#lynsquared

you sat cross-legged on top of the curse, any part that could hurt you swallowed up by suguru’s controlled spirit, the biggest smile on your face you swayed side to side. your ears barely picked up the sound of the conversation below, but based on utahime’s reactions, you could tell they were picking on her again. poor girl. 

“hey!” you called out, getting his attention as he looked up at you with a soft smile. you punched out your fists in fight motions, quietly signaling to him what you wanted.

his expression dropped, shaking his head up at you despite your pouting. “c’mon, sugu! let me rough it up a bit! i’ve got some energy i need to let out.”

and it was true. your last mission had your fingers shaking with how much you’d used your technique. 

deferred impact— that’s what your family called it, anyway. in short, any damage dealt to you could be absorbed, stored away beneath your skin instead of being felt immediately. in moments of battle, it was useful. you could expel that stored damage as your cursed energy and imbue it into your handwraps– ones crafted specifically for you by your family – letting them act as a regulator, bleeding that energy into your strikes. it made you stronger, more agile, a harder target to put down. 

but, whatever you didn’t release lingered. it settled in your body, compressing and building with nowhere else to go once the fight slowed and there was nothing left to distract you from it. then came the pain. if it was a small amount, it manifested as a constant shock beneath your skin. carry too much for too long, though, it would start to show.

by that point, the wraps stopped protecting you. because no matter how tightly you bound your hands, there was only so much your body could contain before you might as well be rotting in your own grave until some curse picked a fight with you. 

suguru let out a sigh, instructing his curse to let loose a little on your command. you thanked him, scooting over to pat geto’s spirit. “let me at him, bud.” 

and with that, you stood up, letting it lower its mouth, straightening your legs as you loosened your handwraps, cracking your knuckles before swinging crazily at the non-exorcised curse. you were sure you looked crazy, your fists landing harshly and painfully all with a wide grin on your face, but your body had never felt better. 

though you’d hidden it well, you’d been holding in the pain for two days, your muscles aching with every movement. 

satoru looked up at your rapid, crazed movements. smiling to himself as he watched. he’d noticed the way you’d been more fatigued despite you trying to hide it, so seeing you let loose made him relax a bit. 

after a while, suguru let out another curse, having it pull you gently away and down as the other recaptured the evil spirit. you pouted, huffing as it brought you down, your adrenaline still sky high as it let you go, returning to suguru. 

“terrifying, yet beautiful.” gojo grinned, voice teasing. “classic, you know? wayyyy too much energy, but way too reckless.” 

you rolled your eyes playfully, shoving his shoulder. “look who’s talking.” 

“cute trick.” mei mei chimed in, making your face drop. “but definitely reckless.” 

“yeah?” you scoffed, reluctantly turning to her and gesturing at the mess made by her and utahime. “for someone as strong as you, you sure act weak. just begging to be saved at every turn while you drain someone’s pockets by doing nothing.” 

“why do anything when good pups like you come to my rescue? win-win for both of us, if you ask me.” she rebutted, fueling the fire of your hatred towards her.

you weren’t sure why you let her get under your skin so badly – maybe it was because she represented everything wrong with jujutsu society. sorcerers like her picking and taking as they pleased, leaving the rough work to sorcerers like utahime – scared, but definitely capable. 

“what happened here, anyway?” you asked, deciding you’d argue with mei later. for now, you walked over to greet utahime, placing your hand on her shoulder softly as she continued to hug shoko.

before you could focus on whatever gojo began explaining, you felt a twang in your back, your body flinching before you corrected yourself quickly, ignoring the way shoko side eyed you subtly. mei’s voice broke you out of your focus.

“more importantly,” she continued. “what about the veil?” 

oh shit.

៸៸ ⁺‧₊ 

the news report played in front of you, blood rushing to your cheeks as you saw your figure in the background, swinging at something the camera couldn’t see. thankfully, you were moving fast enough that no normal person would be able to make out it was you. or even human, really. 

yaga listed your mistakes, the four of you having gotten so sidetracked that he might as well have sent a non-sorcerer. 

“and on top of everything, you forgot the veil and you almost got caught on camera. who’s to blame?” 

you and gojo sat awkwardly in between shoko and geto, both of the snitches pointing at you two. your reactions were vastly different. you’d already accepted whatever was coming, your head bowed down while satoru shot his hand up. 

“sensei! i’m asking you to stop this hunt for the culprit!” 

you sighed, gojo getting a whack to the head while you got a simple, but heavy tsk. 

yaga dismissed you all, everyone waltzing out quickly while it took you a minute to recover from your embarrassment before you quickly caught up.

you all walked into the gym, each of you perching around the court. shoko took gojo’s glasses, putting them on and messing around with them. satoru grabbed a basketball, dribbling it for a beat before sitting down with it.

as for suguru, he followed you to the end of it, smiling apologetically as you lied down, tightening your wraps around your twitching fingers. 

your limbs sprawled out like a snowflake, your eyes blinking shut when you heard satoru complain, the sound of the basketball bouncing off the freshly glossed floors before being thrown in your direction, suguru jumping up and blocking the ball. 

any other day, you would’ve been happy to join satoru’s side of the conversation. you agreed with him, why should you be responsible for the calm of the public? it wasn’t your fault they couldn’t handle the reality of the jujutsu world.

“you alright?” 

shoko’s voice was gentle, leaning her weight against the padded wall as she looked at you with harsh worry. you turned your head in her direction, though you kept your eyes shut, nodding. 

she scoffed, noticing the way your fingers constantly twitched. “how much of that are you holding in right now?”

“a little.” you shrugged, your voice heavy with a strain that you tried to play off as exhaustion. “nothing i can’t handle.” 

“when are you gonna quit making yourself feel better by spouting all this bullshit?” satoru gagged, the tension in the gym making your eyes flutter open, your body sitting up as you leaned back onto your palms. 

“perfect time for a smoke break!” shoko pulled you up, dragging you out of the gym with her before you had time to process what she said. 

you sat against her legs as she pulled out her pack, fingers wrapping around two of them, one of which she offered to you. looking up at her, you gave her a face. 

