Chapter Text
Yuji gets manhandled into the back of Sukuna’s car like a prisoner. On the ride to Sukuna’s house he tries his best to meekly explain himself, but every time he opens his mouth, Choso, who is sitting in the front passenger seat, starts yelling at him again. Stuff like, “I have never been so frustrated with you,” and “you have grown up to be such a silly little boy” and “you can’t even fathom how long you’re going to be grounded for”. All things that’d sound weird and stupid if they weren’t getting spit out with such vehemence.
Sukuna says nothing, but he’s emanating a deadly aura. Yuji can sense his killing intent. By accident they lock eyes in the rear view mirror, and the look on Sukuna’s face sends chills down Yuji’s spine.
But he can’t just sit here and do nothing! The memory he obtained most recently — the one about his grandpa’s supposed accident — is sitting in his brain all heavy and solid like an iron weight, impossible to ignore. He’s starting to understand more about his other self and he desperately wants to say something, to maybe fix other-Yuji’s life for him, even if he’s not around to experience the happy ending anymore.
The question is, how? According to Toji, Kaori has dirt on him, and it must be pretty damn convincing if it’d get him implicated in the death of his father despite his young age. It makes him shudder to think it, but maybe assassination really was the only way…
There’s another angle to consider here. Why was the other-him so eager to get Kaori out of the picture? The answer is simple. She probably wasn’t going to stop at grandpa Wasuke. After that initial failure, who’s to say she won’t try again? And then, after that, who’s next?
He thinks again about his poor treatment of Choso and grandpa, and how he pushed his closest friends out of his life. About his fake cigarette addiction and his lousy, delinquent behaviour. Why? The more allies, the better, right? Why’d he shut everyone out? Yuji is sure they’d stick up for him if only he explained things to them.
He doubles over, clutching his aching head. Ugh, why did the other-him just have to go pick all the weirdest options when there was a simple solution right there in front of his face?
They arrive at Sukuna’s place and Yuji is marched inside, arm in arm with his brother and uncle. He expects to be locked inside his bedroom, but for some reason they pass his door and continue down the hallway.
“Uh, guys? My room’s back there,” Yuji says.
“Oh, is that where you think you’re staying?” Sukuna scoffs. “Yes, I’m sure you’ve got a thousand little hidden compartments for your cigarettes and phones and whatever junk you keep around.”
He is sent into Sukuna’s room the same way that cop sent him into the cell, and the door is shut tight behind him. He doesn’t even bother testing it to see if it’s locked, because with Sukuna and Choso working as a team there’s no way he’ll ever escape.
He can hear them talking to each other. About him, probably. They head back downstairs together.
Oh, well. This’ll give him some time to think before the inevitable confrontation. He roams around the room, touching and examining items at random. It’s still strangely heartwarming to see all the evidence of Sukuna’s completely normal life.
Once again, he returns to the downturned photo frame on the bedside table. Glancing nervously over his shoulder, he carefully picks it up, almost expecting it to be some kind of trap.
It’s…
“Dad.” The word bursts out of Yuji’s mouth involuntarily. Jin. He looks a lot like Sukuna, just a little leaner. His hair is cropped short and he’s wearing a pair of glasses with rectangular frames, and in the photo he has an arm slung around Sukuna’s shoulders.
His vision flickers a bit. At first he thinks it’s tears; his body’s automatic response. But then an unwanted memory crawls into his brain like some kind of insect.
“Tired already, brat?” Sukuna asks.
Yuji is desperate to impress his cool uncle, so he draws himself up and bleats, “no!” But it’s a lie, because his feet are aching and his chest hurts from heaving in the cold air.
Sukuna laughs knowingly.
Even though the path through the woods is long and winding and constantly uphill, Yuji is enjoying himself. Despite the pain, he’s happy to be with his favorite person. Sometimes he’ll swing off Sukuna’s arms, because Sukuna is so strong he can lift Yuji without even making an effort! Or he’ll ride on Sukuna’s shoulder, which is also good!
He has to savor every moment, because Sukuna doesn’t come over very often. Even though Yuji’s body can’t take much more, he forces himself to continue.
Just as they’re cresting the hill, they reach a convergence of two paths, marked by a signpost. Sukuna studies it for a moment, and that’s when they hear Kaori’s voice.
“Yuji,” she calls.
Yuji whirls around. He grins and waves. “Mama!”
