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Fushiguro Megumi had never thought much of himself. He knew he had a short temper, an introverted personality, and his life in the shadows had left him with few tangible connections to the real world.
Despite his personality, he also knew he was a relatively talented jujutsu sorcerer, gifted with the ability to save others, and a devoted brother. With the addition of Kugisaki and Itadori into his life, he’d recently begun to think that he could be a good friend too.
Now, surrounded by the shadowy abyss of his own innate domain, Megumi knew he was never going to be more than another victim of Ryoumen Sukuna.
If he was really fucked by fate, he’d be the vessel that allowed Ryoumen Sukuna to kill Gojo Satoru and retake his position as the King of Curses.
And the worst part was he’d let it happen to himself. He’d known, Itadori had warned him, had tried to keep distance between them, but Megumi hadn’t listened. He’d selfishly clung to Itadori, insisting they stay together because it had comforted Megumi to see the one person he had left- the one person he couldn’t bear to lose, stay by his side. And despite his own better judgment, Itadori had stayed.
At least there was no reason for the higher ups to execute Itadori any longer. Megumi could find some solace there. The boy with the sunshine smile had always been the best of them, so the idea that he might live a long life after all had to be enough to sustain Megumi in the darkness.
Megumi closed his eyes, finding the shape of his own soul made manifest to be an exhausting scene. The shadows whispered, a soft susurrus that seemed near and far at once. The inky black shadows surrounding his small lit center melted in and out of shapes of animals, curses, faces…
Megumi had thought he had a good grasp of his innate domain, having worked with Gojo through the necessary visualization and meditation exercises needed to create domain expansion since the beginning of junior high. Being inside his innate domain, however, was a completely different experience than meditation on its shape. Megumi could feel the pulse of the shadows slowly creeping closer towards him, waiting to subsume his sense of self completely until he simply ceased to exist.
“Man, this is your soul? Shit is depressing. ” Megumi sat up suddenly, turning slowly to the malevolent presence now admiring the ever creeping shadows of his innate domain.
Sukuna’s form hadn’t changed from Itadori’s face, and Megumi didn’t know whether to be relieved that he didn’t have to face his own face as a reminder of his failure, or angry that Sukuna still wore Itadori’s visage, even if the curse wasn’t aware of how deep seeing Itadori’s sweet features pained Megumi’s soul.
At least, if his soul ceased to exist in this moment, he would look last upon the face of the man he loved.
Small blessings.
“It shouldn’t surprise me though, that such a pathetic creature has such a pathetic soul. It’s just so goddamn sad. ” Megumi wrenched his body into standing, a snarl coming to his face.
“Pathetic creature whose body and technique you’ve coveted? I heard what you said to Yorozu, don’t feel shy about your little crush on me now.” Much to Megumi’s instant regret, Sukuna’s eyes lit up, and the expression he wore was so close to one often seen on Itadori’s face that Megumi had to look away.
“Oh, so there is a bit of fight left in you! I did wait until I was sure your soul had broken so much that you couldn’t possibly resist me to enchain my brat to our vow so that I could switch over to you. But I did regret that I wouldn't get to personally break you down.” Megumi barely held back the shiver threatening up his spine as Sukuna settled into a throne he conjured, made of shadows and eyed Megumi hungrily. That Sukuna could manipulate Megumi’s innate domain so easily was just another twist of the dagger that was Megumi’s subsumption by Sukuna.
“I just wanted to have a bit of a conversation first…really get some things clear between the two of us, before your own void takes you.” Megumi stared down at Sukuna, the curse tilting his head to the side and watching amused.
“I’m surprised you’ve lowered yourself to enter my innate domain, surely we could have our conversation in yours? I’ve heard you have a real big bone throne and everything. I wonder, is its size compensatory?” Sukuna threw his head back and laughed, the sound echoing off the shadows in gentle waves that made the laugher seem all the more malevolent. In truth, Megumi had no desire to see the bloody waters and bovine bone throne Itadori had once described to him, but having Sukuna within his own soul felt so wrong that Megumi chose the other’s soul as the better option between two absolutely terrible options. It was a constant truth of jujutsu sorcery, the options were never good- just pick the one that was less shit.
“Ah, as if I would let a worm like you into my soul. No, Fushiguro Megumi, just because my brat has traipsed there does not mean anyone else can.” Megumi’s eyes narrowed, clocking this as the second time Sukuna had referred to Itadori as ‘his’ brat.
