Disclaimer: I do not own Jujutsu Kaisen. It is property of Gege Akutami. I do however own Yukine and any other appearing OCs.

9th Curse - Big Brother's Friends

兄の友達

ani no tomodachi

"But… How are we gonna live apart from our parents? We're still kids ourselves…" I mumbled into Satoru's chest as he cradled me. Even if he's said that everything will be okay, how will everything be okay?

Satoru seemed self-assured, as I felt his chest puff up and I was moved with it, "I will have you know that I already turned 18 at the end of last year so soon I am an adult!" he said confidently.

I heard Shoko-san snort, and she went on to comment; "But it's debatable if he'll actually start acting like an adult," she drawled.

"Not nice, Shoko!" I could practically feel Satoru pouting, "I just made a promise to my little sister, so I'm going to do it." He added haughtily.

I hummed, "Is it… okay to ask why we can't get mom and dad's help...?" I asked hesitantly.

Satoru's chest rumbled as he groaned a little, "I don't really want to let you know all of the details, though. The last thing I wanna do is make you cry," he hedged.

"You'd be telling me what my parents did or said, so… it'd be my parents making me cry, not you, right…?" I reasoned, trying to get him to just give up all his dodging and tell me already.

It seemed to convince him enough to finally give me at least an abridged version of events, trying to be tactful as he could about it as he did.

After he finished, my mood was subdued. I didn't really feel like saying anything, as a knot formed in my throat and I furrowed my brows. Anyone can become a parent, but this just goes to show that some people shouldn't become parents even if they can because they're simply not suited for nurturing another human being.

I wasn't sure if I won or lost the parent lottery this time around. On one hand, they're so shitty, but on the other, they did let me be Satoru's sister.

So, should I thank them…? No… it's more of a 'thanks for nothing,' right?

Ughhh…

I don't know how I should feel! I'm just frustrated.

"I know this is hard to hear, but I want you to know that I will never, never abandon you." Satoru said confidently, pulling back to look me in the eyes. His eyes showed no sign of doubt or hesitation in them.

I felt my eyes grow hot, and wet.

No matter how careful he'd tried to be, crying was inevitable for me it seemed. My fake parent was actually my kidnapper, and may have only deluded herself into thinking I was her dead baby, so was her love even real? And my real parents didn't have me because they wanted to be my parents - I was just an experiment. That's too painful, and ridiculously bad luck.

Yeah. No matter what good comes of my situation, at the end of the day, I lost the parent lottery after all. Twice.

Was I just destined to not have a proper parent in this life? I miss my first mom and dad from when I was Minako so much…

But this is reality. And reality starts with the truth.

But again, how are we gonna survive? Satoru still hasn't answered that question, and Shoko-san pointed that out, before announcing that she'll leave the two of us be, moments ago.

Then, Satoru finally seemed to remember my question. "I've already asked, and we're going to be getting some help from Yaga-sensei. I also have my own personal bank account with a substantial amount. Being a sorcerer of my level pays more than you may think. We won't have anything to worry about, money-wise, and there are living quarters on-site here at Jujutsu Tech so we've got a roof over our head, too! Everything will be okay~!" he gave me a thumbs up and a toothy grin.

Will it really be okay…?

I guess there's not really any other option right now, though, huh… I just have to put my faith in the world's strongest sorcerer… my older brother, Gojo Satoru.

Hopefully, with time, everything really will be alright, and I'll finally be able to rebuild my second life and regain something stable, some normalcy.

Well as normal as the world of Jujutsu Kaisen can be, anyway.

After that, Satoru had decided to postpone any other heavy topics for the rest of the evening, and we instead spent it going through my backlog of Christmas and Birthday presents together, with my brother of course making a big show of it. A lot of it I'd already grown out of, like toddler clothes and toys for small children. But there were plenty of plushies and other cute toys and games that I could maybe still use.

Satoru, sensing that some of the toys weren't really appropriate announced that at the weekend, he'd take me into Tokyo to buy me some welcome home presents, and then we could go get sweets at his favourite sweet shop.

With our weekend plans made, we turned in for the night and although it felt a bit awkward for me to be held by him at night because it had only been a week since we 'met', I eventually did drift off.

It had been an exhausting day, after all.

