It was night time and dark, but Itadori was sure that it was clear to anyone who passed by him that he was uncomfortable. Itadori was fiddling with the end of his sleeves. He felt awkward in his suit, the fabric smooth against his skin in a way that felt unfamiliar. He was used to the soft fabric of his hoodies and the coarse texture of his jeans, so the new feeling wasn’t exactly welcomed.
Stopping the fidgeting, Itadori rolled his shoulders as if the action would add comfort. He was the first one there, Kugisaki and Fushiguro still on their way. The fact that he was the first there had surprised him, Fushiguro would usually beat him to it. Kugisaki wasn’t a surprise though; he was sure she was dolling herself up for the event and taking her time doing it.
The three of them were sent on a mission to attend a party and Gojo had insisted that they should dress the part as well. The party itself was fancy, the ones you’d only get to see in shows type of fancy. However, it was one that festered negative emotions and energy.
The party held an award ceremony, one that was often won by how much money you’d give the organization. Of course the people attending didn’t know this, thinking it was based on pure talent. This exact reason caused a feeling of jealousy and bitterness to fester in people who believed that they deserved to win, which as a direct result created dangerous curses. The trio were sent to take care of the curses while the school itself made an exposé on the awards ceremony to try and stop future corruption.
As Itadori was thinking over the mission Fushiguro had arrived with Kugisaki holding onto his arm. Kugisaki waved enthusiastically at Itadori, letting go of Fushiguro’s forearm to run over to him. She had a long dress on, a plain black color with intricate lace over the top that gave the dress a unique design. The top of the dress hugged her body while below the waist flowed out, reaching past her feet. The fact that she could even run in such a long dress impressed Itadori. On her right side the dress had an open slit, showing Kugisakis legs and the beautiful high heels she chose for the night. Her hair was done up too, a hair clip keeping her hair out of her face. It was a small white bow that contrasted the black dress, but still had black lace on it to keep the dress's color in mind. Kugisaki also had more white accessories, like earrings and necklaces to add to the bow, making sure that it didn’t look out of place. The outfit proved something Itadori already knew, Kugisaki was really good at fashion.
Fushiguro followed behind her, the same pace he was at before. His stance was one of comfortability, like he had done this before. His arms moved into his pockets as Kugisaki was no longer holding onto his arm, causing his blazer to stick out. His blazer was black, simple and slick with no embroidery on it. The same could be said for the vest that sits underneath it. The only pop of color Fushiguro had was his tie, a deep blue, one that Itadori thought matched his eyes. An even darker blue was embroidered on top of it. The design matched the lace on Kugisaki’s dress. Itadori wondered if that was on purpose. Fushiguro’s hair was definitely combed through, but it was not neat. His hair still sticking out defiantly. Itadori realistically knew that Fushiguro could contain his hair if he wanted to, but Gojo always seemed against it, freaking out and messing up Fushiguro’s hair to the best of his abilities. It was probably for the best that he had not controlled his hair.
They looked good. It would be wrong for Itadori to think otherwise. Itadori wasn’t the best at compliments, despite all the romance movies he saw in the past, he had always struggled to come up with something unique or touching to say. But, Itadori could say confidently that they looked beautiful right now, the street lamps illuminating them with a golden hue. Itadori was lucky he was escorting them tonight and not someone else.
The two eventually made their way up to Itadori, Kugisaki got to him first because of her running. Itadori greeted them with a smile. The three quickly fell into a conversation, Kugisaki and Itadori leading it. Time went quicker than expected with the three talking. Itadori hadn’t even noticed how quickly time was passing until Fushiguro spoke up.
“Shouldn’t we get going?” Fushiguro asked, glancing at his phone to check the time. Both Itadori and Kugisaki tensed up.
Right, Itadori thought, they had a mission to do. Itadori turned to run towards the building where the party was being held, grabbing onto Fushiguro and pulling him along. Protests came from Fushiguro, but Itadori easily tuned them out. Kugisaki was quick to join Itadori’s side, running ahead of them while laughing at Fushiguro’s predicament.
Slowing to a walk, the three stood in front of a set of double doors. They were taller than any person could be and overly extravagant. The door was painted a golden color with elaborate carvings throughout the door. However, the golden paint had started to wear down, chipping off of the door revealing a copper metal underneath and the carvings itself were broken, long cracks falling throughout it. The door's beauty was practically destroyed by the negligence of the owners. With how much money they made from parties like these, Itadori thought they would have enough money to at least repaint it.
Itadori ignored the thoughts, it wasn’t something that should concern him in the first place. The three teens walked inside, Kugisaki in the middle of Itadori and Fushiguro. When the three entered, only quick glances were sent to the door. Almost no one noticed their presence. The teens didn’t mind.
The music was loud, and the chatting was even louder. The smell of alcohol and cigarettes filled the air, people filled with anticipation for the arriving awards ceremony. Kugisaki scrunched up her nose at the smell, Fushiguro continued to walk forward into the crowd. Itadori lent Kugisaki his arm, her own wrapping around it and resting on the top of his forearm, as they followed after him.
