A/N at the end of the chapter

TW: Blood and injury

CHAPTER 8

{POV: Suzue Kujou}

Suzue's red eyes widened in horror as she stared at the building, letting the cursed energy wash over her.

The worst had happened. Of course, it had. This was the higher-ups' plan from the start, and hoping for a different outcome had been naive.

Quickly, she tied her hair into a small ponytail, the shorter strands falling forward, framing her serious face. She thought about Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara, still trapped inside the domain. There wasn't much time to think; she had to act fast if she wanted any chance of getting all three of them out alive.

A special-grade curse: Suzue wasn't a strategist or a great warrior, and she certainly wasn't Satoru Gojo. But she was strong, she knew that. Her cursed technique was extremely versatile and powerful. She had confidence she could hold her own against the curse, somehow. And that "somehow" was probably going to be less strategic and more... brutal. This wasn't the time to doubt herself.

She turned sharply toward Ijichi, who looked agitated and was backing away, overwhelmed by the cursed energy. She couldn't blame him.

«Call a medical team. Get them here as soon as possible.»

She didn't wait to see his reaction; she knew he'd probably do it anyway. She sprinted towards the building entrance. Ijichi shouted something after her, but she ignored him.

As she approached, Suzue studied the building carefully. She noticed with some relief that the domain was incomplete, not fully enclosed by a barrier.

This gave her a bit of an advantage; sure, there was a special-grade curse roaming inside, but it was "newborn" and inexperienced, and the incomplete domain proved that. She could enter and get the students out without worrying about breaking through a barrier, and it was likely the sure-hit effect hadn't activated with an incomplete domain.

The glass seemed half-full from this angle, but she couldn't let her guard down.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she sharpened her senses and took her first step inside the building. Then another, and another.

Nothing. The building was eerily silent, but worse, Suzue couldn't sense anything: neither the students' cursed energy nor the special-grade curse's energy, which was distinctly perceptible from outside.

It was as if the entire building was muffled, a sealed compartment where any technique to sense cursed energy was useless. Suzue turned around. The entrance she had just come through was gone or, more likely, had been moved.

"So this is the curse's innate domain… A labyrinth meant to disorient those who enter by nullifying their senses and the perception of cursed energy."

This meant the special-grade curse could be anywhere right now, unable to be located. Not good.

Suzue continued to move cautiously down the corridor that stretched before her, gradually picking up speed. As she advanced, she thought about her cursed technique, figuring out the best way to use it: Divine Flames allowed her to manipulate and shape highly destructive flames, molding them into any form she desired and adjusting their power at will. When these flames were let loose, they burned everything in their path and fed on her vast reserves of cursed energy. Additionally, they could consume any other cursed energy they encountered.

It wasn't complicated: an inexorable fire that devoured everything and fed on cursed energy.

A curse or an inexperienced sorcerer attacked by those flames who tried to defend themselves with cursed energy or cursed techniques would only speed up their own demise.

Suzue herself had suffered minor burns over time, but her growing control over the technique now allowed her to be immune to the flames. However, losing concentration in battle meant risking not only herself but also any allies nearby.

But right now, it was a risk she had to take. If she wanted to save everyone, she had to survive first.

Suzue used her cursed technique to shape the fire into a long, slender staff in her hands. She was small and physically weak; she needed to rely on ranged attacks to have an advantage. Plus, being made of flames, the weapon had no weight, making it perfect for her lack of physical strength. If the curse appeared suddenly, a quick touch with that improvised weapon would start to consume it with her flames.

The flaming staff dimly lit the corridor. Suzue gripped it firmly, unaffected by the burns, and began navigating the building's halls, turn after turn, trying to make sense of the labyrinth but failing. With horror, she passed several dismembered human bodies, probably prisoners who had fallen victim to the curse. The scene around her was... gruesome. It had been a bloodbath, and those people probably didn't even have time to understand what was happening.

She felt a pang of panic creeping into her mind; she hadn't encountered anyone, human or otherwise, still alive, and it didn't sit well with her. When she turned yet another corner in the corridor, she suddenly came face-to-face with a non-human figure.

Suzue instinctively jumped and was about to attack with her weapon to incinerate it but stopped just in time to realize it was one of Megumi's shikigami.

"Divine dog...?" Suzue thought, feeling a glimmer of hope.

If the shikigami was okay, then its master must be too. Suzue looked at it; the shikigami had stopped in front of her and seemed to be watching her as if trying to communicate something.

«...Can you take me to your master?» Suzue asked hesitantly.

The shikigami seemed to nod slightly, turned around, and started running down another corridor. Suzue hurried to follow, hoping it would lead her to Megumi.

