Megumi Fushiguro considered himself a failure.
The Ten Shadows user could do nothing as the King of Curses seized control of his body like a mere sock puppet. He could only helplessly watch as Sukuna tore through everyone he held dear: his adoptive parent, his sister, his friends, and his mentors, their mortal coils all sliced apart by the strongest curse user's multitude of cursed techniques.
It took the combined efforts of his friend Yuji and the others to get him back, and although he was saved, it took his life, among many others, to get rid of Sukuna once and for all.
Was his life a life worth living? He didn't know. If he wasn't such a fuckup, then less blood would be shed. His sister would still be alive. Gojo would be cheering up their companions. Yuji would still have another brother. If only he was better...
It was getting darker now. His eyelids drooped. The area razed by the battle was slowly becoming less visible.
Maybe he'd see them…
Maybe they still lived, so he wouldn't see their faces in heaven…
Just maybe, a wish would bring them all back...
The world turned dark, and Megumi Fushiguro died.
Megumi's eyes fluttered open, and the first thing he saw was a red steel bridge.
"A bridge? That's impossible…"
How could there be a bridge out here in Shinjuku? Well, there were bridges in Shinjuku itself, but not as big as this one!
WHERE
THE HELL
WAS HE?!
Where were the others?
How far did his corpse go?
Were there any curses nearby?
Millions of questions a minute bombarded Megumi's mind. The whos, the wheres, and the whys piled up at an alarming rate.
If he was here, what did that mean for his body?
Wait, his body!
Megumi shot up, and his eyes of blue shot up and down his body, inspecting every crevice, every inch, and every seam of the fabric he wore and the skin that held him together.
Everything… was normal? But how? Sukuna completed the incarnation! His original body should've been gone!
But… everything was okay...
His cursed energy was still flowing like it did before. Nothing felt off, and everything was in tune…
"Am I dead? This has to be a joke! There's no way I could still be alive after all that!"
"Yo kid! Quit yapping and calm down!"
What? Who could be there? Was it an enemy? A friend? Neither?
A (blue-haired?) man came walking near. He held a fishing rod and a bucket of bait!
What did this man want from him?
"You alright, kid? You seem like you've seen a ghost ten times over!"
SIGH
"Sorry to bother you, but do you know where I am?"
"'Where am I'? Kid, did you hit your head or something? You're in Fuyuki City."
…
What?
"Okay… and what prefecture is this in?"
The Bluenette rolled his eyes, "Hell if I know sea urchin! I'm just going to the docks."
"Please don't call me that," Megumi deadpanned.
"Hah! It's alright kid. D'ya need directions or something?"
"No… it's fine."
"Alright urchin head! See ya later!"
As the blue-haired ponytail man whistled a tune as he went to catch nothing at the docks, Megumi was left a little bit befuddled.
He did not know of a city named Fuyuki, nor did he know where anything was in this blasted area. He did not know the date or anything relevant to time. He did not know if his death meant something to the world as it currently was.
He simply did not know.
And so Megumi Fushiguro, the wielder of the Ten Shadows, First Year Jujutsu Sorcerer, the puppet of Sukuna, and many other epithets one could possibly impose upon him, simply walked away.
Into a world unknown…
It was sundown, and Megumi was officially homeless.
Apparently, in the infinite wisdom of this darn planet, he decided he could do it himself! Surely this would end well for him.
Not contacting his friends in any way, shape, or form. Not asking a public official for help (but everyone knew not to do that anyway.) Not even asking a random bystander. NOTHING!
"Well, either I sleep outside like a homeless person for the night or I decide to call someone."
Now, Megumi would rather not do the second option, but the first option was not liked either. What could he do? It's not as if something could just be right in front of him to...
Solve…
His…
Problems…
"God, I'm an idiot."
Lo and behold, in front of the Sorcerer, an abandoned house stood.
It was old. The steps to the house were eroding. The paint was peeling. Everything was basically in ruin.
No one could be living there, right?
Well, for now anyway.
"Are you okay? You've been looking at that old house for a while now. No one is living there, and who would anyway?"
The black-haired boy turned and saw a pig-tailed girl wearing red. She had aqua eyes and a cross on her chest.
Who was she?
What did she want from him anyway?
"Would you quit oogling me?"
The raven-haired sorcerer twitched. Did someone really have to assume something now? He surely needed more stress, didn't he?
"I'm not. I'm just taking a look at who you are."
"And do you know who I am?"
…
Megumi pondered for a moment and gave his response.
"Nope."
"Huh? Well, I guess some introductions are in order, urchin boy. My name is Rin Tohsaka."
