Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The tatami mats creaked under his knees as Yuta lowered himself, a little slower than he used to. His back ached, knees complained and his breath came with the familiar rasp of a man who had lived too long in a body shaped by battles. He placed the teapot carefully between them, the steam rising in thin curls before settling across from her.

His wife was already watching him, chin propped on her palm, her lips pulled into the faintest smirk. He always thought the scars on her face only sharpened her beauty just like the lines that formed over the years; carving the steel of her youth into the wisdom of her old age. Her short hair, now streaked with silver like his, was tied back lazily.

“You move like an old man.” She said, voice rough but still edged with that same bite.

He poured her tea and smiled. “That’s because I am an old man. We are old, dear.”

“Speak for yourself,” Maki snorted, taking the cup from him. “I can still out-spar anyone.”

Yuta chuckled. He lifted his cup, the warmth settling into his palms. He took in the silence of the compound around them, the quiet so different from the what they expected in their future. No curses or clans were trying to devour them right now.

It had taken decades to earn this peace.

For a while, they simply drank. The air was filled with the faint hum of cicadas outside accompanied the golden light of late afternoon.

Maki broke the silence. “Do you remember,” she began, eyes narrowing as if trying to see across years, “the day we first met? You were all nerves and apologies.”

He smiles and nodded.

Her grin relaxed into something gentler. “Did you ever think we would get here? That loving each other and having a family together.. would be a possibility?”

She was being sentimental. This wasn’t rare for her husband, just everyone else.

Yuta thought, not for the first time, that he never expected to live long enough to see such ordinary moments. His throat tightened. He set his cup down carefully. “I fought back thanks to you, Maki. You gave me something to fight for and someone to fight with.”

Her eyes met his.

“You reciprocating my feelings has been the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I never saw it coming but I am eternally grateful.”

For all her sharpness, her walls, her unrelenting fire? Her gaze still softened only for him.

After a moment, Yuta reached across the table, his hand covering hers. Her skin was rough, the knuckles crooked from too many breaks but they were warm. Always warm.

“I used to think I’d lose you.” He admitted.

She raised an eyebrow.

“You were the strongest person I knew and yet I was terrified that someday I’d look up and you wouldn’t be there.”

“You almost did,” Maki said, matter-of-factly, “Plenty of times, but you didn’t. Because I’m good. I’m stubborn. Because you’re worse.”

Yuta laughed, though it cracked at the edges.

Maki squeezed his hand.

The weight in his chest shifted, from heaviness to warmth. They didn’t need more words than that.The sun dipped lower, casting long shadows across the floor. Yuta watched as the light touched his wife’s face. He thought she had never looked more beautiful. Of course, he thought this everyday.

Now, at the end of all things, they had earned the quiet. They had earned each other.

Chapter Text

The streets were mostly empty, reflecting building lights with rain from earlier in the evening. Neon signs buzzed above shops and the night air smelled faintly of smoke and alcohol. Yuta’s jacket was hanging half-off one shoulder and Maki’s steps wobbled as she kicked at a loose pebble. She nearly lost her balance but he caught her elbow before she could stumble. “Careful. You’re drunk.”

“You’re drunk.” She shot back, shrugging him off.” I don’t need help.”

Yuta laughed. “I know. You never do.”

Maki stuffed her hands into her pockets, squinting up at the night sky. “Can’t believe we actually graduated. Half the idiots in our year didn’t make it this far.”

She said it humourlessly. They had watched each other bleed and break and still get back up. Somewhere between the jobs, the losses and the sheer difficulty of surviving, Maki’s presence became a constant in his life he wasn’t ready to give up. Being next to her now, he felt certain.

“Yeah.” Yuta said, the alcohol still buzzing in his head. “I’m glad you did.”

She glanced at him, suspicious. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” he said, stopping in the middle of the road, “I don’t want this to end.”

Maki stopped too, meeting his gaze with a skeptic face. “What, the walk home?”