Itadori may have thought the party was crowded when he first walked in, but he never thought it would be this bad. More often than not the teens had to push their way past people, causing glares to be thrown their way. Of course some people gave them some slack, fond glances being thrown their way. However, Itadori was sure it was only fond because they were young.
Eventually they were out of the crowd, beside a wall with another overly fancy door. Although this one was made out of a dark oak wood and wasn’t falling apart. Apparently they cared more about how the inside looked instead of the outside.
Fushiguro opened the door, glancing inside, then moving out of the way so that Itadori and Kugisaki could walk inside first.
“This is where the curses are probably residing. According to the mission reports they don’t like large groups of people unless they can cling onto a singular person. So after we are done here we should look for other curses that latched onto any humans” Fushiguro concluded, listing off the most important information from the doc as the other two tended to not even read it. They could always rely on Fushiguro to read it, so Itadori was never really worried about looking it over.
“I was hoping we could actually enjoy the party itself” Kugisaki frowned, crossing her arms.”I didn’t get all dressed up for nothing.”
“I was interested in what food they'd have here,” Itadori agreed, remembering a buffet table he had seen when following Fushiguro.
“Well we can always do that after we complete the mission,” Fushiguro responded, a sound of annoyance already invading his tone, “But we need to do this first, get inside”
Kugisaki rolled her eyes at him, but headed inside anyway, not arguing further. Itadori followed her, a frown present on his face as he did so. Fushiguro didn’t seem to care about their responses, following them and closing the door softly once all of them were inside.
The hallway was dark, the lights on the ceiling felt purposely dimmed. He would like to call it creepy because of the circumstances, but instead it was cozy, reminding him of his grandfather's home. Itadori ignored the pang in his heart that arrived at that thought.
Wallpaper decorated the walls with a flower oriented design. Drawers and tables were sporadically strewn across the hall, seemingly added in with no particular order. Across each table was either a scented candle or incense burning lightly. Despite the two different scents, they seemed to clash together nicely, bringing memories to the front of Itadoris mind. He tried to ignore those too. Photographs would lay out beside the scented tools, nothing of note were in them that Itadori could note while he walked past them. The only thing he could notice was the pictures slowly gaining more and more detail as they walked past. The first one he saw was a mix of colors, now the photos seemed more put together; a photo of a family standing together, holding a baby in one hand. However, Itadori couldn’t see the faces as they were still a blur of colors. Tearing his eyes away from the photos, he focused on the wood underneath him. It was clean and the same type of oak that was used on the door right outside. The clacking was notable as he stepped forward. Clean, simple,and a little too loud to remind him that he was alone. Just like the ones he knew at home. So much reminded him of the place he once knew, Itadori almost felt sick.
Itadori looked up from the wood, his eyes searching for the company he expected to be with him. Itadoris heart quickly sinks as he realizes he is completely alone. Stopping dead in his tracks, Itadori glanced around.
Surely the others didn’t leave without him? Well, without telling him. Kugisaki would be the type to go on her own, but Fushiguro would at the very least let him know.
Itadori glanced around, taking in the exact surroundings that he seemed so focused on. The hallway was long, still stretching on endlessly. But there were doors itself that Itadori could enter if he wanted a change of pace. Maybe one of the doors would lead to one of the others? Itadori bit his lip as he thought, just how big was this place?
Not thinking much, like he usually does, he opens one of the doors and wanders in.
The first thing Itadori is greeted with is the same hallway again. Promptly closing the door, he looks at the dark oak it was made of. The same dark oak door the trio had entered to get into the hallway. Something in Itadoris mind clicked, as he spun to stare down the hall he had walked through.
Each door Itadori could see was the same oak he had walked through before. But maybe, just maybe there was a door he missed, one that was a different wood, or a bit taller than the others. Just then, maybe he could find something.
Itadori ran down the hallway, keeping a watchful gaze on each door, picking with the ones he’d choose. But the moment he thought something was a little off (the knob was a little more rusted than the others, the door looks like it was crooked, this one looks smaller than the others) he would open the door with as much passion as he could.
However, the passion started to drip away, falling away from his spirit as time passed by, another emotion taking over.
Itadori was annoyed.
Maybe he was looking for the wrong thing? Could it be that he has to try opening all of the doors? That's a lot of doors, and Itadori was becoming bored. It definitely wouldn’t be as bad if someone was with him, and that would cause his mind to wander, and when his mind would wander, it would take inspiration from all the things around him. The problem with that was that everything was nostalgic. The clacking of his shoes as he stepped across the oak, feeling a bit too loud for what felt normal, reminding him he was alone. The same wallpaper in his grandfather's house, where he had lived most of his life (that Itadori knew was probably now ruined, taken down by the new owners). The photos laid out on the dressers resemble his grandfather a little too much. It was all a life he used to know. It made his eyes blur when he thought about it for too long, a realization in his heart that made him realize he never grieved for the world he once knew. Life moved on too quickly, death and change so adamant to happen he never realized he was truly mourning a world he knew. He lost so many people and wasn't allowed to mourn any of them but what made it worse was he wasn’t even allowed to mourn the person who had left him first.