…
Tohsaka twitched. How could someone who looked her age not know her name? Well, it's not like she desired popularity, but people really should know who she is!
"Hey! Earth to Urchin Boy! I told you who I am; now it's time for you to tell me who YOU are!"
"Alright alright. My name is…"
…
…
"Spit it out, urchin boy."
"It's Megumi Fushiguro."
"There we go! See! That wasn't so hard!"
"It wasn't."
"Right, riiiiight. Are you in town for anything? Something that happens every so often?"
"The last thing I need right now is to be in this town, Tohsaka. I'm doing perfectly fine."
Yeah right.
"Well, I guess I'm gonna get out of your hair. Bye urchin boy!"
And the girl went off, and Megumi was left once again to think about his house hunting situation.
"Hey Archer? Did you pick up anything on Urchin Boy?"
"You know? Yeah, I did! It was that you freak people out with your shenanigans."
The pig-tailed Master stood with a man in red. His hair snow white, and his skin a rough, intense tan, reflecting her black hair and her pristine, beige skin. The two looked like black and white, as if one reflected the other.
"That's not funny, Archer! He seemed weird, and I want to find out why!"
"He seemed weird because you popped up on him while he was house hunting!"
"I did not! It's normal to go up to and talk to people. It's his fault he got so surprised! It's also weird that he didn't know who I was!"
"Not everyone will know who you are, Rin; for example, I didn't know who you were!"
GURKK!
The raven-haired magus wrung her hands around the archer's windpipe. Quite violently too.
"Rin!" The white-haired Adonis could barely choke out, "Calm down for a moment!"
…
The magus let her hands go and slowly pulled them back.
"Sorry Archer…
Look, I noticed that Urchin Boy has some weird energy coursing through him. It's not mana, prana, od, or anything else that a magus usually has. It's freaking me out, and I
CAN'T
FIGURE
OUT
WHY!"
…
Blink blink…
Sheesh, she really has anger issues, doesn't she?
"Welp, how about you ask him later? Considering how long he looked at the abandoned house, you could always find him there."
"I guess, but I still need to know-"
"Hey, is that Emiya down there?"
"Oh, be quiet, Archer! I'm trying to concentrate here. This guy may help win the Grail! It's only a matter of time before-"
"Hey Tohsaka."
"God damn it!"
Now snug in his new home, a less preferable place than expected, Megumi began to examine what he did and did not have.
He had: this abandoned house, Cursed Energy, and most importantly of all, his technique (But how? Didn't Sukuna's fight with Gojo kill all of the Shikigami?)
On the other hand, he did not have: heat, running, running water, any way to connect to his friends or colleagues, or food.
And last but not least: A possible sorcerer on his tail.
Just perfect!
Well…
He might as well try to use his technique to improve his situation, yet he felt hesitant.
Ever since he got to this darned place called…
Fubuki? Furuki? Ah! Fuyuki!
Ever since he got into Fuyuki City he felt his technique as though it was back to square one. Not exactly like square one, but more like it was refreshed, like a cooldown in a video game.
What happened to Kuro and Shiro? What happened to his frogs? His rabbits? What happened to all of them?
Megumi sighed, and striked a pose.
Here goes nothing.
Megumi took a deep breath. His chest heaved up and down. Megumi exhaled…
And began.
He made a shadow puppet of a dog, and invoked his technique.
"HEED MY CALL!" He yelled, loud enough so that the whole house heard but quiet enough so that there wouldn't be a noise complaint, "DIVINE DOGS!"
A shadow formed. Murky black formed and steeped, bubbling and shaking. Like a witch's cauldron, it rumbled with horrifying power.
Were his dogs really there?
…
A shape formed.
The black gunk coursed through and through, until a hulking beast sprung up. Black became white at the bottom, and at the mouth as well.
This was not the Divine Dogs, this was…
TOTALITY.
As the wind kicked up, exemplifying the status of Winter, Megumi Fushiguro was in a bit of a pickle.
*GURGLE*
Now, Megumi was not really one to go out looking for bargains, but as it currently stood, he had no breakfast, nor a warm place to live. Although the usage of his Shikigami was vital to his survival, Megumi still needed breakfast.
He could've just stolen a wallet, but unfortunately, Megumi was (somehow) not ready to stoop to that level. After all, he just woke up (maybe died? None of this made sense) flat on his ass at the park, only an insane man would…
Stoop…
That…
Far…
…
BUT THAT WASN'T THE POINT! Megumi would regret making that decision dearly, even if he was a few stacks richer. He could already hear his Mentor mocking him for his, going on about how his little urchin had succumbed to thievery.
