Chapter 6:
Another week passed with Satoru in the hospital. He was finally making real progress with gaining his strength back. And he could lap around the hallway outside his hospital room without leaning too heavily on the walker. The nurse finally pulled the dreaded catheter out. He was surprised when it was difficult to go pee. It's like his brain refused to open the floodgates. It took a couple tries before things finally released. The nurse told him it was because encephalitis can cause retention, so they were hesitant to pull the catheter. And while he still had to have someone help him to the restroom, it was freeing to go to the bathroom in private. Because he'd gotten rid of the stupid urine bag he's been carrying around, he could change out of the hospital gown and into a t-shirt and sweatpants. It was way more comfortable and less embarrassing to be seen in.
He was finally completely off the IV nutrition. Though his doctor warned him if he lost any weight, he'd give him a feeding tube, which was something Satoru truly hoped to avoid. And, by the grace of god, his headaches finally started to space out further. Because of this, he was also no longer on complete brain rest. He could read for a couple non-consecutive hours throughout the day. He's mainly read manga because it requires less thought than some of the normal books. Focusing too hard still triggered headaches. But he could manage the symptoms as long as he took breaks. At this point, he'd probably be freed from his imprisonment by the following week.
Being awake for more extended periods of time allowed Satoru to start thinking about the question Yaga had asked him. While he had forgotten the question earlier, Yaga visited him one day and angrily reminded him of it.
Satoru had been doing his lap around the hospital corridor when he saw Yaga turning the corner. Satoru attempted to turn away from Yaga so he wouldn't get lectured. However, his legs were still rather uncoordinated, and he tripped over his feet and toppled to the floor before the nurse could stop him. Both the nurse and Yaga yelled at the young man for trying to do too much. Thinking back, Yaga said, "How dumb could you be?" Satoru giggled to himself. He was fine, just a little embarrassed because his feet didn't cooperate with what his mind asked them to do.
Suguru continued to visit and kept bringing sweets. He even managed to get crepes in one day, which made Satoru eternally grateful. Ieri stopped by every once in a while to 'make sure he was still alive.' What a loving friend he had in Ieri Satoru joked to himself.
Physical therapy ramped up in his last week in the hospital. He was finally walking with little to no assistance from the walker. His limbs finally appeared to be listening to his brain's commands. And he was feeling relatively good. The headaches still plagued him, but he no longer needed heavy meds to deal with them. The main problem was not longer the migraine pain, but rather that the headaches made him vomit. Outside of IV nausea meds, nothing else could control Satoru's horrific gag reflex to the headaches.
As he approached four full weeks in the hospital, Takeji, Satoru's doctor, walked into his room holding a big pile of papers. "Ah! Please tell me it's time for me to leave." "These will be your discharge papers." "Yes!" Satoru celebrated. "When it's time for you to be discharged." Takeji finished. "What?" Satoru said despondently, "What do you mean when it's time? I'm feeling much better, moving around well, and the headaches are less."
"Yes, but I don't feel comfortable with you leaving just yet." Takeji argued. "What did Yaga tell you?" "More like, what did everyone tell me." "Traitors." Satoru cursed. "You're not going to follow directions if we let you leave. You still have a little inflammation throughout your system. Plus, you're still vomiting with your headaches, and you're still reliant on the walker. I want to get the vomiting under control first. Losing weight could put more stress on your body, exacerbating your condition."
"Oh, come on! I can definitely follow directions. And it's been nearly four weeks; I think I'm pretty much good to go." "Oh yeah?" Takeji challenged. Satoru nodded. "Why do you keep the room dark then?" Takeji asked. "My eyes are sensitive from the six-eyes. The darkness helps." "Not because you're still photo-sensitive?" Satoru shook his head. Takeji first started by opening the blinds to allow daybreak in. Satoru squinted. The daylight hurt his eyes, but it wasn't too bad. Then, Takeji turned on the overhead lights. It only took a few moments before a headache started to make its presence known, and a wave of nausea washed over Satoru. Takeji noticed the young man's discomfort and quickly turned off the lights. "Point made," Satoru said. "You can't just sit in a dark room forever. We'll work harder on getting your eyes less sensitive to the lights." "Or, I just need a pair of my sunglasses." "Those things are virtually impossible to see through." "Exactly the point." "Need I remind you that you're still prohibited from using any curse energy." Satoru sighed, exasperated.
