Chapter 27

The winter came and went.

Yuuji sighed aloud as he could feel it was time to hunt the earth curse. Yet in the time he waited, he was slowly getting better at controlling his fire abilities. "Perhaps the water element helps with this…" he thought to himself. Suiryu had been watching him train in the personal domain, he is able to call upon his fire ability and water ability with great ease and go to and from his elemental phases between the two.

"Your control is a lot better than before, nicely done," Suiryu said as the domain closed off.

Yuuji nodded and sighed. "I hate to wonder what this earth elemental is going to do to me…" he muttered. "I should prepare for the worst to say the least."

"Well, if anything you will certainly stand out!" Suiryu snickered and playfully slapped his back. "But also, we got a few months were you had nothing serious happen to you! You got your wish right?"

Well, he thinks so.

He did have this odd dream one night, his dreams as of late appeared to have Yuko Ozawa in them. But he never really understood it. He has since called her to see how things were and explained what he's been up to. "Well, perhaps I will go out with Yuko for a little while, we haven't seen each other since our little date night… before this elemental stuff happened."

"Ah, you do that, me, I am going to see if Nobara is interested in going out again…" he said with a greedy grin. "I think enough time has passed for me to take another shot…"

Yuuji smirked. "You really have it bad for her, don't you?"

His smile subsided a little, at the same time, Suiryu was trying to make sense of the sensation. "It's different for me, I never thought feeling something like this would be a good thing, yet… it is."

"I just worry if you ever get your heart broken…"

"Not going to happen, go in with no expectations!" he decreed and figured it would buffer the blow if he is rejected, Yuuji on the other hand didn't quite agree with the notion, but snickered. "Well I am going to call her now. Good luck with Nobara!"

He took out his phone. He nearly hesitated for a moment.

"Well? What are you waiting for?"

He froze as he felt a mouth form on the left side of his face. "What is with you and my date life?!" he demanded. "For that matter, why are you so interested in Yuko?"

Ryujin snickered. "At ease young fledgling, I am merely curious to the courtship of humans. Besides, I do believe she is a proper female for you…"

"Again with that, look, nothing is going to happen between us! We're friends, besides, if something were… she could be put in danger because of me."

"Ah, that's what is holding you back. Fear of the unknown?"

"Not the unknown, it's knowing what will occur." Yuuji whispered. "Ryujin, I am not fully human, if something were to happen between us… I am not saying it will! But… but something did…"

"Oh reproduction?"

He quickly covered the mouth. "SSSHHH!" he hushed. "Look, I am not saying that will happen to me in this state, but if it did and she…" he paused shaking his head of the notion. "GAH! WHY AM I EVEN CONSIDERING THAT!?"

The dragon snickered. "You are at the human age to consider it, aren't you?"

"Please, let's talk about something else…"

Ryujin snickered once more, he sounded rather amused to it all. "It's natural urges fledgling, don't worry about it, as well, you forget, you maybe a curse in this state, but divine is far closer to your human state than you believe. You even done so once yourself in summoning that power, your curse marks and energy are sealed away…"

"But then I am on fire…"

"Not always, if you focus too much of your power. If you merely switch, you will only lose your curse energy and marks. Making you rather human…"

"Wait, why are you telling me this?!"

"Incase the moment arises where you have the opportunity…"

"Forget I asked!" he protested. "Shit, since when does a dragon want his vessel to reproduce… let alone think he has a chance to?"

Yuuji took a deep breath and made the call. Yuko was quick to pick up. "Yuuji?!"

"Hey Ozawa… I was wondering if you were busy… if you are I'll call…"

"Wanna come see my new place?"

He paused. "You moved?"

"Long story, I am sure you have one to tell me as well. How are you feeling?"

He ho hummed the notion. "I'm okay right now, but for how long, I don't know…"

"Well come over!" she insisted. "Here's my new address…"

#

His eyes widened.

He found her place okay, yet never realized how massive it was! She was in the penthouse suite of the luxurious apartment building in the heart of the city, only a few minutes from her job and yet, he was amazed. "Wow… you got an awesome place now!" he said with great amazement.

She blushed and told him how it all happened. When she finished her tale, she wanted to ask if perhaps it all had to do with the night they saw the moon fairies, but he was too distracted with the layout. "Your kitchen is huge!"

"Yuuji, how have you been? I heard you went through some changes again."

He paused and shied away. "Uh… yeah…" he said and scratched his head sheepishly. "I really got to watch what I eat from now I…"

"I still don't understand how you can consume a curse…"

"Honestly, me either. But my brother, Suiryu believe it's because of how I originally woken the demon sorcerer… I ate one of his fingers… and that's what started this whole mess…"

She nodded but then appeared curious. "So, Suiryu isn't your brother. I know you Itadori, you never spoke of a sibling at school, let alone a twin brother. Not to mention, the tale that Suiryu spoke of seemed a little… farfetched…"

He smirked to her deduction.

'Oh? She's smart too!' he heard Ryujin whisper in his mind.

He shook his head clear and refocused. "It's true, he's not really my brother, but I can't help but call him one. The demon sorcerer that I was a vessel to, was defeated through purification by Ryujin. However, it can only happen if there is something worth saving in a soul to do this. He was a mere grain of sand to be honest with you and I was left in charge to tend to him. Suiryu grew the more he was with me and the more I spent time with him… As if I can't get any weirder, I have like a space inside of me, where I can retreat… like a soul realm or something… I really don't know, but that's where Suiryu stayed…"

Pausing for a moment, he peered over to see if she believed in Yuko was sitting rather attentively and hung off his every word. "So he was living inside of you? How did he get out?"

