Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Yuji never thought that he’d be dying for the second time in such a short period of time. And this time, it wasn’t Sukuna who did it.

Getou had been the one to end his life. An attack by one of his curses was what got him. A large worm looking curse, with thousands of sharp yellowed teeth and mouth open in an eternal scream as it chomped away at him.

It was so easy to dodge the attack, and yet a moment of distraction was what cost him his life. Sukuna, of all fucking things, laughing and taunting him in his head was what costed him.

Choso had managed to kill the curse with his Blood Manipulation, decapitating it on impact and racing to catch what was left of Yuji before he hit the ground.

His entire right side was missing, and at one point, while being in between the jaws of the worm curse, he had stopped feeling the pain of his arm and leg being torn off and eaten, with only the sickening crunches of his bones being crunched down and swallowed and the odd grunts of the curse devouring him. It had completely shocked his system, leaving him delirious and in so much pain that his brain couldn’t compute just what happened to him.

“Little brother!” Choso shouted, clutching Yuji to his chest. If he were able, he’ll snap back and tell him that, no, they are not brothers and that he is just a creepy old curse that lost his marbles.

Yuji could only roll his head to the side, putting it to the curse’s chest. Distantly, he felt his face being cradled in Choso’s hands and the rumbling of the curse’s chest. He’s saying something, Yuji thought numbly, but no matter how much he tried to focus on what he was saying, he simply couldn’t.

“Let me take over, Brat. I can heal you and kill him.” Sukuna rumbled in his head, but all Yuji could do was shake his head. He knew his games, and he refused to allow the curse to do any more damage than he’s already done.

He already has hundreds of deaths on his hands, Yuji refuses to add more.

He was tired. These last few hours in Shibuya have been possibly the worst hours of his entire life, first Nanamin and then Kugisaki and then the fight with Choso and then—

In simpler words, Yuji is exhausted and the warm embrace of death sounds a whole lot better than what Sukuna wants to do.

“You are not dying,” Sukuna barked, “I order you to let me take over!” Yuji refused to grace him with a response, instead choosing to just tune him out completely.

Yuji’s last breaths were shallow and hard, the blood he was coughing up getting on Chosos clothes.

Even though they have only just met, and their first meeting was far from pleasant, Yuji felt a little bad for him. He was convinced they were brothers, and now he was dying in his arms with his blood all over the other.

If only he had this when he was alive. The care and support from his family rather than just his grandpa who spent the last of his years in hospice, grumpy and miserable.

Yuji really wished he was dealt a better hand.

Chapter Text

From the first time since he had become Sukuna’s vessel, all Yuji had known was chaos and death. It followed him like a dark cloud, everywhere he turned there was another dead body or some scheme happening in the background that he didn’t know of.

It was like walking through life with a blindfold on with noise canceling earphones, you can simply never prepare yourself for what may come your way.

And sadly, Yuji learned that the hard way. Many times.

Just like last time, as he woke up at the bottom of some lake, opening his eyes to an acidic green that makes his eyes hurt the longer he keeps them open, he decides that he really does have the worst luck.

Shaking his head, he began to swim to the top, his head getting cloudier by the second as he swam as hard and fast as he could. It was almost like swimming through syrup, his movements slow and heavy as he tried to pick up the pace. Yuji could feel his lungs start to constrict, the feeling of having no more oxygen left dawning on him that he may actually die again.

Finally, he reached the surface, gulping down air like it was his last breath and all but dragged his body over to land. His muscles ached as he finally pushed himself fully onto land, arms shaking and head spinning he rolled himself over and away from the pond until he was on his back.

He gulped down air, his eyes closing almost automatically as he laid there. He was tired, a quick nap wouldn’t hurt, right?

Yuji woke up a little later, unaware of what time it was as he sat up. He wasn’t refreshed by any means, but he sure felt better than he did when we first got to land.

Huffing, he pushed up until he was sitting on his knees and then up to his feet, stumbling slightly until he was able to stabilize himself. He glanced around, taking in the acidic green pool behind him and then taking a look at his surroundings.

Unsurprisingly, he was underground in some sewer. The walls are cracked concrete with only a rickety ladder on the side towards the end of the tunnel. From what Yuji could decipher, it looked abandoned.

“Wonderful…” Yuji murmured, sighing as stumbled away from the green pit of… whatever it is and to the ladder.

It was only after he put his right hand on the rungs that he realized something was slightly off. He looked down at his hand, saw that it was still there, and then at his leg, saw that it was still there, and freaked the fuck out.

Twenty minutes later, and taking off all of his clothes in order to check and see that, yes, he did somehow regrow his missing limbs and organs. After multiple pinches to his arms and legs, did he come to the conclusion that he is still alive and not dreaming, did Yuji finally calm down enough to regroup.

He glanced around his surroundings again and came to the conclusion that Sukuna must’ve done something to him when he blacked out.

“Sukuna, did you do something?” Unsurprisingly, there was no reply from said curse, which just made Yuji even more frustrated. Of course, the one time he would like to hear his voice he decides to go quiet.

Yuji huffed and decided that he wasn’t going to get any answers from him and instead made his way back to the ladder and lifted himself up to start his climb upwards. If Sukuna wanted to regrow his limbs and abandon him in some creepy sewer then fine, he’ll just figure out what happened himself.

