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The first thing Sukuna becomes aware of is the breeze brushing against his face.
When he opens his eyes, it's to the sight of a darkened sky. He feels himself frown, lowering his gaze to take in the world around him.
He's on the roof of a building. A school? And the last thing he remembers is leaving his apartment at noon to meet his brother.
Fuck, he thinks, annoyed. I better not've stood up Yuuji.
What the fuck happened? Did he black out? But then how the hell did he get on top of a fucking roof? How long has he been here?
…If he did leave his brother waiting, how long did Yuuji wait for? Hours? The entire afternoon? Does he think Sukuna's dead? Fuck. He definitely thinks Sukuna's dead.
And there's no explanation Sukuna can give. All he's got is a black void where his memory should be and the knowledge that there's a good chance he fucked up with the one person on the planet whose opinion he actually gives a shit about.
His mouth twists bitterly, and he turns on his heel to find a way back to the ground.
He stops abruptly.
There's a kid behind him. Some teenager on the roof, beat to hell and bleeding from his head.
The bitter twist of his mouth falls into a scowl. “You. Brat. Did I do that?”
The kid, pale as a ghost, chokes out, “What?”
Does he have a fucking concussion? “Did I do that to you?”
The kid looks at him like he's threatening to do it again if the answer is yes and do something worse if the answer is no. Like he's a monster.
Whatever. If Sukuna was the one who fucked him up then odds are he deserved it in the first place. Hell, maybe Sukuna will fuck him up again, just to get a little joy out of an otherwise shitty day.
“Well?” He takes a step forward. “Say it. What are you–” waiting for? “–doing with my body?”
...What?
“Give it back,” a voice orders from his mouth. A voice that doesn't belong to him.
What?
His hand reaches up to grasp his own throat. He's not the one doing it. It moves on its own, like he's a puppet hanging on a string. Like there's something inside him that's taken control.
What the fuck?
“Who are you?” Sukuna demands.
“Huh?” the voice says. “Shouldn't I be saying that to you?”
No, is what Sukuna intends to say. But the word sticks to his tongue.
The voice isn't his…but it's familiar. He hears it almost every day on the phone. He was supposed to hear it in person for the first time in nearly six months.
He opens his(?) mouth.
Someone else gets to it first.
“Itadori Yuuji…” the brat in front of him says, voice low and grim. “...stay where you are. You're no longer human. Under the regulations of jujutsu law…I will now exorcize you as a curse.” Still pale, still bleeding, he raises his hands and curls them into fists. The shadows at his feet twist and flare like a puddle of black flames.
Itadori Yuuji, the brat called him. Them. Yuuji.
Sukun– Yuuji's(?) hands throw themselves up defensively. “Hey, wait, I'm fine now! More importantly, you're hurt. We should to get you to a hospital!”
The kid hesitates, conflict clear on his face. Whatever he was about to do, however he meant to ‘exorcize’ Yuuji, it would undeniably make him an enemy.
Then, what will happen to Yuuji if he stops hesitating?
Sukuna struggles to regain autonomy, but no matter how forcefully he reaches for control of his– of Yuuji's– of the body, his efforts yield nothing.
Yuuji, he snaps, tell that brat he can't hurt you, tell him I'll finish him off if he even tries!
Yuuji doesn't verbally respond, but Sukuna feels his refusal radiate off of him. That's just what Sukuna's brother is like, so stubborn, so reckless–
“What's the situation?”
The brat reacts to the new arrival with surprise and relief, swiftly followed by irritation. Gojo-sensei the brat calls him, but he couldn't seem less like a teacher if he tried.
And he's strong. Sukuna can feel it. It emanates from him, a palpable sensation of power that crawls along some hitherto unnoticed sixth sense. He's dangerous. He's a threat, and not one that Yuuji will let Sukuna fight.
An unpleasant amalgamation of frustration, anger and fear thrums like a pulse inside him. He hates it. He hates this uselessness. He hates that he's helpless. Sukuna might not know what's going on, he might be lost on what to do, he might even be having some sort of psychotic break and hallucinating everything around him right now, but he still can't let his brother get hurt. He can't. He won't.
