Chapter Text
Black, everything was black. Why couldn't he see anything? Why couldn't he move? Oh, right.
The Prison Realm
Satoru didn't know how he had been stupid enough to fall for such a cheap trick, he was the Strongest! He could have prevented that stupid thing from trapping him, he knew that much. But… but the monster who did it, he- it- whatever it was, had played dirty.
How could have he imagined that Suguru's face, out of anyone's, was what he was going to see? His best friend, or well, the man who had once been his best friend. A man Satoru had had to kill himself, was in front of him, once again. Satoru was paralyzed, he knew there had to be some kind of trick, Geto Suguru was dead.
Then how was he there? Satoru didn't know, but then he noticed it, the stitches. That wasn't his Suguru, it was an imposter. But how could that monster do that? It even used the same cursed technique Suguru had, spoke like Suguru, everything. What he did know was that he had failed, and this thing had captured him, maybe forever.
Satoru felt something he wasn't used to feel, weakness. How could he, the Strongest, be tricked this easily? What would the others do without him? Because okay, Satoru was arrogant, he was aware of that. But objectively speaking, there wasn't any sorcerer out there who could match his skills apart from Suguru, who was supposed to be dead. Nanamin was strong, yes, but his strength wasn't enough for this group of monsters. And what about his students? They were also strong, but they were so young… Satoru didn't consider himself to be a softie or anything, but he couldn't deny that he had grown fond of his three brats, and was genuinely concerned about their safety.
Yuuji had been dragged into the jujutsu world partly because of him. If he had arrived to the boy's school earlier, he could have aided Megumi and avoided Yuuji the need of eating one of Sukuna's fingers, and he could have continued living an ordinary life. Although Yuuji seemed happy where he was, and Megumi was a bit less grumpy since the pink-haired boy entered their lives, Satoru had even seen the boy smile once or twice a day.
Megumi… well, Satoru didn't know how to feel about him, this death experience certainly was making him reflect, huh? Megumi was, in a way, like a son to him. Legally Satoru was his guardian, so he supposed it made sense. He wished he would have been more present when he decided to take care of the boy, instead of simply supporting him by sending him money and food. But then again, Satoru was a teenager when Toji kicked his ass and announced he had a kid in the verge of death, so he wasn't really prepared to raise a child. But maybe Fushiguro would be less emotionally constipated if Satoru had really been there for him.
And then there was Nobara, the only female first year. Nobara was the best shopping partner Satoru had ever found, she wasn't afraid or shy about spending his never-ending fortune (courtesy of the Gojo clan) and didn't think twice before asking her sensei to borrow his credit card. She was a funny girl, always there to put the boys in their place, even if she was kinda scary sometimes. Kugisaki sometimes remembered him a lot of a younger Shoko, the hair, the personality… Satoru knew she was strong, but… Could she be strong enough to survive this?
Satoru was worried, extremely so. He wanted to move, to scream, to just do something. But he was literally trapped, this thing felt hopeless, cold, empty… He was strong, both mentally and physically, but even a mind like his would probably fall in despair in such a place. How had that maniac called this stupid cube before trapping him? Prison Realm? Satoru had heard of it before, rumors about an artifact strong enough to contain the Six-Eyes. But that was all Satoru knew of, rumors. Who would have thought one of the only few things in this world that could hurt him was in hands of such a psycho. Well, he could say the same about Toji and that freaky spear.
That was that, then, not dead but not alive either. Satoru knew it was a selfish thought, but he wished he would have been killed instead, preferring death over this hopeless sensation, knowing he had the power to help save the world, that he was the most important variable, but that he wasn't being allowed to do shit, if he was dead, at least it would be peaceful. Was that was Suguru was after all those years ago? Peace? The curse user hadn't shown much resistance or regret when he knew he was going to die, he had looked… Calm, accepting. Satoru cursed himself once more, how had he been so blind? So full of himself not to notice how his literal best friend's mental health declined more and more each day? Could Satoru have prevented all this shit from happening?
