Jujutsu Kaisen doesn't belong to me. Here is the sixth chapter! I hope you enjoy it!
Fushiguro furrowed his brow slightly as he passed by Itadori's dorm room door and noticed it was partially open. He approached and peered inside, curious. He saw Gojo and Kugisaki packing Yuuji's belongings into cardboard boxes.
"What are you doing?" he asked, looking serious.
Kugisaki let out a sigh and looked at him. While she maintained her usual impassive expression, the sadness in her eyes was evident. "Collecting Itadori's things, of course."
"And what are you going to do with them?" Fushiguro wanted to know, glancing at the half-filled boxes.
"I'll take care of everything!" Gojo assured. "You don't have to worry about anything!"
Both of the boys gave him skeptical looks, but Gojo, accustomed to that, didn't bat an eye and continued packing. He clapped his hands when he finished and looked at the two of them.
"Thank you very much for your help, Nobara."
"Where are you going to put everything?" Fushiguro asked, looking serious.
"Somewhere, I'll figure it out," Gojo said tersely. "You don't have to worry about anything. Your charismatic teacher will handle it all."
Fushiguro furrowed his brow and watched tensely as the teacher left, taking everything with him.
"Don't you find everything a bit strange, Kugisaki?" he asked when he was sure Gojo couldn't hear them.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Nobara looked at him confused, not understanding a thing.
"Maybe I'm overthinking it," Megumi confessed. "Forget I said anything."
"No! Finish what you were saying!" Kugisaki demanded, glaring at her friend.
"It's just that I have a feeling there's something Gojo isn't telling us," Fushiguro reluctantly admitted. "Maybe I'm wrong, but..."
Kugisaki shrugged. "I think you're just imagining things," she commented, looking at the room that had belonged to Itadori. "The only thing that matters now is that we get stronger."
"Yeah," Fushiguro agreed with her. He thought about Itadori and clenched his fists. "If only I hadn't dragged him into all of this, maybe he'd still be alive," Fushiguro lamented mentally. He glanced at Kugisaki, serious. "I won't lose another comrade, never again," he promised himself, unaware that the girl was thinking something similar.
Yuuji let out a long sigh and looked at the pizza in front of him without enthusiasm. He had followed the professor's suggestion and ordered that. But now, as he prepared to eat, all his appetite had disappeared. Not even the fact that it was a five-cheese pizza, his favorite, made him want to eat.
"What's wrong, kid?"
"Nothing," Yuuji lied.
"Lying isn't exactly your strong suit, brat," Sukuna pointed out, looking serious. Yuuji rolled his eyes before responding.
"It's nothing serious," the boy said. "It's just that I don't like eating alone," he admitted.
"And you're not eating because of that nonsense?" Sukuna asked. "And it's not like you're alone."
"I wish I could tell my friends that I'm okay," Yuuji murmured. He glanced at his phone. It would be so easy to do... just a simple message and that's it. But Gojo had told him it was better not to.
"I don't think they're worried at all," Sukuna opined, smiling cruelly. "After all, they're sorcerers. Do you think it's the first time one of their comrades has died? I'm sure they've moved on with their lives. They didn't even really know you. You'd only been working together for less than a month."
"There was no need to put it that way..." protested Yuuji as he cut a piece of pizza and brought it to his mouth. He bit into it and chewed without enthusiasm.
"Regardless, you're going to have to get stronger and faster," Sukuna commented. "I've told you this before, but I can help you with that if you're willing to let me train you, of course."
"No," Yuuji refused, perhaps more abruptly than he should have. "Professor Gojo takes care of that, so it's not necessary."
"Whatever you say, kid," Sukuna said.
Yuuji continued eating the pizza and glanced at the clock on one of the kitchen's white walls. It was seven-thirty in the evening.
"I think it's best to start training tomorrow," Yuuji thought, yawning a bit. He felt quite tired, and the last thing he wanted was to fall asleep while watching a movie. "I wish I had my DS here," he lamented.
"What?" Sukuna asked, confused.
"My Nintendo DS, a video game console," Yuuji clarified, grabbing another slice of pizza. "So I can play a bit before going to sleep."
"Brat, you realize I have no idea what you're talking about, right?" Sukuna growled, irritated. He furrowed his brow, and for some reason that the boy couldn't understand, he seemed upset.
