Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

So, all residents of the box dimension found themselves back at the viewing room.

Roughly a day of rest passed by, with everyone doing their own thing before returning for the inevitable future forecast when commanded to.

At the first glance, everyone seems fine, seated, snacks in hand, the Tokyo students in one row, the Kyoto in the row behind it, and the teachers scattered between them. They seemed all ready to go.

But reality told a different story.

A simple cursory look at their expressions showed weird thousand-yard stares mixed with their usual anticipatory demeanors, which were roughly spaced out from the least (like the group youngsters), to the most (the third and second years and the teachers). In fact, the likes of Gojo, Nanami, Yaga, Maki, Yuta, and Inumaki didn’t show any signs of having even slept a wink at all, considering the bags underneath their eyes that are worthy of Shoko Ieri herself.

Meanwhile, Yuji, Megumi, Nobara, and Miwa were quite disturbed at this development, and internally begged the screen to get a move on and turn up already, because the atmosphere was just that unbearable.

As for what incited it...

Roughly a day ago

The Jujutsu students sped up across the corridors to locate that energy signature, led by Yuta and Inumaki.

“Fuck, when did it get so damn long?!” Yuji screeched as he caught up to his two upperclassmen, the corridors growing suspiciously drudgery.

“Reminds me of the one Iori-sensei got stuck in a while back!” Miwa commented as she sprang on her steps.

“Are you absolutely sure it’s what you think it is?!” Nobara loudly questioned, almost falling behind.

“I hate to admit, but it is!” Todo answered while running.

When they reached the crossways, they met up with Maki and Mai.

“Oh, Maki-san! Thank goodness!” “Mai-chan!” Yuta and Momo declared in relief as the two girls joined the group.

“What the hell’s going on!? You look like animals scuttling!” Mai enquired.

“You’ll know when we find Gojo!” Panda swiftly replied as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her along, to her anger.

After clearing yet another crossway, the feeling got closer and closer, but it only frightened Yuta, Inumaki and Panda. “How could it possibly be?! How did they do it?! What are they even playing it!!?”

Upon making it to the last floor upstairs, even the other students have to concede with Yuji that the passages were unusually stretched out compared to how they remember.

Finally, they turned to the last corridor, “Sensei!!” yelled Megumi.

And he, alongside everyone, was met with a flabbergasting view.

Gojo was accompanied by Shoko, Yaga, Nanami and Utahime, and, well... what petrified them into silence at the moment was none other than freaking Suguru Geto himself, for some reason.

The man looked exactly as they remembered him, his long, spiky hair done up in a bun, and still wearing the Buddhist robes. Perhaps the most egregious quandary is that everyone, upon getting a closer look, was absolutely certain there were no stitch marks on that Geto’s forehead. And to top it off, the eerie, wraithlike aura that emanated from his figure affected the nearby atmosphere, spreading a chill that landed on their skins. And perhaps even worse, despite the energy signature absolutely screaming the real Suguru Geto, there was a sense of wrongness about it, and indeed, about him, that put them as well as the adults on guard real fast. It almost felt as if he shouldn’t even exist in any capacity, yet he did, and this violation of a simple law of nature was freakier than any Special Grade Curse, perhaps freakier than the existence of Satoru Gojo himself.

The students and the teachers readied themselves for potential alteraction; Yuji, Panda, Kamo and Todo took a fighting stance, Megumi and Utahime were prepared to perform the invocations, Nobara, Maki, Yuta, Mai, Kasumi, Momo, Mechamaru and Nanami busted out their respective weapons. This left Yaga, Shoko and especially Satoru as the ones who didn’t attempt to do anything to react. The latter three just stood, stock-still, as they assessed the sight in front of them.

“... Satoru..?” the heavy silence was instantly cleaved through by a simple word from the man. Contrary to their expectations, it’s evident that Suguru is not all there, with no idea what the hell just happened and is continuing to happen.

Gojo took  a couple tentative steps towards him, blinking restlessly all the time as he took in his whole being. He barely gathered what was left of his faculties to respond

“...I-it’s really you. But, how...?”. No matter how hard his Six Eyes analyzed and scrutinized, this was the one and only Cursed Spirit User he knew for so long. Getting inches closer to his face allowed him to sense Geto’s shallow breaths on his skin, confirming beyond a shadow of doubt the truth behind what the Eyes saw.

Trying to collect himself, Geto’s eyes raked over everyone present around him. They settled on his long-time brunette friend, still as disheveled as he remembers “Shoko...”, her eyes surprisingly lighting up in reaction, not being as spooked compared to the rest as her posture relaxed when he drew near. Then, he turned to see Yaga, his former teacher, now clearly a principal, who in contrast, was still eyeing him fixedly, holding his ground. However, his vision landed on a certain teenager in a white uniform shirt with a sword behind his back. In a second, it was as if his appearance was superimposed by phosphenes of a dark, grotesque entity behind him.

“ARGH!!” Before he knew it, a sharp pang suddenly flared up within Geto’s cranium, as he staggered while holding his forehead. Suddenly, all the warm memories that filled his head just a while ago vanished, as if they were gone in thin air.

“SUGURU!” Gojo held Geto as he came close to collapsing on the ground, worry marring his usually pristine Six Eyes. Shoko helped clutching her once best friend as he threw back and forth in immense pain, breathing rapidly. “What’s wrong?!”

“Ugh, uhhh... I don’t...” he desperately wanted to know why. All of a sudden, his perfectly functioning brain was scrambled up, everything he thought happened not long ago reduced to indistinct, rapid-fire images in his mind. “H-Haibara... Riko...”

Everybody’s nostrils flared as their pupils shrank in shock. Why, of all things, he recalled those two?! Gojo, Shoko, Nanami and Yaga already guessed the reason for that, and it opened an even bigger can of worms about his current existence, something the students began to gradually catch on.

“Oi, hold it together...!” Gojo pleaded, checking to realize that his body weakened considerably, along with him going down with a fever at the drop of a hat. Then again, even in his helpless state, Geto couldn’t help but let his tired, unfocused eyes wander all over the place, now aware that Okkotsu and Rika, his killers, were in here. Only to suddenly stop when he was glimpsed upon another dark-haired teenage boy wearing Tokyo Jujutsu Tech uniform. Except... his resemblance to him was astounding, almost looking like a younger-aged clone of him. The one that took them away so coldly. The one that ruined his life. The one who started it all. For nearly a minute, his condition seems to have stabilized, if only due to focusing that unruly energy on boring a hole into Megumi’s soul with his murderous, dead-eyed stare. He seemed in the clear for a while, but soon, those initially scribbled out images and voices that flashed in his mind now have been purified, becoming perfectly comprehensible.

“I want to be with everyone for longer!”

“You sound so self-righteous, I hate this stuff!”

“This part of you rejecting non-Sorcerers, and the this part of you rejecting that idea...”

 “I love you, Kuroi! I always would!”

“For all your blessing, you still lost to a monkey with no Cursed Energy”

“You should’ve been killed as babies!”

“... Because I killed Satoru Gojo”

“Love is the most twisted curse of all”

“I thought you said we weren’t allowed to kill when there was no point in it!”

“Suguru... should we kill these guys?”

“It's true love"

Geto couldn’t bear the racing thoughts inside his now-alive, functioning brain that was pumped by his now beating heart, or at least the artifice of one. So he blacked out right after when he appeared to have recovered.

“OI! Suguru!” Gojo frantically nudges him. He didn’t know what was going on anymore, all his focus was now on him.

“Calm down, he’s just out cold” spelled out Shoko after running a few checks on his limp body. Gojo sighed in relief, but almost immediately took it back when yet another notification came up on their phones.

All of the students, even some of the adults, groaned furiously, “NOT THE TIME!!” yelled out Nobara.

“Not like we have much of a choice...” Yuji and Yuta just sucked it up as they pulled up his mobile to see what’s the deal.

Achievement has been delivered!

Just give the new guest some time to adjust.

Upcoming Achievement: 30:23:10... 9... 8... 7... 6....

A lengthy silence permeated as the Sorcerers present struggled to process all the new developments that have taken place in such a short while, the only sounds heard being the ragged, labored breaths almost everyone let out. The older students were much slower to calm down on this issue, for reasons that should be obvious.

During this interval, Gojo took the opportunity to go with Shoko and place the unconscious Geto atop an unused bed in their sleeping quarters. Afterwards, only Shoko returned. Taking note of the uneasy silence, she suddenly spoke out, “... Well?”

“Well?! That bastard’s literally here, alive and kicking!!” Maki voiced her opinion brusquely.

 “Is h-he real? A r-reanimated c-corpse?! Or e-even a ghost!??” Miwa stammered, her face pale in comical terror.

“How could that possibly happen?!?” Yuji questioned, shocked.

“How did the messenger reanimated Geto’s corpse?! Or is this some mediumship ability?” and Yuta too.

“Calm down, everyone, please” Nanami stepped up to mollify to the freaked out youngsters, “We will handle this new development ourselves, so there’s no need to be on edge.”

“That’s right. It’s too early to ascertain the purpose behind it, but I believe it might have something to do with an issue the past viewing raised” Yaga worked out, his fingers stroking his chin.

