Welcome back to another yapping session. Nah, I'd win.

According to the manga, my belief that Yuji was getting a Domain was vindicated, so that means I've predicted every ability this dude has gotten so far.

I have no reason to mention this besides the fact that I'm petty, so take THAT, nameless people, who judged me for giving him RCT earlier in the story.

BTW my good buddy DBlaviken started a new JJK crossover with Jojo called A Shining Diamond in a Cursed World, go check it out and his other fics too.

Anywho, let's get into this.

Beta Readers: Chris72637, Luxutor, MegaDumbo, and Tupjunk

...

Wednesday morning, in the Goblin Corner

*Ding

A scroll notification popped off, followed by an annoyed mumble as a hand reached out of a pile of blankets and pillows, followed by an exhausted face with a scrunched-up expression more akin to a pug than a human being.

Yuji winced as he turned the device on and got hit with the unholy force of having his brightness setting too high, blankly staring down at a text. His brain was not doing the brain thing, so it took a few seconds to register what it said.

'Meet me outside of Beacon Tower. We have matters to discuss. I do not tolerate tardiness.'

-Specialist Winter Schnee

Short and to the point, with zero patience

Just like her little sister...

Winter wasn't gonna hit him, too, was she?

Itadori dragged a hand along his face, wondering if everyone in Weiss' family was like this, but soon pulled himself to his feet, sending Nora tumbling to the side, and with a quick burst of movement, the sorcerer wrapped his sleeping friend up in a blanket burrito and was going through his morning routine.

Sun is shinin' in the sky

But Yuji's feelin' tired

He's trippin', tumbling all around the place

And don't you know

It's a clumsy kinda day? Hey

Stumblin' 'round his messy room

See how he fumbles, socks in disarray

Fell down while puttin' on his pants

Yuji Itadori's havin' quite the day, hey

After struggling to put his jacket on a way that wasn't backward, the sorcerer was out the door and walking through the halls, eventually finding himself on the pathways across campus, taking in that fresh morning air-

And the misery of trying to function or think when you're tired and your brain might as well be a big bowl of chicken soup.

After a few minutes, the sorcerer made his way over, staring up at the tower in silent thought as it loomed over every building with ease, wondering if Gramps lived up there or if that was just where he worked-

...Yuji never asked him that, now that he thought about it.

As the vessel rounded the last corner in the maze of nonsense between him and his destination, he spotted a familiar head of white hair in the distance as the specialist sat in perfect military posture, even with no one watching her.

She spotted him at the same time and stood up to greet him.

Winter tried to shake his hand, "Good morning, Mr. Itadori."

The sorcerer tilted his head and tried to give her a fist bump at the same time, "Mr. wha-?"

She ended up accidentally grabbing his fist like a claw.

The Schnee looked down.

Then at him.

Then, just uncomfortably coughed and awkwardly let go, motioning toward the bench, "Why don't we...sit?"

The weird tension completely went over Yuji's head, so he just nodded with a yawn, "Okayyy, but you gotta wake me up if I pass out."

As the sorcerer dropped into his seat, he immediately leaned his face against the palm of his hand, clearly trying to keep his eyes open, and Winter silently observed him for a few seconds.

It was still unreal to the specialist-

This unassuming, seemingly average teenager had slaughtered over a hundred people a few days ago using a power she almost couldn't comprehend and singlehandedly stopped what could've been the cause for all-out war on Remnant, and he was-

*Cuhhhhhhh

Snoring.

The Huntress sighed, "Mr. Itadori-"

...

...

"Mr. Itadori."

*Cuhhhhhhh

The Schnee glared and, in the blink of an eye, pushed his shoulder back against the bench, snapping him away with a bark, "Sit upright."

Yuji snorted as his eyes shot open in a daze, but soon raised his hands in defeat, "Alright-alright, I'm up!"

The vessel soon took a deep breath, staring down at the ground, "Sheesh, you really are Weiss' sister, huh?"

Winter held her chin high, "Consider it a lesson for your own well-being. A lack of posture is the first step toward a life of slacking and excuses."

"...Cap."

"Pardon me?"

He looked away in terror from the dreaded Schnee stare, "Nothing!...so, uh...whaddya wanna talk about?"

The specialist retracted, soon going over every inch of her uniform as she straightened herself out meticulously, and as she adjusted a sleeve, she spoke, "I was hoping to check in and start introducing myself to Weiss' friends. You are one of the first she's ever had, and I want to make sure you won't be a bad influence on her."

"Didn't we talk on the phone?"

"We did, albeit briefly, and I seem to recall my sister kicking you in the shins."

His eyes widened in recollection, "Oh yeahhhh...that hurted."

"It's pronounced 'hurt,' and one would assume it did. Now, if you don't mind my asking, what exactly is your relationship with Weiss?"

What?

Why did Yuji suddenly feel so on the spot despite not knowing what she was getting at?

The vessel looked around, "I...It's...good, I guess? I mean, yeah, I don't think she liked me all that much when we first met, but I kept tryin' to win her over, and now we're good!"

The Schnee lightly chuckled, "Weiss has always been a bit..."

"Prickly?"

"That would suffice, yes."

The sorcerer happily leaned back in his seat, only for her glare to make him sit upright again, "Don't I know it? Weiss used to hit me a lot, and she still does, but not as much, and only when I make her mad, so that's gonna mean somethin', right?"

Winter visibly bristled, her blue eyes widening, "Weiss...hits you?"

"All the time, yeah!... Weiss is scary, but when she wants to be, she can be really nice too!"

The Schnee paled even more than she already was and quickly pulled out a data pad, tapping notes to talk to Weiss about this as soon as humanly possible.

Did she pick this behavior up from their father when Winter was away at the academy?

No sister of hers would be an abuser.

The specialist cleared her throat, "And do you...ever fight back?"

He grimaced, thinking back to all those times she gave him that scary stare, "...I don't think I'd survive."

Winter rapidly scribbled more notes down and gently patted him on the shoulder, "You're very brave for telling me this."

...

...

"What?"

She sighed, pushing the thought away, "Putting that aside for now, why are you friends with my sister?"

"Whaddya mean why? It's 'cause she's Weiss."

"I...I don't believe I follow."

"You know, she acts like...Weiss, I guess?"

Yuji was not the best with his words most of the time.

Winter let off a huff, "Please articulate your thoughts more."

"Arta-wha?"

The Schnee took a breath, "I'm asking you to think out your words more clearly so that we can have a proper and civil conversation."

That lightbulb over his head couldn't get much dimmer, "Ohhhhh, well...it's like how at the party before all the bad stuff happened, me and Weiss were havin' fun and dancin' and all that? That's sorta why I like her, ya know?"

He raised a finger and waved it around, "It's like...you think she's a rich girl, so she'd act a certain way, but with Weiss, you just can't predict her next move. Usually, she's all mad, but then she wanted to dance and seemed really happy about it, so-"

Yuji laughed, scratching his cheek, "I dunno, I just have a lotta fun when Weiss is around. That and she's way smarter than me, so she can help me figure stuff out."

The specialist idly thought back to those moments before everything had gone wrong, and she had to admit, it was certainly something to see Weiss with a smile on her face, and in their home, it was extremely rare.

