Summary: Magic AU. Reluctant thief Itadori's latest mission puts his life on a collision course with the world of mages he knows little about. Meanwhile, Okkotsu and his friends discover some sinister signs of rising trouble in the kingdom, and Gojo wishes he could solve everything himself.

12 years in the past: Gojo, Geto, and their other friends all find themselves paying for Gojo's antics at his latest arranged marriage meeting. Stepping into leadership of his clan or becoming the mage-king are the last things Gojo wants to focus on at this point in his life.

Set in a roughly Edo-era Japan-like nation against a backdrop of continual tensions between the clans, each faction seeks to place one of their own on the throne to wield the ultimate position of power as mage-king.

Warnings: Graphic Violence, Major Character Death

Genre: Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Drama

Notes: The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

Chapter 1

Present Day

Midday approached in the city of Ikawa, and the heat of the sun's rays beating down was stifling. That did not prevent the streets housing the market stalls from being crowded. Itadori Yuji picked his way carefully through the bustling crowd remembering a time when he had been one of the vendors helping his grandfather sell foods brought in from the surrounding countryside.

Now, he was headed back to the headquarters of the Thieves Guild. Yuji had always thought of himself as a good person. He liked helping people, not stealing from them. Regardless, his family had not left him with much of a choice. Someone - he did not know if it was his grandfather or the father and mother he had no memories of - had borrowed large sums of money from lenders of a questionable origin. And that questionable origin had turned out to be a branch of the Thieves Guild.

As Yuji reached the alleyway entrance, he glanced around before ducking through and entering the door near the end of the narrow space. The atmosphere inside was as raucous as usual with drinks flowing and various guild members gambling away their earnings. Yuji tried to pass through them unnoticed, tugging on the collar of his haori as if it could hide his unusual hair color.

"Itadori!" a gruff voice called. Guess he wasn't going to make it through unnoticed this time. "Boss wants to see you in his office. And he's got company."

Yuji nodded in acknowledgement to Osamu, one of the bartenders at the guild, and continued through the main room to the back of the tavern where stairs led up to the guildmaster's office.

The stairs creaked slightly as he ascended, and he paused outside the door at the end of the hallway. Voices were filtering through the door; like Osamu had mentioned, someone was already in there talking to the guildmaster. The voices paused.

"Itadori, is that you?" came a voice from inside.

"Yes, Lord Star," Yuji replied, addressing his master as a lord despite him owning no land. The man was incredibly proud and egotistical - probably because he was a mage. It was uncommon enough for someone not affiliated with any of the three great clans to make them stand out.

"Come on in. This man here has a job, and you are trying to pay off your debt to me quickly, right?"

Yuji swallowed and slid open the door. Guildmaster Star was seated in his throne-like chair behind his enormous desk with his feet propped up on it as though it wasn't one of the most expensive pieces of furniture in the entire guildhall. Carefully walking to a corner of the room, he took his place and kept quiet.

The man seated across from the Guildmaster was dressed in a richly dyed kimono which put even Lord Star's kimono to shame, let alone Yuji's cotton shirt, haori, and loose-fitting pants. Yuji guessed he was a rich merchant or city official who likely lived in the central district. The man's haughty expression as he glanced over to Yuji before returning his gaze to Star only reinforced Yuji's initial impression.

"Lord Star," the man started again, seeming to barely get the 'Lord' part past his lips. "As I was saying, the object I seek is… of great value. But, due to its nature, I am unable to purchase it myself without arousing suspicions. Clan spies can be anywhere you know. I require that this object be obtained as discreetly as possible and without a trace on the purchaser."

The guildmaster nodded in understanding. It was unusual but not unheard of for rich patrons to come to the guild when needing discretion in their purchases. Yuji kept his face blank, but internally frowned. If this nobleman had come to the guild for help, it likely meant he was after a magical artifact. An artifact that may or may not have ties to one of the three clans but likely was worth their interest, if this man sought for no word to get back to them.

