Chapter Text
It was not often, or ever really, that Satoru Gojo admitted his hubris. But he had to admit, if only to himself, that he had really gotten himself in trouble this time. Being labeled ‘the strongest' in jujustu society only applied so long as the situation allowed you to use said strengths.
He swore if he managed to get out of this alive he would never drink at a bar again, or accept strangers at his table and take any gifts of food from them at least.
The three men, foreigners, who had approached him had seemed friendly enough, apparently curious about his hair and sunglasses, talking to him in English. Upon ‘finding out' he was Japanese (even though he could understand them just fine), they had apologized and asked if they could sit with him and practice. He had felt bored and they had seemed earnest in their desire to socialize, chatting with him in semi-fluent Japanese and only requiring the occasional correction. He had thought they were fun and since they came off so completely as tourists and only had the level of cursed energy expected of a regular human, he had suspected nothing.
He had suspected nothing when they'd offered him some gummies since they were also eating them (they must have already ingested the antidote or had some way of telling the normal candy from the one they gave him), and continued to suspect nothing when he got light-headed and they gathered around to help him get outside for some fresh air. Even when their words were mostly a buzzing incomprehensible mess and it took him several moments to realize they were speaking in English he still suspected nothing. It wasn't until he heard them laughing that he finally realized what they had done to him.
He tried to access Limitless, but found his cursed energy slippery and hard to grasp. His vision was all but completely black thanks to his inability to use the Six Eyes as well and his sunglasses blocking most of his vision. He tried to speak, but his tongue was heavy and the words sluggish, slipping away before he could speak them aloud.
The one thing he had never managed to master; getting his Limitless to discern poisons, though he hadn't thought that regular drugs could affect his cursed energy this way, and with reverse curse technique he had concluded he could just heal himself of anything detrimental he ingested...except he couldn't access that either.
What had they given him that could do this to him?! What could not only knock out his ability to use his cursed energy but also negate the Six Eyes?! Was this just happenstance, or was this targeted?! Their words buzzed over his head so rapidly he couldn't keep track, nor could he see where they were taking him other than to know he hadn't been put in a vehicle.
Soon after he heard the heavy door of a side entrance or fire escape, followed by the sense of being dragged down a couple flights of stairs, then there was a hallway followed by a room. It was here he was finally dumped on the floor.
If this is bad luck then I just need to wait for the drugs to wear off enough to get reverse curse and Limitless going, but if this was targeted I might be in a bit of trouble…
His sunglasses were pulled off and tossed aside before one of the guys crouched in front of where he sat in a limp sprawl, reaching out to grab his face and jerk his chin up to look at him before saying something to one of the others that made them laugh. The guy who had laughed came over with a glass of clear liquid then and his mouth was pried open before he was forced to swallow a rancid drink, making him weakly sputter and cough. The man who had held his face pat his cheek afterward.
"Good boy." His Japanese was crisp and clear now. "So I bet you're wondering why we're doing this, huh? Well you see, we were hired to kill you...but you're a lot prettier in person than in the pictures, so we're going to have a little fun first." He ran a hand down Satoru's shirt to grope between his legs, eliciting a weak twitch and incoherent protest that just made the three men laugh.
Oh, well shit… Satoru thought as they pulled his clothes off him, making more commentary in English that had to do with how expensive his fit was. His skin began to tingle, and when one of the men groped him again he gave a louder protest both because he didn't appreciate it, and also because he felt so sensitive it buzzed his brain with a confusing mix of pain and pleasure.
"You prolly figured it out by now, but that shit you just drank makes you really sensitive." The first guy said, and Satoru nearly whimpered when another of the guys began to stroke him into an erection. He hoped Limitless came back to him soon because he was absolutely going to kill them.
But his cursed energy remained out of reach, his body and mind not properly connecting, or in the case of how sensitive he was, connecting way too well. Pain and pleasure spiked through him with every stroke and just when he thought he would cum despite it, they stopped. He groaned, unable to do much else than weakly twitch. "Plss...hop...." He forced out around a too thick tongue.
The three men looked at each other and one said something to another too softly for him to make out. The other guy walked away only to come back a minute later with another package of the gummies they'd tricked him into eating, forcing him to swallow them whole with what at least seemed to be water rather than the rancid drink that was setting his nerves afire.
Once again he got the condescending pat on the cheek as he weakly coughed and gagged, wobbling dangerously as his body spasmed, unable to do anything to help himself. He thought he would suffocate right then and there, but if he could just endure this long enough to get Limitless to work...
He must have passed out briefly, because the next thing he knew the three men were playing ro sham bo until one of them won over the others, and then that one was unzipping his pants while another one went and got the first guy lube.
