Chapter 2: Welcome to Jujutsu High
I'll be mixing dialogue from both the anime and the manga depending on what I prefer.
Gojo lead Yuji through one of the main entrances of Tokyo's Jujutsu High for his entrance exam with Principle Yaga Masamichi. Yugi looked around in open aww.
"So did Suguru tell you much about this place?" Gojo asked as they walked up the steps. Curious of what his best friend had come to think of the place he had once called home.
"He told us all about this, about you, Ieiri, Yaga, Nanami, and he told us about Haibara and Amanai" Yuji finished with sadness in his voice. "He really loved this place. He thought he could make the entire world just like it."
Gojo took notice of Yuji's choice of words. "And what do you think, Yugi?" Gojo questioned.
"I don't think it's fair to punish someone for the circumstances of their birth." Yuji firmly stated. Besides, it never would've worked. For starters, I don't think there's even enough for a stable population, and even if there is, by the time all the fighting stopped there wouldn't be. Just because he was a special grade doesn't mean everyone would follow him. Besides how many scorers and curse users do you know that fix your plumbing or your electric?"
"Well. That's one way of looking at it." Gojo replied.
Once they reached the meeting room. Yuji noticed that the lighting was provided solely by several candles placed on the wooden beams near the centre of the room. Principal Yaga was sat at the other end room surrounded by dolls as worked on another one.
"Satoru you're late!" Yaga growled as he continued the stitch the puppet in his hands. "I thought I told you to stop being late, but not late enough for me to get angry!"
"The old dude is making cute stuff!?" Yugi thought to himself. "Oh right, he makes cursed corpses!"
"If it's not enough to get mad about then, cut me some slack. I figured you'd be making dolls anyway, so eight minutes is no big deal, right?" Gojo sighed.
"So that's the kid?" Yaga asked as he inspected the young sorcerer.
"My name is Yugi Itadori! I'm into girls like Jennifer Lawrence! Nice to meet you!" Yugi greets with a bow.
"Why are you here?" Yaga questioned.
"For an interview?" Yuji replied confused.
"I mean at Jujutsu High." Yaga elaborated.
"Um... To learn jujutsu?" Yugi responded even more confused.
"Beyond that. What happens after you finish your training?" Yaga elaborated.
"Well I guess I'll keep exercising curses and collecting cursed-"
"Why?" Yaga interrupted Yugi. "Are you just doing this out of boredom? As a hobby? Do you plan on quitting when you are no longer entertained?"
"Here he goes again." Gojo thought to himself.
"I mean someone has to do this, and not everyone can do this, but I can. So why not?" Yugi answered with a careless shrug.
"So why not?" Yaga repeated through gritted teeth. He shot up from his seat. "So you're gonna fight curses because someone should?" Yaga's cursed energy began to seep from his body, before being pushed into the assortment of dolls. "Disqualified." The cursed corpses stood up and lunged at Yugi.
"Crap." Yugi cursed. He was quick to coat his body with cursed energy and blocked the attack from the largest of the dolls. But the sheer force of the attacks caught him off guard. Causing him to fall to the ground.
"People are more honest with their backs against the wall." Yaga explained with his dolls taunted Yuji. "Until I get a worthy answer they'll keep on attacking."
"Hey! I'm not new to this, I know the risks!" Yuji shot back as he caught and drained the cursed energy out of one cursed corpse and unleashed it with a punch into another. Destroying it. But Yugi got no respite as he felt twin blows to the back of his legs, causing him to fall to his knees, and the large one jumped onto his back and started pulling his hair. "Are these things coordinating attacks?" He briefly pondered. Before he pulled the large one off of him and slammed it into the ground. But the dog-faced corpse just began to bounce around the room. Blowing out candles as it rocketed past.
"Do you?" Yaga challenged as Yuji continued to fight. "What's the highest grade curse you fought alone, where failure meant death? How many mangled corpses have you found? How many dying screams have you heard? Have ever even watched the light leave the eyes of someone you've grown to care about? Every sorcerer fails to save a life sooner or later." Only the largest cursed corpse was still standing against Yugi. The cursed corpse lunged at Itadori. "And what will you do when you inevitably fail?"
In an instant, Yugi's mood shifted from annoyed to mournful. He snatched the doll from the air and put it into a hold. "You think I haven't already failed!?" The pink-haired sorcerer responded with grief. "Do you wanna know why I was kicked out?" Gojo and Yaga were immediately drawn in. Completely ignoring how the cursed corpse was struggling to get out of Yugi's grip as its cursed energy was being drained. "Geto abducted three civilians. He wanted us to kill them."
"Us?" Yaga asked.
"Me, Nanako, and Mimiko. Geto practically raised us. He was our father. But I couldn't do it. I knew it was wrong. I always knew, no matter how many times he said otherwise, no matter how many arguments it caused. I tried to fight him. I tried to save them. But I was too weak." By now the doll had fallen limp in Yuji's arms as unshead tears welled in his eyes. "I promised myself that I would save over a hundred lives for failing each of them. So if I fail to save another person. I'll just have to save over a hundred more!"
