Ann:

- Makima (most likely) won't appear in person again, but maybe I'll take someone else from Public Safety.

- I get notifs again. Didn't know they added an option to disable them lol.

- Spoilers about Pochita. Spoilers about Junpei (JJK Pre-Shibuya).

- This chapter, Sukuna. Mind a bit of animal cruelty in the later part.

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Late in the night, Denji wouldn't be able to tell whether today had been a heavenly or nightmarish day. It certainly had had its ups and downs, and Denji had been wide awake for good parts of it. Even though he had messed up in front of the good-looking woman from Public Safety, today he'd won with Nobara; and even though letting the Chainsaw man out earlier had made Denji feel like shit because of blood loss, literal heaven had awaited him at his return to the dorms.

Seemed pretty well-balanced to him. Better than other days in his life.

(And that was only the things Denji knew of.

Had he known that today's mission's success had ensured his life, or rather suspended his death sentence, Denji might've said that today was a great day. With today, he had cheated himself out of dying for the second time, after all.

And if he knew what had transpired after he had passed out during fighting training against Itadori in the evening, he might've re-evaluated that judgement again.)

But all in due time.

During their ride back to Jujutsu High's dorms, Denji felt like shit. Not just because of how he kept messing up his first impression on hot women and destroying his life, but because every time he let out the Chainsaw man, he lost a lot of blood and felt weak and dazed afterwards.

At least neither Inumaki nor Gojo had bothered Denji on their way back. Where the sensei had sent Panda and Maki, Denji didn't know. He couldn't find it in himself to really care right now either.

All negativity aside because Denji had to focus on the positive aspects, at least he now had the goods, only for himself. Denji had them safely tucked away in his socks and felt the paper pages poke against his calves in an awkward angle, but it was the only place he could keep them on himself and still safe and clean. That or in his underwear; but in a split moment, Denji had decided it would've been too awkward to walk with magazines in his underwear. And he really didn't want Toge to hold onto them any longer than necessary. These dirty magazines were Denji's and his alone.

Back at the dorms, Denji was met with another pleasant surprise born out of misery. Because his room had been demolished by Panda earlier and thus under construction until the evening, Denji couldn't go back there properly. He only entered to stash away his treasure, get a change clothes - and then Denji was offered heaven.

"Wash up and then join the others, Denji" Gojo had said as good-bye to Denji, rationally calm for a change. "Inumaki, go check up with Shoko. I don't want to take any risks at the moment."

"Salmon."

So, because Denji's room was under construction, Denji had to use the public facilities. It turned out that Tokyo Jujutsu High was more prestigious than Denji had expected and had its own hot spring. Which Denji had all to himself right now.

"Oooh fuck yes!" Denji dropped his dirty clothes to the floor and did a cannonball, nearly passing out because of his impact on the water. Dazed, Denji pulled through the water to the pool's edge where he could see stone seats underwater and stretched out on them, trying to steady his breathing.

Then he heard them.

The male and female dorms of Jujutsu High were located with properly enough distance from each other, but from the sounds of it, somewhere close-by they shared parts of the hot spring. Whoever was bathing in some distance was close enough that Denji could hear them. He couldn't see the girls (wouldn't have been able to if he tried), or take any guess who they were, but hearing their chattering, squealing and splashes of water in the silence of the male hot springs was … nice.

Better yet: as Denji didn't recognize any of the voices or names dropped, they filled him with hope for the future. Not all was lost for his relationship status if Jujutsu High was bigger than he had originally thought. Getting a girlfriend was not impossible after all.

If Denji didn't feel so dizzy, he would've enjoyed himself more. Instead, he contented himself with throwing glances to where the female voices were coming from and washed off the grime and blood of himself.

The range of soaps was sooo fucking cool. Denji couldn't tell what half of them smelled like, but he tried them all of them for good measure. When he was finished washing up, his hair was so silky and smooth like female skin (at least as smooth as it looked; Denji wouldn't know its actual feel because he hadn't had the opportunity to test his assumptions - yet). Also, Denji smelled good like never before in his life.

