Sukuna raced through the streets to the location where the fight was taking place. Severe mistakes in the gathering of information and its dissemination led to a single third-grade student, together with an assistant manager, to investigate paranormal activities wrongfully attributed to an unrelated third-grade curse when it was actually a first-grade one.
Said curse had already killed several sorcerers in the last few months. Normally though, Sukuna wouldn't worry that much. Among all of the third-grade students who could've been chosen for this mission, it was Tōji who was sent away and really, that man was anything but a third-grade sorcerer. If it weren't for nearly all of the old farts in the upper echelons of the Jujutsu Society hating Tōji's guts, then he would've climbed the ranks to a first-grade sorcerer a long time ago.
What made Sukuna worry a little was Tōji's pet curse, which had been confiscated again because Tōji had caused some trouble for himself and others. Again. The superiors called it insubordination, he called it envy and Sukuna did have to agree with Tōji on that one; most of their teachers and the other sorcerers were envious of Tōji's success in killing curses despite him not possessing a cursed technique or even a single shred of cursed energy of his own. But not having his inventory curse with him meant Tōji had to limit the number of cursed weapons he could bring to his missions.
If Tōji only brought weapons meant for a third-grade curse, then he would run into big problems when fighting against a first-grade one. And still, this was Fushiguro Tōji he was thinking about. Sukuna had seen with his own four eyes how he ripped curses apart with his teeth. Not that he was able to kill curses that way, what with not having cursed energy run through him, but the tenacity still counted.
(Not so much the fact that Tōji had spit that piece of cursed flesh in Sukuna's face after chewing on it for a while. "Helping you out, baby bird," he had told him while the curse tried to regenerate its arms and legs back. Sukuna had crushed it with his fists and he nearly did the same with Tōji's head but the arrogant first-year student had already sauntered off. That was their first mission together two years ago.)
What truly bothered Sukuna about coming to this mission as backup was the series of emergency calls that were made by the assistant manager. The first one was the most concerning.
"The constantly escaping first-grade curse appeared right after the killing of the third-grade. Third-grade student Fushiguro has been severely injured by its sudden appearance!"
Sorcerers are only as strong as their weakest point and Sukuna could imagine a curse as agile and elusive as this one getting the drop on Tōji. Curses had even managed to get Sukuna by surprise but that had never resulted in injuries for him. It had been nearly half an hour since that first emergency call had been made and from the looks of it, no one had managed to reach the sorcerer/manager pair before him.
He saw that the curtain was still active when he finally reached his destination, meaning the assistant manager was still alive. He shouldn't have worried that much. Of course Tōji would be able to deal with this curse; he had already defeated special-grade curses as well. Or maybe the fight was still ongoing? He dismounted his motorcycle and pulled out his phone to check for updates. There was nothing new for the last 12 minutes, at least not on his end.
He sent his arrival message and hastily went through the curtain. Immediately, cursed energy assaulted his senses but it was faint and faded even more after every second. 'He killed it,' were Sukuna's prideful thoughts; he would keep his enthusiasm about it in check, though, when he was in front of Tōji. The scarred teenager about to become a man could get weird when people praised him; he had endured too many backhanded and insulting compliments all his life to accept them easily when they were genuine.
Sukuna went through the narrow space between two buildings until he came to an open area used for parking. There was widespread destruction everywhere and the structural integrity of some buildings in the vicinity seemed compromised. He saw the pair at the other side of the parking lot beside an upturned car. The long hair of the manager that fell out of a ponytail was swaying in the wind while she was leaning over Tōji's crumpled and unmoving form on the ground.
Sukuna froze where he stood, unable to move another muscle. Did… did Tōji pay with his life for defeating that curse? He didn't feel any sign of life from him. Was the injury he sustained at the beginning of the fight too much? Couldn't someone have come here faster than Sukuna did…?
