Chapter 9: Proposal and Roppongi

Along with Gojo, Yuji was walking through the school's hallways. "This is the room. You can use it however you like," Gojo said, opening a door. Inside, there was a bed, a desk, and a sliding window with access to a balcony.

"Whoa! It's huge!" Yuji exclaimed happily, seeing how big his room was.

"The second and third-year students are on a mission right now. You'll meet them eventually. Besides, there aren't many of them anyway," Gojo said, looking at a happy Itadori who was putting up a poster of a woman in a bikini on his wall. "Yuji, you don't need to fight, you know? Fushiguro and I can go and retrieve Sukuna's fingers. Why not just wait here?"

"No! I already said I'd do it... Don't make me think twice," Yuji completely rejected, looking at Gojo. "But to be honest, it would be fun to see Fushiguro all bruised up bringing me the fingers while I'm relaxing."

"Hahaha, that's true... Alright. To be honest, there's no way you won't fight," Gojo said happily, to which Yuji got annoyed.

"Ah! Was that a test?"

"If they were easy to find, we would have already found them," Gojo now said in a serious tone. "Some have a strong presence, others are passive, and some have already been consumed by a curse. Regarding the search, it would be a problem, but now we have you," Gojo pointed at Yuji. "In order to gain power, Sukuna will guide you straight to where the other fingers are. You are both a vessel and a radar. We'll need you for the search."

"I don't think the guy inside me is that considerate," Itadori pointed to his stomach.

"Mmmh, no, but the other one might be more understanding," Gojo joked.

"I don't know, depends on what you offer me," Kaede reappeared in the form of a mouth on Yuji's cheek.

Both Yuji and Gojo stopped, looking at the mouth.

"I knew you'd appear, but not so quickly," Gojo spoke, surprised.

"Meh, unlike Sukuna, I get bored easily. So if you incentivize me enough, I can spill some secrets," Kaede finished speaking with a smile.

"And what could we offer someone like you? We don't have much virgin blood here," Gojo teased.

"Tempting, but I'm looking for something more complicated... A body. Unless you want me to usurp this kid's body, give me a body and, let's say, I'll help you a bit in the tough situation you're in," Kaede now said seriously. "Don't answer me now, think about it. After all, I think my offer has an expiration date, hehehe," he finished with a sinister laugh.

Inside Yuji---

Boom.

"Hey, calm down Sukuna, it's not what you think."

"Not what I think? You literally just said you're willing to sell me out for your freedom!" a furious Sukuna roared.

"Come on, buddy, I have a plan. Besides, I know you'll manage," Kaede explained while teleporting to dodge Sukuna's slashes.

"... Whatever. Don't expect me to cooperate or anything," finally, Sukuna calmed down and returned to his almost perpetual seated position.

"Haha, don't worry, I don't need you to do anything because you'll do it anyway," Kaede spoke, this time with a rather sinister tone.

"... Tsk, always acting like you have everything under control," complained the King of Curses.

Back outside---

"Mmh, how interesting... I didn't expect that, though I must admit I'm not surprised either," Gojo expressed about the new situation.

"Hey, what are you guys doing standing there?" Fushiguro joined the conversation upon hearing them talking near his dorm. "Seriously? There are more rooms in the building and it has to be next to mine?"

"Oh! Fushiguro! You finally look better," Yuji greeted his new companion.

"I thought it would be better and more fun this way..." Gojo said to Fushiguro.

"Classes and missions are more than enough. Ugh, what a hassle," the dark-haired boy complained.

"Anyway!" clapped the albino. "More importantly, we're heading out tomorrow."

'No, we're not...' thought Fushiguro with annoyance.

"We're going to find the third first-year student."

'It took me four hours just to get to Morioka. It's time to say goodbye to this place... Soon I'll be in Tokyo,' thought a girl with orange eyes and hair, exiting a train station. "Eh, what would I do if a talent agency scouted me?"

"How can there be only three first-years?" Yuji asked with an ice cream in his mouth.

"Have you met anyone else who can see curses?" Gojo directed that question to Yuji.

"... Nah."

"There's your answer. Sorcerers are a minority."

"But Gojo-sensei said I was the third?" Yuji asked confused, knowing he settled in the school before his companion.

"Apparently, her transfer was decided recently... I guess something came up, as it's not a normal school," Fushiguro explained the reasons for why he was there first.

"Sorry for the wait... Oh, the uniform arrived on time," Gojo said, looking at Yuji.