There was so little to be happy about in a place like that.

The Schnee clasped her hands together, "The hardest adjustment of leaving that home had to be realizing that people could be...kind for the sake of being kind. Being a Schnee means every person is a connection and a possible business venture to exploit...I'm sorry if Weiss said or did anything harmful at first. I'm sure she didn't-"

Yuji waved her off, "It's fine. I'm not really the kinda guy that holds grudges over petty crap like that. I mean, everyone's got their own ways of coping with stuff, right?"

The sorcerer stared up at Beacon Tower, "When I first got here, I just kept talking to people to avoid thinkin' about myself, and I still do it...Weiss is just like me in a way. Neither of us really had a clue what we were getting into at this school, so she was spooked and said some stuff she didn't mean. I don't hold it against her."

Itadori laughed, "She told me that herself, so I'd be a pretty crappy friend if I held onto some anger over nothin'."

The Schnee's expression lightened, "She...told you that?"

"Yeah? Is somethin' wrong with that?"

"No, just...Weiss doesn't...or at least she never did that before...perhaps she's grown up a little bit more than I thought. I keep thinking of that girl who made Klein play princess tea time with her every day-"

"Wait-wait-wait"

Yuji pointed a finger at the Atlesian, "She did what-now?"

She defensively raised a hand, "It was very cute, I assure you. Weiss would dress like a princess, with a little dress and tiara, ride her tricycle into the kitchen, make him dress like her, and have a nice drink together."

The vessel was silent, and Winter blankly stared at him, "Is...something wrong?"

Yuji came out of his stupor, "No, that's just-"

He awkwardly laughed, "It's really cute for someone like her."

Winter laughed, "Yes, I suppose it was."

"Can I bring it up to her?"

"Oh, if you're going to tease my sister, you have to mention the time she accidentally froze the oven with her semblance. I still thank God for that. Otherwise, I'd have ended up needing to eat one of her mud pies."

Winter cringed, "I felt so bad for Klein when he needed to clean up that mess. Weiss had turned the oven on even hotter to melt the ice, and it just made the dirt harden. The poor man was down there for hours."

Yuji snickered, "There is no chance Weiss played in the mud. She's a clean freak!"

"There is nothing wrong with maintaining your hygeine but... I suppose you're right about that. Weiss is...always changing, whether I like it or not."

Winter slowly lowered her tablet, "She's changed quite a lot since I last saw her. Even when we used to chat on our scrolls during my time in the academy, she was always so-"

She sighed, "Miserable...and that's why we stopped talking in the first place. Our conversations would always end up in the same rut of questions without answers and end in bad feelings...I thought I was part of the problem and that distancing myself would fix it, but perhaps that's not what she needed-"

The Schnee bit her cheek, "Maybe she just needed someone to show her a better way of living, one I simply didn't know about. Our father always said if we weren't happy, we were failing the Schnee family, but I think the Schnees were failing her, and made her feel unwelcome in her own home."

Her hand landed on his shoulder once again, "For what it's worth. I'm glad Weiss has someone like you to watch out for her."

Itadori just shook his head, "She's not the only one who gets somethin' outa this. I mean-"

He waved a hand across the empty campus before them, "I'm not a Huntsman, and I don't really believe the message they preach here. It's better to say I'm just here because I don't wanna be by myself anymore, and gettin' to talk to nice people like your sister has been...real nice, so Weiss is-"

The vessel smiled, "She's really important to me."

The sorcerer absentmindedly brought his hands together and cracked his knuckles, "She asked me to leave her be for a few days, so I figured she wants some time to decompress after...well, you know."

The Huntress gave a curt nod, "It's strange."

"What is?"

"We live in a world on the precipice of destruction, the very enemy of our existence sitting just outside our defenses, and we still find a way to hate each other instead of them. You...never think you'll have to kill another person until it happens, and then you live with the consequences."

Winter slowly breathed, "It's always been strange to me that so many bright-eyed students go into this line of work thinking they'll only be hunting Grimm, but I suppose that's an impact of decades of misinformation. I won't deny that some Huntsmen have admirable traits, but if you tried to be the hero that they think of us as, if you made the sacrifices they expect of you for nothing in return-"

Yuji bristled as an image of his former mentor came to mind, as those fleeting last moments they had together in Shibuya.

The thought made him look away, "...You die."

The Schnee hardly reacted, reflecting the honed experience of years in the service, "And the people who deserve it the least get to keep living...It's something every one of us has to come to terms with in our own way. Weiss is strong, so I have no doubt in my mind she'll pull through this."

Yuji could only shake his head, "You don't always know that."

The specialist eyed him for a moment, "You've struggled with it before, I presume?"

"...People like to say I'm tough and that no matter what, I always just keep pushing ahead, but I've had my moments where I came so close to just giving up and letting it all end, and I only pulled through because the people I care about reminded me of why I'm doing this."

Itadori stared straight ahead. "You can say someone is strong all you want, but don't think for a second that they don't want you to be there for them, too. While I don't really get how your and Weiss' relationship works, I'm sure she'd be happy to see you."

Winter tilted her head, "I thought you mentioned having siblings? What don't you understand?"

The vessel was quiet for a second, "...Weiss told me about how crappy your family is, and I know what that's like, to not wanna end up like them, but keepin' your distance isn't gonna fix that, and I know it's not any of my business, but-"

Yuji faintly smiled at her, "If it wasn't for Choso, I think I would've called it quits a long time ago. He's the one part of my family that I'm not ashamed to talk about, and Weiss talks about you the same way that I talk about him."

The specialist awkwardly looked downward, "I...don't particularly know what I'd say were I to go and see her."

Itadori only laughed, "You think Choso knew what to say? I'll tell ya, that guy is terrible with people. He's quiet and likes to just sit in the background when he's got a little brother like me who can't keep his mouth shut...but he was always there, and that's what I really wanted."

...

...

After a few seconds, the Schnee tapped her datapad and sighed, "I...suppose I could go visit her for a few minutes before my schedule picks up."

As the Schnee stood, she courteously offered the vessel a handshake, and as he took it, she spoke with the same authority as always, "You have my thanks. This conversation has been...enlightening."

As the Huntress walked off, Yuji's eyes lit up, and he shot out a hand, "Wait a sec!"

The vessel quickly pulled out his phone, "Wanna see a picture of Choso?"

Winter stopped in her tracks, "Pardon? Why would I-?"

He jiggled the device in his hand, "He's singllllle."

...

...

*Pfft

The Atlesian snorted and walked away with a wave, "If he's ever in town, I'll be sure to introduce myself."

...

Later in the school weapons workshop

It was a room full of machinery that no student should be left around unsupervised, with more than enough sharp things to lose a hand or something-

At least that's how Yuji saw it, but apparently, Westerners were fine just letting teenagers do this on their own.

The sorcerer yawned as he stared up at a wall covered in various metallic pieces, "So, why do I need one?"

Pyrrha hovered next to him, her hands clasped behind her back, "Because every Huntsman uses something; you can't just punch things forever."

"Nah, that's not what I mean...well, what I do mean is like...I punch harder than bullets, so...why do I need a gun?"