"Due to the danger and secrecy of this mission, this will cost twice the usual rate. Is there anything in particular you can tell me about the object? A description, where it can be found, anything would be helpful." He pulled out a blank sheet of paper and dipped his eagle-feather quill in the inkwell on his desk, marking down the man's name and the sum to be charged. Fortunately, the client had a precise description and location of the object, so Yuji would be able to find it with ease.

After standing and bowing politely to their guest, Star held out his hand. Yuji started forward and fumbled in his haori for the hidden pocket within holding the ring from his previous mission. "Retrieved without incident," Yuji stated proudly.

His first retrieval mission had been… an utter disaster, to state it lightly. Now that he had been a thief for several years, he internally cringed just thinking about it. A maid in the noble's mansion had come in while he was trying to figure out how to get the magical artifact out of its case without breaking it and screamed. He had flinched, accidentally breaking the glass around the object and causing even more of an alarm. Only his unnatural speed and the lack of a mage within the household guard allowed his escape from that situation (with the stolen artifact he had had the presence of mind to swipe up from the shattered remnants of the case).

A thorough cursing-out in front of a silent crowd in the guild tavern as well as a cane-thrashing from the guildmaster had him exhibiting far more caution on all following thieving assignments, and no repeats had ever happened. In fact, due to his superhuman abilities, Yuji had quickly risen to become one of the top thieves in the guild. He was both proud and not proud of this fact at the same time.

"Excellent." Guildmaster Star inspected the ring, comparing it to the document from the client he had drafted. "A perfect match. For your work." He handed Yuji a small bag of coins. "Take a look at this latest request as well. You do good work, kid."

"Thank you, Lord Star." Yuji bowed and exited the room, tucking the coins into one of his hidden pockets.

It was always good to be on his best behavior around the volatile man. Before his first assigned mission, the one which had gone so poorly, Yuji had tried to flee the city, not knowing the Thieves Guild's influence spread far and wide, even to the guards at the gate. He was stopped at once and dragged before the guildmaster, whose calm expression did more to cause fear to brew in Yuji's stomach than anger and a beating would have. "You do that again, boy, and it will not be the Thieves Guild who bring you back, but the Assassins Guild." That one sentence had killed any thought of fleeing his debt in an instant.

Yuji stretched his arms over his head as he walked back through the market district toward the shops which bordered the noble district. He would scope the place out first, see what the security was like at the store, and make up a plan of attack once that was done.

The shops on this end of the market district sometimes had mages running them, though their skills tended to be more inclined toward creating and repairing magical artifacts than combat. Most mages with any sort of combat abilities were snatched up by the three great clans and ended up as proxies in the families' power struggles with each other over the throne as well as against the demons and other monsters that threatened the Nara kingdom. Still, it didn't hurt to prepare for every scenario.

Bells on the door of 'Akito's Antiques' chimed as Yuji entered. The elderly lady behind the counter bowed slightly as he entered. Yuji inclined his head respectfully in return. The conscience he had suppressed but not destroyed these past years whispered what a bad person he was to steal from this old lady and Akito, likely her husband or other relative of some sort. He smothered it as usual and casually perused the items on display, all the while making his way toward the display case he knew would hold the moonstone necklace set on a gold chain. His eyes widened when he saw how many gold crowns it was worth. Even though the nobleman employing him no doubt could afford it, it still was more than the amount the guildmaster had written on the paper earlier - the cost of stealing it.

Moving past it to avoid drawing attention from the old lady and few other patrons in the store, his eyes widened further. The case the object was in had a warning sign on it. A warning sign that the objects for sale inside were cursed magical artifacts. He wondered what sorts of spells lay on it and the other objects in the case.

Yuji picked up an old antique coin worth only a few copper crowns and paid the old lady. It looked less suspicious than exiting the store without buying anything at all, and the cost was negligible. All the coin Yuji got from the Thieves Guild jobs he took was enough for food, board, and occasional other purchases. Everything else went toward paying his family's debt.

