truce, drawn up all of a minute ago, with all the scruples of a mad cow. 

“Wait, you’re going to help us just like that?” Itadori blurts out, disbelief ringing off of every word. 

The boy’s attitude grates on his nerves. Were this anyone else he would never tolerate this much disrespect. The only thing that stills his hand is knowing how much Itadori is owed by another version of him. 

Respect, Sukuna has learned, is not simply given. It is earned. It can be doled out freely, offered to any halfwit passing by and with hardly anything needed but the ability to breathe. It can be hoarded, letting beggars receive scorn while they fight to be acknowledged. 

Sukuna has had to claw for every scrap of respect he has. Pried it out from people who looked at him and saw something less than human. Maintained it only because power, true power, is respected regardless of other circumstances. 

He doesn’t have to reward this behavior though, merely tolerate it. “Would you rather be expelled from these lands?”

“That-!” Itadori grits his teeth and swallows the objection on his tongue. 

Sukuna’s mouth runs dry, a thick sludge of bitter disappointment clogging up his throat. He swallows it down with ease that speaks of extensive practice and keeps his features impassive. He wonders how much longer it’ll take for the shattered shards of his whimsy to die. Where he once reveled in these characters, now with them brought to life, he finds that reality, as always, is far more dissatisfying. The sooner he manages to internalize the information, the sooner he’d stop having these absurd expectations for his spontaneous guests. 

Still, it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. Setting the conflicting feelings aside, he turns his attention to the less complicated of his two guests, though that certainly doesn’t mean Gojo is easy to handle. 

“I take it you want access now.”

“Of course!”

The cheer is as much of a mask as Sukuna’s general apathy. Knowing it exists does nothing to help him read the man however. He’s working off of possibly-incorrect memories of a story from a lifetime ago and his gut feelings. Naturally his intuition is amazing, but there’s always a margin for error.

Sukuna gets to his feet and walks past them. Gojo quickly catches on and follows. He can feel the Six Eyes boring into his back. 

His teeth itch. 

“...didn’t give you access…” 

“...sensei…help.”

“...like you could…”

The squabbling behind them fades the further they get. A whisper of a headache ghosts his temple and he dearly hopes those two figure things out without him having to get involved. 

Koushin barrels around the corner and sprints for his leg. Without breaking his stride, Sukuna scoops him up before he rams head first into it. The cat would crack his skull open to prove a point. Again. 

He never should have taught the thing Reversed Cursed Technique. Damn his curiosity. 

Unlike usual, Koushin doesn’t settle down now that he’s in his arms. Sukuna has to adjust his hold to support his back paws as Koushin looks over his shoulder. He can feel the eyes on his back stare harder and an eyebrow twitches on his forehead. 

He turns so Gojo can see his scathing glare. “What?”

Gojo raises his hands, palms open. “Nothing! Nothing. Cute cat you have there.”

Sukuna rolls his eyes as he faces forward. The sorcerer’s inability to spit it out is not his problem. Gojo can beat around the bush until it’s dead, Sukuna doesn’t owe him any explanations. 

Gojo drifts into his peripheral vision. With four eyes, that’s a greater margin than only two. “So does the kitty have a name?”

It wouldn’t do to have his cat’s name unknown. Who knows what kinds of names Gojo would try to stick to his pet. “Koushin.” 

“Radiance, huh? Yeah that fits.” 

A wandering hand reaches for Koushin and Sukuna slaps it away. Or tries to. 

He stops, attention fully drawn to where his hand isn’t touching the other’s wrist. Gojo is watching him, almost carelessly. This is likely some sort of test, but he can’t bring himself to care for how much he’s giving away. Sukuna is far more interested in the odd sensation against his fingers. 

Intellectually, he was aware of Limitless. The ability to manipulate space brought to its full potential in the hands of one who possesses the Six Eyes. Space infinitely divided so nothing ever reaches the target. 

Theory doesn’t quite match up to personal experience. His fingers don’t close on the wrist, but there’s no pressure either. No resistance. An abnormal absence of anything stopping him from making contact. Like a projectile losing energy before ever meeting its target. 

He squeezes once, experimentally, and then drops it. Gojo is looking a little too gleeful to make investigating any longer worth it. Giving the Six Eyes any sort of response is literally handing him what he wants, so Sukuna simply returns to walking, though maybe a little faster than before. 

Like he’d wither into a husk without someone pandering to his ego, Gojo immediately starts whining. “What’s with that reaction?”

“Fall in a hole and die.” Sukuna shoots back. 

“I let you poke me for several minutes-” 

“Seconds.”

“-and this is the thanks I get?” 

Regret pools in his gut. “Speak then, if it will make you shut up about it.”

“Well now I don’t want to.”

Hidden in his sleeves, the pair of hands not supporting Koushin clench into fists. Of all the arrogant, pig headed- “I don’t exist to entertain you, sorcerer. I’m not playing your little games.”

“I dunno, I’m feeling pretty entertained.”

Why in the world did he set up the library on the other side of the grounds? “What are you, five?”

“No, I’m three.” Gojo says far too proudly. 

