The Human Curse: Part 01

"Well, well, well~ You really have the talent to be a damsel in distress~" I can't help but tease Nobara after we meet again. I can't wait for her to be captured again, this running joke will be awesome.

"Shut up!" She shouts from above the Round Deer "This thing is above my paygrade!" She jumps from the deer's back

"True." I concede with a shrug "At least you're gaining experience."

"I would prefer to learn things properly first, I have been here for less than a month!" She complains

"And what more do you want? An oil massage, a million dollars?" I mock "This job is a high-risk, high-reward one."

"An oil massage would be good..."

"I can give you one, I'm pretty good at it." I raise my arm and wiggle my hand in a way that would make Kazuma proud

"Yikes!" She puts a fighting stance against me again. She is funny.

"If you continue acting like that you will break my fragile heart..."

"As if I would believe you..."

"Pfft." I chuckle a little before saying "When we go back I will train you."

"...suspicious again. Stranger Danger!"

"Shut up, woman. I'm not a criminal! We are gonna practice Cursed Energy Manipulation and lay the foundation for you to learn Domain techniques."

"Don't those things get taught in the school?"

"Nah, you will need to have some connections to learn advanced techniques. Be glad, that you're my classmate. You have an Innate Technique, so a Domain Expansion should be possible. Let's aim for that." I point at her. And you will also have my cheats... When you become my girl, zeha~ "You want an easy life, right? Become strong then!"

"..." Not convinced, huh

"Do you know that Special Grade Sorcerers receive a salary even if they don't work?"

"Osu!" She salutes me playfully. Eager to learn.

"..." She is the type that is too prideful to say "Thank you for taking your time to teach me, Megumi-sama", so she copes like that.

It reminds me of Maki in the beginning.

Sorcerer girls are prideful, huh? It will make dominating and breaking them much more pleasurable~

I'm not a criminal, by the way.

......

Days later

Jujutsu High School is an interesting place. As much as you would expect that they would at least keep up with the normal subjects of high school, we rarely go to class, more or less once a week. Imagine Gojo teaching math.

Well, we can go to class more, to receive missions or some extra class for one hour or something, but nevertheless, the teaching is very lax. Just enough to fool the Education Ministry.

When you go on a mission you can take days off, and do what you want. Basically, it means that we're free unless we are called by the teachers or the higher-ups.

"But that doesn't mean that you should go out every day..." I say with a judgemental tone at the sneaking away Nobara, a bag under her shoulder.

"What are you? My mom?" She argues back "There's a lot yet to see! Leave me alone, Fuckerguro!"

"Did you forget that we're gonna start training now?"

"I will train with Gojo-sensei when she comes back..."

"Gojo-sensei is carrying the Jujutsu world on her back, do not Count on constant training from her." You're not me, girlie. And not even I receive constant training. "If you don't want to suffer gruesome training sessions from her, let's train a little every day."

"Argh... Okay, okay. Let's go over it." She finally relents

"Good girl~" I say to piss her off. Grabbing her bag, I put it in my inventory and say "We can go together later and I will be your baggage carrier."

"Deal!" So easy... I'm starting to get the hang of how to deal with her. I can tame Nobara.

"It will be a date then." I say while turning around

"Ye- Wait, no!" She finally notices "You can't fool me, Fuckerguro!" You've just been fooled, woman.

You will be bent over and you will not ever notice.

....

"Oy Megumi!" As I and Nobara go search for some empty building to train, I hear Maki's voice.

"Oh, a panda." Nobara comments as we turn around.

As expected, everyone from the second year besides Yuta was there, the man is making some tourism in Africa, because I know he will not find shit.

"Sup'." I greet them, they greet me back

"Is this your new classmate?" Mai looks at Nobara up and down.

"Yep, this is Kugisaki Nobara, the only other first-year student till now." I perform my duties in introducing her

"Kugisaki, these are... Zen'in Maki, my girlfriend..." I start

"...!" Nobara makes that funny wide-eyed face at me.

