Perfect new cover by Cantrona / Candy<3

Edited by absolem ٩(◕‿◕)۶

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Something turned humans into Cursed Spirits...?

It was a weird phenomenon. Yūji had hunted down plenty of Cursed Spirits before, yet he had never heard of any Spirit able to turn regular humans into Cursed Spirits. He did not think it was possible. Or instead, he had not considered it to be possible. Since getting involved with the Suzuran family, Yūji knew the word impossible simply did not exist.

Mr. Nanami was assigned to investigate a strange homicide. Three teenage boys were horrendously deformed in a movie theater with only one living witness to be seen. Outside the theater were Cursed Spirits that had, evidently, once been regular humans.

It was as infuriating as it was befuddling.

Yūji had seen his fair share of the horrible things Cursed Spirits could do when left unchecked, and it always left a bad taste in his mouth. The mutilation of teenagers, coupled with the monstrous transformation of civilians... whatever was behind it was seriously disturbed and needed to be eliminated.

Yūji, Mr. Nanami, and Kiyotaka (the auxiliary manager assigned to assist) were gathered in a cramped office the police had provided them for their investigation.

"I've organized the reports from our windows on recent residuals, unnatural deaths, and disappearances. This should help us narrow down the culprit's hideout to some extent," Mr. Nanami said as he tapped on a paper map of the province. The map was taped to a blackboard with several red marks across it.

The windows–The Jujutsu Society's designated sensors who used their abilities to track Cursed Energy and whatnot–were very accurate so Yūji knew he could trust the map's markings. However, he could not see a discernable pattern.

"It looks indiscriminate," Yūji commented. "Do you want me to try hunting it?"

"No. I heard you have good sensory instincts, though, so I would like you to handle a different task," said Mr. Nanami. The older man clipped a picture of a teenage boy on the board. "This is the boy who was at the theater, Junpei Yoshino. Apparently, he goes to the same high school as the victims. Based on the surveillance footage and how he carried himself, I initially believed it was unlikely he could be a Curse User. Now that I know about his connection to the victims, I'm not so sure."

Yūji rubbed his chin. "You want me to find him and sense his energy–see if it's civilian level or not?"

"Yes."

"Easy enough. I'll take care of this, Teacher!"

"Itadori, I am not a teacher, so do not address me as such."

"You don't want to be my teacher?" Yūji mockingly gasped.

"I am not your teacher," Mr. Nanami reiterated.

"Then Nanamin it is!" Yūji decided happily.

"I will slap you," Nanamin threatened.

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Yūji hopped from rooftop to rooftop. Any time there was too big of a gap between the rooftops, he used his energy to create a platform in the air to jump to.

Kiyotaka had offered to drive Yūji to Junpei's neighborhood, which Yūji declined. He wanted more practice with his air jumps, and Junpei's home wasn't too far.

"Hey Sukuna," said Yūji.

Unsurprisingly, there was no answer.

"How do you track people?" the teenager inquired as he made another jump. "You can tell I'm a sensor–do you do something similar?"

"No."

Yūji's cheek tingled. He could feel it being split apart as a mouth was formed under his eye. Whenever Sukuna popped out, the Cursed Spirit favored appearing on Yūji's face. Yūji had to resist the urge to slap at him every time; it was an itchy sensation, not too different from a bug bite.

It was easier to converse with Sukuna if Sukuna created a mouth. Yūji wasn't skilled enough to enter his mind-place without meditating for over a minute, and he had no way to hear Sukuna otherwise.

Yūji had made an effort to try to talk to Sukuna. He honestly wasn't sure if they could ever be friends–the Cursed Spirit King was clearly a major asshole–but if they could at least not be enemies, that'd be nice.

Sukuna was the one who offered the pact, so Yūji guessed he wasn't opposed to a civil relationship. Maybe.

Honestly there really was no way to know without trying.