Infuriating. The next few minutes towards his library are the longest of his life, dragging on for what feels like hours. Sukuna would like to say he’s above falling for such petty tricks, but it’s like Gojo exists at a frequency purpose built to tick him off. Holding his tongue becomes impossible.

He’s half-crazed when they finally make it there. It’s only his pride that keeps him from sprinting the last stretch. Koushin, having caught sight of their destination, hisses in displeasure and jumps out of his arms.

Watching the cat run off, Gojo remarks, “Kou-chan doesn’t look too happy.”

Sukuna’s already expanding the portion of the seals involving authorization. “He’s not allowed inside.” Sukuna actually had to specifically key out the cat when he realized the wards wouldn’t stop him from coming in and making a mess. 

Finished, he nods. “Smear your blood on this part of the seal.”

Gojo looks where he’s pointing. The mention of blood gives him pause and after the antics he just had to endure, Sukuna’s feeling none too sympathetic enough to explain. Besides, if Gojo can’t understand what the seal does, that’s his own fault. 

To dubious fortune, Gojo makes a small sound of recognition before making a show of patting himself down. He shrugs, like that’s excuse enough not to follow through. 

Must he do everything? Sukuna channels cursed energy to a nail, snaps off the new growth, and hurls it at the current bane of his existence. Even without using infinity, Gojo isn’t so pathetic as to be unable to catch the projectile. It makes him feel better though, so that’s justification enough. 

Gojo makes a face at the nail, but that’s all the complaint he makes. A pinprick later and a drop of his blood is finally where it should be. Sukuna compresses the seals again and they wait a minute for the wards to settle. “Done. Make a mess in my library and I’ll take it out of your hide.”

“That’s a lot of grandstanding for-” Gojo cuts himself off, drawn up short as he takes in the sight. 

Sukuna can’t help smirking. Pride has him cocky, stance turning from various flavors of ire to relaxed arrogance as the vanity in him makes him practically preen. 

Stacks of bookshelves fill the room. Aside from a couple of large tables, that’s all there is. None would call it underwhelming though, for the floor to ceiling shelves are entirely filled and a staircase off to the side leads down to more. 

Neither he nor Akane were blind to how long she had left. Once she was able to reliably use her cursed technique for spying, he took her to infiltrate every clan she knew of, and then all the other clans they learned the location of as they went along. They spent a full year in and out of the village solely dedicated to fucking them over. Sukuna can confidently say the entirety of this era’s sorcerer clan’s knowledge is concentrated here. Only the most obscured and protected sources would have slipped through the cracks. 

Seals to copy books are stupidly easy to make. Ink pasted on paper in specific patterns one only needs proximity to copy. Slap one seal on the puppet, have Akane hold the other end, and they were making off like bandits with no one the wiser. 

It makes him rather paranoid of Kenjaku ever learning of his stash, but that’s what the wards are for. That and the brain can likely just pick a few meatsacks to use to sneak in themselves. Most people look at him and assume ‘brute’ anyways. It’s not an impression he goes out of his way to disprove. 

Gojo’s eyes are flitting through the shelves, lingering longer on some books than others. Likely out of familiarity. Most of the clan specific stuff is down below, but he’s found a few gems the clans kept to themselves that he considered foundational knowledge, like the Falling Blossom Emotion technique. As long as it wasn’t individual specific, he kept it up here. 

The smile on Gojo’s face doesn’t so much as twitch. “My, my,” he tuts, “you’ve been busy.”

“Have I?” Sukuna drawls, satisfaction thrumming in his bones as he practically sashays into the stacks. It’s nice to see this man finally take him seriously for the first time since they’ve met. “My collection wasn’t all that difficult to gather, but I’ll take your word for it.”

“And not a drop of blood on the books to show for it.”

Sukuna pauses, one hand on a book he was pulling off the shelf. When he glances back, he’s mildly surprised to see that the humor Gojo has worn like a second skin has vanished. Gojo is unnaturally still and relaxed. It takes him a moment to figure out why. 

In the space of a heartbeat, it’s as if he’s shrunk to a fraction of his height; a lingering echo of times he’s thought to be long since buried behind him six feet deep in the ground. 

Thankfully, affront quickly rises, overpowering any weakness, and he holds tight to the righteous rage. The impulse to lash out at the sorcerer strikes him, fueled by memories of prejudice that linger no matter how quick he is to beat them back down.

The new chains on his soul weigh heavy and cool his temper. He curses himself. This is why he thinks over his vows before making them. It’s far too easy to be careless in the heat of the moment. The vow isn’t restrictive, but it makes being willful much harder when he has to think his actions over twice. 

He returns to collecting what books look useful. Levity has long since left him and his tone is flat as he speaks. “Don’t worry, it shouldn’t offend your oh so delicate sensibilities. No one died for me to get possession of these books. The clans have deplorable security. It was easy to make copies of everything they knew.”

Heavy with significance, the silence speaks for itself as the Six Eyes contemplates his words, turning them over for any hint of duplicity. His choice to believe him drains the tension out of the air, but leaves them both on uneven footing, grasping for some way to break the awkward standoff they have fallen into. 