After a few minutes of weaving through corridors and empty, gloomy rooms, Suzue finally saw Megumi running toward her in the distance. Suzue stopped in the middle of a small atrium to catch her breath, feeling her stamina already strained from the brief run.

She watched Megumi approach with an extremely serious expression on his face.

She noticed he was injured and bleeding from his temple, but he was alive. Suzue let out a small sigh of relief: one out of three was alive.

Megumi was panting heavily. It was clear he had fought or at least tried to. Suzue felt overwhelmed. For three first-year students to face a special-grade curse and survive… it had to be terrifying.

«Kujou-san, we tried to get out as you said, but this place turned into a labyrinth and… that curse didn't give us a break.»

Suzue shook her head and reassured him, hearing the urgency and fear he was trying to mask in his voice.

«Don't worry, you did your best. Sorry to rush, but time is against us. Where are the others?»

She wanted to check on the boy's health more thoroughly, but what she said was true: time was running out, and two students were still missing. She couldn't relax yet.

Megumi nodded toward another shikigami that looked like a giant frog and seemed to be following him. The shikigami opened its large mouth slightly, revealing Nobara inside, unconscious but alive. Suzue let out another sigh of relief: two out of three.

Then she looked at Megumi, whose face had darkened; Suzue had already guessed, but she still found the courage to ask.

«…Yuji?»

She held her breath, waiting for Megumi's response. He seemed to take a moment to find the right words.

«He... he stayed behind to give us an escape route. He held off that curse so I could save Kugisaki.»

Megumi's voice was filled with frustration for having left his friend with such a suicidal task.

Suzue felt her heart sink. Yuji. Of course, Yuji had stayed behind. And it wasn't about the higher-ups' schemes; it was just that boy lacked self-preservation and was utterly reckless.

Suzue bit her lip; this was a huge problem.

She couldn't waste time leaving Yuji at the mercy of the curse. She turned her attention back to Megumi, looking him decisively in the eyes, trying to convey some sense of security in this dire situation.

«Megumi, your Divine Dogs seem to navigate here... get Nobara out quickly. This is an incomplete domain, once you find the exit there won't be any barriers blocking you. Ijichi has already alerted the medical team; they'll be waiting outside. »

Without wasting time, she moved past him, gripping the flaming staff tightly.

«And Itadori?!» Megumi shouted after her.

Suzue didn't turn around, her gaze fixed ahead. Her lip trembled slightly, but she spoke, hoping she could keep her promise.

«I'll get him out.»

"...if I can find him before it's too late" she added mentally, clenching her fists.

She took off running out of that cramped atrium, hearing Megumi running in the opposite direction behind her after a moment of hesitation. She could only hope that at least the two of them would make it out unscathed without encountering more danger along the way.

Suzue's heart was pounding in her chest; she had to find Yuji quickly. He had already spent too much time at the mercy of a special-grade curse, and with every passing second, the chances of finding him alive dwindled.

Once she was sure she was far enough from Megumi, she executed her unstrategic, brutal plan: if this place had turned into a labyrinth, she would start tearing down the walls one by one until she found either Yuji or the curse.

Dangerous? Absolutely. But necessary.

She covered herself in a thin but effective layer of fire like armor, so thin it was almost transparent, except for a slight red-orange glow. It would be enough to protect her from debris and soften surprise attacks.

Suzue focused on the wall to her left, concentrating the cursed energy in her left hand.

It was a trick she had mastered well, one of the few taught to her directly within the Kujou clan before it was destroyed when she was still a child.

She shaped a modestly sized fireball, compressing the flames as much as she could, essentially creating a concentrated bomb. She aimed the fireball at the wall and launched it with precision.

The flames, so concentrated and compressed in the sphere, exploded on contact, causing the wall to collapse easily, taking down the walls behind it as well.

The entire building shook from the explosion.

Suzue observed the gaping hole she had created. Her thin flame armor had protected her from the debris, but she realized she needed to moderate the power of the next blast to avoid collapsing the entire structure.

There was no sign of Yuji or the curse. Suzue stepped into the hole and continued down another path. She stopped and repeated the process on another series of walls, but still, there was no sign of Yuji.

Frustration grew inside her. It felt like she was wasting time, running in circles, and consuming too much cursed energy by tearing down walls.

She tried a new direction. Entering a large, empty hall, she prepared another blast and, after taking a deep breath, this time she aimed directly at the floor.

The floor crumbled beneath her feet, and she fell into the void along with the debris into what seemed like a vast atrium. And there, finally, she saw it: the special-grade curse, grotesque and humanoid, and absurdly tall. Much more tall and big than Suzue.

