Chapter 33

A few days would pass since.

Yuuji has been acting a little odd as of late, and Fushiguro knew it too. He's been hiding himself in his room, refusing to come out of it. Yua has tried countless time to get Yuuji out or at least permission to enter his home, but he doesn't want to leave. "Come on Itadori, you need to open up. Let me check on you!" she demanded.

"UMPH!" came from behind the door.

"Something wrong?" he asked as he came up from behind.

Yua sighed aloud. "I have a feeling he got his second feeding, but he is too embarrassed to show himself. After all, I noticed his stomach doesn't jostle around as much as usual."

"He digested all that? So soon?"

She nodded to him. "Like it or not, it was about due, Yuuji took in every drop of dragon milk and his body just finished processing it. That usually triggers the second feeding the moment the first one is completely absorbed into him. Just a few days ago, I noticed that he wasn't… jiggly…" she said as gently as she could. "He just came back with Choso a few days ago being in the land of Divine, no doubt he got fed there."

But he understood. When Itadori walked, many could hear his stomach sloshing about, full of dragon milk, yet over the past few weeks, it was heard less and less. He sighed aloud and knocked on the door. "Itadori, open up, it's me!" he called.

There was silence, yet, the door opened partly. He saw Yuuji's eyes peering out through the crack of the door but he didn't allow any more of himself to be seen. "Itadori, enough of this. Yua is worried about you, won't you let her in to see if you're okay?" he demanded.

A low growl came out of him, he stepped back and away from the door but it opened more. Yua gently pushed it farther as she walked in. Megumi followed suit until the door slammed shut.

Deep, growls were heard, and yet Yua was stunned. "You're not speaking in just chirps anymore! This is good! You're maturing, Itadori!" she said with great pride. "But, you don't sound happy. Yuuji…"

The light suddenly came on.

Megumi couldn't move, Yua paused but appeared rather sympathetic to him.

Yuuji got bigger.

He barely fit in his nest bed that was already doubled for his comfort. His face filled out as his cheeks were plump and round as was his body, he was twice the size of Sho now! "Itadori…" Megumi whispered.

He then began to speak once more, harsh growls and low hisses escape from his mouth. If anything he sounded threatening, but Yua kept calm as she approached him. "Yuuji…" she said gently. "This has been very hard on you and I'm sorry, but this is all part of becoming a baby dragon." She said as gently as she could. "When they grow bigger, it means they are going to be powerful, remember? You are going to be very strong and formidable. Dare I say if Sukuna showed his ugly ass mug around here. He would beg you for mercy before throwing a single punch!"

He didn't believe it of course.

His wings began to come up and over his head in embarrassment. Megumi smirked a little, it was still Itadori after all. "Itadori," he said in a firm voice. "You've been through worst."

Suddenly, the wings lowered, Yuuji stared at him oddly, almost stunned. "He's not wrong, Yuuji." Yua said gently. "Also remember, this isn't forever, this is temporary."

He took a deep breath and nodded to them both. Then, his sights turned to his bed that was now too small for his body frame. "How about you go sun yourself okay? Get all warmed up and relaxed, maybe Megumi will get you some rabbits to hold huh?" she asked and smiled to him.

"Umph…" came out of him.

"Come on Itadori, let's go to the field and I'll get you some rabbits." Megumi said and smirked a little. "That would cheer you up right?"

His face lit up a little more as he gave a nod. But he paused as he stared out the window. His wings came up to his shoulders this time and braced close to his body. "Itadori?"

"He's insecure." Yua explained. "No one has seen Yuuji like this before. But remember, this is temporary, this isn't how you will remain okay?"

He then spoke once more in the strange growls and noises. Yua however nodded to him. "If he says anything… even makes a single joke at you… tell me at once!" she ordered him. "Gojo maybe your teacher, but he suppose to be a mature one… if he says anything that makes you uncomfortable Yuuji, rest assured… I'll take care of it."

Megumi froze, as did Yuuji to her words. Her eyes became down right evil in a sense! They know not to piss her off!

"Let's go Itadori, let's get you some sun as they fix your bed." As Megumi went to the door, he walked out and turned to see Yuuji wasn't following him. "Itadori?"

"Give him a moment, Megumi, he can't fit through the door."

#

They came to the field once more. His usual resting spot appeared to have altered as well, Itadori was stunned to it too. No one has been out here in a while, not even Suiryu, yet it appears his spot was more comfortable than before, it was even adjusted to fit him in his current state.

Someone had built him a patted gazebo.

Yuuji eased himself down, before he settled in.

Megumi stepped up and looked to him. "You want rabbits?" he asked.

He shied away but nodded his head. Megumi smirked as he summoned the rabbits for his friend.

The field filled with the furry creatures.

Once they were summoned though, it was strange, just like before they all came to an odd pause before their sights sent on Itadori. Then, they began to clamor over him! Low, resonating purrs came out of Yuuji, it made him feel a little better.

Megumi took a seat next to him, picking up a rabbit or two before staring into the open field. "So much has happened in such little time huh?" he said offhandedly.

Yuuji nodded to him.

"I wonder though… what else is going to change for us? We're not out of the woods yet to say the least. We all now have bounties on our heads for leaving the jujutsu society… guess we're on the outside looking in on that."

Itadori was surprised, it looks like he didn't know about the bounties being placed on everyone. He shied away as a low growl was heard. "Something tells me, you were trying to say sorry. Itadori, this wasn't your fault."

He shook his head to it, moving some of the bunnies he reached out of the gazebo and began to write in the dirt. Megumi peered over and saw. 'If it wasn't for me… everyone would still be safe wouldn't they?'

He smirked for a moment. "Since when have we ever been safe?" he asked. "Yuuji, with the shit we have gone though, we were never safe. The elders made sure of that, throwing us into battle after battle, expecting the strong to survive and the weak … well… they died. They don't care for us, they never did. The Shibuya incident still bothers me, why send all of us and yet none of them showed up to the fight?" he asked.

Itadori nodded in agreement with that. "They always assumed sensei would take care of it. The moment they sent him in, they believed the matter is resolved and there is no issue. When he got sealed… they instantly blamed him for what happened, same with all of us. We were suppose to stop a threat and didn't. It was our doing… and we had to pay the price for their failure?"

There was no emotion in his face. Yuuji just laid there, sighing aloud to it all, and how it went down. Nothing could change the past, but their future could be different. "Itadori… I don't mind being here. In fact… I prefer here than the school. We're still learning, we have teachers who will give us better information and training. Not to mention, they are not going to throw us into a situation with little or no information. So, I think this is a win for everyone. Even you."

He looked back to see if Itadori wrote anything in the dirt, but he was merely scribbling with his finger. But he cleared the marked earth before writing something.

'It's true, and yet… I still feel terrible for those we have lost. Yaga, Mia…' then paused as he stopped writing, tears flowed from his eyes as he cleared them away. 'I feel like… if I was to become this strong, why didn't it happen sooner? I could have saved them!'

"No, you couldn't." Megumi said. "Itadori, we cannot save everyone. Even as we speak now, there is someone out there who has been killed by a curse or a sorcerer… and we didn't stop it. We are not gods, we are not human, we're something else. We can't save everyone, but when we can. We do everything possible to do so. Don't we?" he asked.

A simple nod came from him, just as the bunnies vanished. "Want me to summon more?"

He shook his head to the suggestion. Megumi smirked as he laid back a little more. "I'm going to get stronger. I don't care if you are going to be a dragon. I'll catch up to you eventually…" he vowed.

Yuuji smiled and nodded to him.

For the rest of the morning, Megumi stayed with Itadori. But he wondered where Suiryu had gone to…