It was the hour of midnight after the barrier incident which had resulted in the disruption of the Kyoto Sister-School Goodwill Event. The school medics had been brought on-site, without prior expectation of having a magnitude of casualties of this scale.
First-year and second-year students were in horrible shape, with the exception of a few students who had miraculously seemed untouched or sustained little injury. The Jujutsu tech students had each been medically attended to a high standard, with each student having at least two people attending to their wounds and bruises.
The students sorcerers who were in serious condition were bed-bound, meanwhile the students who were still able to move with little to no problem were allowed to leave the treatment building as they pleased.
Kugisaki Nobara was one of those students who were still able to freely move, albeit she did have sore spots on her body from her encounter with the second-years. She had decided to head towards their squad's building and continue her rest in the privacy of her room, hopeful of being the first person to reach their building. Bandages were apparent on her features on the injuries she had received during the Event, prominently those she sustained from battling against that broom-handling blonde and being third-partied by that gun-handling bitch.
She entered the building listening to check if anyone else was present, to her surprise their squad building was quiet for once. Fushiguro would probably still be in treatment building until tomorrow, seeing he had sustained many injuries from facing off against the supposed Special-grade spirit that was in tune with nature. She had visited him before her stroll to their squad building but realized that it would be better to converse with him when he was in better shape, besides he was unconscious when she had visited so it was probably for the best rather than waiting until he had regain consciousness.
Their mentor Gojou-sensei was probably too busy with the school officials about the events that had transpired, she had heard bits of conversation from the second years about how their mentor had single-handedly carved up the terrain of the school grounds. He was a bizarre man with childish tendencies, but his achievement did prove why he was their teacher.
Lastly, the person she didn't want to actively think about was the anomaly of Itadori Yuuji, the first-year student who had supposedly died during the investigation of the haunted detention center. She hated how casual he sounded when he was revealed by their mentor of being alive. She hated that he gave such a cheerful and humorous demeanor when popping out of his damn box. She hated it that she mourned for someone alive and was training to great heights to the point of being able to stand toe-to-toe with the beast called Todou while she and Fushiguro were left with their injuries and thoughts about his death. She shouldn't have paid his returning presence much attention and should have been more restrictive of her emotions acknowledging that her line of work was one riddled with death and casualty, yet she hated herself for being concerned about him, regardless if she openly acknowledged it or not.
She opened to the door to the living room, across it was a short corridor where their rooms were segregated.
To her surprise, there was a figure laying on the couch, their identity anonymous by sight due to a large blanket that covered it from the top.
"You better hope you're not a cursed being," Kugisaki announced as she cleared her throat, she readied to take out her hammer in case this was another curse that was looking to ambush her.
"A-Ah h-hey! Kugisaki!" He jumped out of his cushioned position and eagerly stood up with his arms in the air out of fear of being whacked with a hammer.
"Oh Itadori, i-it's you." She quickly unequipped her hammer into her knapsack and felt an uncomfortable thought come to mind as she realized they were alone.
"Didn't realize anyone was home, lights were off" She added as she headed towards the sink to get a glass of water.
"Oh yeah, I kinda forgot to turn them on." He started switching the lights on as he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.
"Hey did you happen to know where they placed the stuff I had in that secret drawer in my room? I think someone misplaced it whe-"
"When we thought you were dead?" She quickly retorted, realizing that she shouldn't keep her thoughts to herself. This was the perfect opportunity to express her misplaced grief and anger over him.
"U-uhm, yeah." He gave off a nervous grin, hopeful of an attempt to ease the tension.
"It's probably in the box the maintenance workers left by Sensei's room." She answered coldly.
Itadori was never one to leave things unsettled, so he figured he would try to melt the ice and then face the issue that stood between him and the hammer-wielding sorcerer.
"So what's up about the second ye-"
"Shut up!" She voiced with pent-up confusion and disgust for his ignorance of the situation before him.
Itadori swallowed his spit hard. He should've known better than to act as if nothing had happened since their last interaction before he hid his status of being alive. His very own squad mates had thought he was dead, yet he was very much alive taking on missions with Nanami-senpai.