Guess he'll never know.
But suddenly his vision started to become blurry, and darkness wasn't all he could see anymore. It was… bright, too bright. Had he died? How? When? Had he already been dead as soon as the Prison Realm swallowed him?
But then he started hearing voices, did Heaven really exist? Or was he going to see his entire life flash before his eyes before kicking the bucket? That didn't sound fun.
"I think he's in shock." A young female voice could be heard, accompanied by another that belonged to a grown man "I don't know what happened, sensei. It's like he healed himself with RCT, but I don't know why he's not awake then."
Trying to listen for anything familiar, was that… Shoko? Okay, Satoru was hallucinating, there couldn't be any other explanation as to why was he hearing his friend's voice without the strain of years being addicted to tobacco. He tried opening his eyes, the light immediately making him regret that decision, why couldn't he have his blindfold to visualize his final moment's movie? Truly, what a non-empathetic God.
"Satoru? Are you awake?" Oops, that Shoko look alike had noticed him, Satoru didn't want to be perceived right now "Don't fake sleep, asshole, you worried us all. Come on."
"Hey! Don't pinch me!" Satoru whined as he felt that familiar poke on his cheek Shoko used to torture him back in their school days "You're a weird angel, you know. I thought I'd be treated better in Heaven. But apparently even your hallucinations are cruel to me."
"What the fuck are you babbling about, Satoru? Did you hit your head? Wait, you did-
"Shoko, language." And that was- "Sorry, Yaga-Sensei. But this guy always gets on my last nerve."
Yaga-Sensei? Was Satoru hallucinating his high school era? It had probably been the happiest he ever felt so, it made sense. But then, how was he interacting with them? He certainly didn't remember having this conversation.
Suddenly the bed next to his moved as if it was alive, and as Satoru opened his eyes, he didn't know if he was in a dream or a nightmare anymore.
"Is he awake now? Oh god, Satoru. I thought-
"Suguru, go back to bed. You need your rest too." Shoko clicked her tongue, annoyed as he tried to push her much muscular and taller friend to his bed "He's alive, now go."
"Su-Suguru?" Satoru's voice was small, but it was enough to call everyone's attention "You're alive." He took a deep breath before taking a look at Geto's forehead, no stitches, that was good and all but… "You're alive?"
"I could ask you the same question." Suguru rolled his eyes, black circles under his eyes, but still not as prominent as when he- "But yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit… wounded."
"Wounded can't even describe it, idiot. You have a permanent X all over your body now." Shoko scolded, concern and worry hidden under her deadpan expression.
An X… That was the scar Toji had left on Suguru's chest after he-
"Is Amanai-
"She's alive." Yaga answered then, sitting next to Satoru's bed on a chair "The shot missed her brain for millimeters, she'll be fine with some time to rest and recover. But her caregiver, Kuroi was it? Yeah, she didn't make it."
"When Toji shot, it was headed perfectly to kill. But…" Suguru started explaining, his brows furrowing, oh how Satoru had missed that expression "I don't know what happened, but it was like a bomb of cursed energy exploded where you and Toji were left to fight. It was so strong it even made that man fail his shoot, then he told me you were dead and warned me not to get in the way as he killed Amanai or I'd end up like you." He took a deep breath, being reassured by Shoko's grounding hand on his arm "I-I saw red, I was scared but even more furious, and I fought him with all my strength until I was on the verge of death. Amanai would have been killed if not for Yaga and the first years arriving at the last minute."
Satoru was sure that "cursed energy bomb" had been him, but how, and why? Had he time traveled? No, but time-travel didn't exist, did it?
But everything looked so real. Shoko, Yaga, Suguru… and this mission, it made sense, in a crazy way. During the time he spent living at the Gojo clan, he read the entire library and more, it wasn't as if he was allowed to do much else apart from that and training. There was more than a couple of books he read about the topic of time and space, both of them being related to his techniques. Some of the books discussed timelines, alternative dimensions, the butterfly effect, time travel... At the moment, Satoru classified that entire section of the library as pure and absolute bullshit. But… here he was now, in a younger body, a familiar environment
Had he time traveled 11 years in the past?