"I'll have to ask Gojo for it," Yuuji continued thoughtfully. "I left it at my grandfather's house. Do you think he'll let me have it?"
Sukuna let out a grunt and didn't say anything more about it. But Yuuji couldn't stand the silence for long.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"You've already asked one, brat."
Yuuji rolled his eyes but continued, "Have you always been a curse?"
"Does it matter?"
"I guess not, it was just curiosity."
"I wasn't always a curse," Sukuna commented. "I used to be a sorcerer, the strongest of my time."
"That doesn't explain how you ended up becoming the King of Curses," Yuuji pointed out impatiently.
"It's not something that's important, don't you think?" the King of Curses asked. "Or have you forgotten the problem at hand?"
Yuuji, giving up, stood up from his chair and, after saving what was left of his pizza, stretched a bit. "Of course, I haven't forgotten, Sukuna. But I'll get stronger, and it won't happen again. You'll see."
"It would be simpler if you accepted my offer," the curse commented, as if nothing had happened.
"I already told you, no. It's not necessary."
Sukuna didn't say anything else, he simply watched as Yuuji returned to the basement and sat on the bed that Gojo had prepared for him.
"I don't have any pajamas..." the boy muttered to himself, realizing that detail. And the idea of having to sleep in his school uniform didn't sound appealing at all.
"What a great problem," Sukuna replied sarcastically. "Certainly the biggest problem of all, isn't it, kid?"
"Leave me alone," Yuuji grumbled, trying to hide his nervousness. He sighed and lay down on the bed. He looked at the ceiling and closed his eyes. All he wanted at that moment was to sleep. "I wish all of this were just a nightmare, and when I wake up, I'll be back in my dorm room."
But he didn't even have the chance to doze off. He heard approaching footsteps and felt Gojo's aura getting closer. He quickly sat up and got out of bed. The teacher opened the basement door and peered in. He was carrying a cardboard box in both arms. He approached the bed and left it there.
Yuuji approached to get a better look at its contents, curious. His clothes, folded haphazardly, were inside, along with a photo of his grandfather.
"I figured you'd want your things," Gojo said. "And I wanted to hurry before they threw them away."
Yuuji nodded. "Thank you very much, professor," the boy said, smiling sincerely. "But... Can I ask you a favor?"
"Of course!" the man exclaimed, encouraging him to continue.
"Well... at my grandfather's house, I have my Nintendo DS and some Pokémon games, and if it's possible, I'd like to have them," Yuuji requested. "So I can entertain myself when I'm not training."
"I didn't know you played Pokémon," Gojo commented, looking amused. "I used to play too, when I was younger, of course. Which ones do you have?"
"Well, I have all the ones that have been released for the DS since Diamond and Pearl," Yuuji recounted. "I only have six games."
Gojo nodded, and as soon as Yuuji gave him the address, he disappeared from there, leaving the boy alone. With nothing better to do, Yuuji began to take his clothes out of the box and let out a sigh of relief when he found his blue pajamas. He unfolded them and changed into them.
He then turned his attention to the stack of DVDs and, out of curiosity, approached and started reading the titles. There were some adventure ones like Indiana Jones, horror ones like The Conjuring or The Exorcist, romantic ones like the Twilight saga... there were many to choose from. The boy smiled when, after searching a bit, he found the DVD of Jurassic Park I.
"I'll start watching this one tomorrow," the boy decided, placing it at the top.
Sukuna stretched a bit on his throne and barely suppressed a yawn. He rested his head on his right hand and, with nothing better to do, paid attention to what his vessel was doing.
Yuuji was opening one of those rectangular boxes and had taken out the circular object inside, those DVDs his vessel had called them? He watched as the boy finished setting everything up and sat in front of the television. He grabbed the stuffed animal he was supposed to train with and placed it on his lap.
"And now what?" the King of Curses wanted to know.
"Well, I'll play the movie, of course," Yuuji said, finishing the last adjustments and pressing the play button. "This was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid," Yuuji commented nostalgically.
The curse's attention quickly shifted to the TV screen, watching with interest what was being shown. And when he saw a human being devoured in the first few minutes of the movie, he couldn't help but smile, pleased.
"I have to admit you have good taste, kid."
Yuuji was about to respond, but at that moment, the stuffed bear opened its eyes and punched the boy in the chin. It wasn't too strong, but the pink-haired boy sighed irritably and continued watching the movie.
