Chapter Text
It started off as a completely normal day for Itadori Yuuji. Or, well, as normal as it could be considering Yuuji went to a high school where he trained in Jujutsu sorcery to fight curses and eat the fingers of the ancient all-powerful King of Curses who was trapped inside him. But aside from all that, yeah, it was a pretty normal day.
Classes were already done for the day and they didn’t have any missions. Nobora had gone out on the town for the evening, while Yuuji and Megumi had chosen to spar for a while in the training field. When they finally decided to call it for the evening, Yuuji had pulled up the bottom of his shirt to wipe the sweat off his brow, and found the usually cool, quiet boy watching him with a certain focus and heat in his eyes. Yuuji flashed him a grin and turned to head back to the dorms, but Megumi stopped him.
“Wait.” The dark haired teen looked half-hesitant, half-determined. “It’s not that late, we could…go get dinner, or something?”
Yuuji scrunched his face as he considered, but ultimately shook his head. “Nah, I’m too sweaty to go out. I think I’ll just make some cup ramen and chill in my room.”
Megumi frowned, and looked away with his hands in his pockets. “Oh. Alright. See you tomorrow, I guess.”
“See ya!” Yuuji said brightly, and continued on to his room. He did feel a little bad about blowing Megumi off. The two of them had messed around a few times, but Yuuji could tell the other boy was starting to push for more, and he just wasn’t sure if he wanted to change their casual, relaxed friendship. Megumi was just so serious sometimes. Still, maybe Yuuji should throw him a bone. One date wouldn’t kill him.
Yuuji contemplated this as he showered, changed into a comfortable hoodie and sweats, and ate his ramen. Now he was lounging on his bed reading manga and ignoring Sukuna’s grumbling about how he was a pathetic worm who should be training instead of wasting time with thoughts of dating idiot boys if he wanted a snowball’s chance in Hell of defeating him. Sukuna always grumbled when he was bored, which was most of the time, so Yuuji had gotten pretty good at tuning him out.
He was actually starting to nod off a bit when he jerked awake at the sudden sensation of falling. He looked wildly about, but he wasn’t actually falling–he was floating, hovering a few inches above his bed.
“Huh-what??” He said, intelligently. To his astonishment, a blue glow spread beneath him, a complex design of sigils. Where had he seen this kind of thing before..? He was rising higher now, his manga floating midair next to him. A thought occurred to him.
Oh, this is kinda like in those animes where the hero gets–
The glow whited out his vision. When it cleared, he was sprawled gracelessly on the floor of a dark stone chamber lit only by torches and glowing sigils carved into the floor, matching the ones that had appeared beneath him on his bed. Several hooded figures stood around him in a circle.
--summoned to another world.
“Uh, hi?” He called out questioningly. “Who are you people? Where am I? Oh, wait, do you guys even speak Japanese?”
Most of the figures, who wore dark robes, said nothing, but the figure closest to him, in a deep red robe, stepped forward. Throwing out both arms in a welcoming gesture, he cried,
“Welcome, esteemed hero, who has come in our time of greatest need to save us!”
“Uhh, save you?” Yuuji warily climbed to his feet. The man lowered his hood, revealing an old man, not so withered as Yoshinobu but more of a dignified gray. “Save you from what, exactly?”
“From extinction! Hero, no doubt you have traveled across many worlds to come to our aid, so you must understand that this world is overrun by evil being made of negative energy, led by a most cruel and vicious king–”
“Wait, you mean Sukuna?”
The man paused, clearly taken aback. “You know of the King of Curses, Ryoumen Sukuna?”
“Oh sure, I’ve ate, like, seven of his fingers already. Is this still just Japan? Man, I thought for sure I was in another world.” Yuuji pouted, a little disappointed by this turn of events. Why did it always have to be about Sukuna? Out of habit, he reached for Sukuna’s consciousness, but came up empty. He didn’t feel like Sukuna was gone, per say, but he seemed to be dormant. Huh.
The man and the other figures were staring at him in obvious shock.
“You’ve..consumed part of the King of Curses?” The man asked, equal parts horrified and bewildered.
“Not because I wanted to!” Yuuji said defensively. “I have to so he can be destroyed.”
Excited murmurs broke out. The man clapped his hands together, delighted.
“So you already understand your role, then! We who stand before you represent the last of the Jujutsu sorcerers remaining in Japan. We have held Ryoumen off thus far, but his army draws ever nearer. We needed a powerful hero capable of withholding and defeating him, and the gods have gifted us with you!”
“Ah,” said Yuuji. “I think maybe you’ve made a mistake.”
“What do you mean, hero?”
“So you said you wanted someone who can withhold Sukuna, right? Well you got someone who can hold him instead.”
The man blinked at him, confused. “My apologies but…what is the difference?”