He shook his head, searching for the right words. They crowded in his throat and Maki’s stare made it harder to untangle them. For a moment, he thought he might actually say it: ask the thing that had been burning in his chest for the last few weeks. But wasn’t it too early? Wouldn’t the spontaneity of it scare her off? Wasn’t this skipping many other steps?

“..No, forget it.” He muttered instead.

Maki huffed, rolling her eyes. She started walking, with Yuta right behind her. The streetlights stretched their shadows long on the wet pavement.

His steps slowed as he watched her sway dangerously close to the gutter. He smiled then jogged forward. “You’re gonna fall.” Then he crouched in front of her and tugged her arm over his shoulder, guiding her weight onto his back before she could protest. He adjusted his grip beneath her knees and started walking.

Ah, she really is wasted. He realized when she wasn’t putting up a fight. Instead, her head dropped against his back, heavier than her voice. “You’re such a pain.” She muttered but she didn’t tell him to put her down.

Yuta thought back to the first time he carried her like this. Both of them younger, her passed out after being swallowed by a curse, him terrified and desperate to get her to safety. He was much weaker then so it was difficult.

Now, she was heavy with beer, not wounds. Now, he was steady. It struck him how much had changed for the both of them.

Maki mumbled something against his back, too slurred to catch, but he felt her breath on his neck.

The thought came: What happens next? What do I want?

She was the one to ask this a while ago. His answer pressed at the back of his teeth, so simple it scared him.

Each step felt like a promise he wasn’t ready to say out loud. He thought of rings, of vows, of mornings that weren’t guaranteed but he wanted anyway. He thought of how her hand had always been scarred, now as it wrapped around his shoulders for support and how he wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

Not like this, he reminded himself, bumping her higher on his back when she slipped a little. He’d ask her when she could look him in the eye, when the words wouldn’t dissolve into hazy memory.

Maki woke to sunlight stabbing through her eyelids. Her head throbbed like someone had cursed her skull directly and her tongue felt like sandpaper. She groaned and rolled over, nearly falling off the couch.

“Woah!”

Yuta was on the floor, sprawled out with one arm over his face, his hair sticking up in every direction. He stirred at the sound of her voice. “Morning.”

She glared down at him. “Why the hell are you on the ground?”

“You passed out before I could ask where the spare futon was.” He yawned.

Maki sat up slowly, clutching her head. Her back was killing her just spending the night on a sofa, so he probably had it worse. “Idiot.”

He rubbed at his eyes and sat up too. His spine cracked audibly, making him wince.

“Thanks for bringing me back.” Her tone was flat. She leaned back against the couch, dragging a pillow over her face to block the light. “Ah, my head hurts. Stay as long as you need to.”

“No, I don’t want to impose. Sorry for sleeping over without asking.”

She snorted, patting the empty cushion beside her. “If I cared, you’d already be outside. Stop being so formal. It’s annoying.”

They sat there in silence, heads pounding from their hangovers.

“Besides, isn’t it too late to apologize for that?” She finally added. “We could have just taken my room like last time.”

Yuta felt his ears warm. He let himself sink into the couch beside her, stretching his legs out with a groan. “We weren’t drunk last time.”

“Right.” Maki said, sighing.

He glanced at her profile in the harsh morning light of her living room. There was a faint crease in her brow even when she was resting. His chest tightened with the same thought that had chased him last night: What happens next?

She was drifting back to sleep. Her breathing evened out, her face relaxed in a way he almost never saw when she was awake. He reached over and let her head rest on his shoulder.

He let himself sink back against the couch, careful not to jostle her. The room was quiet except for the faint hum of traffic outside. He thought about last night, about the words he almost said. He felt both relieved and restless that he hadn’t let them slip. There would be another time, a better time-

“If you want to get hitched, just ask. It’s not that complicated.”

Yuta blinked. “What?”