"W-Why?" Her voice cracked, it was dry and devoid of her usual tough and confident attitude, it didn't sound like she was asking a question. It sounded like she was unconsciously pleading for an answer. An answer to why he suddenly came back from the dead after days of grief, mourning, and regret. Why did she and Fushiguro have to be subject to this? To grieve and later realize that the person they had been grieving was very much alive.
"Why didn't you contact us? We mourned you, idiot!" The lady known for her tough demeanor spat, her words felt like a punch in the gut.
"Gojou-sensei said I had to stay undercover to keep the higher-ups from getting suspicious." He replied, knowing that she knew this fact already. But it seemed that the redundant explanation wouldn't defuse the situation happening between the two Jujutsu Tech students.
"We thought you died." Her voice was less hostile and sounded more like she was repeating a weaker statement.
"I-I did, but somehow I woke up." He answered her, none the wiser of how he had gone from the status of deceased to the living.
"What?" She replied dumbfounded, yet her somber features still remained.
"I honestly don't know how I woke up." From what he understood when he had awoken back into the living world it was right before his own autopsy, thankfully enough he was able to wake up before getting hacked wide open, although he knew he had a higher tolerance to pain it was already a given that having your insides examined would be leagues painful than what he had experienced prior.
"Probably has something to do with Sukuna in my body, he was the very reason I died in the first place." He admitted, knowing how persistent and annoying Sukuna had been within him, but still curious of not retaining any memories after he had bled out in front of Fushiguro.
Silence swam through the air as neither of the two sorcerers had continued the conversation.
"But knowing how my death affected you and Fushiguro, I do-" He was cut off as the lady before him interjected.
"Even if you stayed dead, we would still be fine, eventually. Tch, it's expected in this line of work dammnit. Stop feeling responsible about us. "
Her teeth were grit as she failed to give off the look of composure on her features. Death was something one was required to be familiar with when dealing curses, but no one said it would make you indifferent to it. It wasn't Fushiguro's first time to have a squadmate die, so that may have been the reason he took Itadori's death better than she did. But why, just why did her first squad mate to die have to be Itadori of all people. Someone she easily got along with, albeit in their bizarre way of connecting despite their loud and trivial arguments. They knew each other for a short time, but it felt like the effects were likely going to mark her like a brand.
Her breathing was anything but calm, her harsh inhales provided that she was on verge of tears, but her pride wouldn't allow her such a luxury.
"I'm sorry, Kugisaki." His voice attempted to sound as comforting as he could muster it to be, it was a first for him to comfort someone around the concept of death, but even rarer of the concept of comforting them over the thought of his own supposed death.
Itadori reached an arm around Kugisaki's until it reached to where he could pat her back and was careful of causing any wounds to ache, betting his well-being for a chance to at least offer some semblance of comfort to a person who had just mourned his own death and had been forced to just brush it aside following the Sister-school event. He didn't deserve to meet such amazing people and reward them with the feeling of sorrow. He wanted to change that.
She was initially surprised by the contact but didn't recoil from his touch. She leaned onto his shoulder allowing him to snake his arm until it reached her other shoulder from behind offering her a somewhat proper hug.
"Itadori" She whispered as she raised her head from leaning on his shoulder.
Their eyes met and for a moment neither of the sorcerers wanted to end it. Quiet moments like this were rare for them, more so moments like these were luxuries that rarely came. The soothing light of the moon that entered through the open windows, the refreshing breeze of air that occasionally brushed their skin, and the presence of someone they trusted.
The female sorcerer slowly yet hesitantly wrapped both of her arms around Itadori's neck.
"Kugisaki"
Sukuna's vessel was stunned by her actions and considered the possibility of all this being a dream while his real self was still snoozing on the living room couch. The woman who had encircled his neck was never hesitant to physical contact, whether it be to occasionally tease him for his high tolerance to pain or to comically punch him for dropping one of her tote bags filled with absurd amounts of clothing. But such contact of the intimate type was never one that she would display, at least from what he had experienced from her so far.
She winced at the pain beginning to ache around her shoulders, that was where that gun-slinging sister of Maki had shot her earlier, probably not a good idea to strain her body or move her arms much.
