Chapter One: Cursed With Grace
Human suffering. A pain induced collective, only brought about by humanity's own folly. In this hero run society there are many things for humans to loathe, and many things that cause them such strife. Many things that cause history to repeat itself. For without evil, there can never be good. For without destruction, there cannot be creation. For without chaos… There will never be peace.
The current super-powered world is chock full of these negative emotions. Parts of the world have begun to suffocate as many others rose above their peers and declared themselves the greatest. In turn this caused years of conflict and a larger influx of negative human emotion, spawning what could only be known as cursed spirits. Though only a select few knew of their existence, or could even perceive them.
This stems from the fact that people are not, and will never be born equal. It's the harsh reality of humanity, and many don't realize this fact as they continue the reproduction of the same hubris as their ancestors. One such boy is an exemplary example of such effects on the daily. A middle schooler by the name of Izuku Midoriya, a boy who had become so indifferent, so imperturbable, that he just couldn't feel negativity, nor positivity in his life. He was just a husk, and bore the worst curse of them all. Loneliness.
A boy who had suffered the effects of bullying and ridiculed his whole life just for not having some special power that would help him rise above everyone else. Rise above those that looked down on him. The boy had been through so much, even after trying everything he could to be optimistic, to be what a hero should be. Only to have his dream crushed time and time again.
His life had been filled with nothing but hardships, from his father being nearly non-existent, to being bullied constantly for being quirkless, to having his mother never believing in his dreams. Never encouraging him to conquer the challenges he'd be faced. He was the epitome of human suffering at this point, and it seemed that nothing would look up in his life. He would continue down a spiral of despair and his accursed living.
Hence why said boy is now sitting above his school's rooftop, his legs dangling off the side of the building as the wind blew idly, late at night with the feeling of nothing once again. He stared off at the setting sun, sighing as he felt the wind blow past him. He had considered doing it many times over, but never was he this close to the breaking point. It seemed as though he had reached his wits end, and perhaps it was time…
Time he took that blond bastard's advice.
It was the end of Izuku's class, and he knew the blonde was going to come at him right after class. He needed to get out of there before he got anymore burn scars on his body. Izuku absolutely detested the very thought- No, the very idea of pain, but alas, escaping the boy was a lot more difficult than one might think, especially when his lackeys surrounded his desk.
"We ain't done here, Deku." The blonde, named Katsuki Bakugou stated, slamming a hand down onto Izuku's desk. The greenette slowly lifted his head and gave Bakugou a blank dead stare as the blonde tried to intimidate Izuku, or at least get some sort of reaction out of him. These kinds of interactions had become the norm for the two of them since Izuku was diagnosed as quirkless. His hatred of the blonde grew with every passing day, until eventually… He felt nothing. He was eerily calm while seething with rage.
"Y'know, the best heroes out there showed promise even as students. You want to go to UA? Well too bad, I'm the only one getting accepted, so don't even try it. You're below me, and you need to accept it." Bakugou stated, placing a hand onto Izuku's shoulder as his school jacket started to get singed from Bakugou's slight use of his quirk. Izuku sighed, another burn he'd have to try and get out of his school uniform. The fifth one this week, and frankly… He was tired of it.
The greenette suddenly gripped onto Bakugou's wrist, crushing it with quite a bit of force, without even realizing it. "Can we not do this today, Kacchan? I-I've got things to do." He said as the explosive pomeranian grunted in pain.
Izuku realized what he was doing and released the boy's wrist as fear spiked throughout his body. He was truly in for it now, if he didn't run, Bakugou was going to quite literally blow up in his face.
Izuku quickly packed up his things and sprinted for the door. Izuku wasn't blessed with a quirk, but he did have high physical prowess, being scouted to be on many of the sports teams for his school, which he declined in favor of trying to be a hero. He could never see himself in any sort of sports activities, nor did he really expect himself to survive with just his strength and speed alone. There are many out there in the world who could beat him even with his strengths.
"You bastard..!" Bakugou shouted, holding onto his pain-filled wrist. "YOU WANT A QUIRK SO BAD, JUMP OFF A DAMN ROOF AND HOPE YOU GET IT IN THE NEXT LIFE, USELESS DEKU!" The blonde screamed as Izuku exited the classroom, not even bothering to pass him a glance because he was too afraid.