Maki let out a raspy laugh that broke halfway into a cough. She faced him, meeting his eyes properly. Her expression wasn’t somber -it never was- but it wasn’t mocking either. Just tired, blunt, unguarded and full of that other thing that was hard to name.

Without realizing, he was staring at her the same way.

“I’ll save you the trouble. I’ll marry you. There. Done.”

His mouth opened. Nothing came out.

Chapter Text

He lashed out at the fading curse without a word. The air around him was jagged though the threat was already gone. Other sorcerers glanced at him, startled, but Yuta didn’t care. His chest was heaving with each attack and his throat felt raw though he hadn’t screamed. The curse had been obliterated, but the image of Maki’s body hitting the ground replayed over and over until it was the only thing he could see.

Afterwards, he found himself walking fast through a white hallway. The harsh fluorescent lights accompanied the metallic scent of blood. He followed the nurse to the hospital wing. Usually, relatives would be kept out of the operating room but he was too important, determined and still furious to be stopped by anyone. He refused to leave his fiancée’s side. Her body was bruised, her clothes soaked in crimson and her face pale and slick with sweat. He tried to call out, but his voice caught in his throat.

He watched in the corner, not getting in their way. She was unconscious. The tubes and monitors blinked steadily. He observed the faint rise and fall of her chest and cringed as they began to open and mend her skin where it was necessary.

She could die, he thought. I could lose her. I have to get Shoko. The deja vu hit him and he convinced himself he wouldn’t make the same mistake.

It was hard to believe that just that morning, they had breakfast together and he was happy when she told him that if they ever had children, they’d take his last name. “Aren’t you guys thinking too far ahead? I mean, the wedding planning hasn’t even begun.” He could imagine Panda saying if he were there. Yuta had bid her farewell when they went separate ways to deal with different curses. She pressed a kiss in the corner of his mouth and it made his heart pause like it was the first time.

Now he was unconsciously whispering her name, over and over, promises spilling from his lips.

The healers moved around, efficient and focused. Unbeknownst to Yuta, his unsettling presence had motivated them to work twice as hard and fast. He couldn’t look away. Every time a scalpel flashed, his chest seized like it was his own body on the table.

He pressed a hand against his mouth, fighting the urge to fall apart right there. He had fought curses that split cities apart. He had won against enemies resembling nightmares. He had fought Itadori. He had lost his mentor. Watching someone like Maki in this state? This was worse than anything. Even so, he couldn’t leave.

Hours bled into one another. He couldn’t sit, wouldn’t eat, didn’t notice the way his shoulders ached from standing rigid and unblinking. It was as if he was afraid any movement might shatter her therefore shattering him entirely as well. He only counted the rhythm of her breathing. It was the fragile tether keeping her anchored to him.

When the medical staff finally stepped back, declaring the worst had passed, Yuta’s mind returned to his body.

When she was moved to a room and they were finally left alone for a couple minutes, his hands hovered above her arm. Yuta was terrified to touch her yet desperate to hold her. He was afraid that contact might undo the fragile work that kept her here with him. With a shaky exhale he’d been holding, he wrapped her hand into both of his. Only then did he remember how much smaller hers were. Maki’s face was still pale but her hand was warm. She was definitely alive.

His eyes stung but he refused to let them close for her face would blur behind tears. Then he pressed her hand against his forehead and patiently waited for her to wake up.

Maki woke with a jolt. She sat up, ready to keep fighting but her body failed her and she fell back on the bed with a long groan. “Son of a..” She was so disoriented and uncomfortable that she closed her eyes again. Someone was calling her name but her consciousness escaped her again.

The same thing happened later that night, leaving her fiancé distraught.

Meanwhile, Maki found herself standing in a large house she had erased from her memory. Wooden floors creaking under her with every step. She knew instantly it wasn’t real. Everything had that blurred edge like she was seeing it through fogged glass.

And beautiful Mai was there.

“You’re still haunting me, huh?”

Her sister looked exactly as she had the last time Maki saw her.