"Yeah, it fits perfectly... But it's a bit different from Fushiguro's. It includes a hat."

"If you have suggestions, we can change it," Gojo said while taking a sip of juice.

"Huh? But I didn't make any."

"That's because I made some to your liking."

"... I guess it's fine, I like it," Yuji finally accepted the new look his sensei made for him.

"Be careful, Gojo-sensei has that side to him," Fushiguro spoke, recalling dark times. "More importantly, why are we in Harajuku?"

"She said she'd meet us here," Gojo replied.

"Popcorn! I want some!"

"Excuse me, do you have a moment?" A guy in a suit was following a girl. "Would you be interested in modeling?"

"I'm in a hurry," the girl rejected.

"Not even for a quick chat?"

"Hey you..." the orange-haired girl spoke threateningly, grabbing the suited man by the shoulder. "How about me?"

'Eh?!' thought the man in the suit, seeing the girl.

"Don't play dumb, I said how about me for modeling?"

"E-eh, I'm in a hurry right now, let's talk later," the man tried to shake off the girl.

"We'll talk about it now! Hey! Don't run! Say it already!" the girl yelled at the man who was running away from her.

While this was happening, two boys and an adult were watching the scene. They were Fushiguro Megumi, Gojo Satoru, and Itadori Yuji, the latter with 2018-shaped sunglasses, a cream ice cream, and popcorn.

"That's embarrassing," Yuji expressed while eating popcorn.

"Just like you," said an annoyed Fushiguro.

"Hey, you!" Gojo called out to the young girl.

"Uh, here she comes," Yuji warned, about to taste his ice cream, but saw that it was gone. "W-what? Where did it go?"

"Wow, food has improved a lot compared to my time," Kaede said, savoring the vanilla cream ice cream from Yuji's cheek.

"You bastard, I'm gonna hit you!" Itadori threatened the mouth that ate his ice cream.

"Haha, try it. It'll be fun to see you hit yourself," Kaede mocked his vessel.

"Does he have a... mouth on his face?" asked the girl who saw the whole situation as she approached.

"I'm Kugisaki Nobara. I'm the flower of a group of happy boys," introduced the now known Kugisaki.

'How annoying,' Fushiguro thought.

"I'm Itadori Yuji from Sendai," the pink-haired boy introduced himself happily.

"Me, Fushiguro Megumi," he said simply.

"And I, Kazehaya Kaede. Nice to finally meet a woman," Kaede manifested again, introducing himself.

"Whoa! You again? Stop bothering me!" complained an exasperated Itadori, frustrated by Kaede's constant appearances.

'He's not sophisticated at all; he has a talking mouth on his face and probably picks his nose like a kid,' thought Kugisaki, looking at Yuji. 'And he just said his name; I can't stand arrogant guys. He'd probably do something like... set a gasoline-soaked seagull on fire,' she thought, glancing at Megumi. 'And the talking mouth at least showed more interest in meeting me than these two... Though I don't know if that's good or bad,' she finally thought about Kaede, staring at Yuji's cheek, more specifically at the mouth. 'I'm not very lucky with my teammates, huh,' she concluded with a sigh.

'She sighed twice because of me,' thought Yuji.

After a long silence, Gojo finally spoke. "You're quite sociable, Kaede."

"What can I say? Sukuna is about as sociable as a wall. Besides, I wanted to know if you've thought about my offer," Kaede said this time from Yuji's right hand, which was trying to cover his mouth.

"You want an answer so soon? I thought you gave me time," Gojo continued the conversation.

"Just making sure you don't forget, mhmhmh," Kaede finally decided to leave.

"What offer are you talking about, Gojo-sensei?" Fushiguro asked worriedly.

"... Just a deal he proposed," was all Gojo said.

"..." Fushiguro decided not to ask further. "Anyway, are we going somewhere?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"Fufufu, of course. Now that I finally have my three students together and two of them are from out of town, we are definitely going... sightseeing in Tokyo."

""T-Tourism?!" both Itadori and Kugisaki exclaimed happily.

"Huh?" Fushiguro just complained, looking displeased.

"Well, the place we're going to is..." Gojo said to his students, who were now bowing as if Gojo were a king, except for Megumi. "We're going to Roppongi."

The scene shifts to an abandoned building.

"There are curses here, right?" Megumi was the first to speak.

""LIAR!"" the two new students shouted.

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Hey, I'm back. Sorry I didn't release a new chapter, but as you can see, this one is a lot longer than the previous ones. I think I'll start making them like this. Anyway, hope you liked it. See you next time!