“no.” you grumbled, eyebrows furrowing. 

shoko chuckled, shrugging her shoulders as she put it back in its sleeve, lighting the one in her mouth. she blew a puff out before speaking again. “still on that, huh?” 

“i just think it’s gross.” you remarked, leaning off of her and adjusting to rest against the wall. “and so are you for doing it.” 

“you’re pickling yourself from the inside out, too. don’t lecture me.” she bit back, taking a longer drag. 

the thing about you and shoko is that you respected each other enough to be honest at all times. you’d told her many times that her smoking habit was disgusting, suggesting she should stop before she kills her lungs.

and she’d told you many times that your habit of storing all that damage in you was sickening, especially since she seemed to be the only one who noticed when it got bad. 

“whatever. at least my lungs still function as they should despite the fact.” 

“reverse cursed technique, pretty girl.” she tsked. “comes in handy.” 

you both shared a laugh, her hand coming down to ruffle your hair. you could tell there was more on her mind, but you didn’t push. instead, you grabbed her arm, pulling yourself up before dragging her over to the vending area, inserting 100 yen into the machine, pushing down on the yoguru water and watching it fall.

she walked over to a small table, watching as you stumbled on your feet before you sat down beside her, your face lowering to rest on your forearms, her hand resting on your shoulder. you could feel the way your body slowly felt lighter, and without turning to look at her you knew what she was doing. 

although she couldn’t remove it from your body, shoko’s knowledge of the reverse cursed technique had proved to be a soothing remedy for your aches, your body melting into relief before you could even open your drink. 

“thanks.” you sighed, letting your eyes shut as you enjoyed temporary cure. 

“think they’re fighting in there? like throwing punches or curses at each other?”

you laughed gently, “nah, they make up quick. besides, i don’t think either of them would win.”

shoko tilted her head as she blew out smoke. “what do you mean?”

“they’re two sides of the same coin.” you shrugged. “you can’t have one without the other. they know it, too.”

she hummed, letting you both fall into a comfortable silence. unfortunately, it was short lived. a call of your name making your head shoot up, shoko’s arm falling from your shoulder causing that sharp pain to shoot up your spine. 

yaga stood at the end of the shelter, standing straight as he informed you of a new, urgent mission. 

you don’t think you’d felt relief like that in years. 

instantly, you shot up, grabbing your drink as you hustled over, saying a quick goodbye to shoko as you began walking with yaga. 

“what’s the assignment?” you asked, forcing your composure.

yaga sighed. “keeping it short, tengen requested satoru gojo and suguru geto to protect and deliver that star plasma vessel.”

you nodded, your face inquisitive. 

“and you will be accompanying them.” 

that made you flinch, your face nearly offended but more so confused. yaga’s expression, on the other hand, remained the same, his eyes hardening. it would make sense to send gojo and geto, they worked well together and got the job done. it was never done as requested by the higher up… but it got done regardless. 

“but sir, tengen didn’t ask for me.” you said carefully. he hummed in agreement, leaving you blinking at him while your eyes searched for the punchline that never came. “so, why am i being sent?”

he exhaled, slow and controlled. “becuase i don’t trust them.” 

you furrowed your eyebrows, a short laugh escaping your lips. “you don’t trust who?”

“satoru and suguru.” he said plainly. “not their strength, but their judgement.” 

“they’re two special grade sorcerers. the strongest of our class.” you scoffed, folding your arms. “besides, suguru’s got a good head on his shoulders, and satoru does too when it comes to real danger.” 

“they listen when it suits them.” yaga regarded you for a moment, his expression unreadable to the point you thought he was growing upset with you. “they’re efficient, more than effective, and dangerously confident. precisely why tengen asked for them and precisely why i did not.” 

you shifted your weight, the earlier relief draining from your chest. “so what exactly are you asking me to do?”

“make sure the mission is completed as instructed. keep the mess to a minimum and only engage with the groups hunting her when necessary. no improvisation, no detours, no personal judgements overriding orders.”

“you’re worried they’ll choose.” you mumbled, letting out a slow breath as you understood what he was asking of you. he didn’t answer, but his silence spoke for itself. you looked away briefly, your jaw tightening as you stared out into the distance. “and if they do?” 

his voice lowered, stern and serious. “then you stop them.” 

“you understand what you’re asking of me, right?” you said, head snapping back to look at him. “you’re asking me to babysit two special grades and go against them if need be.” 

“i’m asking you to remind them,” he corrected, “that this isn’t their decision to make. they were rather upset with the assignment, but something tells me that will change once they meet her.” 

silence stretched between you, your sneakers dragging along the concrete beneath your feet.

“they’re not gonna like this.” you muttered, scratching the back of your neck as you fought back a smile.

“i’m not sending you to be liked.” he replied, handing you the location details. “you leave immediately. they’re already en route.” 

you took the paper, twitching fingers curling around it as he walked away from you, posture tense and straight like usual. though you swore you could’ve seen the smallest hint of regret in his eyes. 

“sir?” you called out, forcing him to pause. “if they ask why i’m there?” 

“then you tell them exactly what i told you. i don’t trust their sorry asses.”

៸៸ ⁺‧₊ 

by the time you’d arrived at the location you were given, you’d wandered on top of a rooftop, leaning your chin in your palm as you looked over the city. 

before you could let yourself think, there was an explosion out of a building, a young girl falling limply towards the ground.

typical. wherever satoru and suguru were, chaos always followed. 

you didn’t hesitate, launching yourself off the rooftop, the distance between buildings, yawning wide as wind tore at your clothes. you caught her mid fall, the impact slamming her small body into your chest hard enough to knock the breath out of you. 

so this was the star plasma vessel. amanai riko.

you twisted sharply, slamming your feet against the side of the neighbouring building and pushing off, using the glass as leverage to redirect your momentum. above, you could see suguru’s cursed spirit flying down towards you.

reaching out quickly, your fingers curled around its tail, swinging up to place the girl in suguru’s arms, letting yourself dangle from his curse. his expression was the epitome of confusion, his eyes shot wide though his mouth stayed shut as he looked down at you. 