I am going to kill them so bad it's going to make the global news. Satoru seethed, though he was unable to hold back the whimper when the man who was literally about to rape him hefted him up and forced himself inside without so much as a ‘by your leave'. The lube did not help when every thrust felt like tearing and he found tears dripping from his eyes from the agony of the violation, the humiliation and the way his nerves screamed with every movement while all he could do was lie limply. The only small dignity he had was that the gummies he had just swallowed seemed to have taken most of his ability to make any sound at all, denying them at least that satisfaction.
But gratitude for that small mercy was replaced quickly as the pain of his hypersensitive body overcame all thought and sense, both knocking him into brief moments of sensory overload where he felt nothing at all, only for all his base senses to return seconds later all at once in agony akin to fire and ice at once. Every thrust jostled his limp body, and if not for his ragged breaths the bastard might as well have been fucking a corpse.
When he finished, Satoru was discarded so abruptly he hit his head on the wall with an audible crack. Unconsciousness claimed him until the second man was rearranging him to have his own fun, and all he could think before the rape began again was that this was the most undignified way to die.
When the second one finished with him and the third one was unzipping his pants, there was an explosion that had all three jumping. Satoru couldn't see from where he lay on the floor, aching from the violation and the bite marks the second guy had decided to leave in his skin, hard enough to draw blood, but he definitely heard the screams, and he definitely saw the dismembered arm that fell across his vision, then the curse that followed to swallow it up.
He found a too hot hand touching his chest a few moments after. "Nnn plss...." He forced out, and it was so hard to talk. He felt shattered and just wanted it all to end.
"Oh Satoru....I'm so sorry...." A familiar voice, choked with rage and pain. "Your cursed energy is so low I couldn't find you....I should have been quicker...."
....Suguru? He tried to turn his head, tried to at least move his eyes, but all he could do was blink, head fallen to the side, limbs akimbo. Oh no....not Suguru.... While he was definitely glad for the rescue, why did it have to be the best friend he hadn't seen since they'd parted ten years ago in Shinjuku? Of all the people to see him so violated, so....pathetic....this was not the reunion he would have hoped for.
Why was he even in Tokyo to begin with?
He whimpered when he was lifted and a blanket was wrapped around him, swaddling him before he was picked up and he was able to see more of the carnage. There was no sign of the men who had intended to kill him, just bloodstains on the cement floor of what he could see appeared to be some kind of squatter's den complete with discarded wine and beer bottles and roll up futons.
Satoru closed his eyes, though it was impossible to rest when his body was awash with pain. The blanket was too warm around him, though it at least insulated him from other sensations. He couldn't even communicate his discomfort, the two words he had managed to squeeze out all he seemed able to manage. It was a relief when Suguru stepped outside and the cold air hit his face, even though that felt like a slap. Suguru summoned a manta ray curse, and then he took off into the sky with Satoru cradled in his arms.
Say something.... Satoru found himself begging silently. I know you must be disgusted, but please say something! He couldn't open his eyes even if he wanted to, the wind of their journey a constant freezing pressure against his face even though it was only early September, pulling tears from the corners of his eyes. Maybe they were traveling too quickly for Satoru's words to reach his ears anyway, but still he wished he would speak.
The journey ended after entirely too long, making Satoru wonder how Suguru had been anywhere near enough to rescue him, he cracked his eyes open to see Suguru disembarking with him onto a balcony. A curse opened the balcony door for him and he stepped into the dim room to set Satoru down on the only bed in the room. He turned away again, and Satoru could hear rather than see him back on the balcony before the door was shut and locked.
"Satoru...." Suguru clicked the bedside lamp on, making Satoru wince. ".....I'm so sorry...." His hair was longer than it had been when Satoru had seen him last, he noted. He seemed healthier, though in that moment he looked as if he had aged well past his 27 years as he began to unwrap Satoru. "Let's get you cleaned up...." He was visibly worried, and Satoru saw him clench his jaw when he couldn't help the whimper when he picked him up to carry to the bathroom.
"Nnn…" He forced out, struggling to tell Suguru not to try to bathe him. "Hrrss...." Suguru had no idea how oversentive he felt. He just wanted to be wrapped back in the blanket even though it was too hot. He wanted to be left in a corner where he wouldn't be perceived.
But Suguru couldn't understand his slurring, and though he flinched when Satoru whimpered as he was laid in the tub, he turned away to start the water. Expensive place to have a bath in it.... He thought to distract himself from what he knew was coming.
The water wasn't even that hot, but when it lapped against his feet, he still let out a sharp gasp of pain. He could not move, could not flinch away. He could only hiss through his teeth.