"Megumiiiiiii," Gojo would whine. "I can't believe you're a thief! What would your dear friends say?"
They'd say they'd do the same thing!
"No they wouldn't! Yuji-kun would never steal! Nobara-chan though…"
Yes, yes. She'd assault somebody and run away cackling. Did Nobara have a brain injury when she was younger?
"She didn't, you on the other hand did! You hit yourself when trying to hit me with a skillet! Those eggs were yummy by the way!"
Of course they were…
As the Raven-Haired boy listened to his obnoxious subconscious, a boy with rust-like, orange hair walked by. Said boy was in a hurry and made a mistake. He ordered too many eggs! Now, why this was bad was a story for another day, as explaining would take too long, (the Tiger would beg for more omelets, much to his dismay,) but what mattered is that the boy needed to get rid of a spare carton.
Fortunately, this is where fates intertwined.
"What the hell are you doing." A bystander deadpanned.
The cook of the Tiger of Fuyuki's eyes shot up and saw a guy with hair like an urchin.
"I'm trying to get rid of these eggs, erm, uhh…"
"It's Megumi. My name is Megumi Fushiguro."
"Well okay then! I'm Shirou Emiya. You wouldn't mind taking some eggs would you now?"
"No? Why would I?"
"Well that's just great!"
*SLAM*
Emiya shunted the carton onto Megumi's hands, and darted off to wherever his legs took him.
"Thanks a lot Fushiguro! Seeyalater I'lltalkwithyouagainBYEEE!"
As the Rust-Haired boy ran away, the sorcerer couldn't help but wonder:
'What just happened?'
Unfortunately for him, this would not be the last time he saw Shirou Emiya. Little did they know they had much to do, and much in common, starting with the little red tattoo seared upon their hands.
As Megumi walked home, he felt a prick upon his hand. Considering it was quite chilly at the moment, that should not have made sense, unless by some work of the curses down below hell.
'Was that a bug bite?' Fushiguro murmured, 'It's the middle of Winter! There should be no bugs at all until…
Summer…'
Oh boy that was not good.
Upon Megumi's hand lay a red tattoo. Its design was Mahoraga's 8 Handled wheel, the one laid upon its back. The same wheel that consisted of eight handles, each with an orb connecting to it, connected to a central orb and an outer ring. Megumi clearly remembered the last 12 hours, and he never touched or approached any tattoo tools.
Hell, if Gojo saw this, he'd make fun of it to the ends of the Earth!
But that wasn't the worst part, no sir. IT WAS NOT THE WORST PART.
The worst part was the fact that it felt like it LIVED.
LIVED!
Was it a parasite or something? Was it an enemy sorcerer's technique? A curse? What the hell could it be-
Oh what the hell.
Megumi gave up, and walked into his home.
He'd worry about this another day.
*SIZZLE*
As Megumi was boiling his breakfast, he considered that he was doing quite fine.
Just fine really.
Fine.
Nothing was wrong. Everything was going fine.
Everything.
Well, Megumi did just get a dozen eggs, so that wasn't too bad.
Clearly.
If he got a dozen eggs, then surely he'll get some more things.
Maybe a couch.
Maybe some closed windows and paint.
Maybe HIS GODDA-
*SIGH*
Clearly, Megumi Fushiguro was doing fine.
Just fine…
*CLANK*
Now, Megumi Fushiguro couldn't be doing fine without breakfast, of course.
As he hauled up the two uneven orbs of deliciousness, he prepared a piece of broken metal found somewhere in the house.
Clearly, the previous homeowner wanted others to do well in their humble abode.
Clearly.
IF IT WASN'T FOR HIS STUPI-
*SHANK*
Uh oh.
Welp, clearly, Megumi Fushiguro was doing fine.
People cut themselves all the time when making eggs right?
"Oh Megumi, what have you done now?" Gojo would sulk.
Oh he's being delirious again! Fantastic!
"It's not funny Megumi! You cut yourself! Wait a moment, YOU STABBED YOURSELF! What did I tell you about being careful?!"
Nothing obviously. After all, Megumi bothered to even listen to what Gojo was-
"'Saying,' yeah right idiot! You listened to every single one of those stinking lectures I gave to you! And now you're going 'Mehmehmehmehmeh, I'm a loser and no one loves me!' Boohoo! Listen to yourself! You're acting crazy!"
*DRIP*
*DRIP*
*DRIP*
And of COURSE he forgot to patch himself up!
OF COURSE!
*SHING!*
What was that?
*BOOM!*
"Huh! I guess that idiot was a Master after all!"