“An... issue?” Megumi reiterate slowly, before it hit him. He, and soon the rest of his friends, recalled Geto’s reasonings for his turn to the dark side.

“Nevermind that, what’s this counter?!” Yuji raised the just-as important concern, as he showed his phone with the countdown having already reached 30:18:57 and going down.

“It says Upcoming Achievement...” Uttered Momo as her eyes, and soon the rest of the sorcerers’ eyes, were blown wide from realization.

“Please tell me it’s not yet another person who’s probably dead!” Panda blurted.

“At this rate, I don’t think it’s...” Mechamaru trailed off, not having any satisfactory reply.

However, Gojo himself soon left the chamber and returned to the group, his face quite hard to read after all that’s transpired.

Faced by his concerned co-workers nonverbally seeking answers, he sighs resignedly and begins “It’s gonna be alright. Some instructions and other helpful extra info were given to me by the Messenger, regarding... him. So you can relax! And besides, even when he wakes up, he can’t pose any danger to you” he forced a smile at the last statement, hoping he got the point across his students.

Said students were admittedly unsure, since the problem wasn’t precisely with Geto.

“I’ll tell you everything about this later, as I’ll be watching him. So don’t stress over it and go get some rest, since you have a whole free day before a series of long, successive viewings”

“Even about this counter?”

“Yep”

Back to the Present

“I mean, if nothing else... having the previous Jujutsu world terrorist connected to Gojo-sensei join us is a nice way to shake up this viewing, I suppose” Nobara tried her hand at lighting up the situation. It was met with a mixed reception.

“I swear your sense of humor is just getting worse” Maki grumbled, her trust in the messenger who trapped them here crumbling as her anxiety shot up. It’s one thing to be able to see into the future, or heck, all periods, but it’s another to bring back a deceased person.

“Actually I agree with Kugisaki” Yuji spoke up, “like Yaga-sensei said earlier, there has to be a certian purpose behind it” And the thing is, there’s actually someone I want to ask of him later.

After what seemed like an hour, the screen began flickering.

“Oh, oh! It’s starting!” Exclaimed Miwa as she and everyone else took seats.

Yuji Itadori, Nobara Kugisaki and Megumi Fushiguro were walking down the street of Tokyo downtown.

“It’s... so peaceful” Yuta remarked.

“Like it’d last” the rest of the students deadpanned.

Stretching his arms out roughly, Gojo tried to put everything, including the latest arrival, behind him so he can properly have fun with this new content. Besides, he now has more reasons to be high spirits...

Yuji expressed a desire to see a movie, while Nobara wanted to go shopping while it was still early. Both of them were scrolling down their phones. On the other hand, Megumi decided to leave home when the car driven by Ijichi pulled up.

Suddenly, a new face made its way to the room.

“Uh... Satoru?”

Everybody’s head whipped behind them in a second, their eyes meeting Suguru Geto’s dark, narrow ones.

He was now fully awake and looks (somewhat) more healthy, but he appears to have ditched his robes in favour of a black Tokyo Jujutsu Tech uniform nearly identical to that of Gojo’s, which was found atop the bed near the one he lied on. Contrary to his unhinged mood earlier, he’s a lot calmer and relaxed, the energy around him much more stable as he cautiously made his way down the small staircase.

“Whoah! Heya, Suguru! You can come ‘ere” Gojo waved carefreely at his once-friend-turned-enemy as he pointed to the seat right behind him. His unusually laid-back attitude about Geto surprised his students, but attracted glances of suspicion from his fellow teachers and more mature adolescents.

“... Thanks, but I’d rather be on my own” Geto chose an empty seat that was much farther by two rows.

Usually, tension would be rather high with him along, but things quickly quietened down as the viewing resumed.

The students and teachers remembered Gojo informing them a while before that Geto is only here temporarily because of a, quoting the messenger, experiment. What this experiment entailed, no one had a concrete answer, but while some were a bit relieved he wasn’t permanently revived, Geto’s old friends weren’t exactly at ease that he only had a few days left to spend with them.

Gojo was still watching Geto in the meantime, if only by checking the air around him with his Six Eyes. He wasn’t about to leave him alone for so long, not even after he narrated everything that’s happened so far after Geto recovered and got up.

Geto on the other hand never felt this awkward for so long. Only a while ago, he was in a brutal battle against Jujutsu Tech sorcerers, before being obliterated by Okkotsu and Rika and then finished off by Gojo. There was a lot to unpack, not helped by Okkotsu himself being the most terrified of him.

Yuji asked Nobara, who also went separately, if she wanted to watch some movies. When she about it, Yuji replied that it’s Human Earthworm 4, to the girl’s disgust, on top of not having seen the first three installments. Yuji recaps the story, which is about a human fused with an earthworm by a crazy scientist who ends up in a love story with a normal girl despite his grotesque appearance, before devolving into a... madcap ending.

Yuji’s interest in western media is already well-known, but this one takes the cake in terms of its outlandishness. Though for some, it was for different reasons.

“Pffft, wow, Human Earthworm, huh? Such vulgar taste” Mai ridiculed Yuji. He gave her quite the annoyed stink-eye. Also, not everyone was on-board with her criticism due to how weird it was.

“Says the hipster, ‘cuz you sure talk like one”. He countered, before getting up and declaring hammily “Human Earthworm is a movie franchise that’s celebrated around the world for its universal themes, engaging storytelling and sense of camp! So you’ve no right deciding what constitutes high media!”

“Universal themes? Yeah sure, that’s like saying lowbrow comedy movies espouse anti-establishment” retorted Mai.

“SHADDUP! I’m not here to discuss a movie ‘bout a freakin’ worm-man!” Nobara and Maki, respectively, bonked both Yuji and Mai in the head for their dumb rivalry.

Yuji is unusually enthusiastic about it as he summarizes its theme, but Nobara is nonplussed, not wanting anything to do with a worm man. She asks Yuji if he wants to join her shopping, but he’s beyond insistent on seeing Human Earthworm 4 instead. Thus, they go their own separate ways.

When Yuji explained the movie and plot in full, Shoko sighed in relief as she leaned back on her seat “Damn, my ears must be busted, ‘cuz I couldn’t help but mishear it as Human Centipede”.

“HUH?!?” They definitely didn’t see that coming, including, even Geto. Many gagged in nausea at the mere idea of something like that existing. Also, how could she mishear it?! Meanwhile, Gojo, Nanami and Utahime suddenly shivered at the awakening of a memory they’d do a lot better without.

“Ewww! What the hell, Shoko-san?! What bet did you lose to even think of watching that disgusting-ass excuse of a euroshlock!!” Nobara squawked in horror, covering her mouth, forgetting her etiquette entirely. “It was a Halloween movie night after I graduated from Jujutsu High, so His Honour here decided that what we really needed was a European indie movie” Nanami helped explain, voice laced with thinly-veiled distaste as he shot a glower at the cheekily whistling Gojo “Because, in his words, they’re super-creative with horror concepts”.

“More like super gross” Nobara, Yuji and Mai muttered amongst themselves.

“And that is exactly why, since then, he’s not allowed to choose movies anymore” summarized Shoko. She gently patted Utahime on the shoulder, the latter traumatized as she hid her mouth with her sleeve, “I could watch through its entirety just fine, but poor Utahime left after that one single scene and didn’t contact us for weeks, losing her appetite entirely.”

The viewers winced in sympathy, especially Utahime’s students. It’s not everyday that a Jujutsu Sorcerer used to gore and viscera would want to tune out a grossout fictional movie. It seriously made them wonder why the hell didn't Curses emerge from Europe if this is typical for their media.

However, what they didn’t anticipate was accidentally witnessing Geto not-so-subtly leaning forward to listen on his former classmates’ story. If memory served right, the reason Gojo’s movie recommendations as a teen were so stellar is because Geto was in charge of filtering out the bad seed, unless they were in the mood for something awesomely bad. So it ended badly for everyone when he was out of the picture, revoltingly so. The sight low-key wound Geto up, wanting nothing more than to tell Gojo about the kind of stuff he nearly recommended to his underclassmen before he stopped him several times over. However, he was reluctant to speak up. Moreover, he was astonished at how comfortable he easily made himself here. Not even two minutes and he was already feeling nostalgic, to his chagrin.

Gojo turned back to find that Geto was a bit too close eavesdropping, but the latter returned to his place and avoided meeting his eyes, to the white-haired man's frustration.

While walking, Yuji was being noticed from afar by a tall girl with short light brown hair styled in trimmed bangs who wears a sweater and a long skirt.

Yuji perked up upon seeing the girl on-screen, immediately recognizing her as his former middle school classmate Yuko Ozawa, despite how drastically different she looks.

But most shockingly, Todo does the same, somehow!

He leans closer to whisper in Yuji’s ear, “brother, is she who I think it is?”

“The very same” Yuji confirmed, although he neglected to bring up how the hell Todo even remembered her. When he realized it, the poor boy was scared out of his wits, but chose not to bother with the topic further.

“You know her, Itadori?” Asked Nobara, who overheard everything.

“I think it’ll be showcased” he simply responds.