Itadori realized this and helped her lower her arms from his shoulders to help the pain subside
"You should sit down." He offered.
"You don't need to tell me that." She used her other arm to try to apply pressure around her shoulder.
The pink-haired sorcerer had slowly and carefully led her to the couch and fluffed the pillows before helping her sit on the velvet cushions.
"Ah that's a lot better." Kugisaki felt relief wash over her body as she had realized until now she had been standing ever since she left the treatment building.
Across the velvet couch from where she sat was the television that she could recall their sensei hogging all day for watching old movies, and this was one of the rare occasions where she could freely choose what she had wanted to watch.
She picked up the remote and began scrolling through the channels, yet something was missing. Where did Itadori go?
"Itadori?" She called out in the living room as she remained seated on the couch. Facing from shoulder to shoulder trying to figure out where he had gone.
She gave up on calling him, assuming he had taken to the bathroom until she had felt a familiar weight jump onto her lap. Her blanket.
"You went in my room?" She immediately complained as she saw Itadori stand by the edge of the couch with a surprised expression.
"W-well I thought it would help you with the cold." He intentionally pouted only to emphasize more on his effort to keep her warm.
"Y-You could've just given me your blanket idiot." She replied after a short pause.
"B-but" He hesitantly voiced out.
"But what?" She retorted.
"I got drool on it." He scratched the back of his head with his iconically dumb smile.
"You're hopeless." She deadpanned.
He gave off an awkward laugh and began rolling up his blanket.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"T-to my room?" He didn't want to assume that just because she had embraced him meant that she would tolerate any other gesture of between the two of them, besides it was midnight and he assumed that it would be too much if he kept pestering her at this hour.
She sighed and patted the space beside her on the couch.
He didn't need her to use her words, it was already apparent what she wanted him to do. It was strange seeing this 'soft' side of Kugisaki, sure he would occasionally see her whacky side that resonated with his own, but nonetheless seeing a different side to a person is always a new experience.
Itadori didn't press against her offer and sat next her on the couch by the edge while she sat in the middle. He made himself comfortable by reaching his arms out. One was by the couch's side and the other was just behind Kugisaki's back, but he did his best so that it wasn't touching her in any way.
Kugisaki leaned back on the sofa which led to her leaning on Itadori's surprisingly stiff figure
"Itadori" She faced him with her blanketed figure as she relaxed better, using his arm that was behind her as a long pillow for her head
"Y-yes?" He spat out in surprise.
"You still owe me you know"
"You still owe me and Fushiguro." She continued with a playful smile on her features.
"A-ah yes, I'll do my best to make up for it" Itadori recalled how badly worn Fushiguro had looked. It must've been tough facing off against that branch-eyed Special-grade cursed by surprise. He wondered how Fushiguro was back at the treatment building but realized that Fushiguro would have preferred to rest in his privacy. Gojou-sensei would probably be watching over his room by now. Itadori unconsciously thanked second-year Todou for being there to help him with his technique, he even wondered if he would still be alive if Todou had not been there to face branch-eyes.
"You'll take us out to eat as soon as Fushiguro is healed." Kugisaki voiced like an absolute and indefinite fact that would happen once their black-haired friend was no longer bed-ridden.
"Sure, how does the ramen stand ne-"
"Roppongi." She immediately cut him off, stating that she had already had plans of their destination in mind. It was a destination that their Sensei had falsely called their destination on a previous mission, which led to their first encounter with curses.
Itadori gulped heavily realizing that he would have to bid his savings farewell soon.
"Is that a deal?" Kugisaki playfully asked as she brought her blanket over Itadori as well.
"Yeah, it's a deal." He smiled as he replied, knowing fully well to cherish the moments he had with the people he had close.
The life of a Jujutsu sorcerer is filled with sorrow and contempt, should you find yourself the opportunity to enjoy life with those close to you. Take them without a second thought and brace yourselves for what the future lies ahead in a world full of curses and sorcerers.
Jujutsu Kaisen is a breathtaking work of art and I just couldn't resist making a small bit between the interactions of our favorite brain-cell-sharing-duo.
To my readers who are expecting updates on my others works not to worry, in the next few days I'll finally be updating Amorous Hellspawns.