"I suppose so," he muttered, unsure if he should take that as a compliment or not.
"But, what are those creatures on the screen?" Sukuna wanted to know, observing with interest the four-legged animal with three sharp horns.
"Dinosaurs. They went extinct millions of years ago," Yuuji explained, barely paying attention to how the movie explained the rebirth of those animals.
"I see, so, everything they're saying there is false?"
"Can you let me enjoy the movie?" the boy asked, frowning, irritated. His distraction cost him another punch from the stuffed toy. Yuuji considered throwing it away, beginning to get fed up even though it had only been half an hour.
"You know I don't have to follow your orders, right, kid?" Sukuna snapped, annoyed.
"Just watch the movie," Yuuji requested, though it sounded more like an order.
Sukuna rolled his eyes and, just this once, decided to obey the kid. Because what was appearing on the screen seemed promising. And Sukuna wanted to see how all the characters died.
Yuuji rolled his eyes when, upon seeing the scene of the man being devoured by the Tyrannosaurus Rex while in the bathroom, Sukuna let out a little laugh, clearly finding the whole scene amusing.
"Do you really find that funny?"
"Kid, you can't deny it's amusing."
Yuuji was chopping various vegetables he had found in the fridge. It was lunchtime, and after watching two movies in a row, the boy decided to take a short break. He set the knife aside and wiped his hands with a kitchen towel nearby.
"What are you cooking?" Gojo asked, appearing without warning. Yuuji jumped a little and turned quickly.
"Oh, hi, sensei," the boy greeted, smiling a bit. "Beef ramen."
"It smells great," Gojo complimented as he placed the boy's DS and games on the table. "Did you already start training?"
"Yeah, I worked on it this morning," Yuuji replied as he stirred the contents of the pot. "It's harder than I expected," he admitted as he tasted some broth.
"That's because it's one of the toughest trainings there is," Gojo reminded him. "And Sukuna? Has he been behaving or causing you trouble?"
The boy shivered a bit and swallowed nervously. He felt the professor's piercing gaze on him. "No, he hasn't caused any problems," he replied. "I can keep him in check without any issues."
Gojo nodded, pleased. "I'm glad to hear that. But, Yuuji, if you have any problems, don't hesitate to let me know, understood? What happened in the correctional facility can't happen again."
"Yes, of course. I understand," the boy responded, keeping his gaze fixed on the food.
"I'd love to stay and try your ramen, but unfortunately, I have a mission in Tokyo," the teacher lamented. "Although I could pass it on to a Grade 1... not a bad idea, right?"
"But, sensei, if they assigned it to you, it's because it's a powerful curse, isn't it?"
"It could be, yes. Although I wouldn't be surprised if it's an exaggeration," Gojo replied, bored. "I don't think it'll take long to resolve everything."
"How are Fushiguro and Kugisaki?" Yuuji asked at that moment as he added the meat to the pot.
"They will start training with the second years, and I'm sure they will give their all," the teacher told him, glancing at the boy, evaluating his reaction.
"I'll do the same," Yuuji promised, determined. His eyes gleamed with determination.
"I expect nothing less from you," Gojo replied, smiling. He ruffled the boy's hair, ignoring Yuuji's protests. "See you tonight, Yuuji!"
The boy, who was already getting used to it, didn't flinch when Gojo suddenly disappeared from the room after clasping his hands together. He returned his attention to the food and stopped smiling.
He tasted the food again and, satisfied, served himself some in a bowl. He sat at the table and placed the bowl in front of him. He noticed the console Gojo had left there. He picked it up and, after hesitating for a moment, turned it on and let out a sigh of relief when he saw that the battery light was green. He took the Pokémon Heart Gold cartridge and inserted it into the DS.
After selecting "continue" from the main menu, he began playing. He first checked the team he had and furrowed his brow when he saw their poor condition. He continued playing for a while until Sukuna's voice snapped him out of his reverie.
"For someone who cared so much about wanting to get stronger, you sure are wasting your time, kid," the curse reprimanded him. "Besides, by now, I'm sure your food has already gone cold."
Yuuji lifted his gaze from the console and looked at the bowl. He picked up the spoon and began to eat, clearly without much enthusiasm. He let out a sigh and, after saving the game, turned off the console.
Don't forget to leave a review! I would love to hear your thoughts!