Destroy everything.

A corpse.

Terror pushed her away and the halls dissolved. Now she faced a smaller girl with long, dark hair and haunting eyes.

Who was she again? She wondered. This was someone precious to Yuta but they never really met. What in the world could she be doing here?

The spirit stood tilted her head and smiled.

That was when the name came back to her.

“Ri-”

When Maki finally woke up again, it was as though her entire body had been filled with sand.

Yuta was the first person she saw and she relaxed. His eyes were wide and red-rimmed, fixed on her with an intensity that would have scared off any sane human. He must have noticed the twitch of her lashes the moment it happened. His hand was already gripping hers tightly but trembling. Slowly, reverently, he lifted her hand and pressed her bruised knuckles to his lips.

Maki was too drained to smirk or blush then. She just exhaled slowly with the same relief.

“Did I lose?”

He shook his head. “It didn’t stand a chance. You only got this hurt because you didn’t know that curse had a backup trigger for when you defeated it.“

She didn’t like getting outsmarted by something that weak. What a shame it would have been had she dies right there, at the hands of a low-grade curse.

“How many days will I be stuck here?”

“Not long. Miss Ieiri should arrive soon and the healing process will be sped up.”

“Good.” When she felt the smallest twitch of her fingers against his, she didn’t fight it. She curled them around his weakly.

The effect on him was immediate. “Maki,”

“Hm?”

“I’m about to fall asleep.”

She rolled her eyes but it was more out of embarrassment than irritation. “Then sleep right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

He slouched forward until his forehead rested the side of her bed. He hadn’t let go of her hand. Tension drained out of him and, for her, it looked like he’d been the one carved open. She wanted to lift her other hand, to do the familiar motion of threading her fingers through his hair or cup his face but her body wasn’t ready for even that small kindness.

She felt like throwing up thinking the same could happen to him any day and she might not be able to stand it. When did this happen? When had this once-cowardly guy in her class started acting like this around her? How had his value in her life increased significantly yet so subtly throughout the years?

She clicked her tongue. It was hard to get used to the effect he had on her. It wasn’t like her to care that he clutched her hand even in exhaustion. Now she knew that if he walked away and something ripped him from her, she’d be the one left pathetic.

This is ridiculous , she thought.

So she shut her eyes, gave his hand a squeeze and decided not to think about it anymore.

Chapter Text

Yuta stirred awake, the futon cool on the side where she should have been. He reached out anyway, palm brushing against emptiness. Some instinct pressed at the edges of his mind, whispering that something had shifted. A part of him knew. Still, he refuses to acknowledge it and forced his breathing to eve. No, she always woke up earlier than him, always awaited dawn before the rest of the household stirred. He could feel his stiff joints as he rose slowly.

Her presence -something he could usually sense as surely as his own heartbeat- felt thin and frayed. Despite that, denial wrapped around him: she’s right outside, she’s just watching the garden, she’s waiting for me.

The sliding door creaked open and there she was in her usual spot on the engawa. Sitting with her side against the post, her face turned toward the dim sky. For one suspended instant, relief almost fooled him.

“Dear,” he called gently.

She didn’t move.

“Maki?”

Still no answer.

The relief fractured. He stepped closer, kneeling beside her and the stillness hit him harder than any curse ever had. His hand settled over hers. It felt like his chest might tear open any minute now.

Losing Rika as a boy had filled him with sorrow but that pain was a child’s wound, sharp and quick. The thought of losing Maki, his wife whom he had loved for a whole lifetime with would be too much. The ache told him there was no surviving this a second time. It would, without a doubt, crush him.

Tears had just begun to spill down his cheeks when she suddenly rasped, “You’re so dramatic. Crying before it even happens.”

He felt dizzy. “I thought I’d lost you.”

Her eyes remained fixed on the sky. “Not yet..” Her thumb brushed faintly over the back of his hand, a gesture weak but deliberate. “Though I believe it won’t be long. You think I’m afraid, geezer?”