This alone restored more than two third of his confidence. Maybe now Denji could make a good first impression on his upper classmates (or whoever the women bathing in their own hot springs were to him in terms of hierarchy).

Denji got out of the water, still wobbly on his feet, and walked a wide circle around the mess he'd left around this side of the onsen. He got dressed, blow-dried his hair, stared at the range of lotions offered at the exit. He had no idea what there were so many lotions for. Couldn't you just use one for your entire body? What's the big idea?

When Denji walked out like a new man from the hot springs, he realized that Gojo had never told him where to join the others at. Plus, Jujutsu High was a big unexplored place Denji was unfamiliar with, and he didn't have anyone to ask for help. Should he just walk around aimlessly? Denji didn't feel like doing that, not with how weak he felt.

Pochita might've known where to go. Pochita's nose was good, and he had sniffed out some valuable stuff here and there. Denji's nose was shit, he couldn't smell anything. So no following rule one, the just trust in himself as long as he had a head on his shoulders.

Except …

A brilliant idea came to Denji's mind and made him pause. He knew where he could find people to ask. And he didn't even need to go far to meet them. Maybe - just maybe - he could also get some bonus information as well!

Denji silently congratulated himself for such an idea.

His way led him out of the men's dorms, along its long window front, in direction of what Denji hoped were the women's dorms. One day he'd navigate these grounds easily, he was sure of it. Knowing your turf was important for survival; that was as important as knowing your enemy. Missing out on either of both equalled death.

And truly, far ahead, hidden away in another part of the forest, Denji saw another dorm building that looked exactly like the one he'd left behind. Bingo.

"I wonder if Todou found the new one yet," a raspy voice close-by carried over to Denji. The one who was speaking didn't care about volume, and in the silence of the forest she was clearly audible. "Hey, you. What's your type of woman? Remember how Todou took Fushiguro apart for his answer? Hah, maybe I should drop you two and go seek them out to watch. I wanna see the beating."

"I thought you liked us, Mai," a higher-pitched voice piped up, and Denji spotted two figures moving to the forest. Slowly approaching, Denji thought the girl which this voice belonged to sounded like a canary bird. "You enjoyed yourself in the water with us just now."

"Aaaah dear sweet Kasumi," the first voice spoke again, and to his shock, Denji could clearly make out the sound of a revolver being cocked. He ducked against the nearest tree and pressed against the bark. "I only enjoy this place because I get to take away their resources for free."

"Talk about the devil," a third voice suddenly came from above Denji and made him jump. He stumbled backwards as his head shot up - and then he saw the blonde girl in the tree, staring down at him haughtily.

No, not in the tree. She was sitting on a broom, hidden away in the branches. A witch?

"I take it Todou hasn't found you yet." Now the other two women stepped out from behind the tree in which the blonde girl with her stiff pigtails pointing upwards sat. They didn't look surprised at Denji being here.

Denji quickly surveyed the situation.

The canary girl wore a suit (which reminded Denji of Public Safety) and had a katana strapped to her waist, her hand on its hilt, ready to draw the blade; the other, a loaded revolver in her hands, looked like …

"Maki!?" Denji pointed a finger even though he knew that he wasn't supposed to be pointing fingers at people with guns. But the resemblance was uncanny, and considering how strange this place was, maybe people knew how to make doppelgangers or some shit.

"You know her?" Mai waved her revolver around lazily and with the tip of her tongue sticking out between her lips loosely targeted the ground around Denji's feet, making him step on one place with growing worry. Sometimes, bored people were the more dangerous than aggressive ones because they came up with dangerous hobbies to overcome their boredom.

Denji didn't like playing with fire like this.

"Where is she?" Mai asked, pretending like she didn't notice Denji's distress or the blue-haired girls disapproving frown.

