Nobara gripped the handle of her hammer, groaning as she pulled herself up to her knees.
In the distance, several charred curse corpses blazed in blueish hellfire.
"It's over." She pulled herself up, standing on shaky legs. A sharp pain shot through her body as she stepped down on her right foot. Shit. Shoko was back in Tokyo, three days away from the wasteland they now stood in —she just hoped it wasn't broken. But at least... "It's finally fucking done."
Her thoughts are interrupted by the sound of a pained groan.
Megumi?
They'd been in enough bad situations that Nobara could tell his pained groans from Yuji's.
His sound was deeper and quieter than Yuji's — like he was afraid to give away just how much pain he was in. In all the time she had known him, he had never been the type to scream or cry like her and Yuji did whenever they were hurt. Megumi was always on guard, steeling himself from the full brunt of his pain.
She sometimes wondered if maybe it was because he'd never learned how to cry.
His mother had died when he was a baby and, from what she'd heard, his father hadn't exactly been the type to hold his son in his arms as he screamed and cried ugly snotty toddler tears.
It was sad really.
Of the three of them, Megumi probably has the most to cry about but he was so adamant about bottling up all his grief and sorrow. It wasn't healthy. Megumi definitely knows that though but he doesn't seem to care.
He should though.
If he's not careful, one day the glass would finally crack from all the shit he shoved away and burst and probably take someone's breath out for good measure. Sometimes she wants to tell him but then she'd catch him looking at Yuji when he thinks she isn't paying attention and she can see that he knows it will too.
It's sad.
As sad as it is stupid, she thinks.
Why hold back how much pain you felt? Why be considerate of a world that was never considerate of you?
Fuck that.
Nobara would scream and cry and complain as loudly as she wanted. She'd let the whole world know when she wasn't happy. Why not? She'd cut through enough curses and mass murders — they fucking owned her. And she hadn't been through half of what she was sure Megumi had been through.
She shuffled clumsily over to a fallen piece of wood, long and durable enough for her to use as a walking stick as she looked for him.
Where was he?
She'd seen him fall during the battle. He'd been pushed back by the force of the last blast and both she and Yuji had watched in horror as he flew through the sky until he'd hit the rocky debris from what used to be a mountain, disappearing from sight. She'd wanted to go after him but one of the first-grade curses had been on top of her in her moment of hesitation and in the distance she'd heard the ghastly sound of Yuji's screams morphing into a howl as Sukuna ripped through his restraint to join the fray.
There had been too much going on.
She'd spared a look over her shoulder as she blocked a blade with the head of her hammer only to see a familiar flash of blue light and with that, she'd turned back to her fight.
At the time she just had to hope and trust that Megumi wasn't dumb enough to get himself killed. Now, she made her way through the wreckage searching for signs of him and Yuji.
The forest had been decimated in their fight. Evergreens and cedar trees were burning, consumed by what she assumed was Sukuna's hellfire. It burned with a blue tinge that colored everything even in the bright light of day.
Nobara sighed.
Sukuna had been angry.
Yuji had been angry too.
Angrier than she'd ever seen him as he watched the special grade curse toss Megumi away like trash and hurl her into a brick wall.
They'd all been on the precipice of death more times than they could count but this time Nobara and Megumi had come the closest to dying. Closer than Saitama Urami. Closer than when Mohito had taken her eye.
This time she could taste it.
She'd watched Megumi fly through the air, and moments later she'd felt her ribs crack as she hit the back wall and slumped to the ground.
She had tried to get up then — Yuji was still out there. Fighting. Alone. — but she couldn't move. It had hurt too. Her arm had been bent strangely and every breath had felt like a thousand knives cutting into the muscle of her chest.
And she had been so tired.
So very tired. Too tired.
In too much pain.
Closer to death than she'd ever come before and then…
And then she was standing.
Nobara felt the beginning of a sob in her healed chest but she pushed it down because she had to find them.
She had to keep going.
"Nobara!" She heard Megumi shout out and shielded her eyes from the sun as she glanced to her right. How'd he get over there? "Yuji —Fuck ! Nobara!"
There's desperation in his voice — Megumi has been many things over the years but he has never been desperate — and the sound of it urges her to move faster. As she moved the walking stick fell, slipping from her hand, and she stumbled slightly but quickly found her footing on healed legs and so she ran.
Nobara stops and the sob breaks through as she drops to her knees next to him. Megumi was surrounded by blood… and Yuji.
Oh no , She thought. Her knees sunk into the damp ground, the smell of iron stinging her eyes. Yuji's red shirt —the one they'd bought at that vintage store that Maki had suggested — is two shades darker. Why would this happen to me? Why? Wasn't it enough that we won? Why would Yuji...?
It's a selfish thought.
She knows that.
But she gave him space .
She let him bring his rickety folding chair into her life, made room, and let him sit down. At the time she didn't want to. There was only so much room … only so many people she could care about… but he'd been persistent. He was always so damn persistent that she partially let him in just to make him shut the hell up.