“I can’t defeat Sukuna, not by fighting him. No way.” Yuuji crossed his arms in an X shaped in front of him for good measure. “I’m just not strong enough. He’d cut off my head in, like, two seconds.”
“But–!”
“I can contain him inside myself, though. I’ve been going around finding his fingers and eating them cause everyone says I’m his vessel or whatever. And when I’m done, they’re gonna execute me to take him out for good. Still don’t think it's very fair.” He grumbled the last part to himself.
The man has lost his earlier delight and now seemed torn between confusion and despair. “His fingers? I–I do not understand.”
Yuuji shrugged. He didn’t really get it himself. He tried to channel Megumi. “Okay so it’s like this—even if you could kill Sukuna, parts of him will be left behind as cursed objects. They get stronger with time, or maybe the seals get weaker? And they can’t be destroyed, unless someone like me comes along and dies after consuming them all.”
Personally, Yuuji felt pretty proud of that explanation, though he felt like Megumi would’ve done a better job. Oh well, not everyone can launch into melodramatic speeches at the drop of a hat. Did he practice them in front of a mirror or something?
“That is only useful if we are able to defeat him!”
Uh, yeah, that’s what I just said, he thought. Out loud he said, “Like I said, I can hold him, not withhold him. You guys made a mistake. Can you send me home now?” He really did not want to be anywhere near a Sukuna who was at his full strength. It was bad enough dealing with the weakened version trapped inside him.
The man winced, looking at Yuuji with grim, apologetic eyes. “The ritual we performed was a one-way summoning spell, which took months of preparation. The door is closed, it cannot reopen. We do not have the strength.”
There was an awkwardly long silence as the two of them stared at each other. Then Yuuji got it.
“You mean I’m stuck here?!?”
The man held up his hand placatingly. “Summoning a hero was our last chance of survival. We expected the hero to live in glory among us after achieving victory, or…” He trailed off but Yuuji got the gist. Or die trying.
“Kanamori-sama, if I may?” One of the dark robed figures stepped forward, lowering his hood. The elder man gestured approvingly at him and he continued. “I believe we must make use of the opportunity before us.”
Internally, Yuuji rolled his eyes. That’s him alright–Yuuji “Opportunity” Itadori. Jujutsu elders were all the same no matter the time period, apparently.
“We do not have the time or strength to perform the ceremony again.”
“Then what do you propose we do, Ouchi-san?”
Yuuji tried not to snicker. Guy must have had a rough time as a jujutsu newbie with a name like “ouchie.” Other sorcerers could be brutal– “Aw, did you get a booboo, Ouchie?”
“We need to gather information from close to the source. Ryoumen must have a weakness. If we could find it and use it against him, then we could use the hero to contain him.”
Kanamori shook his head hopelessly. “Every infiltration mission has failed. We cannot afford to lose any more of our ranks.”
“But now we have him!” Ouchi gestured to Yuuji who waved as means of saying yes hi hello the person you’re talking about is right here. “Ryoumen would recognize any of us instantly, but he is unfamiliar. We could position him as a servant where he could lie low until he discovers Ryoumen’s weakness and we form a plan.”
“That’s great and all,” Yuuji interrupted. “But you just told me there’s no way for me to get home, after you guys summoned me here. Why do I gotta be your spy?”
Ouchi turned to Yuuji, expression grave. “This world is overrun by curses, there is nowhere safe for you to go, and we are all sitting ducks. The extinction of all humanity is approaching swiftly. But if there is even the slightest chance of success to be had, surely you can understand the benefit of aiding us. And perhaps…” His voice turned thoughtful. “I cannot guarantee, but perhaps with all of Ryomen’s power contained inside you, you may have the strength to reopen the door and return home.”
Yuuji didn’t like his uncertainty, or the odds of this plan at all. But…what other option did he have? It was either die here or die infiltrating Sukuna’s temple, but at least the second option was potentially productive. He thought of Megumi, the way he pretended to be cool and stoic when really he was the biggest mother hen, the determination in his eyes when he had asked Yuuji out. Nobara, who was like a sister to him. Gojo-sensei, who acted so carefree but sometimes, when he didn’t think Yuuji was looking, got a sad look on his face. He thought of his grandpa’s pain-in-the-ass final instructions, for him to help others. Damn it. Frustrated, Yuuji ruffled his own hair. Then he fixed the two men with a look of determination.
“Fine, I’ll do it.”
As usual, it felt like he was being yanked head first into some mess that wasn’t his fault, and as usual, when it came down to it Yuuji just couldn’t say no. There was much planning that night, how to get him in, how he should act, how to report back to them.
It wasn’t until later, when Yuuji was dressed in rags, chained up in a slow moving cart with a bunch of other terrified human slaves headed to Sukuna’s temple, he realized that they had never even bothered asking him his name.