Grumbling, he started the slow trek up the ladder, cautiously going up each step. It was a painstakingly slow process as Yuji had to make sure the next rung was steady and didn’t fall and land back in the pool of mysterious liquid. He reached the top after some time, and pushed at the lid a few times before it gave, and he climbed the rest of the way out.

He reached the surface, and almost immediately was hit with a stench so hard that he gagged. It smelled of piss and vomit and alcohol, and Yuji immediately knew that he was not in Shibuya anymore. Although Shibuya can not be called the cleanest city in the world, the stench that was coming from this alleyway could be no way in Shibuya. He brought his hand up to cover his mouth to try to limit the exposure. Never in his fifteen years of living has he ever experienced a smell like this. The only thing that can even compare to this is the smell that radiates off of curses, but even that isn’t as extreme as this.

He got to his feet and glanced around, shadows dancing around the dingy alley he was in. He kicked the lid back over to cover the sewer tunnel back up and walked down, stepping over glass and trash. Yuji looked up at the sun, it was just about halfway through the sky. It was going to be evening soon.

Stuck in a place that wasn’t where he… well, died? Did he die? Yuji wasn’t sure if he died or passed out and Sukuna took over and took them somewhere, but that also doesn’t sound like him at all. Sukuna only ever did things for his own benefit, he would never just do anything, definitely not do anything for Yuji’s benefit if it didn’t help him in some way…

He shook his head. Just thinking about Sukuna and his schemes makes his head hurt. His first course of action should be to figure out where he was, and then to figure out how to get back to Jujutsu Tech, and then to tell someone about the mysterious green pool and–

His train of thought was cut off by a scream, a woman's scream, and Yuji’s feet were moving before he even knew it. A curse, maybe? Just the thought almost had him pausing in his steps, memories of Mahito coming back like a freight train that had no plans of stopping.

But, Yuji was a sorcerer. And a sorcerer’s duty is to protect humans and to exorcise curses.

He ran towards the screams, the woman's voice growing sharper and more pitched as he tried to get there as fast as possible. What if it was Mahito? Or Getou! Or that volcano curse or–

It was a normal human holding up a knife to an old lady, there was no curse. He almost sighed out of relief before snapping back into focus and rushing in.

“Just hand over your purse goddammit!” The attacker waved his knife in front of her face, getting closer to her and forcing the old woman to back up until her back hit the wall behind her. “I won’t kill ya if you just give me ya purse!”

The woman shakily, but stubbornly, shook her head. “You’ll have to steal it from my dead hands if you want it.”

The attacker was getting more and more agitated by the second, and while the old woman looked scared, she still stood her ground. Yuji gives her props for her tenacity. The last time he’s seen an old person with as much vigor as she did was his grandpa…

He shook his head and stepped up behind the guy, “is there a problem here?”

The guy jumped and turned around, immediately scowling at the sight of Yuji. “Get lost, kid. This has nothing to do with ya.”

“Really? That's too bad,” Yuji shrugged his shoulders and raised his fists up. “Personally, I think this has everything to do with me.”

Before the man could even do anything, Yuji’s fists were flying and the man was on the ground. The knife skidded off to the side and hit the wall. It was almost laughable how easy it was to knock the guy out. Compared to the curses he’s fought, this is almost like stealing candy from a baby.

“Are you okay, ma’am?” Yuji asked, stepping closer to the shaking old woman, sidestepping the unconscious man. She was hunched over and her hair was frazzled, but other than that, she looked fine.

“Yes, yes, thank you, young man.” The woman smiled at him and readjusted her purse. “If he needed the money that badly, all he had to do was ask politely.”

Yuji scratched the back of his head and glanced back down at the man, “I guess.”

The woman hummed and looked at him, really looked at him. If he were to be honest, it kinda freaked him out just how focused she was on him. Almost like she was examining him under a microscope. It gave him goosebumps.

“You aren’t from here,” she said, seemingly finding what she was looking for and smiled.

Yuji laughed awkwardly and shook his head, “I’m not, is it that obvious?”

She nodded, her curly gray hair moving with her, “yes, no sane person that lives here would jump in when seeing an old woman get mugged.”

Yuji raised an eyebrow at that. Just where the hell did Sukuna bring him? And why is that such an ordinary experience?

The way she talks about it makes it seem like this happened daily…

What the hell?

“No matter, do you have a place to stay?” She questioned. She had kind eyes, he noticed. Even though she was still somewhat frazzled, she only looked like she only forgot she left the oven on when leaving the house, not that she was mugged.

Regardless, wherever he was, the people here are strange.

Yuji paused, but then decided to just be truthful. She’s just a little old lady, it’s not like she’ll do anything to him. “I don’t.”

“Then it’s settled. I have a couch in my apartment with your name on it. Take it, as a thanks for saving my life.”

Yuji blinked at her, startled. “I—I can’t!”

“Well, of course you can. You saved my life, and you don’t have a place to stay. I don’t have an extra room, but I do have a comfortable couch.” She said, chuckling.

“You don’t even know my name?! What if I was a bad guy?” Yuji said, taking a step away from the woman.

“A bad guy wouldn’t save me. Now come on, I was going to make meatloaf tonight, you like meatloaf, right?” She stepped forward and grabbed his arm, but it wasn’t harsh. It was gentle, if Yuji really wanted, he could yank his arm out of her grip and walk away. Her wrinkled fingers weren’t bruising, and he almost felt… There were no words to describe just how she made him feel, but he wasn’t frightened, nor did he feel crowded like he sometimes felt when someone grabbed him.

