.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

❝ you have to find that place that brings out the human in you, the soul in you, the love in you ❞

[ Those fly head things were ugly cute tbh, I'd totally want one as a pet ]

┏━━━°⌜ 憑拠 ⌟°━━━┓
CHAPTER 15
Family

Itadori holds his phone to his ear, waiting as he taps his foot on the ground impatiently only to sigh in annoyance moments later, "Nope, Ijichi-san's not answering."

Y/N looks up from her spot on the stairs next to Yoshino, momentarily ignoring the small curse that was chewing on her fingers like a small animal would.

"Should I really be the one to ask this?" Itadori mumbles to himself, glancing towards Yoshino skeptically. Is it really okay to just ask him straight-up about that, though? How much am I allowed to reveal about Jujutsu High, anyway?

Y/N stares at Itadori with concern before looking back at the fly head in her lap, it taking notice of her as it looks back up curiously. Y/N can't help but give a small smile to the mini curse, petting it's head as it goes back to chewing on her fingers.

"Just answer!" Itadori huffs before looking away annoyed, "I wonder what's going on."

Yoshino observes Itadori, specifically, his button, as he thinks back to an earlier encounter.

"A button with a swirl?" Yoshino asked as he looked at Mahito with confusion.

"Yup." Mahito held up the button, tilting it back and forth, "If you meet a student wearing this button with a swirl, you should be friendly to them."

"Because they're jujutsu sorcerers." Mahito's eyes flicked towards Yoshino as he grinned, "I'm sure you'll get along with them."

Yoshino holds a hand to his chin with confused worry, But the jujutsu sorcerers are Mahito's enemies, right?

"Forget it! I'm just going to ask!" Itadori suddenly exclaims in frustration, startling both of the people on the stairs.

"Listen, there were people who died at the theater you went to the other day." Itadori informs bluntly, "Did you happen to see anything?"

"Itadori..." Y/N sighs but walks over to stand next to Itadori, also looking at Yoshino, "You could've said it more carefully."

"I don't think most humans like the idea of death." Y/N adds, but her tone seemed more curious than before; more uncertain.

"A creepy thing like this, maybe?" Itadori gestures towards the fly head which was now resting on Y/N's shoulder, munching on her hair.

"Or more human-looking like me." Y/N points towards herself, one hand raised to pet the fly head on her shoulder.

"No, I didn't." Yoshino denies, "I've only recently started seeing those clearly."

"I see." Itadori sighs before walking back towards Yoshino, "Well, I've got nothing else to ask, then!"

"Huh? That's it?" Yoshino looks up at the two surprised.

"But could you wait until my... I guess he's like my boss... shows up?" Itadori requests, sitting down next to Yoshino, who backs away slightly.

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks!"

Y/N rests the fly head back in her lap, watching as it snuggles up against the pink flowers on the top of her skirt, as though it were trying to bury itself in them.

Cute. Y/N raises her hand to pat its head lightly.

"Hey, what were you watching at that theater?" Itadori strikes up conversation.

"It was a repeat screening of an old movie. I doubt you'd know it if I told you." Yoshino answers.

"Come on, just tell me!" Itadori urges with a bright grin.

"...Human Earthworm Three."

"That one was super boring!" Itadori criticizes, "I got hit so many times over that."

"You got hit?" Yoshino frowns at Itadori before agreeing, "Honestly, it was. But it's just a splatter film, so maybe it's our own fault for asking it to deliver more than that. But two was—"

"But two was pretty good, right?" Itadori perks up as Yoshino look at him with surprise before excitedly agreeing.

"Yeah! Yeah, it was! It was the only one with a way you could enjoy it!"

"Have you seen the entire series?"

The two continue on and on, not noticing as Y/N stiffens, E/C eyes darting up towards the bridge above them as her eyes land on a hooded figure.

Her eyes narrow, trying to see what the person looked like, only managing to see some sort of line across their forehead and black hair from the distance.

Wait— stitches? Y/N realizes, making out the lines across her forehead as she feels herself pause in recognition. Stitches... That's like...

Y/N feels a chill as the person looks at her, seeing them grin in amusement and mumble something inaudible before walking off.

"—At first, two looks like it wouldn't be any different from one or three. But it actually captures the changing emotions of the perfectionist who abandons everything." Itadori continues to rant with an excited grin.

"Ah, so that's why I was able to watch two." Yoshino looks away with an almost sad smile, "At first, I couldn't understand what was good about it, so I made myself watch it three times. It had the most effective gorey scenes, too, so it wasn't easy to rewatch."

"Why'd you go that far?" Itadori asks in disbelief.

"Do you like movies, Itadori?" Yoshino inquires.

"I've been watching a lot of them lately, for certain reasons. Though I haven't been seeing them in theaters." Itadori admits.

"What?" Yoshino reels back in shock, "But the emotional impact of finding a good one at the theater is huge. Even if on-demand is more convenient."

"When was the last time I saw one in theater?" Itadori looks up at the orange-hued sky before turning towards Yoshino, "Take me with you next time there's one you're into."

"Huh?" Yoshino looks at Itadori wide-eyed.

"Oh, need my contact info?" Itadori digs through his pockets before handing his phone to Yoshino. "How do I add friends again?"

"Oh, Junpei?" A female voice calls as the three look up, eyes landing on a woman with short black hair.

"Mom?" Junpei recognizes.

"It's unusual to see you out here. Is this a friend?" The woman looks at Itadori with a smile.

"We just met, actually." Yoshino explains as Itadori waves at the woman in greeting.

"We may have just met, but I think we can be friends." Itadori adds.