A voiceover by an enigmatic man, implied to be one of the Jujutsu society higher-ups, about the ranking of Jujutsu Sorcerers is heard, explaining how First Grade Sorcerers are meant to be the heads of the pack in terms of peril, secrecy and salary, and must lead by that example. This is overlaid by a scene of Aoi Todo and Mei Mei meeting up with Yoshinobu Gakuganji in his office. It turns out that they wanted to recommend Maki, Panda, Nobara, Megumi and Yuji as First Grade Sorcerers.

The mentioned Tokyo students were excited at learning of their current game.

A starry-eyed Yuji turned to face Todo, “Is it true!? You’d recommend me??”

“Of course, I can’t settle for less, brother!” he exclaimed back at him.

“You’d recommend us too?!” Nobara was similarly mirthful, dropping her dislike for the guy for the first time ever as she joined Yuji in bouncing up and down. Megumi was also surprised, but more cautiously optimistic about it, remembering Todo’s criticism the day before.

Meanwhile, Maki and Panda were pleasantly surprised at Mei Mei of all people advocating for them, the former smirking in triumph, though, much like Megumi, she was a bit wary, aware the behind-scenes reasons for her current grade.

“I’m so happy for you, Maki-san, Panda!” Yuta applauded them, “You’re honestly one of the worthiest of being First Grade Sorcerers!

“Indeed, it’s great that your potential has been finally noticed” told Yaga to Panda.

This was enough for the two to blush profusely, hardly used to such positive support. Maki took it in stride as proof of her progress, while Panda quickly melted from the words, before backing up and addressing Yaga “If I do make it as a First Grade, I promise not to disappoint!”

Upon finishing, Todo and Mei Mei prepare to play a game of ping-pong while talking about how, as First Grades, the Sorcerers they recommended must carry out multiple, hard missions under their wing, or at least an equivalent, and if they make it through, they can be considered at least Semi-First Grade. Todo concludes that Yuji would accept this recommendation, as with Ryomen Sukuna still uncooperative, he has to learn to fend for himself by accepting more challenging missions so he can find additional fingers.

At the first mention of Sukuna since quite a while, the mood slightly wound down. Yuji, upon hearing of Todo’s reasons for recommending him, went from joyous to serious and quiet at the drop of a hat, which Nobara and Todo himself took note of. What the Kyoto upperclassman said was more than true; he needed to hurry through this mission already, lest more people he knows get endangered. But several questions needed to be answered, like what is Sukuna doing right now, and why he’s never showed up ever since the Death Paintings battle. And then there’s that one problem that’s been rankling within ever since it was raised.

It’s been a while since he thought of it, but now, he wished he kept it out of mind. He regrets not asking Gojo or Nanami about it after they finished last day. But unbeknownst to him, he wasn’t even the only one.

The two begin playing, their movements swift yet hard-hitting, with Todo scoring his first win as he raves about his future dream teamup with his brother, Yuji, and how certain he is of the latter’s success in this endeavour, capping it off by proclaiming his belief in that destiny.

“Damn, I missed me some nice ping pong game” Utahime admitted as she watched Todo and Mei Mei’s match.

“Mmh, it’s quite soothing” agreed Gojo and Nanami.

“Sometimes I hate to own up how multi-talented Todo is, all things considered” Momo remarks. The “all things” being self-explanatory.

“Todo-kun, I’m sure you’re aware that now you recommended him personally to Principal Gakuganji, Itadori-kun can’t join you in missions.” Nanami jogged the Boogie Woogie user’s memory about one essential rule.

Todo was instantly down in the dumps, comical scribbles atop of his head. “Ah, yes...”. His classmates nearby were giggling, but Yuji was more sympathetic, as he tried to comfort him. “But why can’t he though?” he turned to ask Nanami.

“There are a myriad reasons for this, but it mostly boils down to anti-nepotism” clarified Nanami, “since a lot of time, it's a major clan Sorcerer who'd usually give recommendations."

"Perhaps, but it soon turned to something else. Something about leaving the recomended Sorcerers to their own devices away from the guidance of their superior or something" sighed Gojo.

Only for Mei Mei to remind him that Sorcerers who recommend Itadori can’t be assigned to accompany him, so someone else is granted that mission. The realization comically brings down Todo’s spirits as he misses a shot from Mei Mei. By the end, he was so bummed out, the Chinese woman outscored him by 11 versus 5, leaving him in the dust (almost literally when she turns off the lights).

“Aww, it would’ve been so great if we teamed up though” Yuji voiced out in disappointment.

“I’ve never been over the moon as much as I am now that you think the same, brotha!!” Todo instantly recovered and brought said brother close to his chest while clenching his fist in delight.

His classmates blinked, wondering if he can get used to his... idiosyncracies this fast.

“But on the bright side, if this were to happen later down the line, there’s still Nanamin!” he continued while pointing to Nanami “even if Todo-senpai were to recommend me, you’d be available, right?”

Nanami’s eyes widened, before he nodded graciously "It would be nice to work with each other again."

Yuji bumps up a fist in delight.

Back to Nobara, who has just finished shopping as she sipped from an iced coffee, that same girl from before was quietly walking behind her. She verbally gets her attention as she approaches her, showing their noticeable height gap. The girl, Yuko Ozawa, asks her about Yuji, to Nobara’s surprise.

“Looks exactly like the kinda girl that’d click with him” whispered Nobara to Megumi, who hummed in support.

“Ozawa, huh?” Yuji spoke out, “wonder why she’s reaching out to me.”

“Who?” Pressed Nobara.

“Seems to be a former schoolmate of ours” replied Todo as he tries to rummage through “memories”, once again, deep in the delulu forest, making everyone nearby shudder.

“Please tell me he’s wrong!” Panda, Momo, Mai and Nobara screamed at Yuji.

“Erm...” but words lost the boy as he sweatdropped.

Heading to a family restaurant, after ordering, the two strike a chat. Ozawa shows Nobara a photo of herself as a middle schooler, when she was significantly shorter and chubbier, completely flummoxing the Straw Doll user as she sheepishly admits she grew about fifteen centimeters taller thanks to the stress of moving to Tokyo and and adapting to the new environment. Sitting down, Nobara expresses audible shock, comparing Ozawa to Kuroko Sato.

Almost everyone was saucer-eyed at the dramatic before-after, but nowhere near the shock at the reveal that she WAS a friend of Itadori in middle school.

“Does he have a second Cursed Technique at this rate or somthing?!” They all thought accusingly about Todo.

“W-wow...” Miwa stuttered, “I understand the weight part, but the height?!”

“She probably just hit a late growth spurt from lifestyle changes” Panda guessed.

“Wonder why she went to Tokyo..." Nobara asked as she narrowed her eyes, already having an inkling of an idea.

Amongst the photos Yuko has, there’s one of her and Yuji, which Nobara recognizes. Yuko reveals that she barely worked up the courage to ask him to pose with her for a photo. She also wanted to ask for his phone number, but since the two were moving to Tokyo anyways, that didn’t come to fruition. When she encountered Yuji little while ago, she thought that with her new appearance, she might have a better chance.

Nobara soon realizes what Yuko is hinting.

Nobara (befuddled (and suckily drawn from the viewers’ imagination)): It’s like that, right?

Yuko (also horribly drawn): Yes, it’s like that.

Despite the ambiguous representation, the viewers still perfectly understood what was going on as they exchanged glances. Well, except Yuji (or so it seems), who suddenly starts hearing his classmates tittering, as well as Gojo.

“Dayum, Itadori, didn’t think you of all people got game!” Nobara cheekily told him.

“Seems like there’s a lot we don’t know about you, huh?” Panda did the same.

“Yeah, what does she see in you anyway?” Maki flatly questioned.

“W-W... hold on...!” he stammered as he looked to the screen and back at his friends “You actually think she has a crush on me?!”

The teens (and panda) were half-lidded in disbelief

“Please don’t be that dense" begged Nobara and Panda.

"Onigiri" and so did Inumaki. Please.

Nobara wastes no time calling up Ijichi with an over-the-top serious expression, asking if he turn back to park the restaurant whose URL she just sent, because she needed Megumi. Yuko was rather nervous the whole time.

Hanging up, Nobara informs her that another friend of Yuji will arrive here soon, so they can discuss the matter with him.

Most of the audience struggled not to burst out laughing at the mere idea of Megumi being a potential wingman with Nobara. The raven-haired teen just twitched in annoyance at Nobara’s scheme.

“Not holding any punches about this matter, eh?” Maki commented about Nobara.

Yuko shyly asks Nobara if she’s similarly interested in Yuji. The other girl demurs with a grimace on her face, proclaiming that it’ll never happen even if hell froze over and danced the lambada.

Nobara’s blunt response startled the teens, who were questioning if there’s more to it.

“You sure? What if it’s just Tsund–?” Asked Momo.

“Not anyone that denies interest is playing hard to get” Utahime austerely cut off Momo.

“Believe it or not, there actually is such thing as a girl who just plain doesn’t like someone” punctuated Mai.

“So there’s nothing between you two?” Miwa innocently asked Nobara.

“Not a chance!” she firmly put forth. At her reply, Yuji sighed in relief, which Todo chuckled at.