How long was it that he’d had a home cooked meal? Or just someone that wanted to cook for him? When he was staying with Gojo he lived off of snacks, and even with his grandpa, he had to live off of frozen dinners.

It wouldn’t hurt to stay a night, right?

“I’ve never had meatloaf,” Yuji said, sealing his fate, and then tacked on, “my name is Yuji Itadori, by the way.”

They walked out of the mouth of the alleyway, the old woman using his arm as support as she took the lead. She was smaller than Yuji, by a lot. She barely came up to his shoulders, but she didn’t mind. She barely knows him and yet is taking him under her wing.

It made his heart hurt.

The woman smiled, “my name is Lillyanna, and I make the best meatloaf. I use an old family recipe and I use…”

Chapter Text

Living with Lillyanna was probably the first break he’s gotten in a long time. Of course, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, but it was a break, nonetheless.

Now that he knows that he isn’t in his world, he can almost… settle down, relax a little. Yuji doesn’t even know where to start when it comes to going back home, but for right now, he is willing to take it one day at a time.

He isn’t smart enough to build a dimensional traveler or whatever (if that even exists), and he refused to let Sukuna get back in control, so now Yuji kinda just… sits around and twiddles his thumbs.

Metaphorically, of course. Even though he called this a break, it’s actually far from it. He’s been helping Lillyanna around the house, or helping her at her flower shop. There actually wasn’t a second where he wasn’t doing something, and he enjoys it. It gets his mind off of everything and allows him to just breathe a bit easier.

He goes grocery shopping for her, sets the table, cleans the table, feeds Kaz (her elderly orange kitty), clips flowers with browning leaves, and sometimes mans the cash register. Of course, since she is a stubborn woman, she still does more than half of the work, but Yuji was able to convince her to let him do some of it.

Her apartment wasn’t big, it was just a one bedroom one bath with a small kitchenette with a fire escape that goes up to the roof. Lillyanna likes to hang her laundry on the roof, and also to set some flowers out so that the flowers that are sick get more direct sunlight.

The apartment was small, but cozy. Yuji found it nostalgic to the apartment his grandpa used to own before they had moved. He didn’t like to dwell too much on the past, so he always shoved it aside, but sometimes, in the cold mornings where Lillyanna fusses over him and makes him a hearty breakfast, he can’t help but think of his grandpa.

Some days were harder than others, but the world keeps turning and Yuji has to accept that.

Anyways, the apartment was furnished like one would expect of an old lady with a fat ginger cat, with colorful quilts and antique trinkets and comfy furniture. Pictures lined the walls of old family members and of past pets, and Yuji knew that they were all loved.

The couch that she had gracefully lent to him was pushed up against the wall in her living room, facing the television that doesn’t work. It wasn't too long and he had to scrunch up every night, but it was comfortable. There was also a recliner right next to it that Lillyanna had told him she splurged on, it goes almost all the way down to the ground and she had, without fail, fallen asleep on it every night since he has been here.

He shook his head and picked up another potato and started skinning it. Roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy was on the menu for tonight as a celebration for the successful sales they had that week. Yuji still doesn't fully understand the craze behind roast beef, or even mashed potatoes, but Americans seemed to love it.

He sighed mournfully, imagining that instead of roast beef in front of him it’s instead a rice bowl with vegetables and noodles. But, he is in America now, with no money and living off of the generosity of an old woman and her deceased husband's wardrobe.

His clothes had been ruined when he woke up, and Lillyanna refused to give him his clothes back until she’s done patching up all of the holes and cuts, so now he’s wearing her late husband's clothes, which is too short on the cuffs of the pants and a bit too long on the sleeves, but Yuji doesn’t mind.

It was way more comfortable than his uniform, he had to admit. But it did remind him uncannily of what his grandpa used to wear before he was too elderly and sick to dress and undress himself.

“Yuji, dear, can you set the table? I can finish up over here,” Lillyanna asked.

“Sure,” Yuji placed the potato onto the cutting board and went to the cabinet where she kept the plates. The kitchen wasn’t big by any means, so Yuji had to awkwardly scooch himself behind Lillyanna and off to the cabinet that rested just by the sink. He grabbed two plates, a pretty white porcelain with intricate flowers crafted into the edges, and went to the table.

The table was pushed up against a wall in the kitchen, with only two semi-uncomfortable wooden chairs sitting across from each other. He put down the two plates on their respective mats and went back to grab two forks and two knives and then placed them next to the plates.

The mashed potatoes were still softening up in the pot, and the roast beef was still in the crockpot cooking, and it was… peaceful.

Lillyanna owned an old fashioned radio that she has had since she was a teen, and was very excited to show it off to him that it still worked, even after decades and decades of use. The audio was staticky and sometimes cut out, but it was nice. It was playing some old classic that Yuji had never heard of, the beat slow and the singing man serenading to the rhythm.

“Do you need help with anything else, ma’am?” Yuji asked, getting them both cups of water and setting it on the side of each plate.

“Ah, yes, can you check to see if the shop is locked? I’m not sure if I locked it,” Lillyanna said, not turning around from where she stirred the gravy. “Also, what did I say about calling me ma’am? It makes me feel old.”