The next morning, after we'd finished breakfast Satoru went to speak to Yaga-san again for a while. When he returned, he brought his sensei with him and they sat me down to discuss yet another heavy topic.

They revealed that the reason that my house in Tobetsu had been targeted was because a dangerous cursed object had been inside Kiku's bedroom, and they asked me if I could remember when she'd brought it into the house, or if I'd even known at all.

I'd been stunned, blown away and also horrified by the information, which almost blew my cover because they asked me why I already looked like I knew what they were talking about, even though I'd been raised away from the Sorcery world so far.

Scrambling to make up for my mistake, I'd said that it was scary to know that something dangerous was in my house and I never even knew about it. I told them I'd been struggling to understand why, but I had noticed how the 'monsters' (which they corrected me to call them curses) were drawn to my house.

Even after the fact, I was never really sure if they bought what I'd said, but they decided to look past it either way.

Satoru went on to explain that part of the reason that curses were attracted to me was due to the nature of my cursed technique, which was actually called 'Polarity'.

But the larger part of the cause was the lingering taint of the finger since it was kept inside that house with minimal barriers. The curses must've been trying to find the finger so they could level up, and at this point the seal that was on it was getting pretty weak and that's why they got so close to it.

But Satoru told me that there was no need to worry about that finger any more. It had already been stored at Jujutsu Tech under heavy security.

I wondered if it was one of the ones they'd already had in their custody during the Sister School Exchange Event arc in the show or if this was a change in the plot that they now had this particular finger…

I asked Satoru and Yaga-san why the curses I'd fought back then were saying things like 'my baby' and 'keep you safe from that world'. Satoru hummed and after some thought he decided that it was likely the curses were influenced by Sato Kiku's inner anxieties. Like he told me the day before that Kiku kidnapped me because of the loss of her stillborn daughter so she saw me as her dead daughter. Kiku had known what kind of world I was born into and probably also took me in order to protect me from the world of Jujutsu.

But in the end, I got myself involved regardless of it, because I was born as a Jujutsu sorcerer.

With my questions about that day answered, and maybe being safe from being suspected due to my age (or at least I hope so), Satoru took me out for a walk on school grounds, to give me lay of the land, so to speak.

I would soon come to realise that in actuality, he was taking me to meet one of his friends who was coming back from a mission today.

And that friend's name was Nanami Kento.

"And this is the largest training hall at the school!" Satoru said, holding his arm out, fingers spread out as he gestured towards the large, traditional building with dark tiles, beams and white walls; he started to explain with a healthy dose of 'humble bragging'; "I didn't need to spend too long here, because your big brother is already naturally strong and all, but I'll be taking you there to experiment with your curse technique soon so we can see what steps we need to take next to develop it! I actually knew the other more recent user of the technique, our auntie Sumire, though she died before you were born. So, I know quite a bit about Polarity from seeing it first-hand when I was little!" he told me.

"Uh-huh." I nodded, bobbing my head, "What was auntie like?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, she was a total bore," 'Ouch…' I thought as Satoru bluntly said, before continuing, "But she was definitely knowledgeable. A traditional lady, all no-nonsense like our parents are, and she really knew how to lecture my ear off when I was slacking on training. But, she was decently strong. She'd mastered Polarity and used it expertly to try and nail me with chalkboard erasers so many times, which was annoying. 'Course, they never actually hit me." He reminisced, scrunching his nose and rubbing the back of his head as if remembering the impacts of those chalkboard erasers.

"It's a shame she's not around anymore… you know, so I could learn from another user and all." I said, looking down. After a moment, I hummed and looked up, "Why didn't they hit you? You can't have dodged all of them." I asked him.

Satoru audibly gasped, "Do you underestimate your big brother that much? That hurts!" he said, though I didn't sense any true hurt in his tone; he lifted his pointer finger up, "I'll have you know it's impossible to get a hit in on me if I don't wish it. You see, there's an infinity that exists between me and any that would wish me harm. The closer they get, the longer it takes to reach me." He told me.

I tilted my head, playing along, "Eh? What do you mean? Is it your technique, like my Magne- I mean Polarity?" I asked and he nodded exaggeratedly.

"Yep! I'll tell you more about them another time! Oh, and don't worry! You've got the next best guy to teach you. ME!" Satoru said, proudly grinning and pointing to himself.