"You pass! Welcome to Jujutsu High." Yaga announced.
Soon.
Gojo had led Yugi to his room and watched as he began to unpack the boxes that had been brought from the small apartment he had been renting. "The second and third years are out right now. You'll meet them soon though. There's not many of them anyway." As Yugi continued to unpack Gojo noticed various trinkets from around Japan that the pink-haired sorcerer placed on the shelves. "You travel a lot Itadori?" Gojo asked.
Huh, yeah." Yuji answered as he continued to unpack. "I used to travel around to capture curses or cursed objects Geto and collectors. So whenever I was somewhere special I liked to pick myself something up from the gift shop as a souvenir. I've never been to Tokyo, or Kyoto though. I didn't want to risk drawing attention to myself."
"Cool. Got any photos?" Gojo questioned. Gojo recognised a fair few places Yuji had been from his collection and made a small note on what new places he could take him.
"Not really. Nanako was the one who mainly took photos. The only photo I still have is this." Yuji answers as he hands Gojo a photo in a simple wooden frame. It was a photo of Yuji's fifth birthday. A young Yuji sat before a large cake that held five candles. On either side of the child was a young girl. One blonde, one brunette. All 3 of them had bright smiles on their faces.
"Are these the girls you mentioned?" Gojo queried as he handed the photo. He recognised that these were the girls that he had met when Geto had come to Jujutsu High to declare war. "Do you know where they are now? I can help them if I find them." Gojo mentioned. He had already staved off both Yuta and Yuji's executions. What's 2 more?
"No. I haven't seen Nanako or Mimiko since I was kicked out." Yuji admits as he takes the photo and places it on his bedside table. "But I doubt they would take your help. They were starved and beaten when Geto found them. The village blamed them for the deaths caused by a cursed spirit and wanted to kill them."
"But instead Geto massacred the village, and swore to kill all non-scorcers." Gojo interrupted. Yuji's story, finally understanding what made his best friend snap that day. "Welp. Come on. I'll show you to the forge."
The next day.
Yuji and Megumi leaned against a guardrail outside of Harajuku Station waiting for the final first year. Nobara Kugisaki. "So, any idea what she's like?" Yuji asked Megumi.
"No." Megumi replied bluntly.
"That's helpful." Yuji grumbled.
Silence came over the duo until Megumi spoke. "So what's the forge like? I've never bothered going in?" He asks.
"Oh. It's really big! Like huge, with all kinds of tools, there is a lot of modern stuff too! Also, It's very hot from the furnaces, and smelters." Yuji replies enthusiastically.
"So you found someone to teach you?" Megumi continues to query.
"Sort of. A few of them are gonna take turns teaching me certain parts, but right now they want me to read through a book on cursed tools they gave and practice making normal weapons and items, before applying any cursed energy." Yuji elaborates.
Finally, Gojo arrives and enters the discussion. "Thanks for waiting. Oh?! Looks like your uniform made it on time!" He mentioned.
"Yeah, I got it this morning with my student pass!" Yuji mentioned as he flashed his card, showing he was a second-grade sorcerer. "Thanks for the hood, by the way, it's a nice touch!"
Gojo let out a low whistle. "Second grade, not a bad starting point." He praised as he glanced at the pass.
It was roughly 10 minutes before they finally caught sight of Kugisaki Nobara. "Oh, there she is." Gojo pointed her out. The fact she was already wearing her uniform made it relatively easy to spot her among the crowd. That, and the fact she was trying to get herself recruited as a model very loudly, and quite forcefully.
"We're gonna talk to her?" Megumi lamented.
"How embarrassing." Yuji commented having hit up the stands to celebrate his first time in Tokyo and was now wearing a pair of 2018 sunglasses.
"You're one to talk." Megumi commented.
"Hey! Over here!" Gojo calls ignoring a couple's comments on his blindfold.
Once they were away from the crowd Nobara had attracted. She decided to speak. "Let's start over from the top. The name's Kugisaki Nobara. Lucky you, getting to hang out with a girl like me!"
"I'm Itadori Yugi. And I'm from Sendi." Yuji responded with a smile.
"Fushiguro Megumi." Megumi greeted in his typical monotone manner.
Nobara gave them a critical stare before sighing. "Sheesh… I'm always so unlucky." She lamented.
"She looked at us and sighed." Yuji felt feeling fairly offended.
"Where are we going?" Megumi asked Gojo.
Gojo chuckled to himself. "We finally have all three of you together. And two of you are new to Tokyo." He pondered. " Let's do it! A tour of Tokyo!
Both Yuji and Nobara gleamed before rushing Gojo and arguing about where they would go first.
"Silence. I shall now announce the destination." Gojo declared as Yuji and Nobara kneeled before him, while Megumi looked ready to go home and forget about today. "Roppongi."
"Roppongi?" Nobara and Yuji repeated.
Soon.
The group stood before an abandoned building
"LAIR!" Nobara accessed as she pointed at Gojo.
"You sure this is Roppongi?!" Yuji questioned.
"Yep, there's definitely a curse." Megumi started, ignoring the duo.