“Awfully possessive for someone no longer possessing Itadori, aren’t you?” Sukuna leaned forward in his shadow throne, elbows on knees and smiled.
“Oh? Do you think so? Well, I think you’re awfully possessive for someone who never possessed him at all. Itadori Yuji is mine. His soul, his body, his life- all forfeit to me from the moment of his conception. Just because we no longer reside in the same flesh doesn’t make his soul any less the match of mine. I’ve carved him into what I desire, separating into you just makes certain activities…easier.” Megumi’s stomach dropped.
Sukuna wasn’t supposed to still have designs for Itadori. Itadori was supposed to be free now that Megumi had taken his place. It was the one silver lining of this whole shitshow of a situation. It was the light that still shined down on Megumi, engulfed as he was in his own shadows.
“Surprised? That I would claim what is rightfully mine? Shocked that anyone else noticed how sweet, how delightful his disposition is?” Sukuna stood suddenly, his face in front of Megumi’s, close enough to share breath. “Just because I want to break him and you want to free him doesn’t make us any different than the other, Fushiguro Megumi.”
“In fact”, Sukuna continued, pulling away from Megumi as he continued to stare ahead, alarm bells now ringing in his ears, “I would actually say what we want is the same. I want to break him as one would break in a young colt. Make him heel, make him obey, train him to take a bit and be ridden, and in his submission he will find true freedom. He will be allowed to run and jump as fast and free as he can- as long as he knows who holds his reins.” Sukuna paused, looking over Megumi slowly.
“You want to free him from all this jujutsu crap. You see an innocent young man, dragged into a world he doesn’t belong to, with a burden he cannot handle, all to save your worthless life on the rooftop of a parochial school in the sticks. His world was so small before you, you want to give him that smallness back, wipe away his tears and shelter him so that his smile can once again light up your darkness.”
Megumi gasped as the backhand Sukuna delivered with no preamble at all knocked his thoughts loose, blood spitting onto the black floor and quickly absorbed into the shadows.
“You don’t know him at all.” Sukuna seemed genuinely angry then, his face twisting Itadori’s into an unfamiliar scowl of rage barely contained.
“And you do?” Megumi spit more blood at Sukuna’s feet before continuing. “He despises you, you’re literally the bane of his existence. He’s thrilled to be rid of you, and I’m just glad I get to be a part of that for him.” Sukuna smiled then, bright and open. His tattoos and extra eyes kept Megumi aware of who it was in front of him, but his heart ached all the same. Itadori .
“I know him better than anyone, little fool. I am his raison d’etre, his guiding light, his beginning and ending. We are fated. You are merely…a witness.”
Sukuna waved his hand and suddenly the shadows pushed back as if nothing more than stage curtains, revealing a phantasm of Itadori Yuuji, laying on his jujutsu high school bed clad in nothing more than a pair of white boxers. Against his own instincts screaming at him to stay back , Megumi stepped forward towards the tableau, eyes scanning the sight desperately. Was this now? Was this a memory? Sukuna seemed content to watch Megumi circle the bed, watching as Itadori idly scrolled on his phone. His tongue was poked out the side of his mouth, eyes narrowed in concentration as he scrolled. Megumi drank in the sight of him, long muscles flexing under smooth, tan skin. His face, under closer inspection, was free of its new scars, making this a memory then. Of Sukuna’s? Megumi glanced back at the curse, who was watching him with a vicious smirk.
The memory of Itadori suddenly moved, dropping himself back onto his bed dramatically, arm raising up to cover his eyes.
“ Brat.” A voice said, breaking the silence of the scene, but it wasn’t the Sukuna watching. Itadori grunted in reply to the mouth now splitting his left cheek open.
“Yeah?” Itadori removed his arm from his eyes, running his fingers through his pink hair. Megumi wished he could feel how soft the pink strands were for himself.
“Why bother with your phone and fist when you could get real ass? The shadow brat next door seems more than willing to fuck you.” Megumi shared a blush with memory Itadori.
“Sukuna, I’m going to slap you back from whence you came if you keep that shit up. We’ve had this discussion how many times? I am fifteen. I am a MINOR. I am not going to actually go have sex with anyone! Plus, studies show masturbation is healthy.” Itadori rolled onto his right side, rolling his eyes as he did so, but making no further move to dislodge the curse.