His eyes were blurry, but he did his best to ignore them. He’d say his mind was racing, but that’d be a lie. He continued to walk, trying to think of anything but all there was.. Was nothinging. He couldn’t seem to think, his mind still from the sudden onslaught of grief.
He blinked away the tears that filled up his eyes, rubbing them to stop any that spilled out.
Maybe he should try something else. Stopping abruptly and glancing around him. The dressers called out to him, drawers noticeably on them that Itadori seemed to have neglected before. Walking over to one, he pulled one of the drawers out.
The dresser itself was filled with cleaning supplies. A duster, glass cleaner and towel, all laid flat so that the label could be clearly seen. Itadori grabs all of them and, out of habit, one he didn’t know he had, Itadori sprayed the glass on the photograph. Rubbing the cleaner off, the photo itself started to smudge.
Itadori instinctively pulled away, part of himself screaming that he had ruined something he would never get back. He ruined such an important photo, one his grandpa had loved. Itadori shuddered a breath, rubbing away the rest of the cleaner.
The whole photo was now a smudged mess and the cleaner he held was now empty. He put the cleaner back into the drawer and looked away from the photo. The door to the left of the dresser was now a different color and type. A metal door, silver and bright, no rust to be seen on it.
Itadori moved towards the door, hand holding onto the handle which was cold to the touch. Cracking the door open, a room had been revealed to Itadori. Itadori opened the door all the way, tucking the towel into his back pocket and holding onto the duster.
The door opened to a room, a recognizable room, just like the hallway. A king sized bed sat in the middle of the room, right under a window that was covered by black-out curtains. The bed had a singular pillow resting in the middle, something his grandfather had always done before he had to stay in the hospital. Except he had taken the pillow with him when he had moved to full time living in the hospital. A plain white comforter covered the rest of the bed, tucked in under the mattress to properly secure it. Next to each bed laid an end table, one was empty and the other had a lamp and a book, a book his grandfather had recommended to him a multitude of times, but Itadori had never bothered to actually read it. The rest of the room was barren, only a singular painting sat on the left side of the large window. It was undecorated, and definitely not homey. But it's what Itadori knew, it was his grandfather's room.
Itadori didn’t need to think for long to realize what was going on. First a notable hallway, so close to the one he knew, the length of the hallway being the only difference he could find. Now a second room, even closer to what he once knew, his grandfather's old room. It was an obvious conclusion to make. The curse the trio was supposed to be hunting was using his nostalgic memories to try and trap him. Maybe to keep itself safe? Or was it feeding off of Itadori in some way? Itadori didn’t know.
Turning around to face the door, he was once again met with a dark oak door, the cold metal door now replaced. Itadori suspected what would happen if he opened the door, yet he tried anyway. The hinges creaked as he cracked open the door, the same bedroom facing him once again. He didn’t bother walking inside, only closing the door in defeat. Really, what else could he do?
Grumbling to himself, he took more time to look over the room. The first thing he checked was the end tables drawers. The one with the book on it had things from Itadoris childhood. A photograph of Itadori graduating from elementary school and a couple of shitty drawings he made ages ago. A small planner was also thrown inside, although it looked as if it was heavily used. The last time it was written in was September, as a certain day was circled. However there was nothing written inside of the circle, blank, leaving Itadori confused. Itadori noted the date, noting that it was last written in years ago, the month and year being different from when he had entered the building. There was nothing Itadori found of importance, so he glanced at the other end table, but nothing else was inside.
While Itadori was beside the bed, he reached towards the curtains that were blocking out the light. He attempted to pull them to the side to let some natural light in, however, oddly enough the curtains wouldn’t move. Itadori knew that his strength was greater than the average person, Kugisaki did her best to make that aware to him, so it was truly odd that no matter how hard Itadori would pull the curtain wouldn’t move. If he was any dumber he would have thought he was trying to move a mountain. That's how stuck in place the curtains were.
Giving up on the curtains, Itadori found that there was only one other thing he could look at, which was the walk-in closet. So, he made his way over. He had found what you'd expect in a closet, shirts hung up in an orderly fashion and a dresser tucked in the corner filled with undergarments and pants. The only thing that was slightly out of place was a suitcase that was sprawled out on the floor. It was half-filled with clothes, however, it didn’t seem like the clothes were very thought out. There were jackets, sweaters and long pants, but also tank tops and shorts. The two clashed with each other, showing preparation for different seasons. Plus, according to the planner it was in the middle of fall, showing that if anything the suitcase should be filled with warm clothes.