"I don't know!" Denji answered, and quickly explained in case that wasn't enough answer to satisfy Mai: "Gojo sent her away somewhere after the mission. My mission. At the hospital."

A ripple of change went through the atmosphere, almost tangible with bare hands. Before Mai could give an answer, the blue-haired girl took a step forward towards Denji, eyes shining in contest with the sun.

"Gojo sensei?!" she asked with trembling hands pressed to her chest, probably surprising everybody present by the looks of it. "Is Gojo sensei back in Jujutsu High? Do you think I can see him?"

"Eeeh …" Denji stared, the cogs in his head turning, but the blonde witch reacted first. She jumped off the tree and elegantly sank down to the ground on her broom, standing as the smallest among them now. She had to put her head back to talk up to them.

"Kasumi, tone down the fangirl?" she asked and made a vague gesture at Denji, who grimaced at her back. "You don't even know who that is."

"Gojo is here!" Denji declared loudly, partially to spite the witch. Gojo and he had returned to the school together, so blindfold man was here. Otherwise, Denji would've have claimed it with this much confidence. He was well aware of the revolver still pointed at his feet. "And my name is Denji. I'm a first-year here."

"Hm." Finally Mai put away her revolver, even if it was just her lifting its course over her shoulder. She stepped closer to Denji and leaned forward, staring into his face with narrowed eyes. The arch of her lips was appealing. And her chest …

"You have remarkable cursed energy. A bit weak. But remarkable," Mai said.

Ghostly fingers ran along Denji's skin, up his arms and into his freshly washed hair. Remarkable, she said. She had called him remarkable.

"I feel weak," Denji said. "I need food. Do you know where the cafeteria is? Can you show me?"

Mai straightened up, and Denji now noticed that she was taller than him. Not by much. But taller.

"Yeah. That's where we were headed too. Let's show him the way, shall we, girls?"

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[In the cafeteria, Denji had the best toast ever: strawberry jam, plum jam, marmelade, butter, honey, cinnamon … but that seems like a story best told a different time.]

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Nothing good came for free. Denji knew that. He also knew that if everything's shit, then anything happening was going to be good (as long as it was better than the shit, at least). They said, at the bottom the only way was up.

Like anything around here, it started with Satoru Gojo. He walked into the cafeteria like he belonged here, plopped down next to Nobara and slung an arm around the back of her chair, leaning back so far that his head almost folded over the back of his own chair. If not for Nobara's deadly gaze at Gojo paired with Fushiguro and Itadori's resigned ones, Denji might've started a fight for her against the guy.

"Is that allowed?" Denji asked angrily instead.

"Hm?" Gojo lifted his head back into a healthy position. "Oh, even if Kugisaki wanted to touch me, there's Infinity between us, don't worry. Wanna test it? Here." He removed his arm from behind Nobara and extended it over the tabletop to Denji, waving it from side to side and wiggling his fingers. "Try touching me."

"Urgh, no. I'm not holding hands with a guy." Denji made a face, and Gojo laughed.

"Even if you wanted to, there's Infinity between us. You couldn't," he repeated, and snapped his fingers, now pointing at Denji as if he had just had an idea (most people feared Gojo having ideas).

"By the way, Denji! Thanks to your reliable upperclassmen, or should I say, upperclasswoman and Panda?, we now know one thing! Public Safety was interested in soul-altering abilities in cursed spirits, that's why they were at the hospital. We don't know if they classify you as cursed spirit, but Nanamin suggested that your very own cursed energy might be related to souls in some way."

So what?, Denji wanted to ask but out came: "Huh?"

"Like Mahito?" Yuuji at Denji's side asked darkly, and Denji froze at the wave of bloodlust he felt sweep over him. He turned his head, wide-eyed, and mouthed, "What the fuck."

"Like Mahito," Gojo nodded. "But also like your Black Flash or talented Kugisaki's cursed technique. Sooo I think that for the celebration of today's mission's success, we should," he clapped into his hands, "have some one-to-one combat training!"