His physical prowess definitely came in handy for moments like this where Bakugou tried to get physical, but the backlash was always the same belittling and abuse since they were children. It always went back to him being quirkless; to him being useless. To him feeling utterly helpless as a quirkless child… He just wished that once that someone would tell him he could. That's all he needed.
Izuku would spend the rest of his night idly wandering around his school until nightfall, the time that Izuku would have to go visit his mother, but as he wandered the school the words from Bakugou himself rang throughout Izuku's mind. Perhaps jumping off of the roof would solve many of his current problems. Maybe it was foolish of him to have such thoughts, but now it seemed as though life would never get any better for a guy like him. A plain boy who can easily blend in with a crowd, someone who could and would never stand out as a hero.
There would be nothing left to worry about, or to feel. The idea… It was oddly compelling. He could escape all of his problems just at the blink of an eye. Perhaps the sweet relief of death would provide Izuku with a much brighter life...
One that wasn't his own.
And now here he was. He had wandered to the roof of the school, and sat down on the edge, just admiring the night sky presented before him. The sun had finally set, meaning it was most likely his time to try and get out of there. He wasn't stupid enough to just throw himself off of such a small building, as much as he wanted to. It's not like it'd kill him right off the bat, and boy did he hate pain, but if he could… If the opportunity arose perhaps he should take it. He would die either way.
Suddenly the sound of glass breaking and the roof beneath him shaking brought his attention to his feet. It seemed there was some kind of conflict happening nearby, perhaps a villain had entered the school? And while Izuku wasn't exactly a fighter, nor was he a hero by any means, he could hold his own in a fight. He should probably call the police, though. Getting into a fight with a villain without a quirk wasn't smart… Maybe they could contact a professional.
"I've gotta get somebody." Izuku mumbled as he dashed for the roof door. Something had told him that he needed to get out of there and contact a professional hero, maybe even just the police if anything, but he'd soon be halted entirely.
Suddenly a nearby wooden enclosure's small doors would burst open and a small creature would appear from said enclosure with what appeared to be a human finger in it's small slime-like hand. The greenette was perplexed, what kind of quirk did this thing have, and why was it so obsessed with that finger? Wait, how did it even get that finger!?
The creature, upon realizing it was spotted by Izuku, charged straight for him, fearing that it was one of those Jujutsu sorcerers. It seemed to act off of some sort of primal instinct; when it felt threatened it would attack. Simple as that.
"W-Woah! Hang on there!" Izuku panicked, instinctively socking the creature in the cheek, forcing it to drop the finger in its hands. The greenette would then pick up the finger, and upon further inspection it appeared to be some kind of mummified finger, but was red like beef jerky.
"What the hell is this thing..?" Izuku questioned, not realizing that the small creature from before was growing more and more massive, snapping the greenette back to attention only when it roared ferociously. A massive slime-like creature stood tall over the boy. "HOLY SHIT!"
The creature would charge once more at Izuku, forcing him to dodge roll out of the way, before gunning straight for the stairwell. There was no way in hell he was going to die here because of some fucked up mutant!
"OHSHITOHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT!" The boy shouted, leaping down each flight of stairs as the strange entity was hot on his tail, thrashing against walls, and roaring loud enough to shatter windows.
Suddenly the greenette would trip and fall, dropping the finger in his hand, before turning around to face the creature that now slowly stalked towards him. It's eyes shifted to the finger that now laid on the ground, and in a bold act of foolishness and fear the greenette fumbled to grab the finger, tossing it into his mouth as the creature opened its own to swallow the boy whole.
Suddenly the world turned dark. Izuku was surrounded by pure nothingness, until a voice suddenly called out to him. "Hm? It's been some time since I've had a human body."
The voice was deep, and as Izuku peered up it appeared that he was inside of a massive ribcage… Odd. The greenette would begin to rack his brain as to what was happening, was he just swallowed by that creature? Was he in hell!?
"Wait… I can't control him... Hey, kid! What's your deal?" The deep voice called out once more, urging Izuku to turn and face whoever this man was. The man was tall, and for some odd reason appeared to be a much older version of himself with some very odd tattoos, and… two sets of eyes?
"H-Huh?" Izuku questioned, shaking in fear as if he was some lost child. Scratch that, that was definitely what he was in this situation. A sassy, depressed, lost child.