It was bizarre. Every time Megumi had watched the two interact before, Itadori had been quick to slap away the curse’s many mouths, apologizing profusely as he did so, as if Sukuna was nothing more than a misbehaved puppy trying to jump on strangers. Megumi had admired it, chalked it up to the power of Itadori’s positive thinking to treat a millennia old specter as nothing more than a brief inconvenience.
He’d never seen them interact like this. He’d never known they interacted like this. He wasn’t sure anyone did, even Gojo. If they had…would Itadori have been allowed to live? This bordered on…congenial.
“Also, and I’m not going to keep explaining this to you, I am not interested in Fushiguro. I’m not gay, man. I get that he is, maybe, and that’s cool and all, and if you were your own person, you’d be free to do whatever your coal-black heart desires with him, but stop trying to get me to live out your fantasies.” Megumi flushed as Sukuna, not the memory but the real live one currently watching his reactions with sadistic amusement, laughed loudly.
“Brat, your concept of sexuality is bizarrely binary. A hole is a hole is a…oh, for fuck’s sake, what on earth are you googling?” Memory-Itadori groaned again, rolling back onto his back and sliding his hand down his unfairly taut stomach to the small trail of pink hair that led to his rapidly rising white boxers.
“Will you shut up? I swear, I’m just gonna have to close my eyes and fantasize because someone cannot handle a little BDSM porn. What, whips and chains scare you?”
Megumi couldn’t really believe that he was watching Itadori, his classmate, his crush, his fellow beleaguered fighter against the rising tide of evil, argue with The Motherfucking King of Curses about porn. If he wasn’t watching it happen, he wouldn’t believe it had. Honestly, he still felt it might be nothing more than a bizarre figment of Sukuna’s imagination.
Maybe Sukuna wasn’t there at all, and this is what Megumi’s dying soul chose to entertain him with before the void of non-existence.
Megumi’s cheek throbbed where Sukuna had struck it earlier, and he discarded that line of thinking. His brain wasn’t half this annoying.
“No, I just don’t understand watching increasing levels of perversion when you could just go fuck .” The last word was both the end to the sentence and an exclamation as Itadori slid his hand fully into his boxers, beginning to stroke himself gently. Itadori sighed softly, stroking a few more times before tossing his boxers off completely, revealing a beautiful cock, its pink tip matching the pink curls surrounding its base. Itadori continued soft strokes, thumb swiping at the slit in his head and pressing in on every other stroke as his abs tensed with pleasure.
“Keep talking.” Itadori said, continuing to stroke himself, now relaxed fully into the bed.
“Oh, this again? Can’t get off on your little fantasies? Want to hear me talk you through it like the inexperienced virgin you are?” Itadori moaned softly at that, his hand starting to move a bit faster, his cock reddening as it fully hardened. Megumi was transfixed. He was beautiful.
“You like talking, might as well get something out of it for myself.” Itadori replied, the soft tension in his voice the only indication that this was anything more than a casual conversation to him. “Besides, you and I both know you’re feeling this as much as I am.” He finished by tugging harder at this cock, and the Sukuna mouth of his face let out a huff that wasn’t nearly as composed as it should be.
“Fine then brat. Get the lube.” Itadori complied, rolling over to grab a small bottle in his top bedside drawer and wasting no time spreading it across his length. He was big, but Itadori had big hands to match, moving quickly across his length as he sped up his rhythm.
“No, go slower or I’ll have to take over for you.” Itadori whimpered at that, bucking himself into his hand.
“Yeah, you're gonna show me how it’s done? Big bad Sukuna wanting to give me a hand job?” Megumi felt guilty at the jump in his own cock at that. Itadori was kind of a pervert.
“If it means actually getting off, sure thing brat.” With that, Itadori’s right hand suddenly had rings around its wrist, Sukuna’s tattoos ending at his right shoulder. Itadori spread his legs wider as Sukuna took control, the mouth on Itadori’s left cheek continuing to whisper filth to him as Itadori panted under the attention.
“Look at my little brat, so willing for me. Spreading your legs at the smallest touch. God, you are such a whore , especially for a little virgin.” Itadori whimpered, the sound choking out the back of his throat as Sukuna’s hand moved faster and then slower, teasing him right up to the edge before backing off entirely. Itadori, for his part, seemed used to this, groaning a bit back at Sukuna for being a jerk but mostly content to lay spread on the bed as the curse took over his other arm and began to lay claiming bites through a mouth manifested on Itadori’s left palm.