Itadori walked over to the suitcase, closing it, and not bothering to fold the clothes. He brought the suitcase over to the actual bedroom. Throwing it onto the carpeted floors with a thud, he tried to think over what to do to get past this specific room. The door behind him would only lead to rooms just like this one and the curtains where the window laid were unmoveable. Itadori assumed it was some type of puzzle where he had to do certain tasks to get his way out. Although, the only reason he thought this was because of the previous hallway and how it only let him out when he did a certain chore. With this new room there was practically nothing and all of the objects were practically useless to him.
Itadori looked down to the suitcase, a thought came to him. Did he need to pack?
If that was the case, what would the room want him to pack? He didn’t exactly get many clues. The only ones he could find were the things that were already thrown into the suitcase, a disarray of clothes that did not match each other, and a planner which stated the month and year. He didn’t think he needed to pack more clothes, did he just need to organize the ones already thrown in? Itadori groaned internally at the thought, he was never good at chores, nor did he enjoy them.
Despite the internal objections, Itadori sat down to fold the clothes. It was a boring task, he had complained for a reason, however Itadori seemed to have finished quicker than expected. There was still a ton of space in the suitcase thanks to Itadoris organization and skillful folding skills (at least he thought he was rather decent at it).
Glancing around at the room around him, Itadori quickly noticed that the room had not changed. The door stayed the same colored oak as before, and as Itadori checked, the curtains would not move. Still holding onto a naive hope, Itadori ran back over to the suitcase; he zipped it up and tried again. Despite Itadoris hope, nothing changed.
This time Itadori complained out loud.
“Did I seriously do that for nothing??”
Itadoris complaints were unfortunately not heard by anyone but himself and Itadoris was forced to try again.
There must be something Itadori has to put in the suitcase, there was still an empty space to be filled. Itadori zipped the suitcase open once more, sitting beside it on the carpeted floor. There wasn’t much Itadori could pack. His grandpa had never really hoarded objects or cared much for materialistic things in the slightest. Well, his grandfather had always put up a tough front in front of others anyways.
Biting the inside of his cheek he stood up. He stayed still, staring at the lone pillow sitting on the bed. Maybe the curse was making him pack for his grandpa's trip to the hospital? Itadori walked up to the pillow, grabbing it and holding it firmly in his hands. He stared at the pillow, almost not wanting to let go. Itadori had to shake his head firmly. This place was fake, an illusion done by the curse, Itadori was sure. There was no reason to get attached to something that wasn’t real; he should be attached to his own memories, not fake places.
Shaking his head in an attempt to clear his head and rid himself of the feeling that overtook him, Itadori wandered back to the suitcase, throwing the pillow right beside the folded clothes. It didn’t land perfectly, messing with the folded clothes, but Itadori didn’t care. All he could focus on was, what else? What more did he have to add to get out of here and see Fushiguro and Kugisaki?
He looked towards the end table where he had found most of the stuff in that very room. It was obvious that something from over there needed to be packed. It's probably the book, Itadori thought absentmindedly. He hadn’t finished reading it when he first went to the hospital. His grandpa only finished it because, according to him, the hospital was so ‘boring’.
Gently, Itadori picked up the book, tucking it underneath his arm. Before he left, Itadori remembered a brief memory. One where Itadori had gone to see his Grandfather, and when he arrived in his room his grandpa was fast asleep. Book open on his lap an old photo of him as a kid in hand. Itadori had grabbed the photo, marking where the book had last been read with the image and stayed with him until he woke up once again.
Smoothly, Itadori opened up the drawer in the end table, grabbing the singular photo that he recognized the most. The one his grandfather seemed to love the most and tucked it into the book.
Once he placed the book into the suitcase and zipped it up, Itadori felt a cool breeze on his back. One that didn’t make sense. The curtains behind him were supposedly cemented shut, so the idea of a breeze coming from the window just seemed absurd. Yet, despite the confusion, Itadori turned to look behind him. And sure enough, the curtains were now swaying feely, letting him see glimpses of what it looked like outside. It was still nighttime, no sun to be seen, only stars that were too far away and a moon that made up for the sun's absence. Itadori ran for it.
He hadn’t been trapped for long, but if it was truly the outside world, it would be good to find where the other two had gone. Perhaps he could even help them.
The window was open and Itadori was able to jump through it, landing on the grass, plushing his fall. Quickly looking around Itadori was relieved to see the actual night sky even if it meant that the darkness was now covering him. Itadori turned to look behind him, the window he jumped out of still present, yet the curtains unmoving whenever he would be hit with a breeze of cold air. It seemed they were cement once again.
Itadori stood up, lifting his head up to feel tall. Glancing around he saw the same oak doors as before. Would it lead to more “outside” rooms? Itadori did not remember a place like this at all, no matter how much he scoured his memory, it simply was not there.
Well, Itadori thought, there was only one way to find out.