"Funny story…" he told her of the cult of Sukuna who created a new body for the sorcerer, but he and his friend stopped them in time. Ryujin took the body, out of curiosity, but then when there was that attack in Kyoto, it came in handy. "The cult knew of my weakness, I can use curse and divine energy, but if the two ever mixed in me without proper care… I would blow up and take a lot of people with me," he explained gently. "I was on the brink until I was able to put up a personal domain, I shut me off from the rest of the world until I could control myself. Yet as I did that… somehow, Suiryu made one to escape out of me. He saved me that day and millions of others…"

She was stunned to his tale. "Is Suiryu… Sukuna?" she asked.

"Not anymore, he was part of him, but now, he is more my brother than anything else. He does have SOME of his tendencies, but, his heart is in the right place… not to mention beating. Sukuna didn't need one to survive… he ripped mine out!"

Yuko was white as a ghost after hearing that. "He ripped your heart out?"

"Twice…" he muttered.

"How did you…"

"First time, Sukuna replaced it, second time, Ryujin did."

She shuttered at the thought of it all. "Yuuji…" she muttered.

"Honestly, I have had a lot of weird shit happen to me, makes me wonder how I survived it all…"

He was startled at first, as Yuko's arms wrapped around him, but he soon savored the sensation. He couldn't help but return the embrace with all four of his arms, she wasn't the least bit fearful of it. He felt a warmth that he hasn't really had before.

She began to pull away, Yuko peered into his eyes and went in for a kiss, but this time, he turned away. "Yuko… I won't ever be normal," he whispered. "There won't be a day that happens where I can stand before you as the Itadori you knew… are you okay with that?"

His words took her aback, but she kept looking into his eyes, and even peered into his demon ones. "You changed because life changed. So did I, we're not all that different Itadori," she rested her head against his shoulder. "I still see you as the sweet boy who spoke kindly of me when others didn't. Just because I was bigger…"

He held her a little closer.

"Still, Yuko. If you want a family… it won't happen with me. I can't put you at risk with what I am, what may happen down the road… right now, there are powerful people who would rather have me dead than alive. They may do underhanded tricks to get what they want, I don't want you to get caught up in any of it."

He felt her head nod against his shoulder. "I… I understand," she whispered.

"Maybe it's best we don't see each other anymore…"

She snapped out of his arms. "Wait, what?!"

"Ozawa…" slowly he looked up. "I meant what I said before, there are people out there who won't hesitate to kill me and those close to me… I don't want to endanger you."

"But Yuuji!" she protested.

"I'm sorry…"

'Fledgling, what are you doing!?' he heard Ryujin yell.

His heart was breaking; Yuuji knew this was the right thing to do. He rushed out of her apartment and didn't look back…

#

"So that's it? The courtship you had intended on doing, was all for not?"

"Shut up, please… just… don't speak…" Yuuji pleaded.

His heart was aching from it all, he really did like Ozawa, but he also knows what danger he would be putting her into. "I can't… I won't risk her life. Ryujin, there will always be someone hunting me, they will do whatever it takes to get whatever they desire from me. If they knew of her…"

"We can protect her," he insisted.

"For how long? Would you do it forever? Until all threats to me are dead or gone? Until I become strong enough so no one would dare harm those around me?" he asked bitterly. "Ryujin, we can't do that… As well, I'll just break her heart in the end wouldn't I? I won't ever be able to give her what she desires from me, hell… I have considered what it would be like to have a kid of my own, but after everything I went through… how could I put one through hell like that?"

Silence befell the two. Yuuji brought his hood up over his head, just enough to hide Ryujin's mouth as he spoke out of the right side of his face. "Fledgling, you consider too much the worst of actions and ideals of those around you, for it has been all what you have seen… I have noticed as well, despite trying to be happy, you cannot be. You refuse to allow yourself to hold such joys because of what you are."

"Can you blame me?"

"What causes this fear in you? I know of those who wish to see you destroyed, and yet, there is more to this than meets the eye, as well as what you are telling me."

He paused. "I… I really like Ozawa… hell… I have envisioned her and I having a kid a few times… but… my fear is if I do have a child, they could become a vessel like me, couldn't they?"

"One in a million…"

"But those odds increase because I am one, don't they?"

Silence came from the dragon once more.

"Ryujin, why were you trying to get me to hook up with Yuko?" he asked. "What was your intention for this?"

He heard a sigh. "Quite honestly fledgling, I thought you wanted to have some time to be happy. You don't appear to be most often, despite your best attempts. I wished to see if you would desire a relationship. As well, if you had reproduced, it would ensure a part of you lived on, does it not?"

"Why would that matter? I caused more harm…"

"SUKUNA caused the harm. You were a victim as much as anyone else," Ryujin scolded. "You are still living in your past, you are not looking towards a future for yourself, let alone one that allows you to be content."

They fell silent to each other. Yuuji paused on the sidewalk. "Should I be allowed to be happy, after what I put everyone else through?" he asked.

Ryujin giggled. "You blame yourself over everything else, when matters are beyond your control, you take the fall it appears."

"I was told to save as many people as I could before I died…"

"You are not dead yet, nor will you be for some time. I assure you!" Ryujin insisted. "Go back to her, apologize and try…"

"No, I won't risk her getting hurt because of me," Yuuji insisted. "Let's… let's just go back to the school…"