Sukuna clenches his jaw, and with a few short strides, dumps the books he’s collected in the Six Eyes’ arms. “Start with these.”

He hears something pithy and irreverent behind him as he dives back into the shelves, but Sukuna makes a point of not listening. 

The sooner he cracks space-time, the sooner canon gets out of his life. 

He’s already bored of it. 

Yuuji tries to follow Gojo-sensei and Sukuna, but Rin strides into his path with her hands on her hips. “And just where do you think you’re going? Sukuna-sama didn’t give you access to the library.” 

Hands in the air, Yuuji scrambles to say something that won’t make her angry. Like with every other thing he says, he fails. “But Gojo-sensei might need my help.” 

Rin looks him over with a deadpan. She scoffs. “You? A cat would be more helpful. It’s not like you could do anything while Sukuna-sama does all the work.” 

“Gojo-sensei is working on it too, you know!” Yuuji protests. “I bet he’ll figure it out faster than Sukuna.” 

Very clearly biting her tongue, Rin doesn’t immediately argue with him. Instead she says, “Think what you’d like. Your sensei seems to have more than two thoughts in his head, so he might actually be useful.”

Yuuji nods. “Sensei is the strongest.” He knows she was trying to insult Gojo-sensei, but that’s actually the most complementary he’s seen her of anyone that wasn’t Sukuna. It’s not that it seems like she’s the type of person to really look down on others, but her hero-worship of Sukuna (no, that’s still weird to think) seems to make her compare everyone with him. Sukuna’s the worst, but Yuuji knows the curse - man? - is strong. That Rin thinks Gojo-sensei measures up to Sukuna without ever seeing him fight says a lot. 

Looking rather put out, Rin squints at him like he’s an alien. Yuuji doesn’t look away, staring back. She blinks first and Yuuji makes the smuggest smile he can. Her eyebrow twitches. 

A living barrier steps between them, likely saving Yuuji from another fight. He looks up to see Sukuna’s servant with an unimpressed look on their face. Yuuji is a little awed. It’s even better than Fushigoro’s. 

“If you two are finished, I have something to report.” They say, directing the last part of their sentence to Rin. 

She flushes and straightens up. It looks like she’s trying really hard to look grown up and Yuuji bites back a snicker. She can’t glare at him while Sukuna’s servant is here, but he gets the feeling that she’s trying to beat him up in her mind anyways. “Yes, Uraume-san?” 

“It is likely the traders are being watched.” 

In an instant, every bit of childishness vanishes from Rin’s face, replaced by something sharp and calculating that helps Yuuji understand why a thirteen-year old is considered the head of the village. “Is this certain?” 

Uraume shakes their head. “No, but there hasn’t been any signs to disprove this either. Takumi-san has noted many of the trade members feeling uneasy away from the village and they only feel secure after returning, so many of them are hesitant to continue with the next scheduled trip. However, they’ve taken precautions before returning so as far as they’re aware, if they are being watched, they haven’t been followed.” 

“Yet.” Rin mutters under her breath. Yuuji makes sure to stay quiet. Rin seems to be thinking super hard right now. 

His gaze wanders over to Uraume, and he blinks to see them looking back. He wonders if he’s imagining the considering tint to the way they’re looking at him. 

“I’ll look into it.” Rin declares, making him jolt. 

“Why you?” Uraume asks, but Yuuji doesn’t think they’re asking just to find an answer. 

“Of everyone available, I’m currently the most capable and most likely to be underestimated.” She answers reflexively. “Whoever this is, they’re attention is on the group. A single person following can go unnoticed.” 

“Kiyoshi-san is also able to join you.” 

Rin frowns. “No he isn’t. He - and everyone else who’s joined the traders - have a risk of being recognized. He may not have been out for a while, but we don’t know how long those eyes went undiscovered. Everyone else who hasn’t gone out with the trade group simply aren’t capable of doing so. This would only be more dangerous.” 

“Not everyone.” Uraume corrects. 

There’s silence before something seems to click into place in Rin’s head and her face scrunches up. Slowly, like the world’s rustiest hinge, she turns towards Yuuji. 

“Huh? Me?” He points at himself. 

“He’d never be able to pass notice.” Rin complains. 

Uraume raises an eyebrow. “That can be accounted for.” 

She splutters and tosses out one reason after the next to go on her own, only for Uraume to shoot  them down patiently. When she slumps over in defeat, Yuuji takes it as his cue to chime in. “So when are we leaving?” 

She looks up at him with knitted brows, straightening up. “You’re going to offer your assistance just like that?” 

“Those people need help, so yeah?” 

Yuuji doesn’t know if this is what he should be doing, but the villagers are good people. He can’t just stand aside and watch them get hurt when he has the power to do something about it. Even he knows this is a dangerous time. 

Something dark flashes over Rin’s face. She looks away too quickly for Yuuji to understand it. “I’ll let you know when we depart.” She says shortly and leaves. He gets the feeling that he really shouldn’t follow this time. 

Uraume hums briefly. They don’t explain why Rin left all of a sudden and Yuuji wishes they would. This is like being introduced to the jujutsu world all over again. 