"...Zen'in Mai, my girlfriend..."

"!!!" This is fun~

"...Inumaki Toge, Cursed Speech user so do not find it weird if he speaks nonsense..."

"Salmon."

"..." Nobara is still staring at my soul

"...and Panda."

"..."

"..."

"...oy, you're skipping some details here." She uses a finger to poke my face.

I give her a look "Ah... Maki is a Cursed Tool user and Mai fabricates them..." At this point, it's kinda an open secret. Maki has too many cursed tools to pass unnoticed, but we are still keeping Mai's full potential hidden.

"It's not that!" She snaps

"Ah, there's another... Yuta was a cool guy, another Special grade, but he is away."

She releases a strangled cry, as I avoid the subject.

She is probably talking about the two girlfriends thing, or Panda, but it's a running joke to never explain it. In the future, she will participate when we introduce him to another person.

.....

"Already planning the Goodwill event?" I ask after all of us sit down to talk "And once again, first-years need to step up... Are we cursed?"

"Yep, and blame our stupid senpai. They got themselves suspended." Maki groans

"It happened during the Night Parade. Hakari and Hoshi had some altercation with the Higher-ups in Kyoto." Panda explains

"Salmon."

"Pfft, I can imagine." I laugh "But do you guys really need us? Like Maki is OP, and with Inumaki in the group battle..." I trail off

"But the individual competition can be problematic." Mai explains

"You're gonna fight?" I ask her, she is a rear guard. Much like Shoko, she doesn't need to go to the battlefield.

"If it is needed I can go to up our numbers." She sounds uninterested.

"..." Hm, in canon it was a 6v6, but now there's no Itadori... But at the same time, Mai is on our side. So we have 6 against 5. "I think it will be a good opportunity for Nobara to gain experience, she needs it."

"Hey!"

"Mai or even myself can stay out of this, you guys decide. I'm fine either way." I say.

Me and Maki together would be straight-up bullying.

I am more interested in the Invasion... If I remember well, Hanami will be the distraction and Mahito will steal Sukuna's fingers and the Cursed Wombs, right?

Either, I'm on the field and I try to Stamp Hanami or I'm out of it and I can go to Stamp Mahito.

This Invasion is important, one of the main reasons I tried to keep things close to canon is for this point. The curses will steal the fingers for me.

"Are you sure?" Maki asks with a smirk growing on her lips "Isn't this an opportunity for you to meet that Todo guy in battle?"

"Zeha~ Please, do you think he would wait for the Event before trying to fight me?"

"..." She pauses and then sighs heavily "I will stay away when he arrives..."

Ah c'mon, he is not that bad. I don't know why you guys hate Todo.

"I feel like I'm not aware of some inner joke." Nobara comments from the side

"And you're happier this way..." Mai sighs too

"...you two seem normal." She looks at Maki and Mai, like to see what's their problem.

Wait... Is she making that signal to ask women if they're in an abusive relationship? She is also pointing her phone screen at them...

"What is this?" I snatch from her " 'Blink twice if he is blackmailing you?'"

"..."

"..."

"...."

"That's it, Maki is training you." I throw her bag back to her and start walking away.

How dare she slander me like that? I'm a humble and good-hearted Apprentice Contractor! I still haven't blackmailed or extorted anyone! I haven't even NTR'd anyone... yet...

Tsk, my feelings are hurt.

"Wait- what happened?" I see Nobara asking around before Maki grabs her shoulder in an iron grip.

"You're in good hands..." Maki says with a menacing smile.

You're fucked.

 ...

- Third Person - 

In a large body of water inside a forest Gojo Satooru stands tall, standing on a decapitated head.

"Awn, Cmon~ A curse capable of speech but doesn't want to talk? What a waste~" Gojo playfully says while applying pressure on the volcanic head with her foot "Spill it. With who do you work, to who or whatever? And what's your objective?"