"Don't 'Huh' me. I'll kill you, youngling. State your name, and explain to me how you are suppressing me?" The man demanded, slamming a hand onto his throne that lay atop a mountain of skulls. Judging from what he was saying, it was safe to assume that they were talking through Izuku's subconscious.
"I-I'm Izuku Midoriya!" The boy introduced, bowing out of the sheer authority of this strange man's presence. "A-As for suppressing, I-I don't really understand what you mean…"
'Hmm… It seems this kid is physically strong, but acts timid when frightened.' The man pondered, cupping his chin as he sighed. Izuku would watch as the man fell silent, expecting some sort of introduction in return. 'But his willpower… It's incredible. He's able to suppress me without much mental strain, if any at all.'
"U-Um, excuse me for asking, but… W-Who exactly are y-you?" Izuku questioned, taking a look at his surroundings once more. The area was empty, and yet he could hear voices, some his own, some were from this man before him, and then there was another… It was a new voice, someone he wasn't aware of.
"I'm Ryomen Sukuna. That's all you need to know." Sukuna introduced himself, before pointing a finger at the greenette and scowling. He could use this boy to get his full power back, but with his willpower stopping him he'd have to relinquish control over the body back to him. "Perhaps you could prove useful to me, though…"
"What are you talking about? I'm not just gonna let you use me, I've gotta get something out of it at least." The boy responded, scowling slightly at the man. Sukuna's face would churn in anger before with the flick of a wrist Izuku's neck was being rung out by the man.
"Your gall is annoying. Don't talk down to me as if I can't kill you, boy." Sukuna stated, before releasing the greenette from his hold. "Now, I think it's time for you to wake up."
Suddenly Izuku stirred, and a light slapping on his cheek woke him. His eyes fluttered open to see a blindfolded man with white hair overtop of him. "Oi, oi, oi- Oh, you're awake."
The man suddenly held a hand out to help the boy up, which he gratefully took before being yanked up to his feet. "Hi, hello there! I know you just woke up, but I've got a couple questions for you if you don't mind?"
"W-Wait, what happened to that creature- It tried to eat me!" The greenette exclaimed, looking side to side as if the thing would creep up on them at any second. The white haired man would hold a finger to the greenette.
"You killed it." He answered simply, a goofy smile on his face as Izuku's distorted into one of pure shock. He peered down at his hands in confusion, how could he have killed that… Monster? "Anyways, can you answer my questions now?"
"E-Eh? Sure, I guess…" The greenette replied, feeling a breeze as he realized that his shirt had been ripped off. When the hell did that happen? "Wh-What do you need to know?"
"Well firstly, have you seen a human finger? Kinda looks like beef jerky, and according to our records it was stored here." The man questioned, signalling to one of his fingers as a point of reference. Izuku's face would turn pale at the realization.
"U-Uh, I may have, kinda… Ate it?" The boy revealed, watching as the man's goofy grin remained present on his face, shocked at what the boy had just revealed to him.
"Really?"
"Really."
The man then moved closer to the boy, inspecting his face while he cupped his chin. He hummed while deep in thought, taking in the greenettes appearance as he appeared to have two new extra sets of eyes. He's really Sukuna's vessel alright, but on top of that he could suppress his power almost seamlessly.
The man chuckled, "Hey, you're interesting, kid! What's your name?" He questioned, backing off from the nervous pre-teen. The greenette would have to introduce himself for the second time today, but it seemed this man was seeing something that Izuku was not.
"Izuku Midoriya. Who are you?" The greenette returned the question, his eyes narrowing as his skepticism of this whole situation was growing. He needed answers, and this voice in his head wasn't helping.
"Ah, I'm Gojo Satoru, a Jujutsu Sorcerer." The man informed, holding out a hand for the boy to shake. The boy's firm handshake made Gojo smirk. "Say, what do you want to do with your life, kid? Surely you're not gonna just wait around until you die, right?"
"It seems like that's my only purpose at this point, but… I want to be a hero." The replied, looking down somberly as he balled his free hand into a fist. "But, I-I don't have a quirk, so I've been ridiculed my whole life."
"Well, how about I show you how to be a hero without one? I don't have a quirk either, but I can teach you something amazing!" The man stated, releasing the boy's hand. "Just know that it won't be easy."