“Follow me,” they say instead, “you will need more suitable attire to accompany Rin-dono.”

“Um, Uraume-san?” Yuuji rubs the back of his neck as he trots a couple steps behind. “Did I say something wrong?”

They’re silent long enough that Yuuji thinks they aren’t going to answer his question. “Rin-dono has her own considerations. But no, in that instance, her reaction had little to do with you.” 

“Then why…” He trails off, uncertain how to put what he wants to ask into words. 

“Little, but not entirely irrelevant.” Uraume stops walking and turns to face him. “I imagine it is similar to how you think of Sukuna-sama.” 

What? Yuuji frowns. He’s nothing like Sukuna. And besides, “What does that have to do with Rin?” 

They tilt their head slightly. “Then are you able to sincerely proclaim your opinion of Sukuna is wholly rational?”

His shoulders creep up an inch and he looks away, gripping his elbows. It would be a lie to say this Sukuna deserves the attitude Yuuji is giving him, but he doesn’t know how to act around Sukuna without the history of animosity between them. Even when the loops restarted, Yuuji could rest assured in the knowledge that Sukuna is a terrible person. A monster in human skin.

Now… not so much.  

Uraume huffs lightly. “You’re youths, irrationality is a matter of when, not if. However, I’d expect you’d find Rin more amiable after you’ve managed your own preconceptions of someone she highly respects.” 

That’s much easier said than done. If he’s honest with himself, he’s clutching at straws to make Sukuna resemble the one he knows. It’s like looking in a funhouse mirror, the image of his personal demon warping so subtly it’s disturbing. He doesn’t even have the comfort of calling it a bad thing. He’s not selfish enough to wish Sukuna was pure evil just to make his life simpler. 

A glance up tells him Uraume appears perfectly happy to wait forever if they need to. The faint hope they would let him put off thinking dies before it even sprouts. 

“You’re right,” Yuuji admits, shame curdling his gut like sour milk even as it conflicts with every negative emotion he’s ever felt about Sukuna. “I know I’m being unfair to him, but how can I stop after everything he’s done?” 

It’s silly of him, but more than anything, he’s scared. Most people would probably think he’s scared of Sukuna himself, but Yuuji’s never been someone to fear power. If he was scared of Sukuna, he doubts he would have been able to suppress Sukuna at all. The curse would definitely have capitalized on a weakness like that immediately. 

No, Yuuji’s biggest nightmare has always been himself. 

When it comes down to it, Sukuna was only able to incarnate because of Yuuji’s choices. Even if he didn’t always know what was going on, that doesn’t excuse him from the consequences. Manslaughter is still a crime, no matter how much he wishes it didn’t happen. 

The worst thing is that some small part of him wants to believe Sukuna used to be a better person. He wants to trust that it wouldn’t be a mistake to give this version of the man a chance. But he’s made the choice to believe Sukuna before, and he still doesn’t know what exactly he agreed to when Sukuna brought him back from the Detention Center. 

It gave Sukuna the chance to possess Fushigoro. 

It got Gojo-sensei killed.

Uraume shakes their head dismissively. “Sukuna-sama has done nothing to you. I have no doubt he has the potential to enact whatever offences you’re thinking of, but if potential was all that is necessary, no one would be free from sin.”

He knows that but… “It’s more complicated than that.”

“Is it really?” Uraume asks. “Perhaps this is presumptuous, but do you really not see any difference in Sukuna-sama?”

Yuuji hesitates. Well, there are a few things, but he can’t really put his finger on how Sukuna is different. Sukuna isn’t any nicer or less dangerous. The man still sets off every instinct for danger he has, though Kugisaki would probably say he has none. He doesn’t treat a lot of the villagers with respect either, despite how much they respect him. Sukuna’s still as sarcastic egotistical, cruel- 

His thoughts crash to a halt. Blinking, Yuuji turns the word over in his mind. Huh. Sukuna isn’t as cruel as he’s remembering. The curse he knew would have sooner attacked Yuuji and Gojo-sensei than offer to host them in his village. He’s not acting like it doesn’t matter what he does. He’s been weighing his options. Considering people other than himself. Exercising mercy. It’s like… 

It’s like he still has hope. 

The more he thinks about it, the more Yuuji is certain he’s right. Sukuna hasn’t given up on the world. There are things, people, he cares about. He’s cold, but he’s not cruel. Not just yet. 

And not ever if Yuuji has anything to say about it. 

Yuuji meets Uraume’s eyes and he smiles. “Thank you Uraume-san. I needed to hear that.”

They stare at him, judging eyes lingering heavily on his face. Uraume-san turns and resumes leading the way. “Whatever grievances you have with Sukuna-sama in your time are irrelevant now. Sukuna-sama has been overlooking this disrespect, but it ends here.”

Something about that last sentence twinges a string in his brain, but loses the thought before it forms. He asks something else instead. “Don’t you want to know why?” 

“Will you tell me?” 

Yuuji shuts up. Pretty much every time travel movie ever says just how much of a bad idea revealing the future is.

“Then I will not waste my breath. Simply know this: Sukuna-sama has decreed you and Gojo-san guests. It is by his grace that you are permitted such freedoms. Do not squander it.”