Before Satoru had any time to think about how insane everything was, Suguru had gotten closer to him, taking one of his hands into his own "Don't you fucking do that again, you hear me?" Satoru chuckled, he didn't know if it was tiredness, happiness, or whatever. But hearing the always-polite Suguru curse never stopped being funny for him "Gojo Satoru, I'm serious. Promise me, or I swear I'll kill you myself-
Someone cleared his voice then, before a young voice, younger than theirs, spoke "Gojo-san, Geto-san… T-thank you for- s-saving me." Amanai Riko said in a wobbly, cracking voice. Before she broke and started crying while running towards Satoru's bed, kneeling next to him and crying over his bed. Satoru felt weird, a bit nauseous too. After all, the last time he had seen this girl was when he had carried her cold, dead body while a bunch of maniacs clapped over the death of a child. He remembers almost killing everyone in that room, but Suguru had stopped him. Hah, what a hypocrite. "This is all my fault, if I hadn't been stubborn and had agreed to come back here as soon as you found me you wouldn't- Kuroi-" She was hyperventilating now, stumbling over her words.
"Kid, you were about to be offered as human sacrifice." Shoko said, direct as always "I would have been even more difficult."
"No doubts about that." Yaga sighed, he sounded tired "Look, we should be grateful everyone in this room is alive. I'm not happy with the outcome either, Kuroi was innocent. But so were all of you, you hear me? It was a mistake to assign this mission to both of you. Satoru, Suguru, you did well, and I apologize. I'll talk to the higher-ups about this."
Satoru kinda remembers this, in a way. How Yaga's expression turned guilty for weeks after the Star Plasma Vessel mission, feeling responsible. It was always a surprise to hear the man apologize, but after being a teacher himself, Satoru knew the feeling.
"Yaga-sensei is right, we're alive." Suguru nods, Satoru wondered then if he could, in this timeline, prevent Suguru from leaving. Amanai's death had probably been the beginning of his best friend's quick descend into madness, now that she was alive… Could that change anything? "I'm sorry for your loss, Riko-chan. We'll give Kuroi-san a proper burial."
Riko sniffed, trying to wipe the tears off her face with little to zero success "Thank you, she… She deserves it."
"Where will she go now?" Satoru decided to speak, tired of being a mere observer. If he really was in an alternative timeline, if the universe had been merciful enough to allow him a second chance… He'd make the best of it "Kuroi was her only caregiver, and Toji and company may still be after her."
"The bounty isn't active anymore, I don't think Amanai is in any real danger now." Yaga said "Toji probably got some money due to simply prevent the assimilation of the vessel, so I don't think even he has any reason to attack now."
"But what Satoru said it's true…" Satoru smiled, feeling warm inside as Riko used his first name once again "I don't have anyone else who can take care of me now, I think I'm independent enough to take care of myself. But I'm only 14 so-
"Yeah, fair enough." Yaga sighed for what apparently was the tenth time of the day "You have a bit of cursed energy, and you can see cursed spirits. Would you be okay with moving here permanently? You can attend classes with the first years, even if you won't go on missions. At least until everything is more settled and we can decide what to do. But there's no place safer than within Tengen's barriers."
Amanai looked a bit nervous at that, fidgeting with her fingers "But are you sure Tengen-sama wouldn't mind?"
"No, they respect your choice as a free individual. The assimilation is a voluntary process, not even them would force a child into it. We've already discussed it, Amanai-san, you can be sure."
The teenager's expression softened, a little smile on her face "Thank you very much, I'll make sure not to be a bother for any of you."
"You sure about that?" Satoru smirked teasingly, sitting up in bed while ignoring Shoko's angry instructions and Suguru's panicked fussing "I remember you being quite the spoiled little princess, Riko-chan. Begging, kicking and screaming because you wanted another ice cream after already having had two-
"I thought I was going to dissapear! Can you blame a girl for wanting to enjoy some desserts before such an event?" Riko was flushing red, playfully shoving Satoru's non-hurt shoulder.