“Sukuna, please , let me cum. I’m so close.” The real Sukuna chuckled in tandem with the memory of Sukuna on Itadori’s cheek.
“Needy baby tonight, huh?” Itadori nodded as his left hand’s mouth swept a tongue across the precum drooling down Itadori’s cock.
“Please Sukuna, pleas- Ah!” Itadori jerked his hips up, his length disappearing entirely into the mouth manifested on his left palm as Sukuna’s mouth swallowed him down completely. “Fuck, yes, fuck Sukuna- so good.” Itadori continued to babble as his hips chased Sukuna’s mouth to completion. A few tense moments later and Itadori collapsed, seemingly boneless, back onto the bed. “Sukuna, that was so good.” He mumbled, closing his eyes and breathing heavily.
“Glad you liked it, baby.” Itadori breathed in sharply at the nickname.
“Don’t call me that, you’ll make this weird.” Itadori rolled off his bed, grabbing a towel from his bedside table to wipe himself down with.
“Weirder than letting me suck you off? I am literally ‘evil made manifest’ according to you. And also a dude. Since you apparently have issues with that.” Itadori laughed, a bright sound in direct contrast to the scene Megumi had just witnessed.
“It’s different between us, it’s basically masturbation. Just…enhanced.” Sukuna’s mouth snorted on Itadori’s cheek.
“Whatever, baby .” The mouth disappeared before Itadori could respond.
The scene dissolved into wisps of shadows and Megumi jolted back to himself, glaring at Sukuna. For his part, the curse was openly hard, legs spread wide as he lounged on his throne.
“Such a good brat. It took a while to train him, you know. To move from taking over his childish attempts at touching himself to sinking my cock into him while he begged for it in my domain.”
With another wave of his hand, an image of Itadori entwined with Sukuna appeared, their bodies joined together as Sukuna slapped into Itadori with abandon while Itadori threw his head back onto Sukuna’s shoulder in pleasure.
“God I hate you, I hate you so much, never leave me.” Itadori panted, pulling Sukuna into a kiss as Sukuna’s hand tugged at Itadori’s red erection.
“Never, baby.” Sukuna responded, breaking the kiss to let Itadori cum, phantom cum splattering the floor of Megumi’s domain. “You’re mine.” The image of the two breathing against each other’s lips faded slowly, as if Sukuna was reluctant to stop watching.
“Even once I got him to admit he liked cock, though, he never was interested in you though.” Megumi met Sukuna’s stare, rage coiled tight in his stomach. He was shaking, he realized, and the shadows surrounding them began to swirl faster and faster.
“I’m not sure what it was. I know he was pissed at you for not fucking off when he told you to during the Culling Games. He ranted about that a lot. That I was so interested in you, that I had the gall to look elsewhere when he was right there, begging for me. It was fun to let him think he could be replaced.” Sukuna grinned meanly as he stood from his chair, stalking in close to peer up at Megumi.
“He never realized I only cared about finding an appropriately weak vessel, one whose soul would be crushed under mine.” Sukuna ran a finger down the side of Megumi’s jaw and Megumi fought back his disgust.
“I would have liked him to fuck you though. I thought if you had Yuji, it would make crushing your soul even easier. Luckily for me, Kenjaku played that little trick with your sister and the rest took care of itself.”
Megumi breathed in hard through his nose. His body was swirling with conflicting emotions, arousal, rage, confusion, each battling for supremacy. It made no sense, none of this made sense, Sukuna was a liar, had to be.
How. How was it possible that Itadori would give himself over to this mad man? That he would let himself be touched, be cherished, be debauched by the King of Curses?
“Jealous? It’s a good look on you. Matches your eyes.”
Something inside Megumi snapped. He lunged at Sukuna, fists swinging as the other man laughed in delight.
“That’s it! Fight back, fight for the love you never had a chance at having. Curse me with the dying dregs left of your soul.” Megumi struck his knee upward, trying to connect with Sukuna’s stomach as the curse was suddenly behind him and throwing him onto the ground. Sukuna’s hand sunk into Megumi’s hair, pulling his head up as Sukuna’s erection ground into Megumi’s ass. It shouldn’t have felt half as good as it did.