“Sorry,” Yuji said sheepishly, blushing, “anything else?”

“That’s all darling, thank you.”

Yuji took the keys off the hook that sits by the door, slipped on his shoes – still his signature red shoes, one of the only of his belongings that survived the journey, and went down the stairs and into the dark stairway.

Lillyanna’s apartment resided right on top of the flower shop, so their breakroom was basically the stairs up into the apartment with some equipment used to cut flowers and to make bouquets, but most of the work is done in the actual flower shop itself.

He hummed as he made his way down, throwing open the door to the flower shop and making his way to the door to check if it was locked.

In order for it to be actually locked on the outside, you have to go outside and lock it, so you can’t lock it from the inside. Yuji kinda found it to be doing too much, because wouldn’t it just make sense to lock it from the inside instead of having to lock it from the outside?

He didn’t voice these thoughts, of course, but it lingers at the back of his head.

He opened the door and, sure enough, when he opened it from the outside, it was unlocked. He brought out the key – there were numerous, and when he tried the one that he thought was the one, it didn’t work. Yuji huffed and tried again.

He had just put another key into the hole and it didn’t turn, because of course it didn’t, when he heard a pained grunt and then the sound of people duking it out.

He turned around, disregarding the keys in his hands and shoved them into his pocket, and was about to say something when–

He saw a person dressed in a costume surrounded by three men dressed in weird clothes, suits of all things, fighting with the weirdly dressed man in a black and yellow cape. He was fast and experienced, and Yuji was in shock.

It was like watching Nanamin fight, the person in the costume was deadly and clinical, almost like he was holding himself back as he knocked each person out one by one. Yuji couldn’t really see anything as the streetlights weren’t lighting up the area that it was happening but he could see the cape that fluttered with the masked figure and a brief glimpse of a mask that covered just the eyes and ran across the bridge of his nose.

He was fast. So fucking fast. Of course, not Gojo fast, but fast enough to be taken as a threat.

“What the hell…” Yuji murmured, transfixed on the fight. It was like watching a dance, and he could only hope to be nearly as graceful when he fought.

The fight was over before Yuji could even do anything, and the masked figure paused where he was. His chest heaving slightly as he looked at the unconscious figures. The street lights made it difficult for Yuji to accurately see the figure, and he took an unconscious step forward.

“Why are you dressed like that?” Yuji asked, taking another step toward the figure. The masked man zeroed in on him, and Yuji felt goosebumps go up his arms.

Now that Yuji could see him a little bit more clearly, he can see that the man had tanned skin and black fluffy hair at the top of his head while it was shaved down short on the sides. He was dressed in a gray suit with black accents, the ends of his top oddly reminded Yuji of Peter Pan, and tight black pants. He also wore red and gray combat boots and it ran all the way up to his thighs with knee pads. His gloves were a mix of black and red, and they rested consciously over his utility belt, like he was ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

In all, disregarding that he just took out three jacked grown men by himself in a handful of minutes, he looked like he was cosplaying some videogame character.

“I am a vigilante.” The man replied, his voice was raspy and deep. Definitely older than him, but not by much.

Yuji cocked his head, “what the hell is a vigilante?”

The masked man hesitated, and his hand fell away from his holster. He looked startled, almost surprised. Yuji raised an eyebrow at that.

“... What?”

Yuji shook his head, “you know what? Nevermind man, you do you.”

It was way too late for this bullshit, and he could distantly hear Sukuna cackling in the back of his head as he decided that he did not want any part in whatever the hell the man is up to. He turned around and went to open the door when he heard the masked figure come closer.

“You don’t know who I am?” The man asked, hesitantly. He had a posh accent, Yuji noted distantly.

“No, am I supposed to?”

“Tt. Do you live under a rock?” The man said in disbelief, “I’m Robin, I am one of the protectors of Gotham.”

Yuji turned right around and sighed, “no, I just recently… moved here, is all. I didn’t know vigilantes even existed.”

Robin looked at him, and Yuji looked back. He looked stiff, and he couldn’t really pinpoint as to why. He kinda hoped he didn’t accidentally piss him off, but even if he did he wasn’t sure as to what he did. “What is your name?”

“Yuji Itadori, but I don’t why you need to know that.” He said, scratching the back of his head.

“Yuji Itadori… I shall remember that.” Robin nodded to himself and slowly started slinking back into the shadows. “Stay safe.”

“Don’t worry about me, I’ve been in worse places.” Yuji said offhandedly, turning back around to open the door, finding the correct key on the first try this time, and locking it. He stepped inside and glanced over his shoulder to see if he was still there, and he wasn’t.

Just as quietly as he had arrived, he was gone again, leaving only the crumbled bodies of the men he took down behind.

Americans are so fucking strange.

Chapter Text

He didn’t see Robin again after that, and for that, Yuji is counting that as a blessing. Getting mixed up with someone that goes around in costumes beating up criminals does not sound like the type of guy he would want to associate himself with.

But curses, on the other hand? He’s more than willing to get into a scuffle with them, as he is doing right now, in the back of a grocery store. From what Yuji has seen, no one can see them, like his world, and when he tried searching Jujutsu Sorcerers up on the web, he found nothing.