“what-” 

you swung hard, your momentum carrying you in a brutal arc as the curse stabilized, then released just in time to avoid hitting the rooftop, leaving suguru and riko floating while your sneakers skidded violently against the cement.

suguru’s eyes were wide at they tracked from riko, to the shattered glass above, to you – still crouching, chest heaving, and cursed energy flickering faintly along your hand wraps. 

“you could’ve warned me.” he said, brain finally catching up.

you laughed breathlessly, shaking out your hands as you stood. “didn’t think you’d mind, if i’m being honest.” 

though you weren’t looking at him, you could feel the way his gaze lingered on your now trembling hands, your palms wrapped tightly enough to cut your blood flow off slightly.

and as if your prayers had been answered, another presence hit the rooftop, a Q member emerging from the stairwell. 

“let’s go.” he said, followed sternly by your name.

however, you extended your arm out, flicking your wrist to shoo suguru away.

“no,” you chuckled, already moving towards the member who held a knife, his eyes crazed and determined to get the unconscious girl behind you. 

suguru said your name again, “seriously, what are you–” 

“don’t rush me, suguru.” you said, peeling your wraps loose with practiced ease, the fabric slipping free as the seals along the threading dimmed, falling to the ground.

cursed energy surged, sharp and burning, as they made your hands expel a pink aura, relieved the stored pain you hadn’t been able to release fully beforehand, finally had somewhere to go. you smiled crazily, voice calm and steady. 

“just gonna have some fun.” 

suguru huffed, taking riko back to the floor that had been blown up, needing to deal with the Q member hanging out up there– leaving you all alone with this one.

he grinned the second suguru disappeared from his view. “good. didn’t want to deal with him anyway.” 

you rolled your shoulders as he tilted his knife lazily in his hand, surely feeling big and intimidating. your cursed energy was still bleeding off your hands in faint pastel wisps, begging to be released. 

“you’re a student.” he continued, his eyes falling to your feet, your wraps pooled up from where you’d dropped them. “uniform’s a little messed up, but i can tell by the way you’re oozing confidence like you can beat me.”

you didn’t answer, following him as he began to circle you slowly, clearly taking your silence as motivation. “you know, it’s funny. guess you didn’t really think this one through.” 

he lunged quickly as the last word fell from his tongue, your body immediately stepping into it. the knife scraped past your hip as you stepped to the side, grabbing his wrist and driving cursed energy straight through the point of contact.

his breath was punched out of his lungs, the pain clean and sharp as you twisted, releasing him before he could land a blow.

“still think it’s funny?” you asked lightly, a soft smile curling at your lips.

his eyes widened, feet faltering as he staggered back. then, faster this time, he stepped again and flashed his blade towards your throat. you ducked low, sliding across the cement and sweeping his legs out from under him. 

he hit the ground hard, but you didn’t give him the chance to recover this time. your heel came down on his abdomen, a scream escaping as the concrete below him cracked, your cursed energy bursting outwards in waves.

it took everything in you to keep your eyes from rolling to the back of your head, your body feeling blissful as the release of your technique. truly, there was no better feeling than fighting. 

he scrambled, punching at your ankle before you stepped off, letting him push himself away from you as panic finally began bleeding into his expression. you tilted your head, flexing your fingers as the pink glow flared brighter around your hands.

“how about now?” 

he snarled, throwing his knife at you as some sort of half-assed last resort defense. you caught it barehanded by the sharp, metal blade, letting it cut your skin for a moment before you dropped it, your blood dripping from your palm.

his eyes shot wide as you laughed manically, your hand feeling nothing as the pain dissolved into cursed energy, instantly being forced outward. the backlash slammed into his chest, sending him skidding across the rooftop, his body finally laying limp.

you stood there with a wide grin on your face, breathing heavily as the last remnants of stored pain bled off your hands that had finally stopped twitching. you exhaled, rolling your neck once before walking back to where you’d started, crouching to retrieve your wraps.

you stayed down as you rewinded them around your palms loosely but firm, your movements slower and steadier now that the pressure had eased. 

when you stood again, the rooftop was quiet. the faint sounds of life were finally audible to you, your senses soothed completely for the first time since your last mission. 

“yeah…” you muttered to yourself. “a lot better.”

note: don't ask me how this came about.. okay fine i'll tell you! literally i was rewatching the hidden inventory arc bc my cramps were killing me and i was like... hey this would be kinda cool as a cursed technique and... yeah. PLUS i'm back to my kny roots with these reader inserts so yay! this will be an ongoing series bc duh slow burn so i hope you enjoy it!

<3, lynn

august 2007 

“here we go!” shoko dragged out, lining up her eraser for the target, satoru gojo. 

suguru threw his pencil, and you were sat with your back against the tree, sipping some electrolyte drink to replenish after this morning. 

you’d been sent to finish the job of an incomplete mission abandoned by a third year, expecting the curse to be close to death.

what you didn’t think that meant was that you’d have to do everything yourself. it had been happening a lot more often– being sent on missions alone ever since satoru officially became the strongest. 

you looked back up, seeing the objects miss him completely and his hands casually come up to grab them. you were shocked, but your muscles were still aching too much for your body to have a physical reaction.

“yeah,” he said calmly. “that worked well.” 

shoko’s eyes widened. “uh, what the heck was that?”

“auto selection of targets for jujutsu technique?” suguru chimed in.

“yeah! though to be more precise, i’m the target for the auto technique. i’ve automated what i used to do manually. so now it can discern an object’s danger level based on the strength of its cursed energy, its mass, its velocity, and its shape.” 

you yawned, stretching out your limbs and sinking down to lay completely on the floor. “are you working on becoming poison resistant too?” 

you’d meant it as a joke, but you weren’t exactly surprised when he let out a smug chuckle. “i’d like to get it to discern poisons too, but that’s proving to be a little difficult.”

“this will allow me to keep my limitless technique active almost perpetually with minimal resources.”

that made you sit up, your eyebrows furrowed in confusion as shoko verbalized your thoughts for you. 

“having it perpetually active will fry your brain.” she said, her voice soft with concern.

“but i can also keep running the reverse curse technique with the energy i generate on my own. so i’m constantly giving it a fresh brain to work with.” satoru explained, spinning the pencil quickly in between his fingers.