But upon saying it, she feels a sudden heart murmur, fearing that it skipped a beat.

“Oh I wonder why such thing could possibly happen~” Panda melodically teased his caramel-haired Kouhai.

“It’s NOT what you think it is, pervy wingman wannabe!” she lashed out, knowing full well the reason for that reaction of hers in the future.

Cue Megumi coming up to the two, irritated, as he questions what the big idea for calling him here was.

“... uh, rise and shine, Fushiguro?” Nobara hesitantly remarked towards the cantankerous Megumi, who scoffed.

“Still can’t believe you interrupted Ijichi-san’s detour for this” he shook his head.

“Poor Ijichi-san...” the Tokyo students, as well as Gojo, Shoko and Yaga, lamented.

Geto, who was confused to as why the premonitive viewing is centering on such a down-to-earth event (not that he minded too much; he knew it wouldn’t last like the others, and besides, the shenanigans Satoru’s students are getting themselves to honestly reminded him of himself when he was a student as well as a confused teen alongside his buddies), got a good look at Megumi, which he didn’t have the opportunity to do when the boy was under Gojo’s care and has yet to transfer to Jujutsu Tech, and to say he felt conflicted was putting it mildly, dark thoughts springing up in the back of his mind, which he tried to stamp out.

And that’s not even mentioning the boy whom this viewing is centered on, Yuji Itadori, who he learned has become Ryomen Sukuna’s vessel after devouring one of his fingers (how he survived is beyond him), or Yuta Okkotsu, who has grown so much more powerful after their latest meeting (enough to have possibly triggered his migraine), or the realization that now everyone knows his story and why he became a Cursed User.

But most of all, the fact that someone else stole his body and is scheming with Special Grade Curses. Now that was a striking discovery, since it confirmed that Satoru didn’t even cremate his corpse after he killed him. Seriously, he wasn’t too long into this and he had so many questions and concerns.

Before he dwelled on this much further, he noticed with surprise that Gojo disappeared from his seat. From the corner of his eyes, the white-haired man made himself comfortable right next to him. This caused the other to jump out of his skin in shock, leading the adults to look behind them and see that Gojo teleported, and eventually everyone else. “WHAT THE– What are you doing here?!”

“I didn’t have it in my heart to just leave you so alone and isolated after we just got reunited. If you want to feel all isolated, lemme at least share that feeling with ya” he responded as a matter-of-factly as he pulled up his sunglasses to face Suguru.

The latter inaudibly groaned to himself, rolling his eyes as he faced away from the other man’s incessant eye contact, “Am I cursed to return to you in one way or another...?” he sarcastically asked no one in particular.

“That’s precisely what I was thinking!” but Gojo still replied, making Geto’s head slump down in defeat.

Nobara cheerfully greets him while asking if Yuji has a girlfriend, before introducing Yuko to him. She also briefs him on the recent findings in a very weird, incomprehensible lingo.

Megumi (who somehow understood, dead serious): So it’s like that?!

Nobara (even more serious): Yeah, it’s like that!

“You understood that?!” Most students yelled at Megumi in incredulity.

“She might’ve actually told him Ozawa-san is in love with Itadori-kun but it was filtered because she talked too fast for us to comprehend” Miwa pondered with a thoughtful look on her face.

“... that’s... not too far off” Mechamaru slowly said, shocked alongside the nearby teens that Miwa of all people deduced it.

“Huh? But I understood what she said without taking the task into consideration” Megumi stated in slight confusion, leaving everyone even more stumped.

“I guess it makes sense. I mean, even I am starting to undertand Inumaki-senpai’s language” Yuji added.

“Ohhhhh...” The Kyoto second-years’s eyes widened in understanding.

For a certain dark-haired former cult leader, however, the sight reminded him of his hijinks with Shoko and especially Satoru whenever they or a student they knew showed a sign of giving the green light, the bond between them so profound they could tell what the other was thinking at that very moment, but was interrupted by a packet of odango touching his face.

“Someone’s reminiscing here, or did I miss something?” Gojo ribbed. Geto refused to even humor him, but he knew the Six Eyes user would do everything in his power to break down his defences for this session.

Sitting with Nobara, Megumi politely replies that Yuji doesn’t have a girlfriend, bringing up the fact that he wasn’t too upset at having to transfer to Tokyo, in addition to having a pinup poster in his room of a tall, hippy blonde in a bikini, which someone in a relationship wouldn’t own.

“... W-why did you sell me out like that?” A mortified Yuji crouched, adopting the same pose as Todo’s when he got depressed. Surprisingly, Megumi was torn between being uncaring and apologetic.

“Don’t sweat it, Itadori, that you’re properly ashamed already elevates you atop most teenage guys” Nobara patted him on the back, but her amazingly condescending words of comfort didn’t do him any favors.

“ARE YOU EVEN TRYNA COMFORT ME?!!” He comically wailed at her.

“Also, this is kind of a breach of privacy. Shouldn’t the viewing have glossed this over?” Kamo points out.

“It is, it’s almost as if these forecasts have a bone to pick with Itadori-kun or something” Gojo comments while chewing on dangos in one hand, and forcing another stick of them in Geto’s mouth, the latter not doing anything to put them in his mouth.

Noticing that Megumi ordered black, unsweetened coffee, Nobara accuses him of drinking it in mixed company to play up his tall, dark and handsome image. Vexed, Megumi in turn accuses her of summoning him here to complain about this, before clarifying that he always takes it black.

“It’s not like he needs it anyway” Momo chimed in with noticeable bedroom eyes.

“Not that his stick-in-the-mud attitude helps him” Maki countered.

Megumi didn’t know what to feel about these contradictory observations.

Ozawa then asks the two about Yuji’s preferred type. Megumi responds that he mentioned liking tall girls. The discovery proves to be a boon for the girls, most especially Ozawa, as Nobara slams down her phone to call Yuji here since the former has a chance now. In their chat, Nobara orders him to just come here, reasons not that important at the moment.

“Say, Itadori, are you even interested in entering a relationship? Let’s say she confessed to you.” Nobara suddenly asked, startling Yuji.

At first, he was a bit mystified, although he recognized Nobara raised an important point. Most of the students were heavily dubious about the whole affair, since not only is he a Jujutsu sorcerer, but above all...

“... l-let’s see how it goes down first” he suggested, not wanting to rush ahead with his response.

A moment later, the boy arrives to the restaurant carrying groceries, showing surprise at Megumi being here, with his classmates in turn showing surprise at him making it so fast. Soon, Nobara realizes that she kind of shot herself in the foot for not telling him about Yuko Ozawa, fearing he wouldn’t recognize her after changing so dramatically from middle school.

“I’m genuinely beyond impressed you recognized her so easily, brother” told him Todo, “the two of you didn’t even talk for more than half an hour throughout the entirety of your time in middle school.”

“Yeah, I doubt I’d be able to do the same if I were you” Panda contended.

“Could it be you made out a certain cue about her other than her looks?” questioned Kamo.

Yuji turned to the screen and replied with a cheeky smile “Well, you could say that”

“But what could that cue possibly be?” wonders Nobara.

This seems to be proven right when Yuji turns to Yuko and asks who she is, with Nobara hissing internally that this is NOT something anyone wants to hear when reuniting with a loved one for the first time since forever.

Before trying to explain this, however, Yuji turns out to have actually recognized Ozawa, wondering what brings her here. At such display of smoothness, Nobara and Megumi comedically express their approval by pulling up signs with 10 on them.

Most viewers were both shocked, impressed, tickled pink and even briefly lovey-dovey.

“Now THAT’s what I call suave!” Gojo hollered in approval, draping his arm around the exasperated Geto.

Maki, Panda and Megumi acknowledged how badly they underestimated Yuji’s emotional intelligence, the former fixing her glasses with a grin.

“S-so... pure~” Miwa and Momo squeaked in amazement.

“Mufufufu... I wouldn’t be surprised if I were you, because Itadori already knew who it was the moment his eyes landed on her!” Todo proudly revealed, confounding the young Sorcerers even further.

“So it probably is a cue only he could notice... that or Itadori can actually remember faces!” Nobara concluded, “but either way... mad respect!” she wiped her (comedic) joyous tears as she pulled up a 10/10 sign out of nowhere like she did on-screen.

Meanwhile, Yuji nearly combusted at the amount of positive attention he garnered, wondering what he did to deserve it.

A brief flashback is shown. A boy is heard asking Yuji what type of girls he’s into. Middle school-aged Ozawa, who was heftier than now and was nearby, listens to this from a classroom and blushes to herself.

Yuji replies that he has none to think of, so his classmates ask him to pick at least one girl he finds attractive. The boy mentions Ozawa, to the other two’s surprise because of her fatness. Yuji agrees, but also admits that he finds her elegant manners and handwriting to be quite pretty.

“Truly, he is a cut above the rest!” Nobara, Todo, Yuta, Panda, Miwa and Momo dramatically took out handkerchiefs out of nowhere (which came alongside the snacks) to wipe their tears.

 “He’s not my student for nothing!” Gojo also praised while carrying a similar kerchief, whereas the nearby Geto’s left eye twitched, a feeling shared by the rest of the adults. Though he was going to admit, this Yuji Itadori is far more complicated than he ever thought.