Not even a religious school, not even a clan, nothing. Either he is the only one that can see them because he isn’t from here, or Jujutsu Society is even more secretive here than it was back in his world. Shit, he even went to the library and couldn’t find anything, even in the mythology section!

He huffed as he dodged a tail going for his head, and gathered up cursed energy into his fist and aimed at the curse’s head. It was barely Grade 3, so it wasn’t a hard fight, but he’s also been exorcising them since he realized that curses also exist in this universe.

There aren’t many, thankfully, this is only the fourth one he has seen since arriving here three weeks ago, and they also haven’t been strong, but it still is worrying.

If he is right on his earlier observation, then that means he is the only person who can see them and use cursed energy.

There were slight alarm bells going off, puzzle pieces that didn’t make much sense, but he shook it off. The curses weren’t that dangerous, so he really didn’t need to exorcise them and could just leave them alone, but it felt wrong.

Gotham was cursed enough, it doesn’t need actual curses to make it worse.

He positioned his body and finished off the curse with a roundhouse kick imbued with cursed energy, the curse barely stood a chance as it disintegrated immediately. It was an ugly curse, and could barely fight back, but it was too big for it to just be left alone.

He ran his fingers through his hair to fix it and straightened up his sweater. He looked into his bag and saw the two turkey and cheese sandwiches he got for Lillyanna and himself for their break. Usually Lillyanna made them lunch for their break, but they had a sudden influx of people wanting bouquets so they’ve been busy all day, which left no time to cook something up.

He hummed a tune under his breath and continued on his way. The grocery store wasn’t far, only two blocks away, so the trip was short.

Yuji walked through the open doors of Grandma’s Flowers and called out to Lillyanna, “I got us lunch!”

Lillyanna looked up from where she was making a bouquet, one with lillies, baby’s breath, chrysanthemums, bluebells, and other flowers that Yuji unfortunately hadn’t remembered the names of yet.

“Ah, thank you darling,” Lillyanna smiled and put down the bouquet. She came around the counter and held onto Yuji’s arm as they made their way to a sitting area to the side of the store.

The flower shop was vintage in its aesthetic, with floral covering basically every inch of the wall. They were all bright and inviting colors, perfectly encapsulating Lillyanna’s personality. There were some portraits of cats scattered around, some commissioned while some thrifted.

They settled down on a small table, an old tea table from Lillyanna’s childhood. Yuji placed the bag on the table and took a seat on one of the metal chairs. Kaz came out from somewhere and settled right next to his legs, purring happily.

“No one caused you trouble, did they?” She asked, settling down across from him with a grunt.

“No, I think they know better.” Yuji laughed. He’s made a reputation for himself from the first few times petty criminals tried to mug him.

“Good. Crime Alley isn’t like where you come from,” Lillyanna sighed, taking a bite out of her sandwich. “I know you are strong, but be careful. This little old lady can’t handle any more heartache.”

It was hard to swallow down the food he was chewing suddenly, and he looked up at Lillyanna. She looked tired and old, her blue eyes dulled with age and face painted with creases and lines. She looked just like his grandpa for a second that he almost broke down right there and then, but he didn’t.

He took a deep breath, “I know, Miss. I’ll be careful.”

Lillyanna nodded, and the tension faded away almost like it was never there to begin with. They ate in silence, and soon after they were finished they went back to work.

Making bouquets were easy to make once you got the hang of it, the hardest part of a bouquet was picking the right flowers and stylizing them so that they look pretty. Which Yuji had trouble with.

If only he had Kugisaki here with him, she would make this ten times easier. She was knowledgeable in all things aesthetic and “girly”, and had on multiple occasions boasted about it and spent countless sleepovers trying to teach him.

Of course, she would first force him to admit that it was too difficult for him to do and needed help from the oh so great Nobara Kugisaki, and she would smirk, flip her hair off her shoulder and take over and then–

A piercing, ringing sound cut through the air, and he glanced over at the landline. He sighed, picked it up, and smiled. “Hello, this is Yuji Itadori you are speaking with at Grandma’s Flowers, what could I do for you?”

“...” Silence, and then the line cut out and Yuji just blinked at the phone, shrugged, and put it back.

They rarely get prank phone calls, and he had only gotten one during his time there, and it was a “is your refrigerator running?” joke.

He went back to his bouquet making, the phone call becoming just another one of those memories you don’t remember.

***

Closing down the shop was one of Yuji's least favorite chores, as it involved bringing all of the flowers that were outside back in. They weren’t heavy by any means, but it was tedious when you’ve been on your feet all day.

He wiped his brow with a huff, and glanced up at the sky. They don’t close late, like other shops. They close at four and open early the next day, so the sun was still out, albeit setting as the November weather was finally hitting. The wind rustled his hair, and he shivered momentarily before he bent down again to bring another flower pot into the store.

Gotham was different from Tokyo, in all ways that he doesn’t know if it’s for the better or the worse. Homesickness always hits him around this time of day, memories of studying until his hands hurt in his cramped dorm room or simply going down the hall to annoy Fushiguro, it was all different.

No one and nothing is familiar, and he still goes to bed every night wishing to wake up back in his dorm.

He was just about to walk in, arms heavy with a huge flower pot containing a mix of flowers, when a man in a business suit walked past. He carried a folder between his arm and nursed a cup of coffee in his other hand.