A potential partnership couldn't be built on silence, and so Yūji made it a point to talk to Sukuna. More often than not, Sukuna would ignore him, but occasionally Yūji managed to get a curt response.

Yūji let out a soft huh. "How do you, then?"

Sukuna did not respond.

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Yūji spotted Junpei. The teenage boy was dressed in casual summer clothes. He walked slowly toward one of the houses on the street. Sitting in front of the house was a round man who immediately stood up when Junpei arrived.

Yūji wasn't close enough to hear the conversation, but even from a distance he could tell the man made Junpei uncomfortable. Deciding to cut straight to the chase, Yūji walked up to the two of them.

"Hey, I need to talk to you about something," Yūji said, directly addressing Junpei.

"Hold on, he and I are still talking. It's rude to interrupt," protested the older man.

"Well it's important," said Yūji. "Mind scramming?"

"You're just a kid! What could be more important?" The man was incredulous.

Yūji blinked vapidly. He promptly pulled down the man's pants–much to his mortification–and ran off with them. He could hear the man immediately running after him, screaming in horror at what Yūji had done. Yūji tossed the pants into a tree, then circled back around to find Junpei alone.

Yūji grinned. "Okay, let's talk now."

"Huh?! That was fast! You already ran that entire lap?"

"Yeah."

"You didn't have to go through all that. You could've just dragged me away."

"Well, sure. But that guy was making you uncomfortable, wasn't he?" Yūji put his hands in his pockets. "C'mon, let's talk over here."

Junpei blinked in bewilderment. "Oh, um... okay."

There was a canal on the outskirts of the neighborhood that Yūji led Junpei to.

"There were people who died at the theater you went to the other day. Did you happen to see anything?" Yūji asked.

Junpei's energy was above civilian level, yet clearly too small for any sorcerer to use. Yūji was doubtful Junpei was the cause of the incident, but given the strength of his energy he might have seen something.

That small bit of energy tensed, like a zing of electricity went through it.

"Maybe something creepy-looking that makes distorted noises?" Yūji pressed.

"No," said Junpei. "I only recently started seeing stuff like that."

"Huh. What were you doing at the theater?"

"Uh, it was airing a repeat screening of an old movie. I doubt you'd know it if I told you."

"Come on, I might surprise you."

"Human Earthworm 3."

"That one was painfully boring."

"It really is. But it's just a splatter film, so maybe it's our own fault for asking it to deliver more than that. But 2–"

"But 2 was pretty good," remarked Yūji, recalling the trilogy. Gojō loved bad movies, so any time it was his turn to pick for movie night he always chose really obscure titles. Some of them turned out surprisingly good, though.

Junpei's entire demeanor brightened. "Yeah! Yeah, it was! It was the only one with a way you could enjoy it!"

"Huh? Is there a specific way to enjoy films?" Yūji asked, scratching at his cheek.

Junpei smiled.

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Yūji regrouped with Nanamin late into the evening after enjoying a nice dinner with Junpei and his mom. It was interesting how one conversation led to another and he was suddenly invited to dinner. Yūji was never one to turn down free food, so he gladly accepted.

Junpei was a good kid, albeit shy. Yūji wasn't used to dealing with shy people so it was a nice change of pace.

He had a good heart, Yūji felt.

He relayed everything to Nanamin, who in turn told Yūji about a strange Cursed Spirit he encountered.

A Cursed Spirit who looked like a young man with a patchwork face.

The Cursed Spirit was able to transform someone by manipulating their very soul. It could even turn humans into monsters.

Looks like we found our fucked up culprit, Yūji thought, thinking back to those deformed teenagers.

They'd investigate the sewer–where Nanamin encountered the Cursed Spirit–come morning.

By they, Nanamin meant only him.

"You're injured though," Yūji had protested. "You shouldn't go alone."

"I never said I would be alone," Nanamin corrected him. "I want you to continue to monitor Junpei."