And he'd stayed.
All this time when people died and traitors were revealed —Yuji scrapped the legs of his chair against the ground as he scooted closer and closer to her and stayed.
So why?
Why was this happening to her? Why would the universe — or whatever god or the devil or who the fuck ever was in charge — take him from her? From them?
She stayed quiet, not trusting herself to speak while her heart was breaking.
"Nobara…" Megumi was crying. Megumi doesn't cry. He has every right to cry but he never does… "Yuji…"
There was blood at the corner of Yuji's mouth and blood on his teeth as he smiled.
"I-Is Nobara here, now?" He chuckled. It's a raspy chuckle — little more than a gasp of air — but his cheeks have dimpled and he has that goofy look in his eyes as he turns his head slightly towards her so she knows he's laughing. "M-Megumi keeps crying." Yuji coughed. "Guess he's human after all, huh?"
The first tear fell. And then the second.
And the next thing she knows Nobara is weeping into Yuji's shirt, breathing in the smell of his blood with every thick inhale of air and cursing every god whose name she can remember. She can hear Megumi crying at her side, his sobs coming out hurried and choked, and it only doubled the pain in her heart because ... those fucking chairs .
They'd pulled those fucking chair up next to hers when she wasn't watching and made them a trio.
Megumi. Nobara. Yuji.
Megumi and Nobara and Yuji.
And now… now…
"Hey, hey." Yuji brought his hand up to pat her head. She can feel the talons of his nails scratch against her scalp. Sukuna… stupid Sukuna … How could he let this happen? "Don't cry."
"Shut up." She looked up at him, glaring.
Her eyes were probably red now. They always got red when she'd cry and her nose would drip. It was disgusting. It was disgusting and Yuji was…
"Shut up." She was so angry. "You're dying ."
"Yeah." He said. "I am."
"Stop that!" She turned to Megumi. His eyes were red too and there was snot dripping into the busted collar of his shirt. "W-We need to get him to Shoko… Help me move him." She leaned back on her knees, moving to grab Yuji's arm. "Can you stand?" He couldn't. That was fine… they could still…" Megumi call one of your shinigami! The frog? Or the dog!"
A hand fell on her shoulder and suddenly a chair was pulled back into the dark.
"Nobara." She shook her head. No...This couldn't happen. "Shoko is in Tokyo…" No. She wouldn't let it happen. There had to be… "Nobara, stop." She looked at Megumi. Horror and pain stared back at her. "Just… stop. Yuji...he wants…"
"I j-just want to see you." Yuji breathed. "Both of you."
His hand moved shakily, landing on hers and Nobara felt herself deflate.
" What happened ?"
He was supposed to stay.
"Sukuna is gone." Yuji coughed again, blood splattering onto his shirt. "Or, well, I guess he's dead. He killed the special grade… and himself?" What? Sukuna… Then she noticed. Yuji's face. Sukuna's markings were still on his face and his chest but this … this was definitely Yuji. It had to be but … the intense aura of cursed energy that followed Yuji around like a dark cloud… was gone. There were still markings on his chest but like the ones on his face they seemed faint and she couldn't even feel any cursed energy flowing from Yuji at all… "I think… in the end… he was… changed?"
Nobara didn't care.
She didn't care about Sukuna.
He didn't have a seat.
She didn't care if his death was noble or righteous or good. How could any of that be important when Yuji was dying and all she wanted to do was wrap herself around him and sleep for the rest of eternity. She hated the silence and she hated quitting but... if it was him with… she would go gladly.
Megumi squeezed her shoulder.
His chair scooted closer and closer.
Fuck.
She was so tired.
"Nobara…?" Nobara stared down at Yuji, tracing every groove and line of his face with her eyes. Remembering as much of him as she could. It wouldn't be enough. She had such a shitty memory… Megumi would have to fill in the gaps. "Nobara…" His tone was as controlled as it could be when he was bleeding out on the ground, she recognized it and that look in his eyes. She hated it. It was the look that meant that he knew her. He knew that she was panicking. He knew when… when he...she was going to— "I'm glad you're okay." He sighed, "I was worried. We both were... " He chuckled again. "E-Even.. Sukuna was concerned…"
"I don't care about Sukuna… I don't care. I just…"
"I know."
Megumi exhaled.
" Oh, Yuji… "
"Hey, it's okay," he said. "I-I'm a Jujutsu Sorcerer. This is okay."
"Fuck." Megumi was shaking. "No, it's not okay, don't say that."
If Nobara had a few seats for people she cared about… Megumi had a couple of slots.
Four maximum.
His sister.
Gojo.
Nobara.
Yuji.
Four slots for the people in his life he wanted to hold onto.
This… this could really destroy him.