He was on the phone, talking animatedly and glancing around, almost like he was looking for someone when suddenly, he tripped and the folder fell right through his arm, papers scattering to the ground.

Somehow, the coffee stayed in his hand in a death grip.

Yuji dropped the flower pot back onto the ground and knelt down to help pick up the papers.

The man sighed, aggravated, and also knelt down to collect the rest. He rested his phone between his ear and shoulder and tried to put all of the papers back into the folder. “Out of all the days…”

He picked up one of the papers and looked down and paused. He quickly glanced over at the man, saw he was distracted, and decided to do some snooping. This world was still new to him, there’s no harm in reading, right?

On the top of it, there was a company name—

Wayne Industries

He read a little further down, and there were diagrams for some contraption that was obviously still in the beginning stages of being created. It almost looked like a phone booth, but it was hard to tell. Notes were scrawled on the sides, arrows pointing at certain parts. There were X’s over some of the diagrams, almost like the person that drew them decided they didn’t do it correctly.

Yuji squinted his eyes, and read the name of one of the diagrams.

U—

And then the paper was grabbed out of his hands, and the man awkwardly cleared his throat, his ear still to the phone. “Sorry. We’re creating a new product that isn’t known by the public just yet. You’ll keep this a secret, right?”

“I didn’t understand most of it anyways.” Yuji said, standing back up after seeing that all of the papers were collected.

The man smiled at him, albeit a little strained, and stood back up with the rest of the papers back into the folder and coffee returned to his hand and readjusted his phone so that he was holding it instead. “Thank you, for both the help and for keeping this underwraps.”

“Anytime,” Yuji said, dusting off his pants.

He gave him a smile and then went on his way, and then addressed the person on the other line again. “Yeah, sorry, I just dropped something and someone helped me and–” a sudden pause, “–I’ll be there in a second just–”

And then the man turned the corner, and he was gone.

Chapter Text

“Sukuna, I know you’re here.” Yuji said, leaning his head backwards to look up at the sky. Like Tokyo, you can never see the stars. Light pollution and fog that hung over Gotham in all hours of the day, always present, never receding, made it difficult to even see the moon sometimes.

The roof was quiet, and it was well into the early hours of morning, but Yuji had felt on edge all day. He refused to sleep that night, in fear of being sucked into yet another nightmare or into Sukuna’s domain.

The last thing he wanted to see right now was the curse, but the tension was building, and he could barely think. It was better to just talk to the curse on his own free will rather than being forced into it.

“Sukuna, I know you’re here. Just come out and say it,” Yuji said, already mentally preparing himself to be drained and left even more tired than he already is.

A mouth formed on the side of his cheek. “Watch your tone.”

Yuji rolled his eyes, and finally drew out the breath that was trapped in his chest, “I think I have the right to be snappy, don’t you think?”

“Even after two deaths you are still as dumb as a rock,” Sukuna drawled, his mouth farming a sharp grin. “You would think you’ll learn, and yet.”

“Honestly, Sukuna? After everything you’ve done, I don’t have the patience anymore. What do you want?” Yuji said, and decided to focus his attention on the scenery.

From his perch on the railing, he had the perfect view of Crime Alley. It wasn’t a pretty sight, but it was enough for him. There was a beauty to it that he could respect, in the old architecture dating back decades ago, and the historical value of it all. It was all falling apart, and covered in graffiti or mysterious liquids that he refused to acknowledge, but it was… Not home, never home, but it was okay.

He’d much rather face this view than Sukuna’s horrid domain, with bones sprawling above him with the curse glaring down at him from his skull throne.

“You are losing your edge,” Sukuna said, his mouth growing sharp, “good. It’ll be easier to kill you.”

“Not as easy as transporting us here, right?” Yuji snarked, and then the curse laughed.

“I gain nothing from bringing us here. With that stupid teacher of yours sealed, it would be much easier to take back what is rightfully mine.” Sukuna drawled, “but, of course, with your luck we were sent here.”

“Hah?!” Yuji exclaimed, and the first time that day he had enough energy to actually feel something. “My fault?! If anything, this is all your fault! You’re the cause of all of this!”

Sukuna opened his eyes on Yuji’s cheek just to roll them, “come to my domain, you’ll be able to unleash all of your anger there.”

“Fuck you.”

“Such a way with words.”

“You know, why couldn’t you have been normal?” Yuji mused out loud to himself, sighing. “Why can’t you be like Pikachu? Or even like that fox from Naruto?! Why did I have to get stuck with you? Out of all of the curses, it had to be the worst one.”

“Keep talking. The second I’m not in your body anymore you will be the first to go,” Sukuna snarked.

“And I’m so scared of you,” Yuji huffed, but didn’t say anything more. In a twisted sense, this was his one familiarity in this new world.

He hated it.

Yuji glared out at the other buildings surrounding him. When it got particularly hard for him to sleep, he’d come up out here and stare at the sky, but more often than not, he’d see masked figures jumping across roofs.

Yells, sometimes of joy or anger or out of pain, were heard along from them. But, he liked it. It’d remind him of all of the training sessions he’d have with his friends, of intense sessions with Kugisaki that would always end up with him on his ass.

The “vigilantes” that flew in the sky and fought evil reminded him too much of Jujutsu High, but instead of curses that they fought they fought people. Real, tangible people that everyone can see. Villains, they call them here, that wreak havoc and cause mayhem whenever they want.