"Why? Going after that patchwork guy is clearly more important. Do you think I'll just get in the way? I'm not a child. I've already gone on and succeeded on several dozen missions before," Yūji flatly argued.

Nanamin adjusted his glasses. "You cannot come with me. As you already know, this patchwork Cursed Spirit uses transfigured people. There are some people who are beyond saving. If you pursue him with me, there is a good chance you will be forced to kill a person yourself."

Yūji was taken aback.

"Joining that Society... you're going to have to fight people as well as Cursed Spirits," Lilly warned him.

"People?"

"Mm-hmm. People who use their abilities to hurt others. Inevitably, you'll have to fight them, and you'll need to make a choice."

"What kind of choice?"

She smiled. "Us or them."

Although she was nowhere around them, Yūji could hear the echo of her voice from their numerous training sessions.

"Us or them."

"I know," Yūji said quietly. He didn't want to take a life, however– "I'm prepared for that."

Nanamin stared at him, his expression unreadable. "You're only a child."

"That won't stop them," said Yūji. "Why should it stop me?"

"No. I acknowledge your stance, but the choice is not necessary. You are not needed to hunt the patchwork Cursed Spirit. Watch over Junpei tomorrow."

Yūji could hear the finality in Nanamin's voice. He pursed his lips, biting back his retort. "Fine."

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In the morning, after Nanamin left, the windows reported a gruesome murder, and a Curtain was put up over Junpei's school.

Yūji didn't hesitate to sprint over to the school, although Nanamin called him on the way.

"Stop," Nanamin said over the phone. "I'll be there shortly, so–"

"I'm not waiting around. There's civilians in there," Yūji retorted.

"The patchwork Cursed Spirit wasn't at the sewers. It's highly likely it's at the school."

"Fine. I'll kick its ass while I'm there."

"It's too dangerous. Stay put, we'll reconvene–"

Yūji ended the call and pocketed his phone.

"I appreciate the concern," Yūji grumbled, "but I can take care of myself. I mean, you get it, right, Sukuna? I bet you'd do the same in my place."

Yūji didn't expect his guest to respond. Unsurprisingly, Sukuna remained quiet, although Yūji could feel a sliver of his energy quiver. Yūji wasn't experienced enough to discern what that could mean, although he found it interesting. Was the Cursed Spirit amused?

He reached the school a scarce minute later. He dashed through the Curtain, taking only a split-second to try to sense Junpei's energy. He ran to a building on the far right, kicking down the door to find an unsettling scene.

It looked like there had been a school assembly. All the children were passed out–thankfully alive–except for a couple on the stage. Junpei stood on the auditorium's stage, a jellyfish shinigami around his form. The shinigami had lifted up another teenage boy.

"Junpei," Yūji snapped, "what are you doing?"

"Stay out of this, Itadori," Junpei coldly retorted.

"Drop the kid," Yūji ordered, dashing forward. Junpei was forced to jump away as soon as Yūji reached him. "What are you doing? Did you put up this Curtain?"

As soon as Yūji asked the question, he noticed a difference in Junpei.

He didn't have this much Cursed Energy yesterday.

Junpei's entire signature had transformed overnight.

How...? How is that possible?

"Just leave!" Junpei shouted. "Stay out of my way."

"And if I do, what are you planning? Murdering some brats?" Yūji demanded.

"SO WHAT?!" Junpei exploded, his jellyfish shinigami rushed at Yūji. Yūji kicked it away, knocking it back into Junpei.

Yūji chased after him, dodging the occasional tentacle jab from the shinigami. It was flexible, but slow in comparison to what Yūji was used to fighting.

Junpei's energy was a trembling mess. The more Yūji focused on it, the more he could tell something was deeply wrong with it.

"Talk to me, Junpei," Yūji asked, trying to keep his voice calm like he'd seen Lilly do whenever Yūji got worked up. "You weren't like this yesterday, what happened?"

"What happened? You don't know ?!" Junpei's voice broke.