"I suppose I can't, sweet things are the best." Satoru agreed with a too-serious nod of his head.
"Great, we didn't have enough with one sweet addict that now we have two." Shoko joked, at what Suguru gave her a pointed look "You act as if you don't always have a lollipop in your mouth- ow! Don't hit me, I'm hurt!"
"Children." Yaga muttered, shaking his head. But unable to hide the fondness behind his words "Satoru, about the cursed energy thing Suguru mentioned… Would you happen to know anything about that?"
The playful grin of Satoru's face disappeared, how in the world was he going to explain that he was technically from another world? He didn't want to be looked at as if he was insane, more than usual at that, people already saw him as a lab experiment. "Well?" Yaga tried again when Satoru remained silent.
"Uh… I'm not sure? Maybe it has anything to do with me learning how to use Reverse Cursed Technique?" Hopefully that excuse would satisfy his teacher and classmates. "I don't even know how I did it… I mean I'm sure Toji did kill me, he didn't lie about that. But somehow I kinda revived?"
"So he did kill you after all." Suguru gulped, looking sheepish. Satoru was about to speak when- "I'm so sorry, Satoru. It's my fault, I shouldn't have left you alone. I'm so sorry-
"Hey, none of that. I'm all good, aren't I? And I'm stronger than before!" He chirped, playfully ruffling Suguru's hair (something he had also missed a lot) "Don't overthink it, dude. I'm fine."
"Right…" Suguru mumbled, not sounding too convinced.
"Well, I'll leave you youngsters to rest, then." Yaga got up from the chair "Shoko, please make sure these two idiots behave, and take care of Amanai."
"Yes, sensei." Shoko nodded, Yaga took that as a sign to leave. "And you, miss, are also going to bed." Shoko's voice softened, helping the sleepy and tired Amanai Riko to her bed, where she would finally get the rest she needed.
The rest of the day passed without problems, Satoru talked with his friends, and had a really nice evening. The alien feeling telling him that he didn't belong here was still there, but the relief of seeing everyone he loved alive and well overcame that awful sensation.
Night fell, and Shoko retired to one of the infirmary's bed so she could tend to the wounded if they so needed, she was really a good doctor, even this young. Suguru had dozed off in Satoru's bed, not that he minded, the two of them used to share a bed all the time when they were young. Well, they were young now, it was kinda weird to be back in your 16 year old body, Satoru hadn't gotten used to it. After thinking some good hours about the timeline he left behind, his students, Nanamin, everyone, tiredness came over him and made him fall asleep, wondering about what tomorrow would bring.
"Yuuji, you're going to be late for school. What the hell are you doing in the bathroom? Do you need help?"
Yuuji did need help, because, what? He had been fighting Mahito 5 minutes ago, full of rage after seeing… seeing what he did to Nanamin. Why in the world was he in his childhood house now? With his grandpa alive? And looking like a toddler?
"I-I'm fine, grandpa!" Yuuji yelled, trying not to panic. Had he died? He remembers something, an explosion after… after Gojo sensei was sealed. Everything had turned dark for a second, then blurry, and then here he was.
He came out of the bathroom five minutes later, backpack on. He didn't remember ever being this small, also-
He had looked at his face earlier in the mirror, no Sukuna scars, and apparently, no Sukuna in his head either. But his cursed energy hadn't dissapeared, he felt it coursing trough his body, and he could also see the little cursed spirits around the house when he and his grandpa left for school.
He felt like crying, truly. Maybe he could, after all it wasn't weird for a four year old to cry because he didn't want to go to school. But Yuuji had never cried because of that, so maybe it would be weird, and it would scare his grandpa.
After arriving at the train station, Itadori Wasuke went to his own train to go to work, and Yuuji didn't know what to do. Go to school? Pinch his skin until he woke up from this weird dream? But then he felt it, far away.