"You can't die… you… we… " Megumi cried. "Just don't fucking say that…"
"You're supposed to be fine ." Nobara squeezed Yuji's hand. "Don't you remember? Toge still owes you a drink? And Gojo said he'd take us to Spain… and, fuck, you promised to take me places and you can't just—"
"I don't think I have a choice."
His words struck her in the chest, almost winding her.
"You're not allowed to die." Nobara said, wishing for Toge's curse technique. "You—you and Megumi and me—"
"You'll be fine, Nobara." Her face was stained with tears now, thick strips of black coating her cheeks from her mascara, but Yuji smiled. "You too, Megumi. Both of you will be fine." Blood was pooling around him, wetting Megumi's tattered trousers and painting her bare knees red. But he was smiling. That may have been the cruelest part of all of this. "Me… maybe not so much. But you'll both be fine. I know you will."
Megumi doesn't speak. He can't.
He doesn't cry, he's not used to this. The tears and the sobs wracking through his body have stolen his voice so all he can do is hold tighter to Yuji's hand and squeeze her shoulder.
So, Nobara speaks.
"No." She wanted to scream at him. To cry and yell and curse. It's probably what he expected her to do when this day came. But she's muted now too. Not silenced in the way that Megumi is but muted in a way that she'd worried might just be permanent. "I won't be okay."
The marking on his nose faded.
"Yeah, you will be."
" No ." The tears flowed harder. "No, I won't be. Megumi… we won't be fucking okay. Are you stupid? We won't be okay because the three of us… we're—we're meant to be with each other. To be together." Yuji was dying. "I think."
He reached for her hand, slipping his fingers between hers. He felt so cold.
Yuji ran hot.
Annoyingly, sometimes uncomfortably hot in that way that makes her shove him away in the summer and hold him close in the winter.
He wasn't meant to be cold.
"I said we might be soulmates. Do you remember?" She did. Megumi nodded too. They both remembered— how could they forget? "Sukuna swapped with me that day just to laugh."
He had said it out of the blue one day while they were walking home from a mission. Blurted it out— " You know what? I think the three of us might just be soulmates. Wait? Can you have two soulmates? "— like it was nothing when it was everything. Sukuna had appeared immediately laughing and cackling as Nobara and Megumi stared on in disbelief.
By the time he'd regained control, they'd slipped their hands into his and were walking home like that the rest of the way.
"Do you remember?"
Of course.
Nobara and Megumi both went quiet.
They stared down at him, holding on tight as the rest of the tattoos on his face started fading and the eyes on his cheeks sealed back up.
"I love you, both." Yuji coughed again, blood splattering on his lips. "Do you know that?"
Megumi answered in a rough, raw voice.
"We know."
"Duh…" Nobara nodded, running her hand over Yuji's jaw and cleaning off the blood with the side of her thumb. "We know."
Yuji smiled.
"That's good."
He almost looked peaceful.
The circle on his bicep faded.
"Will you remember?"
Nobara blinked. "What?"
"Will you remember me?" His eyes watered, brimming with unshed tears for everything they were losing. The life they had only begun to live together. The future he couldn't have. "Years from now?"
"Of course."
"For as long as we live." Megumi promised. "We'll remember."
"Will you remember… that…. that I loved you?"
Megumi sobbed.
"We knew before you did." Nobara ran her thumb against his palm, heating up the skin there with her own body heat. Yuji should be warm. "We've always known."
He smiled big, looking between the two of them with glossy unfocusing eyes. "Be happy, okay?"
Impossible , Nobara wanted to say. I doubt we'll ever be happy again.
But she just nodded.
Megumi stroked his face. "Yuji—"
"Megumi," Nobara cut him off. She reached for Megumi's hand, pulling it off her shoulder and slipping her fingers between his. He was warm. Not as warm as Yuji always was but warm all the same. " Megumi ."
"D-don't ruin it, you jerk." Yuji chuckled, looking up at the sky, straight up into the sun like he couldn't even see it. "Just… be happy. For me."
They were silent.
They should have said yes. They should have reassured him that they'd be fine. That they were happy that he was finally free now, that he was meeting his end victorious in battle — a hero — rather than at the orders of the leaders of the jujutsu world.
And maybe later — years later when this didn't hurt as much — they would be.
But right now…
"Yuji…" Nobara cried.
"Yuji…" Megumi sobbed.
"Shhh." Yuji spoke into the white as the final mark disappeared from his arm, leaving behind a landscape of well earned scars and the faint impression of roses on his shoulder. "Quiet now."
His eyes closed, softly, and he exhaled, "Love you."
And he didn't breathe again.
Nobara grabbed onto Megumi, sliding her arms around him, pressed her face into his chest and they both sobbed openly and loudly. Megumi's chest rose rapidly, almost violently, as the grief worked its way through him like lightning and it was all Nobara could do to hold him together as she too fell apart.
Megumi doesn't usually cry.
He's always been determined to bottle up all of his grief and pain and despair.
But today it cracks.
She's just glad she's there to pick up the pieces.
"We love you, too.