With the shop scouted, Yuji now had a plan of attack. The display case containing the cursed necklace was on the second floor of the antiques shop, so making an alternate escape route besides the front door was impossible, unless he wanted to smash through the second floor shoji windows and draw a lot of unwanted attention.

There was a back door leading into an alley used by the owners which had potential, but that still required getting back down to the first level. The aisles in the shop were crowded, but would prove no great challenge in the dead of night. Actually, thought Yuji, they would help provide cover if anyone else happened into the shop after dark.

Okay. So I'll head to the back door to sneak in, then lockpick the display case, snatch the item, sneak back out and slide the door closed behind me. Easy peasy. With those thoughts, he headed toward his lodgings to catch up on some sleep before he would head out in the evening for the actual robbery.

"Yuji!" a voice exclaimed as Yuji removed his shoes at the entrance to his small room. The boarding house he lived in had one long building down the entirety of the road it was on, and each room had an entrance along that road.

Yuji turned. "Junpei, what's up?" His neighbor lived with his mother in a nicer room on the opposite side of the street from Yuji's own.

"Nothing much. I got off of work early and had some time. Want to go out? We could hit up a tavern, run our usual schemes. Kotaro and Hiera mentioned they would be at the market tavern in the evening." Though he was not in the Thieves Guild, one of Junpei's favorite pastimes was scamming scammers. He and Yuji would hit up a tavern, find card cheaters, and quietly pickpocket them. It had all started rather innocently with Yuji getting back at some of Junpei's classmates who bullied him. The added bonus was that it helped him pay off his debt quicker. Kotaro and Hiera were some of the worst of the lot.

"Sorry Junpei, I have a job this evening." It was late afternoon already, and he couldn't afford not to get any sleep, having been up most of last night on his previous job, which had been just out of town. "I'll tell you about it when I get back though!"

Junpei's expression changed from crestfallen to excited in the space of a second. He always enjoyed hearing Yuji's thieving stories, imagining them in a far more glorified way than Yuji thought he told them. Perhaps it was because their lives were so different, with Junpei's mother able to send him to school. It was likely the kid had a bright future as opposed to Yuji's own rather bleak-looking one. "Thanks a lot Yuji! I'll catch you tomorrow then!" And with that, Yuji was left on his own to get some rest before evening fell.

xXxXx

Sunlight streamed through the yellowing paper making up the shoji windows, creating patterns on the floor of the room as well as its occupant, who had been sleeping like the dead until the light got strong enough to register through his eyelids. Fushiguro Megumi groaned and stretched on the floor. He must have rolled off his futon at some point during the night as only his right leg remained on it.

"Megumi! Breakfast is ready!" Tsumiki's cheerful voice sounded from the kitchen.

"Coming!" Megumi threw on a simple cotton shirt to match with his loose, martial artist's pants before joining his sister in the kitchen. The two had moved with Tsumiki's mother from the nearby city to the country when he was very young, so he did not really remember any other life. He did remember a few years later, when Tsumiki's mother had walked out on them and never returned. In all honesty, Tsumiki had been more of a mother to him than either his birth mother who had died or his neglectful step-mother, seeming to fit into the role well despite the slim difference in their ages. "Egg on rice again? Are we running low on rice? Do you need me to make a run into the city?"

Tsumiki paused at the stove, where she was boiling water for the last of their rice. "Hmm, that would be nice. You should check the coop first though. The chickens were fussy this morning after I fed them. I heard it all the way from the kitchen. Could be a raven with another letter for you."

Megumi groaned. There was really only one person who sent him letters by raven. "Could be another demand, you mean."

His sister crossed her arms. "And you think you could make better money wandering the countryside assisting farmers?"

"...No…" Megumi was forced to admit. While most mages were attached to the three great clans and the mage-king doing work keeping the kingdom free of the monsters and demons that popped up here and there across the country, some few others made livings as wanderers or craftsmen. He figured he might have become one of the latter, if he had not met his sensei all those years ago.

"Then eat your breakfast and see what he wants. I'll be tending to the garden once I clean up here." She resumed her work stoking the stove for the rest of her cooking, and Megumi cleared their dishes from the table before going out to the yard.