"PLAYING WITH US COUNTRY FOLK!" Nobara continued to rant.
Yuji walked up to Gojo. "I left my weapons back in my room." Yuji admitted, already over the deception. Both Megumi and Nobara looked at him dumbfounded.
"Well let this be a lesson to you." Gojo replied. "You never know when you'll be exorcising a cure."
"Got it." Yuji replied.
"Kugisaki, Itadori. The two of you go in that building and expel any curses." Gojo instructed.
"Itadori. Are you sure you can handle this without a weapon?" Megumi asked.
"Yeah, no problem." Yuji answered. "I could do it my own if I had to." He confidently replied.
"In that case try doing it without any techniques." Gojo challenged with grin.
"Okay!" Yuji replied like an energetic puppy.
"Hurry up!" Nobara yelled, having already fastened her tool belt.
"Let me go too." Megumi requested as the two entered the building.
"No. Sending you in too would make things too easy for Kugisaki." Gojo replied.
Inside the building, Nobara was stomping up the stairs. "What a pain. I came all the way to Tokyo and now I gotta deal with some curses?" She grumbled.
Yuji was perplexed. "You're here to expel curses aren't ya?" He questioned.
Nobara ignored the question. "Let's make this quick and split up okay? I'll start from the top floor and make my way down. You start from the bottom. Let's finish this up and head over to Ginza for sushi."
"Hey take this more seriously. Curses are dangerous. Ya know." Yuji scolds her.
This only served to annoy Nobara. "AND WHY WOULD I LISTEN TO SOMEONE WHO CAN'T EVEN REMEMBER HIS WEAPONS!?" She yelled as she kicked him down the stairs.
"YOU'RE AN OUT OF CONTROL ROLLERCOASTER OF EMOTIONS TODAY!" Yuji shouted back, angered by the sudden assault.
"This why girls don't like you!" Nobara shot back.
"HOW DO YOU KNOW THEY DON'T LIKE ME!? HUH?" Yuji retaliated. "Are you even popular enough to talk? Bitch." At that moment a cursed spirit tried to attack Yuji from above. But dodged it and punched the curse in the face causing it to fall off the ceiling.
"Do you… need… a receipt?" The curse gargled as it got back up.
Yuji rushed down the curse a slid under its four legs as it tried the slash him. Yuji was quick to turn around behind the spirit and lunged at the back of its head. Focusing his cursed energy into his first Yuji delivered a powerful blow to the back of the spirit's head killing it. But Yuji didn't let his guard down until the body began to dissipate.
"One down." He said before he began to search the lower portion of the building until he sensed a spike in cursed energy. "She must have found it." Yuji comments, before making a mad dash for the source. "They're through that wall." Yuji upped his speed and bolstered himself with cursed energy before ramming himself straight through the concrete wall. Startling everyone inside.
The cursed spirit holds the child towards Yuji. Yuji in turn chops off the arm and grabs the child, backing up as he secures his hold on the young boy. "You all right?" He asked the young boy, who mutely nodded. The cursed spirit used the distraction to begin to phase through the outer wall. "He's getting away!" Yuji called out.
"Get back here!" Nobara growled as she pulled open her jacket to reveal a straw doll. "Itadori! Give me that arm!" Yuji kicked the severed limb over to her. Nobara dropped the straw doll on top of the arm and grabbed her hammer and one of her nails.
"A straw doll?" Yuji pondered. "Creepy."
"Straw doll technique…" Nobara began as she floated a nail with her cursed technique, before slamming it into the doll, and aarm with her hammer. "... RESONANCE!" Outside the window, black spikes could be seen erupting from within the creature. Killing it.
"SEE I TOLD YOU IT WAS DANGEROUS TO GO ALONE!" Yuji yelled.
"YOU NEVER SAID THAT!" Nobara yelled back.
"YES I… wait didn't I?" Yuji asked.
"BESIDES, WHAT THE HECK ARE YA EATING THAT YOU CAN RUN THROUGH A CONCRETE WALL WITH BARELY ANY CURSED ENERGY!?" Nobared questioned.
"IT'S NOT LIKE IT'S RENFORCED CONCRETE!" Yuki retourted.
"THAT'S NOT THE POINT! IT'S STILL IMPOSSIBLE!" Nobara shot back.
"You've been asking all the questions! What about about you? Why'd you come to Jujutsu High" Yuji asked.
"I DIDN'T LIKE LIVING IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE SO I CAME TO THE CITY!" Nobara loudly proclaimed. Leaving Yuji dumbfounded. "This was my only way for me to move to Tokyo."
"You'd risk your life for that?" Yuji questioned in a deadpan manner more fitting of Megumi.
"Sure. It's to stay true to myself." Nobara admitted with a small smile. "On that note, I'm thankful to you too. If I had died, or if I had been the only one to live." She ruffled the child's hair. "The future wouldn't be as bright. Thanks!"
"Well… Everyone has their reasons-" Yuji began.
"OKAY! I SAID THANKS SO WE'RE EVEN! NO MORE OF THAT TALK!" Nobara interrupted.