Chapter 1:

After returning Rika's body to her final resting place, Suguru and Satoru began walking back to Jujutsu High. Satoru walked slightly in front of Suguru, attempting to hide the pain written across his face. Satoru's head ached immensely as if something was trying to push it out of his skull. If he was being honest with himself, his headache—or rather, his full-body aches at this point—had started shortly after his fight with Toji. His glasses were wrecked in the battle, leaving little to protect his aching eyes and brain, which only amplified everything.

Satoru had tried to use his new reverse curse technique earlier to heal his cursed energy and aching head, but it hadn't worked. In fact, it went so poorly that his head erupted in pain, and he fell to the ground. Thankfully, he was alone, so no one was there to chastise him for doing something so silly after a massive fight.

Maybe it was the combination of exerting all his energy in keeping himself alive during the battle and using one of his highest power consumption moves, but his body was completely exhausted. He had purposefully avoided Ieri when he saw she was working on Suguru. Satoru figured his friend probably had an actual injury for the medical team at Jujutsu to deal with. Besides, he was exhausted and sure that a long deep sleep would solve everything.

He only began to worry slightly when his nose started bleeding while carrying Rika. He quickly wiped his nose before anyone noticed but was still surprised by the bright red blood. It had been a long time since he'd reached his limit. When he was very young, he hadn't mastered turning his limitless technique on and off. Due to his inexperience, he had mild encephalitis when he left his techniques 'on' for too long. His family had instituted more rules regarding his training so something like that would not happen again. That did not stop them from pushing him just short of the brink of collapse. As he got older and gained more control of his immense power, he better understood when he was reaching his limits. Today, however, he blew past all of them again.

With the intensity of his headache, Satoru checked his ear to ensure his brain wasn't falling out of his head. However, much to his chagrin, he felt some warm sticky liquid on his fingers. Satoru didn't need to look at his fingers to realize it was blood. "Shit," he thought. Maybe this was more than a bit of rest could help with. Something nagged at him to stop and tell Suguru he needed help. Still, he'd hate to put more on the man who seemed emotionally fragile after everything.

"Is that blood?" Suguru asked, staring at Satoru's red fingers. Satoru hadn't even realized he'd stopped walking, nor had he noticed his eyes were fixed on his hand. "Well, that didn't go to plan," he thought. Satoru didn't have the chance to respond before Suguru checked him up and down. Suguru stopped when he looked at Satoru's face. Satoru looked awful. His eyes were bloodshot with deep purple bags under them, his nose was bleeding again, blood was pouring from his left ear, and the part of his hair hanging on his forehead was matted with blood. In fact, almost everything was covered in blood. It took a lot of work to tell what was from Toji and what was new. "Satoru, you're bleeding! And you look awful. Didn't you have Ieri look at you?" Suguru asked worriedly. Satoru simpered like he did when he was caught doing something wrong. Suguru sighed.

"We're going to the infirmary," Suguru stated. He turned and started walking, but Satoru didn't move. A sudden wave of dizziness overcame his body forcing him to sit down on the stairs they were ascending. "I'm just gonna sit here for a second," he said, covering his eyes. Suguru's worry ate at his stomach. Suguru stepped in front of Satoru and motioned for him to get on his back. "Get on." Satoru looked dumbfounded. "I'm not gonna get on your back. Need I remind you, you are injured." "I'm fine, and you need help now. So get on." Satoru sighed; he wasn't gonna win this argument.

Satoru allowed Suguru to carry him piggyback style towards the infirmary. Suguru breathed heavily while holding the surprisingly heavy Satoru. Satoru's eyes felt heavy, and the light was really beginning to bother him, fatigue quickly closing in on him. His neck started hurting, and he was pretty sure he had a fever too. "Damn," he thought, closing his eyes and leaning his head into Suguru's shoulder. "Oi, stay awake, you idiot," Suguru said, jostling Satoru as they entered the infirmary.

The infirmary at Jujutsu High was different than your typical infirmary. It was an entire hospital wing with all the equipment needed for any injury. It was usually there to keep Jujutsu sorcerers on campus because standard doctors wouldn't understand how to care for the unique injuries sorcerers encountered.

Ieri and her mentor, an old man named Takeji, looked shocked at Suguru carrying a nearly unconscious Satoru. It was just so unsettling to see Satoru quiet. "Set him over here," Ieri's mentor said, motioning to an empty bed in the corner of the infirmary. Suguru set him on the bed, and Ieri got a good look at him. Aside from all the blood falling out his nose and ear, his right eye also began bleeding.

She then noticed his uniform was practically in tatters, with blood stains covering most of his upper torso and left leg. "What the fuck happened to him?" She said crassly. "I don't know all the details, but his fight with Toji was fairly brutal. I think he learned reversed curse technique and just maxed himself out," Suguru responded. Satoru snapped his fingers and pointed at Suguru, "Right on the money," he said. Ieri rolled her eyes.

Takeji looked Satoru over closely, using a curse technique that seemed to act like an scan. He attempted to wave his light pen across Satoru's eyes. Satoru immediately closed his eyes and raised his hand to move the pen out of the way. "Do you have a headache?" "Obviously," Satoru responded. Ieri smacked his leg, causing Satoru to grimace. "Hey!" "Don't be an ass," she said. Takeji tested Satoru's neural function and found generalized weakness throughout the body.

"Okay, I'm pretty certain I know what this is, but I want to run a couple of tests first," Takeji said. Satoru was now using the pillow to cover his eyes and breathing heavily. "You two out," Takeji stated as he shooed Ieri and Suguru away. "But wait, I want to help," Ieri yelled back. "Not your friend. You're still learning. Go assist some of the other medics." Ieri huffed, but walked away. "And go rest, young man. You're looking pale yourself," Takeji said as he walked back toward Satoru.

Suguru debated whether he should wait or not. But it could be hours before he could see Satoru again. So, reluctantly, he headed back to his dorm for some sleep. Hopefully, he got that stubborn idiot Satoru help before any real damage was done.