While continuing to chat, with one of them reminding Yuji of his original tall, big-butted girl type, to which the latter claims it had nothing to do it, Ozawa heads off and goes down the stairs. Picking up her shoes to exit the school, she sees Yuji approaching and hides behind the stall, monologuing about easy it is for girls to get fat, and how even she woudn’t go for someone who won’t go for her first. Walking outside the school in an idyllic, soft-hued environment, the girl thinks about how Yuji saw sides in her she didn’t even care for, elevating him above all boys she’s ever known.

“Sorry for thinking you were a shallow dunderhead” Nobara apologized to Yuji, who was completely lost at what the hell’s happening, but also felt somewhat insulted.

Still, remembering his school crush on Ozawa from back then warmed his face a little, but also reminded him of his standards, which he never admitted to anyone else. In fact, there’s a lot about himself that he didn’t show to his new friends, and even his all-powerful teacher.

Back to the present, Ozawa is with Yuji, believing she might have a chance now that she conformed to his favorite type. But a part of herself wonders if she’s now behaving and living by the same standards that restricted her, standards she once hated. In her memory, after separating from his friends, Yuji turns behind him and notices Ozawa looking at him.

He cheerfully salutes her, something he repeats in the present, having presumably finished catching up with her.

“Poor girl...” Miwa found herself relating quite a bit to Ozawa.

“Must everyone be so full of themselves so early in life?!” Panda questions on her behalf

“Full of themselves is putting it lightly...” Megumi growled, his experiences in middle school being even worse, while Yuta rubbed the nape of his neck, unpleasant memories of his middle school bubbling at the surface. But none of them let their opinions invalidate Ozawa’s feelings in any way.

“And that’s only scratching the surface.” Mechamaru asserts, aware of the deeper problem behind Ozawa’s ostracisation. His declaration struck a huge chord, it’s because that negativity is the very foundation of the Curses’ existence, and subsequently, their existence as Jujutsu Sorcerers.

Ozawa is shown leaving to take the train, the sun about to set. She was walking slowly, looking as if she’s on the verge of tears, before stopping in front of tracks as a train arrived and the doors opened.

Everyone instantly knew what that implied.

“Y-you let her down–” Miwa was surprised by such conclusion as her features saddened. But when she turned to see Yuji, she was met with a silent, still individual with a shadow obscuring his features, making it hard to discern what he’s feeling at first.

However, when his reaction brought down the whole mood in the room, everyone, including Miwa herself, gradually got an idea behind the reason.

Contrary to what they believe, everytime Yuji saw someone from his past on-screen following his initiation to Jujutsu Tech, there was a certain young man occupying his mind the entire time.

It wasn’t so difficult not to entertain that               thought. That future with Mahito and Junpei Yoshino shook him to the core, which alongside his  new, dangerous career as a Sorcerer, his eventual fate when he consumes all of Ryomen Sukuna’s fingers, but even most of all, Sukuna himself, axed any chances of him even thinking of involving another normal civilian. He can never justify doing such thing in any capacity. This is why everybody near him were secretly relieved that things had to end this way instead.

That being said, even if none of these things happened, Yuji, to his internal dismay, still had trouble envisioning himself still holding a torch for Ozawa. He knew exactly why, but didn’t want to admit it to himself, much less to the others, so he closed the eyes to it.

Meanwhile, Megumi, who was accompanying Nobara while helping carry the groceries, asked if that’s okay, noting that the two could have at least exchanged numbers. Nobara reassures that she exchanged hers with Ozawa, so it’ll be fine.

“You did the correct thing, brother. It’s all for her own good” Todo tried to bolster the noticeably bummed-out Yuji.

“That’s right, Itadori-kun, there’s no need for you to feel ashamed” Yuta also reassured, taking a leaf out of his own troubled social life following his entry to Jujutsu Tech.

“Of course, I was honestly worried you’d do something stupid with that information otherwise” admitted Nobara, showing her secret misgivings about Yuji getting into a relationship.

After a brief moment, the pink-haired boy’s body finally relaxes, and he exhales a sigh, smiling comfortably “Thanks

“But it’s still so heartbreaking that all what Ozawa-san did so that Itadori can notice her was for nothing” Panda pointed out sadly, something everyone, particularly Yuji, was forced to accept.

She also reveals her own feelings regarding this matter: namely, the mere idea of Yuji landing a date before her really irked her.

Most teens and certain adults (i.e Gojo) broke into surprised snickers.

“Ah, so that’s why...” Panda, Maki and Momo made a sound of realization.

“It was jealousy, but of a much different caliber” Mai commented while side-eyeing Nobara.

“Well, hopefully Kugisaki might score soon...” Megumi said in a strangely patronizing way.

“Are you insulting me?!” too bad she noticed it and hounded her dark-haired friend.

Yuji quickly pulled alongside the two with a smiley hello, before questioning what they were talking about when he wasn’t around. The three share some banter as Megumi gives back Yuji his groceries, while Nobara gives him her shopping bags as well. The pink-haired teen soon rushes to catch up with the movie, forcing the girl to run alongside him, before Megumi joins in the jog as well, both repulsed by Yuji’s idea of a movie night, to his chagrin.

In a later, rainier day, Utahime Iori was waiting at a parking location, a solemn look present on her face.

Many who watched this got the impression that things would go south not too longer after, most especially Gojo, Nanami, Geto and, weirdly enough, Mechamaru.

“... Iori-sensei?” her younger students whispered.

Said teacher herself blinked at seeing herself again.

She thinks back to the conversation she had with Gojo long ago about the possibility of a traitor in their ranks, the number of active Cursed Spirits leading him to reach that conclusion, before entrusting Utahime to investigate this matter. From the looks of it, it’s clear she found her answer. When she heard a car arriving, she recognized it and signaled for it.

“Oh... that.” Gojo voiced out, having a weird feeling about the matter.

Geto near him tensed up considerably, remembering all the unpleasant events his former friend recapped to him. If intuition served him right, his imposter might have planted someone within their ranks.

“So there really was a traitor...” said Yuta as he and everyone puckered a brow. However, certain viewers, such as Todo, Kamo, Panda, Utahime, and especially Mechamaru, stiffened. Gojo’s eyes, on the other hand, steeled.

The Tokyo first years were sent to answer her call. She clued them in of the possible traitor Gojo told them about, and that one way to reach the figure to whom the information is passed to is to intercept the informant themself. She tells them of one possible suspect that they’re going to have to interrogate to make sure.

“... b-but, why the Tokyo students? Why not... us...?” Miwa uttered, a sinking feeling in her stomach, which extended to her classmates.

Momo heaved a sigh, that one probability sinking in “... that speaks for itself right about now”.

“You mean it’s... one from Kyoto?!” Yuji slowly articulated as he (like the others) turned to observe them.

“... P-perhaps it’s not really a student, could be a teacher...” Panda nervously raised.

In the meantime, someone was in the middle of an internal freakout despite his apparent stoicism. Well, more of an internal... myriad of turbulent emotions, but panic was chief amongst them.

Mechamaru cursed himself up and down for neglecting that variable so easily when they’re being shown the future, as tons of things were brought to light. He knew right now, it was a matter of seconds before all the precious friendships he worked so long to build crumbled in a moment, particularly the one he spent cultivating with Miwa. That was enought to turn him into stone, taking too long to resign himself to the upcoming reprisal in favor of that one fear, so much that he didn’t notice Todo and Utahime glancing at him. The icing on the cake  is that even if he’s discovered, everyone can and will be able guess his motivations insultingly easily.

Nobara asks if it’s one of Kyoto high, since this is the only probable explanation for her requesting Tokyo students for help, a conclusion Yuji can’t help but be impressed by. However, Utahime is noticeably a bit dismal at Nobara figuring it out, confirming that it is the case. A brief silence later, Utahime unveils the mole’s identity...

... and the scene cuts to Miwa addressing Mechamaru as she entered his work room.

A chilling silence set inside the room, all eyes slowly darting to the direction of one singular figure.

It’s safe to say the Kyoto members were by far the hardest hit by the discovery. While the reveal wasn’t too on-the-nose, it was still graspable, with their reactions being a mix of disbelief, shock, dismay, disappointment, and even denial. While Todo and Mai had a slightly better time accepting it, despite their visible disenchantment, Kamo, Nishimiya, and especially Miwa were thunderstruck, the latter being extremely slow to digest the information, much less acknowledge it. Utahime dragged a palm across her face, bitterly sighing at her fears turning real.

The rest wasn’t as badly affected, more silent about it, but the likes of Yuji, Yuta and Panda were just as distressed by the information as Mechamaru’s own classmates.

“H-huh... why did... why is Mechamaru focused on...?” Miwa stuttered, her eyes locked on the screen, as if she’s still processing it. Some finished doing that quickly, as evidence Kamo shot up from his seat and tackled Mechamaru from behind, grabbing him by the collar. Mechamaru’s artificial eyes met Kamo’s enraged, yet hurt ones.