Scanning the room quickly, she spotted Yuji. He was on the ground.

Still mid-air, Suzue concentrated some flames beneath her, not too powerful, using their small explosive force to cushion her landing. This trick, allowing her to use the propulsion from the explosion of concentrated flames to enhance her movement, was also one of the few legacies from her clan.

Thanks to this and the thin flame armor she had created, she landed with only a few superficial scratches: better than expected.

Suzue, having landed in the center of the large atrium, kept her guard up and observed the curse in front of her. It didn't seem to pay her much attention, continuing to advance with a strange, irregular step toward Yuji, emitting strange sounds. The curse seemed… like a newborn baby.

Now that she was closer, Suzue could clearly perceive the cursed energy she had sensed from outside the domain.

She felt herself waver. Now that she was face to face with the special-grade curse, alone, her determination began to crumble. Her hands started trembling slightly, and she began to doubt she could handle such a dangerous situation by herself. But then her eyes landed on Yuji.

Yuji was on the ground, leaning against a wall, not moving. Blood was pouring from his head, and Suzue noticed with horror that he was missing a hand; blood gushed from the amputated arm. As if that wasn't enough, he had numerous other injuries, less severe but still concerning.

Trying to stay calm, Suzue focused on sensing Yuji's cursed energy. It was faint but present. He was alive, just barely.

She turned her attention back to the curse, which was stumbling toward Yuji, determined on what she had to do. Suzue propelled herself with flames beneath her feet and behind her, passing fast the curse and positioning herself in front of Yuji. As she passed, she used the staff to strike the curse's leg, setting it ablaze.

The curse's leg began to crumble under the effect of Suzue's flames. As expected, the inexperienced curse tried to extinguish the fire with a technique that used cursed energy, only to fuel the flames further.

Suzue caught her breath, watching the curse. She knew it wouldn't be this easy.

A sharp pain drew her attention, and she saw a cut on her right shoulder. It wasn't deep, but it was bleeding noticeably. Had the curse done that? When? It must have happened when she passed by it.

"Damn, it's fast. I didn't even notice."

This heightened Suzue's alertness. She gripped the staff, preparing for another attack, but was shocked to see the curse cutting off its burning leg. With a swift move, the leg fell to the ground and was reduced to ashes in seconds.

The curse regenerated its leg with a sickening squelch, glaring at Suzue with murderous intent.

Suzue's eyes widened in horror, sweat beginning to bead on her forehead.

"Inexperienced, my ass… This curse is more insane than it seemed."

The curse fought recklessly; it couldn't keep this up indefinitely, as the regeneration used too much cursed energy. It would take much more powerful area attacks to exorcise it, but with Yuji lying there unconscious… she risked harming him too. She needed to find a way to draw the curse away from that spot first.

It moved faster than she anticipated, lunging at her with terrifying speed. She barely had time to react, raising her staff to block the attack. The force of the blow sent her skidding back, but she held her ground, sparks flying as the cursed energy clashed with her flames.

Drawing on her training, Suzue shifted her stance, using the momentum to pivot and launch herself at the curse again. She spun the staff with precision, striking the curse repeatedly, each blow igniting a small burst of fire.

Each strike was calculated, designed to maximize damage while keeping the curse off balance.

Realizing brute force wouldn't be enough to defeat her, the curse changed tactics, moving again so fast Suzue couldn't follow it with her eyes, only her senses. It darted behind her, aiming for Yuji.

Instinctively, she slammed her staff into the ground, channeling her cursed energy to spread flames along the floor, creating a fiery barrier between Yuji and the advancing curse. The wall of fire flared up, forcing the curse to retreat, its arm catching fire and sending it into a panicked frenzy.

Suzue stepped aside and repositioned herself in front of Yuji, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, now safe behind the slowly dying wall of fire.

But that was the breaking point: she had just saved Yuji's life, going against the principles of that damn binding vow imposed on her by the Zenins. Suddenly, she felt like she couldn't breathe, a tight grip on her chest paralyzing her, and her legs gave out.

She collapsed to her knees, trying to recover before the curse could strike back; she let go of the staff that disappeared on the ground. Gasping for air, she watched the curse: it had cut off its burning limb again to regenerate a new one and was advancing towards them, seemingly amused by her helplessness.

"I have to get up… I have to get up…"

Suzue struggled to regain control of her body, but the backlash from the binding vow wouldn't let go; at this rate, they would both die. Her legs wouldn't move, and the curse, drawing ever closer, cast a shadow of terror over her, making her tremble. She watched a pool of blood start to gather beneath her, blood slowly continuing to seep from the wound on her shoulder, each drop a reminder of her dwindling time.