“i’ve already nailed shortening my hand seals. so red, and blue, can be activated simultaneously during multiple situations. the only remaining hurdles are domain expansion and teleportation over long distances. i’ll be able to get that down if we set up some courses without any obstacles in jujutsu high. shoko, could you lend me some lab rats?” 

“uhh…” she hesitated, trying to avoid the conversation by switching over to look at you. “you’ve been oddly quiet, did everything go okay?” 

“mhm.” you nodded, taking another sip of your drink as you continued to melt into the shaded concrete. “just tired.” 

“oh yeah?” satoru asked, walking over to sit beside you, his skin beginning to burn from the intense sunlight. “that fourth year didn’t do a good job?” 

you scoffed, sitting up and bending your knees up to rest your arms on them. “i don’t think i could say she even did her job at all. when i got there, that curse barely had a scratch on it. aren’t they meant to be better than us?”

they all hummed in agreement, satoru’s hand coming up to pat your shoulder as you looked up at suguru. 

“what about you?” you mumbled, noticing how equally quiet he’d been. 

“yeah, suguru, have you lost weight?” satoru questioned, his voice carrying a playful edge. “you okay?” 

suguru nodded, but you couldn’t help but notice how heavy his eyebags had gotten since amanai’s death a little over a year ago. between the three of you, it definitely affected him the most. 

according to satoru, he’d gotten over it that same day as a result of his awakening. you’d done the same, though the memory seemed a little more bleary with each passing day. whether it was you trying to forget or avoid it, you weren’t sure.

“i’m just fatigued from the heat. i’ll be fine.” suguru answered steadily.

“did you eat too many somen noodles?” satoru teased, earning a smack on the head from you as you scolded him. 

before anyone else could say anything, suguru’s phone pinged, a heavy sigh escaping his mouth. you knew the look– hell, you’re pretty sure that’s what you looked like too whenever you got the news. 

“another mission?” you asked sympathetically, seeing the way his body physically displayed his exhaustion. 

suguru nodded, quickly saying his goodbyes and walking off in search of yaga for more details before he officially departed.

before you could stop yourself, you shot up, saying a quick goodbye to your friends as you followed after suguru, hearing the heavy sigh he let out as he ran his hands down his face. 

you caught up quickly, placing your hand on his shoulder and forcing him to turn around. he looked at you curiously, his face looking even more tired up close. 

“is everything alright?” you asked softly.

his words stuttered, debating on whether he’d let it out or not. after a second, he smiled calmly. “yes, i just don’t think i slept very well last night.” 

you studied his face, seeing those dark crescents beneath his eyes that somehow looked darker up close. “you’re lying.”

his breath hitched, eyes averting your gaze and staring down the path. his lips parted as he turned back to you. 

“actually,” he began, his voice quiet, almost careful. “there’s been something i’ve–” 

“suguru!” yaga’s voice cut in, “let’s go, this mission can’t wait long!”

without looking away, your jaw tightened as you raised a hand in yaga’s direction, signaling for him to hang on one second longer. “he can wait.” 

the taller man inhaled sharply, the tension between the two of you surging rapidly. he forced out a breathy laugh, bringing his hand up to rub the back of his neck while clenching his jaw.

“nevermind. it’s nothing like that. i was… just going to ask if you wanted a souvenir. the mission’s in shibuya. i remember the last time we were up there together, you mentioned wanting to go back under better circumstances.”

the lie landed between you like broken glass, the both of you knew you knew he was full of shit. you stared at him, blankly and deeply observant to see if he’d break. but he didn’t. he never did.

“suguru–” 

“i’ve gotta go,” he said quickly, placing his hands on either sides of your arms, squeezing as his eyes softened for a split second. “i’ll see you later, okay?” 

he didn’t even give you the chance to respond before he rushed off, leaving you standing there with his touch lingering on your biceps. you watched as he walked away with yaga, his posture slouched, shoulders tight, like something heavy was pressing down on him from the inside out.

“oh, sugu...” you sighed to yourself, walking down the opposite path to your dorm room.

𓆩༺✧༻𓆪

suguru didn’t return until a few days later, his body aching and bruised from his mission. 

you’d wanted to catch him on his first day back, but you’d gotten tangled up with a quick mission of your own. nothing crazy, so you were back the following day. 

you hummed to yourself as you tightened your handwraps, walking down the halls of one of the lecture buildings, turning the corner to see suguru sitting by the window.

you frowned at his state– hair down yet somehow still nice, his back slumped, and his body seeming to fill less of his summer uniform than it did last year.

“hey.” you called out softly, his eyes glancing up to you. 

he responded with a soft greeting of your name, his tired eyes following you as you walked over slowly to sit perpendicularly to him, leaning against the wall. you noticed a small box in his hand, but you decided not to point it out immediately. 

“back so soon?” you asked, keeping your tone gentle. 

suguru sighed a laugh. “it wasn’t too difficult of a curse. only took me an hour.” 

he tossed you the box, your hands coming up with a quick instinct to catch it before it fell on your body. you held it up in the air in front of your face, examining it for a second before he spoke again, already knowing what your question was going to be.

“i got it for you.” he mumbled.

you sat up straight, hair falling all over the place. you threw a confused glance at him, looking down at the box, flipping it open. instantly, your lips parted, seeing the gleaming metal of the necklace shine back up at you. 

“oh my– thank you.” you whispered. “it’s beautiful, suguru.”

the charm was simple, a ward-like talisman that matched the metal of the chain. it wasn’t flashy by any means, it was an intentional choice– definitely picked out by suguru geto. you moved it in between your fingers, admiring each and every angle. 

“it’s a ward.” suguru spoke gently. “nothing complicated, but the old lady who sold it to me said it was meant to protect whoever wears it.”

you blinked up at him, your eyes growing a little glassy, forcing your throat to tighten. “you got this for me?”

“i figured it would give you some peace of mind. especially since you’ve been getting sent out alone lately.”

after a few more moments of you gushing and thanking him profusely, you stopped, lifting the necklace in his direction with a hopeful look. 

“put it on me?”

suguru chuckled, taking it from your hands gently and unclasping it. you moved beside him, turning away as he moved your hair out of the way, looping the chain around your neck swiftly, his breath soft on your neck as he clasped it, letting the talisman rest on your chest.