Grief slowly took hold of Sukuna (even though a small part of his mind was screaming at him that he was missing something). His arms lost their strength and fell down his sides, then his eyes strayed away from the scene without his conscious input. He took mechanical steps forward while his mind had turned into a grey fuzz; the only thoughts that managed to escape it were the disparaging comments he made towards Tōji on their first encounter.
'How are you going to become a sorcerer like that?'
'Can physical strength compensate for the lack of cursed energy and a cursed technique?'
He meant them as actual questions because his curiosity was piqued by Tōji's unique binding vow he had been born with without a say on his own. Sukuna had never seen someone like that before, but so had no one else, and Tōji had to deal with questions and comments like that his whole life, some of which were meant to demean and shame him for the way his body worked. Sukuna had his cursed energy-enforced jaw broken by a seemingly normal fist after that, which did answer at least one of his questions.
He walked along flattened cars and broken glass towards his fallen friend. Slowly, the realization sank in that he won't be able to talk to him anymore, that there won't be playful arguments between them that escalated to impromptu fighting sessions that ended with…
'You're missing something! You're missing something!' his brain tried to tell him, but Sukuna was simply overrun by an endless onslaught of emotions about Tōji being dead. He couldn't even discern most of them but they settled heavily in his stomach and threatened to pull him down to the ground. That was until the manager saw him and frantically waved him over to her. Why the haste when there was no one to save anymore? Why the frantic waving in front of a corpse? 'Why, why, why,whywhywhy?'
'Because the only reason you think he's dead is due to his body being empty of cursed energy. A sign that means death for any other sorcerer but that's not true for him!' Sukuna took up his pace in desperate hope and rushed the short distance towards the pair on the ground and sure enough, Tōji's eyes were open, if not a little out of focus. He wasn't dead. For now, at least. Sukuna's heart just played tricks on him, overriding any rational thought and throwing logic and memory out to the wind.
This wasn't even the first time Sukuna thought that he was dead. He had seen Tōji lying around or sitting somewhere and his senses were simply fooled into believing he had suddenly died because he couldn't sense cursed energy on him. It was the uncertain circumstances of this mission that had clouded Sukuna's mind with worry this time around. But it was all right now. Sukuna could deal with an injured Tōji, however much of the shock from his mistaken assumption had not left him yet.
"How bad are his injuries?" He asked the manager whose name he didn't remember because he barely cared about other people. She was dirty and had some light bruises marring her skin. Her hands were on Tōji's stomach, pressing on a wound and keeping it closed, though how much that helped Sukuna couldn't tell. Tōji was… just an open wound from head to toe. His uniform was ripped apart in many places and his white undershirt was stained with blood, both old and new from the hole in his stomach the manager was holding close, but the most serious injuries were located on his legs.
It looked like he had been bound to a car by his hands and hauled over asphalt for an hour. His legs were broken and bent in unnatural ways and the skin was scraped off in the places where the fabric of his trousers couldn't hold on anymore. That was the shortest way to summarize the injuries on his legs because Sukuna could probably sit there the rest of the morning and just count one injury after the other for hours. Both shoes were missing, too.
"He-he was attacked right… at the beginning." The woman was only now starting to calm down after help had arrived. The curse was already dead but the healer wasn't there yet. "It's his – it's his legs…" the woman said but yes, Sukuna had already seen that they were the most heavily injured part of Tōji but when Sukuna looked at his friend to get his input on this situation, he was met with… nothing.
Tōji wasn't unconscious; he was motionless and lying on his side, looking straight ahead without much emotion on him. "Tōji," Sukuna called but it looked like he was ignoring him. Sukuna gently touched his shoulders but that didn't cause him to react. Then, even though they had an audience, Sukuna went to touch his face with soft and careful fingers. This time he did get a reaction but it was a turn of Tōji's head away from him, regardless of how few millimetres he managed to turn. Tōji refused to look at him.