"No, I don't. Please talk to me. I don't want to fight you."

Junpei wavered. He fell to his knees, his anger overcome by despair. Tears spilled out of him. "My mother was murdered. Someone... cursed my mother. It attracted a Cursed Spirit and killed my mother."

Yūji gently kneeled in front of Junpei. He used his sleeve to wipe away his tears. He said softly, "I'm so sorry to hear that." He took Junpei's hands. "Junpei, come to Jujutsu High. There are lots of crazy strong teachers and reliable friends there. If we all work together, I'm sure we can find whoever cursed your mom. Then you can make sure they get their due. Let's do this together, okay?"

Junpei sniffled. "I–"

Yūji stiffened, his gaze snapped up to the staircase. A Cursed Spirit slowly approached them. It had a humanoid shape–in fact, it almost looked human except for the stitches across its face and the malice it oozed. It had long gray hair tied off to the side and wore a loose black shirt.

Wait, stitches–

A massive hand, malformed and pulsating, slammed Yūji's entire body into the wall.

Everything clicked in Yūji's head. The patchwork Cursed Spirit. The one behind all the murders. Yūji yelled, "Get away from it, Junpei! That thing is evil."

"Wait, Mahito isn't evil–" Junpei's eyes widened as if he had only realized something terrifying.

The patchwork Cursed Spirit–Mahito–placed his free hand on Junpei's shoulder, a cold smile on his face. "You know, Junpei, you've got a good head on your shoulders. But sometimes deliberation can lead to a worse foolishness than imprudence. You're a stereotypical case of that. You're almost as foolish as those people you call fools yourself. That's why you'll die–"

To Yūji's horror, Junpei was transformed into a Cursed Spirit before his eyes.

Mahito released Yūji and laughed. "Okay, round two!"

Junpei stumbled to Yūji, his energy and mind clearly going haywire.

Okay, Yūji thought, his mind blanking out for a split second. What do I–how do I–?

I can't save him.

I can't save him.

Yūji breathed out slowly, grappling with Junpei.

But I know who can.

Yūji grinned. He kicked Junpei away and clapped his hands together. He said, "Mom, could you come here?"

Years ago, Lilly had placed a blessing on Yūji's right palm. It was something she used to monitor his vitality, and if it ever dropped low it would burn a death warning into her palm. The blessing also acted as a key that allowed Yūji to enter the teashop from any doorway, and lastly it acted as a way to call for her.

All he had to do was activate it: and to do that he had to put his palms together with the intention of calling for her.

And that was why Lilly appeared, a scarce two seconds later, right beside Yūji. She was wiping her hands on her apron, her pink hair pulled into a bun that day. "Of course my little baby boy. What's going on?"

Yūji pointed to Junpei. "My friend got turned into that, can you save him while I beat the shit outta the jerk who did it?"

Lilly beamed. "I'm sure I can. Let me know if you need help, okay baby?"

"'Kay, thanks!" Yūji said, jumping over Junpei to grab at the Cursed Spirit.

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Lilly

Lilly squatted in front of Junpei. She placed a hand atop his head. "Hi there, sweet pea. My name is Lilly Suzuran, it's really nice to meet you. Can you do me a favor?"

Junpei nodded slowly.

There was an explosion behind them as Yūji fought the Cursed Spirit.

"I want you to picture really hard how you looked like before," she said. "Can you do that for me, honey?"

He nodded again.

"Okay," she said. "Keep that image. I'm going to disconnect all your touch receptors before I reassemble you, okay?"

Again, he nodded.

"On the count of three... one... two... three!"

The being morphed like clay being squashed and pulled, transforming into a quivering boy with tears spilling out of his eyes. Lilly noticed he had several injuries–burns on his forehead, cuts, bruises covering his body–and she healed them without hesitation.

"There now," she said, wiping away his tears. "Can you speak?"