And that's how Denji ended up having to fight Itadori late in the evening.

Somewhere on the side of the training field he could hear Miwa chatting up Gojo for an autograph (which he signed happily), and Fushiguro and Nobara were more talking than watching Denji and Yuuji's fight. With Maki and Panda back on Jujutsu High grounds, Denji had learned that the three girls from the hot springs were from Kyoto Jujutsu High, the partner school. Which was why they weren't on the grounds anymore, having gone back to their own school.

Oh, and Nishimiya and Nobara didn't like each other. Another reason to not just not care about Nishimiya but actually dislike her, in Denji's book.

"Denji, focus on the fight, will ya?" Itadori moaned, fists lifted in front of his face, doing little jumps on the spot.

"You're always on the defensive. What's the fun?" Still, Denji grabbed Itadori by the shoulders and tried driving his knee into Itadori's soft parts, but Itadori saw it coming. With inhuman strength, he diverted the attack easily and sighed.

"That's the fourth time you tried to hit my nuts," he observed drily. "It's not going to work, man."

"It's the only right way. I always kick dick."

"Switch it up?"

"No. Nuts or nothing."

Itadori mumbled something under his breath, and Denji believed to hear "stubborn like Todou," but had no idea who that was.

"You need to focus your cursed energy," Itadori said and gave up his fighting stance. "Remember the cursed corpse I told you about, the principal's one? You don't wanna go through that training. Gojo sensei still might put you through anyway. Just try properly for now, okay?"

What even was cursed energy? Denji thought these people used the term quite loosely but never explained what it actually was. How was he supposed to use something like that?

Denji thought back to the wave of bloodlust he'd felt at the table next to Itadori earlier. That? Was that cursed energy? It hadn't felt like something Denji had known before, so that could very well be this cursed energy.

So … what then? Denji couldn't think of anyone he'd want to have dead right now.

"Try … try thinking about something negative in your life." Itadori tapped his temple. "It can be anything. Then hit me with that in mind."

Something negative? Denji certainly had enough negative emotions in his life. The unpaid debt, being single, messing up, losing Pochita … his hand wandered to his chest, where he could feel the cord through his shirt.

How funny would it be if Gojo had asked for this hand-to-hand combat because he knew about the shit moments in Denji's life? (Denji couldn't know that he was wrong. In truth, Gojo could feel Denji's special cursed energy and needed to run some tests about soul-altering effects. Just in case. But let's humour Denji for a second.)

"'Kay." Denji exhaled and slowly clenched his hands into fists. He wished he could have Pochita back, because Pochita was the best pet, friend and companion Denji knew. Pochita would've understood. Pochita would've listened. Pochita would've been glad for Denji's win (if this was a win).

Denji fell into a crouch and punched out at Itadori's waist level, aiming for the usual spot. Again, Itadori easily defended his manhood, even though Denji's knuckles did touch something wet and soft upon contact. But when their hands clashed, Denji felt something else happen in that moment, an immense pull at his heart that had the same effect as a hard slap against the side of his head.

He lost his consciousness and fell like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

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Oppressive darkness. An enormous pile of skeletons only visible because of how white the bones were. The dripping of water against a still lake. Or no, not water.

Blood.

The surroundings were hot and cold at the same time, hostile and barren. Except for the bones, a body lying in the sea, and a small creature seated next to it with its paws against the body's chest, only the consciousness' owner existed within this realm.

The owner wasn't pleased about the interruption. Not that Sukuna was doing anything, sitting away the time inside of Itadori's existence until he felt it was the right time to take over his body. But nobody - and he stressed, nobody - was allowed to touch his soul.

Sukuna wouldn't have looked twice and simply added the motionless body robbed of living flesh to his pile of skeletons, but before he could swing his lifted fingers and set his plan into action, he felt a wave of something terrifying wash over him.

He paused.