“how’s it look?” you asked happily, turning back to face him.

you weren’t sure when the last time you’d seen him smile was, so when you were met with a soft one, you couldn’t help but smile wider. he stared at the necklace, then back up at you, giving you a simple nod of agreement. 

with a soft sigh, you brought your hand up to his shoulder, feeling the tension soaring in his body. the moment turned soft as he melted into it, like you’d solved a temporary issue for his mind. you couldn’t help but furrow your eyebrows, pursing your lips to the side as you watched him. 

“are we finally gonna talk about it?” you mumbled, his shoulders tensing again. 

“do–” suguru started, interrupted by a call of his name. 

you wanted to be annoyed at the fact you’d been interrupted again, but it washed away as you noticed haibara at the corner that you’d turned just moments ago. you smiled as suguru offered him a drink, letting the younger boy sit to his other side. 

haibara cracked open his cola as you raised your legs over suguru’s, his hand instantly coming up to rest on your shin. 

“i’m going pretty far away for my mission tomorrow.” haibara said gladly. 

surugu’s eyebrows furrowed as he kept his gaze down. “i thought you had a break this week?” 

“i did, but she let me take her mission.” the boy chuckled, pointing up at you. “it took me forever to convince her.” 

you smiled kindly. “i only said yes because it’s a grade two curse and you wouldn’t quit nagging me about it.” 

the three of you shared a laugh, softening the tension that had subtly built. 

“is that so? bring back a souvenir.” suguru added. 

“you bet! do you prefer sweet stuff, or are you more of a salty guy?” 

“satoru might want some too, so sweet i guess.” 

“you got it!” 

the conversation dulled, the air settling comfortably before suguru spoke again.

“haibara.. do you like being a jujutsu sorcerer? it’s not too hard?”  

well that’s one way to kill the mood. haibara blinked, surprised yet unfazed. 

“hm, let’s see.” he pondered, leaning forward on his knees. “i’ve never really been the kinda guy who thinks too deeply about things, you know? i like doing stuff not everybody else can do! and i like working hard!” 

“i see. i guess that’s good.” he turned to look at you. “what about you?” 

“uhm,” you hesitated, thinking of all the ups and downs you’d had in the past year. your blood that had permanently stained the stone of the tomb, amanai’s limp body, the feeling of being sliced and carved open and being forced to reassemble yourself.

if you were to tell him the truth, you would’ve said even though you hated it and wished you’d been born a normal person, you wouldn’t choose to be anything else. but judging by the glow in his eye when haibara said yes, you knew being honest wouldn’t do him any good.

“yeah, i think so.” you faltered, saying nothing else in fear of being caught in your lie. 

before suguru could call you on it, your ears twitched at the approaching footsteps. you looked at the tall woman who stood in front of the three of you, 

“you with the hair. are you geto?” she asked, standing confidently. “i was wondering what type of women you go for?” 

you nearly choked on your spit at the question, suguru’s hand tightening slightly on your leg as his posture shifted, subtle and defensive.

“who are you?” he asked plainly, the answer cut off before haibara chirped up, his energy almost contagious. 

“i like the type of girls who eat a lot! 

“oh?” 

“haibara…” suguru muttered, his words matching your stale face perfectly.

“don’t worry about her, geto, she’s not a bad person. i can tell, i’m a great judge of character!” 

suguru tensed. “you say that, yet you’re sitting next to me.” 

“hm? yeah!” 

the woman laughed. “hey, he was being sarcastic, you know.” 

“how about we let them chat?” you felt awkward from where you sat. so, you swung your legs off of suguru and pulled haibara up gently. you walked back down the hall, letting go of haibara’s arm as he turned around and waved goodbye. 

you turned the corner as well, seeing haibara walk out of the building all the way, waving to you as well. the right thing to do would be to follow behind him, let suguru and the woman have a conversation alone.

but for whatever reason, you lingered, pinning your back to the wall as they continued. 

“your underclassmen?” she asked, voice echoing on the walls. “he’s cute, i like how candid he is.” 

“as a sorcerer,” he replied, “i think he should be more wary of people.” 

“and the girl?” she continued. ”what about her, is she your girlfriend?” 

you heard suguru sigh. “no, she’s just a good friend.” 

“good. in that case, do you plan on answering my original question?” “not until you answer my question first. so who are you?” 

“special grade sorcerer, yuki tsukumo. does that name ring any bells?” 

your stomach dropped, the name landing heavier than you’d expected. the memories of your meeting with the higherups flashed in your mind– mission reports reassigned, curses underestimated, injuries you’d told yourself were just part of the job. 

her leftovers.

even though you were strong enough to fight special grade curses, your hereditary technique wasn’t special grade material. sure, it was powerful on paper– but it didn’t have the capabilities to destroy an entire city. therefore, you had already prepared yourself to be stuck at grade one for the rest of your life, just like most sorcerers.

“wait, so you’re her?” 

“ooh i like the sound of that! what have you heard?” 

suguru didn’t hesitate to be blunt. “that you’re a special grade that never accepts any missions, and those usually end up falling onto my friend who was just here. a good for nothing that’s been wasting her time abroad.” 

“man,” yuki groaned dramatically, “i really hate jujutsu high school!” 

was she… pouting?

“i’m joking. though it’s true i don’t get along with jujutsu high school’s policies. all they’re interested in is treating the symptoms of a problem. and i want to do something to treat the cause.”

“you wanna treat the cause?” 

“rather than hunting cursed spirits, i wanna create a world where they don’t get born in the first place.” yuki answered, her voice steady and serious.

it took everything in you to keep quiet at her words. was she insane? your mind was stuck on that one sentence, that you barely heard the rest of her explanation. your fingers dug into your palms as you bit your lip, trying your best not to turn the corner and interject before she could go too far.

“to put it in the most general terms, if all of mankind were jujutsu sorcerers, curses wouldn’t be born.” 

