Chapter 1

Yuji was making dinner, he'd just finished gathering the vegetables from the garden and Ryomen had brought back a rabbit he'd found caught in one of the traps he'd set up in the woods. The sound of quiet footsteps drew him from his daze.

"Ryo? Is that you" Yuji asked

Looking at the door leading to the hallway from which the steps originated from. Out from the shadows of the hallway stepped a woman. She was tall but also quite thin, she had dark hair cut to her shoulders. She wore long robes.

None of that was what jumped out at Yuji because what had immediately drawn his attention were the surgical scars that ran across her forehead.

An almost unbearable sense of dejavú struck Yuji, he felt without a doubt he knew this woman but he was helpless to place the knowledge.

"Ah, child, I apologize for letting myself in without announcement. I'm an old friend of Wasauke Itadori, this is the Itadori residence, correct?" The woman's voice spoke, it was smooth and sweet like honey

Just then Ryomen walked in, grandpa walking after him leaning heavily on his cane. As he walked in the room he froze in shock.

Oblivious to his horror Yuji got up from his seat and dashed over to his father and reached out a hand to support him.

"Grandpa, please be careful, you shouldn't get out of bed while you've been so sick." Yuji worried

"Not now, brat, besides I'm not going to die from simply standing up." He waved Yuji off. "besides you brats are useless without me to check your work, there's a hole in the fence that foxes will slip through. Both you little shits go deal with it."

"Huh, not even gonna bother addressing the stranger in our house?" Ryo asks

Before and argument can get anymore heated the woman interrupts

"Wasuke, it's been too long. It's lovely to see you, I hope we can catch up." The woman says

"Kaori get the hell out of here." Wasuke spits her name out like it taste of something vile

"Grandpa, what's the matter. You're acting strange." Yuji says "yeah old man, what's got you worked up" Ryo adds on

"Listen to me, brats, this woman is your mother. Now be good brats and listen to me for once and leave us to catch up" the seriousness in his voice makes Yuji freeze, he's never heard his grandpa sound like this before.

"Alright, go nuts gramps." Ryomen shrugs and grabs Yuji's arm to make a move to drag him from the room. His voice sounds unconcerned but the tense muscles in his arm give away his worry.

"Wait, hold on, you said our mother was dead." Yuji felt like his head was spinning. "Gramps?"

"Hold it." The woman's honey voice is suddenly cold like ice. "I haven't seen the twins in so long, I'd like to speak with all of you."

Suddenly the air hums, something screams at Yuji, an animalistic instinct that begs him to run, run for the hills and from the house and don't look back. Looking towards the woman he's greeted by a beast that could only haunt the darkness of his worst nightmares.

A writhing mass of flesh, made of clumps of almost all humans, stretching from what would be ear to ear is a massive mouth filled with all kinds of mismatched rotting teeth. It turns to them and charges.

This will be how I die. It's all Yuji can think of. Repeated over and over like a matra when it's stopped by a bright red flame.

Extending his had Ryomen felt like it was burning with light, pressing his fingers into the shape of an arrow he pushed out the burning energy towards the horrifying undead monster running towards his brother and-

Boom.

The creature flew back, roaring in agony from the fire burning it and leaving massive burns and spots covered in char. The thing began to dissolve, breaking into pieces and flailing on the ground. Like a toddler throwing a tantrum.

Yuji was shocked, he'd just been charged by a nightmare monster and then watched his brother shoot a literal fireball out his hand at the monster.

"Wonderful, truly incredible" the woman practically sang out. "You're exactly what I need Ryomen Itadori."

The woman shot forward with unbelievable speed and slashed through his grandfather. Yuji could barely even see her move, Yuji felt like he was frozen in place and the world moved slower as his grandpa's head hit the ground.

The woman was on him before he could blink, pure instinct had him bring his arms up in defense only for the woman to kick him in the stomach. Yuji felt his entire body shudder as his ribs cracked and he was knocked into a back wall and collapsed on the ground.

As he laid there desperately grasping for the strength to get up he felt a sudden massive pressure on his back from the wall caving in on him. Unable to hold back his reaction to the sudden agony a scream tore out of his throat.

Suddenly everything was black. No. He couldn't have that yet. Ryo is still in trouble, the woman said she needed him, maybe he survived. I need to wake up. Wake up wake up wake up wake up wakeupwakeupwakeup

His eyes fly open, though he can only see from one because of the blood he feels flowing down one side of his face. His house, the only home he's ever known is burning, there's smoke everywhere and he can barely breathe. Looking across the room he sees the woman.

She's drawing something on the floor with chalk. Strange symbols and patterns in a circle around Ryo, candles and books lie scattered around the woman and her work.

Desperate to reach his brother Yuji pulls any strength he can and tries to move but finds his legs completely pinned. Through sheer determination and no little amount of pain Yuji manages to get his arm free from the wreckage but the rest of him remains stuck.

The symbols surrounding Ryomen begin to glow, his brother slightly floats off the ground and begins to shake and contort. But what worries Yuji the most is the fraying of his soul.

To properly understand Yuji there are things that must be known. Things that he's kept secret like a precious buried treasure. Yuji Itadori can see souls. He's always been able to.

When he was younger Yuji asked his grandpa why there were circles of light inside people. His grandpa had grabbed him by his face and looked the boy dead in the eyes and said never to speak of it again to another living face.

Yuji had promised and since then he never has. He'd never spoken of it again but that hadn't kept him from learning more. Ryomen was the first person he'd told, before even his grandpa. so they'd spend lots of their free time in the woods, reading over ancient books they'd found in old ruins and buried to be forgotten.

They'd train and play about in the woods while Yuji tried to observe the birds and the fish, snakes, and even bugs to see more about their soul. Even plants and trees had them.

When something dies or gets hurt it's soul frays, the tight ball of flowing energy would snap in places causing it to stretch out or some to disappear. When a soul completely disappears the person is dead.

Ryomen's soul was being pushed out, a deep red soul of immense energy was growing inside him. The blood orange soul that was Ryo's was being choked out and broken to pieces.

Desperation clawed at Yuji as he reached out his hand. He reached for Ryo, for his soul. The soul of his brother who had been by his side since birth. Then he touched it. Like a burst of lightning in his veins Yuji felt the soul, like his fingertips were touching it.

He wouldn't let his brother stay where he was. It would kill him. But souls can't exist without a body, they'd break apart. Yuji reached towards the soul until he had completely encompassed it and brought it towards his heart.

Yuji didn't see the way the red soul began to crumple or how the chalk symbols lost their glow, how the woman's face went from joyful to enraged.

All he saw was his hand reaching into his chest and placing his brother's soul within his body besides his heart. Then white.