He heard no unusual noises emanating from the chicken coop, but it was well past dawn now, so the birds were probably out in the yard. Sure enough, a black shape roosted near the entrance, opening one eye as Megumi entered. It had a small roll of paper tied to its leg. Stooping, he untied the message and read its contents.

My sources say there is a cursed magical artifact in Ikawa. Please check if these are true, but be certain not to touch it. Meet in the usual location tonight, with or without it.

Megumi heaved a sigh. His sensei's message was as vague and unhelpful as ever. He opened the door to allow the raven to fly home and headed back to the house. It could have been worse, he supposed. Tsumiki needed him to go to the city anyway. This mission was likely one to test his mana detection skills. Vague and enigmatic as he was, his sensei tended to give him missions geared toward training his skills as a mage.

He was still uncertain as to how exactly the man had discovered him nearly a decade ago. His memories of their encounter had grown vague with the passing of time and his young age at the time. The man had shown up on the farm already knowing his name, expression cold and distant in the beginning. He had informed Megumi of his status as a mage hailing from the Zen'in Clan and asked if he wanted to join them. Megumi had asked if his sister could come along, if she would be happy there, as welcome as he with his Ten Shadows - whatever that was.

The reply had been negative - she would not be happy there at all. So his own decision had been made: he wouldn't go. By the end of their conversation, the man had opened up a little more, his cold demeanor thawing into something beginning to approach warmth as he declared Megumi could from that day forth address him as 'sensei'.

His self-proclaimed sensei had indeed taught him a lot of useful things about being a mage. Megumi learned basic barrier magic, how to reinforce his physical abilities with mana, and how to imbue objects with mana thanks to him. But most importantly, the man seemed to know a lot about his innate magic - the Ten Shadows. Their lessons had also included learning about the history of mages and of the three great clans. How they had banded together under Sugawara no Michizane to seal the dark mage known as the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna, and defeat those who sided with him. Sugawara had then gone on to become the first mage-king.

Sukuna's defeat at the hands of the mage alliance had brought about a new era of peace and prosperity. Even now, more than eight hundred years later, monsters and even some humans continued to be at odds with Nara Kingdom, discontented that the old ways of status through strength alone had been done away with in part, though not entirely. Certainly demons, devils, and other such creatures were no longer welcome in polite society, having chosen their side long ago during that fateful final battle. Even with powerful mages from the three great clans around, they made their discontent known through violent attacks throughout the kingdom.

After being immersed in the world of mages for a bit, traveling to the nearby city and other towns in the area, it became obvious to him who exactly his teacher was. White hair - a telltale sign of the main branch of the Gojo Clan, as well as bright blue eyes which sparkled with endless depth whenever they were not hidden behind spectacles or linen bandages. When Megumi began addressing him as 'Gojo-sensei' instead of just 'sensei', the man had simply carried on as though not noticing the change. When he grew older, Gojo had taken him to meet other mages around his age at Castle Suga. But unlike many of them who permanently resided there when not out on assignments, he preferred to remain on the farm with his sister.

Returning to the house to collect some money and a list of what Tsumiki wanted from town, Megumi departed, off to wrangle this dangerous object for Gojo-sensei.

xXxXx

Eyebrows drawn down in concentration, Kugisaki Nobara squinted at the level on the bookshelf in front of her. The bead of air in the watertight glass was slightly off center. Frowning, she tapped slightly on the shelf she was adjusting, pouring just a little mana into the hammer she wielded. There, now the bead of air was exactly centered, and so was the shelf. Sighing with relief, she rose to her feet and put the level back in its proper place. "Father, the shelving unit is complete!" she called out.

"Excellent, well done Nobara," her father replied from across the workshop. He was finishing up some repairs on an absolute monstrosity of a clock, which burst into song when the hour struck. Such artifacts were extremely rare, and the methods for making them had been lost centuries ago. "As soon as I'm done here, help me move that shelf closer to the door. The owner will be sending men to pick it up tomorrow."