“or, you could solve the problem by killing all non-sorcerers.” 

suguru? 

you couldn’t bear to hear the rest of the conversation, sprinting out of the building only to be met with the sudden rain, though you couldn’t bring yourself to care. you sat down quickly in the corner of the doorframe, feeling your breathing pick up into quick, short gasps.  

surely, he didn’t mean that. surely, he wasn’t crazy enough to believe that was possible. right? no. it was suguru. rational, level-headed, suguru. there’s no way he could actually believe something like that was possible. 

right? 

you’d sat there longer than you’d meant to, your knees pulled into your chest and your arms wrapped loosely around them. the initial rush of panic dulled into something heavier, a fog that pressed down on your thoughts. he didn’t say it like a joke, that was the part you couldn't shake. 

suguru was the furthest thing from impulsive. he didn’t speak without thinking, didn’t act without thinking of the consequences, always chose the words carefully enough to leave room for interpretation and empathy. 

there’d been no room in that sentence. 

maybe he’d been testing her, testing her reaction. maybe–

the doors creaked open, still visible from where you were sitting. they didn’t notice you immediately, suguru seeing her off before turning around, his breath hitching as he met your teary eyes. 

he mumbled your name in surprise, “you’re still here?”

“did you mean that?” your voice quieter than you’d intended. 

suguru blinked, clearly caught off guard. he stepped closer instinctively, but stopped himself because he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to.

“mean what?” he asked, the tension in his shoulders building again.

“what you said,” you swallowed, voice wavering despite your efforts. “about killing non-sorcerers.”

saying it out loud, the words made your chest tighten all over again. his expression was undecipherable as he stared at you, his lips parting as he compiled his thoughts. 

“i was speaking hypothetically.” he finally answered. 

you searched his face, hoping for something, anything that would let you believe him fully. 

“but you've thought about,” you said instead, hating the way you noticed his jaw tightening. “haven’t you?”

another string of silence. 

suguru exhaled slowly, eyes flicking away from you as if the ground suddenly held something more interesting, your chest aching when you noticed. something unreadable flashed behind his eyes when they met yours again.

“i don’t want to.” 

you let out a shaky scoff, staring down at your shoes. “you didn’t say she was wrong.”

“i didn’t say she was right either.”

his words should’ve helped, you knew that. but they didn’t. 

regardless, you nodded because you didn’t know what else to do. you could tell he wasn’t okay, and pushing further felt like stepping on thin ice– one wrong step and something beneath you would crack beyond repair.

“okay.” you mumbled, even though nothing felt okay at all.

suguru hesitated, then finally stepped and crouched in front of you, keeping the distance close enough to be present, but not far enough to corner you. “i’m not going to hurt anyone. not like that.” 

you looked up at him, eyes glossy as they searched his face. 

“promise?” 

the word lingered in the air, feeling a bit childish. he didn’t answer immediately, but when he did, his voice was steady. 

“i promise.” 

𓆩༺✧༻𓆪

this place had been under a guardian once– whatever stood before you now was only what remained after it broke. 

you whistled at the scene, seeing the splattered blood on the ground, the collapsed buildings, and the curse. you hadn’t been told any details about the mission, just that you’d be accompanying satoru. 

“who died here?” you joked, seeing the amount of blood left behind in one particular spot. satoru tensed, avoiding your gaze as you looked up at him, your eyes widening. “wait, did someone actually die here?!” 

“it’s a grade one curse, formally registered as a weaker grade two.” he dodged your question, trying to joke around. “what should we do, pupil?” 

you scoffed in his face. “look, i get you’re ‘the strongest’ or whatever, but don’t treat me like i’m your student.” 

“yes ma’am,” satoru shook his head, watching as you still analyzed the scene despite your stubbornness. “you lead the way.”

the curse waved its tentacles around, wrecking buildings and threatening civilian’s safety. you glanced up at satoru, who was already looking down at you, his expression soft as he traced your face. 

you could feel your cheeks flush, but you coughed awkwardly as you turned back to the scene. 

“alright. it doesn't look too strong for a grade one, so i’ll exorcise it while you take care of the people?” you proposed, hearing him chuckle beside you.

“sounds good.” he agreed, your legs instantly moving as you split up quickly. “i’ll put up the veil!”

you nodded, watching as the sky darkened momentarily, darting straight for the curse. it could hear your footsteps, turning around and swinging a tentacle at you– its singular eye following your body as you jumped over it, landing on the ground gracefully. 

it swung at you again, going under your legs while you jumped again, letting the tentacle swing into a building. you turned around, seeing the rubble crumble to the ground, satoru’s figure flashing by before it could hit anyone. 

“wow, you’re kinda dramatic, don’t you think?” you asked, untying your handwraps all the way and tying them around your waist. 

the curse growled, nothing coherent despite being a grade one, but you could see it was frustrated at the fact that it missed you. it swung yet again, but this time you hopped onto its arm, running up the length of it and punching it straight in its eye. you giggled as it cried out, hitting it again before letting yourself slide down its backside. 

when your feet touched the broken concrete again, you flexed your fingers– feeling a lack of cursed energy in your body. you groaned at the realization, remembering how you had barely any stored up from your past mission. 

this was the downside to your technique. to use it effectively, you had to take some hits. 

you braced yourself as the curse ran towards you, letting it hit you with its slimy arm, sending you crashing into a nearby wall. a pained noise escaped your mouth, your body quickly processing the injury and converting it.

your leg pushed you off, sending you back towards the curse. you wrapped your arms around the girthy tentacle, twisting your body quickly to use the momentum, pulling its arm off and hearing it scream as purple blood spewed out into the air. 

throwing the arm aside, your eyes fell to where something had fallen out, plopping into the pool of blood. you squinted, trying to make out what it was from the distance. 

was that… a lower half of a body?

the curse swung, but you ducked under it while you ran towards the severed body, sliding your knees on the concrete– the fabric of your pants ripping and causing your knees to scrape, leaving a trail of blood behind you. 

a white card had fallen out of the legs’ pocket, letting you pick it up as you ran away, avoiding another attempted hit. 

you could feel your heart twist and your eyes water immediately as you read the id card. 

tokyo prefectural jujutsu high school. second grade. 

yu haibara.

this was your mission.

the ground behind you shook, the curse growing antsy at the fact it hadn’t killed you yet. your fingers trembled around the plastic card, the edges biting into your palm as if it would blur, or disappear, or turn into someone else’s. your breathing hitched, sharp and uneven like your body couldn’t know if it was supposed to fight or fold. 