The great thing about having scrapped the plan to hide time travel from Sukuna is that Satoru gets to be a lot more flexible about how he handles- well, everything.

In truth, it was a gamble - Kinji would be proud - but one with more thought behind it than he showed. As much as Satoru hates to say it, he and Yuuji don’t have a lot of options. For one, Satoru can’t tell what effect their presence here is having on their time period. He’s reasonably certain this is a split timeline - that they didn’t get disincorporated the moment they met Sukuna being the best evidence - however nothing about how they got here was controlled. 

Something broke when Kenjaku tried to trap both of them in the Prison Realm. Getting back isn’t going to be as simple as finding a method that would work. If they return and their presence only strains their reality further, it would be putting the cart before the horse. 

While he was looking for information during his trips out of the village, he mostly focused on what people had to say about Sukuna. It wasn’t much at all. From what he could find, Sukuna is more of a rumor than someone to be wary of. 

It means Sukuna hasn’t yet committed the atrocities that earned him his reputation. It means Sukuna, with all his power, is capable of coexisting with society on some level. It means Sukuna can be reasoned with. 

All of which is an unfamiliar concept, but Satoru is a fully grown adult. He can totally take this info and be a mature, accepting individual who- 

“What,” Satoru coughs, trying to clear his throat of the sudden burst of emotion clogging his throat, “What are you doing?” 

Sukuna sneers, never looking away from the pot before him. “I thought you had eyes. I suppose their reputation is exaggerated beyond reason.” 

If he was a lesser sorcerer, Satoru’s sure the flash of outrage would have shown in his cursed energy. Satoru turns to his student, who’s rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly and getting paint over it in the process. “Yuuuuji. Yuuji-Yuuji-Yuuji. I thought you were looking for Rin-chan.” 

“I did, sensei!” Yuuji promises. “But she was busy so I figured I could make myself useful somewhere else.” 

At that, Sukuna raises an eyebrow. A rather pointed glance at the eclectically painted vase in front of Yuuji radiating silent judgement. Yuuji simply grins at him, far too nonchalant about the situation for Satoru’s tastes. 

And yet, all Sukuna does is roll his eyes and return to putting the finishing touches on a more tasteful pattern on his own project. Yuuji crowds closer to see and Satoru has to resist the urge to pull his student away. “Wow, that's really pretty, Sukuna!” 

He makes a thoughtful hum in response. Then he looks Satoru in the eye and smirks. “Don’t be so shocked. It’s only natural for Yuuji to look for more palatable company now that he has options.” 

Satoru’s smile strains and he reminds himself to breathe. While the insult was as thinly veiled as the air on Mount Everest, he should be more concerned that Sukuna is trying to piss him off. He wouldn’t have said they were getting along, but he did think Sukuna was more cooperative than this just a few days ago. 

Sukuna continues to hold eye contact. Please, Satoru would never look away first. Not that he would care, but his ancestors would likely roll in their graves - or start screaming in the present. Privately though, he has to admit no one had ever managed to look at the Six Eyes so long before. No matter how beautiful someone thinks they are, he’s been told they’re unnerving. Inhuman. 

(Perhaps if anyone was able to, it would be Sukuna.)

“By the way,” Satoru says when Sukuna blinks and scowls, “what’s this I hear about my cute little student traipsing off into the unknown with yours?” 

The four eyed man sets aside his brushes. “You would have to ask him. For all that Rin is under my watch, she makes her own decisions.” 

Uh-huh. “And you don’t overrule her at all?” 

“I won’t repeat myself.” Sukuna snaps. 

Satoru will believe that when he no longer has eyes to see. Rin is a teenager. All teenagers make stupid decisions. He did actually want answers though. “Well, Yuuji? What’s going on?” 

His student shrugs. “There’s something weird going on and Rin shouldn’t have to investigate it alone. We’re both strong, but we’d be stronger together. How’s the research going sensei?” 

In sync, he and Sukuna look at each other. He visibly sees Sukuna’s mood sour. “Mm. Well, I’ll figure it out. We’ll be home in no time at all.” 

“I’ll laugh when you find yourself torn into shreds when you inevitably fail.” Sukuna scorns, all four arms crossed. 

Yuuji’s eyes furrow, flicking between them. “Sensei?” 

Before Satoru can say a word, Sukuna interrupts. “Your precious sensei isn’t telling me the whole truth, but perhaps you can enlighten me.” 

“Sukuna.”

“All things leave traces. Having never before seen a fish, one can infer their growth environment by their physical traits. So too, should your original time have a trail back to follow with your presence here.” Sukuna stands and uses his height to make Yuuji look up at him. Yuuji doesn’t flinch. “What entangled you two so thoroughly as to obscure nearly all traces of your origin?” 

At that Yuuji purses his lips, looking over at Satoru, who’s immediately blocked by Sukuna moving in the way. 

“Sukuna.” 