Nobara nodded in agreement and waited for her father to finish his work, paying close attention to pick up any more tips and tricks in how he controlled his mana while fixing the artifact. Despite her mother's protests that it was unseemly for a girl to follow the craft of her father, Nobara was glad to help him out. Being an artisan mage and making a good living repairing magical artifacts meant her father could afford to send her to the only mage school in the city to learn beyond the basics of her carpentry craft.

Now that she was fifteen, she spent most of her day assisting her father in his work. Much of her remaining free time was spent helping her mother in taking care of the home. As their only child, she felt she had double the burden: being a son to her father by carrying on his trade as well as a daughter to her mother in working on household chores and preparing for the inevitable arranged marriage that in another year or two she would no longer be able to avoid.

The things she had learned in school from her teacher, a middle-aged mage who claimed descent from a Kamo Clan branch family, had amazed her. His tales about fighting demons and other monsters sparked interest in her as well. Although female mages typically held more freedom than their non-mage counterparts, there were still expectations set upon them to marry and produce more mages. The strongest of them were still assigned missions even after their marriages though. Mages were scarce and monster attacks were persistent. Sometimes when her father was not around, Nobara practiced hitting nails across the workshop, using the natural patterns in the wooden walls for targets.

Of course, the entirety of her class was made up of either artisan mages like her who used their magic to repair magical artifacts or mages so weak they could only manage basic light and barrier spells. Such attributes were not sought after by the three clans the way combat abilities were. She supposed this was due to the way the title of mage-king was passed on. Sure, the position could be hereditary, but ultimately it hinged on strength. While it was law that the king would name an heir or means of power transference in his will, if that heir could not hold onto power, it would be taken from him. Because of this holdover from the times when an individual's power meant everything, the mage-king often ended up being the strongest mage of any given era.

"You did great work today Nobara. I'll miss your help when you go."

Nobara smiled wanly. "You will have me for a few years yet to come, Father. Where is this coming from?" Had her mother arranged for a suitor to visit already? Surely it was too soon…

Her father shrugged. "Just a feeling I've been having lately. You know my mother's mother was a seer." It was one of her father's favorite excuses when he had a vague feeling. Those vague feelings did turn out to be fairly accurate though. Nobara could count on one hand the number of times his gut feelings had been wrong. The knowledge left a pit in her stomach.

Nobara drew herself up. "Don't say that father. I'll still be around for at least a few more years. We'll have many more projects to complete together in that time." She patted him on the shoulder and headed out of the shop to wash up and help her mother prepare dinner.

That night, after cleaning the dishes and entire kitchen at the behest of her mother, Nobara lay in bed, restless. She couldn't stop thinking about what her father had said before dinner. All during the evening meal, she had expected her mother to mention having a suitor come calling, but she had made no indication of that sort. So was there another reason she and her father would be separated?

Tossing and turning, unable to shut her brain off and fall asleep, Nobara swung out of bed and put on her work clothes - a cotton kimono, simple and easy to move around in - and slipped on one of her better pairs of sandals. If she wasn't going to be able to get any sleep, then at least she could do some work. After all, it seemed her time working with her father may be coming to an end sooner rather than later.

Notes: This story began as just a few ideas around the time chapter 260 of the manga came out. From there it rapidly expanded into a full-on fantasy novel. I have a number of chapters written already and hope to be able to post every other week. That schedule should give me time to continue writing as well as go back to edit and fix up the earlier chapter drafts before posting them.

In this story, I go with traditional Japanese dress/culture for the most part, but there is some small western influence in the culture of Nara. The country was named after the Nara period in Japan when the first permanent capital city was established, much like how the country was founded by the first mage-king and the castle built at that time.

The mage-king position is loosely based off of Black Clover's wizard king.

I did end up changing the powers of a few characters, but these changes will be explained throughout the story. Some of the changes were made to work better with the magic power system versus cursed energy system, others were made because I thought it made more sense than their original powers as well as within the context of this story. But for the most part, picture all the characters basically identical powers-wise to their original.