“no…” you whispered to yourself, the word slipping before you realized you’d spoken at all. 

the curse screeched, absolutely enraged by now. its movements grew sloppy yet they remained violent as it barreled toward you. behind you, its presence was thick and suffocating– but all you could care about was the card in your hand. 

if he hadn’t begged you for it, if he hadn’t wanted to impress suguru… would he be alive right now?

the curse slammed into you from the side, sending you flying into another nearby building. however, your technique didn’t settle quietly this time. the blow had blood sputtering out of your mouth, your ribs aching and stuck as the pressure locked itself into place under your skin. 

your body had absorbed the impact as usual, but it didn’t stop at converting it. the compression kept building, coiling tighter and tighter– your cursed energy soaring. 

another hit as it dashed forward and punched you in the gut. another hit as it peeled you off the building and sent you back in the direction you had come from. 

you staggered, vision blurring as you barely stood on your feet, every step feeling like you were moving through water. your wraps slipped off your hips, leaving them to pool on the ground around your ankles. you were taking on too much, too fast. 

yet somehow, the pain of it all hadn’t overwhelmed you like it had back when you fought toji zen’in. 

“bastard,” you breathed, turning slowly to face the curse. your voice shook– not with fear, but with something hotter. “you think you get to kill me now, too?” 

it lashed out again, but this time you didn’t dodge. the impact drove you into the ground, the world ringing violently as your technique swallowed it whole, cursed energy flooding every inch of you. 

simultaneously, you felt something inside you give out. not your muscles, but your limit. 

cursed energy spelled outward in a rush, uncontained and frantic, slamming into the ground beneath you. the concrete split, fractures racing outward from where your hands pressed into it. you gasped sharply as your eyes blew open, the pressure leaving you and spreading around you.

oh.

your body was never the limit to your technique. it was your mind.

you pushed yourself upright, your body tensing slightly as you watched your cursed energy thread through the street in which you’d walked, the buildings you’d been slammed into– the air thick with residue. 

the curse hesitated, eye widening as your energy brushed against its own, not stopping at the surface. your energy surged through your newly discovered connection, the pressure forcing itself into its cursed circulation, your technique disrupting it violently. 

It shrieked as its body convulsed, its movements jerky and uncoordinated while its own energy turned against it, tearing at its insides. your cursed energy was strong, but instead of making it stronger, it made it worse. too much at once. 

you stood there shaking in confusion, watching the scene unravel in front of you. instinctively, your fingers curled inward a bit, causing the building beside the curse to groan. slowly, the structure collapsed, falling onto the curse. one tentacle had gotten caught, forcing it to rip away from it, another splatter of purple staining the scene. 

its scream was cut off as you clenched your hand into a fist, the curse exploding into pieces, vanishing into the air with a final, distorted pulse.

silence followed as your legs gave out, forcing you to fall to your knees as you trembled. sobs ripped out of you, your hands hitting the ground as they shook uncontrollably. 

your technique had evolved, but you couldn’t bring yourself to focus on anything else other than the fact that your friend– who you’d seen just yesterday– was gone. 

the id card slipped from your numb fingers, plastic clattering onto the concrete. warmth surrounded you instantly as satoru knelt beside you, close enough that you could feel his chest on your back. 

“it was my mission!” you cried, tears staining the concrete. “haibara, he–” 

“i know.” satoru interrupted, his palm resting on your shoulder as you sat up. “he and nanami–”

“nanami, too?!” 

satoru shook his head quickly. “no, no, nanami’s back at jujutsu high. it was only haibara.” 

“you knew?” you laughed weakly, looking up at satoru with glossy eyes. you both stood up, his mouth opening to speak but the words died on his tongue as you shoved at his chest. “you knew and you didn’t tell me?!” 

your hands were fisted in his jacket, your knuckles white as you shoved him once more– this time with less force. 

“you stood there,” you choked, blinded by your own tears. “and you let me joke. you let me walk in here thinking it was just another mission.” 

satoru didn’t step back, he just stood there and took it. his face had grown into one of regret and sympathy, hating the way you were reacting as a result of his actions. his jaw tightened as your anger seemed to melt away instantly, your body being drawn to him as you rested your face into his chest, sobbing into him. 

“if i’d told you,” he said carefully. “you wouldn’t have been able to fight. not like that.” 

his arms wrapped around you, holding you tightly as your tears stained his clothes. you stayed there for a while, surrounded by wreckage and silence as the brief argument faded because neither of you had anything left to give it.

you turned your head to the side, wiping your face as you looked at the scene in front of you. your body trembled, turning your neck back into him. for now, it was enough to let him hold you, and leave the rest of the world waiting. 

𓆩༺✧༻𓆪

september 2007

investigations confirmed that all 112 were killed by a cursed spirit, which the residuals revealed to be the work of suguru geto’s curse manipulation. 

you stared at yaga with blank eyes, lips parted in shock as you processed what he said. 

he promised.

“huh?” satoru finally let out.

“don’t make me repeat myself.” yaga sighed. “suguru killed everyone in the village. 

“i heard you the first time. that’s why i said ‘huh’ to what you said.”

“suguru’s old home was already an empty husk as well. though from the blood stains and residuals, he most likely killed his parents–”

“like hell he did!” satoru yelled, clearly in disbelief himself. 

words seemed impossible, your head blank as you replayed that conversation with suguru. you walked away, leaving the men standing in the hall alone. you exited the building, your breath shaky as you stepped onto a bus, not knowing where it was taking you. 

you’d ended up in shinjuku as the bus reached its last stop. the doors hissed open, spilling you out into the street with everyone else. sunlight bled into the early evening, voices overlapping, life moving forward like the world hadn’t just shifted on its axis. 

your chest felt tight as you sat down on a park bench, your hands curling into the sleeves of your jacket while tears fell slowly from your eyes. the city felt too loud, too alive when all you could hear was yaga’s voice echoing in your head. 

suguru killed everyone in the village.

he’d said goodbye to you before that mission. 

your hand came up to mess with your necklace, toying with the talisman between the length of your fingers as you swallowed hard– shaking your head as if that might change the truth. 