Jogo is still shell-shocked by the swift defeat at the hand of the Strongest. He had no chance, and the lack of Itadori Yuji made Gojo deal with him a little faster than canon.

"If you're not gonna say anything, maybe I should clean this up already" She comments, her words getting cold 'Megumi can dominate curses, maybe he can do the same with this one... Or is it too high-level? Or too smart?' She ponders her next step

*Swish* But the choice was taken away from her, when suddenly the whole place blooms in a giant garden.

"Oh~ Cute~" Gojo causally smiles while looking at the many flowers surrounding her.

'A mental attack...' Then her face grows serious again, just enough to see another humanoid curse sweep Jogo's head and run away as fast as possible, the Garden's flowers and grass increase in height to hide him.

Gojo raises a hand, ready to attack the two fleeing curses... *Boom* But the ground opens up again and dozens of curses, this time of lower grades, appear to block her line of sight.

"..." She changes her handsign and with a swift motion, eliminates all the curses in seconds.

But the Special Grade ones are nowhere in sight.

"Good at hiding, huh? Maybe they're underground..." She tries to guess, but is useless, there's no way to follow.

She stays on the spot for some time, looking around... A pensive expression on her face, even though her eyes are covered.

....

- ??? -

"*Haah* That's why I told that idiot to not even try!" A female monk scratches her head in annoyance "Now she is suspicious! If I lose the surprise element I swear... Ugh." She appears incredibly annoyed while watching Gojo from a distance.

After some time, she turns around to go away too.

"But these pawns are still necessary... And I bet Jogo will be more obedient after this lesson." She ends up leaving with a small smile on her lips.

...

Some days later

Ijichi Kiyotaka stares at his phone with a complicated expression... He remembers a certain conversation that he had with Fushiguro Megumi some days ago

"Listen here Ijichi-san, if you hear of a case where the bodies of the victims are deformed call me, do you understand? Put me on the case! You are gonna do it, right Ijichi-san? Right? You're not gonna forget, right? No, you're not gonna forget. Hehe~ You're the reliable Ijichi-san. How could you forget, right? I don't know what I would do if you forgot..." He has said these last words in a threatening way.

"Now there are two Gojos..." Ijichi practically whimpers

He also remembers the rest of the conversation... Something about Megumi strolling around the city when he saw someone touch a homeless man and then the poor man deforming before exploding. Megumi guesses that was a curse user, but the perpetrator escaped in some way.

As a matter of pride, Megumi is now determined to deal with this case. He said that "if he did it once, he would do it twice", and told Ijichi to keep him updated.

Well, that is the story Megumi told Ijichi at least.

The Man sighs before pressing the screen of his phone.

*Ding* "Hello, Fushiguro-kun... It happened." He decided to get it over with, even if it became troublesome.

....

 "...apparently they died from brain damage thanks to the rapid changes in the body." Shoko explains over one of the dead bodies.

Ijichi, Megumi, and Nanami are here hearing the explanation in the morgue.

"Did you find any other injury?" Megumi asks while looking at the bodies without a hint of discomfort. "A slash, a hole..."

"No, beyond the lacerations caused by the fast expanding of their skin, and some internal damages, they don't look injured... Only modified." Shoko answers.

Even though Megumi is the youngest, they don't treat him less than any other sorcerer.

"So it's safe to assume that the culprit only needs a touch to cause... this." He says while gesticulating at the corpses, a clever way to give his meta-knowledge and warn the others, without raising suspicion.

"Any clues?" Nanami asks this time

"Two. There are trails of blood and cursed energy leaving the movie theater and a possible witness... Maybe accomplice." Ijichi answers, fumbling with his pockets before finding his phone and showing a picture and a file "A high school student."

In the file reads Yoshino Junpei.

"..." Megumi gives it a glance before speaking "He looks inoffensive, but we can't ignore a clue. That's a good moment to split up, Nanami-san."

