3rd POV

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The encounter with the Yoshinos had, in no way, been planned. No, really, she wasn't even thinking about them at all. It happened roughly a week after her stunt.

Colith had been aimlessly strolling through the city when she ran into a woman in the street. Naturally, Colith helped her to her feet and was ready to walk away until the woman told her to wait. On the spot, Colith had been willing to flee, thinking that she had been found by a sorcerer and was ready to book it until she realized that it was just a harmless civilian by the lack of cursed energy, and stopped herself from knocking the poor woman out. As their eyes met, something unexpected happened.

"Do I know you...?" the woman inquired while squinting.

Obviously, that was impossible, knowing that she recently arrived in this world and therefore, didn't meet anyone of importance, otherwise she'd remember. Colith naturally denied the woman's claims by shaking her head but she persisted. Not knowing what to do and thoroughly lost, she asked the woman's name and upon hearing it, she was stunned.

Yoshino Nagi.

The chances of her running into an important character while strolling around sure were low, but never zero. On that note, she obviously knew this character but what she couldn't fathom was the fact that the woman was convinced to have met her before, which, again, impossible.

Still, she asked her where they 'met' and was surprised to see the woman struggling to remember. That was...weird as hell, though Colith came to know that Nagi was a stubborn woman who was set on befriending her which honestly came outta nowhere.

Before she could tell her that she was mistaken and go on her merry way, Colith got an idea. This may prove useful. Ignoring the oddness of the situation, befriending Nagi this early before the plot might come in handy. Plus that meant changing her son's fate. The poor thing must've been suffering. Fortunately, saving him from his fate wouldn't be difficult, unless this world was set into stone like AOT, otherwise, she'd have to thoroughly involve herself in their lives in hope of avoiding their death. It wasn't as though the Yoshinos had a special place in her heart, far from it. Yet, their tragic destiny was something, she's sure, that could've been easily avoided.

It was with that motivation that she finally introduced herself which seemed to be enough for Nagi to practically drag Colith to her house where both women became acquaintances. Although the former was a bit flabbergasted with how quickly Nagi seemed to show trust. And it was thus, on the same evening that she finally met none other than Junpei.

And boy, the kid looked miserable.

Befriending the boy was easier said than done considering the fact that he kept avoiding eye contact with her since she was an adult. As such, it was quite difficult to start a conversation with the boy without him looking like he'd dip on the first occasion. Although after a few days of visiting, Junpei slowly began to warm up to her thanks to her antics and their common interests in pop culture Nagi couldn't quite comprehend.

One evening, she noticed him staring at something in the distance. She followed the way he was looking and spotted what so happened to be a grade 4 curse. One as dangerous as a mere fly.

When Junpei realized that she could see it too, he immediately went on a tangent about how he was able to see them ever since he was a little kid. And when he told his mom about it, she assumed it to simply be imaginary friends, which caused him to never bring it up even though he kept seeing those wonky creatures from time to time. Colith casually explained that they were curses, overall revealing what he was, a curse user if he was able to see them. Regardless, she offered to train him. At first, he was unsure, not knowing where that came from but agreed after telling him more about cursed energy, which allowed him to summon [Moon Dregs] the next week.

It was almost astounding the way the boy easily took everything in stride, but hey, must have something to do with his constant exposure to random cursed spirits.

Regardless, seeing Junpei gradually regain confidence in himself made a feeling of pride swell in her. The boy was too precious and sweet for her to not involve herself in his life.

Thankfully, he'll follow her instructions regarding a certain obnoxious sewer rat.

The bell announcing the end of the day rang, causing the students to pack their bags, ready to go while exchanging farewells with their teachers.

"Goodbye Tobe-sensei!"

"Take care sensei!"

"See you around, kiddos." Colith smiled as she watched her students exit the art class, leaving her alone to sort through her belongings.

Afterward, she leaned back in her seat with a sigh, glancing at the window, watching rowdy students walk away while chatting animatedly toward the gates. A vision she was starting to get used to after being here for the past two months.

Being a teacher sure was tiring, but it was strangely nice and peaceful. In addition, being able to share your passion with others and interacting with motivated people was something she hadn't been able to experience before, considering the fact that her kids weren't that interested in art. Plus it wasn't as though she had the time for that while running around like a mad woman, preventing people's inevitable demises.

