Chapter 29

Ozawa froze.

The moment he vanished from her sight, she felt her body tremble. "Oh… Itadori…" she whispered. The tears soon flowed, not for herself, but for him. Why do the nice ones always suffer?

She couldn't bring herself to do anything let alone text him words of encouragement. Instead, she tried to distract herself with the view from her balcony. It looked over the whole city and yet, at the same time, she wanted to enjoy it with him.

Ozawa had been thinking a lot about Itadori, his kindness, his heart and honesty. It's not known or seen now a day in guys, many only starting giving her attention when she lost the weight. But their eyes always peered at her features, not at her. Yuuji never spoke of looks, appearances; he wouldn't consider them after what had happened to him. And yet still, when they reunited at the diner, she didn't have to explain herself. He knew right away it was her without a word being uttered.

"I wish I could have had one night with him… one night to make him feel special…" she whispered.

With a defeated sigh, she went to bed. Ozawa dressed in a light nightgown as she slowly tucked herself in. Yet she continued to cry for Itadori. "Just… give me a chance…" she whispered.

#

Yuuji was halfway back to the school.

He paused as a sudden chill went through him, then he heard her voice. "I wish…" he swore he heard her voice. He heard Ozawa's voice in the wind.

"Huh?" he whispered. But shook his head of it all.

"Did you not feel that?" Ryujin asked of him. "As well, did you not sense it?"

"Sense what?" he muttered. "I just thought I heard…" he paused as his eyes began to fade in and out on him. He stumbled into the side of a wall to prevent himself from hitting the ground. "Ryujin… what's wrong with me?"

He felt his body wasn't his own anymore. "Are you… taking over?" His eyes rolled back, yet Yuuji remained standing.

"Fledgling? Fledgling? Are you okay?" Ryujin called. But he was suddenly suppressed…

#

She felt a chill come into her room.

Ozawa paused as she turned and saw a figure lingering in the distance. She jumped, nearly screamed at the sight, until she realized it was Itadori. "Yuuji?" she whispered. He didn't move from where he was, but he didn't appear to be all there himself. "Or… Ryujin?" she asked.

No answer came.

She brushed back the covers before taking a closer look. "Itadori… why did you come back?"

"You… wished it…" he whispered.

"I wished it…" then she remembered what was spoke before she went to bed. "Yuuji… would you like to stay the night?"

"Is that what you wish?"

She smiled and nodded to him. Reaching for his hands, she felt how cold they were. "You're freezing, come!" she insisted. She couldn't explain her own action either. Ozawa sat him on the corner of the bed, taking his shoes and socks off, then she helped him take off his sweater before allowing him to slip under the covers. Yuko paused oddly as the black markings on his body suddenly vanished into his skin. She went around and slipped in on the other side. She climbed under the sheets and scooted a little closer to Itadori, but her hands couldn't help but reach out and touch his face. His four eyes peered at her in a laze manner, but she could feel he was still there. "Yuuji…" she whispered.

He suddenly slid in closer to her, he reached over and went for the kiss he denied her earlier. The moment they locked Yuko felt her heart race. "Stay tonight… please, be with me tonight… just this once and we won't ever speak of it again," she pleaded him.

"As you wish…" he whispered back.

Was he bewitched? Will he do what she desires of him? "Itadori…" she said gently.

But he reached for her once more, suddenly; he moved and came over top of her. His eyes bore down as he went for another kiss, at the same time she felt his lower arms move and slowly stripped away the rest of his clothing…

#

"HUH!"

Yuuji sat up, but looking about he couldn't quite understand how he got home!

"Ugh, my head…" he muttered and peered about the room, he was about to sit up and out of bed when he froze. "Wait a minute…" Peeking under the covers his confusion only grew. "Where are my pants?"

"Knock knock!" Suiryu walked in. "Hey bro…"

"Wait! I'm naked!" he shouted.

Suiryu didn't care. "It's not like you got anything I don't… besides extra arms." He said.

Yuuji glared at him as he came into the room but closed the door behind him. "What's with you? You look like you got laid"

"Huh!?"

"Your hair is a mess, I don't see any of your clothing on the floor, you look confused…" he paused oddly. "Unless you found a damn good way to get drunk, and if you did, you tell me right?"

"HUH!?"

"Anyway, just thought I would check in on you, you weren't home when I got back. So… good date?" he asked.

Yuuji fell back in bed. "I broke up with her…"

"What…" Suiryu demanded. "Yuko is a fine woman for you, why the hell would you go and fuck it up?" he demanded.

"Because I am a curse…" he muttered, "The more I spend time with her, the more curses will gather around her, harm her and try to kill her… She wants a family, I won't ever be able to give that to her without the hidden fear that my child could become a demon vessel like me… why would I want to risk a kid getting a shitty life like that because I'm their father or something?" he said. "Also, I am only seventeen…"

"Goddamn it you really are getting down on yourself." He suddenly pulled up a chair. "Okay, let's talk about this… so. In short… you can't be happy since you don't deserve to be happy since you became a curse, is that the sum of it?"

Yuuji's head nodded.

"Then you are stupid beyond repair."

"What?"

"Yuuji, why do I have to keep reminding you about where I came from?" he demanded of him. "If anyone in this would should suffer and not be happy, it's me!" he protested. "And yet, I think I live a pretty damn good life right now! Hell, I think it's great so far! Sure there are some hiccups here and there, some people trying to kill me but hey, it's to be expected right?" he said. "I am in the same boat you are in… sort of… I'm a curse too, but still. I am happy… why the hell aren't you given the privilege of that?"

Silence came from him. He didn't know how to respond. He still feels guilty for everything that has happened. Ever since he ate Sukuna's finger, curses have gotten worst around Japan. "I just… I don't think…"

"You don't allow yourself to be greedy from time to time. For God's sakes man, live a little!" he demanded. "At this rate, if you are constantly thinking like this, then why the hell are you still even standing?"

This stunned him.

He was right too. "Why stay alive if you're dead inside?" Suiryu asked once more. "You know, I am starting to think all your child like wonderment went into me by accident…"

Yuuji sat there for a moment, thinking over what was said. "It's been really hard Suiryu…" he whispered. "I mean…"

"What you are? How can you live like this? What do you do now? Yuuji, bro… we went through that list already God knows how many times now, you keep going back to the damn list."

He nodded. "I just want some sort of answer for myself, why I am here… why I possess a dragon… why can't it leave me despite it trying to!" he said offhandedly. "It… none of it makes sense anymore!"

"Isn't that what life is suppose to be about? Figuring things out that may not make sense now, but later? You're seventeen, we're seventeen… well me in body but that's besides the point here… you have barely lived, and you barely are living. Just saying…"

He smirked. "The day you have the part of a demonic sorcerer telling you you're not living life is a real wake up call huh?"

"Damn straight, get some pants on and come out for breakfast. Besides, we also got to plan your next element phase don't we?"

"Shit, I nearly forgot about that…"

"No you didn't, you just didn't want to address it," Suiryu said as he walked out of the room.

He shook his head to it all. Yuuji smirked and sighed. "This is what I get for having a brother living close to home…"