"Yes, I will investigate the trail and you go check the student." Nanami says while fixing his glasses

"Alright." This goes according with his plans, so Megumi doesn't object. "This behavior reminds me of something I read once... About serial killers. Our guy appears to be testing his powers, starting small, doing what he can, practicing..."

"So he is a recently awakened Curse User?" Ijichi asks

Megumi shrugs "I believe that it's for the best to leave our minds open to what kind of enemy we will find, what is important is that he appears inexperienced now, but..."

"He will get stronger with time..." Nanami completes "A psychopath with this kind of power is a horrible combination. We need to deal with this fast."

'You have no idea, Nanamin...' Megumi says in his mind "Try not to be touched..." Megumi nods "Let's go, Ijichi-san. Take me to Junpei-kun."

....

"That's him." Ijichi whispers conspiratorially at Megumi while the two watch Junpei leave his school grounds with his head down, bangs covering his eyes.

"And they say I'm an emo... That's an emo!" Megumi jokes

They watch the target move away from the school from inside the car. 'A black car stopping here, nothing suspicious...' Megumi thinks in amusement

"What is the plan?" He asks, already remembering what Ijichi has in mind.

"First, we check if he can see curses with these Fly Heads." Ijichi raises a cage filled with the annoying small curses

"Hm, it appears that will not be necessary..." Megumi hums while watching outside the window, he then sinks into his seat, merging into the shadows

"Hm? Wait- What?" Ijichi panics while looking at him before turning to see Junpei being dragged to an alleyway by some other students who are obviously bullies.

"Wait for me here. If the boy is a curse user, that is where he will use it." It's the last thing Ijichi hears from Megumi before the seat of the car goes back to normal.

In the alley, Megumi watches from the shadows as Junpei is... jumped by three guys.

The emo-like high-schooler appears to be on the receiving end of the bullying, without a way out before something he changes...

His eyes suddenly grow angry like he finally snapped, and he raises his hand in a handsign, close to his hair.

'Well, that's enough... So Mahito changed him before his mother was killed.' Megumi says in his mind before leaving his hiding spot, and going to the entrance of the alley.

Knowing that Junpei is not a really bad person, he will prevent the poor guy from committing a crime and going on a path of no return.

"Oy!" He shouts, attracting the attention of all 4 people in the alley.

"Huuh?! Who is this fucker?" One of the bullies makes a stereotypical delinquent snarl

"He is from another school, but I don't recognize the uniform." Another one says

Megumi walks forward with his hands in his pockets "Didn't you guys know-" he starts before stopping himself "You know what? Why I am even wasting my breath?"

*Bam* He extends his leg, his foot hitting one of the guy's stomachs. The move was slow and appeared to have no power behind it. No swing, no rotation of hips, nothing... But...

*Bleeergh*

The delinquent doubles over and empties the contents of his stomach on the ground.

"You-" It's all the other could say before Megumi's legs shot up, going high in the air in an incredible show of flexibility before going down and hitting the poor guy's shoulder, close to the neck.

Another down, foaming from the mouth... And maybe pissing himself...?

"..." Megumi stares at the last guy enough for him to tremble in fear.

Then he points to the two other guys on the ground and makes a motion to the exit of the alley with his thumb. True to his words, he is not wasting his breath on them.

The meaning is clear too.

'I let you off so that you can carry them away.'

The last delinquent grabs the others and practically drags them out of the alley in a hurry. Not in an optimal way, by the times that the unconscious ones hit the walls and trash cans on their way out.

"..." Megumi doesn't even look back, unafraid of any foul play by the part of the bullies.

He stares at the surprised face of Junpei with an impassive gaze, thinking how to approach this, scheming in his mind... Till he remembers that he is too strong to care.

"Yoshino Junpei" The teen in question perks at hearing his name "We need to talk."

...

Megumi guides Junpei to the same river bank where Yuji talked with him in canon, he passed through it in Ijichi's car before.

'Sometimes there's no need to fight fate...' He thinks... Like he has no hidden intentions.