Fushiguro Megumi's cursed energy.
So Yuuji wasn't dreaming, cool, maybe? And Fushiguro was here too, the version of their original world, dimension, whatever was going on. Yuuji let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and felt much better than seconds ago. He then made sure to let some of his cursed energy loose, which got him the reaction he wanted, as Megumi answered with a wave of his own cursed energy.
And then, another source of cursed energy popped in. Maybe it was a curse attracted to his power? No, but it also felt familiar, that was…
Kugisaki Nobara!
Yuuji felt again like crying, but this time because of absolute relief. The only problem now was that the three of them were far away from Tokyo, the place when they had originally met, and where they probably should go to try and get some answers. Mobile phones weren't a thing yet, if this was what it seemed it was, a time regression. And even if it wasn't, a four year old normally wouldn't have a phone, Yuuji at least did not.
Panic filled his body again, when suddenly-
"Itadori-kun! What are you doing in 2006, huh? Feeling like being vintage?"
Okay, now Yuuji was definitely crying, as he threw himself to embrace Gojo Satoru's legs "Gojo-sensei! You're here!"
"Well of course I am! I couldn't leave you all alone here, now can I?" He winked under his sunglasses, huh, weird, Yuuji had always seen him with his blindfold on "That would be something just an irresponsible teacher would do!"
"I never thought I'd miss your stupidity, sensei…" Yuuji sniffled
"Excuse me?"
Yuuji flushed furiously, had he seriously said that out loud?! "Nothing! I'm happy you're here, sensei. Fushiguro and Kugisaki are also around, I wanted to go to them, but I don't have a phone and I look like a baby and grandpa is alive and-
"Hold your horses, Itadori-kun. And breathe." Gojo chuckled, patting Yuuji on the head "I warped here as soon as I felt your energy, I was going to go see Megumi but I didn't want to risk finding Toji there-
"Sensei, could you even warp at this age?"
"Oh." Gojo blinked, as if he hadn't given a single second of thought to that fact, which probably was the truth "Nah I couldn't, obviously. I was still getting the hang of it, but it's fine, as long as I go back to Jujutsu High soon." He cleared his throat and clapped his hands "Anywaaaaay, back to business. Yuuji-kun, we have time-traveled."
"We what."
"Time traveled!" Gojo repeated "I don't know how, or why. I thought I was dead and I was hallucinating or something before my brain completely shat down."
"Sensei-
"Shh, let me finish." Gojo interrupted, his tone going uncharacteristically serious "This is absolute nuts, I'm aware. But I know what period of time we are in, some events that happened in our original timeline have already changed." He sighed "Itadori-kun, if what the books my ancestors kept say the truth, we can't go back. But what we can do is change this world, so… so what happened before doesn't happen again."
Yuuji nodded, trying to follow. Had they really time-traveled? His mind was a mess, but… but Gojo-sensei never lied. He was the adult Itadori probably trusted the most, the man who had convinced the higher-ups not to execute him. Even if it was technically simply a delay of said execution, Yuuji knew his teacher didn't plan of letting him die.
To be honest, Yuuji wasn't sure he would even consider the possibility of going back, after all the death and destruction… Gojo-sensei was sealed, Nanamin killed, Kugisaki- No, he didn't want to go back. Maybe it was a selfish thought, the innocent people from that world deserved to be saved and protected, but who would protect Yuuji?
"Okay, so… What do we do now, sensei?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure." Gojo shrugged "We should reunite with Megumi-kun and Kugisaki, but we have to keep in mind that it would be weird for a bunch of children to suddenly start following me around. I don't want to be a kidnapper at the eyes of everyone else."
"Yeah, grandpa would also worry if I disappeared. And Kugisaki has a family too." Yuuji mumbled
"Don't worry, we'll figure it out!" Gojo did a thumbs up "Let's go see your classmates and brainstorm!" Yuuji felt his arm being grabbed "Wait, sensei-
Aaand they warped right in front of the Fushiguro's house, automatically faced by an adorable but grouchy looking Megumi.