“hey, mind if i sit?” 

you flinched at the voice, looking up at it with glossy eyes. suguru stood in front of you, his hands in his pockets as if it was another casual day– as if he didn’t have blood on his hands.

you nodded hesitantly, eyes following him as he took a seat beside you, facing forward despite your piercing stare. 

the two of you sat in silence for a bit before he finally turned to look at you with a sigh. 

“i’m–” 

“no.” you cut him off, tears falling slowly. “i’m sorry. i knew something was wrong with you after you talked to yuki, and i let it be. i knew you were lying in my face and i didn’t say anything because i never would’ve imagined you’d follow through with this.”

suguru inhaled slowly, like your words had hurt him. “this isn’t your fault. if the world had more people like you, then this idea would seem a lot more ridiculous to me.” 

you sniffled. “what do you mean?”

“those monkeys bring no value to the world other than keeping jujutsu sorcerers busy. these curses are born because they don’t know how to control their cursed energy. you carry an immense amount of cursed energy constantly because of your technique, you know how to control it so you don’t create any curses.”

you stared at him like he’d spoken a language you didn’t recognize. his expression stayed the same, like he truly believed everything he was saying. 

“even though you’re a sorcerer, you’re proof it's possible.” suguru continued evenly. “you exist with enough cursed energy to build an entire new arsenal for me if you lost control– and yet you don’t. not once have you let it spill over into something mindless.”

your breaths were wet and short, trying your best to keep yourself together as best you could. 

“so that’s it?” you asked shakily. “you look at me and decide i’m the exception?”

suguru shook his head calmly. “you’re not an exception, you’re the standard. everyone else refuses to meet it.” 

“they’re people, suguru.” you snapped, nails biting into your palms. “they don’t know how to meet that standard because they don’t understand jujutsu!” 

“exactly. that’s what makes them inferior.” he replied, turning his body to fully face you. “then jujutsu sorcerers are forced to clean up their messes even if it costs them their lives.” 

you shook your head softly with a short laugh, wiping a single tear with your fingers. “you can’t protect yourself from something you don’t even know exists.”

“thinking that way is why good people like haibara end up dead.” he said, his hand reaching out to rest on your thigh. “i won’t force you to believe me or help– but this is a lot more possible with the help of your technique. i heard you evolved it.” 

“yeah, i did.” tears streamed freely now as you laughed weakly. “but i’m not insane enough to help you out.” 

“you’re okay with being treated as nothing more than an object?” he asked gently. 

“if it means i get to save those who can’t save themselves,” you shrugged your shoulders. “then yes.”

suguru nodded, letting another wave of silence fall over. you scooted over, leaning into his side as if you could keep him here and stop his crazy ideals before they went further. but really, you were just doing it to feel close to him one last time. 

he leaned his head down to rest on yours, staring at the setting sun that somehow made the city livelier. 

“so this is it.” you mumbled, pulling away from him and standing. he followed, taking your hand in his. 

“i guess it is.” 

you smiled at him, a genuine one you didn’t need to force despite the ache in your heart. he said your name quietly, squeezing your fingers. 

“i love you, sugu.” you said, voice raw as tears streamed calmly down your cheeks. 

“i love you, too.” suguru smiled, pulling you close and placing a kiss on your forehead. “that’s exactly why i’m doing this.”

𓆩༺✧༻𓆪

ever since that day, you’d kept yourself distant from satoru and shoko for a while. you couldn’t shake the curiosity that had taken over your mind– wondering what suguru had been up to. 

you tried to refrain, but you found yourself walking into the undergrounds of the former building of the star religious group. you couldn’t quite remember where you’d heard it, but you knew suguru would be here tonight. 

the voices of two men echoed in the rusty space, causing you to press your back against the wall– trying your best to remain unseen. 

you watched as the unfamiliar man walked away, making a call on his phone while walking right past you, more focused on lighting his cigarette than he was on even getting the chance to notice you. 

“test, test.” suguru said into the microphone. “can you hear me?” 

taking one glance behind you to make sure the man was gone, you stepped forward towards the steps suguru had gone up.

two small gasps made you wince, your head turning towards the two small girls standing to the side, watching you with wide eyes. 

you did your best to ignore them as suguru carried on. 

“sorry for the wait everyone, but i’ll keep this brief. from this moment onward, this organization belongs to me. i’ll be changing the name too, so i expect everyone to follow along with me.” he spoke, being met with objections from the members. 

“do you know mr. geto?” one of the girls chirped in. 

“you’re very pretty.” the other said.

you smiled at them, leaving suguru’s voice in the background as you kept your voice quiet. “thank you. are you in danger?” 

the one with lighter hair giggled, the sound of someone walking towards the stage growing louder behind you. 

“no, mr. geto rescued us from the mean people!” 

just then, you heard blood splatter, turning back to the stage, the portion of the walls covered in blood.

“now then, once again.” suguru wiped some off his face, tossing the microphone on the ground while feedback echoed in the space. “i hate monkeys.” 

you could see him turning back to walk off stage, making you panic since you didn’t want him to see you. you did a double take at the girls, trusting that suguru really did save them, not noticing the way your wraps had fallen out of your pocket as you ran out the building. 

the girl with the darker hair walked over to the pile of fallen objects, picking it up just as suguru reunited with them again– you being long gone. 

“mimiko?” suguru asked. “what are you doing?” 

she lifted the wraps into her hands, running over to raise them to suguru. his eyes widened as he looked around the dark space, sensing the residue of your cursed energy. 

“your friend stopped by, mr. geto!” nanako chirped from behind him. “should we give these back to her?” 

suguru took the wraps out of mimiko’s hands, running his fingers across them before looking down at his daughters. he pocketed the wraps before rubbing their hair, smiling innocently. 

“it’s okay,” he spoke softly. “we’ll find her again one day.”

note: arc one is complete! so so excited where the story has been going and i'm so happy you guys have been enjoying! there's nothing more that i love than reading your comments :)

and don’t worry, there will be a lot more satoru in the next few, this ep was just incredibly suguru focused, so this chapter is meant to be a zoom in as to the relationship between reader and suguru (this is important later trust)

that being said, get ready for the next chapter, which will be some filler + the plot of jjk 0!

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