A silent yawn left her lips asshe stretched before closing her eyes. The silence of the empty classroom followed by the outside noises brought her some sort of tranquility.

Why had she chosen Sendai prefecture over Tokyo? First, because she wasn't stupid. She knew the whole jujutsu world was after her ass after the stunt she pulled six months ago and she was too lazy to deal with it. Second, for plot convenience. Old man Itadori wasn't too happy about a stranger taking care of his grandson and it took several hours to convince him. He was really stubborn, though she understood where he was coming from. Although she came to grow fond of the elder, having missed the chance to know hers, Wasuke was a good man, if not stern to some degree. It was easy to see how much he cared for his grandson to the point of nearly escaping the hospital just to continue taking care of Yuji.

Thankfully, she was on good terms with the old man. The first time they met, she was fearing that he'd instantly reject her as soon as he saw her due to her skin, as it was known that most Japanese elderly tended to react negatively toward foreigners. One black at that. Also, the fact that most people would glance at her twice since black folks were as common as aliens in the countryside that was Sendai didn't help at appeasing her worries. Yet, to her surprise, the old man just glanced at her for a mere second, blinked then resumed his temper tantrum as if nothing happened.

At least, she knew that Wasuke Itadori didn't give a flying fuck and equally hated whoever tries to boss him around. What a legend.

A long breath left her lips. Earlier that morning, Yuji informed her that he might come home later than usual due to club activities, and upon inquiring, he said something about unwrapping some old relic. She had been halfway tempted to tell him not to but thought against it. The plot depended on it so she let it slide.

She leaned on the table, eyes closed as her shoulders sagged.

'so it's today huh?'

A small laugh shook her shoulders as she folded her arms and placed her head on them.

'I guess a little nap won't hurt.' she thought, wiggling a finger that made all the curtains slide shut, preventing the sun rays from effectively entering and therefore plunging the room into darkness. Her lips slightly quivered.

Stupid geezer indeed.

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She was rudely awakened the moment she felt a heavy nasty atmosphere swarm her senses. A groan of displeasure left her lips as she slowly straightened up to stretch due to the uncomfortable position she had been in. Huffing, she rubbed her eyes before halting once she came face to face with a curse the size of her desk that looked like a fusion between a child and some weird animal she didn't bother to identify.

"e...xaaaam..s.." it moaned.

They both stared at each other until Colith scowled, eyes glowing which effectively destroyed the curse that had been about to leap on her by making it implode before it disappeared altogether.

She clicked her tongue.

'Assuming this shit was right in front of me, that means that shit already hit the fan, heh.'

She yawned then stood up, not minding the continuous tremors going on and off in the distance that shook the entire school, causing most of the furniture to crash on the ground around her, scattering stuff including several students' paintings.

Colith's shoulders dropped in despair at the sight.

'it's okay. I ain't gonna be a teacher for long anyway.' she rationalized but still repaired the damaged art pieces by respect for her students.

Signing, she exited her soon-to-be former art class and couldn't help but notice all the damage caused by Yuji's first fight against the ginormous curse. Thankfully the art room was in another building and received next to no damage aside from broken windows and some furniture on the ground so it was good.

'wonder who's gonna pay for all this shit.' she thought, stepping off of broken glass shards.

She snapped her fingers while looking outside, causing a poof of smoke to erupt behind her.

"I want you to bring Yuji's friends to the nearest hospital pronto. I'm not taking any chances with this."

A long-suffering sigh was heard before a lazy " Why did it have to be me?" reached her ears.

"Oh shush, I don't control who I'm summoning, you know that."

"uuuurgh, should've been Five, that dumbass would've loved it. Because I don't." she groaned.

"Alright alright, just go now, I promise I'll go to the nearest Onsen to make up for this. Whaddya say?" she side-eyed her replica with a knowing smile.

She clicked her tongue. "Whatever."

"Thanks~." Colith swiveled to the clone she had just summoned who simply rolled her eyes then yawned before vanishing to do her mission, leaving Colith alone in the hallway.

"Guess that was Wooro." she noted idly. Her eyes then returned to the glass shards and broken windows.