She sighed, seeming upset about something, "Can you please just do this for me?"

The vessel tilted his head, "Is...something wrong?"

She didn't respond

Soon a weight shifted on the sorcerer's shoulders as Ruby pulled something down from above before leaning down to stare him in the face, "She's probably upset because you don't wanna have fun."

"Huh?"

Itadori squinted, looking around the weapons in various stages of assembly strewn around the place, "You guys seriously don't find this kinda weird?"

"Find what weird?"

He shrugged, "I dunno, it's just...I keep thinking this place is like a high school or something, and then you just have all these guns lying around. Like, if you showed up at my old middle school with that rifle of yours, you'd go to jail-"

"Hey! Crescent Rose is legal! I checked!"

*Boop

He poked a finger against her nose, "J A I L!"

*NOM

The vessel yelped as Ruby bit his finger and started steering him around like a jockey from his favorite zombie game, "Live by the gun, die by the gun!"

"YOU ARE NOT HELPING YOUR CASE!"

Before they could slam into something, Pyrrha let off a huff and, using her height to her advantage, plucked the scythe user off his shoulders and tucked her under her arm like a ragdoll, "Can you two please not mess around in here? I had to beg Port to let us in because of our suspension!"

Ruby tried to fight back, but when you're like five foot four wiggling against someone who was nearly a foot taller than you, there isn't much you can do.

Soon, the hooded girl deflated but took an interest in something else, "What's so bad about guns? Everyone has one in Vale, and I think the other kingdoms too-"

Pyrrha hummed, "Well, maybe not everyone unless you're in Vacuo, but...you know-"

"Yeah...my Uncle Qrow's from there."

The redhead raised a brow, "Ohhhhh...that...actually explains a lot."

Ruby didn't even need context to hang her head in shame, "...I hear that way more than you wanna know."

Yuji leaned back against a machine and jumped when a buzzsaw turned on, and tried ignoring his partner's angry look, "Sooo, uhhhh...Vacuo...huh?"

The invincible girl nodded, "Yes, Yuji...Vacuo."

...

...

"What's Vacuo?"

"...Can you be honest with me?"

"Uh, sure?"

"Do you...not pay attention in class?"

He looked her dead in the eye, "Pyr-"

His look made her stutter, looking off to the side from its intensity, "Y-Yeah?"

...

...

"I have never done anything but sleep in that class since the day I got here."

"Oh, you-...Wait...is THAT why you won't sit next to us during Oobleck's lectures!?"

Ruby gave him a look, one that was taught to her from her...less than legal side of the family-

Yuji cleared his throat, "I will not confirm or deny these allegations."

Pyrrha just rolled her eyes, letting the smaller girl go, "You two are a terrible influence on each other."

Ruby landed like a cat...or...like a Blake, and soon sprang to her feet, "You're the one who invited me!"

The redhead deadpanned, "You invited yourself."

The tiny girl pointed a finger up at her, "Hey, when it comes to guns, I know my stuff! And with Yuj...you're gonna need all the help you can get!...Hang on-"

Ruby rounded about on her heels to look at the vessel who, was certainly not inching a finger toward a moving sawblade, then backing away like it was a hotstove, "Yuji...what do you know about guns?"

He tilted his head, ignoring Pyrrha's gasp as a few strands of his hair got sliced off, "Uhhhh, they got like...boom boom, and a bullet comes out."

She cringed, "And...do you know about bullet types and... calibers?"

"There's types?"

The vessel's collective knowledge about weapons amounted to getting shot at by Mai and playing a lot of Halo.

The hooded girl did not like that.

Her face was basically a raisin at this point.

Ruby went catatonic and sat on the ground, holding her head, "Noooooo...nooooo."

Pyrrha kept herself composed...somehow, "How do you not know about firearms?"

Itadori shrugged, "They're illegal in Japan...unless you're like military or a cop I guess."

"Really? That's just-"

The invincible girl sat along a desk, "Wow."

The sorcerer watched her for a second, "What's so weird about that?"

Pyrrha raised a hand, "It's just...I've had a gun since I started going to school. You kinda need one in case of a Grimm attack."

The thought of a tiny Pyrrha with her massive rifle was both adorable and horrifying to the vessel.

The sorcerer shook his head, "I dunno, our government doesn't like 'em, so we don't have 'em, and what they say goes."

The redhead squinted for a second before snapping a finger, "Ohhhh, that's why you don't get about Vacuo, it's-"

Ruby raised a hand, seemingly coming back from the dead, "Ooh, can I explain it?"

"Uh, sure?"

The hooded girl scholarly raised a finger, "My Uncle Qrow said it's one of those places where the more things change, the more they stay the same."

The scythe user rubbed her arm for a second in silent thought, "It's like...there IS a government, but...they don't really do anything, well they do, but it's like...the other Kingdoms have to pay 'em to do their job if that makes sense."

Pyrrha huffed, dropping a hand on the smaller girl's head, "What she's trying to say is that Vacuo is a bandit country where the government has almost no control outside of its capital and needs help from the other Kingdoms to function."

Yuji scratched his head, "Wait-wait-wait...why doesn't their country work?"

"The people there just don't want to be part of a kingdom that tells them what to do. It's one of those 'do it yourself' places."

"So, it's like the Wild West or somethin'?"

"Well...it's in the west, and...it is...wild, I guess?"

"Do they tie people to railroad tracks and rob trains?"

Before anyone could answer, Itadori started jumping in place, "Do they have cowboys and saloons and like stand-offs and stuff!?"

Maybe he could be like Arthur Morgan and be a good guy bandit.

Pyrrha giggled at his neverending enthusiasm, "I don't know about that, Yuji, but someone stole my bag the last time I was there, so...maybe?"

"Can we go?"

"I...you wanna go on a trip...to Vacuo?"

"Yeah!"

"...Do you like sand?"

"No, it's rough, and it's course, and it gets everywhere."

"Then you won't like Vacuo."

He deflated, "Awwww."

The redhead just sighed with a smile, her mood seemingly improving with her partner's antics, "I was thinking maybe when we get to summer break, we could take a team trip somewhere, but let's save that for later and-"

She tried to energetically raise a fist, but her arm was at an angle and it looked twenty kinds of awkward, "Let's...make...guns!"

...

...

Yuji stared up at her, "You really suck at hyping people up, Pyr."

The poor girl's eyes went white, "I don't perform well under pressure! You know that!"

"You fight in front of crowds all the time!"

"That's different!"

"No, it isn't!"

"You try being in a commercial, then tell me it's easy!"

"I asked, and you said no!"

"Because you kept eating the cereal instead of practicing your lines!"

"...No."

"What do you mean no!?"

"No."

"You can't just 'no' me, Yuji, I know you!"

"...No."

"You're being ridiculous."

...

...

Pyrrha's green eyes went pale, "Don't say it."

Yuji blankly stared back, the muscles around his neck clenching from an unseen tension.

Pyrrha crossed her arms, "Don't do it."

He snorted, struggling to breathe.

Pyrrha loomed overhead, "Doooon't-"

Yuji's mouth opened oh so slightly, "...No."

The redhead deflated, "You're terrible."