I looked back up at him, blinking, "Do you have the qualifications?" I asked him.

"Eh?" he faltered, looking down at me. Oops. Did I use a big word I wasn't supposed to, again?

"Are you a good teacher? You're still just a kid, too, even though you're older than me…" I corrected, fiddling with my fingers nervously.

"Weeeelll, I've never actually taught someone myself…" Satoru hesitantly admitted, before shaking his head, "But don't worry! I'm sure I'll be the best teacher ever! It's okay!" he said, regaining his confidence and gusto.

"I pray for your future students, then." A tired, matter-of-fact voice intoned from behind Satoru, surprising me, but not my brother.

He spun around, beaming and raising his arms excitedly, "Nanamin! You're back! Fancy meeting you here, hahaha!" he loudly laughed as he approached him, and I widened my eyes.

Oh my god.

I scurried after Satoru and peeked out from behind his legs to get a look at my second favourite male character from the manga.

He looked younger than the version of him I was used to, but I remembered this look at the same time, from when I read the Hidden Inventory arc of the manga.

His hair wasn't slicked back expertly at this time, instead hanging a partial, blond fringe over one side of his face in a slightly emo-style haircut. His cheekbones were still slightly pronounced, but he went without the eyeglasses, revealing his tired, already-done-with-Satoru's-shit eyes. He wore the standard Jujutsu Tech boys' uniform, and his body-language made his fatigue apparent.

Satoru said 'you're back'. Maybe Nanami-san had just returned from a mission?

"I have a feeling it wasn't coincidence at all that we met out here. Any even if we didn't you'd probably have barged into my room anyway..." Nanami-san sighed, glancing down and as he did, he paused, his eyes meeting mine.

Seeing me seemed to have taken any other words of ire right out of him, and having his eyes on me was a little nerve-wracking.

I gripped Satoru's dress pants a little tighter, looking up at Nanami-san.

"Um… H-Hello…" I hesitantly spoke to him, heart hammering in my chest.

He blinked down at me, taking the sight of me in and it felt like he was analysing me, in a way. After he was done, he murmured, "Hello…" slowly, before turning his attention to Satoru, "Gojo, who is this?" he asked, getting right to the point. His brows were furrowed and he looked confused.

Satoru made a show of it, first gripping the back of my shirt to urge me to get out from behind him.

Once I had been removed from behind his legs, and feeling very exposed, I flushed as he waved his jazz hands at me, crouching down a little as he did.

"Why, this is my baby sister, the adorable and talented GOJO YUKINEEEEE-CHAN!" he loudly proclaimed, being obnoxious. I winced under his high volume, and covered my face.

This is not how I wanted to be introduced to one of my favourite characters, Satoru….

Nanami Kento is looking at me right now, and I feel small under his scrutinizing stare.

"I don't believe you." Is what Nanami-san finally said, surprising both Satoru and I.

I peeked out from behind my hands as Satoru turned to him, "What is that supposed to mean!? I'm telling you, she's my sister! I'd know my own sister, any day!" Satoru cried at Nanami-san.

"Yeah, no. You can't expect me to buy that the two of you are related. Apart from the colouring, the two of you are nothing alike, personality-wise." Nanami-san went on to say, stepping closer and crouching down with a grunt, "So tell me, kid, where did he kidnap you from?" he asked me.

"HEY!" Satoru sputtered, indignant.

"From Tobetsu, near Sapporo." I answered Nanami-san, grinning a little as I removed my hands away from my face slowly.

"YUKINE!?" Satoru sounded betrayed as he spun his head round to look at me, blue eyes widened, and I giggled a little.

A smile cracked on Nanami-san, only very slightly, but he didn't say anything.

I decided to set the record straight, for Satoru's sake I should be honest and truthful.

"He didn't exactly kidnap me though. I didn't know it but I was kidnapped by the person I thought was my mom, when I was very little. So really, Satoru only brought me home. I'm still getting used to everything here though, and he did show up out of nowhere and kinda drop it all on me, so to be honest I can't totally believe he's my brother yet either." I said, glancing from Satoru to Nanami-san as I did, and I noticed my brother nodding along as I spoke, until he heard the last bit and did a double take.

"You're still doubting me?" he asked.

"Can you really blame me?" "Can you really blame her." Nanami-san and I spoke at the same time, and I snorted, while Satoru pouted.