"I know you want to get out of here, but you're not quite ready yet. So, please stop bothering the nurses about it." Takeji stated. "Okay, but I can work on photo-sensitivity in my dorm room. Getting adjusted to lights slowly is something I can do on my own. And I don't need the walker; the nurses just have me use it so I don't fall over." Satoru pleaded. "Do you want to test that theory?" Takeji asked. Satoru wiggled his toes and eyed the door at the edge of the room. The distance seemed tripled in the moments since Takeji asked him. "I could, but I'm tired right now." "Uh-huh." Takeji responded, "You're close to the end; your body needs a little more time."
Takeji turned to walk away, but Satoru said, "I, uh, have a question." "Go on." "Will this happen again? If I push too hard without recovering, will my brain just fry?" "More than likely, you'll be left with some permanent brain damage. You are an extremely powerful sorcerer but still limited to what your human body can handle. The brain is a finicky thing, and if you push it too hard, you will eat away at it over time. So, I'd suggest you find a better way to manage it."
Satoru was left to ponder that thought once Takji left. Suguru would tell him he could lean on a team to take the burden off, but that wasn't Satoru's style. He'd always been a one-man show and intended to keep it that way. He trusted Suguru and Ieri, but the burden of most missions fell to him as he was the most powerful. He realized that to keep everyone safe, he'd have to perfect his revered cursed technique to keep his brain fresh. That way, at least, he could keep his six eyes going without burning through all his energy.
Satoru ended up staying one more week in the hospital. It was enough time to find a good medicine regimen to stop the vomiting with the headaches, get him walking independently of any help, and be less photo-sensitive. Well, the last one was a stretch. He could now leave the blinds open during the day as long as he had his hoody over his head. But, Takeji finally agreed to release him as long as he returned daily for physical therapy. Satoru excitedly agreed as he walked out of his hospital room.
Suguru accompanied Satoru on the walk back to the dorm room. It wasn't too far, but Satoru was exhausted once he finally reached his bed. He flopped down on the bed and thanked Suguru for his help. "Just glad to see you're doing alright." Once Suguru closed the door, Satoru remained silent for a moment. It was nice not to be bombarded by the sound of a hospital for once. The silence was peaceful. Satoru opened his eyes and noticed a pair of black glasses lying on the nightstand. He smiled.
The following weeks saw Satoru return to normal and slowly get back into his jujutsu practice. While the headaches still bothered him occasionally, he was almost completely back to normal and ready to return to classes. His doctor finally cleared him two months after the incident with Toji. Yaga did finally get an answer to his question. "I've always been expected to be the stronger who stands alone at the top. I've never had a team before." Satoru said, motioning to Suguru and Ieri, who waited outside the classroom for him. "It's a fine answer, but stop being such an idiot." It was nice to see how much Yaga cared, even if he didn't show it.
—
Satoru opened his eyes. He was lying on a couch in the jujutsu high teacher's lounge. He must've fallen asleep at some point. Daylight leaked through the closed blinds. He rarely dreamt of the time shortly after his fight with Toji. He hated feeling weak, and his time in the hospital reminded him of how human he was.
He couldn't be human when he fought Sukuna. He had to be invincible. A wall that would protect all of the sorcerers who stood behind him.
Tomorrow was the day he fought Sukuna. And tomorrow was the day he was going to crash and burn. He wanted to apologize to Ieri beforehand, but he figured she already knew what he had planned. He was going to push past every limit and protect the world he loved. It might leave him a vegetable, but no one else could fight this for him. He alone had to stand at the top and win this battle. Suguru was gone, betraying him again by locking him in that prison. And Ieri was too important to fight. He wasn't even sure she'd be able to help him once he was done.
He looked outside the window to see Yuji, Yuta, and the others training. They were working hard, thinking they could help Satoru despite how naive they were to the true power of Sukuna.
But one of them had to defeat Sukuna. And he would be the one to do it, no matter the consequences.