In a swift motion Itadori opened the oak door, only to be met with Fushiguros presence. It definitely warmed his heart to see him, loneliness being an easy sickness that seemed to creep up on Itadori. Fushiguro had yet to see him though, confusion resting on his face as he looked around him.
He stood in a rather run down hallway, one seemingly uncared for by whoever owned it. The walls had paint chipping, some parts of the paint already being peeled off quite a ways, which showed water damage eating at the wood underneath it. The halls itself were barren, no furniture to decorate them, the only thing that was actively noticeable was the trash that littered the floors. Random take out and toys were covered in dust with bugs resting on top of them, indicating that they had not been moved in a while. Fushiguro looked out of place in the hallway with his clean suit and tie. Fushiguro didn’t even seem to recognize the place.
“Fushiguro!” Itadori called out, waving his hand at him, refusing to step inside just in case the door would lock both of them inside together. And Itadori was sure that would be bad as Itadori had no clue what would even need to be ‘solved’.
Fushiguro looked up in surprise at his name being called, but visibly relaxed when he saw Itadori. Quickly jogged his way over to him, slowing his pace as he got closer to Itadori. Itadori moved out of the way of the door, letting Fushiguro pass through. However Fushiguro didn’t go through.
“Fushiguro?” Itadori repeated his name, the word familiar on his tongue. Itadori put on a confused gaze, Fushiguro seemingly matching it. “What's going on?”
“Am I moving closer to you?” Fushiguro asked, staying where he stood, unmoving. Itadoris eyebrows itched together at the question.
“You’re right in front of me?” Itadori stated, his confusion evident. Was this another puzzle he had to solve? But he knew nothing about Fushiguros life before Gojo and he doubted Fushiguro remembered either, and the puzzles seemingly took place in their youth. At least that is what Itadori had assumed with his own puzzles, yet it didn’t make sense for that to be the case with Fushiguro.
Fushiguro had grown up with Gojo being his guardian and with Gojos money, Fushiguro grew up rather pampered. He knew Fushiguro and his sister lived in an expensive apartment with the best appliances out there. At the very least Fushiguro was given the best of the best clothes, not blinking an eye at the money Gojo would throw into a single t-shirt. In fact, Fushiguro wore expensive clothes rather regularly, Kugisaki had pointed it out at one point as Itadori was never that versed in the fashion community. The three of them then spent the whole night in Fushiguros room, Kugisaki and Itadori doing their best to find the exact brand and type of clothing Fushiguro had, gawking at the price tags they found online. Fushiguro wasn’t exactly happy with the intrusion, but didn’t bother kicking them out either.
Itadori, shaking his head to rid himself of the memory, reminded himself that he had to focus on the problem in front of him. However, it looked like Fushiguro had already been problem solving when Itadori was trapped in his own head. The dark haired boy grabbed a stray green crayon from the floor, drawing a rather large X on the wall and stepping forward. Doing so, Fushiguro ended up walking through the door, yet he did make it through, seemingly teleporting back to where he once was. Fushiguro then glanced to the wall, the X staying in place, his frown deepened.
“It seems I’m walking in place.” Fushiguro spoke out loud, moving his gaze back to Itadori, his frown relenting when they made eye contact.
Itadori nodded, acknowledging Fushiguros statement before speaking up.
“Do you recognize this place?”
Perhaps it was an odd question, Fushiguro looking bewildered, but Itadori thought it was an important question. If it was a place that was of importance to his character, something that shaped him (like his first time fighting a curse? Itadori wouldn’t know.), then they’d have to find out what Fushiguro needed to “fix”.
“Uh-” Fushiguro paused, “Vaguely”
He looked around, like he was trying to take in his surroundings once more. His eyes paused on a certain door, staring at it with a far away gaze. It was obvious to Itadori that Fushiguro did now. Fushiguro glanced down at the green crayon still in his hand. He looked like he would never move, but, despite Itadoris thoughts, Fushiguro lifted his hand up towards the door. It was almost like he had to force himself to move, his movements robotic.
The crayon touched the door and Fushiguros arm moved automatically, a scribble that didn’t seem to hold any significance appeared on the door. Once Fushiguro deemed the scribble as ‘good enough’, he stepped away from the door, which slammed open with a loud slam. Itadori flinched away, but Fushiguro stood still, the wind messing with his hair.
Peeking back up, Itadori glanced at Fushiguros face. It was one filled with surprise, eyes wide and his mouth moved to speak.
“Kugisaki??”
Itadori scrambled forward, hearing the name of his girlfriend, but stopped just when he realized he was about to step inside the hallway. Itadori heard Kugisaki scream Fushiguro's name as well, and out of nowhere Kugisaki ran through the open door, crashing right into Fushiguro’s arms. Fushiguro stumbled back from the force of the tackle, but quickly regained his balance to properly support Kugisaki. She was leaning fully against him as Fushiguro wrapped his arms around her. One arm laid on her back while the other brushed through her hair in a meditative manner.