Suguru looked at him in worry and stopped the water again, his dark eyes filled with concern. Satoru wished he could look away, but all he seemed able to control was his ability to blink and breathe.
"I don't understand why this hurts you so much...." Suguru whispered at last and stood to get a washcloth to dip in the water that was in the tub already. "So I'll try this instead." Satoru could only let his breath out in a loud huff. Words were so hard.
He did his best to endure every touch in silence, though Suguru must still have been able to tell it hurt him because of how pinched his own expression was. He was trying to be gentle, Satoru knew that. He wasn't trying to hurt him, and somehow that made it a little easier to bear, even as he lay there helplessly, uselessly while his best friend, his only friend tried to clean him and wipe away a situation he had been too stupid to avoid and too weak to save himself from.
He just closed his eyes so he didn't have to see the pity and concern in Suguru's expression, so he could stop trying to hide the disgust he had to be feeling. He just laid there and tried to endure until Suguru was draining the tub of the thin layer of water he had poured into it and picking him up to towel him off. The vile drink had to be wearing off or he had finally become desensitized, because the towel didn't seem to spark as much pain as he had been bracing for, nor had Suguru picking him up have every point of contact afire with agony.
Suguru picked him up again once he had dried him (notably avoiding certain parts of his anatomy, for which Satoru was overwhelmingly grateful even as it added to his shame) and had a curse that seemed made out of eyeballs and spindly limbs pull back the blanket and sheets so he could tuck Satoru into the bed, positioning him carefully with his head on the pillow. He wielded these curses like servants, giving them silent commands and sending them away once they'd fulfilled the purpose. It reminded Satoru of his grandfather, even though there were no curse wielders in the Gojo clan. It just held the same dismissiveness to it that the old man had for the clan servants.
"Try to rest." Suguru said, turning off the bedside lamp, and even though the bed was more than big enough for them both, he walked to the couch in the corner to lie down on it instead.
Yeah. Satoru thought with self-loathing as he tried to slow his breathing. I don't want to be here either. Maybe the joke was those supposed assassins had wanted him to die of humiliation, because he sure didn't feel like living right now.
It was a long time before his body finally stopped hurting enough for him to fall asleep.
------
He came to with a weak gasp, his ribs creaking as someone did chest compressions. His eyes felt heavy, his whole body felt heavy and all he wanted to do was sleep and keep sleeping, but he forced his eyes open as the chest compressions stopped, his bleary gaze focusing on Suguru. His lips parted slightly in a wheeze, unable to find the energy to actually speak.
"You'd stopped breathing." Suguru explained, and pressed fingers to the pulse in Satoru's neck, frowning at the sluggish flow he felt under his fingers. "Your cursed energy is so low...."
Satoru struggled to make his tongue work, but what could he even say? He knew what the men had done to him, and he remembered sluggishly that they'd forced more gummies into him before....before....
He squeezed his eyes shut against the memory, and almost felt his heart falter. Had one of the drugs been meant to kill him, and those sick bastards had just planned to torture him until it finished him off?!
They're dead, they're dead, they're dead! Suguru had killed them all. They couldn't hurt him anymore. Still, the panic built up in him, making him feel lightheaded as he gasped like a fish out of water.
He felt Suguru pull the blankets back and sit on the side of the bed, pulling Satoru up to lean against him. "Just breathe, Satoru." He whispered. "Just keep breathing." Worry tinged his voice, and that was what encouraged Satoru to keep forcing air into his lungs when he just wanted to stop. Faintly he recognized that his nerves were no longer afire with pain, though he was still helplessly paralyzed, unable to so much as lift his head so Suguru had to tilt him back so he could get air more easily. Just breathe, just breathe....
He had no way of knowing how long he leaned against Suguru, just concentrating on breathing, forcing each breath in and out since it seemed his body had forgotten how to do it on its own. He just felt so heavy....
"Don't fall asleep!" Suguru snapped in his ear, startling him. "Keep breathing, Satoru." He began to rub his arms, making his skin tingle from the rougher contact before he stopped to check his pulse again. "Shit...." He muttered. "Your heart is really struggling....I should get you to the school.....is Shoko working there?"
Satoru swallowed, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't do more than groan. He was so tired....
"Shit....you can't even talk right now, can you?" He swore again, and then Satoru felt him pressing his cheek against the top of his head. ".....Just keep breathing." He whispered. "Even if there's an antidote for whatever they gave you, I wouldn't be able to get it to you in time. So keep breathing...."
