First Encounter

It's been five months since Rey was accepted as "special case" to Tokyo Jujutsu High and placed under the supervision of Gojo Satoru. With Gojo's permission, Rey had removed most of the Blood Crest Worms from his body without the higher-ups knowing. The sorcerer found the boy to be very sweet after getting to know him better, nothing like what the higher ups portrayed him to be. Not only that, Rey was also an obedient child who never caused any problems, though sometimes Gojo thought that Rey was too quiet for his liking. In those moments, Gojo felt that Rey's soul had drifted off into a different world.

Gojo exited his room and walked down the hall, humming a small tune as he opened the door to the next room and strolled inside uninvited.

"Rey-kun! We're going shopping!" Gojo called, announcing his presence. "Oh? What are you reading?"

"The Witness of the Stars," I replied. I closed the book and set it down on the bookshelf.

"Eck, that sounds boring." Gojo ducked down out of my sight for a brief moment before popping back up again.

"For you maybe, Gojo-sensei."

Gojo bounded over with my sneakers in hand. "Let's go, let's go. Aren't you excited?"

I sighed as I changed into the shoes. We literally went shopping last week. Even the sneakers I'm wearing right now he bought for me at the mall last week.

"Alright, we're ready!" Gojo finished tying my shoelaces for me. He grabbed my hand and teleported us into the city. Immediately, we were bombarded with the noise of the night life of Japan. Laughing merrily, Gojo guided me into a designer store, making a bee-line for the sunglasses section.

"Hmm, should we get matching sunglasses?" Gojo picked up a pair. "This one? Or the blue-tinted glasses?"

Gojo handed me one he picked out, and I put them on. Gojo made me go stand in front of the mirror to "see if it suited my style."

"Good evening, sir. H-how can we help you tonight?" A young lady in the store uniform came up to us. I caught her coworker giggling a few feet away. Immediately, I knew what was up.

"Good evening, miss! Do you have a smaller size for this pair of sunglasses?" Gojo held up a new pair of black sunglasses. The lady took the sunglasses from him, accidentally brushing Gojo's hand as she did so. Her face grew bright red.

"Of course we do, sir! I'll find one for you right away!" She exclaimed. Gojo gave her a dashing smile, and I was surprised she didn't faint right there on the spot. I had to stop myself from gagging from the infatuated emotions radiating off of her.

I waited until she left before grabbing Gojo's hand and pulling him away from the counter. This man really didn't know how to control his charm, and I wasn't going to let him use me as a way to fend off love-struck women.

"Geh?" Gojo exclaimed, "Where are we going? Don't you want your sunglasses?"

"Let's go get food," I muttered. Based on my experience, the food stalls were safer than the stores, though not by much. Plus, I knew Gojo would never turn down an excuse to buy sweets.

"Sure! I know a great dessert place near here," Gojo agreed. "Let's get some."

And after a thirty minute wait, we finally got the two orders of dessert Gojo recommended to get. Not going to lie, they do look really good, especially the strawberry ones.

I was about to open the packaging when I sensed a disturbance to the north. Both Gojo and I turned in the same direction, and I narrowed my eyes. There was a powerful cursed energy enveloping a building in the distance. I put my dessert back into its bag and walked up to Gojo, already circulating my cursed energy. Gojo took the bag from me. "Megumi's over there. I suppose we have to go take a look."

"Let's go, Rey." I felt Gojo's hand grab my shirt collar and lift me up. The man stamped his foot lightly and landed on top of the roof of a building.

"Is it really necessary that you have to carry me this way?" I asked.

"It's faster this way," Gojo replied.

Sighing in resignation, I allowed Gojo to carry me over the building roofs as he swiftly cut through the night sky to our destination. As we got closer, the cursed energy signature grew clear, and I recognized Megumi's aura. Gojo and I landed on the building roof, a bit away from Megumi and an unidentified teenager.

"Itadori Yuuji, under Jujutsu regulations, I will exorcise you as a curse!" Megumi's voice rang through the air. The pink-haired teenager, I assumed to be Itadori, held up his hands in confusion.

"Hold up, I'm just fine!" Itadori said. "Besides, you and I are both pretty beat up. Let's get to a hospital."

Megumi hesitated, clearly unsure of what he should do. Gojo and I walked up behind him, and I noted the blood on Megumi's face. This was the second time I've seen him injured so badly.

"What's the situation?" Gojo held up his hand in greeting. I eyed the desserts in his hand to make sure they didn't spill.

Megumi whirled around at the sound, "Gojo-sensei? Rey-kun? What are you doing here?"

"I wasn't really planning on showing up," Gojo drawled, "but Rey-kun insisted on coming." He pulled out his phone and chuckled, "Man, you're roughed up! I'm gonna show this to all the second-years."

As Megumi hid himself from Gojo's barrage of photos, I observed the boy who was watching the two goof around. I had sensed Sukuna's presence very clearly, though it seemed to have disappeared. How interesting.

"Anyways," Gojo put his phone away after getting a satisfactory picture of Megumi, "the higher-ups won't shut up if a special-grade cursed object goes missing. So I stopped by while I was out for some shopping with Rey." Megumi glanced at me, and I nodded in confirmation.

Gojo placed a hand on Megumi's shoulder. "So, did you find it?"

"Um..." Itadori held up his hand and pointed at himself, "Sorry, but I ate it."

"For real?"

"For real." Megumi and Itadori replied together.

Reaching into the bag Gojo was holding, I pulled out a strawberry mochi. "Gojo-sensei, don't take too long, or else I'm going to finish all of it without you."

"Ahhh!" Gojo exclaimed. "Don't be so heartless, Rey-kun! Leave me some!"

