• notes •

* Kendo is a Japanese martial arts using bamboo swords.

Macabre was more than fitting to describe this scenery. Rin stood within a ridiculously large rib cage that couldn't possibly belong to any species—except maybe a dinosaur. In front of her erected a mountain of bones that reflected red due to the layer of blood on the floor. The deathly silence in which Rin could hear her quiet breathing added to the sinister mood of this unearthly place.

"What an unusual guest."

Rin whipped around so fast that she stumbled backwards, but before gravity could force her onto her butt, someone grabbed her by her arm. The man looked exactly like Yuji, but Rin most definitely knew that he was a different person. It wasn't only the tattoos that led her to this conclusion; the cold atmosphere he exuded was not one of a fifteen-year-old.

"Thank you," Rin said as she regained her balance. But by the time she uttered her thanks, the man was no longer in front of her.

"Inexperienced Jujutsu Sorcerer... State your business."

Rin turned around, this time conscious of her balance. The man proudly sat on the throne of bones, and she suddenly felt as if she should have been kneeling out of respect to a king.

"Well, I'm not sure what I'm doing here but I'm supposed to be reviving Itadori-san. Well... Not exactly revive. More like rewind time to before Itadori-san died?" Rin rambled, "I'm not sure what my Cursed Technique is exactly. This is all so new to me."

"So you are stopping time," he muttered.

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Am I? It doesn't seem like I am."

"Not in my Innate Domain. Your incomplete Domain Expansion cannot overpower mine."

"So what exactly does that—"

Rin blinked and suddenly, his face was only a few inches away from hers. Once again, her balance failed her and she started her journey to the floor again until the man caught Rin by her waist.

"Very well." He grinned, revealing demonic canines. "You shall be mine, Rin Aiuchi."

• a few hours before •

Rin woke up to an unusual voice and instantly opened her eyes to an also unfamiliar ceiling.

"Oh! She's awake!"

She sat up hastily and warily looked at the strangers in the room. "Who are you guys?!"

"Don't be so scared, Rin," a suspicious yet handsome platinum-haired man with a blindfold said cheerily. "I'm Satoru Gojo. She's Nobara Kugisaki," he pointed to a girl with short, dyed hair. "And this handsome man here," Satoru gestured to the raven-haired student, "is Megumi Fushiguro, your savior!"

Savior? The word triggered an overflow of the horrifying memories from that day.

• a week ago •

If only I could turn back time...

"Run, Aki!"

Even upon hearing this desperate plea, Aki was too petrified to do anything but gape helplessly at the monster that towered over her. It seemed to relish her powerlessness as it produced a gurgling noise, which was supposedly its laugh.

Rin started running towards Aki when she saw the creature raise its scorpion-like tail that was responsible for the destroyed buildings around them. Adrenaline coursing through her blood, Rin could only feel heavy numbness as she ran with several broken ribs and a concussion. The monster glanced back at Rin and cackled even louder at her hopeless attempt.

She could see its tail lunge at her friend's heart in slow motion. Subconsciously, she channeled her cursed energy throughout her body and sped up, just in time to tackle Aki away from her death and receive the attack instead. The monster retracted its tail, revealing an aperture in Rin's abdomen. Having expected to see an open hole of a heart in the other smaller female, the monster appeared to look upon its miscalculation in shock.

Rin spat out the blood collecting in her mouth and glared at Aki. "I said run! I don't want to die here for you only for you to die too!"

Aki could only nod before finally turning around to run away, but it wasn't long before the monster targeted her again. Rin scrambled to get up but fell back onto the ground as she choked on blood.

At this moment, Megumi Fushiguro turned the corner and quickly scanned the vicinity; one was already at a point of no return, but there was still one he could save. He gritted his teeth in frustration and summoned his Shikigami dogs. Then his eyes widened in surprise and horror when he saw the speed at which the Cursed Spirit attacked; he was told that the Cursed Spirit was Semi-Grade Two, at most Grade Two. By the time he registered that he was facing a Grade One Cursed Spirit, its tail impaled Aki's heart and a bloodcurdling scream of pure anguish pierced Megumi's eardrums.

If only I could turn back time...

Suddenly, Megumi noticed the activation of a Domain Expansion. Who—

Before he could finish his thought, he registered the impossibility of his surroundings. While the demolished architecture remained the same, his Shikigami dogs were finishing up the last of the Cursed Spirit and the two girls, while unconscious, were miraculously alive and unharmed.

• end of flashback •

"Aki!" Rin's eyesight started to blur from tears.

Satoru interjected, "Don't worry! She's alive. And luckily with no traumatic memories!"

Rin started bawling in relief without any regard for the three strangers in the room. "W-Where is she?"

Satoru answered, "Aki should be at school right now."

"School?! Wait, am I skipping school right now? What day is it? Oh my gosh, how is she even alive? How am I alive?"

Nobara huffed, "Stop asking so many questions!"

Rin looked down in dejection. "I'm sorry," she muttered.

Megumi glared at Nobara. "Hey, she suffered a very traumatic experience. She deserves to ask questions," he argued.

Nobara sighed. "Sorry, Aiuchi-san. I've just been through a lot these days."

Rin shook her head. "No, it's fine. So can someone explain what's going on?"

Satoru explained, "Well basically, you and Aki encountered a Cursed Spirit, a dangerous entity born from negative emotions or Cursed Energy. The three of us, we're Jujutsu Sorcerers, people who exorcise Cursed Spirits. From what Megumi told me, you and Aki were dead until you activated a Domain Expansion—probably an incomplete one due to your inexperience. It's a Cursed Technique that high-level Jujutsu Sorcerers perform. We believe that you're a Jujutsu Sorcerer who can manipulate time, and well, you and Aki went back to the past when you two were unharmed.

"Aki woke up a couple hours after the whole thing without a single idea of what happened and is back to normal everyday life. As for you, you've been in a coma for around a week, probably a side effect from the activation of a Domain Expansion. Don't worry about school. We've got it all covered."

He studied Rin's face. "You don't look very surprised."

"I mean, your explanation is reasonable. It's just... This all still feels like a dream. And I've always known that this power I have isn't something the average person has."

"Hm~" What calm, natural acceptance of this supernatural reality, he observed, She may be just a little crazy too. "I see. So how well can you use your Cursed Technique?"

Rin pondered, "I use this Cursed whatever during kendo* to speed up time and boost my movement speed. Other than that, I've never really felt like I used it."

"You've never turned back time?"

"No, except for the Domain Expansion I activated. I don't even know how it happened. I just wanted to turn back time, to when Aki and I were alive, to when this Cursed Spirit never existed."

Megumi interrupted, "Gojo-sensei, as I thought, we can't take such a gamble—"

The teacher raised his hand, a cue for Megumi to stop talking. "Okay, I guess this request will sound even more absurd to you, considering your lack of experience in reviving the dead, but can you revive someone for me? He may or may not have ripped out his own heart," Satoru explained nonchalantly.

"... Excuse me?"