"Yeah," he whispered. "Th-Thank you."

"You're welcome, sweet pea," she said. "Come here." She pulled him into a hug, feeling him tremble in her arms. He hiccuped a sob as she patted the back of his head. "There now. You're safe. Let it all out, sweet boy. It's okay now. It's okay."

Golly, Lilly thought, what would have happened to this boy in the original Story™?

She couldn't think of anyone who could undo such a transformation. Would he have stayed that way, or died? How horrid.

She peeked out the window to watch Yūji fight a Cursed Spirit. He didn't need to fight alone for long, as Nanami had arrived.

Good luck, my baby boy!

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Yūji

Yūji returned to Lilly and Junpei, relieved to find that Junpei was once again a human boy. Junpei was in her lap, and she cradled him like a little boy even though she was barely much bigger than him. Yūji smiled at her. "Thanks."

"Anything for my children," she said, her red eyes warm with affection. "Come here my baby, let me heal you."

Yūji felt his cheeks grow hot as he bent over so Lilly could touch him and heal him. Immediately, he felt her soft warmth envelop him. He loved feeling her energy, it was like laying under the sun on a warm and lazy day. He swore he could feel her emotions in them, feel her genuine affection for him and how much she cared about him.

He was a part of her family.

He never met his mother. Whenever someone talked about moms, he always thought of Lilly. Even if he never told her that, never asked or even called her that–

Ah, wait... did I earlier...?

Yūji gestured to Junpei. "Want help carrying him?"

"No, I can manage. I'm going to take him back home, unless you need him for something?"

"Nanamin will probably wanna talk to him," Yūji said. "But I can bring him over."

"Okay," she said. "Does this boy need any more help?"

"His mom was murdered," Yūji said. "I don't think he has anywhere else to go."

Her red eyes sparkled. "Oh no. Poor thing. I'll take extra good care of him."

Your expression and words don't match up, Mom.

Lilly continued to smile. "I'll talk to the boy when he wakes up. Come by soon, okay baby?"

"Okay," Yūji promised.

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Lilly

Lilly carefully tucked the boy in the spare room. She wrapped him in blankets, smoothed them out, and kissed his forehead. She blessed him with sweet dreams to help soften what was undoubtedly a painful day for him.

When she returned downstairs, she was pleasantly surprised to find Yūji and Nanami there. Yūji sat on the couch, twiddling his thumbs anxiously while Nanami stood stiffly off to the side. Although Nanami retained a stoic facade, Lilly could see the undertone of discomfort. He couldn't relax in the current environment.

Understandable. Moving from an intense battlefield to a supposed safe house in a pocket dimension wasn't something many would be acclimated to. It went to show how eccentric Satoru was that he was as comfortable as he was.

Yūji and Yūta at least had the benefit of adjusting from a young age. Nanami looked like a veteran who was forced to accept cynicism to an extreme degree.

Not pessimistic at heart, but rather a man who was beaten down to accept grim reality over optimistic hopes.

Poor thing.

"He'll need to rest for the night," said Lilly. "What happened was traumatic for him."

"He'll be okay though right?"

"Of course he will be," Lilly reassured. "He is not broken."

Yūji sighed with relief. "Thanks M—Auntie."

Lilly smiled. "Not Mom anymore?"

His cheeks colored pink. "... Oh... um... I mean if you want..."

"I very much do."

"Thanks... Mom."

Lilly beamed. She folded her hands neatly together in front of her. "Are you two hungry? How about I make some lunch?"

"No, thank you, Miss Suzuran," said Nanami. "We should be returning."

"Are you sure—?"

"Very," he said firmly. "Thank you for your hospitality." He bowed shallowly.

Lilly returned the bow. "Thank you for looking after my son."

Yūji's cheeks were still pink and he coughed.

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Bonus:

[Lilly Suzuran texting Satoru Gojō ]

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Answer: Yūji

Question: What's something neat you can do, or something you own?

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