She’s creeping up from the darkness of the second path, which leads through the thicket and is much more difficult to traverse. It’s summer and the ferns have almost engulfed it, so at times it’s almost impossible to see where you’re putting your feet. Despite the fact that she must’ve been hacking through thick shrubbery, she looks no worse for wear.
“Kaori,” Sukuna says, his voice oddly flat. “Thought you didn’t want to hike.”
“I guess I changed my mind.”
Yuji runs to her once she’s close enough and they hug. He is absorbed into his mother’s warm arms.
“Well,” Kaori says brightly, “why don’t we head to the top together? Apparently the view is quite something.”
Sukuna says nothing, and so, they all walk on as a group. Kaori offers Yuji her hand and Yuji takes it, because even though Sukuna is his favorite, he has a soft spot for his mother and doesn’t want to hurt her feelings.
He is still very young in this memory, maybe four, so the tense silence doesn’t register as unusual to him. He fills it with excited chatter and random observations, and it doesn’t matter very much to him that he doesn’t get a proper response from anyone.
Just like Kaori said, the view at the top is “something” — something out of a fantasy book. Beyond a guard rail are pine trees rolling on for miles, so many that they seem to blend together, looking like a choppy green ocean. Fog emanates from a river buried beyond the horizon, turning the sky a faint shade of gray. Yuji sticks his head through the bars to stare in amazement.
“What an awful place,” Kaori says mildly. “Bugs everywhere. I heard there are ticks endemic to this region whose bite can cause something similar to an allergic reaction. Dangerous for a small child like Yuji, no? So many miles from a hospital, too.”
“I don’t think he cares about bugs,” Sukuna shoots back, to silence her.
She seems miffed. She sucks her teeth. “It’s not your risk to take.”
“Why not? After all, he is mine.”
The temperature drop is palpable. Yuji looks back nervously, unable to understand why his mother seems so angry all of a sudden. Then she laughs, shrill and loud, making him flinch.
“Well, I don’t know where you got that idea!” she says.
Sukuna’s face crumples. He doesn’t like being laughed at, never has. “The dates line up.”
“Line up with what?”
“Don’t be obtuse.”
“You’re talking about something that never happened— oh, don’t interrupt. These are your words, after all. It never happened, that’s what you said.”
“Guess I changed my mind,” he drawls.
“Hm, is that so? What will my husband do?”
“Most likely he’ll finally get rid of his pet bloodsucking parasite.”
“You must be talking about yourself! He’ll never want to speak to you again.”
“That’s fine, if it means he comes to his senses about you.”
“You’ll never see Yuji again either.”
Sukuna bristles. “Neither will you, but you’re getting the worse end of the deal here. All that crap you buy with Jin’s money, you’re not going to see any more of that either. You can go ahead and cry and roll out your sad little backstory, but this is a pretty open and shut case. You’re the villain and you’re the one who’s going to pay for it.”
“Um, are you guys fighting?” Yuji asks nervously.
Kaori grins at him tightly. “No, we’re just pretending. Don’t worry, Yuji.”
Yuji looks at Sukuna for confirmation, but Sukuna just folds his arms and scowls at the ground. There’s an awkward silence after that. Feeling unsure, Yuji tries to focus on the pretty view. Maybe he can find something cool to distract them, and then they can all bond over it?
Just then, like a gift from the heavens, something catches Yuji’s eye. At first he thinks it’s a leaf adrift in the breeze, but then it tilts to the side, revealing its tawny feathers which seem to glow gold in the sunlight.
He gasps. “A golden eagle! Mom, uncle Sukuna, look!” He starts to writhe and jump with excitement. He recently learned about golden eagles at school, so he knows how cool they are and how this will definitely impress them!
“Ooh! Want to take a closer look, Yuji?” Kaori asks.
Suddenly, she lifts Yuji from the ground and props him up on the top of the guardrail. Yuji whoops with amazement. He looks down and his stomach drops, and he teeters, sickened but exhilarated. The ground is miles below him, the trees appearing as a dense green rug like the one they have in their bathroom. A small flock of birds pass— an arrowhead of tiny white dots.
“Kaori,” Sukuna says.
He sounds mad.
“It’s not like you care either way,” Kaori says smoothly.
“What would you gain?”
“Nothing, clearly. The villain always loses.”
Sukuna comes closer and Kaori’s grip tightens. He stops about a meter away, his legs a little bent like he’s preparing to burst into a sprint.
“Ah!” Kaori gasps like she’s been struck by a revelation. Then she laughs.
“What’s so funny?” Sukuna demands.