“Think you can stick around long enough for me to get my brat back? Once I’m done with the six-eyes, I’ll let you watch as I fuck him.” Sukuna laughed as Megumi cursed up at him.
“Get the fuck off me you perverted bastard! I don’t believe you! I don’t believe any of this shit! You’re making it up. It’s some sick fantasy of yours. Itadori would never touch you, he’s too good for you! He’s too good for all of this SHIT.” Megumi wrenched himself free of Sukuna as he yelled, feeling the curse let up on him.
“Oh, you think that it’s a lie? That I’m just fabricating visions for you? That he’s some saint? That maybe if he hadn’t lost his virginity on my cock, within the confines of my soul, that he could still be yours? I already told you, you miserable cunt, you don’t know him. ”
Sukuna threw his arm viciously and the shadows wrenched themselves again, forming a pacing Itadori, glaring at a reclined Sukuna. Both were fully clothed this time, Itadori’s face sporting the now-familiar scars from Mahito.
“You’re just a fucking psychopath. And I’m not going to let you do whatever the hell it is you have planned with Fushiguro. And I’ll be damned if you think I’m going to let you touch me after the shit you pulled in Shibu-” Itadori was cut off by Sukuna rising fluidly and striking out his hand, resembling a cobra more than a man.
“Do you ever get sick of your incessant bitching , brat?” Itadori’s face scrunched up under Sukuna’s palm, brown eyes shining golden with rage. Sukuna retracted his hand quickly, shaking away the blood from it with a small curl of reverse cursed technique. Itadori just licked his lips, smirking.
“Nah, I’ll never get tired of reminding you what a piece of shit you are, old man.” Itadori wiped Sukuna’s remaining blood from his chin. Sukuna watched him warily, red eyes narrowed with unexpected caution.
“I told you what happened in Shibuya. I needed to expand my domain to beat Fushiguro’s Mahoraga. It’s not like I intentionally killed all those people. It was collateral.” Itadori’s face resembled Sukuna’s more than it ever had, colored red with rage.
“Collateral? Collateral? You killed hundreds . You’re a monster, you’re a curse, you’re a fucking lying piece of shit and I hate you and I will be the absolute end of you.” Itadori stood tall, righteous anger pouring out of him even as a memory, and it made Megumi’s heart ache at the thought that he’d never see Itadori in the flesh again.
He should have been brave, he should have told him that he loved him. Megumi should have had a fucking backbone, like the boy he was so in love with, and then maybe Itadori never would have had to endure the curse of Sukuna’s attention. Maybe then there wouldn’t be a memory of him crying over a curse.
“I did what I needed to do. I saved your little friend, didn’t I? Darling , please.” Sukuna wrapped his arms around Itadori, and Megumi’s stomach churned to see Itadori turn into the other man and bury his head in Sukuna’s neck. The curse’s hands stroked gently up and down Itadori’s spine while Itadori sobbed softly.
“I am only doing what I promised. I’m remaking this world for us. I will create a world where you are safe from execution, where you are never alone, where we can spend our days together. Isn’t that what you want?” Sukuna gently brushed the hair out of Itadori’s eyes, thumb gently tracing down the curve of his cheek.
“A world you would make by killing innocent people? I can’t do that, Sukuna. Even for you. I’ll be the end of you, and we’ll die together.” Itadori leaned in and kissed Sukuna, digging his fingers through his darker mirror’s hair as Sukuna’s arms tightened around the other man.
“You know, Gojo says that love is the most twisted curse of all. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t stop this. Why I can’t stop you from digging your way deeper into my soul.” Sukuna’s arms loosened as he pulled back to regard Itadori, his hand coming back up to capture Itadori’s jaw.
“Love, darling?” Megumi winced at the memory’s tone. It was the low, soft voice Sukuna used only for his most damning pronouncements.
The last time Megumi had heard Sukuna’s voice that soft, he’d ripped the heart out of Itadori.
“What we have isn’t love. It’s not something so menial, so trivial as to be contained by human conventions. You were created of my flesh and soul for me, conceived in whole to host my soul alongside your own. You will live as long as I do, which will be forever. We will never part. Love me, hate me, curse me, I am yours and you are mine, and that is as sure as the moon chasing the sun.”
Megumi’s jaw clenched as he watched Itadori stare at Sukuna, his mouth slightly open, stunned as if he’d just been hit with Zenin’s staff during a spar.
“Forever?” It was a whispered question, full of hope.
“And a day after that.” Sukuna answered, pulling Itadori back into him.
The figures vanished before Megumi, leaving him physically ill. Psychically ill? Mentally? What was the correct phrase for the sensation of twisting snakes in your gut when you only existed as a soul within your own body? Megumi couldn’t meet Sukuna’s as he pressed into Megumi’s space once again.
“Yuji was made from one of my fingers, you stupid wretch. It was the genesis of his creation, absorbed by him before he even left the womb. He is made of my soul, and I am the only person who will ever make him feel complete. What good are his silly human morals and friends in the face of his soul mate? Did you really think that you could ever compete?”
No.
No.
No, that wasn’t true, that couldn’t be true, how could that be true-
“Kenjaku thought the only way to make a vessel strong enough to hold me would be to endow it with my soul before birth. He was right, of course, but what he didn’t expect was that my soul would grow- find its own footing and sprout into the beauty that is Itadori Yuji.” He paused, staring down at Megumi.
When had he fallen to his knees? Megumi couldn’t remember.
“It’s a basic principle of jujutsu. A balancing force born to every calamity. Yuji is the light to my dark, the sun to my moon, the open palm to my fist. And you would wish him an ordinary life in Sendai, ignorant of any evil in the world so long as it meant he could suck your cock.”
Megumi felt Sukuna’s spit hit his cheek, the warm wet slide of it mixing with his own tears.
“You know what? You killed my boner. I couldn’t even hate fuck you if I wanted to.” Sukuna’s kick hit Megumi squarely in the stomach and he fell to the ground, gasping and trying to stop himself from throwing up.
Megumi wasn’t sure how long it was between Sukuna’s visits, time lost to the swirl of the shadows. The King of Curses had subsumed his soul so completely that it barely even registered as he consumed the remaining fingers, his soul growing stronger around Megumi’s.
Megumi’s shadows replayed the visions of Sukuna and Itadori entwined together from time to time, new scenes of debauchery crushing his soul further even without the King himself being present. One Sukuna was really fond of showing him was Itadori laid out on his back, legs sprawled while he worked himself open on his own fingers, whimpering for Sukuna’s touch.
Megumi was ashamed by how he’d pleasured himself to the memory, pretending it was his name and not Sukuna’s that Itadori was crying out.
“Oi, cunt. I’m going to kill your teacher today.” Sukuna appeared suddenly, still wearing Itadori’s face. Or was it his own? If Itadori really was made of the soul of the King of Curses, could it be that the face Megumi loved was really Sukuna’s? That the smile that lit up rooms was the same gleeful look seen moments before death by Sukuna’s victims?
“Sure. Enjoy being dissolved into nothing.” Megumi sat up slowly, barely feeling the strength of soul to curse Sukuna. Gojo would win, Sukuna would die, and Itadori would be free. It would be fine.
Sure, Megumi would be dissolved into the abyss along with Sukuna, but it was a small cost to pay for the annihilation of his jailor. Sukuna scoffed, turning on his heel to leave. Inspiration struck, and he called out before the curse’s presence could leave.
“Kind of romantic, isn’t it? That you and I are going to die together? Do you wish it was Yuji? Or are you happy that he’ll get to live? A life free of you, I can’t imagine a better cause to die for.”
Sukuna turned back and was in front of Megumi, legs pinning him into the ground on either side, crushing Megumi’s throat before Megumi could blink. The snarl on the curse’s face sent sparks of terror, a feeling Megumi had thought he was long past, up his spine.
“I would never wish for something that would hurt him so much. I would kill his friends, take over the world, run the streets of every city red with the blood of innocents- but I would never, never , take myself away from him.” Megumi breathed in through his nose, bucking his hips up to cant Sukuna off.
“Didn’t you already though? Isn’t he by himself at this moment? Has been for who knows how long?” Sukuna’s grasped relaxed slightly, but the hatred he stared at Megumi with was beyond anything he’d seen the curse.
“Physical separation is nothing to us. He knows I’ll be back for him. Hell, if I know my brat, he’s planning some way to get me back.” Sukuna’s backhand hit hard and Megumi let his head fall back onto the floor, all will to fight gone.
“Break a leg. Break both. And then die.” Megumi called as he felt Sukuna leave.
