10 Itafushi Oneshots

🥀🥀Last Words🥀🥀

Yuuji was really busy. Megumi was fighting and probably needed help, but right now, Yuuji just had to be preoccupied with the one curse who could essentially destroy any person it touched. Mahito wildly swung its arms laughing with each close swipe.

Megumi was faring better but still having difficulty with Hanami. While Yuuji could tell where Mahito was going to strike from, Megumi had to constantly watch out for vines. They could come from literally anywhere and if he let himself become immobilized he had a few seconds at best. He was also trying to figure out which shikigami would be best to use. They were just as vulnerable to Hanami's attacks as Megumi, and he wasn't in a rush to lose them.

Suddenly, Yuuji saw an opening, and he went for it. A punch to Mahito's ribs (did it even have ribs?) was followed up with an instantaneous burst of cursed energy, a technique that Yuuji was becoming far more familiar with. It caught Mahito off guard, and he was sent stumbling back.

Yuuji had his chance to help Megumi!

When he turned around though, he saw Megumi's feet bound by vines, and a tidal wave of flora about to crash down upon him. It was an avalanche of tree roots and thorns that could crush or impale any normal person. Megumi had his hands raised, so he was calling up a cursed technique!

The wave crashed down on him, the various roots then binding themselves to the earth.

Everything was still for a moment. No one moved, as everyone had simply sensed a change in the atmosphere of the fight. None of them could detect Megumi's cursed energy. Either, he miraculously wasn't where he'd been moments before or...

Something in Yuuji broke. Some floodgate that held back emotions he didn't know he could experience opened. He hated Mahito with all his heart for what it'd done to Junpei. But this... this was something different. It was hatred and despair and sadism.

Something came through the floodgate. The two eyes beneath Yuuji's opened, and tattoo-like markings poured across his skin.

"Oh, just like that, this body's mine, and it wants me to kill?" A new, deeper voice that didn't belong to Yuuji observed. Mahito slowly stood up straight.

"Sukuna, we've been-"

"Who am I to deny it?" Sukuna stated with a shrug.  His hand shot out and grabbed Mahito's face. He crumpled the curse's skull like a flimsy soda can and delivered a punch with his other hand. Mahito looked like the spiders that Yuuji had occasionally stepped on in order to kill them. It was only vaguely recognizable that the body had once been human-adjacent.

"Hmm, that's not enough." Sukuna muttered, turning his attention to Hanami. The curse stepped back. It didn't mean much when Sukuna appeared right next to it. He placed his hand on its chest, and fire exploded. It was for little more than a second that the flames roared. When they faded, Hanami was burnt to being an ashy black coloration. It crumbled apart and fell to the ground.

Sukuna was liking this.

Darkness. That's all Megumi could see. The wave had come upon him, it had been dark, and now it was much darker. He couldn't breathe, but that didn't alarm him. He didn't feel trapped, so he moved, pushing up against the black. He was stopped, it wasn't the oppressive kind of feeling that one would feel being trapped in water under ice, just the simple fact that he couldn't exit there. He needed another location. In the shadow, he started to feel his way around, searching for a way out.

His hand broke through, and it gripped something like bark. It had to be the wave of tree roots that had crashed down on him. He pulled, and he rose, and the light of the world came rushing to him at once.

He had emerged from a shadow. The next thing that hit him was the immensely powerful presence that could have been felt from miles further away. He'd felt it before, albeit much weaker back then.

Sukuna had slipped out, therefore, Yuuji was trapped.

He needed help.

Megumi started running, paying barely any heed to the rubble-strewn battlefield. Then, the curse came in sight, beating Jogo into a pulp. That was fine and all, but Sukuna wouldn't stop with the special grade curses.

He was getting closer and closer. Sukuna was laughing. It wasn't hard to picture him hunkered over someone innocent.

Jogo was exorcized, his cursed energy slipping away. Sukuna and Megumi were left alone.

"Yuuj-" Faster than any eye could have perceived, Sukuna was there, and Megumi's chest was roaring in pain that his mind lagged in processing. Instantly, the edges of his vision became dark, and uncomfortable warmth poured down his chest and soaked his clothes.

Lying in Sukuna's hand was a beating heart. Sukuna's smile was instantly wrenched, and his free hand clutched his head. He shouted in protest, and his voice transformed into something far more youthful and familiar.

Yuuji.

He lunged forward and grabbed Megumi before he could fall backwards to the ground. All strength was gone, everything focused instead on making sure the gaping pain didn't overwhelm his mind.

"M-Megumi!" Yuuji screamed, desperately trying to put the heart back in Megumi's chest. It didn't fit, and it felt uncomfortable and lopsided. Yuuji scooped Megumi into his arms, and his tear filled eyes darted around.

"Help!" He cried, running desperately.

"Yuuji." Megumi called weakly. Yuuji gave no response until Megumi gave his shoulder a squeeze.

"Just let me talk, not much time." Megumi said.

"N-No! You're going to live!" Yuuji declared desperately. Megumi shook his head.

What was he even supposed to say? Nothing he could say in the brief moments he had left could help Yuuji. Soon, he would be back in darkness, but this one wouldn't let him out.

"I'm not, so, just listen, okay?" Megumi requested. Yuuji nodded profusely.

"Can you smile? Your smile's pretty." Megumi said. Yuuji did smile. It was forced, and it was obvious his tears weren't those of joy. It was still pretty.

"I want you to not blame yourself for this, I'm the one who ran in." Yuuji hesitantly nodded.

"I want you to try and see you as I do." Yuuji gulped.

"I want you to know I love you, you made it... worth... it." Megumi struggled, the darkness taking more and more ground. Soon, he'd be unconscious, death would soon follow.

"Kiss." Megumi requested tersely. Yuuji leaned forward, his lips touching Megumi's.

As all vision fell away, Megumi felt warm, soft lips for a few more moments. Then, those fell away too.

The only thing that Yuuji could think as help came was that it should have been him. He was the one with a death countdown. He was the one who didn't have any relatives left. He was the one who was ready.

But no, instead, it was Megumi. He was the one who was growing stronger and handsomer and just a little happier every day. That was cut short.

And worst of all, it was Yuuji who'd done it, who'd ripped his heart out. A few hours after it happened, he washed the blood off his hands. It didn't go away, and it didn't dry either. It probably never would.

Yet, he managed to take care of himself. He looked at himself and the mirror and didn't recoil in disgust or feel anger at the person standing there. He just barely believed that he could make others happy.

Those were Megumi's last words, what he'd decided to say when death was rapidly drawing closer. He could have just cried, he could have asked why Yuuji had done it, he could have asked why Yuuji had failed to hold back Sukuna.

He could have said so many things, but he said that. There wasn't much time for him, but he would follow Megumi's instructions for the rest of his days.

The End