Satoru could not have said whether it was closer to get to the school or return to the scene of the crime, but being unable to communicate meant the whole speculation was pointless anyway. He had no way of telling Suguru that Shoko was indeed at the school, and of course Suguru wouldn't risk either of their lives on a hunch. Assuming the barrier protecting the school even let him in.
He had no way of knowing how long this continued, how many times Suguru jarred him awake, how many times he checked his pulse, but finally it seemed he decided Satoru was out of danger because he moved away and tucked him back in. "I'll be keeping an eye on you." He stated, spreading one of his own wide with forefinger and thumb, offering a weary smile.
Satoru's lips twitched in return, unable to do much else besides just stare. Suguru's expression fell a bit before he smiled again. "....You'll be okay, Satoru." He stated before he turned the light out and returned to the couch.
I'm not so sure... Satoru closed his eyes. After what had happened to him, he doubted he would ever be okay again. Even if he recovered physically, nothing could take from him what three normal humans had been able to reduce him to. For the second time in his life he had nearly died at the hands of people who couldn't even use cursed energy.
As he drifted off, he thought he could understand a bit of why Suguru had come to hate them so much.
------
When Satoru awoke again later, he spent several minutes just staring at the ceiling and breathing. The rest of the night had been blessedly free of dreams, but if the months following Toji Zen'in Fushiguro's near success in murdering him was any indication, he expected he'd soon be having nightmares about this too. Those nightmares had been calmed by mastering Limitless so he could run it even when sleeping somewhere he didn't feel secure (which for the first two years had been everywhere), but he had a bad feeling these ones would be a bit harder to dispel.
Slowly he tested his body. The Six Eyes still wasn't working, and without it felt like seeing everything with a sepia tone overlay. Wow, my mods broke. I can hardly wait for the patch update. He thought dryly. Thinking of his abilities like something from a video game was strangely comforting, and it did feel like his reverse curse technique was working at least, so getting that up and running would heal up his physical injuries at least. He only wished it could erase the trauma in his brain with it, but it just didn't work like that.
But what was more important was the fact that while he felt very heavy, he could move again and with some grunting and grimacing, made himself sit up. "Suguru?" His voice sounded raspy and hoarse as if he'd been screaming (which he sure had been on the inside).
The room seemed empty, and if not for the suitcase in the corner Satoru would almost have wondered if Suguru had packed up and left him behind or that he'd somehow hallucinated it all and was naked in a hotel room for completely benign reasons, the horror before simply all a nightmare.
He huffed a tired, sardonic laugh at the second thought, moving leaden limbs to force himself out of the bed and slumping over to the bathroom. Finding the light switch to flick it on, he stepped in and almost immediately caught a look at himself. He stared for a few moments, then slowly turned fully to face the mirror, leaning in close.
Dull blue eyes ringed by dark shadows. His hair disheveled. On his shoulder a deep bite mark slowly mending in real time as his sputtering reverse curse technique healed it into oblivion. He touched his chest where one of the men had dug their nails in and dragged down. Little more than red marks now, but still he was marred, had been marked. Suguru had seen all of this. Had to have known what else they'd done to him.
He gagged abruptly, and barely made it over to the toilet before he was expelling the leftovers in his stomach. It definitely didn't taste better the second time around, and while he could understand why Suguru had probably thought it was a bad idea to force him to puke when he would have stood a good chance of choking on it, he really wished that he had. Maybe he would have started recovering sooner instead of apparently needing to be kept awake or end up forgetting how to breathe.
He sat on the floor once he was sure he had gotten out everything in his stomach, shaking and panting in discomfort. Trying desperately not to think about anything. After several minutes, he found the energy to flush and then crawled over to the bath, climbing into it like some kind of demented curse and nearly faceplanting. Once again he just remained still for several minutes other than to shift slightly to be more comfortable, his cheek pressed to the cool tub and letting reverse curse mend his various hurts.
Slowly however he shifted upright and stared at the dial on the tub. There was one thing reverse curse couldn't heal and that was the crawling sensation starting to take over his skin. The memory of those men touching him, doing whatever they wanted to him while he was utterly helpless to do anything or even level a protest.
There was nothing in his stomach, but he retched anyway and then reached for the dial, turning it to the hot water and pulling the curtain before pulling on the dial to make the shower turn on. He hissed when the hot water hit him, but he just bowed his head and let it wash over him. It was fine. Even as it scalded him, reverse curse healed him. This was a pain he was at least choosing, unlike what those would-be assassins had done to him.
When he started crying, Satoru told himself it was because of the physical pain rather than the psychological. Told himself when his arms came up over his head and he started sobbing, his body jerking with every inhale, that it was just because it burned.