He has to repay what his brother gave him.
Yuuji… Sukuna says, voice quiet, …if you die, I'll kill them all.
Immediately, two thoughts resound in Yuuji's head, almost melding together: I won't die, and at the same time, I won't let you.
As if Sukuna wouldn't kill for that, too.
Out of nowhere, without any warning whatsoever, the man appears directly in front of them, leaning in so close that Sukuna instinctively tries to hit him away.
Of course, the body, Yuuji, doesn't move other than to lean back. The man smiles, an intrigued expression despite the blindfold concealing his eyes from view. “So it's true,” he muses. “You really are combined. Ha, that's hilarious.” He straightens up, still relaxed despite the tension in the brat behind him. “So? How's it feel?”
“Fine?” Yuuji responds, and he even means it. Sukuna can feel that he means it.
The man, ‘Gojo’, keeps smiling. “Great. Can you switch with Sukuna?”
What…?
He knows Sukuna's name. How does he know Sukuna's name?
“Sukuna?” Yuuji repeats, brow furrowing.
What the fuck. His own brother doesn't recognize his name but this asshole does?
“The cursed object you ate,” Gojo says.
“Oh,” Yuuji says, his confusion clearing up as if anything was actually explained. “Yeah, I think I can do that.”
Without looking away from Yuuji, Gojo tosses the bag he was holding to the brat. “Ten seconds,” he says. “Take back control after ten seconds.”
He's underestimating me, Sukuna thinks. He's a threat to my brother and he's underestimating me.
“Is that really a good idea?” Yuuji asks dubiously. Maybe he can feel Sukuna's intentions just as much as Sukuna can feel his.
“There's nothing to worry about,” Gojo says, utterly self-assured and infuriatingly smug. “I'm way stronger than he is.”
This fucker–
Without hesitation, he launches a fist directly at Gojo's face–and then Gojo's gone.
No–he's behind him, speaking so casually they might as well be at a dinner party rather than in the middle of combat. “I've got a student watching, so…”–Sukuna feels a firm grasp on his wrist–“...I hope you don't mind if I show off a little.”
He's knocked off his feet by the blow, crashing to the ground in a way he hasn't experienced in a full decade.
Sukuna growls, fury surging in his chest, his fingers digging into the stone beneath him, and it's only when he feels small pieces of rubble underneath his nails that he registers the claws curving out from the tips of his fingers.
He feels good–he feels strong–so then why is he getting beaten like he's weak?
He raises his head, baring his teeth at his opponent. “I'll kill you,” he snarls. “Understand? I'll kill you, I'll do it slow, I'll make you regret the day you were born–” so don't you dare touch him!
The words are swallowed by a higher power. The power wresting control from him, pushing him down into the dark, hollow place where all he can do is listen.
Yuuji.
Yuuji! Sukuna's voice comes out raised and harsh. Let me out!
“What a surprise,” Gojo says. “You really can control him.”
“Yeah, but I can still hear his voice,” Yuuji admits, sounding disgruntled. “He's kind of loud.”
“It's a miracle that's the only side effect,” Gojo tells him, and lifts a hand towards Yuuji's face.
A shout rips from Sukuna's throat. Don't–!
Yuuji's body collapses, cutting Sukuna off from the outside world.
Any other words that he could've said die in his mouth. For a moment, a horrible cataclysmic moment, he thinks his brother is dead. He thinks he might just go insane.
But he doesn't. He can still feel the steady, unhurried drumming of Yuuji's heart. Even though he lost, even though he couldn't protect anything, his brother is still alive. Even though Sukuna was weak and useless, Yuuji is still alive.
He doesn't understand. He doesn't understand anything at all.
Yuuji, he says one more time, so quiet it almost gets lost in the sound of a beating heart. Of course, there's no response.
Yuuji is the only thing he has left in this world. The only thing. If all of this is real, then what will happen if Sukuna has to feel him die?
What will happen if Sukuna finally loses his older brother for good?