Her glare made him stop himself from saying it again.

Yuji said it again.

Eventually, after getting the group back on task, Pyrrha looked over a catalog of various weapon types, flipping through the pages, "Well, the sooner you find something you like, the faster we can head to the range and try it out."

Yuji sat across from her while Ruby dug through a pile of scrap looking for something, and all the sorcerer could muster was a goofy thumbs up, "Cowabunga, dude."

"...what?"

"...I dunno, I heard surfers say that when they wanna get hype."

The armored girl rolled her eyes with a smile, "You excited for the beach trip, I'm guessing?"

Yeah, this was an ongoing debate in a group chat between the teams. It started with just two of them but quickly spiraled into someone telling someone else, and now everyone wanted in.

He happily nodded, "Mhmm, I promised Rube I'd teach her to swim after she crashed the bullhead."

Without looking, the hooded girl raised her fingers, "Two...two bullheads, and what else was I supposed to do? I didn't wanna crash it in town and hurt somebody."

The redhead clicked her tongue, "I'm just glad the owners didn't charge us for it."

Yuji shook his head, "Nah, they wanted to, but Gramps talked 'em down...I think the cops wanted us too-"

Pyrrha shivered, "At least they didn't throw us in a cell. I don't think I'd survive in jail."

Yuji deadpanned, "This sounds like the plot of one of those awful straight-to-DVD movies."

Coming to a theater near you, Pyrrha Nikos, former Huntress turned criminal mastermind, watch as she transforms from doing good to doing ba-

Hold on-

Is she turning herself in for jaywalking?

Roll credits.

Ruby let off a hum, looking over a chunk of metal, "Jail's not THAT bad. When I went, they gave me cookies."

Yuji glanced at her, "I thought Gramps brought those?"

"Yeah, but he's like the diet soda version of Ironwood, so he can kinda just do what he wants without all the 'grrrr Ima arrest you for insubordination' stuff...so, he coulda made it worse if he wanted."

"He's pretty great like that. I mean, heck, he coulda just left me for dead in the woods if he wanted back when we met."

Pyrrha looked him over, "Was that story true?"

"Huh? Yeah, it happened. Do you remember when I mentioned being in a really bad fight? It happened right after, so I was on my last legs-"

The vessel blew air from his lips, "I got jumped by a buncha Beowolves and Ursa, and they got a few chunks outa me. I'd probably still have some scars from it if I didn't know how to fix 'em."

Ruby's eyes lit up, "I dunno, scars can look pretty cool if they're in the right spot."

Pyrrha cringed, "That's movie logic."

"It still looks cool."

Itadori stared at the ground for a moment, "...I don't think that's what matters about 'em. They-"

His brown eyes shifted, "They're a constant reminder of what caused them, but what it means is up to you, I guess. You could hate 'em because they bring out some bad memories or use those feelings to do something good for someone else."

The vessel brought a finger near the left side of his face, or to them, his right, and the other near his eye, "I used to have two really big ones here and here, but fixin' them wasn't as easy as the ones I got from those Grimm...I-"

He briefly locked up but reminded himself that he needed to try, "Someone...no...a Curse named Mahito, did a lotta damage to my soul, and makin' a scar out of it was the best I could do, so I was walking around with my face busted up for a while."

Pyrrha dropped her manual and looked him over but saw no signs of either mark on his face, "When did you fix it?"

"...I didn't, that's the weird part."

Yuji scratched the back of his head, "I was out of it for a while after the whole fight thing, and when I woke up, they were just gone-"

Well, there was one glaring answer-

Only one person had ever accidentally fixed the damage on his body before-

But even that felt weird to consider because Sukuna wasn't the type to do anything helpful unless it was by mistake.

Itadori's only guess was that the King of Curses did more than he had planned when trying to keep his host's dying body alive.

But Yuji was never going to say it out loud.

He shrugged, forcing out a smile, "I musta been so focused on keepin' myself alive, I did something I didn't know I could do!"

Ruby stopped working for a moment to look at him and tilted her head like a puppy, "Hmmm...I don't like that mental picture. You with scars just wouldn't look right."

"Huh?...Really?"

"I don't know. It's just-"

She awkwardly looked around, "Scars look cool, but they're like...a permanent thing, and you gotta go through a lot of bad stuff to get them, and then they never go away...without like...surgery or something, I guess."

Eventually, the small girl smiled, "But if yours went away, maybe it means you're getting better."

With that, she went back to work assembling whatever ungodly thing she was trying to make.

Pyrrha could only watch the sorcerer as he stared at the hooded girl's back, a perplexed expression on his face as he mumbled a, "...huh."

Pyrrha opened her mouth to say something but paused, her face briefly contorting into a frustrated frown and soon the invisible girl had taken Miló off her person and gently shoved the rifle into the vessel's chest.

When he gave her a questioning look, she responded with a closed eyed smile, "Why don't you try mine out for a few minutes and see if you like it?"

Yuji dully stared at her, wondering if he fit the bill for a sniper when he had the patience of a...Yuji-

Eventually, though, he nodded along and walked off to start aiming at random things-

Yeah he was just pretending he was Rambo.

In his defense, he never got to hold guns back home, so this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

With the sorcerer out of earshot, Pyrrha looked down at Ruby, who had finally managed to assemble a makeshift pistol together but didn't seem satisfied with it, mumbling something about needing more knives-

The invincible girl tried to speak but didn't know what to say.

"How-"

The hooded girl looked up, "Hm?"

"How do you do it?"

Ruby tilted her head, "It's nothing special. I just did this a lot as a kid."

"You did?"

"Yeah! I love weapons!"

"No! That's not what I...eugh, I can't...I can't even-"

The scythe user gave her a look, "Are...you okay?"

Pyrrha sighed, "I...I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

"What does that mean?"

"You've been super tense since we met up earlier. Like, you keep twitching, and you're sweating, and you're around all the time-"

The armored girl clammed up a bit, "How...how do you know that?"

Ruby raised an oil cover finger and tapped near her eye, leaving a smudge mark on her pale skin, "When you got good eyes, you sorta just...see stuff, ya know?"

...

...

The invincible girl let off a huff, glancing at her partner as he muttered something about saying hello to his little friend, followed by a banging noise, "...I-"

Pyrrha bit her cheek, turning to face the shorter girl, "How do you always know what to say to him?"

Ruby squinted, "Say what?"

"I can never tell when something's upsetting him, and the same goes for the rest of my team, and after everything that happened, I-"

The redhead ran a hand along her arm, "I'm starting to think I'm part of the problem...that maybe...our team doesn't communicate and talk about our problems because...I'm the leader, and I don't know how to-"

The scythe user flicked a silver eye toward Itadori, "...It's about him, isn't it?"

The armored girl's silence was enough of an answer, and so Ruby shook her head, "I don't think that's the issue."

Pyrrha crossed her arms across her chest, "Then what is?"

The hooded girl flicked her fingers across the weapon, racking the slide with a satisfying click of metal, "...I don't know everything about people, but when you can see stuff like I can, you...notice things, like how they walk, how they talk, and those tiny little reactions most people can't spot, I just can-"

The young Huntress raised the pistol but frowned as she noticed the sights were slightly off and dug out a screwdriver to fix it, "I said you're tense now, but ya know what I noticed the day I got here?"