Over more than 1000 years, Ryomen Sukuna hadn't known the word "terrifying" in his vocabulary other than being used to describe him (though he had to say, mortals knew more flattering adjectives than "terrifying"). But with this presence washing over him, a dead part of Sukuna came alive like a zombie and reminded him of the time before he rose to the top.

He disliked that.

"I remember you," Sukuna said and rose from his throne of skulls. One step, and he stood at the body and looked down at the creatures at his feet. One frail boy, one putrid dog. From up close, Sukuna almost couldn't feel the danger coming from the dog anymore.

Almost. "You were the ultimate devil hunter when I was a human sorcerer. Now that I'm the King of Curses, you are nothing."

He kicked out and sent the chainsaw devil flying through the darkness. The chainsaw devil yelped, landed somewhere in the darkness far away, came running back with a growl in its throat. Because its legs were so short, it could only jump through the water or sink in.

And Sukuna had thought this was terrifying?

"You were the Hero of Hell. But look at you. What are you now?" He actually felt disappointed. Sukuna hated feeling disappointed. "Pathetic."

Sukuna doubled down and picked up the blond boy by the neck, lifting him at eye-level to look at the unconscious face. He felt the chainsaw devil hit his legs with an angry bark, reached down with his other hand and picked it up by its scruff, ignoring how its chainsaw came to life.

"Leave him alone!" it yelled, but the former Hero of Hell was in no condition to pick a fight with the King of Curses. Interesting though that it seemed to care for this human. Why though? Sharing a body with a human was the most boring shit in the world. Sukuna would know.

"Why did you make a pact with this loser and restore his heart when you got nothing back of it?" Sukuna asked and shook the boy. At least he, Sukuna, had made a good deal with his vessel in exchange for restoring the heart.

No way the chainsaw devil was … emotional? Thought kindly about this boy? Oh, but emotional characters were so much fun to break …

Sukuna was bored, so terribly bored. Would killing the boy in some cruel way to torture the chainsaw devil be as much fun as it had been with Itadori and that one boy transformed by Mahito?

Hm … probably not. The chainsaw devil was so weak, Sukuna would get no satisfaction of it at all. And well, Sukuna had had some respect for the Hero of Hell and his past deeds.

Sukuna's respect counted for something.

"I want a contract with you," Sukuna said and lifted the boy up some more, showing off his sharp nails in the darkness. The chainsaw devil froze. "I spare his life. You get your power back and then I destroy you properly. I want a good fight. If not, I will use Itadori's body to hunt this guy wherever he is. And I will make sure that his death is slow and painful when I do. Maybe I'll make it worse than death."

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(…)

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Denji woke up with a splitting headache, disoriented. His chest hurt because his heart beat too fast. His neck felt like somebody had suffocated him.

He needed a handful of seconds before he could place the faces hovering above his head. A pretty girl, a sea urchin, a blindfold.

Right, Jujutsu High. Fighting training.

"What happened?" Denji croaked. If not for the headache, he might've enjoyed the worry for him. But the pain overrode the joy, unfortunately.

"No more training with Itadori, Denji," Gojo said in answer way too chipper, slapped his palms against his thighs and straightened up. The sound reverberated through Denji's brain and made his ears ring. This is why he initially didn't understand what Gojo added.

"You think that's a good idea?" Nobara asked and looked up at Gojo sharply, prompting Denji to wonder what he'd missed. But with that movement Denji could piece together that she had her cool hands pressed against his temples as if trying to keep his head from splitting apart. Oh, was the frown between her brows worry for him?

"What is?" Denji asked.

"You will be training with Kugisaki and Zenin from now own," Gojo decreed, leaving out all the reasons why. He didn't know what had happened in Itadori's consciousness, but he sure as hell wouldn't want to repeat that encounter. "I don't take no for an answer."

Denji might not know what exactly had happened, with his mind still being slow to catch on and all. But hearing this, he couldn't believe his luck.