"Is this... the end?" Suzue's thoughts were a whirlwind of fear and despair.

"What did I expect? Someone like me couldn't hope for a different outcome…"

The image of Satoru flashed in her mind, his confident smile and the trust he had placed in her. She had promised to do her best, but now she felt utterly powerless. She had promised to do her best, looking him in the eye with all her determination.

The memory of his confident smile and the faith he had shown in her stung now, contrasting sharply with the helplessness she felt.

This was far from her best. Succumbing to that annoying binding vow's will wasn't what she considered her best. She had to find the strength to fight back, at least to save Yuji. She had to stand, to fight, to prove that she wasn't just a victim of circumstance but a force to be reckoned with.

The curse stopped right in front of her, almost toying with her, its grotesque form looming and casting an ominous shadow. Suzue could feel its cursed energy radiating off in waves, intensifying her fear. She could see the twisted, sinister grin on its face, mocking her helplessness.

Suzue gathered all her strength and willpower; she would fight to the last breath against that binding vow. Her body was trembling, every muscle tensed with the effort to resist the crushing force pressing down on her.

With immense effort, she forced her trembling hands to move, trying to shape her flames once more. The effort made her vision blur, and pain shot through her body, but she gritted her teeth, refusing to give in. The flames sputtered and flickered as if reflecting her own wavering resolve. She could feel the heat licking at her skin, slightly burning her hands; the pain was sharp, but it was the panic disrupting her concentration that truly hindered her.

«I'm not done yet.» she whispered to herself, her voice barely audible over the pounding of her heart and the sound of the curse's approach.

Suzue, however, had miscalculated; she hadn't considered an important and highly unpredictable element. When she realized it, it was already too late.

Just as she was about to unleash her flames, an overwhelming, oppressive presence filled the building. The cursed energy became almost suffocating, a dark, overwhelming aura that seemed to suck the air out of the room.

Suzue froze, every instinct screaming at her that moving even a millimeter would mean instant death. Her heart pounded in her chest, each beat echoing in her ears like a war drum.

The special-grade curse stared at the presence behind her with a look of confusion and fear. Its grotesque features twisted into an expression of bewilderment, something Suzue had not thought possible for such a creature.

Behind her, Yuji—or at least his body—moved and approached her back.

The change in his demeanor was palpable, his movements fluid and controlled, unlike the weakened and injured state she had seen moments ago.

He leaned in to speak in her ear. His voice, dripping with mockery and amusement, echoed in her head, causing pure terror. The coldness of his breath on her ear sent shivers down her spine.

«Come on, don't tell me you need a hand… Kaede.»

The special-grade curse was instantly sliced to pieces. Suzue's eyes widened in horror as her heart sank, realizing that her battle was far from over.

The true nightmare had just begun.

A/N

I feel so AWFUL at writing battle scenes, but you'll have to bear with me for a few more chapters.

Poor Suzue, she already had a big problem on her hands, and now an even bigger one has appeared. Oh well, let's see how she handles it!

Facts:

One thing I like about Jujutsu Kaisen is that they don't get too caught up in explaining techniques unless it's absolutely necessary. Some things are just left there to die, like Satoru's teleportation.

I wanted to stick to that approach, but I'll take a few lines here to better explain the functioning of Suzue's cursed technique as I've imagined it.

It's simply fire that she can generate and manipulate at will. She can shape and compress it to create various forms. She's essentially immune to the heat and burns from her own fire, except when she loses control and concentration—then she can get burned too.

The fire generated by Suzue's cursed technique literally consumes cursed energy, which means if it's directly attacked or comes into contact with cursed energy, it only gets more intense and powerful, saving Suzue's own cursed energy in the process.

Additionally, if she compresses the flames and lets them explode, they can be used to enhance her movement by giving her powerful boosts, even mid-air.

That's basically it—I'm sorry if it seems complicated because it's really not!

Anyway, once again, I think I took some creative liberties with the cursed domain that appears at the prison, but I don't think it was too detailed in the series, except for the fact that it was an incomplete domain.

Returning to the topic of binding vows: The binding vow between the Zenin clan and Suzue is very clear: eliminate Sukuna's vessel. So what happens when she intervenes in a direct attack on Yuji? The binding vow isn't pleased and punishes her. I imagine that when you "challenge" a binding vow, it chokes you, immobilizing you on the spot and threatening to leave you there in agony. Canon? Probably not, but once again, it's never been specifically explained, so this is my interpretation!

And with this information, as usual, I leave you! ❤️