Pyrrha hummed, "What?"

"...Yuji is always like that. He walks into class, and the first thing he does is look for a way out. He always stands with his knees bent so he can run, but not enough for people to notice. Have you ever seen how he holds his arms super close to himself? It's like he's-"

"...Protecting himself?"

The scythe user closed her eyes for a second, "I know I act kinda goofy around him sometimes, but I do it because it's the only time he ever seems happy."

Ruby took a breath and looked up at the older girl, "I think something really bad happened to him."

Pyrrha winced for a second but nodded, "Yeah...I know. But how do you talk to him about that stuff? Every time I try, he stonewalls me."

"...I don't."

"You...don't?"

"Look...I don't think Yuji's the type of person that likes talking about his problems. He-"

"But he has to!"

"Pyrrha, I-"

"No! If you bottle things up, you're going to break eventually!"

Ruby sighed, "I know you wanna help, I do too! But like-"

She lowered her head for a moment, "We've known him for a few months, Pyrrha. I-I know neither of us are really good with people skills and stuff, but ...you can't just push and push and push!"

Ruby stared down at her hands, "It took a ton of work for him to even START talking to me about his issues, and I know you wanna do better for your team. I'm trying too, but-"

The young Huntress huffed, "These things take time. Do you think my team just magically gets along now? No! With the whole Blake thing over with, things are...better, but they're not good! We don't fight anymore, but now we're just quiet and don't know what to say, and it sucks!"

The sniper puffed her cheeks out and let out a stream of air, "I wanna be friends with them...I-I wanna be like a family, but...that's gonna take work-"

Pyrrha recoiled a bit, clasping her hands together, "I know it takes work, but I'm so far off from my teammates, I don't think I can ever understand them. I have a mom, I have a dad, and I was happy growing up. Who am I to be put in charge of a group of orphans who had awful lives?... I don't know what to do for them."

It went unsaid, but there was another issue. Pyrrha knew she was focusing too much on one person and not the entire team and that it wasn't fair to Ren and Nora.

It was selfish, it was stupid, and she didn't understand it because this had never happened before, and it was making her confused.

She was a girl with a crush, and even after all the craziness, she still felt that way despite how bad it would be to go through with it.

Yuji was career suicide, but their team stuck with him regardless, and if the two of them got closer and ended up-

The invincible girl flushed at the thought of them being together, but it would make keeping her advertising contacts hard...and her family needed that money-

Pyrrha's parents had nearly bankrupted themselves, sending her to the best trainers and schools Remnant had to offer. She couldn't live with herself if she didn't help pay it off.

The redhead sighed, "This is such a mess."

Ruby slumped a bit, looking a little more than just tired, "Tell me about it. I have a rich girl who's still kinda angy. I have a Blake who's...a Blake...and my big sister needing to listen to me. It's so hard not knowing what to do because they all want different things, but it's our job to figure out how to make it work, then think of a way to make it better."

Pyrrha clicked her tongue, "I don't even know that much about my team. None of them will tell me anything besides the bare minimum."

"I know that feeling. Weiss has gotten a lot better about the whole...Faunus thing...but I still catch her giving 'you know who' looks and 'you know who' glares right back."

"Well...that's a given, considering she's a Schnee and... 'you know who' is was a...well, you know."

Ruby pouted, "...We're bad at this."

Pyrrha's eyes widened, realizing she made the poor girl feel bad without meaning to, "I...It's not that bad-"

She cleared her throat, "It's like you said. We have a few years together to work all this out. I just...don't laugh, but my only experience with this sort of thing was watching TV programs about high school life, so I keep thinking that-"

The redhead shook her...redhead, "I don't know. That...if we just talk things out, they'll get better, and we can move on to the next problem...but it doesn't work that way, huh?"

Ruby nudged the taller girl with her foot, "Well, we have more than a few years...I-"

She smiled up at her, "I wanna stay friends with you guys forever."

The invincible girl smiled back, reaching a hand down to ruffle the scythe user's hair, "I'd like that."

Ruby swatted at her hand, yelling, "Nooooo! Yuji already does that enough!"

Across the room, the vessel took notice and appeared in the blink of an eye, "Ohhhh, are we messin' with Rube?"

"Noooo!"

"Too late!"

The sorcerer laughed as he turned her straight hair into an afro...somehow, until she bit him again and it went back to normal.

...

...

"Hmmmmmm...hmmmmmm."

Pyrrha squinted, watching as Ruby circled her partner with a measuring tape, going over every inch of his form while the vessel slept standing upright-

She didn't even know you could do that.

The redhead opened her mouth, "Ruby...what exactly are you trying to do?"

The hooded girl pulled a screw out from between her lips as she grabbed his forearm, "What's it look like? I'm taking measurements!"

"...I thought we were getting him a gun, not clothes?"

"Guns are clothes."

"...No, they are not."

"That's what you think."

"...Yes, that is what I think."

"And that is why you fail."

Pyrrha was so confused, "I...I'm doing well in all my classes, though!"

"Not the class of life, young grasshopper. You live but you do not know the joy of a weapon tailor made just for you."

An intelligent gleam flickered over Ruby's eyes as she pointed a finger at the redhead's rifle and shield, "Those were your mom's."

Pyrrha's eyes went white, "Wait...I told you guys she's a doctor!"

"She is now, but I can tell those weren't made for you. They're too tiny!"

"Y...-"

Pyrrha mustered all her sass, "You're too tiny!"

Ruby nodded, "Tiny frame makes the giant sniper rifle look extra giant...more intimidating...more Dakka."

The redhead dropped her head in defeat, "Yeah...she dropped out. You can really tell that much from a weapon?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, no offense, but your arms are like...a lot longer than your gun. That and the stripper clips? Bleh."

"There's nothing wrong with stripper clips."

"For me, maybe, but you're a close-quarters fighter! Those things have less bullets and take way longer to reload, and don't get me started on how much crud flies in when you expose the bolt. Magazines for the win!"

"You...really like guns, don't you?"

Ruby's face went cold, "...It's literally the only thing I do."

Yuji snapped awake, "Okay, Rube. Guns or Cookies?"

Her eyes started to water, "...Don't make me choose-"

Pyrrha laughed, "Why don't you add her friends into the mix? Make her choose outa the three."

The sorcerer snorted, "There's no competing with her obsessions. Trust me; I tried getting her into different stuff, like video games. Oh! We did make a breakthrough with TV, though!"

He glanced toward the smaller girl, "Speaking of, we gotta keep watching Lizard Block C."

The hooded girl happily nodded, "Yeah-yeah-yeah! Weren't we on the Demon Slug Planet part?"

"Nah, it's Namek. Remember they retconned Piccolo from being a Demon to being some weird water slug dude?"

The redhead made a confused noise as she watched them chat, "Lizard, what?"

"Yeah it's literally just Dragon Ball Z. They even have Goku there. I'm kinda just waiting for Japan to sue them over it."

"...What?"

"Goku."

"I don't know what Goku means!"

"...Goku."

Yuji tried waving his hands around for added effect, but it did no good, "He's literally HIM!"