“The hell, Muta!? WHAT. THE HELL!?" shouted Kamo at his him, his grip trembling. Soon, the other students stood up in worry, not liking where is this heading.

"Hey, Kamo...!" Todo came up to him and tried to at least stop him from getting violent, but the Blood Manipulator still continued.

"Tell me if it's just a fluke or that Iori-sensei was just mistaken! Just... because if it truly is... then y-you... all this time...!" He got less mad and more frantic with every word he let out, unable to bring himself to actually whale on his underclassman despite the latter's treachery.

“P-please stop, Senpai! Hold on...!” Miwa got in between the two, “W-what makes you think it’s Mechamaru?! What makes ALL of you jump to this s-so quickly?!” she addressed, devastated at seeing her friends actually buying into this. “Todo-senpai... Mai-chan...” she glanced at them only to be met with their detached yet still bewildered faces, Todo himself not knowing what to say to Miwa as he looked to the ground. “K-Kamo-senpai...?” she turned to him, but he was beyond resolute on beating answers out of Mechamaru, Miwa’s pleads leaving him unable to even look her in the eye “Nishimiya-senpai..”, but the blond, twin-tailed girl also avoiding eye contact with her.

“E-everyone...” Miwa never felt so alone fighting a battle she knew was beyond winning, so her eyes darted to her teacher, Utahime, as a last resort. Only, there was absolutely little warmth or even wavering in her look, compared to her on-screen self. The scarred woman, who was standing up, shot a strict gaze at her, but one that all but implored her to bow out, and let the ones with more authority handle this. Miwa’s eyes continued to scurry across everyone in the room, but, with the exception of the conflicted Yuji and Panda, their harsh glares meant personal business, greatly rattling her.

“... Mechamaru, is... this true...?” after what felt like forever, Miwa finally asked the boy himself.

Unsurprisingly, Mechamaru, or rather Kokichi Muta, didn’t put any form of resistance, and in fact, was all too willing to let nature take its course as the adults zeroed in on him, waiting for a response

“That’s right, Miwa” he said, “What Iori-sensei found out is all too true.”

The girl soon fell to pieces, reality finally sinking in within her as she stared off to the distance, words leaving her. Nishimiya came up behind Miwa and helped her up when she stumbled on her step a bit, and with Todo’s help, they put her back to her seat.

The teachers looked amongst themselves, before nodding. If what the Messenger told them was accurate, certain special abilities are dispelled functioning in this dimension, which includes Binding Vows, meaning their rules and possible effects cease working altogether. This ensures that interrogating Muta later would be non-issue, in this case.

She sees that he’s here, and tells him that it’s about time he turned in his notebook. Approaching him, she wonders if he’s even listening. Mechamaru voices out that he wants to sleep for a bit, so she can take the notebook on his desk. Miwa points out it’s only evening, and when he seemingly dozes off, she pouts before poking him on his (artificial) head with her index, only to realize that he’s indeed asleep, while wondering where his real body is.

When the dust settled to some extent, the viewers began to discern the situation more objectively after the initial outbreak. Gojo made himself visible as he got to his feet, bringing all attention to him

“So let’s get this straight: Mechamaru, aka Kokichi Muta, was the mole, and he answered to none other than the Disaster Curses and...” he gulps as he takes notice of the man beside him, before clearing his throat “... Fake Suguru Geto. Correct?” he addresses the automated clone, who affirms all allegations with silence.

Yaga was the one to continue “You helped leak information about Jujutsu Sorcerers from both Tokyo and Kyoto, namely about their techniques, strengths and weaknesses, which you probably achieved by leveraging your Cursed Technique, using the multiple puppets and bots you constructed to survey them in secret. I believe this is what happened?”.

Mechamaru, again, was silent.

“... And it’s feasible to assume it was a deal between you and them of some sort” spoke Utahime, “from what was shown during this viewing, and from general observations about you, we have a reason to believe that you accepted this pact because of one benefit: which is to gain a healthier physique.”

This time, a slight flinch could be felt from the automation, as odd as that seemed.

Yuji got up and protested, having a strange feeling about Utahime’s last words “But, what if he was forced to do this!?”

Yuta did the same, “Yeah, What if they knew about that desire and manipulated him into a Binding Vow so that can help him fulfill it?!”

“You’re correct, and in fact, we thought about this.” Answers Nanami, “but this could mean a lot of things, as we don't know when did Fake Suguru Geto start becoming involved against us enough to get his hands on the students, much less glean so much information on them. The viewing will probably show it though."

As a result of pressure, Mechamaru makes up his mind to part way with his classmates, and everyone on the front row, in favor of sitting at the back end.

"Either way, we'll decide on his punishment later depending on the stakes involved" finished Utahime as she watched her student closely leaving to the back.

Mechamaru was only two rows away from Gojo and Geto, who glanced at him before turning their gaze back at the screen. The latter was now quite invested in this, added with perturbation over who Mechamaru worked with, and their endgame for Satoru.

"If only you disposed of me..."

Cutting back to Utahime and the rest, who takes them to the school building’s basement, where Kokichi Muta’s body is. She reminds the students that it’s more about everyone else being in the clean compared to Kokichi, leaving him as the suspect by process of elimination. Yuji opens the door to the basement, showing a long corridor that the four walk through. Utahime explains Mechamaru’s Cursed Technique being related to puppetry, which due to his Heavenly Restriction, is powerful enough that its range can extend throughout the whole country. The amount of puppets he has on his disposal makes it easy for him to leak information whenever he wanted, revealing to Yuji that said puppets can be of any size or shape he wishes.

While seemingly inside his personal room, the bandaged, tubed up Kokichi hears the noise and declares that they’ve arrived.

Some viewers tensed up, not many were able to get used to the poor state of Kokichi’s true body. Miwa’s eyes moistened in response.

However, most of them, especially those closest to him, doubted he could let himself be caught off guard so easily.

A noticeably hesitant Utahime turns the doorknob to open the door, in doing so, putting Kokichi on guard.

Or so it seems.

Yuji and the others see that the whole room is deserted save for a single chair.

“Shit” hissed Megumi, “he really did anticipate this”.

“Meaning he now knows they’re on to him” Nanami concludes.

Utahime is taken aback, thinking Mechamaru knew it and got them. Megumi and Nobara take it as an open confirmation that he was the traitor after all.

The Kyoto students have a lot of mixed feelings about the honest confirmation, as if even Mechamaru’s words held little weight to them, no matter how nonsensical this conclusion was.

A mentally wrought Miwa snuggled next to Mai, who reciprocated it, amusingly enough.

Meanwhile, Mechamaru addresses his actual visitors, the Fake Suguru Geto and Mahito, about how they found him.

Seeing the duo after so long, everybody was on high alert, with Yuji’s face immediately contorting to barely controlled fury at seeing his most reviled adversary once again. Clearly, screwing with him and Junpei will never be enough for him. That anger soon spread over to the rest of the teens, not just because of the crap he pulled on Yuji and Nanami, but also for going after Mechamaru. The awareness that their friend’s situation was eerily similar to that of Junpei Yoshino’s fanned the flames, with Todo, Nishimiya, Kamo and particularly Miwa now glaring daggers at the Human Curse.

Gojo frowned as his eyes bore into the impostor, before instantly glancing at Geto next to him. His reaction couldn’t have been more predictable.

It was this downright creepy, dreamlike moment on-screen that Geto concluded that now matter how outlandish the situation he was in, or how many times he’s been told about this person that stole his body, it all paled in comparison to actually seeing it with his own eyes. That was definitely him, or rather his body, no question about it, still dressed in the same garments he had on when he got done in. It would look as if the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons never happened if not for the stitches on that... figure’s forehead, giving the impression of having recovered from the killing blow somehow. But that’s beside the point, namely, he didn’t even know what to think of this development. Getting mad about his body being seized would be tone-deaf considering how many lives he took for a decade on, so he had no right to do so. No, what truly paralyzed him in place was the fates of his followers. Gojo did inform him that they're still alive and went their separate ways, but he suspects they never truly let go of him, most notably the girls he adopted, Mimiko and Nanako.

When this is over, he was going to find a way to get in touch with them, his current fragile existence be damned. And also settle a score with that damned impostor.

Fake Geto reminds Mechamaru that can’t possibly make a mistake in that regard, due to the nature of the pact he’s under. Mahito complains about the moldy smell in the room.

The patchwork Curse proposes that they get rid of Mechamaru, since they’re on different sides of the conflict. Geto talks him out of it, since he agreed to cooperate with them to supply them with information, in return for gaining a normal, healthy body with the help of Idle Transfiguration, as per the Binding Vow he set up.

“Agreed?!” Kamo exclaimed as he turned to glower at Mechamaru, the rest of Kyoto students visibly deflating in disillusionment at the reveal, except for Miwa, who refused to lose hope in Muta despite all odds, crumpling up her trousers with her fists.

“So he did approach them on his own after all...” Maki scowled.

However, a few believed held unto hope like Miwa, since the presence of a Binding Vow means that Mechamaru must have placed a set of rules, and they’ve yet to know of them.

He caps it off by telling Mahito that he’s free to kill him once the transaction is finished.

Miwa gasped, before glaring fearfully at the impostor, her grip getting stronger.