"Hurry up then." I ripped open the packaging to emphasize my impatience.

"Okay, okay." Gojo went up to Itadori and rubbed his chin, "Damn, it really did combine with you. How amusing." He straightened his body and stretched his back, "Anything off with your body?"

"Not really."

Yummy, vanilla cream and strawberry puree, an awesome combination.

"Can you swap out with Sukuna?" Gojo asked casually. Megumi's eyes widened, and I nearly choked on my mochi. Did I hear correctly?

"Sukuna?" Itadori repeated innocently.

"The curse you ate," Gojo elaborated.

"Oh, yeah. I think I can do that," Itadori confirmed. Gojo started to stretch his legs. "Then give us ten seconds and take control again after ten seconds."

"But..." Itadori looked uncertain about Gojo's offer. I chomped down on my mochi again. I was ready to enjoy the show.

"Don't worry, I'm the strongest." Gojo smiled. My lips twitched as I heard Gojo's catchphrase. He never was one to forget to show off whenever he could.

"Megumi, hold on to this." Gojo dropped the rest of the sweets in Megumi's lap. "And Rey-kun, make sure they stay safe."

"What's in here?" Megumi asked.

"Kikufuku mochi from Kikusuian. It's Sendai's specialty, and it's super good. I recommend the zunda and cream flavor." Umm, hello? Itadori, no it should be Sukuna now, is gone. I dragged Megumi back a couple feet while turning up the dial on my collar. My mochi was still in there, and I didn't want it to be the only casualty in the battle.

"It's not a souvenir," Gojo criticized, catching Megumi's face of disbelief. "Rey and I are going to eat it on the bullet train home."

Sukuna appeared behind Gojo, poised to strike. "Behind you!" Megumi cried. Dust flew up as Sukuna's fist landed. I brought my arm up to protect my mochi from getting dirty.

"Kikufuku's not like other souvenirs," Gojo continued, sitting on Sukuna's back with a smile completely unharmed, "And the whipped cream inside is just exquisite."

With a growl, Sukuna twisted his body, throwing off Gojo, and got to his feet. Gojo smiled, "My student and Rey are watching, so I'm gonna show off a little."

I licked the cream off of my lips. Sukuna was unlucky to have run into Gojo here. Especially with the limited strength he had, there was no way he was going to get any blows off on Gojo.

Sukuna swung two punches at Gojo only for them to be swiftly avoided by the latter. With a murderous cackle, Sukuna lunged at Gojo, intent on tearing the sorcerer to pieces. Gojo brought his hands together, teleporting at the last second to dodge Sukuna's fists.

I covered my yawn with my hand and put the plastic lid back on the empty box. Should I start on a second one, or should I wait for Gojo?

Gojo twisted his body, narrowly avoiding Sukuna's swing, and grabbed the curse's arm. Pulling Sukuna toward him, Gojo punched the curse in the stomach and sent him flying through the buildings.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Sukuna complained as he crashed into the metal railings on the side of the building.. "You jujutsu sorcerers are always a pain in the ass." He pulled himself up and brushed himself off. A heartbeat later, Sukuna rushed at Gojo with a malicious glint in his eyes, "No matter what the era!"

Part of the building collapsed under the strength of Sukuna's blow, and the ripple of dust and wind swept toward us. I raised my hand and formed a shadow barrier to protect the mochi from the spare rubble. Oh right, and also to protect Megumi. Though primarily because of the mochi.

Sukuna laughed triumphantly, "Though that doesn't mean much to me."

What an idiot.

As the dust settled, Sukuna's eyes widened to find Gojo standing there completely unharmed. Megumi sighed in relief, "Haah."

Drawn by the sound, Sukuna's gaze went past Gojo and landed on the two of us. After briefly taking in the sorcerer, his eyes were drawn to me. A flicker of surprise flashed through his pupils. I gave him a small nod and a silent stare of warning.

"Seven," Gojo counted. "Eight. Nine. Should be about time."

Sukuna's body stiffened, and his head dipped down. A second later, his head popped back up. "Oh, was everything okay?"

"Color me impressed," Gojo praised, "You really can control it."

"He's kind of annoying, though." Itadori slapped the side of his head. "I can hear his voice. Something about a little boy."

His eyes brightened as he saw me. "Yeah, him! That guy was talking about a boy with red eyes and white hair." I cringed internally and hoped that Sukuna would mind his own business.

Gojo sent me a questioning gaze, and I shrugged in response. Understanding my meaning, Gojo turned back to Itadori, "It's a miracle that's all he's doing."

Gojo strode forward and placed his index and middle finger on Itadori's head, and immediately, the boy fainted. Gojo caught him before Itadori could fall face down on the ground.

"What did you do?" Megumi asked.

"Just knocked him out," Gojo answered. "If he isn't possessed by Sukuna when he wakes up, he might have potential as a vessel."

I took the mochi bag from Megumi's hand and found my place next to Gojo. Looks like everything is settled here. Gojo placed Itadori over his shoulder and walked up to Megumi.

"Okay, here's a question for you." Gojo patted the unconscious boy's back. "What should we do with him?"

"Even if he is a vessel, Jujutsu regulations demand Itadori be executed," Megumi replied, "However, I don't want to let him die."

"A personal opinion?" Gojo asked.

"Yes, it's a personal opinion." Megumi nodded. "Please do something about it."

Gojo looked down at me. "And how about you, Rey-kun?"

Well, it is a rare occurence for Sukuna to be overpowered by such a kid, and plus, I think we are missing some action at the school.

"Since you went through the trouble of saving him, I guess we might as well keep him."

Gojo laughed. "Now it's a request from two precious students. Leave it to me!"