Chapter Text
While scheming in the depths of her innate domain in the following week, she quickly realizes that modern sorcerers have no idea how their techniques work. The only exception seems to be Yuji’s teacher, who is both competent and creative with his technique.
Fushiguro Megumi, the 10 Shadows child, is by far the most disappointing to see. Despite having such a fluid cursed technique, he seems fully intent on restricting himself to only summoning shikigami and nothing else. What’s more, he seems to be constantly holding back in every battle, coasting through due to his above-average martial arts skills and his powerful technique, never truly pushing himself to improve. It is truly disappointing to see a sorcerer who has trained most of his life still wallow in such stagnancy. (What would force him to fight with all his might, I wonder? Perhaps his care for my vessel is key.)
Initially, she is also quite excited about Nobara’s technique, especially the resonance technique being able to disrupt the soul. Disappointingly, though, Nobara is not blessed with the ability to view the shape of the soul, and seems to have no idea about its existence or why her technique is so powerful. Her hairpin technique, too, seems quite lackluster. It’s reasonably powerful, but slow, which seems to apply to most of Nobara’s combat prowess. Her mindset, particularly her ego, requires work too. Pride is very important for sorcerers, yes, but Nobara is proud to the point of rigidity, refusing to look at any other perspectives. (She needs someone to give her a reason to innovate, and to show her perspective is not all-seeing. Soft guidance, like what Gojo is doing with her, will not help her grow.)
She’s heard talk about some other students as well, mainly the second and third years, who seem to be the most promising. So far, she’s heard of a cursed speech user, which is an unfamiliar technique to her, but at least on paper seems like a powerful one. Additionally, she has heard of a girl with close to zero cursed energy, but a blessed body. (Could it be? That pact is still being passed down by the descendants of Fujiwara?)
She’s also heard talk about a pair of students, a second and a third year, who have both developed domain expansions at just sixteen years of age. One of them has apparently even tamed a vengeful cursed spirit. (Truth be told, I find myself eager to meet them. Those feats are very impressive, even by my standards.)
While she is musing over such things, Gojo barges into the common room of the student’s quarters, calling out to them in that cheerful tone he never seems to drop. “Students! I have an overseas mission, so you’ll be in the care of other sorcerers for your next missions until I’m back.” (Something is very off about this. Regardless of Gojo’s agreement, I am sure there are still many who wish death on my vessel.)
Deciding to hold her tongue for the moment to learn more about the intentions of the powers that be, she listens in more intently.
“Okay, sensei!” her vessel replies cheerfully. His classmates respond with groans.
Gojo gives his class a thumbs up, saying, “I’ll be back after a few days, so don’t die while I’m gone!” (A few days? Is Gojo a fool? There are many parties who would see my vessel dead, regardless of who is killed in the process, including his students.)
Her suspicions are confirmed hours later, when Yuji and the rest of his classmates are assigned a mission to check on the status of a curse womb, supervised by someone who cannot even wield their own cursed energy. (I have two options; I can either warn the three of them right now of the assassination attempt, or I can use this as an opportunity to see just how far our enemies will go.)
In the end, she chooses the latter option, guilt tearing through her innate domain as the clear skies cloud over, and heavy rain pours down across the usually sunny expanses of flowers that make up her innate domain. (I’m sorry, my child, for not being there to keep you from all harm this time. I vow to use this opportunity to shield you from future suffering, and to give you the tools to defend yourself when I cannot.)
Wiping her eyes, she finally tunes back into the outside world, hearing the 10 Shadows child explaining how missions are graded. “Normally, a sorcerer will be assigned an equal grade to the mission. For instance, Gojo-sensei would normally be assigned to this mission.” (I’m certain now, this cannot be anything but an execution if this is a mission suitable for the Six Eyes.)
Her vessel stops running his foot through a puddle on the path to the detention center to ask, “And where is the man himself now?”
“Away on a business trip,” the black-haired window, Ijichi, answers. “To be honest, he’s probably not someone who should be wasting his time at Jujutsu High. Our line of work is constantly lacking in manpower, and being overwhelmed with missions is commonplace.” (I can believe that. With how many more people there are, I would not doubt a massive increase in curses, comparable to the constant battlefield of Heian-Kyo.)
The window continues, “This mission, however, is an extraordinary emergency.” (Something isn’t adding up. Even curse wombs don’t evolve this fast, unless exposed to truly exceptional amounts of cursed energy.)
She feels indignation flare in her heart as she realizes the most likely plan the Sorcerer-authorities are using to execute her vessel. (Do they seek to wield the power of my own finger to empower a spirit enough to kill my vessel!?)