He shook his head. “Between you and me, I’m the coward.”

Her lips twitched.

“But you know that already.” He added. The wood creaked beneath his weight as he shifted closer. His face was so close to her that he could inhale the sun-worn cloth. That scent grounded him as he remembered the long walks they’d take with their family.

“If it were up to me, I’d go first. I’d spare myself this pain.” He sighed.

She attempted a stern tone, “Like I’d let you go before me. You’d get yourself lost in the afterlife without me to yell at you.”

That earned a laugh. “That’s probably true.”

He felt familiarity with the hush that followed: two people who had lived in step with one another. Even with the decades softening the angles of her face, her eyes hadn’t dulled. Sharp as ever. Fierce as ever.

“Don’t curse me.” She grinned weakly.

“Of course not.” He wiped his face with a sleeve and blinked up, vision blurred. Grief had nearly broken him but Maki had given him strength. This time, he was staring at the same precipice with the person who had carried him across it once before.

Death was unpredictable. He had learned that early, when it stole loved ones in the middle of happy days, when it tore through battlefields and took the most powerful people he knew without an explanation. It never asked for permission, never once gave a warning. Death was merciless in its timing but inevitable for people like them. Yuta had always imagined it would come for him and Maki the same way: sudden, violent and that he wouldn’t have time to brace for it. They were from Jujutsu high. Most sorcerers barely lived this long and he had been fortunate enough to grow old with someone like Maki. He got to raise a son with her and they got to meet their grandkids.

“We’ve built a home against all odds.”

She leaned against his shoulder. “Don’t get poetic on me now. I don’t have the patience.”

Yuta memorized the warmth of her. He thought of their son as a young boy, sharp-mouthed just like his mother. He thought of their grandchildren, kids running across the yard, lively laughter ringing wherever they went. They would grow up to be great like their grandmother. He thought of Maki standing beside him, refusing to leave even when it got hard.

“Don’t be in a rush to follow me right after, you hear me? I’ll be waiting for you. You take your goddamn time.”

All he could do was nod. Oh, what a privilege all of it truly was. Now, if only he could control when they took her. If only it made sense to bargain with time. He’d demand one more year, one more season, a hundred more mornings like this. He convinced himself that immortality wouldn’t be too bad if he always had his wife.

“Don’t look so gutted, old fool. It’s been a good life.”

She kept telling him what to do. Yuta was used to this like he was of breathing. He felt like a child fearing what he’d do without it. He inhaled with her, counting each exhale, terrified of missing one.

At last, she whispered, “We did alright, didn’t we?”

Alas, death had always been inevitable and unkind. Love, Yuta thought, is just as relentless.

“We did well.”

Chapter Text

“He’s a prick.” She hissed.

“He’s your son.” Nobara replied, lazily stirring her drink.

“I can’t stand it.” Maki shoved the food in her mouth and checked her watch. Only a few minutes ‘till she had to go home and rejoin the circus.

“What’s the problem? Doesn’t your husband do most of the work anyway?”

“Shake.” Toge agreed beside her.

“Yeah, right. Not like I almost died bringing our kid to this world or anything.”

“Sujiko.”

“That’s beyond the point. The kid’s feral.” Maki sighed deeply. Had she known becoming a mother would be this hard, she would’ve waited until her 30s. Not that she regretted having her child. Even with the warnings, the exhaustion really does get to you. She pressed her palm to her forehead. “I swear, he bites everything. Toys, furniture, other kids.. last week he tried to bite Fushiguro.”

Nobara grinned, leaning forward. “So, when’s kid number two coming?”

Maki shoved the plate away and reached for her drink. “When Yuta can be the one giving birth.”

“Takana.” Toge gave her a look that said ‘He takes after you. Same scowl. Same temper.’

“He’s going to grow up and run the place just like I do.” Maki pushed her chair back with a scrape and stood. “Alright, I’m done here. If I stay any longer, I’ll never want to leave.”