Whether it’s because of the edge to his voice, Yuuji’s silence, or merely running out of patience, Sukuna turns around. For a moment it seems like he’s not going to drop it and Satoru will need to come up with something, but in the next, indifference shutters over that face. “I expect you to start making those records today. You won’t get any more assistance out of me before you start fulfilling your part of the bargain.” 

Without another word, Sukuna brushes past him and leaves the room in large strides. Satoru silently sighs, rubbing a hand over his face once he knows the man is gone. Shaking his head he focuses on Yuuji, who’s looking a lot more uncertain now. The part of him that still remembers what normal people are like surfaces, mild chagrin at putting that expression on his student’s face pricking at his skin. 

“Don’t worry Yuuji-kun.” Satoru soothes, reaching out and ruffling that pink hair like he can shake the worried thoughts out of it. “Sukuna’s just pissed he doesn’t get to know everything. As per the vow, he still has to fully cooperate with my research.” 

Yuuji pouts but presses his head up into Satoru’s hand. He hesitates. “Sensei… Why aren’t we telling him about the- thing.” Yuuji corrects when Satoru gives him a Look.

Satoru points up with the hand not occupied. “For one, Sukuna’s too involved in that to tell him. We still don’t know what our version was trying to do with it.” Another finger goes up. “Two, there’s a chance that when we find a way back, he’ll end up becoming the Sukuna we know and using the same method to come to our time- or worse, arriving at a time before any of us are born and preventing us from growing up.” Another finger. “Three, it’s suspicious how many resources he has related to space-time. We’re a thousand years in the past. The fact that he has anything is suspect.” 

Sukuna is skillful, clever, and unpredictable. It makes him dangerous in a way no other opponent has ever been before. 

He can’t- won’t forget that Sukuna killed him. It didn’t stick but that doesn’t change the fact that the curse had managed to get the upper hand. If there’s anything that has a chance of screwing up their return home, it’s Sukuna. 

Satoru doesn’t understand Sukuna’s motivations. He’s learned more about Sukuna’s history spending a few minutes with him in this time than in the dusty clan records. He doesn’t know why Sukuna collects every scrap of information he can, much less why he has so many notes on it. He doesn’t even know what drove Sukuna to work with Kenjaku when he treated the damn body snatcher with such disgust. 

Letting his guard down is too much of a risk. There are too many unknown variables and no matter how strong he is, Satoru can’t account for what he doesn’t know. And while that doesn’t usually matter, with Sukuna, the information gap is lethal. 

Sukuna will provide them with everything they need to return along with everything Satoru needs to know in order to uncover what their curse had inflicted upon them. He’ll do it willingly, unknowingly, and without holding a thing back all for the low, low price of something he would eventually be able to learn on his own.  

Satoru has already decided so. 

“Don’t forget that we have our own world to worry about, Yuuji.” Satoru steps back, notices Yuuji’s doubt, and adds, “We can’t stop history, only learn from it to make a better future.” 

Yuuji doesn’t need to know that nothing that happens here will affect their time. 

Satoru is a selfish man. The only world he wants to care about is not this one. 

He ignores the presence approaching him, the familiarity of it registering as unimportant. The bright, silvery tones of the shinobue flute echo in the air and windchimes clink in harmony to the music. The stress and turmoil of recent events melt away with every note he plays. 

When the last note rings out, Sukuna opens his eyes to the familiar red walls and pillars of the chinjusha. Idly, he wonders once more whether he created this based on subconscious identification with his innate domain or if his domain formed based on its appearance. He didn’t build it with the spikes and skulls of Malevolent Shrine, but considering what it contains…

Awkward shuffling nearly makes him sigh, but Sukuna’s in a good mood. “I thought you were departing soon. Do you really have the time to waste here?” 

Yuuji’s voice is clear and somewhat restrained, though it cannot hide the curiosity. “We’re not leaving for another few hours. There was a problem with a couple of the packs, so we’re being delayed.” 

“Uh, so, what’s this place?” Yuuji asks.

Sukuna contemplates what kind of answer he wants to give. He really should have reconstructed the barriers, but a bloodline lock was and still is the most ideal. It’s merely unfortunate that Itadori Yuuji is related enough to him to bypass them. 

“I come here to meditate.” Sukuna answers. 

The teen comes close enough that Sukuna simply tilts his head a little to see him over his shoulder. “Sooo, you’re religious?” 

He scoffs. “No.” That was his mother. He’s never held stock in prayer. But the peace that the presence of a shrine gave him in his childhood carried over despite no longer needing it for its old purpose. 

“Why a shrine then?” Yuuji asks bluntly, seeing that being indirect wasn’t working. 

Humming lowly, Sukuna’s eyes fall on the buddhist statue and the inconspicuous chest disguised as a table it sat atop of. Why indeed. Was it regret back then? Guilt? No, he’s never let such things chain him. If anything it was, “It’s a reminder.” 

“A reminder? Of what?”

Sukuna chuckles darkly, resting his lower two arms across his abdomen. “Of fools and the desperate.” He stands swiftly and turns, raising an eyebrow. “Well? What have you approached me for?” 

Yuuji clenches a fist while glaring at him in annoyance and Sukuna almost thinks he’ll have to make his silence on the matter more obvious. And then, not for the first time, Yuuji backs down. 