"Who!?"

"Goku!"

"Eugh! Forget it! Just...start using your pistol!"

Ruby shook her head, "Uh-uh, don't do that."

The hooded girl stared at the sorcerer's arms for a second and tapped them with a finger, "...How much recoil can you handle?"

Yuji made an 'I dunno' hand gesture.'

The Huntress shrugged indifferently, "Him using a pistol is just bad mojo-"

Pyrrha crossed her arms, "Ren and Blake use pistols, and they do just fine-"

"Yeah, but that's 'cause they're kinda string-beany."

Ruby looked down at herself, remembering she was probably the shortest person in their school besides Weiss, "Crescent Rose has a lotta kick, but I use it to jump around and stuff, but Yuj is built like a tank, so he should have a tank gun-"

The Huntress stared at him, "Do your bones break easy?"

Pyrrha could not help but think Ruby was one of the weirdest people she'd ever met.

Yuji shrugged, "Eh, I can just fix 'em if they do."

"Right...right...so...I'm thinking-"

She snapped a finger, "Hand cannon with .50 cal."

Pyrrha shook her head, "That's so impractical!"

"Everything here is impractical! It's about making an image! And it's not like Yuji's actually gonna use the thing, it's just for funsies!"

The shorter girl pouted, pointing a finger at his clothes, "And he needs something to make him stand out."

The sorcerer raised a brow, "Image?"

Ruby happily nodded, "Mhmmmm, Huntresses and Huntsmen are like... what's the word dad said? Oh! Public figures! So, making yourself stand out is a way to get more jobs when you graduate 'cause people know you."

"Wait-wait-wait."

Yuji deadpanned, "So...you guys dress all goofy...because you're marketing?"

His eyes went wide like dinner plates, "Holy crap, this makes so much more sense now. I thought everyone here bought their clothes at a Halloween store."

Pyrrha went pale, "W-what's wrong with the way I dress?"

He tilted his head, "Nothin', just...where I'm from, people would think you're tryna cosplay or something-"

Ruby puffed her cheeks, "I think you're just jealous."

"...Not about what you're wearing."

"Don't make me get Coco!"

"D-does she smack talk me to everyone!?"

"Coco smack talks everyone to everyone. It's what she does."

Ruby stopped in her tracks, "...Maybe we shoulda gotten you a costume instead of a weapon-"

Yuji scoffed, "Hard pass. Last time a government knew about us sorcerers, they tried to kidnap me and my friends, so I'll skip on the whole 'being a celebrity' thing."

Pyrrha flinched a bit at that, "But...you're not there anymore. You could...you could try and be something else, like...one of us."

The vessel shook his head, "I'm gonna be honest. That's just not an option for me, Pyr-"

"But it is!-"

The redhead scrunched her face but pushed through it, "Every time you talk about what you did before, you seem so miserable! Why do you keep doing this to yourself!?"

Ruby tried to get between them, raising her hands, "Alright-alright, let's not do this right now, okay?"

It went ignored.

Itadori faced Pyrrha straight on, "Because someone has to. Huntsmen serve a purpose, and I get that. It's a crappy world, and people need something to give them hope, but that's...that's not for me."

The invincible girl kept her stare, "Then what is!? You can put up this act all you want, but there's only so much you can take before something makes you crack!"

He clenched a hand, watching the liquid move beneath his skin, "I don't have a choice at this point. I have disgusting powers, and people are afraid of me. A costume and a weapon aren't gonna fix what I did, Pyrrha. I'm not trying to start a fight, but you have to accept that what we had before is gone."

"We aren't scared of you! I'm not! Ruby's not! And neither is anyone else!"

"Then you aren't paying attention."

Itadori forced out a breath, "Every time I walk through the halls now, people bolt the other way. I can't even open my scroll without seeing some video talking about what happened and how people are either praising me as some hero or saying I should be in jail...but that's how it has to be."

The sorcerer sighed but slowly raised a hand to put it on her shoulder, looking her in the eyes, "Remember what I told you? About the curse of strength? Because when you're strong, there's no deflecting, there's no excuses, and there's no way out. If something horrible is happening, and you're able to stop it, and you don't, then that's entirely on you, and that's what makes it a burden."

He could only give her a sad smile, "It makes you free to make any choice you want, but you're responsible for your own actions. I just wish you guys didn't force yourselves to stick with me."

The redhead's lip quivered, and for a brief moment she struggled to know what to do, but eventually, gently wrapped her arms around him, "...We're not leaving you."

"...You should."

"No, we shouldn't."

"It's a really bad idea."

"When don't we have terrible ideas?-"

The armored girl smiled, "You already got me suspended. I might as well stick around for the full ride. I just-"

Her face dropped as she pulled him tighter, "I don't want you to feel like you're alone in this."

Yuji blankly stared off at a nearby wall, "I know you're trying to understand, but don't push yourself down a road you can't walk back from. If you burn every bridge, you just end up stuck down the crappy path you chose."

"It wouldn't be so bad if you were there."

...

...

Yuji knew that would never happen.

He was the vessel of Ryomen Sukuna, a being born to die.

There'd be no happy life for him, and it would only end with someone finally putting him down, and there was no getting around that.

All he could do was live the life he had for the time being and do everything he could to stop his friends from suffering-

And he was still failing at that.

Yuji raised a hand and gently patted her back, "...Yeah, I'll be around, Pyr. I always will be."

With that, he pulled back and spared Ruby a glance, "You can throw out the gun. I...just wanted an excuse to hang out, is all."

Ruby watched the sorcerer go before the door clicked shut, leaving her and Pyrrha alone-

...

...

Ruby pouted, "I wanted a hug too."

...

A bit later

Yuji found himself walking toward Beacon Tower once more, having gotten a ping from Ozpin to come see him about something, and it didn't take much guessing to figure out what it was about.

The vessel took a slow breath and made his way toward-

"Yuji!"

"Huh?"

"Catch!"

The vessel's eyes flashed toward the sky as a spiraling object sailed past the sun, and without missing a beat, the teen took off in an all-out sprint, blazing past crowds of walking students as he leaped off the ground, catching the projectile right before it hit the ground-

Itadori fell into a roll, landing in a crouch as he stared down at the, "...An American Football?"

He really wished they didn't call it soccer. It always confused him whenever he watched a live match.

A distant voice let out a chuckle, "I apologize for the...bad throw, young man. These old joints of mine aren't what they used to be."

Yuji squinted, staring past the glaring sunlight, seeing the glimmer reflect off a familiar pair of dark shades, "...Gramps?"

Ozpin leisurely strolled closer, "Indeed. At first, I thought we'd follow our usual routine and have a pleasant chat in my nice airconditioned office, but I'm feeling...rambunctious as the kids say."

The sorcerer chuckled, swiping a finger across his face, "No kid says that, Gramps."

"Oh...then, what do they say?"

"Eh, it's a mood."

"Then, having a mood, I am. I thought it'd be nice to do another activity together, so I dug that sports ball out of my closet, and here we are."

Yuji hummed, staring down at the leathery object for a moment, "Ya know, we don't always gotta talk about serious stuff."