“Hang in there.” Nobara waved her goodbye.

“Mentaiko.” Toge echoed, raising his glass in mock solemnity.

Maki slipped on her jacket and stepped out into the afternoon. Strangers stared at the jagged scars trailing down her arms and face. Whispers sometimes followed but she held her head high. She was somebody’s mother now but she still felt like the girl who worked hard for every inch of ground she stood on. She hadn’t changed, really. She didn’t transform into some gentle, domestic figure. She was still herself but now her house had a child with her eyes and Yuta’s smile.

By the time she reached the door, she could already hear the racket inside. A loud crash. Her husband’s patient voice, strained around laughter. Their son’s high-pitched shriek of triumph as if he’d conquered something. Maki took a deep breath them opened the door to find the living room in chaos: blocks scattered across the floor, a curtain draped halfway off the couch and a father holding their son upside down by the waist as the boy kicked for freedom.

“Welcome home.” Yuta said breathlessly, trying to keep their son from gnawing on his sleeve. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, yes. It was an easy win. I could have done it without help.” Maki leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed. “I was gone for 3 hours and there’s already a mutiny?”

Their son twisted at the sound of her voice, wriggling until Yuta had no choice but to flip him right-side up. “Mama!” He yelled, reaching for her with stained hands.

His mother sighed, stepping forward to take him.

Yuta smiled at the sight. “He’s been asking for you all day.”

The kid laughed triumphantly, looping his arms around her neck. “Look!” He pointed proudly to the shoji where ‘Satoru’ was poorly written in black ink.

“He figured out how to write his name with hiragana.” Yuta said, approaching and brushing the boy’s messy hair back.

Maki squinted at the る which was written backwards. “You couldn’t get him paper?”

Yuta chuckled and kissed the top of Satoru’s head, then his wife’s cheek. “By the time I saw what he was doing, it was too late. Sorry.”

“You clean up this mess later, you brat.” Her eyes narrowed but her mouth betrayed her and tugged upward. “And you.”

Yuta was crouched on the floor collecting toys and glanced up with a lopsided smile.

“You’re raising a tyrant.”

“I’m raising him with you,” Yuta reminded gently, standing now with an armful of toys. He leaned in just close enough to brush his shoulder against hers. “Which means he’ll be terrifying, spoiled and-“

Maki glared, setting her son down so he could immediately dart across the wreckage. “And?”

“And he’s been pestering me nonstop for a playmate.”

She almost missed the meaningful look he gave. “Oh hell no.”

He tilted his head, all innocence.

“He also asked if he could eat the cake he shaped from dirt last week. Doesn’t mean we should take him seriously. Playmate, my ass. He doesn’t even play nice.”

Yuta set the last of the toys into their bin, then straightened, eyeing her in the way that cracked through her defenses. “Maki,” he said quietly, “I’m not saying tomorrow. Or even soon. But.. maybe someday?”

Before she could answer, Satoru shrieked and launched himself from the couch, barreling into her legs with the full force of a miniature sorcerer. “Mama! Again!” He demanded, tugging her sleeve and eyes bright with mischief.

“See what I mean? He wouldn’t be so bored if he had a little brother or sister.” Yuta scooped him up despite his flailing protests. Faces placed beside each other, the resemblance was uncanny.

Maki sighed, looking at her son. “You can’t even go ten minutes without wrecking the place and you want me to consider doubling the disaster?” She kissed the side of his small head anyway.

“I’m not trying to corner you. If you don’t want more kids, that’s fine. I’m happy with just the three of us.”

“I’m not!” The little boy interrupted.

“I’ve already got more than I ever thought I deserved.” He added.

She failed to hide her smile. “Damn sap. I’ll think about it.”

That’s all he wanted to hear. He leaned in but paused.

She frowned. “What?”