“What's going on? Are you okay?” Fushiguro asked, his voice so soft that Itadori could barely hear him.
Fushiguro’s concerns were valid, Kugisaki seemed unusually panicked. Kugisaki was strong, she never let anything bring her spirit down ever. It was the first thing you would learn about her and it was one of the many things Itadori loved about her.
“I was locked in that stupid room for days!” Kugisaki shouted, the fire back just as Itadori thought it was extinguished, he should have known better, “There was no food and I’m starving! Thank god you got me out of there!”
Fushiguro’s shoulders visibly relaxed at her ranting, despite it being loud. Kugisaki pulled away from Fushiguro, only to notice Itadori. She visibly brightened at seeing him, something in his heart fluttered because of the reaction.
Kugisaki, pushing herself away from Fushiguro, ran toward Itadori next. Passing the door with ease, she threw herself onto Itadori, who caught her with ease but almost let go of the door in the process. Fushiguro watched them, noticing Kugisaki was able to walk through the door, he followed suit. Now that Fushiguro was free from the hallway, Itadori noticed his shoulders relaxing.
Kugisaki pulled herself away from the Itadori, walking into the grassy field. Fushiguro followed after her, Itadori joining them, making sure the door the two walked out of closed fully behind him.
“So, we’ve experienced the curse but did not find him.” Kugisaki hummed out, “At least I didn’t, do any of you know what we are looking for?”
“I could sense the curses residuals in that hallway, but no matter how much I walked I never got closer or farther from it. Now that we are out here, we seem closer to it than ever.” Fushiguro stated, turning to look at Itadori before speaking up once again. “Itadori seemed to make it out first before the two of us. Itadori, what would you know?”
Itadori shuffled uncomfortably, a guilty smile resting on his face.
“I’m not sure.” Itadori answered, a hand moving to rub the back of his neck. “All I know is that each room I entered seemed to be a puzzle about my past, but I never actually met it face to face.”
Fushiguro frowned at the answer, but didn’t say anything about it. Kugisaki ran a hand through her hair, causing the clip in her hair to loosen as a result.
“It could be that this is where the spirit actually resides?” Kugisaki said, a question to her tone, making it obvious that she wasn’t even sure of her own answer. “That may be why each room was a puzzle, to prevent us from getting to it.”
“And why its residuals are so much more potent here..” Fushiguro added on.
Itadori nodded along in agreement.
“So we just need to find it?” Itadori questioned, “then let's do just that!”
Fushiguro gave him a look, hinting at what he was thinking. Something along the lines of “easier said than done”, but Itadori ignored him in favor of running off to look into the windows and opening random doors like it would do something. Kugisaki joined in with Itadoris antics, running around the open square, swinging doors open that Itadori had missed. Fushiguro rolled his eyes at the two, not following their lead, instead turning to where he felt the presence of the curse the most.
It wasn’t long until Fushiguro called out to Kugisaki and Itadori, the two of them quickly running up to him. Fushiguro was standing in front of a door, an oak door that reminded Itadori of the ones he saw in his own puzzle room. The door was different from all the other doors, an obvious indicator that they were supposed to enter, but a part of Itadori remained untrusting.
Fushiguro opened it without much thought, the same hallway Itadori had come to recognize sitting in front of him. Kugisaki and Fushiguro seemed to acknowledge Itadoris hesitance at the resemblance.
“By the looks of it, this is where the curse resides. It seems to be the same place we entered, so we should be careful to not be separated again.” Fushiguro declared, looking at Kugisaki and Itadori through the corner of his eye. Both voiced their agreements, Kugisaki grabbing onto Itadoris hand and Itadori holding onto Fushiguros.
Fushiguro stepped through, dragging the three behind him. A shiver ran down Itadoris spine as he walked through the familiar hallway.
Itadori let his gaze stay focused on Fushiguro who slowed down to walk beside him while holding Kugisakis hand tighter so she could not leave him. Kugisaki gave his hand a quick squeeze in acknowledgment of the tightened grip. If Itadori stayed hyper aware of the two they couldn’t leave him like last time, the curse would not be able to take control.
To comfort his mind even more, he noted that Fushiguro stayed focused, walking with a destination in mind. If they were to ever get split up, he trusted Fushiguros abilities. He could easily defeat the curse.
As the three followed the residuales of the curse, Itadori started to feel more confident that he could finally turn his gaze away from Fushiguro. His eyes only focused on the other lover holding his hand, Kugisaki. Kugisaki’s own eyes stayed fixed forward, occasional glances being sent to both Itadori and Fushiguro. She seemed to be following the same path Fushiguro was.
If Itadori counted the minutes that passed, he would insist it would have added up to hours. Yet his legs were yet to grow sore and his body hadn’t even gotten close to hunger. But, despite his mind playing tricks on him, the three seemed to be a lot closer to the curse.