"Really?" The woman holds a cigarette to her lips, "I hope you get along well, then."

"Mom!" Yoshino snaps, visibly becoming upset, "I asked you to quit smoking."

"Oh, right, sorry." The woman puts out the cigarette, "I did promise not to smoke in front of you anymore."

The woman walks down towards them, "What's your new friends name?"

Itadori stands up, waving enthusiastically at the woman, "Itadori Yuuji." Itadori suddenly points towards her bag, "The green onion doesn't suit your look."

"Oh, you can tell? I'm trying to be a woman who doesn't look good with green onions." The woman grins.

...Huh? Y/N tilts her head in confusion, also standing up as she lifts the now asleep fly head onto her shoulder as though it would be the normal thing to do.

"What are you even talking about?" Yoshino questions with an annoyed look at his mom.

"So, Itadori, care to join us for dinner?" The woman inquires with a polite smile.

"H-Hey! You're just bothering him!" Yoshino interrupts, embarrassed by her behavior towards his new friend.

"Huh? Are you saying my cooking is a nuisance?" The woman's eye twitches.

The two suddenly stop as Itadori's stomach starts to rumble.

━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━

Y/N sits on the couch, watching the three sit at the table and chat, half-listening to the stories Yuuji's telling.

"—So then Taakshi says, full of confidence: 'This is the larva of an invasive species! It might be poisonous! Nobody touch it!' So then I tired picking it up, and it turned out to be a konjac noodle from lunch!" Itadori finishes his story as Yoshino's mom bursts out laughing.

"Wait, konjac? It was a konjac noodle?!" Yoshino's mom waves her hand up and down, not even attempting to quiet her boisterous laughter.

"Mom, you've had too much to drink." Yoshino deadpans, only to be ignored by the other two at the table.

"You're funny, Itadori. Here, do something funny with these!" Yoshino's mom hands Itadori a pot lid.

Y/N can't help but laugh quietly at some of the jokes Itadori makes, watching the three finish up the dinner until Yoshino's mom passed out against the table.

"Your mom's really nice." Itadori points out with a smile.

"Yeah." Yoshino nods in agreement, smiling to himself before looking up at Itadori, "What's your mom like?"

"Uh, I've never met her." Itadori looks odd to the side in thought, "Though I have a few faint memories of my father..."

"But my grandpa was there for me." Itadori's smile turns fond before he suddenly looks at Y/N, who had been cuddling with the fly head, holding it securely in her arms.

"What about you, Y/N?" Itadori asks as Y/N startles, looking up at him surprised.

"Huh? My family?" Y/N asks and gets a positive nod in reply, "...I don't remember. I mean— a few faint memories here and there, but..."

Y/N sighs, looking down at the small curse in her hold, "I don't remember much from when I was human."

"Though, I don't mind." Y/N smiles to herself before looking back at Itadori, "Life has undoubtedly been better since I became a curse."

"Funnily enough, the closest thing I have to family would probably be Sukuna." Y/N doesn't mention Uraume, unsure if they're alive or dead. On the chance that they're still alive, she doesn't want the sorcerers to become aware of them.

Yuuji blinks at her, voice not judgmental, just complete confusion, "Really? Him?"

"I know it probably sounds dumb from your perspective, but... back then..." Y/N trails off, stopping herself from saying more as she looks down at the small curse in her lap, refocusing her attention on it to avoid continuing the conversation.

Luck seems to be on her side since before Itadori could say anything further, his phone starts ringing. "Oh, sorry. Got a call." Itadori turns away, bringing the phone to his ear.

"Hello, Ijichi-san?"

...

"Yeah, I'm fine."

...

"But we're about to watch a movie."

...

"Okay. Two hours from now then." Itadori hang up, cutting off the man's next words that were likely disapproval.

"Seriously?" Y/N walks over to Itadori, the small curse still held in her hand as she stands infront of him.

"Seriously." Itadori nods, grinning at Y/N before looking down at the curse in her hands, "Are you gonna keep that?"

"...Maybe. It's kind of cute." Y/N admits, waving her finger infront of its face as it nips at it.

Itadori simply gives the two an unimpressed look, making Y/N roll her eyes with a small smile.

"You're a jujutsu sorcerer, right?" Yoshino looks at Itadori, making the two blink and turn to face him.

"Yeah." Itadori answers before looking away briefly. Should I have said that?

"Have you... ever killed someone?" Yoshino asks, not looking at them as he focuses on the television.

"No." Itadori answers truthfully.

"But someday you'll have to fight bad jujutsu sorcerers, right?" Yoshino points out, "What will you do then?"

"I still wouldn't want to kill them." Itadori looks down at the wooden floor.

"Why not? They're bad people." Yoshino questions, turning to look at him.

"It's like... I just think, if I killed anyone, the option of 'killing' would force its way into my life. The value of life would become ambiguous... I wouldn't even understand the importance of those I care about anymore. And that scares me."

━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
LOG: SEPTEMBER 2018
Kanagawa Prefecture, Kawasaki City
( home of the Yoshino family )

- after the incident at satozakura high school, we discovered the corpse of yoshino nagi, yoshino junpei's mother, at their home, along with an unsealed sukuna's finger— his second left arm's pinky finger.

- we believe yoshino nagi was attacked by cursed spirits drawn to sukuna's finger.

- her remains were missing everything form the waist down. there were no visible of detectable traces of blood found on-site, and yoshino nagi's body was lying down in her bedroom.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

❝ 𝐈 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖. 𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄. 𝐈 𝐒𝐀𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐋, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐀𝐖 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄 ❞