Chapter Text
Yuji had never been to a circus before. He stood shyly in front of the tent, a clown trying to persuade him into taking a balloon animal.
Tentatively, he reached out and grabbed the balloon, rushing quickly to hide behind his grandpa.
The clown frowned, but it quickly changed back into a smile as he bowed before the two Itadoris, largely gesturing his arm towards the entrance of the tent.
Yuji rushed past him, leading his grandpa to the open flap in the tent.
The tent itself was huge, red and white cloth billowing in the wind at the ends, letting glimpses of bright lights out onto the slightly yellow grass outside.
Inside, the tent was lined with layers upon layers of bleachers, all surrounding a large red ring. The ring had a thick floor of wood, with stray piles of sand laying around.
Two tall poles protruded from the floor on two sides, swings hanging from the tops with a large net underneath.
Yuji was led by his grandfather to their seats, about 5 rows from the floor. The seat had a few lonely popcorn kernels on it, and he easily brushed them off before plopping down in his seat.
He waited impatiently, taking in everything the circus offered with nobody on stage yet. Grandpa Itadori handed him a bag of peanuts he was storing in his pocket.
Yuji accepted them, tearing open the bag to pop a peanut into his mouth.
Bright lights illuminated the center ring, cheers flooding the tent. The smell of popcorn wafted through the air, mixed with cotton candy and corndogs.
The ringmaster came out onto stage, giving a long bow as he waited for the crowd to quiet down with their cheers.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the Jujutsu Circus!”
A roar of applause erupted from the audience. From behind the ringmaster’s spread arms, two men back handspring into view, ending the routine with a backflip before facing each other.
The smaller of the men charges towards the other, jumping and spinning around the taller man’s neck before launching off his back.
Small pale hands clutched at a bag of peanuts, whoops of joy coming out at every trick.
The taller man runs behind a set of curtains before bringing out a woman on a spinning circle, cheers coming out as soon as the spotlights focus on them.
He stops, taking steps back. The taller man accepts a knife from the shorter man's grasp, turning sideways as he flings it at the woman.
The knife lands neatly next to her face, and the crowd gasps in surprise.
He takes two more knives, this time smaller, and manages to get them both between her legs.
Yuji bites his lip in anticipation, eyes bulging as the lady easily unlocks herself from the circle, waves her hand, and starts running towards a ring of fire the shorter man had lit.
She fluidly jumps through it, face first, landing on her hands and falling into a bridge to walk away.
Yuji leaned forward in his seat, kicking his legs in fascination as two acrobats, agile and tall, stood at the top of two towers.
In mere seconds, the acrobats launched themselves onto their swings, and flew through the air.
The first acrobat grabbed the other one and they swung easily, leaving the crowd to gasp in awe.
Yuji tugged at Grandpa Itadori’s sleeve, bright eyes wide as he pointed to the acrobats, excited.
His grandpa nodded in return, turning back to the sight of the circus as a large wheel was brought out.
The wheel was soon carrying a lanky man with a burst of white hair. The man waved at the audience as he gripped the sides of the wheel, making himself spin around the ring.
Another man, this time with his black hair in a bun, cartwheeled over to the wheel, grabbing onto it as soon as it was slowed down.
It was now the two of them, skillfully maneuvering around the other as if they’d done it their whole lives.
After a few moments of them together, the wheel stops and the two exit, bowing deeply.
Yuji couldn’t take his eyes off the entire circus, joy buzzing through him, his peanuts forgotten with all the excitement.
Soon, all that was left on the circus floor was a tall man with brown hair, a tophat on his head. He took a sweeping bow as the spotlights focused on him.
Yuji didn’t manage to catch a single thing the ringmaster said, and barely noticed when everyone started filing out of the circus tent.
He pouted at his grandpa, cheeks red, “I want to be in the circus! Please? Please? Please!”
The older man sighed, ruffling Yuji’s hair lightly, “Maybe after you finish school.”
Yuji groaned in annoyance, bouncing on his heels, “But I want to be an acrobat now!”
His voice ended in a whine, fake tears welling up in his eyes.
“Oh please, stop the crocodile tears.” His grandpa scoffed, picking up Yuji and wiping away his tears, “If you’re good for the rest of the year I’ll sign you up for gymnastics so you can get the gist.”
Yuji’s face brightened up immediately, “Thank you!” He wrapped his arms around his grandpa’s neck, nuzzling his nose into his cheek happily.
“Ouch, careful with my neck!” Grandpa Itadori complained, trying to pry the young boy off of him.
“Sorry Grandpa!” He slides off of his grandfather, jumping happily when they leave the tent, Yuji with a new goal in mind.