It’s a curious change. When they met, Yuuji’s hostility was clear. From what Sukuna can recall of the original story, hostility was only natural. As time passed and they interacted more, that hostility faded, but the ever present edge of suspicion could be seen in his actions. Yet now the boy faces him with patience instead of impulse. Expectation instead of doubt. 

“Will you tell me about it later?” Yuuji gestures at the shrine, motion slow but steady. “Why you built it? Why your domain expansion looks like it?” 

He curls his lip, “It’s a waste of words.” 

“Not to me.” Yuuji looks down at his hands. His eyes, when he raises his head, gleam with the strength of his resolve. “I realized… Sukuna, I don’t know much about you. I never have. I want to though.” 

There’s a trap somewhere ahead, bait wrapped in poisonous promises. “And if the answers you seek do not satisfy you? When you find a monster instead of a man?” Sukuna feels his expression twist in scornful derision at Yuuji’s wide eyes. “Do not take me for a fool. Your every action has spoken volumes of what you think of me and I will tell you now, whatever version of me you met was me in truth. Learning my history will change nothing.” 

Yuuji shakes his head immediately. “Then it matters more! I’m not saying I’d agree with everything you tell me, but keeping everything to yourself… it seems rather lonely.” 

Sukuna stills. That’s not what he thought Yuuji would say. 

“In my time,” Yuuji continues, “no one knows a thing about you other than the long records of the people you killed. And maybe you don’t want to hear it from a kid like me, but would it really hurt to let someone help you carry it? The weight of your past?” 

Yes. The wind rustles the trees and he looks at the foliage instead of Yuuji’s too-bright eyes. Disembowelment would be less painful than verbally spilling his guts towards another. Reversed Cursed Technique cannot heal a wound such as that. 

Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Yuuji wilt. “Fine.” The word slipped off his traitorous tongue. He’s tempted to bite it off. It would not undo the damage done. Sukuna is many things; dishonest when he gives his word he is not. Yuuji certainly knows that, because he springs up with a hopeful smile. 

“Really?”

“If you keep questioning me, I’ll tell it to your grave.” 

He clasps his hands to his mouth. A muffled, “Shutting up,” is whispered. Golden eyes crinkle in joy. Sukuna resigns himself to being pestered even more often in the future. 

“You’ve squandered enough time, state your purpose in searching for me.” 

Yuuji pouts, nevertheless, he knows when to retreat with his prize. “I know you’re already teaching Rin how to be a sorcerer-” 

“Do not-” he pinches the bridge of his nose. 

Affront builds which is swiftly converted to cursed energy and strangled with infallible control. Sheltered in the microcosm that Sukuna has inadvertently built, Yuuji is ignorant of the current state of things. It is that and only that which helps him keep his rationality. 

The Heian era will come to be known as the golden age of curses. For those who are not part of the minority at the top, the title understates the misfortune they face. Sorcerers are a fraction of a fraction of the population. Sukuna can count on one hand the number of those with any real potential with cursed energy under Rin’s oversight and none of them have either a developed enough body or a technique that can make up for the lack of the former to justify practical training. 

Most cities have sorcerers stationed as guardians, however feudalism results in a hierarchy of protection. The clans are enough to keep a balance between humans and curses, nothing more. The worth of a life depends on the life in question.

Sukuna’s long since learned how xenophobic sorcerers can be. 

“All those here, and you yourself, are considered curse users.” Sukuna explains. “To be a sorcerer is to be affiliated with the clans, and you would do well to not use that name.”

“But you’re not-” Yuuji makes a face, “is there something else I can call you then?” 

“If you must have a word for it, most will accept being called a shaman.” It's a more traditional term, but also far more generalized. Akane had thought it appropriate. 

“Not you?” 

“...I care not for titles. It is all cursed energy in the end.” 

Yuuji scratches the back of his head, his singular brain cell working very hard to make sense of that. “Well, you’re teaching Rin anyways. Would you train me too?”

Intrigue causes Sukuna to reassess what he knows about the sorcerer before him. “Is your teacher so incompetent that you resort to asking me for assistance?” 

“Gojo-sensei is great!” Yuuji denies. “There’s only so much he can do to help me with Shrine though. But you're the original user, why wouldn’t I ask you?” 

Off the top of his head, three different reasons come to mind and more bloom like mushrooms after rain. The opportunity for an outlet against Gojo Satoru, however, simply cannot be passed up. Yesterday’s events are the best evidence for how effective a weakness Yuuji is for the twenty-first century’s strongest sorcerer. 

A wicked grin spreads over his features. Yuuji narrows his eyes at him, but judges, correctly, that his delight is mostly benign. For him at least. “I expect nothing less than your best under my instruction.” 

The underlying threat of or else goes unspoken. Be that as it may, it does not deter Yuuji from cheering at his success. Alas, the extent Sukuna will resort to for retaliation is inexhaustible. If Gojo wishes to play at being petty, Sukuna will show him who can be the pettiest. 

“We’ll begin once you return. Now get out of my sight.” The dismissal is clear and frankly Yuuji should be ready to depart at any time. His detour to search for Sukuna was an impetuous act and one he’s already spent far too long on. 