There is little to no order in Gotham, outside of the Bats and Birds that run around trying to help.

Suddenly, Sukuna’s mouth disappeared, alongside his eyes. And Yuji was about to make a snide comment when there was a swish, and then the landing of heavy boots next to him.

He looked behind himself, and in all of his glory, the one person he didn’t want to see.

“Robin,” he greeted through his teeth. It took everything within him not to roll his eyes.

“Yuji,” Robin responded. Although Yuji couldn’t see the other man’s eyes through his white lenses, he knew he was narrowing them. Scrutinizing him. “Get off the railing.”

This time, Yuji did actually roll his eyes. He decided to ignore him, and instead focused his attention on the towering buildings and the random straggler on the streets.

Maybe he was staking out here, maybe he’s waiting for some crime to happen. Too bad. Usually nothing ever happens around Grandma’s Flowers, almost like there is an invisible wall that is around the perimeter of the building that criminals refuse to dare to even touch.

“Get off the railing, or I’ll tackle you off it.” Robin said tensely, his hands out like he was ready to either tackle him off the railing or jump after him.

“If you’re worried about me jumping, don’t be.” Yuji said, turning back around to face the city line again. “Just here to clear my head, so you can be on your way.”

Robin said nothing, and instead marched up to him and took a seat to his right. From this close, Yuji saw that he didn’t look all too good himself. His lip was split open and his clothes were messier than usual.

Still, this doesn’t excuse his instance of being here. Yuji huffed. “I’ll head in soon, alright?”

“Okay,” he said simply, neutrally. Like he didn’t believe him, but also believed him at the same time. But Yuji knew one thing: he wasn’t leaving anytime soon.

“Isn’t there like crime to fight? Isn’t that what you people do?” Yuji pushed.

“No,” came his easy reply. “My siblings have gotten it under control.”

“Right…” Yuji heard about all of those “siblings”. He can’t even count all of them on one hand because there’s so many! It’s honestly a wonder that Gotham is still the way that it is due to the little army that runs around like chickens with their heads cut off.

“Do you have any siblings?” Robin asked, and Yuji glanced over at him.

“No,” he replied, and then hesitated, because, well… if he were to believe Choso’s words, he did have siblings.

Cursed siblings, siblings that were raised in test tubes and shared no similarities with. Siblings that he had a hand in killing, and fighting the other to the death. Siblings that there was just no way in hell he was related to, but somehow was, if he were to trust the words of someone that tried to kill him.

It was much easier when he just had Gramps as his family than some murderous curses that he is “related” to.

“Actually, it’s complicated.” He ended up adding after a few hesitant seconds of silence.

“Hm.” Robin said, not saying anything more.

Not a conversational person, got it. Yuji thought to himself, the stifling awkwardness becoming almost unbearable. He does feel for the guy, but if he’s that bad at socializing then he could’ve just left right after making sure he was alright.

“Look man, I’m going in, alright?” Yuji said, finally reaching a breaking point. He honestly couldn’t care less about vigilantes, and this one taking it upon himself to be here; in his space, in his company, really rubbed him the wrong way.

He is just another face to the guy, so why is he here?

Maybe to end you. Maybe he knows what you are and is here to finish what Geto failed to do.

Yuji decided not to entertain the thought and instead swung himself back onto the ground, steadying himself and making some room between himself and the bird man.

He refused to show his back to the other, and instead hesitantly started to back up towards the door. He tried to be low key about it, but from the way Robin tilted his head and didn’t make any moves toward him said he was anything but.

“I am not going to hurt you,” Robin said finally, his voice soft but still holding that edge to it that makes it almost grate on Yuji’s ears. Like nails to a chalkboard.

“If you want to get flowers, please come back during the day. We do not serve during the night,” Yuji said in lieu of commenting any further on how the bird man made him feel.

“I—“

Yuji didn’t wait for him to continue before opening the door and slamming it behind himself, shaking the wall and probably also waking up Lillyanna. He then made sure to lock it, and only left when he heard the soft footsteps of Robin leave his rooftop, probably off to bother someone else.

He doesn’t think about the fact the guy could probably get in regardless of how many times he locks the door, but even if it is just for a little bit, he is glad for it.

This time, when Sukuna laughed mockingly at him in his head, all he felt was a deep, deep feeling of unease.

Chapter Text

The library in Gotham is one of the only places to not be touched by super villains. It is an “off limits” zone where everyone, no matter the background, is welcomed and given a safe haven — only until nine at night, of course, and past that you need to leave.

Whether by force or not, is to be decided.

Yuji knew this walking in the past just a little after six, just after closing the shop and having dinner. He knew that he had limited time but also knew that he couldn’t be ignorant to the world he is in anymore.

Lillyanna had given him her library card when he told her of his plans (he wanted to look more into the history of Gotham, which is true, but it isn’t the full truth), told him to be careful, kissed his cheek, and sent him on his way.

He started his journey, which was barely ten minutes, but Gotham is anything but walkable – gone were the winding sidewalks of Tokyo, and now he's in New Jersey. Where he’s lucky if he didn’t have to cross a two lane road and have to play with fate on if a car was going to choose that time to speed down and kill him.

But, he didn’t mind all that much. 