“Your hair’s a mess. Come here.” He brushed a lock of hair that had slipped loose, smoothing it gently back behind her ear. He caught another strand, carefully twisting it out of her face. His touch was light and hypnotizing. There was no reason for her to resist her husband. She closed the space between their lips. She felt the world calm down. It always amazed her, how easy life became. She almost forgot that she spent that morning on another curse cleanup.

Their earliest kiss had been nothing like this. It was imperfect and clumsy. Yuta had been standing there, staring at her with that glint in his eye she’d first seen back in their first year, in an empty classroom. When he hesitantly leaned in, she closed her eyes. She remembered the strange, childish panic in her chest before it ended.

Now, years later, with their son complaining in the background, she pulled back and muttered against him, “Still clumsy.”

Chapter Text

Maki stayed until her body could not. Even then, she gripped his hand with the strength and grin of her younger self. Though her vision had gotten worse and her husband was only a blurred image in her last moments, she was the one who wiped his tears. “Let me hear your voice..” She said so he started talking. The weather, their grandkids, some dumb memory from when they were in high school; he kept talking long after the hand on his cheek became cold and stiff. With a shaky breath, he brushed his own hand over her face, easing her eyes shut.

In the weeks that followed after her death, Yuta carried himself quietly. Their son came often and his grandchildren filled the house with noise. He smiled for them because his wife would have scolded him if he didn’t. Each morning, the effort of rising grew harder as though his limbs had learned what his heart already knew. Maki was gone and everything was worse now. Meals went half-finished, conversations half-heard, her favorite spots around the house remained empty. Those who knew him whispered that his spirit had followed her long before his body would allow it.

He began to sleep more like he was preparing for the long rest to come soon. Most of the time, he dreamt of her. A butterfly. A flower. A phoenix. There were many words he could use to describe her whenever they met in his unconsciousness but right now, his wife was just a girl in Jujutsu high. He almost couldn’t recognize her without the burn marks across her face. She wore casual clothes and a ponytail and had a guarded look. “Ask.”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been curious, haven’t you? About why I’m a failure.”

Ah, yes. He remembered this moment in that empty classroom all those years ago. He remembered the words they exchanged and the look she gave him.

When he took a while to respond, she took off her glasses and began talking again. “My family is one of the elite families of sorcerers. Do you know what the minimum requirement to be a jujutsu sorcerer is?”

“It’s being able to see curses.” He replied this time.

“That’s right. Ordinary people can sometimes see them in special circumstances but I can’t see them without these. The cursed tools I use are already imbued with energy. None of it comes from me. Thanks to that, I got out of my family.”

He knew her so well that he could tell what was on her mind as she said that. “Why are you still a jujutsu sorcerer then?”

“I’m spiteful. I’m going to make that family cry when I see them again, as a grade 1 sorcerer who can’t see curses.” She smirked.

Oh, you did something much better, dear.

“I’ll crush the clan from within.”

“That’s so like you. I wish I could be so strong and unyielding like you. I love you.”

Young Maki’s eyes widened and she abruptly left the room. Oops, I went off-script in that last part, he thought. Then he blinked and he was suddenly in a different room. The school infirmary. “You’re moving too much.” Maki adjusted the bandage on his shoulder from behind. “If you tear this open again, don’t expect me to fix it.”

“I’ve gotten into the habit of relying on you.”

She tightened the knot unnecessarily. He hissed quietly at the sting but managed a sheepish smile.

“What the hell are you saying?” She didn’t move away like he thought she would. Instead, she leaned forward until her forehead rested against his back.

In his mind, he laughed remembering what he was thinking when this happened: Don’t move, don’t ruin it, all friends do this, relax. Young Yuta swallowed hard when he felt her breath on his skin.

Maki never voiced out her worry when he got hurt. She did things like this instead and he responded the same way every time. His fingers brushed against hers where they rested against his side. Hesitant at first then firmer when she didn’t pull away.

On other nights, he was sitting next to a kid at a train station, waiting for Maki to return.