“The villain always loses,” she says. “A family of three go on a hike together. The area is deserted, nobody else around for miles. One of them is a sweet young boy who wouldn’t harm a fly. Another is his mother, who is well-liked by the rest of the family and deeply cherished by her husband. She has a lucrative job, no criminal history, and is a former athlete, no less! An unfortunate but kind woman whose original career ended because of a leg injury, making her frail and helpless. The last is a miserable criminal, known far and wide as a sociopathic tyrant who bullies the local police into abetting his crimes. Whose word will the people believe? In the end, who will be cut from the fabric of our family?”
Sukuna doesn’t have a reply to that.
Kaori’s grip tightens once more, so much that it’s painful. Yuji whines and tries to pry himself free, but her hands continue digging into his sides relentlessly until Sukuna finally backs off.
Once she’s satisfied by the distance, she places Yuji safely on the ground. “Such a serious face. I was only pretending. Right, Yuji? Just a game.” She smiles sweetly.
“Um, right,” Yuji says cluelessly. He takes the hand she’s offering.
They begin to make their way back down the path. Sukuna is trailing behind them, like a predatory animal stalking its prey, trying not to be noticed. Yuji tugs on Kaori’s hand, trying to make her wait for him, but she ignores it.
The rest of their family is waiting for them at their base camp; a welcoming cluster of wooden cabins. A popular tourist destination. At the mouth of the entrance, Kaori turns to Sukuna.
“I’m a high-maintenance woman,” she says. She frames her face with her hand. “It takes a lot to look this good. Don’t ever threaten my lifestyle again.”
Sukuna still doesn’t reply. Jin spots them and comes over with a smile.
Feeling Kaori's grip loosen, Yuji tries to take the opportunity. He slips free and grabs Sukuna, his favorite person. "Uncle Sukuna, are you gonna make a coffee with dad? I wanna make your coffee for you! I promise I can do it good."
He surprises Yuji by stepping abruptly out of his grip, making him stumble. He catches himself on the sharp stones and tears well in his eyes, but Kaori and Jin are the only ones who come to comfort him. Sukuna stays at a distance.
Wow. Uh.
Yeah, just wow.
It’s a revelation, but it still doesn’t shed much light on Kaori’s motives. Yuji can make an educated guess that she’s manipulating their family for money, but something about it just doesn’t feel right. It’s too simple, too clean. It fits too easily.
He has a lot of questions to ask Sukuna, but it’s Choso who visits him first, several hours later. He brings takeout with him. Yuji sits at Sukuna’s desk and picks at the styrofoam box while he eats. It’s hard to enjoy it when Choso is staring at him so intently.
“I think you should go back on the medication,” Choso says.
Hoo, boy, there’s more. “I dunno,” Yuji deflects.
“I know you don’t like it, but, you know, your mother said—”
Yuji looks at him sharply. “Oh, so she said it was what I needed?”
Choso flinches at his tone, which makes him regret it immediately. He wonders if he’s becoming more like his other-self with each memory he obtains. The last thing he wants to do is start abusing the people he loves. He digs into his food, trying to distract himself with it.
Always persistent, Choso carefully continues. “It’s for your own good. Look, you’ve been acting erratic lately. Your mood is all over the place and you seem… confused.”
“I don’t need meds though.”
“It hurts me to see you like this.”
It’s hard not to be offended. “Why? There’s nothing wrong with me.”
“I know this isn’t you. Sometimes I see the real you shining through, but it’s buried underneath all this…” He shakes his head with distaste. “I just want my brother back. I’ll do anything to have what we used to have.”
“But this is the real me.”
“It’s not,” Choso says passionately.
Yuji tries to give him the benefit of the doubt, but maybe this is the source of all his other-self’s anger. They can’t see what’s happening right in front of their faces. It’s frustrating. He turns away. “Forget it.”
Choso watches him for a while, then he reaches over to fix his hair, then he quietly leaves. There’s a lot of sadness and longing in that small gesture and it hurts Yuji’s heart to ignore it, but it’s clear that Choso won’t see his point of view regardless of what is said.
It’s not Choso’s fault, though. He’s still young, having just crossed into the cusp of adulthood, and he naturally trusts Kaori to know what’s best. If Kaori said that Yuji needs meds, then that’s how it is.
Sukuna comes much later, right when Yuji is thinking about going to bed. It’s midnight. He slips in silently without a word and without knocking, like he expects Yuji to be asleep already. They challenge each other with their eyes to make the first move.
In the end, Yuji is the one who speaks first. He’s never been the type to dodge around a touchy subject. “I’ve got a question to ask you.”