Feeling a bit benevolent, she repaired some of the damages while pootling off toward the rooftop, killing any stray curses attempting to jump or corner her, unconcerned that something wrong might happen to her boy. After all, she trained him. She knew he'd manage anyway, and gain his own Kurama along the way. Just gotta make sure that nobody dies since Yuji's far more stronger than his Canon counterpart this time, meaning that Sukuna might be a little bit more dangerous this time. Courtesy of herself.

Her thoughts on the curse? Yeah sure he was fine and all but constantly rubbing elbows with that goofball that was Yuji and clearly considering him like a son at this point has significantly put her off so nay.

She swiftly arrived at the staircase and paused to stare at it blankly.

'welp, time to go.'

Climbing the stairs with ease and upon arriving, Colith peeked through the window then ducked in time to avoid random debris from creating a hole in her skull. Even though that was very much unlikely due to her sturdy body, but reflexes ight.

Her eyebrows rose for a sec, bemused then stared back outside through the now broken window. Yuji was jumping around like a grasshopper on acid. Ironic considering the fact that the curse he was battling vaguely resembled one, but was having trouble following Yuji's zeepy movements and seemed on the verge of breaking down.

She patted herself on the shoulder for that one before focusing back on the fight with folded arms.

'Should I intervene?'

Yuji punched the shit out of the curse who made an unholy sound.

'Naaaah. He'll manage.'

While the battle was still raging, the curse was growing desperate to catch Yuji who didn't seem tired at all, although some frustration could be clearly seen on his face.

'Oh yeah, to kill curses ya need cursed energy.' Colith recalled, watching as the boy axe kicked the creature who screeched. She sighed then noticed something laying on the ground next to the battle.

'oh. Oh shit.'

Right, Megumi.

Deep down, something was telling her to approach the boy. And that's exactly what she did. Ignoring the commotion occurring just in front of them, the woman made her way to the sea urchin-haired boy with some sense of urgency she couldn't define. Perhaps it was due to meeting another important character but...there seemed to be something else that she couldn't explain.

She frowned a little. 'what the fuck...' but shook her head as she approached the boy.

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Megumi upon hearing footsteps glanced behind him, not without letting out a hiss of pain. Although the pain was unbearable, it was promptly overshadowed by surprise when he saw someone approaching.

'a woman? What the hell is she doing here?!' he blinked in confusion, a bit dizzy from his fight earlier, making him unable to properly see her face. Although, that did not prevent him from instantly noticing the darker skin tone. 'A Gaijin ?'

"Shit..." He cursed himself for forgetting to cast a veil beforehand but the situation had caught him so off guard that he forgot! Whose stupid idea was it to send a single sorcerer to retrieve an extremely dangerous special grade cursed object that certainly would attract every goddamn cursed spirit in the vicinity?! Gojo of course! That lofty bastard! If only he could—

Megumi flinched suddenly when he felt warm hands cupping his face.

"What the...?" as soon as the words left his lips, he felt something wet drop on his face and blinked.

"You okay kid? Do you need help?"

His face shifted from surprise to utter bewilderment upon meeting the woman's frowning face, taken aback by what he was seeing. The commotion before them didn't seem to bother them as they stared at each other in silence.

"OH sh- sorry kid, I didn't mean to—"

"Who...why are you crying...?" baffled, Megumi managed to utter which was enough to make the woman pause in her ramblings.

"Crying?" she said softly. She blinked and indeed, tears were flowing down her cheeks which ended up landing on Megumi's dumbfounded face. She frowned, rubbing her face with the back of her hand. However before any of them could address this...this weird situation, an awful and unbearable aura filled with malice spread over the entire school, causing Megumi to involuntarily recoil in shock from the sudden onslaught of pure unadulterated animosity.

'Don't tell me...!' his eyes widened in horror upon hearing a wild laugh coming from where he assumed Yuji was. The grade 2 the pink-haired teen had been fighting was dead, torn to shreds. It was disappearing, a sign that it just got exorcized. And... And the only way for him to—

'Sukuna's finger, he—'

"AH! I KNEW IT! LIGHT IS BEST APPRECIATED IN FLESH!" Yuji, no...Sukuna hollered as he ripped his hoodie apart, exposing his chest now marred with tattoos.