Nanami-san then extended a hand for me to shake, "I'm Nanami Kento. A year below your brother at Jujutsu Tech. Nice to meet you." he introduced himself to me.

I smiled and grabbed his hand, though I could only fit my hand around two of his fingers, and we shook hands; "Nice to meet you, too, Nanami-san! I'm Gojo Yukine, I guess." I replied, and then turned to Satoru as we let go of each other's' hands.

"Don't worry about it, Satoru. It's all new to me right now, but I'll probably get used to it. I don't really not believe you're my brother or anything." I said, moving to pat his shoulder gently. He pulled me in for a hug.

"Mmhm… I know the way we 'first met' wasn't ideal, but I'll do everything I can so you're comfortable here with me. Okay?" he said, and I nodded.

"Okay." I agreed.

We stood like that for a while, and I felt it was still a little awkward, glancing over to Nanami-san who had stood up from his crouch, dusting off his pants and adjusting his bag. But it didn't seem like he was in a hurry to leave.

When he spotted me looking at him, he cleared his throat, "I'm going to head back to my dorm room now," he spied Satoru's head raising to look at him, "-and you are not following me, Gojo. The mission was long, and hard and I'm too tired to deal with you anymore right now." He said firmly to the white-haired teen.

Nanami-san then turned to me, "It was nice meeting you; you seem like a pleasant child. I'll pray that you don't let your older brother influence you too much. We don't need two of him." He said, and I grinned and nodded.

"Excuse me?" Now Satoru was pouting.

With little fanfare, after that Nanami-san parted ways with us for the day to go rest in his room. Satoru was only pouting for a little bit after that, but he quickly recovered and turned to me again;

"Well, with that, you've met all of my friends here at Jujutsu Tech!" he said to me, getting up and stretching his legs. I blinked.

"You only have two friends?" I asked, because I knew he was omitting Geto Suguru. I wasn't sure if we were before or after his betrayal right now.

Satoru was silent at my question and looked uncomfortable although he was trying to not show it. Like I thought, he doesn't want to mention Geto, his best friend. So, this must be after he'd gone rogue. And I know that must've hit him really hard. I bit my lip and rubbed my arm in discomfort.

"N-Never mind. You don't have to answer that-" I began, but then Yaga-san appeared out of nowhere, approaching us with a serious expression. Shoko-san was following quietly behind with a somber expression.

"Satoru. I need a word." He said to my brother.

"Ehhhh? No way, I'm spending time with Yukine right now. Get someone else to do it—"

"All of our other Special Grade sorcerers are already assigned elsewhere and only one of the three grade 1 sorcerers we sent returned alive, but seriously injured. I wouldn't ask this of you right now unless I had no other choice." Yaga-san said stoically. At that, Satoru's expression soured, and though he looked like he was sulking, he understood how serious it must be. After all, that was very ominous wording.

Satoru pursed his lips, and turned to me, pushing on a smile, "Hey, I'll be back soon, okay? Hang out with Shoko." He told me, and I slowly nodded, letting him head off with Yaga-san as I watched them go.

Left alone with Shoko-san, I uncertainly looked up at her and she pushed on a smile of her own, trying to reassure me; "Hey, I have an idea. There's someone I think you'd like to meet. He's big and fluffy, and only a year older than you." She said to me and I widened my eyes.

"A puppy?" was my assumption.

"Nope. A panda." Shoko-san immediately corrected and if they were capable of it, my eyes would've widened even more, "Well, sort of." She added, mysteriously.

No way… I'm already meeting one of my future senpai?! That was exciting…!

And so, I let Shoko-san lead me to Panda-senpai.

onigiriri: Hey, sorry for the long time of no updates. As I said a couple of chapters ago, I'm employed at a cinema, and my job has been kind of hectic with all the summer blockbusters coming out. Also, I had a death in the family a few weeks ago, my grandad who was 92. It's been tough, for a bunch of reasons, to get into the writing mood, but I'm okay now! I'll try to get back into the swing of things and update a bit more regularly again.

I hope you liked this chapter. I think the 11th or 12th curse will be when Megumi and Tsumiki finally come in. The next chapter is the final part of the 1st arc.

I hope that this was worth the wait. I hope you'll leave a comment or review. :) xxxx