It was peaceful, oddly, like the way a car ride back from a mission is. You survived, your limbs are all attached, and you can celebrate by getting hotpot and greasy food to warm your stomach.

Sadly, even that faint feeling of nostalgia was squashed down when his mind went to Robin and of his impromptu visit.

He was barely on the roof for more than ten minutes when he showed up behind him, demanding him to get off from the ledge. It was odd, and it felt creepily similar to the feeling of a curse stalking its prey.

Yuji was obviously on Robin's radar now, whether it be just an innocent curiosity or something else, if he wants to live and somehow make it back to his home world then researching this new world is his next bet.

He never really thought of it before becoming Sukuna’s vessel, but now he has realized just how vital it is. The Jujutsu World counts on information to take down new curses that popped up. If it weren't for its intensive network of informants, then the world would’ve gone to shit ages ago. 

And if that means by learning the ins-and-outs of Robin and of the others, then so be it. He’d take his time in the library and put all of the lessons he was forced to take in school about how to properly research to good use.

With that in mind, and with his chin just a bit higher, he walked into the library. A red haired woman sat at the front desk, purple glasses on her face and her hair in a ponytail, which showed off the wired earbud in her ear. She looked to be about in her thirties, or at least late twenties.

She wasn’t the same person that was there last time he came, as the other girl was small and quiet, compared to the loud presence that sat behind the desk now.

She was tapping away, and he hoped that she didn’t look up at him and ask him if he needed anything.

Like many things in this new world, that didn’t happen.

“Hello, do you need help with anything?” She looked up at him with a smile, and as he walked closer, he realized she was in a wheelchair.

“No— ah, actually, do you know where the computers are?” Yuji asked, fiddling with Lillyanna’s library card. He wasn’t sure if she was going to make him show her it, but he hoped not.

“It’s just over there to the right, it’ll be behind that wall right—“ she pointed in its direction, “there. But, you can only access them if you have a library card.”

Yuji hastily brought it up to show her, “I do! Well, it’s my… Grandma’s, but she’s letting me use it. For homework, and stuff. Since, y’know, we don’t have a computer at home so I have to come here.”

“Oh, that’s nice. What school do you go to? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here before,” she asked, smiling at him pleasantly.

Crap.

Yuji forced a smile onto his face, “I’m homeschooled! And just recently moved here, so it makes sense you’ve never seen me here before.”

The woman nodded along, but her smile grew wider. More genuine, and she had to turn away to cough into her hand. “Well, I hope you are liking Gotham so far. Regardless of its quirks, it has a charm to it. It just takes a bit to realize that.”

“Thank you, and I am!” Yuji bowed, out of habit, and briskly walked away. Fushiguro always said it was obvious when he lied; that just didn’t have it in him, and was too dumb to cover his tracks.

But honestly, he likes to think otherwise.

Smiling to himself, he walked to where the computers were. Only two were occupied, and it was by two teenagers that were playing video games, one of a little blob hopping on platforms that were moving, and the other solitaire.

Sitting down at the computer, the one furthest away from the two other teenagers, he got ready. He typed in the username on the card, and then the password, and he was in. The technology was much older here than it was back in his world, maybe just a few years behind, but it still made a whole lot of difference.

The old Google screen popped up at him, and he clicked on the search bar and just searched up Gotham Daily News.

Yuji wasn’t that surprised when he saw news articles after news articles, going on about a recent escape from Arkham Asylum, news about Joker putting Laughing Gas in a hospital's water supply, again, or about Catwoman's recent adventures into pet shops.

“What a fucking mess…” Yuji murmured, scrolling through before deciding to pull up Wikipedia and looking into Gothams history, as a whole.

Obviously, he couldn’t find anything substantial. All he found out was that Bruce Wayne was a billionaire that lived in Gotham, and that everything good in Gotham came from him. From charities to orphanages to fundraisers, it all had Bruce’s name written all over it.

His kids, too.

This guy has an entire fucking army of them!

“He sure gets around…” Yuji murmured to himself, before he looked deeper in and found out only one was biological, and the rest were adopted.

How could a billionaire even be a good guy? Yuji shook his head in silent disbelief, but then his thoughts drifted to Gojo and…

He closed the tab on Bruce Wayne, and instead went back into the google search bar, and decided to set his sights broader and look up other superheroes.

And holy shit, there were a lot.

They had an entire superhero group, that they call the Justice League, that basically handled everything ranging from aliens to disasters to saving cats stuck in trees.

Everything in this world pointed to that everything and nothing is what it seems, similar to his world, but the only difference is that, here, people actually care.

They care so much that everything is put in place and created with humanity in mind. There are hundreds of heroes here that all share that burden, not like in Yuji’s world where it rides solely on a handful of people.

It makes him wonder how much more different his world would be if Jujutsu Sorcerers weren’t so hard to come by, or even if curses didn’t exist at all.

He closed out of all the tabs he had open, and feeling more dejected as before, signed out of the computer. The teenagers a few chairs down had left at one point, and now he was alone. With only the red haired woman sitting at her desk still there.

He made his way out, smiling at the woman, who did the same back.

“Have a nice evening,” she said, adjusting her earbud slightly to change ears so that her free ear was closest to him.

“Thanks. You too,” he said back, and although his heart was still heavy, he felt slightly lighter.

Somehow, at the back of his mind, he knew he was gonna make it out of here. He will see his friends again.