He just needed to wait a little longer. Gojo would handle it. Megumi let the shadows cover him.
“Fushiguro, hey, wake up.” A warm hand was shaking Megumi’s shoulder, but Megumi didn’t want to wake up. He felt light, lighter than he’d ever felt and so very warm and so very tired…
“Megumi, please.” Megumi’s eyes fluttered open, revealing the gentle smiling face of Itadori staring down at him. He was dressed in a blue cotton yukata, a yellow pattern of chrysanthemums splashed down the sides, held tight by a white obi. His face bore the scars of Shibuya, but there were no longer crescent moons under his eyes and Megumi saw his hand reach up and gently trace the smooth skin before he realized what he was doing.
“Hey there, sleepy head. You had me worried.” He sat back, pulling Megumi into him, keeping an arm wrapped loosely around Megumi’s waist.
“Where are we?” Megumi murmured, staring up at Itadori. The stars behind the other’s pink hair shone so brightly that Megumi had to squint, unused to more than the dwindling light of his own shadows.
“Why don’t you sit up and try to guess?” Itadori helped Megumi sit up, taking it as slowly as Megumi needed, his warm hands strong against Megumi’s back.
Once upright, Megumi tried to pull away, instinctively. Itadori didn’t want him laying on him after all, he was just too polite to say otherwise. Itadori let him go, but still watched him carefully as if Megumi might collapse at any moment.
Honestly, he probably would.
He turned his head around slowly, taking in the warm summer breeze that ran through the grassy hill the pair sat on, making gentle waves on an otherwise still lake that stretched out endlessly before them. Fireflies danced in the air around them, and Megumi could hear the faintest hint of taiko drums in the distance. As he took in the scene, obon lanterns slowly floated down the lake. It started with a few, but soon the lake was lit up with thousands of lights, competing with the full moon that completed the scene.
“Last I knew, it was November.” Itadori laughed, throwing his head back with the force of it.
“We’re in my innate domain. Welcome to my soul, Fushiguro.”
Oh.
Megumi looked around in amazement, shocked that such an idyll scene could be an innate domain. He knew that someone without a cursed technique was bound to have a different style of innate domain than one whose technique dominated their soul, but this was…
Beautiful.
“An obon festival?” Megumi asked, leaning back onto his elbows. Itadori copied him, laying alongside him.
“One lantern for every life I’ve taken.” Itadori’s answer left Megumi without one of his own, as he turned to watch the other boy, who was staring intently at the lanterns. “Or I guess, I should say, that we have taken. He told you, didn’t he?”
Megumi sat up alongside Itadori, staring down at his hands instead of at Itadori.
“He said a lot of things. I’m not sure which you mean.” Itadori sighed, sinking his head into his hands.
“I just wanted to die with him, Fushiguro. I never meant for you to be a part of this.” Itadori’s voice cracked with tears, and Megumi turned to stare as Itadori broke down into his hands. “I’m so sorry, I’m so so so sorry.” Itadori’s arms were suddenly flung around Megumi’s shoulders, the heavier boy suddenly pressed against Megumi.
This was hell.
This was heaven.
“He’s my curse, I should have kept him from you, I’m so sorry.” Megumi awkwardly patted Itadori’s arm, back straight as he kept his gaze firmly forward at the lake.
“I should have listened to you when you said he was after me. It’s as much my fault as it is Sukuna’s. You’re not to blame.” Itadori chuckled wetly, brushing away tears.
“You’re too cool, Fushiguro. As always.” He relaxed his grip on Megumi’s shoulders, setting himself back onto his elbows.
“So, Itadori, why exactly are we in your innate domain? And um, how?” Itadori winced as if he had been caught out with his hand in the cookie jar. Which he had, upon multiple occasions, and by multiple other students so Megumi was intimately familiar with the expression.
“Ahhh, well, you see. It’s kind of hard to explain.” Itadori rubbed his face and Megumi’s stomach clenched at how familiar this was. How had he ever resigned himself to never seeing him again?
“Your innate domain was collapsing, your soul has been through a lot- which is totally understandable! So I brought you here to recover. I can kind of jump my soul around now, thanks to hosting Sukuna and some research left by Tsumiki on the nature of souls. So you’re in my innate domain, in your body, while Gojo and Sukuna fight.”
Megumi was well familiar with Itadori’s explanations being less than clear, but what?