Fushiguro had paused in front of a door, the same oak they all knew but with a number engraved into it. The two boys sat there, staring at it. Kugisaki, however, was impatient. Running towards it, still holding Itadoris hand, Kugisaki threw the door open.
The room was barren, the only thing in sight being the cement walls and floors that made up the space. The only notable thing Itadori noticed was a sudden humid air that hit the group. Fushiguro summoned one of his demon dogs to hold the door open and walked into the room, letting go of Itadoris hand, leaving it hanging in the humid air. Kugisaki quickly followed Fushiguro, letting go of Itadoris hand as well.
Once Itadori had stepped inside as well, the door started moving to close. But, thanks to Fushiguros foresight, his demon dog was able to stop it from shutting all the way. Itadori clenched his jaw as he turned towards where the curse would be.
When he turned around he was met with a strange figure emerging from the cement wall, both Fushiguro and Kugisaki reacting to it right away, throwing themselves into a fight-ready stance. Itadori joined them, noting right away that it was the curse the three were searching for. It didn’t look particularly dangerous, but Itadori was hesitant to judge him. He didn’t want to underestimate it and cause trouble for the others.
The curse seemed to babble off at them, but not actually speak anything they could understand. When the three didn’t reply, the curse developed a hateful expression and ran to attack them. Aiming for Fushiguro, he prepared for the attack, ready to dodge.
When the curses attack missed, instead hitting the ground creating cracks in the cement, Kugisaki took the opportunity to pull out her nails and throw them into the opponent's body. Fushiguro used the moment to run over to Nobaras side, Itadori quickly joined them so they were in a line. Fushiguro glanced over his dog, who was still holding the door open, seemingly relaxing when he saw it was still okay.
Itadori, focused on the curse instead, let his cursed energy run build in his hands.
The curse rose to its feet, and Itadori rushed forward, pulling his arm back to prepare a punch. Nobara, as Itadori was running forward, used her cursed energy to push the nails further into the curse spirit. While the curse wailed out in pain and rising anger, Itadoris punch collided with the curse, sending it violently flying into the concrete wall.
The Curse no longer made any noise, only slowly started to disappear. Itadori relaxed at the sight, standing taller as he watched it disappear.
“I guess the real concern was the curse’s technique. It was rather weak” Fushiguro commented, straightening his back as he looked at the new room around them.
The concrete walls that had just disappeared had shown the kids a new (and boring) room. It was your average, run-of-the-mill, storage room. Boxes stacked around them to heights Itadori didn’t know was even possible. Labels stuck on the boxes were both faded or falling off, making the contexts of the boxes unknown. The walls were unseeable because of how many boxes were shoved against the walls, but the floor was still seeable. A scratched wood floor standing underneath them. Once again proving to Itadori that the people who owned this building really don't care all that much about how their place was treated at all.
“The people who come here probably know that it's a scam” Nobara shrugged, fixing her hair, “the problem would be the newcomers that fall for the lie.”
Fushiguro didn’t acknowledge her answer, instead turning towards the door and walking out, only recalling the demon dog when he was fully outside the room. Fushiguro held the door open for the both of them, Itadori quickly walked out the door, Nobara following after him.
Once they were out, Nobara quickly bolted towards the door that would lead back to the party. Throwing open the door, the sound of music quickly invading the hallway. Itadori ran out of the hallway as well, tired of the cramped space, a preference for being cramped by people instead of the walls that surrounded him.
Fushiguro was slower than the rest, seemingly not as excited to be in the party. Nobara ran towards the buffet at the far end of the room to stuff her face with food. Itadori was sure she was hungry after several long hours in that room she was trapped in. Itadori followed after her, grabbing some food for himself, not being picky with the food, Itadori put every dish on his plate.
Fushiguro didn’t follow them, not a fan of places too busy. Yet, he went and searched for a table for the three of them, deciding to stay just to humor the two. Itadori was aware of that, grateful for Fushiguros thoughtfulness. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t take advantage of it though.
The two rushed over to where Fushiguro sat, placing their plates on the table that was covered in an elegant white cloth. The way Itadori and Kugisaki ate showed no thought about staining the cloth, as well as no care about the judgemental look Fushiguro gave them.
It wasn’t long until the two finished eating, participating in a loud conversation with each other. Fushiguro would jump in to add his own thoughts at times, but seemingly zoned out for the most of it. Eventually when Fushiguro was no longer paying attention to the two of them, Kugisaki and Itadori snuck away to the dance floor.
The two were bad at dancing. It was a slow dance song, so they assumed it would be easy enough, because, well, its slow. But the two kept bumping into other people and stepping on the other shoe. Sometimes Nobara would go too fast or Itadori would drag them in the wrong direction. They didn’t seem to care at all though, laughing whenever they screwed up or rushed apologizes to the other people who were affected by their clumsy dancing.
“We suck at this,” Kugisaki laughed, clutching onto Itadoris shoulders tightly as she tripped over her own shoe.