Sukuna was stunned and didn't understand this reaction. Normally, Tōji was a bundle of energy and smart wit, irrespective of injury or circumstances. Even with his mouth swollen shut (or otherwise occupied), it was still second nature to him to gesticulate rudely with his hands. This stillness was especially troubling because he should be in ridiculous amounts of pain. Sukuna looked at his legs again and at the agonising ways they bent in some places. Since arriving here, Sukuna had not seen a single twitch of any muscle on these legs. With widening eyes, he looked to the manager again, who only managed to hold his gaze for two seconds before turning away and starting to speak again.
"His legs… he was paralysed by the curse's first attack. It stabbed him in his back..."
Honestly, Sukuna couldn't understand what she was saying. Tōji had lost the use of his legs, right from the start? Was that the injury the first call for help was about? But Tōji had killed the first-grade curse. He still held his, now broken, Kriegsmesser in his hand even. Did he…?
"Are you saying that he – Tōji-" Sukuna turned back to his friend to talk with him directly, "-did you kill that curse with your hands and arms alone?"
Tōji heard that question; his eyes widened for a moment. He took a deep breath but just when it looked like he would answer, he deflated again. Instead, he let his sword go and moved his arms around to get into a more comfortable position. His torso was the only body part that moved. Sukuna waited a little with the hopes of an answer still coming but… nothing.
In other circumstances, this would have been a funny and inspiring story. There was this sorcerer who lost his legs in a fight but he fought with his hands instead until he beat the curse to death. One of those tales told to inspire awe or to kill time. But nothing was awe-inspiring about witnessing it first-hand; about seeing the spirit of his secret lover crushed. There was no sorcerer alive who had healing powers great enough to heal a broken spine and Tōji had had enough time to mull that over in his head and to come to the only conclusion one could draw from it.
Sukuna felt sick to his stomach. Tōji's life as a sorcerer… was over.
His life was over. Everything he had worked and trained towards, everything he had endured day in and day out; all of it, just gone. Tōji would need to restructure his life after this and he wouldn't be the same anymore. Part of him just died on this mission.
And Sukuna had the suspicion that it was his stubbornness of not getting killed by a mere curse alone that had driven him beyond any physical feat thought possible to exorcise this curse. But the curse, and with it his stubbornness, was gone now. What would happen to Tōji's soul after this?
There was still no answer, no reaction at all, coming from him.
With his previous thoughts of believing Tōji dead, and the horrible feelings that had been left in his stomach since, and just to see him happy again, Sukuna didn't think at all when he put his hand over the ugly wound on Tōji's back and activated his reverse curse technique. The assistant manager was startled into letting go of the wound on the front, which Sukuna could now tell was the exit wound of that curse's attack on his spine. The manager immediately put one hand back on Tōji's stomach and just watched what Sukuna was doing with wide eyes.
Tōji, too, was startled out of his depressed state to look at Sukuna. Sukuna had never told anyone about or demonstrated his ability to create positive energy, let alone use it on others. Even from his lover he had kept it a secret because he never saw a reason to tell him. Sukuna had… many more secrets like that.
With enough time to think it over, Tōji would've probably told Sukuna to stop healing him because it was a useless gesture (useless but not meaningless to Tōji), but his thoughts never went that far. Sudden electricity started shooting through his body, with the source located in his lower back. It was strong and led to his entire body shaking with a near-silent scream leaving him through his clenched teeth.
"Wha-what?" asked the assistant manager and only then did Sukuna fully realize what he was doing, what secret he had just given up on an emotional whim. But he had no regrets.
"I'm not a healer," he said as if he wasn't in the middle of knitting back together torn nerves and a busted spine. He felt the ligaments coming back and the bones fusing together, then the muscles closed in and it was done, as easy as that for someone like Sukuna. Tōji sat up as much as he could to look at him with giant and questioning eyes when he suddenly fell to the ground again with an agonized scream.
He thrashed around and instinctively grabbed for his weapon again but his enemy wasn't something he could stab with a sword; it was his broken legs, his smashed knees and his ripped-off skin he could feel again. Right, Sukuna could've started healing from there but seeing Tōji move his legs around, even if it was in pain, undid the terrible knot in his stomach. Now he could finally think this through. He put one hand on Tōji's leg where his femur was broken and told him in a calm voice that he was going to heal the worst of the injuries on his legs now, too. Those which couldn't be healed by others and those where the natural and assisted healing would take too long.