Many who heard this declaration wondered, a bit anxiously, if Mechamaru will make it when he’s done with the deal. His teacher, and the rest of the adolescents, didn’t want to think about it, least of all Miwa herself. His betrayal was painful enough, but he didn’t have it in themselves to actually want him dead.

Mechamaru, on the other hand, wasn’t particularly moved regarding that prospect. Sure, his friends would be devastated and he’ll never be able to tell Miwa about his feelings, but he doubted about that outcome when he sold them out so shamelessly for his own self-centred ends. He mused on whether it was even worth the pain he gave them.

Kokichi spat that they broke it already when they attacked Tokyo and Kyoto schools during the Freewill Event despite the Vow commanding them not to, something that Mahito blames on Hanami.

The Kyoto students gaped, taken aback, while Utahime and Todo blinked.

A little bit of life returned to Miwa’s eyes when she heard it, as she tried to push herself off Mai’s shoulder “s-so, Mechamaru still wanted to protect us after all?!”, she wiped a tear from her eye, feeling a little bit at ease knowing he still valued them.

Even the Tokyo students and teachers, as well as Geto, were surprised by such gesture, though they were unsure if the rule included them, considering Mahito’s actions before the Freewill Events. Yuji and Panda couldn’t help but sigh a little in relief.

Kokichi declines wanting to get into any debate with Cursed Spirits, before rudely ordering Mahito to fix him up.

“Yeesh, quite the unexpected mouth on him!” commented Gojo,

“As he should” Yuji and Nobara vocally approved, though.

Mahito grins to himself as he toys with the idea of turning Kokichi into a caterpillar, but Fake Geto warns him against it, notifying him about the possible penalty associated Vows forged with others compared to those made by oneself. The blue-haired Curse gets discouraged the further the other man explains, before finally giving up and agreeing to fulfilling his part of the deal.

“Tch, manbaby” Momo spat.

“I find the idea of that being the culmination of humanity’s collective truth ludicrous yet somehow very believable” Megumi remarked, to much favourable nods.

He approaches Kokichi to heal him with his Idle Transfiguration, claiming that vermin like him should be grateful. The technique takes effect, the teen’s body glowing as the bandages around him get loosened up, and when Mahito’s done, all blemishes are gone in thin air, to the point Kokichi frees himself from the tubes injected upon him.

Staggering forward as he slowly regains his full consciousness, Kokichi’s true form is revealed to be that of a youthful, handsome, toned boy with black hair tied up in a short, upturned ponytail and a scar across his cheek. Testing his now functional body parts, he can’t help but be overcome with wonder.

Mechamaru sucked in a sharp inhale (despite communicating from a puppet) at witnessing his dream finally coming true, consequences be damned. It was just like Gojo’s defeat the earlier day, the whole thing being too unreal for him to even properly appreciate. From his residual true body, he could somehow feel his eyes dewing and body tremble, the still picture of him as an ordinary, healthy young Sorcerer engraved in the back of his mind. Given that he drenched his hands in so much blood (not just Junpai Yoshino's), he, again, asked himself if he even deserved it. Or maybe it was just a typical consequence of wanting compared to actually having.

When Kokichi Muta’s healed, ideal form was displayed, the sense of marvel increased, the likes of Gojo, Shoko, Nanami, Yuta and Yuji even bending forward to confirm that yes, Muta’s body was reconstructed perfectly, all for their own individual reasons, ranging from interest by a practiced physician specializing in Reverse Cursed Technique, curiosity from two Special Grade Sorcerers who also use RCT, to the blonde ex-salaryman and first-year Sorcerer who actually witnessed Idle Transfiguration’s healing proprieties first-hand, all five comparing notes. Though in the latter’s case, this just served to incense him, memories of Mahito disfiguring Junpei and Sukuna declining to heal him rearing their ugly heads.

Geto was concentrating on the scene, very curious about the Disaster Curse despite himself, as he ponders on whether he could gain that Technique had he, hypothetically speaking, succeeded in absorbing him.

But mostly, the Kyoto group was shocked at actually seeing Mechamaru’s human body in its entirety, having gotten too used to his automata or his sickly, crippled, bandaged self, so it was hard to familiarize with the sight.

Though it didn’t come anywhere close to covering Miwa’s response; the girl’s face heating up as her eyes are blown wide at the healed Muta. Since he was stark naked save for bandages, his torso visible, she felt steam pouring out of her head from the flushing, forcing her to cover her face in mortification. Somehow, it was enough for her to momentarily overlook Muta’s crime. Too bad Momo, Mai and Todo noticed, reacting with incredulity.

“Uh, Miwa?” addressed a deadpan Mai, “do you even know what the heck you’re doing?”

But Miwa just wanted to be in this moment just this once and forget everything, as she set her hands aside, showing her beaming, flushed pink face “Yeah, and I want this to last forever~”

“NOOO KASUMI! DON’T YOU TODO ALL OVER ME!!” Momo shrieked, whimpering in the last part as she shook the girl violently like a ragdoll, to say nothing of Momo’s remark comically piercing Todo through the gut. But Miwa was still ogling. Kamo and Mai seemed embarrassed to have even known Miwa right now, while the isolated Mechamaru was just... lost, as if his puppet’s processing system rebooted or something.

Utahime was seen facepalming, though she didn’t blame Miwa one bit, surmising that her students desperately needed a break from this.

“Oi Utahime, leave her in her little space for a bit, would ya!” Gojo exclaimed from afar at the miko, giving her further stress.

But the rest were either perplexed, or, like Nobara and Panda, have gotten cheeky at learning that Miwa did have feelings for Muta after all.

Mahito walks back with a huff, telling Kokichi that he ought to celebrate more than this. The latter answers that he’ll do that after he’s done here.

The slightly hopeful mood vanished the instant they recalled Mahito and his threat on Muta’s life.

“He needs to leave, now that he can move!” Yuji gritted out, knowing damn well where this is going.

“... Oh... n-no... Mechamaru, get out of there!!” Miwa yelled at his on-screen self.

“After you’re done..? Bastard, don’t tell me he’s planning on fighting him?!” Kamo angrily questioned, still worried for Muta’s wellbeing despite everything.

“But maybe his recovered body, along with his Heavenly Restriction, might grant him more of an advantage” Yuta reminded them.

“Yeah, and to top it off, there’s no way he didn’t prepare contigencies in case the Vow was complete” added Panda.

“In any case, I wanna see how he fares now that he has best of both worlds” declared Todo. The viewers decided to watch on silently to observe such results.

Mechamaru, or Muta, on the other hand, was not too sure, despite the amount of information he has on Mahito.

The grey-haired Special Grade Curse concurs, aware of what Kokichi is thinking right now as he readies himself in a battle stance, his left hand coated in Energy.

Kokichi does the same, invoking the large number of Mechamaru puppets he has in disposal, which he sends to ambush Mahito. The Curse is confident he alone can deal with, in his own words, his toy.

“Please make it out alive, so you can return to them.” Yuji anxiously thought, Muta being Mahito’s target leaving him in unease.

He puts up a good fight against the puppets, only using his bare hands mixed with his shapeshifting abilities before wrecking them all in one swoop with an enlarged fist. However, he notices that Kokichi is nowhere to be found after he’s done. Mahito grumbles that Kokichi doesn’t owe them a fight, disappointing him.

Sighs of reprieve were heard, from Miwa especially, believing Kokichi did decide escape after all. But his classmates were unconvinced.

Only to be blindsided by the ground underneath crumbling, a surge of Cursed Energy emerging up at full force enough to destroy the entire building they were in. Mahito, who was sent flying, lands on the nearby dam. Taking a good look at the new arrival rising from the waters, Mahito cackles that this more like it.

Many gasped, bewildered at just what on earth has Muta possibly cooked up.

“... nevermind” Mai muttered to herself, the anxiety shooting up once again, with Miwa clasping her hands over her head.

“Whoah! That’s some crazy-ass amount of energy!!” Yuji exclaimed.

“I second that!” Nobara agreed.

“Well, he didn’t get himself into this half-baked, I’ll give him that” Gojo commented, already helping himself to popcorn.

“Heh, so that’s what you decided to step up your game with, Muta?” Todo smirks to himself, recognizing the source of the power blast.

“D’ya know what that is?” Yuji asked Todo once he heard him.

“You’ll see.”

The source of power turns out to be, astoundingly enough, an enormous, silver-coated, EVA-shaped Mechamaru suit.

.....

Okay, as Jujutsu Sorcerers, they’ve seen stuff just as weird or even weirder, but...

The adults stared, their eyeballs close to popping out of their sockets despite their apparently calm demeanors. Gojo and Yaga’s sunglasses even fell off the bridge of their noses as they took a better look at Mechamaru’s secret weapon. Even Geto, whose mind was elsewhere, was hooked on the sight of the mecha, part of him amazed at the puppeteer’s engineering abilities, even more when it was clearly inspired by something.

But the students were so much worse. The Kyoto group were admittedly aware that Mechamaru was in the process of creating the ultimate invention, which he claimed was still in development. Of course, it’s clear it was finished long ago, factoring to their sheer astonishment at learning what it was actually like.