“Yes, sensei!” Yuuji salutes, rushing off and entirely missing the amused anticipation that envelops Sukuna at the impromptu title. He dearly hopes the first time Yuuji calls him that in front of Gojo, he’ll be around to see the white haired man’s expression. 

Smoothing out his kimono, Sukuna glances at the chinjusha, tucks the shinobue into a sleeve, and leaves. Clarity has been found and the results say nothing good. 

For all intents and purposes, prior to arriving in this time, Itadori Yuuji was the vessel for Ryoumen Sukuna. Evidence being, exhibit a - Yuuji’s attitude when he arrived. Exhibit b - possessing Shrine. Exhibit c - the potent stores of his own cursed energy within Yuuji. 

Then the question remains, what happened to the Sukuna that Yuuji had caged?

Sukuna had speculated before that the soul within Yuuji and his own soul resonated strongly enough that it was simply pulled free and absorbed by him without him noticing. Which should be impossible. Souls, while malleable, are also somewhat retentive. If you tear a piece of clay in half and then try to recombine them, there’s still a process of kneading them in order to make it truly seamless. 

And while souls are several times more complicated, the principle remains: even if their souls merged, it shouldn’t have been without any sort of adaptation process.

During his meditation, he was able to determine that his soul became ‘denser’ for lack of a better word. It’s a marginal amount but he’s not sure if that’s because Yuuji had eaten only a few fingers (his cursed energy says otherwise) or if it's a quirk of the merger. Hell, maybe he’s looking for something that isn’t there and there’s an alternative reason for the change.

There are three most likely options for what happened. First, due to their souls having the same origin, the process of their souls merging is more akin to combining two piles of sand rather than two pieces of clay. Second, the other version of him hid his presence so thoroughly that Sukuna cannot detect him on his own. Third, in the process of being drawn out of Yuuji’s body, the fractured soul escaped elsewhere while freed.

All of which is avoiding the point Sukuna is actually concerned about. The only way a connection would be possible would be for their souls to be the same. In other words, Gojo Satoru and Itadori Yuuji come from his future, not from a fictional timeline. While they might be from a parallel dimension, his gut says otherwise. 

What would cause him to resort to turning himself into twenty fingers? 

“There you are!” She does her best to project an air of authority. She’s aware that most of Chizuru-mura respect her, but Rin is equally aware that all the villagers have watched her grow up. It’s hard to be taken seriously when your neighbor had to rescue you that time you got lost in the forest seven years ago. 

It’s why it’s so infuriating that neither Gojo-san nor Yuuji are affected. Gojo-san, at least, she can understand. His strength is on par with Sukuna-sama. She doubts he has ever listened to anyone else in his life. 

But Yuuji doesn’t recognize her authority! Surely, when she properly introduced herself, he should have understood the significance and called her Suzuki-myoshu. Grandmother had only earned the name by chance, but that she has one is in itself significant. 

She refuses to back down when he’s rude enough to continue calling her Rin. 

Rin crosses her arms and taps her foot on the ground. “By all the stars, you better have a good reason for this delay. We are going to be behind schedule because of you.”

The idiot rubs the back of his head, a false, ingratiating smile performed to deceive her into forgetting his behavior on their first meeting. “I’m sorry Rin, I thought there was still time before we left. I can tell you on our way.” 

She says nothing, imagining rubbing his head into the dirt, and tries to will him to be even slightly less careless about their mission. 

Yuuji’s hand slides down towards his neck and stays there. A bad feeling falls upon her. “I just wanted to ask Sukuna something.” 

A spike of dark, ugly emotion makes her dig her fingers into her arms. She forces herself to loosen her grip before he notices. “I told you to stop disturbing him! Sukuna-sama doesn’t need you getting in the way.” 

“I didn’t!” Yuuji protests, earnest enough to nearly trick her. “He spoke to me first and we just talked!” 

Rin huffs. “What did you need to ask him? Everything you should need has been provided for you.” Much to her disappointment, she could not bring herself to disrespect Sukuna-sama when he indicated he wanted them to receive proper hospitality. 

He might not have said a word, but Rin knew. Their connection was special like that. 

“I just asked him to train me.” The words feel like getting dunked in a lake in the depths of winter. “I have Shine too, but I’ve never had a proper teacher for it and no one would know it better than Sukuna.” 

“...If you waste Sukuna-sama’s time, I’ll make you regret ever asking.” Her voice sounds faint to her ears, as if coming from the next province over. 

“I take jujutsu seriously,” Yuuji insists. “I don’t know why you and Sukuna seem to think I don’t. He said almost the exact same thing you know. ‘Nothing less than my best’ like I wouldn’t give it my all.”

His chatter fades into the background. Somehow Rin finds they’ve made it back to the group. Yuuji greets them, bright, cheery, and welcomed by all. He’s endeared himself after a mere handful of days. 

He looks like he belongs here. Dressed in the same clothes as everyone else, with Sukuna-sama’s coloring, and admiring eyes watching him…

The sun is approaching its highest point. 

She does not feel its warmth.