"Since when… are you able… to do that?" Tōji asked in between mouthfuls of breath to manage the pain he was in. Sweat had started to form all around his body and Sukuna could see the physical and mental toll he was under from this ordeal. Sukuna didn't answer his question and just concentrated on the broken bone under his fingers. He never would've thought that he, or his energy, would get this deep inside of Tōji but looking at his lover's mangled body, that thought was way less funny or erotic than it sounded. Tōji wasn't able to say anything about this anymore, as all his attention and brain power were concentrated on just dealing with these agonizing physical sensations and the relief that Sukuna brought him.
Sukuna decided on the rest of the wounds he would heal but to maintain his cover of being a non-reverse cursed technique user, he would let the rest stay as they were. He didn't have to keep that part of himself a secret but he had long since decided not to trust the Jujutsu Society with more than they strictly needed to know about him. Another healer could heal the rest of the injuries; he had saved Tōji's life and the scarred man could deal with being slightly injured a little longer.
"As I said," he directed his statement to the manager, "I'm not a healer." Only now did the manager understand what Sukuna meant by that and she was troubled by its implications.
"Your healing powers… they're like a miracle… and-"
"No one needs to know about them."
She accepted Sukuna's answer, for now at least, probably because she was just relieved by the positive turn this encounter with the sorcerer killing curse had taken. Sukuna did not doubt that this secret would come out one day, either because the manager wanted someone saved or Tōji decided on being a giant dick because of something. Maybe Sukuna himself would reveal it at some point. Who knows, but for now, he turned towards Tōji again and inspected his face, which was drenched in blood, sweat and tears.
Sukuna waited until Tōji calmed down before he cradled his face in his hand. With his other hand, he felt along his rapidly expanding torso to look for broken ribs. Sukuna found them but he let them be, unlike the side of Tōji's face in his hand, which was scraped open due to the glass and stones on the ground. Just as with his spine, Sukuna didn't think about healing it; he just did because it was the right thing to do.
Tōji leaned his head against the warm palm of his boyfriend and closed his eyes. He was on the verge of falling asleep and Sukuna let him do that without protest. "What were the exact words you used for your emergency call?" he asked the manager again to make sure their story would line up. Tōji spoke before the manager was able to answer.
"So, the Jujutsu world… is not going to… speak of that awesome feat of a… non-sorcerer who killed a curse after getting… paralysed, huh?" He had a smile on his face when he said that, and Sukuna couldn't help himself, he had to smile at that too.
"You need to think of another feat to leave your mark on the world," Sukuna said with the tiniest bit of pride shining through his answer.
"Nothing easier… than that," were Tōji's final words on the matter before his breathing evened out and his body went lax.
Sukuna checked his phone to update his end of this mission and he discussed the alternate version of the events taking place with the assistant manager. He made sure, though, that Tōji still looked good in it. Third-grade student Fushiguro was impaled in the stomach by a surprise attack, but he still exorcised the curse with his cursed weapons.
When he received the message that the car had arrived to transport Tōji back to the Tokyo school for medical treatment, Sukuna slowly and gently lifted his lover in his arms. He made his way through the destroyed battlefield and tried to imagine what this fight must have looked like. He wanted to know how the fuck Tōji was able to kill that curse without the use of his legs but his curiosity could be sated another time.
"Are you finally going to tell me… why you have four eyes?" Tōji woke up again during the walk and asked his favourite question to Sukuna. Normally, Sukuna answered that with a simple 'no', but on this day, he said something new.
"Maybe not." It was at this point, that Tōji would hit him and they'd break out in another fight if they were in public, or a make-out session if they were in private, but this time, Tōji just fell back asleep with his head on Sukuna's shoulders and Sukuna wouldn't have it any other way.