He sits on the grass and waits for Junpei

"Who are you?" But the other teen doesn't, instead asking warily

"Sit down, Junpei-kun. Don't worry, it doesn't matter what we talk about, I don't plan on doing anything with you." He is truthful in this part.

Despite Ijichi's instructions to precariously arrest Junpei, Megumi is giving the teen a chance.

"..." Megumi stares at him till he sits down too "You know why you're here..."

"Eh...uhm, I'm not sure." Junpei says not even a little convincingly

"..." Megumi says nothing, but the grass around him starts getting dark, like black ink was leaking from his body

"!" Junpei unconsciously moved away a little, when the shadows got too close to comfort

"Then you can see it..." Megumi's voice reaches his ear, and he gasps noticing that he gave the truth away that easily "Then we can get down to business, okay?" Megumi's tone leaves no room for discussion

Junpei can only nod slowly

Megumi turns his face forward to look at the water, trying to not be that intimidating.

"People died, Junpei-kun." He says, making the teen wince a little "And you know who did it..."

"Ho-how do you know that I am not the one that killed them?" Junpei asks, despite with a little stuttering.

"...you don't have the eyes of a killer."

"Eyes of a killer? Are we in an anime or something? What are 'eyes of a killer'?"

Megumi looks at Junpei "Like those." He points at his own eyes.

"..." The intensity once again makes Junpei gulp.

"Once again, I'm not here to do anything with you... So are you going to tell me who did this?"

"And what are you gonna do... to that person?"

"A curse that kills humans should be exorcised." Megumi says plainly

"..." This makes Junpei's face change, like he just ate a lemon.

"..."

The two kept the silence for some time, Megumi not forcing anything.

After some minutes, he eventually says

"So it was indeed a curse... And is your benefactor in some way ." He deduces to the surprise of Junpei.

Of course, he is not deducing anything, but for the conversation to progress, he needs to make it believable.

"You saying nothing is saying enough, Junpei-kun." He speaks casually

"..."

"How much do you know about the world of Jujutsu, Junpei-kun?" Megumi doesn't continue pressing, deciding to change the subject, in some way this talk is useless. Except for one purpose...

"Curses are born from humans' negative emotions, Jujutsu sorcerers exorcise them..."

"The basic, but enough to talk... So, you believe that your benefactor who was born from human's negative emotions is a good person?"

"..." To that, Junpei has no answer.

"Maybe he is a good person to you, right?" Surprisingly it's Megumi who helps him with that. "Unless he is only playing with you, like he played with the other humans..."

"...it's not like that." Junpei denies it, but with a little struggle

"Oh, so you can have a conversation with a curse. This is normally not possible, you know? An intelligent curse..." Megumi suddenly smiles inoffensively "What about introducing us? If we talk maybe we can understand each other..." He keeps his innocent smile on his face, even blinking like a pure child.

"..." Even Junpei can feel that something is off

Megumi laughs "Zehaha, relax. I will not force anything, Junpei-kun. I can understand your point of view... You only saw one side of the coin, so it's not weird that you're on guard against me, the one on the other side. I still believe that you're not a bad person, so I'm going for a soft approach... Let's just talk, you need to see the two sides... And I believe that you will make the right decision eventually."

"...and what if I decide to not be on your side?" Junpei asks, almost challengingly

Megumi shrugs "Junpei-kun... Let me tell you a secret and the reason I'm allowed to have this calm conversation with you..." Megumi looks serious "You are too inexperienced to notice, but...I'm strong." The air shifts

"..." Even the inexperienced Junpei can feel a sense of oppression coming from Megumi, something even scarier than the Human Disaster Curse, a primal understanding that Megumi is a dangerous individual.

He continues more seriously "Whatever you decide I will not be affected... You're being used, Junpei-kun. I know this, and understand your position. I will not force you into submission in anything... Time will prove me right and I also know that I'm strong enough to protect myself, but know that you're putting yourself in danger, you all your loved ones. You don't know what you are getting into, Junpei-kun." He finishes with a serious tone

"..."