“Ah, so he did finish the whole series...” Kamo, Todo, Mai and Momo thought amongst themselves.

As for the Tokyo students...

“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” said Nobara, who was watching blankly.

“Yes” affirmed Megumi.

“Are you absolutely sure you know what you’re seeing” said a wide-eyed Miwa too.

“Yes” Yuta and Panda replied.

“What in the name of everything that’s holy...?” muttered Maki.

“ ‘Cause dude just done built a motherfucking MECHA SUIT!!” Shouted out Nobara, on the verge of losing her marbles as her eyes glinted

“And NOT any mecha suit! He built a freakin’ EVA UNIT!!” Hollered Yuji, his eyes shining too.

“And Evangelion Unit-02 at that!” Miwa from behind stridently added.

“Oh... my god...” Yuji tried to contain himself from exploding into stars and confetti, or just jumping at the solitary Mechamaru for its location. “Forget about no Rasengan, Zanpakuto, One for All, Spirit Gun... there’s a real, true to life Evangelion Unit out there I’m not aware of, and it functions. I-I can’t be trusted with this information you guys...”

Yuta, however, stared at the mecha, scary recollections of when Rika forced him to watch that show with her as kids emerging full force, causing him to fidget slightly. Honestly, the EVAs just seemed to be mechanical versions of Curses to him in retrospect.

“Interesting, didn’t you say you didn’t understand anything from Neon Genesis Evangelion save for that Katsuragi chick” Gojo at the back made sure to tell Yuji. His classmates shot him an unamused stare.

“I thought you gave away those DVDs I gifted you ‘cause you found the show too creepy” Kamo similarly questioned Miwa.

“Oh I do now” Yuji and Miwa made up their mind, both shooting thrilled glances at Mechamaru in the back, who shrank back in comical worry.

“Did they just forget everything after he made a mecha?!!” was the current widespread question.

Mahito is kind of amazed Kokichi was building something like that in secret, showing that he didn’t waste his previous shut-in status. He guesses that Kokichi is hiding within the cockpit, preventing the Curse from touching him, almost as if he put it up specifically as a counter against him.

At the center of the mecha, Kokichi at his designated seat, surrounded by advanced machinery and settings worthy of a Gundam or Evangelion. He discovers that Geto lowered a Veil as he divulged his trump card, cutting him off from reaching others. Knowing he won’t be able to bypass this problem like Satoru Gojo did way back in the Freewill Events, he decided to use any means he can find to get in touch with Gojo and inform him about the Shibuya plot, so he can gain protection.

“A-a-and a cockpit too...?!” Yuji, Yuta, Nobara and Miwa stumbled over their own words.

“Man, that’s advanced as hell” Gojo spoke up in approval. Megumi, Geto, Yaga, Nanami and especially Utahime were having a headache at this entire situation.

“That’d take decades to build and perfect, but you did it in mere years! Not like I’ll let everything else slide, but well done, Muta” complimented Todo.

"I wouldn't be so excited about this if I were you. I mean, did you guys forget what happened to Unit-" Gojo was about to give them, in his words, a dose of reality, only for Geto to smack him down his head, to the shock of the onlookers, since he deactivated his Infinity around him. He only beat the students and a few teachers to it, though.

“And how you all forgotten Mechamaru is now fighting to SURVIVE??!” Utahime loudly, and angrily interjected as well.

They all quickly got the memo and turned to focus on the current issue instead. It’s clear the farce was partly a subconscious attempt to drown out the unbearable stress that accumulated inside the room since Muta was exposed, but even they agreed enough is enough.

Now thoughts were centered on how the puppeteer will be able to overcome a powerful Disaster Curse such as Mahito or even the Veil if he wants to escape, namely due to the latter living through a ludicrous amount of punishment, including a point-blank attack by Sukuna.

Miwa was now on edge, just like her friends, as she kept on watching.

Manipulating the mecha with his Technique, the ponytailed Sorcerer notes that even putting Geto and the veil aside, Mahito is the central danger in here, so he has to exorcize him first.

From the screens, he witnesses Fake Geto lackaidisically gesturing at him to go ahead and not mind him. Even when recognizing this drawback, he decides to take all available chances to win. On cue, the rest of the screens around him light up, showing recordings of previous battles that have taken place, including Sukuna’s manifestation, Yuji’s first confrontation against Mahito, and the Freewill Events.

“You’ve been watching us over... all this time?” whispering Yuji, stunned at seeing the cursed womb debacle, his possession and death at Sukuna’s hands, fight against Mahito, and the Freewill events having been recorded. The viewers had their own expressions of shock, not to mention a bit of paranoia, at the display as well, especially Megumi and Nanami.

“Well, that’s one clever usage of his puppets” Maki mentioned.

“More like terrifying!” Nobara shivers.

“That must mean he assembled enough Energy to go for a whole day” Muta’s classmates surmised.

With all the energy and information he amassed all years he lived, he was fully willing to give it his all. This is accentuated by Miwa coming into view in his mind, seemingly as encouragement.

Miwa was slack-jawed, a blush spreading over her face and ears, before shaking her head to cool down a little bit. She found it hard to believe, because if she, in particular, appeared to him, this can only mean one thing...

Her classmates and the Tokyo students took note of this and gazed at the embarrassed Miwa. Usually, in such situation, especially when reciprocation has been confirmed, they’d tease her to death or offer her whackjob romantic advice. However, previous events made the idea of it more touchy than they’d admit.

“Todo” the older, well-built Kyoto sorcerer turned to see Kamo, who whispers “level with us here, does Muta have any chances of winning this fight, or even making it out alive?” with the other students leaning in to listen.

Sighing, he tried to explain "There's no denying the amount of power he accumulated, as well as his near-infinite of pools Cursed Energy that's equal to Gojo himself. Mahito is a constantly evolving Curse, able to improve on his flaws and adapt during a confrontation, and he didn't even reach his true essence. If I were being frank, if nothing Muta has in disposal throws at him, which spans 17 batteries, can bring him down, he'll have to throw in the towel".

The Kyoto students were a bit let down as they let Todo's analysis sink in, but Mechamaru was actually interested in seeing how he'll perform.

He consumes up one year’s worth of Energy to charge up a devastating wave motion blast from the palm of his strongest creation, Ultimate Mechamaru, potent enough to annihilate the dam in one shot, aimed towards Mahito.

The tension was on an all-high as Muta made the first move, everyone grabbing on to their seats.

Kokichi Muta: ULTRA CANNON!!

But, when it seemed to be continuing, the screen suddenly froze at that very moment, confounding everyone present. Normally, it’d turn black.

“Uh, did it glitch?” Nobara wondered.

Until suddenly, a notification from all their phones flared again.

Shaking off the sensation of an upcoming, gigantic migraine, the viewers just pulled up to see, and they creased their brow when it turned out to be the timer from before having just hit zero (00:00:00)

Achievement: Pride

“What is this now!?” Utahime snapped.

“ A new viewer?” Yuta thought in concern.

Everyone groaned. They barely managed to deal with Suguru Geto here, who could possibly be next?

“Hopefully it’s not a walking corpse as well” Gojo answered just as carefreely as always while scratching the back of his head, with Geto giving him the stink-eye in response.

“That ain’t funny, dumb blindfold!” complained Maki.

A minute passed by, yet worryingly, there’s no sign of any novel presence, unlike before. Everyone was exchanging glances.

Geto, meanwhile, has been staring at the notification on Gojo’s phone for longer than normal, his eyes lost in that one specific word, Pride.

“Y’know what, I’ll go see who it is!” Yuji said as he ran through the stairs.

“Hold up!” a frantic Nobara ran to follow him

... but before they could reach that door, it suddenly goes flying, breaking into three pieces against the opposing wall.

Everyone halted in place, either readying themselves for a fight, to activate their Techniques or already holding on to a weapon at their disposal. Thing is, there’s something about this new presence that’s absolutely off compared to earlier.

It’s almost as if no one was there, despite plenty of evidence (read: broken door) otherwise.

No energy could be felt whatsoever, compared to Geto.

What could’ve been another arrival that they ought to get used to instead crashed a wave of terror, absolutely no one, even Mechamaru, who was the nearest to the door, daring to move a single inch.

Gojo was thrown back yet again to that headspace, the one he’s grown to hate so much ever since he got stuck in here. Biting down his lip, he checked on Suguru, but now he wished he didn’t.

Because it’s been nearly a decade since he saw his once friend this... homicidal. Not even in his days as a Curse User he was glimpsed upon such dark, nearly explosive aura, threatening to boil over and melt down this entire place.

The new intruder made themselves inside the room, with a walk that had little care about the world in it, yet had a sense of feeling unfamiliar and endangered about it.

Viewers now got an even better look than before at the individual, and... well, they could feel themselves in Gojo and Geto’s shoes. Twelve years ago, to be exact.

“... the hell’s this place?!”

Drawled out the deep, sonorous voice of the tall, muscular, raven-haired, green-eyed, black-clad visitor.

... after a minute of silence, which the guest played along with.

“WHAT THE FUCK’S EVEN GOING OOOOOOOOOOON?!?!?!?”

To be continued