“Is she okay?” The little girl sitting next to him on the bench asked, swinging her legs.

“Hm?”

“Is that lady alright? She looked hurt.”

“Oh, those wounds are healed. She can’t feel them anymore.” He said gently. “Plus, she’s resilient.”

“Is she your girlfriend?”

He laughed at that and looked around with embarrassment.

“No.” Not yet anyway.

“You don’t like her, then?”

“..Can you keep a secret, little miss?”

She nodded with enthusiasm.

Then, he didn’t know that Maki was just close by. He didn’t know she overheard until she told him when they were already engaged.

“I definitely like her.”

It was never a nightmare as long as he got to see her. Even when found himself arguing with her outside in the middle of the night. His brows knit together in frustration and in turn, her eyes narrowed. They childishly walked down the street with a few meters between them until he jogged to catch up with her just to place his jacket on her shoulders. She glared at him but still reached up to remove the snowflakes on his hair. There was a pause and a wordless exchange before they both leaned in.

Maki, can you see me? Do you know the life we have ahead of us? Will you please come back to me? He wanted to reach out and ask all these questions but that’s usually what caused him to wake up.

After that first kiss in their final year at Jujutsu high, a line had been crossed and there was no reason to keep pretending like it was still there. They had skipped a lot of other reasonable steps and jumped straight into marriage after graduating. She said yes before he could ask. He had worries about it all being too early and fast yet it ended up being one of the best decisions in his life. The same could not be said for Todo who had three ex-wives before he passed.

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

“I’m gonna be a father..” He mumbled, feeling joy even though this moment happened decades ago. “I’m going to be a father!” He repeated, trying to pull her into an embrace before he was dragged into another day. Each time it was different.

“This is the cursed tool user, Zenin Maki.”

“Don’t use my last name.”

”What do you want to acheive?!”

“There’s no curse more twisted than love.”

“You know, Maki’s softer when you’re around.”

“No fair! It’s always you!! Thinking of only you!”

“Someone who’s stronger than me, at least.”

“Maki! Is it okay for you to move around?”

“Listen, you’re extremely important to everyone here.”

“Yuta! It’s not okay just because you’re back in your original body!!”

“Ugh, nevermind.”

”I need you.”

“You don’t have to ask permission every time you want to kiss me, you idiot.”

“She’s taken. Leave.”

“About what happened last night,”

“I’ll save you the trouble. I’ll marry you. There.”

“I wanted to ask properly.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“I really don’t care where or when it happens as long as the groom isn’t swapped out.”

“I’m home.”

”Satoru?”

“You. This is your fault.”

“He has your eyes.”

”Mama, when am I getting a sister?”

“We’ll get through this. I love you.”

“‘Dear?’ That’s so lame.”

”I can’t believe you got sick.”

“Fushiguro and Kugisaki? No way.”

“Stay with me. Try to stay awake. Don’t close your eyes.”

“He’s all grown up now.”

“Welcome home.”

”It’s only a year overseas. No, you can’t come with me.”

“Tsurugi and Yuuka are coming over.”

“Did you ever think we would get here?”

“It’s been a good life.”

”Dad, how’s mom?”

“Come here, Yuta.”

“Let me hear your voice.”

The replays came to an end on his 79th birthday, just months after she was gone. When Yuta opened his eyes that morning, he was no longer in the same world, on the bed that had an unfilled right side. He was inexplicably suspended in a space that felt like both nowhere and everywhere. At first, he thought he was alone. Then he felt it. A distant flicker of energy. A warm presence from his childhood. Someone who had spent more than 60 years waiting for him.

But on the other side, there was that unmistakable aura. He could feel her certainty, her smirk, the quiet strength that had always been hers then his. Without questioning the laws of this strange realm, he ran towards it. Nothing had ever mattered more.

They said he died of old age and that his body had simply given out. Those who had truly known him understood that Okkotsu Yuta had simply followed after Maki, as he always had, as he always would.