He lurched back and let it fly, and with perfect precision, it landed in the Headmaster's waiting hand.

As Ozpin looked back, the vessel grinned, "I like hangin' out with you, Gramps."

The Director paused, "...Is that so?"

Ozpin's eyes closed just a bit as he smiled, "That's...good. I apologize if I'm not always the most forthcoming about these things. I...never expected to become a grandfather, so I'm a bit inexperienced on what it implies-"

Yuji laughed, "It's fine. Me and my grandfather didn't get to do a lotta stuff like this after he started takin' a turn for the worse, so I'm a little outa practice."

"You seem quite fond of him."

"Is that right?"

Ozpin smiled, letting another pass fly through the sky, "It's just something I picked up on. Most boys your age tend to try and 'stick it to the man,' as they say."

Yuji raised his hands as the ball came sailing down into his palms with a thud "Ehehehe, you've seen how many detentions I've got, and you suspended me too-"

"Believe me, the red tape in this world frustrates me to no end, too. A boy like you tries to stop someone from harming his fellow students, and you're the one who ends up punished for it. I've tried fixing it in more than a few of my lives, but there always seems to be someone in power that can't grasp the concept of nuance...though, I-"

Ozpin's expression lightened a bit, "It brings me quite a lot of pride to see how willing you are to stand up for what you think is right."

Yuji went into a quiet shock but soon shook his head, sending his pink hair to the side, "It's just what my grandfather taught me."

"Even so, how many young people like yourself do you think get told the same thing by their elders?... Nearly all of them, and it often goes ignored, because while wisdom comes with age and experience, youth comes with energy and ambition."

Ozpin adjusted his glasses, "Students arrive at these gates aspiring to become Huntsmen and Huntresses alike but have no understanding of what that duty truly implies and while we do our best to instill those values...it's very difficult to break through the foundational beliefs of someone's character in a mere few years."

He sighed, "They think of Huntsmen as celebrities, as something fanciful for the people to gawk at in their tabloids, and so, they approach everything as if the world is watching and avoid doing anything that would hurt their chances of fame, and I'm not just referring to hardline bigots like Cardin Winchester. Even your own partner is slightly guilty of this."

Yuji tossed the ball in his hands absentmindedly, "Pyrrha?...Do you mean back on my first day when I-"

"When you received your first detention, yes. You saw your fellow student being abused by someone else and took firm action, uncaring for the fact that she was a Faunus and he a human or that his family had enough influence to ruin your chances at a prospective career. It was so unbelievably disappointing to realize the invincible girl herself, whose application letter said she despised bullying on any societal level, sat there and did nothing, but that's what our current society does to its best and brightest-"

Ozpin looked across the greenery at him, "It pressures them into submission and allows injustices to continue because it's more convenient to be idle than to confront them head-on, and your willingness to do that is what I believe makes you remarkable. It isn't your strength, nor is it your powers, and it especially isn't because of who you're related to. You have a good heart, and you act on it, no matter the consequence, and that is what I believe makes you special in this world."

Itadori visibly flinched and shook his head soon after as if he completely disagreed with the notion, "Like I said, it's because my grandfather taught me right and wrong...I'm just the idiot that keeps making mistakes tryna follow what he said-."

The sorcerer tossed the ball, and after Ozpin had caught it, he bristled for a second, so the Professor spoke, "Every single person makes mistakes, Yuji. It's a simple fact of life."

"But mine have way more consequences than most peoples'."

"...Do you not trust me?"

"What?"

Ozpin tucked the ball under his arm as he leaned against his cane, "You had the opportunity to tell me when Khan approached you, and you chose to handle it yourself, and now, you're willing to take the full brunt of the responsibility for what's to come. Why are you so unwilling to let me help you, Yuji?"

Yuji stared at him with that blank look of his, "I already told you-"

"I don't believe that's the full truth. Because, frankly, those cultists are better off gone than not, as far as I'm concerned, and you are far too good a judge of character to not know this."

"...It's-"

Itadori shook his head, "It's-It's not you, Gramps. It's just...complicated family stuff, alright? The issue is me, not you."

The Headmaster raised a brow and tossed the ball across the sky and into the vessel's hands, "Believe me, I know what it's like to have...problematic circumstances, but I'd like us to discuss this and move past it so that we can avoid keeping things from each other from now on."

Yuji caught the pass without even thinking about it, "It's not fair to you that I'm thinking like this, so I don't wanna start somethin' when you've done nothing but help me."

"Do you think I've always been fair to you? Yuji, I don't have the faintest clue what you need most of the time, and as your guardian, it's my duty, and I've failed at that. It's even impacted our ability to communicate. We hardly know anything about one another despite your time here."

Ozpin tapped his chest, "It hasn't been easy realizing you are related to him, but I don't believe it's productive or healthy for either of us to skirt around the issue like we always seem to do."

Itadori grimaced, "This isn't about Sukuna...it's...you're...like...no, I don't wanna make the comparison, it's bad and it's not right-"

Yuji huffed, throwing the ball back toward the Director, "It's really hard to explain-"

Ozpin caught it, "Then we'll take as long as you need. But you are the only person that can explain what is wrong. Otherwise, I don't know what to do."

...

...

As the Professor tossed the ball back, Yuji raised a brow as it slammed into his hands, "You don't know somethin'? That's a first."

"Knowledge is an endless quest. There's always something new to learn if you approach it from a different angle, and no matter how much time seems to pass, certain things like that always remain the same."

The Headmaster put his cane into the ground, looking out over the vibrant campus, "I've certainly raised more than a few children in my day, but never one with your circumstances. It's a change of pace that's forced me to think about things a bit differently."

Yuji made a face, "...You have kids?"

"I've lived quite a long time. Is it truly that shocking?"

"If...you don't mind me askin', how does it work when you...ya know...come back?"

The Director adjusted his stance as the ball came down from overhead, catching it with a single hand, "You already know far more about me than any of my children ever did. I never wanted them to be caught up in the messes of older generations, nor did I even plan to have them at all, but..."

Ozpin stared down at the object, "Life is a strange thing. You approach it with as many plans as you want, and as you would say, 'it throws a curveball.'"

With that, he let another pass fly, "I tried to live each and every life of mine with the goal of stopping my first wife, and continued to tell myself that little else mattered, and whether it was a part of who I am or rather...who I became with each iteration. On occasion, I would find myself enamored with a woman, and in due time, I'd briefly abandon my cause and become a father."

Itadori caught the pass with ease, "You ditched your goals?"

The immortal chuckled, "That's what parenthood is, Yuji. Suddenly, what you want doesn't matter, and this tiny being you made is suddenly the greatest priority in your life. I would raise them and love them as best I could, and when I passed on, I would resume my quest."

"You never-like...talked to them after?"

"I've been tempted on occasion, but...I think it best that they believe their father passed on and didn't simply reappear in a different form...that would raise difficult questions they would struggle with for years. While my life is very long, theirs are very short, and so I thought it best to treat those fleeting moments as something special, and when it was time to move on, I would."

Ozpin faintly smiled, "I can't imagine any child would take it well...to see their parent become someone entirely different."

...

...

