a touch | inumaki x reader

thirteen

Addiction

The blade against the cursed spirit let out a cold screech. You needed more. More cursed energy.

Once you felt the rough touch of the white cursed spirit on your hands, it immediately blasted away. More.

The sweat that trickled down your forehead were small beads in the air as you charged relentlessly. Blood that was leaking slowly dried out, your uniform sticky and wet. The cold wind against your face was nothing compared to your head, completely blank.

A root emerged from behind the curse before being sliced off by you.

How annoying.

At the rate you were going, even breathing seemed irritating. The sky above you was no longer blue but dead green, resembling withered leaves.

You aimed a punch at the cursed spirit, desperate for more. Suddenly, you heard a voice behind you.

"Stop!" Inumaki shouted, his faint coughs following after.

Your fist stopped midair, unable to move. In front of your eyes, you saw the cursed spirit aiming its roots at you, similar to the ones that had struck Maki and Fushiguro.

From the corner of your eye, a rapid figure appeared. Itadori.

Slamming his knees against the cursed spirit's face, you noticed Toudou right behind Itadori. As soon as you regained control over your body, your knees felt weak. You fell, the two standing between you and the curse.

Behind you, you heard Fushiguro shout,

"Stop, Itadori! That's not something we can han-"

You whirled around, Fushiguro coughing violently behind you. Another trail of blood dripped down his mouth, his uniform completely drenched. Toudou carried Maki, who was unconscious, approaching you both.

You saw another figure emerge from the trees behind Fushiguro. Your senior. Panda.

"Panda," Toudou called out as Panda walked towards you.

"Yeah?" Panda took Maki from Fushiguro.

"Take these three and leave the veil. According to Nishimiya, this veil is anti-Gojo Satoru so we can come and go without issue," Toudou explained, placing his arms on his waist.

"Wait, even you can't-"

Itadori interrupted Fushiguro, giving him an assuring smile,

"Fushiguro. It's okay."

Fushiguro paused as if he'd realized something. Toudou stated,

"Looks like you've realized it. Nobody's allowed to touch those who've started growing wings, and that's exactly where Itadori's standing right now."

Toudou was right. Something seemed different in Itadori. His eyes glistened with confidence. It was as if he'd stopped relying on Sukuna, and instead his own strength.

"What about Inumaki?" You asked, worry in your tone.

"With Nishimiya," Toudou replied.

Gritting his teeth, Fushiguro scowled behind you,

"If you die again, I'll kill you myself!"

"Alright, let's go," Panda said, leaning down to extend his hand to Fushiguro.

Carrying both Fushiguro and Maki, Panda approached you. You waved him off, stating,

"I can still run."

Standing up, you noticed how heavy your uniform really was. The river's water dripped from your hands as you shook them. The river shimmered, reflecting the dipping sunset at the horizon. The scenery reminded you of something, though you weren't sure what.

Behind you, you heard Fushiguro whisper to Toudou. Stretching your arms, you nodded towards Panda. Soon, both of you had started running into the woods. Even if you still could run, you couldn't handle another fight against the cursed spirit. It was the right decision to leave it with Itadori and Toudou. Packed with brute force, Toudou and Itadori were probably one of the strongest in the school.

The trees and air you ran past felt dry, different from the humid and moist atmosphere in the river.  Glancing up towards the sky, you saw a familiar figure. It was the same person Fushiguro had struck down with his owl-like shikigami.

Is she Nishimiya? Inumaki's safe with her, right? Why did Inumaki stop me...?

You cursed under your breath. Why were you thinking about someone else when your own life was in danger? There were times where your legs would get caught in between bushes. Though you quickly ran past them, small scratches forming on your face as cascading leaves danced with you sprinting.

Running side by side with Panda, you noted that his stamina was admirable. Despite carrying both Maki and Fushiguro, he was still fast. As you wiped off the sweat from your forehead, you could catch sight of the black veil. You were nearly there.

Your head rang from the blood you'd lost but you ignored it. You needed to get out first.

Panting, you saw the principal along with a... butcher? A psychotic butcher. Yeah, that sounded about right. With tanned skin and a muscular build, his eyes were with a dark mask.

Before you and Panda could reach the principal, the black veil surrounding the forest disappeared. The sky above you was azure blue, brighter than the dark green that had previously painted it. The veil was broken.

"Gojo...?" You whispered to yourself as you saw a silhouette.

A man stood in the centre of the sky, presence towering despite being small to the eye. Suddenly, Gojo appeared behind the butcher. Gojo's tone was different than usual, his light-hearted tone missing,

"You."

As if without any rationalizing thoughts, the butcher charged towards Gojo. His apron fluttered with him as he swung his butcher knife.

"Don't kill him!" You heard the principal shout as Gojo's lips curled into a smirk.

Your gasp was silent, stepping back when you saw what your teacher had done. The butcher's limbs burst, replaced with rivers of blood. An ocean of blood.

As if blasted away, the dismembered butcher was flung back, crashing into a statue-like pillar. You couldn't help but cringe at the sight.

Holy.