"Y-You'd do that for me?" The boy questioned, skeptically. "What's the catch? There has to be a price or something, I-I don't have much money-"
"I don't need your money." The man stated before an eerie grin appeared on his face. "Give me your number, kid. I'll show you everything I know, you'll just owe me a favor when you make it big!"
The greenette pulled out his phone from his pocket, handing it to the man so they could swap contacts. "What makes you so sure that I'll make it big?"
Gojo smirked, "Cause I'm the strongest. Even stronger than All Might!"
The next morning would come, and Izuku rose from his bed bright and early to meet up with Gojo down at Municipal Beach Park. The place had been littered with trash heaps all across the coastline making it an odd place to "train".
Izuku was really taking a chance with this Gojo guy. At this point in his life Izuku knew that he had nothing left to lose in regards to heroics, he could only hope and pray that what this man was going to teach him would work.
The greenette would prepare himself for the day, and rush down to the Beach relatively quickly as, once again, he had great physical prowess. The greenette would look along the trash covered coastline and sigh as he saw no sign of his trainer-to-be, Gojo Satoru.
"He's not coming, y'know? You're going to just live without a purpose, so why not just let me take control?" Sukuna's voice spoke, a mouth appearing on the greenettes cheek. Izuku simply rolled his eyes and slapped a hand over the mouth until the man's muffled voice could no longer be heard.
"What a drag…" The greenette stated through a sigh, it appeared that this was all a scam. Probably just a prank to mess with some kid that was stupid enough to actually believe him.
"So what're we looking at?" A voice spoke. Turning his head, Izuku realized that it was Gojo himself, though he wasn't clad in his attire from the night before. Instead, the man was adorned in a button up shirt and black pants, way too formal to be on the beach, but what really was the kicker was his round sunglasses that revealed his almost luminescent sky blue eyes.
"You actually came. I was starting to think this was a scam." Izuku retorted, scowling as the man smiled nonchalantly and headed down the stairs onto the sand, signalling for Izuku to follow him. "So what exactly are you going to teach me?"
"I'm glad you asked!" The man exclaimed, swiveling on his heel as he turned to face the greenette. "I'm going to show you how to use cursed energy!"
"Cursedwhatnow?" The greenette mimicked, one of his brows raising in confusion. What the hell was cursed energy? Was this guy just crazy or something?
"Cursed energy!" The man stated before holding out a hand as a red blast shot out of his hand and completely obliterated one of the trash heaps beside them. Izuku's face paled. "Stuff like this. I'm gonna show you how to use stuff like this."
"Wh-WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" The greenette questioned, the shock in his tone causing Gojo to chuckle. Inexperienced people always had the same reaction when seeing Cursed techniques for the first time. "You're telling me I can do stuff like that!? What the hell is that!?"
"It's cursed energy, I just told you! Pay attention!" Gojo stated, slamming his fist onto the greenettes' head. "I'm sure you're new to it, but he isn't."
Suddenly a mouth would once again appear on the greenettes face, "Don't speak of me like I'm not here! Once I gain control of this boy's body, I'll kill you!" The man revealed, only to once again be suppressed by Izuku.
"Shut up, you're annoying." The greenette exclaimed, slapping a hand over his mouth once more. Gojo watched in amazement at just how well he was able to suppress the vengeful spirit firsthand. "Anyways, what about him? You must know something about him, right?"
"Well, about that… I am actually supposed to kill you for being Sukuna's vessel." The man revealed, causing Izuku to freeze in fear for his life. "Don't worry, I'm not going to. Not yet at least, I need people like you who can grow almost as strong, if not, as strong as me."
"Wait, I can be as strong as you if I train under you?" The boy questioned, a shimmer of hope appearing in his eyes, causing Gojo to smirk. This kid truly was hopeful, and Gojo liked to see that in a protege. He nodded with a bright smile on his face.
Sukuna would sit atop his throne, watching these events unfold and roll his eyes. This kid was seriously unaware of how he was being used? There seriously had to be something wrong with him, though the negative emotions brewing within him would prove otherwise. Perhaps there was more than he let on...
"This kid…"
Now you may be wondering, why the hell did I change chapter one?
CAUSE IT SUCKED, I DIDN'T LIKE IT! So here's a revamp of it, and we're doing a double upload cause chapter two is coming like right after this one.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this edit, and I hope you enjoy chapter two.