Pushing her anger down, she listens to the window’s warning to Yuji and his classmates. “When confronted with a special grade, you have two options: run away, or die. Do not engage the curse if you find it. Remember, you’re only here to check on the status of the curse womb and see if the inmates are still alive.” (As if. The curse womb’s domain is already active. I can see it from here.)
“Is my son ok?” asks an intruding civilian woman. (Definitely not.)
Ijichi pushes his glasses up his nose, saying, “There’s a possibility that poison was spread in the facility. We cannot disclose any information at this point.”
“Fushiguro, Kugisaki,” her vessel says as they walk towards the facility, a barrier being drawn behind them. “We have to save him!” (I see no changes in the usual barrier conditions, so that means they’re solely relying on the curse inside to kill Yuji.)
“Be careful, and good luck,” are the last words the manager says as the barrier closes behind the students.
Megumi doesn’t like this one bit. Gojo getting sent away just before they get assigned a scouting mission with a prospective special grade curse was beyond suspicious, even discounting the single manager supervising them.
Forming his shadow puppet, he chants, “Divine Dogs!” Tsuki and Taiyo bubble up out of his shadow. “If the curse gets close, these two will let us know.”
He sees Itadori giving Tsuki a pet before they enter the detention center and find themself in an innate domain. (Shit, that’s not good.)
“Wh-what’s going on here? This is a two-story dorm, right?” Itadori says, glancing around in a panic at the maze of pipes.
“It’s a maisonette!” Kugisaki exclaims, readying her hammer. “Just stay calm!”
“...an innate domain, not a maisonette.” he finally says, a bead of sweat falling from his face. (I’ve never seen one this large.)
“Wait, the door!” Itadori yells, gesturing to the long hallway behind them where the door once was.
Glancing at Taiyo to steady himself, he reassures his classmates in a slightly unsteady voice. “It’s alright. My dogs remember the scent of the door.”
His pink haired classmate addresses him with a smile and a thumbs up, “You’re so reliable, Fushiguro. You've saved a lot of people, including me!”
Sighing at his classmates, who are currently giving his divine dogs more pets, he grouses, “...let’s go. We have a mission to complete.” (That ominous feeling is getting worse.)
As the three of them walk through the winding halls of the innate domain, Megumi finds himself lost in thought, with Sukuna at the forefront of his mind. The past week of missions and sparing have been incredibly strange. Itadori never complains about Sukuna, and even seems to get lost in thought talking to the curse. What’s more, Sukuna actually seems… almost protective of them, in a way. He warned Itadori about curses creeping up behind him a couple times, and even warned Megumi once. (I don’t understand him in the slightest. What the hell is he planning, and why does he care so much about Itadori?)
That is another strange thing about Sukuna; he seems to genuinely care about Itadori, only ever referring to him as ‘Yuji’ or ‘my vessel.’ Of course, Megumi knows better—curses can’t care about people, and Sukuna is the curse’s very king. He can also see that Gojo is beginning to get worried about his pink haired student’s safety, and makes a point to warn him about Sukuna every so often. (It worries me that Sukuna could exploit Itadori’s unconditional kindness. He deserves better than someone who will only manipulate him.)
A noticeable wave of cursed energy snaps him out of his trance, and he finds himself at the entrance of a drained and dirty pool. Three inmates are lying in it, mangled and dead. He watches his classmate walk up to the only one still recognizable as human. Itadori kneels down in front of the corpse, staring blankly at it.
“We’re bringing the body back,” his classmate says solemnly, inspecting the nametag on the prisoner’s mangled corpse. (‘Okazaki Tadashi.’ That’s the inmate that lady at the front was asking about.)
“What?” Kugisaki questions. “Why?”
“It’s that lady’s son,” Itadori responds. “His face isn’t that messed up, and she won’t be satisfied if we just tell her that her son is dead.” (We have no time for this.)
Stepping forward, he grabs the collar of his classmate’s uniform. “Leave him. We have to see if the other two are still alive.”
Startling slightly, the pink haired boy asks, “How are we gonna get back here? Every time we look back, the pathway is different.” (Is he an idiot? There’s a special grade curse here.)
His brow creasing in frustration, he responds, “I said leave him, Itadori. I never said we’ll come back. He’s not even worth saving alive. Why would we save his corpse?”
“What are you saying?” his classmate demands angrily, grabbing his collar in return as a massive wave of cursed energy washes through the domain.
“This guy was driving without a license and ran over a girl on her way home from school,” he explains angrily, “and that was his second offense.”
A voice speaks out from Itadori’s neck, causing him to jump. “Silence your petty bickering, foolish children. you haven’t the time for this nonsense.” (Sukuna? Why?)
“Wait, what’s happening? And Sukuna, why are you out now?” Itadori says in confusion.
“I’ve been watching for a while now, since your teacher left for his trip,” the curse explains. “This was the last piece of evidence I needed to confirm the purpose of this farce.”