“What?” Oh, he’d said that outloud.
“See, we’re trying to get Sukuna dislodged from your body so you can have it back- and then I’ll take him back with me into my body. So Gojo used Unlimited Void on him, and made his domain expansion super duper tiny so it guaranteed to hit and knock Sukuna out. And then he collapsed it so I could jump in while Sukuna was out, but as I was getting you, Sukuna recovered from the unlimited void before I could grab him and take him out of your body. So yeah, now my body is without a soul and yours has three in it, which is probably making fighting really hard so I’m hoping Sukuna will give up and we can go back to my body…”
Well, Megumi probably wasn’t getting a clearer answer than that.
“Oh, okay then. Well, as long as Gojo thinks it’s a good idea.” Megumi let himself lay all the way down onto the grass as fireworks began to streak across the sky.
“Itadori?” Amber eyes turned towards him, flickering into gold as the fireworks reflected in them.
“Yeah, Fushiguro?” Megumi closed his eyes, feeling himself relax completely for the first time in what felt like years.
“Can I ask you one question?” Itadori sucked in a sharp breath.
“Yeah man, you can ask whatever you want. Honestly, I’m just surprised you still want to talk to me.” Megumi’s heart constricted. Itadori really was too good for jujutsu sorcerers.
“Do you love him?” Itadori breathed in sharply. The silence lingered between them, heavy, a tangible thing.
“Yeah. It’s more than that though. It’s…we’re intertwined. Fated, maybe? I don’t know. But yeah. I hate him, I despise him, I know he’s a curse to humanity, but…”
Itadori breathed in deeply suddenly, as if steeling himself for unpleasantness. “But he completes me. He’s my crux and my comfort, all in one. I just…I just want to go away with him and then we’ll never bother anyone again. Together in death, and all that.”
Megumi nodded, keeping his eyes closed so he didn’t have to see the pain of the confession on Itadori’s face.
“Itadori?” Megumi felt Itadori’s gaze, even if he couldn’t see it.
“Yeah, Fushiguro?” Megumi breathed out slowly, reaching towards Itadori’s hand. He felt the other boy’s fingers intertwine in his, squeezing gently.
“Your soul is really nice.”
When Megumi awoke next, it was in the hospital wing of Tokyo Jujutsu High Technical College. His body ached, feeling as if it had just been through a meat grinder and then sewn back together with fishing hooks.
Which, upon considering that Sukuna had been using his body to fight Gojo, might be a fair assessment.
“Megumi!” Gojo suddenly filled his vision, blue eyes staring down at him intently. His gaze tore across Megumi’s face as if searching for any hereto unforeseen injuries that Ieri had missed.
“Man, kid, you really know how to stress your sensei out.” Gojo’s face relaxed slightly, but his gaze was still staring too intently for Megumi’s liking.
“Where’s Itadori?” Megumi’s voice was gravelly, and he broke into a cough as he sat up, waving away Gojo’s concerned fluttering after accepting a bottle of water.
“Let’s talk about that later, kid.” Megumi registered the serious tone, as solemn as a death bell.
“No, I need to know now. Last I saw, I was in his soul Gojo. His soul. His inner landscape of peace and harmony that he uses to mourn the death of those he had nothing to do with. Where. Is. He?” Megumi met Gojo’s gaze straight on, fingers tightening around the water bottle.
“After retreating with his soul and Sukuna’s into his body, he lost control of Sukuna. Sukuna ran off with Yuji’s body, we don’t know where they are now. Wherever it is, they’re staying quiet. It’s my theory that Yuji has control again, after all- he’s always been able to wrest back control before. But…now that Sukuna is at full strength, and I couldn’t beat him outright, I think Yuji is staying away from where Sukuna can do any damage until someone can take them out. After all, if it came down to being executed, I think Sukuna might manage to win back control.”
Megumi nodded, processing slowly.
“So, we don’t know if they’re alive or dead, but we do know that they’re together?” Gojo’s brows raised up, disappearing into the curtain of bangs that always fell over his eyes without infinity on.
“Pretty much.”
Megumi slowly twisted the cap of the water bottle on and off, thinking. Honestly, if Itadori had been able to get control back and Sukuna really was truly complete within him the odds that the pair were still alive were…
Well, Itadori had said that was what he wanted.
And Megumi wanted Itadori to have whatever made him smile.
“Good.”