"He blew up his house Rin, that's not really emblematic of a Master. Especially considering-"
"SHUT IT, Archer."
"Yes ma'am."
As Urchin Boy's rundown house blew up like a bad anime gag, Rin and Archer stood afar.
This was because Rin so very dearly needed to spy on the poor boy. Considering Fushiguro's run-in with Wonder-Boy (Shirou) and the appearance of Command Seals on the back of his palm, it was only a matter of time before he would summon a servant.
"Which Servant do you think he summoned Archer? I'm hoping it's not Saber!"
"Well Rin, I'd like to go with "What is Rider" for 500!"
"Hmph! Then I'm going with "What is Caster" for 1000!"
"That's not how Jeopardy works."
"YOU'RE NOT HOW JEOPARDY WORKS!"
*AHEM*
Rin lit up as she planned their next scheme, "Anyway, let's go see who Urchin Boy summoned! Maybe we can get him on our side first try!"
"Considering your first encounter I don't think that it'll work," Archer deadpanned.
"One more word and you're going to sleep in a box tonight."
"Servants don't sleep Rin."
"You know exactly what I meant Archer."
"Yes ma'am."
*SHUNT*
Archer LEAPED into the sky and onto the street with Rin in hand. Their goal? Get Urchin Boy to work with them!
"This will end terribly Rin," Archer mumbled.
"Keep talking like that and it will."
COUGH
WHEEZE
"This-" Megumi coughed out, "This is the worst."
Although his eggs remained in hand…
As well as a piece of metal, unfortunately.
Megumi could not help but bear witness to the smoke emanating from the floor. His eyes darted up and down, left and right, to just maybe, see that nothing major happened.
As the smoke cleared that hope would die, as within the mystical circle on the floor a figure became more visible.
Good lord, Megumi was going to have the kind of day that would only happen in a manga. The day where the Main Character would wake up late, rush outside, and get hit by a CAR!
Except for the fact that he was not rushing nor was he going to get hit by a car. Instead whatever mystical being above saw fit to give Megumi another blasted headache, except this time HE DID NOT KNOW WHAT IT WAS!
As the dust settled, and the smoke cleared, Megumi's headache intensified. Who the hell could it be?
Before him stood what was essentially a hippie cosplaying a warrior straight out of the Heian era. Unlike those of the Heian era he did know (Sukuna and the rest of his cronies,) the figure did not wear any piece of clothing he saw himself.
This was not good.
The figure wore black sandals and white socks. They wore asymmetrical shorts with a violet, baggy, pant leg. They wore an asymmetrical coat, with a white sleeve on their right arm. On the left arm, however, they wore a violet sleeve.
Aside from that mess of a wardrobe, (at least Megumi knew how to dress up. HAH!), the figure wore Samurai armor. It was not the full set the West has come to idolize, but rather a shoulder guard on the right. They also wore a black bodysuit and several red strings were adorned across the figure's body.
Lastly, the figure had their hair tied with a golden ribbon and wore what seemed to be a shrunken down Kanmuri, although he may have been incorrect, as Gojo did lecture him many times on the ancient Heian wardrobe, yet never mentioned the kanmuri (probably because no sorcerer wore a kanmuri. At all.)
They also had a sword.
A…
Sword…
Hoooh boy.
"I am Assassin! I have responded to your summons!" The figure spoke, with authority and power. Megumi could have just disregarded this, but considering the fact that this "Assassin" just poofed into existence, it was better to listen to the petite warrior anyway.
"You are my Master, are you not?" "Assassin" beckoned.
What?
If this were a cartoon, Megumi's eyes would be bulging out of their sockets. "Master"? HAH! What sick joke is this?
"Sorry… kid. I don't know what you are talking about. I am not your "Master" so go away and do whatever you are blabbering about."
"AHAHAHAH!" "Assassin" bellowed, "And yet you are my Master! The command seals on your hand show proof!"
"The tattoo?"
Megumi looked at the back of his palm.
And back at Assassin.
And back to the tattoo.
And to Assassin.
And back.
And forth.
"What are you going on about?" Fushiguro questioned bewilderedly.
BAM
BAM
BAM
"AH! Another Servant is here! Let me take care of this Master!" Assassin requested.
"No, I WILL take care of this!" Megumi shot back.
The Master stomped his way to the front door.
He TORE the door open.
And lo and behold: Rin Tohsaka was there.
"May I come in?" Rin requested.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…
"No." Megumi responded.
SLAM
…
"Archer, please open the door for me. We've got a meeting to begin!"
"Yes ma'am."
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"
CHAPTER 1…
END!