But suddenly the oppressive feeling is gone and Megumi smiles "That said, let's talk... What kind of movies do you like?"

"...eh?" The change is so abrupt that short short-circuits Junpei's brain

....

"Pffft Hahahaha!"

"Like, I know that the guy is a worm, but isn't the villager's reaction too exaggerated?!"

Now the two are laughing, while talking about normal things, more specifically the The Human Worm Trilogy.

"But it's a worm, dude!" Junpei exclaims "And that scene is so horrible, how can you laugh." He says even though a laugh is trying to escape between his lips.

"I don't know, I can't take that movie seriously! Pfft! I know that some scenes are emotional, others sad, and others beautiful, but... Zehaha, that worm head spoils EVERYTHING!" Megumi laughs again

"Hahahaha! That's the objective of the movie, the strangeness."

"But man... How can I go 'ownt~, so cute' to when the girl confesses, when there's a fucking close-up in that guy's fucking worm face!?"

"Hahahahaha"

Megumi can't get used to the "eccentricity" of Japanese TV. That's why he still consumes most of western media, with the exception of some anime, mangas, and games. The twins even find him a little strange... "Reverse Otaku" they call him.

"Now, on a little more serious note... The fact that he is a Human Earthworm sometimes is such a big deal and sometimes it feels like it's normal. At some point he is buying things from a grocery store normally and in another the people are pursuing him with torches and pitchforks! C'mon! Give me consistency!" Megumi argues

"That's one of the charms of the movies!" Junpei argues back "How people's view can change based on the circumstances, or when they're influenced by others... None of the villagers cared about the Human Earthworm till the boyfriend that was netorared, goes to put them against him."

"Hm, a valid point..." Megumi concedes "When I think about it, the writers are very smart... They make the movie ridiculous enough to be considered a Joke, but with hidden depth. It's not like Sharknado. They play the two teams."

"Right?! And Sharknado...pfft"

As an average male talk, the discussion is about to jump to another topic, but they're interrupted...

"Oh, Junpei?" They hear a female voice coming from the road above them. "Is this a friend?" A mature woman starts walking down the stairs to meet them, holding a grocery bag in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

Megumi gives the woman a look... And that's it. That's the reason he saved Junpei, that's why he came specially to this river bank. Talking with Junpei is surprisingly nice, but his mother is better.

"Junpei-kun..." Megumi says slowly "You didn't tell me that you have a sister..." He gives the woman an exaggeratedly charming smile "A Younger one, nonetheless." He ever playfully raises an eyebrow at her

"..."

"..."

The woman and Junpei pause to look at him for a moment.

"Hahaha!" Before the woman bursts out laughing "That's an old one, kid." She sighs after the good laugh

"Just because it is old, does not mean it is not good~" He doubles down

"HAHAHAHA!" She laughs even more now

"Dude... That's my mom..." Junpei says in a deadpan

"Relax, I'm just kidding." He is not.

"And mom, you're smoking again." Junpei takes the cigarette from her hand and throws it on the ground, and steps on it.

"Oh, sorry sorry~"

"Yes, Yoshino-san. Please take care of your health and beauty. Yoshino-san(husband) will appreciate it." Megumi says knowing very well that he is stepping into a landmine, but acting clueless

"...well, I'm divorced, so..." Yoshino Nagi says with a casual shrug

"Oh, sorry, I guess..." 'And here I thought he died' Megumi is surprised, this is even better.

"You're good..." She dismisses his worries "Are you Junpei's friend?" The mature woman asks

"Well, I will be happy to be his friend..." Megumi says giving Junpei a look, making the other teen a little overwhelmed by the display of sincerity "But I think he really needs a father figure..." He puts a hand on Junpei's shoulder and gives the other teen a reassuring smile

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"..." Any good feelings that are blooming in Junpei died.