“What are you implying here, huh?” asks Kugisaki with suspicion dripping from her voice, as she steps towards him and his classmate.
Sukuna’s lips draw into a line, full of contempt. “You were sent here to die, I’m sure of it. The curse womb has already evolved into a fully fledged spirit.”
“What!? I thought we came here to check on the status of the curse womb!” Yuji exclaims, shock in his voice.
Releasing his grip on Itadori’s collar, Fushiguro answers, “don’t be dense, Itadori. Sukuna’s saying that we were sent on this mission in hopes we would die to the curse womb’s progeny.” (This is bad. Gojo’s out of the country so he can’t even help us.)
“You’re mostly there, but you got one thing wrong. This mission was not ‘assigned,’ it was created.” Sukuna corrects solemnly. (Wait, what? ‘Created?’ what does that even mean.)
“Huh?” the group says in unison.
Sukuna clarifies, “This curse womb’s creation and evolution were no accident. Someone purposefully placed this spirit here to assassinate you.”
“What!?” Kugisaki shrieks. “Can you even do that!?” (There is one way I can think of.)
“Normally, no. You cannot artificially create or empower spirits,” replies Sukuna, something dark in his voice. “However, there is one circumstance where a curse womb can be forcibly formed and evolved: feeding it a cursed object.” (Shit, that’s not good.)
“This curse was purposefully fed one of my fingers to empower it,” Sukuna continues “If my word alone is not enough, then ask Yuji, I have no doubt he can feel it as well at this distance.” Itadori’s eyes unfocus from him for a second, as if he’s listening to instructions from within his head.
Megumi feels himself tense up. He and Kugisaki classmate turn to Itadori expectantly, their faces scrunched up in concentration.
“He’s not lying,” the pink-haired sorcerer says with finality. “I also feel a finger here.” (In that case, we’re in a really bad spot, especially since-)
The King of Curses finishes his thought out loud. “It would be unwise to leave one of my fingers in such a place. The curse has a large reservoir of misery to feed on in this place, and may begin to rampage soon if nothing is done to stop it.”
“Who would even do that!?” Kugisaki and Itadori shriek in unison.
“There are a wide array of parties who would see my vessel destroyed just to remove a tenth of my power,” Sukuna answers calmly. “However, the ones who assigned you this mission in the first place, and sent Gojo Satoru overseas are the most likely suspects.”
Itadori looks horrified at his parasite’s words. “But so many people would get hurt if the spirit ever escapes.”
His secondary mouth twists into a frown. “As it would seem, the lives of your classmates, the prisoners who could not evacuate this place, and everyone who may be killed in the ensuing rampage of the finger-devouring curse have all been determined worthwhile if it means the death of just you, Yuji.” (Fuck that. I refuse to let Itadori die.)
“What can we even do?” Kugisaki grits out. “It’s not like Gojo is here to obliterate the curse for us. If it’s a special grade curse, then a grade 1 sorcerer would be needed to kill it, bare minimum.”
Itadori opens his mouth, and Megumi is filled with a strange sense of foreboding over what he was about to say. “We have a special grade with us right now, don’t we? If I let Sukuna out to take care of the curse, that would solve both issues, right?” (That’s a terrible idea.)
“No!” “Absolutely not.” Megumi and Kugisaki chorus.
“You have very few options other than me,” Sukuna points out dryly. “Unless you intend to sacrifice your own life for this sole special grade, this is an enemy you cannot beat.”
Megumi stills. (How does he know about Mahoraga?)
“Fushiguro?” Itadori asks slowly, clearly concerned. “What is he talking about?”
“I haven’t the time to explain this, children,” Sukuna remarks, worry in his voice. “The fact remains that unless Fushiguro turns to ritual suicide, you have no way to defeat this foe without me.” (Shit, he’s right, but I refuse to let Sukuna take advantage of him.)
A laugh echoes all around them, gleeful and sadistic. (It’s getting closer.)
“The curse?” Kugisaki murmurs, priming three nails with cursed energy.
“Kugisaki, Itadori, just run. I’ll kill it,” Fushiguro says grimly, raising his hands as if clutching a wheel. (I won’t let them die.)
“But Sukuna said-”
“I don’t care what he said!” the black-haired boy barks. “Get out of here-” (It’s right in front of me-)
Pain. He’s only conscious of what has happened to him after he feels blood trickle down his chest from the special grade curse slashing at him.
“Fushiguro!” He hears Itadori cry out as he clutches his chest, doubling over in pain.
He manages to choke out, “Itadori, don’t! Just run!” (I know what I have to do.)
“With this sacred treasure, I summon Eight-Handled Swor–”
He doesn’t get the chance to finish his incantation as a malevolent aura explodes from Itadori.