“You think you’re in the position to ask questions.” Sukuna doesn’t sound sarcastic and domineering like usual. He sounds resigned, like he already knows what’s coming.
“So.” Yuji fidgets awkwardly. He never, ever, ever thought he’d have this weird-ass conversation with Sukuna of all people, but here he is. Ugh, he closes his eyes so he doesn’t have to look at Sukuna’s weird face. “Did you sleep with my mom?”
Sukuna chokes. It’s a strange sound. Seconds pass and Yuji is forced to peek open an eye with concern. Sukuna’s face is all pale. It looks like someone’s poured a bucket of ice water over his head.
Apparently this is not the question he thought he was going to receive.
“That came out of nowhere,” Sukuna says rigidly.
“No, it really didn’t. Look, you don’t have to go into detail — I mean, please don’t — but I’m right, right? You guys had a thing.” The other-him probably didn’t remember this very well because he was four when it happened, but for Yuji, the knowledge is fresh and new in his developed brain.
Eventually, Sukuna shakes his head. He's trying to deny it but his voice is uncharacteristically shaky. “You’re still such a naive little brat. Those fairytale romances you see in cartoons don’t exist in the real world.”
“Just tell me the truth.”
“It was… an accident.”
“Oh.” Yuji can’t resist teasing him. He’s never had an advantage over Sukuna like this and the temptation to exploit it is just too powerful. “So, you’re saying I was an accident?”
A faint flush appears across the bridge of Sukuna’s nose, standing out sharply on his currently sickly skin. “Who told you to ask me this bullshit?” he demands.
“So it is true!”
“Your mother told you, didn’t she? She made me out to be a deadbeat. That’s why you hate me.”
“Hey, I figured this out all on my own. I don’t have any real proof, except for you confirming it just now.”
Sukuna grumbles, turns and slams his fist against the wall. It’s endearing to see him sulking and raging like a normal middle aged man.
Yuji grins. “Deadbeat dad, deadbeat dad. You’re even worse than Megumi’s dad. Deadbeat— heh, your words not mine.” He laughs.
Even though Yuji is trying to keep things light and humorous, Sukuna doesn’t follow along. He slumps a little, his shoulders standing up sharply. His fist remains fixed against the wall and he seems to be leaning on it heavily, as if his legs are losing strength.
“All this time I thought I…” Sukuna trails off. He turns just enough to reveal the side of his face, but he doesn’t make eye contact with Yuji. “Did Jin know?”
“How should I know?” Now, time for question number two. “So, you’re my dad, and you still left even though mom…”
Threatened to kill me? Is that what that was? Maybe the four year old other-Yuji misremembered it, but it sort of seemed like she was about to… do something drastic.
"Ah..." A strange smile appears on Sukuna’s face. “You know, for once, you’ve outmatched me. I thought you were stupid enough that I could just come back and resume my place in your life like I never left. I guess not.”
“You keep calling me stupid. I can’t tell if you even like me or not. You’ve gotta be the worst dad in the world. Uncle is a little more your pace, don’t you think?”
This is another joke, but Sukuna, somehow, takes it to heart. (He actually has one of those, go figure.) Yuji sees it in the way his body slumps as if he’s succumbing to a terrible weight that has been placed on his shoulders, and in the way his eyes go dull.
“Don’t say anything else. I get it.” He retreats from the room and pulls the door shut. Yuji hears his footsteps padding back down to the living room.
He doesn’t hear anything else for the rest of the night, so apparently Sukuna has decided to make camp down there. Hours ooze by. Yuji can’t sleep. There’s too much going on in his brain.
…Ugh, why the hell does he feel guilty? He’s not the one who abandoned his four year old kid to some unknown fate!
His dark, spiralling thoughts get interrupted by a small rapping at his window. Rather, Sukuna’s window. He sits up. Pebbles are being thrown at it, leaving tiny, barely noticeable dents on the glass. He goes over and slides it up.
There’s Nobara winding up to throw another pebble. Thankfully she notices Yuji and her arm stops at the peak of its arc. Megumi is there too, right beside her.
“Knew you’d get another jail sentence, one way or the other. Trapped in Sukuna’s cave, are you?” Nobara snarks.
“I’m just surprised there aren’t bars on the window,” Megumi says.
“Yeah, me too.” Nobara beckons Yuji. “Well, are you coming? We’re here to bust you out! Screw your family issues, you’ve got friend issues to fix!”
Kaori’s still first on the agenda. Maybe they can fix their friendship issues on the move?