"What if my father had been here? You would be dead right now, Gojo-sensei." He scolded, his little arms crossed over his chest. Honestly, cute.
"That's the first thing you have to say to me, Megumi-chan? Rude…" Satoru pouted, with Yuuji by his side trying not to be sick. It had been quite a while since he had teleported anyone else apart from himself, after all. But the boy recovered quickly, and run towards Megumi, crushing him with a hug "Fushiguro, I'm so glad you're alive, and here…" Satoru noticed the kid was about to cry again, which honestly, fair.
Megumi responded to the hug with an awkward pat on Yuuji's back "Yeah… I am too." He then lifted his face to look at his teacher "Gojo-sensei, what happened? What's going on?"
Satoru tried to explain the time travel thing as best as he could, trying not to leave any detail behind. Megumi was a smart guy, he could help him plan the best way of handling the situation "Okay, I think I get it… So we're going to see Nobara now?"
"That's the plan, yeah." Satoru nodded, looking at the watch he had stolen from Suguru before warping to Yuuji "Have you seen your father?"
Megumi nodded, Satoru could feel a shiver going down his spine, but tried to hide it as best as he could to remain calm "He said something about an annoyingly stupid job that caused him a headache, but that he still got some money from it. Bough me and Tsumiki some food and then left again to do who knows what."
"Yeah, I think I caused him that headache." Satoru chuckled "Anyway, it's good he's not here and that he's a bad enough father so I can steal you for a while. Is your sister home?"
Megumi shook his head "No, she's at school. I told her I felt sick and was going to stay home. She won't come back until 5 pm."
"Alright, we can work with that. Itadori-kun, when do you have to be back from school?"
"At like 5 pm as well, the school provided us with lunch, and then we had nap time and some time to play too." Yuuji explained, his and Megumi's arms already being grabbed "Sensei! I'm going to vomit-
This time they landed at a park, Nobara had been smart, and moved away from her house and school as soon as she had a hint of what her teacher and friends were doing.
"Okay, what the fuck?" Were her first words, she really was a mini Shoko in the making
Satoru felt like a broken radio explaining, once again, that they all had somehow time traveled. And that they were probably the only ones from their original world that had done so.
"I can't go to Tokyo right now, my parents would die of worry." Nobara tsked "And this body is such an inconvenience, I have to wear toddler clothes, can you believe that?!"
"I think there are more important things to worry about now than fashion, Kugisaki- hey! don't hit me!"
Yup, Shoko reincarnated indeed.
"Look, I'm still not sure about how we're going to do this… But I have an idea." Satoru started "I can try convincing Yaga-sensei, yes guys, sensei. He's not the principal yet. To create like a school for sorcerer children, so they can be in an environment that understands them since they're little. Of course, that would include the families to know about sorcery so… I don't know how I'll do it, but I think it's the best I can come up with at the moment."
"Hm, not your worst idea." Megumi nodded, ignoring Satoru's pout at the implications of that sentence "It could work. After all, it's a well-known fact that sorcerer children grow up isolated, and that can cause multiple problems in a kid's development."
"Yeah… I grew up without knowing a thing about sorcery. But I can imagine how scared a child can if they can see scary stuff no one else can." Yuuji added "I agree, thankfully my grandma is also a sorcerer, so she'll probably agree to Gojo-sensei's idea." Nobara said.
"Well, glad my brain is still working!" Satoru said happily "Time for everyone to go home, take care, and we'll talk more tomorrow." Waving goodbye to Nobara, Satoru warped Yuuji and Megumi to their respective houses, then he went back to Jujutsu High by train, kinda exhausted after all that teleporting.
It was still early, so thankfully, his absence wasn't really noticed. Satoru was going up the stairs when-
"Satoru." Shit, super shit. "Hey, Suguru! Good morni-
"Where were you?"
Oh, fuck.