'This is the worst! A one-in-million-chance, worst-case outcome! The special-grade cursed object has reincarnated!' Megumi couldn't believe it!

"Why did he rip my gift?" he heard the gaijin woman mutter and glanced at her in bewilderment.

"Gift?"

She simply pointed to what was left of the hoodie on the floor, baffling Megumi who couldn't comprehend why on earth she wasn't panicking before realizing that she was just a civilian, and therefore couldn't realize how disastrous the situation was.

Megumi gritted his teeth as he straightened up despite his injuries.

"A cursed spirit's flesh is no fun! Where are the people!? The women?!"

At the mention of women, Megumi swiftly shielded the sole female in the vicinity from the curse's line of sight. Yeah, Nope! That wasn't happening. He was very aware of how dangerous this special grade was, hence his edge. Fortunately for him, the jubilant mood Sukuna was in made him miss the two humans present as he jumped to stand on the fence.

"What a wonderful era to be in! Women and children are crawling everywhere like maggots. MARVELOUS! THIS IS GONNA BE A MASSACRE HAHAHAHA—huh?!"

There was an immediate silence just after Sukuna's hand suddenly grabbed his face, causing him to step back down in confusion.

"Whaddya think you're doing with my body? Give it back." Yuji's voice rang.

"...How are you able to move?"

"Well, I mean, it's my body."

"Pfft!" Everyone turned toward the woman who was looking away, a hand on her mouth while clearly struggling to breathe. She quickly waved a hand. "My bad y'all. But the way he said it just so casually...!" her shoulders shook.

Yuji stared at her before his eyes lit up. "Colith-sensei!"

'Colith-sensei?' Megumi thought. So it was her that Yuji kept babbling about. His eyes briefly shifted to her before settling on the tattooed boy.

"Aye Yuji!" She grinned, now back to her laid-back self. "that's some nice tattoos you've got there! Delinquent much?"

The teenager's eyes blurred, "You're safe! Thank god!!" he cried out in relief as he tried to approach her. Unbeknownst to the trio, the second pair of red eyes momentarily widened before fading into slits as the boy fully regained control of his body. "you weren't answering your phone and I thought that something bad happened to you and my senpais and I didn't see you when we rescued the others so I thought that those wacky monsters got you and—"

As soon as Yuji took a step toward her, Megumi stood in his way, separating him from the woman.

"Don't come any closer! He's no longer human!"

"Heh?" Both he and Colith said simultaneously in confusion as they stared at the boy.

Megumi panted as he took a stance, ready to summon something...anything that could harm this monster. He knew he had no chance of winning against a special grade but there's no way in hell that he was letting that thing loose in the city.

"Under Jujutsu regulations, Itadori Yuji, I will exorcise you as a curse!" he exclaimed, eyes narrowing as his shadow grew more and more and began swirling to life around him.

"Hold on, Sea-urchin-kun," the woman, Colith grabbed his shoulder, causing him to halt and side-eye her. "he ain't no damn curse? Sure he got some sick tattoos now but look! He seems pretty normal to me."

"Sea-urchin— this isn't the time to fool around ma'am!" he snapped. "He's a freaking bloodthirsty curse! This is dangerous! You wouldn't know since you're just a civilian but don't be fooled!" he scowled, not letting Yuji out of his sight who at this point was glancing back and forth between them, confused. "I'll stall him as long as I can while you get out of here!"

The woman shook her head and walked past Megumi to stand next to the pink-haired teen. Before Megumi could tell her to get the hell back, she casually placed a hand on Yuji's fluffy scalp, unconcerned. "Nah man, that's definitely Yuji. See, no more tattoos," she said, and true to her words, the markings quickly faded. Yuji nodded rapidly while raising his arms in defense.

"Yep yep yep! I'm me! I'm totally human, no cap!"

"See? Would a thousand years old entity use Gen z terms? I don't think so." she made a peace sigh, "Yay."

Flabbergasted, Megumi just stared at them in silence. 'is it the cursed object or itadori Yuji talking now? Is this some kind of trick? And what's with that woman? Why isn't she freaking out...? Could she be an accomplice? But she doesn't possess cursed energy. Wait hold on— tattoos?' his eyes widened. "You can see the—"

"what's the situation?"