*Clunk

The ball dropped to the ground with a silent thump, and Itadori stood there, with a shaking hand covering his mouth, as if he were about to be sick.

Ozpin raised a brow, "Yuji?...Are you feeling alright?"

The vessel opened his mouth, "I-"

He gulped, "Yeah...yeah, I-I'm fine."

The Headmaster leaned into his cane, "Would you...care to talk about it?"

...

...

The Director took a step forward, "It's about your mother, isn't it?"

Yuji huffed, looking away, "Am I really that obvious?"

The sorcerer let out a chuckle that sounded more like a gasp, "Sorry, Gramps. It's just...what you said really reminded me of... It."

Ozpin slowly got closer and soon came to a stop, "You call her... 'It?'"

The sorcerer took a deep breath, "Lemme make sure...are you-"

He grimaced, looking up to the Director, "...Are you talking about my mom or the person who gave birth to me?"

Yuji's eyes shimmered, "Because they're not the same person...not like you and your...you know-"

Ozpin looked down at himself, "My iterations?... Yuji, are you saying that she's-"

"Not she, IT."

"I don't understand. What are you trying to say?"

Itadori clenched a fist so tight the knuckle visibly went white, "I told you, people in my family tend to stick around a lot longer than they should, and the way IT did is so disgusting I hate even thinking about it."

"Who?"

"...During the Heian Era, back a thousand years ago, there was another sorcerer, one that knew Sukuna and is the reason he's still around now, but He...She...It had a different way of living longer, and I know you aren't like that, but every time I see you, I think of It because that's what IT DID."

Itadori winced, "Their name was Kenjaku, and they had the ability to switch their brain between different bodies, and even if the person was already dead, they'd just get up like nothing ever happened, but it wasn't them anymore. It was Kenjaku wearing their face, and they did this over and over and over, doing the most awful things along the way, because they got a kick out of it, there-"

Yuji pointed a shaking hand at the Director, "There was never a reason like how you gotta fight Salem. Kenjaku just did this shit because they thought it was funny...and eventually, took over a man named Noritoshi Kamo, and after...doing things to a woman with a Cursed Womb, and that's how my brothers were born, half-curse monsters from rape."

The immortal's mouth hung open, "Yuji, I-"

"I'm not done."

The vessel turned, beginning to walk in circles, "But they weren't born right, at least...that's how Kenjaku saw it, so they locked them in a...a fucking warehouse for over a hundred years, and then...made me-"

Yuji tore his wallet out of his pocket and, with the flick of a finger, shoved a picture in front of Ozpin's eyes. It showed the same smiling woman as before, and the sight of the scars along her forehead and that cold-dead stare of her brown eyes as she stood next to 'her' husband sent a tremble down the Director's spine.

Yuji stared right into his eyes, letting the image drop to the side as he trembled, "Kaori Itadori was already dead when she gave birth to me. She wasn't my mom...and I don't know if she ever even knew I existed. Kenjaku took that away from her and made so many peoples' lives a living hell, and that...that THING is my mother, and I'm sorry, but every time I see you, it's like there's a voice in the back of my head telling me you're like that when I know you aren't."

Ozpin slowly plucked his glasses off, his eyes wide in realization, "...It traumatized you, didn't it?"

"I don't know! My brain is fucked up, Gramps. I see shit that isn't there, and I hear them talking when I know they're not here...but what else can you expect from a monster like me?"

"You're still a human being, Yuji, and you've clearly been through something that's caused you a lot of harm-

"Does a human get out of his own grave and walk off like nothing happened? Can a human say they're part curse and not even know if they can get old!?"

Yuji put a hand over his heart, "Choso was a hundred and fifty, Gramps, and he looked like he was in his twenties, and my brothers are part of me, so what happens if I can't get old and I just keep going!?"

The Director put a hand on his shoulder, "If that's the case, then we will cross that bridge when we get to it-"

"I don't know if I can."

"Do you think I wanted this? To live and die over and over, to love and lose, and start all over again in a neverending cycle? Look me in the eye when I say this: I have gone mad and have regained my sanity more times than I could even count at this point in my existence, and you will find a way to keep going-"

"That's not what I mean."

Yuji pulled back, "I know my family doesn't define who I am, but I'm afraid that someday, I'll just stop caring. People like saying, 'Oh, life is short, so I gotta make the most of it,' but I'm starting to think that it's a good thing life isn't very long for most people. I-"

The vessel grabbed his stomach, turning to face the Director, "I've been a sorcerer for a year, a YEAR, and I've gotten so used to the death and killing that I have to remind myself that it's bad...it's ruined me, and I know the old me would've stared what I am now in the face and said I was a monster for doing what I did, but that's what Kenjaku wanted-"

Yuji dragged his hands through his hair, "Kenjaku always wanted chaos because they wanted to see what would come out of it, and the answer's me! I'm the freak they made to test it using their and Sukuna's, and who knows what other genetics to do it! Everything wrong in my life, they put me through it, and even if-"

He growled, "Even if Kenjaku's gone now. I still can't get it all out of my head. It's messed up the way I think, and no matter how hard I try, I can't get away from it...and I'm scared you'll make me worse, and if I really end up living that long...I'll become like one of them."

Ozpin couldn't help but think back to what Ironwood had said-

Yuji was fundamentally broken as a person, and he was willfully ignoring it.

The Director stayed in place, "...Do you want me to leave you be?"

Yuji sighed, "I don't know."

The immortal slowly closed his eyes, "I think I'm starting to understand. You're afraid that apathy I've told you about will spread to you...if you live as long as people like myself and...your mother, is that right? And that's partly why, you've withheld so much."

"...something like that."

"In my experience, of all the infractions that can be done to a person, the worst of all is absolute loneliness. Even when, among others, it's the feeling that you have no true peers and are alone in this world that can drive one insane. It's difficult to be empathetic when you can't relate to another being, and I have struggled with this all my lives."

Ozpin slowly walked toward the sorcerer, "The only person that can know what it's like for me, is Salem, and we are far beyond having a conversation. Friends came and went, our bonds decaying with their bones into little more than dust particles roaming the erosive wind. You're correct about time being a bit of a curse, but while it poses the risk of losing your humanity, it also gives you an opportunity to consider your circumstances."

Ozpin stopped before the teen, one hand on his cane, "If you're correct about your aging, then you very well might endure this pain, too. Years, decades, and centuries will pass, and the light of your soul will fade with every person lost, but regardless of that, one thing will be different in your experience if it comes to fruition."

The Headmaster steeled himself, "You will always have me, and even if it takes several lifetimes, I'm more than happy to do what it takes for you to trust me."

Yuji gave him an incredulous look, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do all that for me?"

"You may function off of interest, but you can also learn to care through obligation."

Ozpin stretched out a hand, "You are my grandson, after all. It's only right I show you the ropes, as they say."

Itadori was hesitant

...

...

But eventually, shook the man's hand, "I..."

He smiled, "I'd like that, Gramps."

...

With all that said and done, take it easy and I'll see you all next time; cheers.

BTW I have a deadline, plus a vacation, plus im moving to Washington D.C. soon for work, so my upload rate will probably be pretty iffy for a while, just figured I'd let you know.

Discord:

/4edf44FSSn