“Well, we just got done with a mission. Perhaps that tired us out?” Itadori replied, offering an excuse even though they both knew it was bullshit. Kugisaki rolled her eyes at him, the smile still present on her face as she did so, letting Itadori know she wasn’t actually annoyed at him at all.
“Think Fushiguro is any better?” Kugisaki asked, looking in the general direction Fushiguro would be in. “He was raised rich thanks to Gojo”
“If he was, he wouldn't be able to make up for how bad we are.” Itadori looked in the same direction “Plus I’d doubt he’d even want to go to any parties or dance even if Gojo invited him.”
“Wanna test it out?” Kugisaki challenged, a grin on her face. “I’m the better dancer here, so I’ll ask him.”
Itadori laughed at her statement, but ultimately agreed to let her ask him to dance.
The music slowed to a stop and Itadori led them to the wall so that the other guests could continue with their dance without the two disturbing them.
“Think he is still where we left him?” Itadori questioned, one of his hands still resting on Kugisakis waist from when they were dancing. Kugisaki didn’t move it away, so he assumed it was fine.
“Oh for sure,” Nobara nodded her head, “if anything I bet he is waiting for us to get back and tell him it's time to go”
Itadori’s easy smile was polluted a little with guilt.
“Think we should just go home then?”
“No way!” Kugisaki shouted out, vehemently against the idea, “He said we could enjoy the party once we were done with the mission. If he is upset with it he should have not said anything!”
Itadori huffed out a breath, silently laughing at her stubborn nature. With nothing left to say the two made their way over to Fushiguro.
Kugisaki was right in the fact that he had not moved. He sat at the exact table they were at before, his head resting on his hand and eyes staring at every person who would pass by. The only difference was that the mess they had made earlier was all cleaned up. Itadori wasn’t sure if it was Fushiguro or Staff member who cleaned it up.
Hearing footsteps in his direction, Fushiguro glanced over at them. Noticing who it was, Fushiguro sat up straighter. Kugisaki ran over to him, wrapping one of her arms around his neck causing Fushiguro to grunt out.
“Let's dance Fushiguro.” Kugisaki demanded more than asked, a smug grin resting on her face. Fushiguro looked up at her through the corner of his eye then at Itadori, giving him a questioning look. Itadori responded with a shrug, acting as if he was none the wiser.
Eventually, with enough pushing from Kugisaki, Fushiguro gave in and was dragged by the wrist to the dance floor. Itadori followed after, but didn’t actually enter the dance floor. Instead he watched the two attempt to dance. Well, Kugisaki attempted to dance. Kugisaki’s theory seemed to be correct, Fushiguro was a great dancer.
It was almost addicting to watch him move. His eyes focused entirely on Kugisaki to make sure she could keep up, his black hair swaying slightly as he spun around, a twitch in his brow whenever Kugisaki stepped on his foot and a smile whenever she said something to him. He truly was beautiful. Itadori wasn’t sure if Fushiguro would appreciate the compliment, but it was the first thing that came to his mind.
Of course, Kugisaki looked just as charming. Her hair moved in sync with her dress, making it satisfying to look at. The nervous smile she held back and wavering eyes made her almost look… cute. Kugisaki always gave an air of confidence, to see her insecure about something seemed so out of place that it tugged at Itadori’s heart.
“See, I told you I was the better dancer.” Kugisaki whispered, a hand covering her mouth to prevent Fushiguro from listening in.
“We both know that he was the one that made you look good, I saw you stepping on his shoes.” Itadori spoke, much louder than Kugisaki was, not seeming to care if Fushiguro heard their conversation.
Fushiguro sent a warning glare their way, the two weren’t affected and continued to chatter on.
---
The day had started to drag on, Kugisaki began yawning in the middle of sentences and Itadori was starting to slouch forward, falling asleep standing up. Fushiguro rolled his eyes at the two of them. It wasn’t like they needed to stay the whole time, plus the awards were about to be announced. The three weren’t exactly interested in knowing who won.
Fushiguro, who was leaning against the wall, stood up and walked over to the two.
“We should get going.”
It wasn’t exactly a demand, if the two refused he would go back to leaning against the wall until they got their fill of fun. However, they agreed, Kugisaki rubbed her eyes and Itadori raised his arms to the ceiling in an attempt to stretch himself awake.
Fushiguro decided to lead them to the exit, walking out the overly flashy door they had entered just a few hours before. On his way out he had texted Ijichi that they were done for the day, only regretting leaving the building before Ijichi arrived when the crisp air hit his face.
A frown made itself known on his face, his breath creating a fog in front of him. He turned to look towards Kugisaki who was in a dress, only to see Itadori had already taken care of it. Itadoris' jacket laid on top of her shoulders, Kugisaki holding onto it like it was a blanket, wrapping it around her body.’
“Ijichi is on his way” Fushiguro informed, his partners making their way towards him. “We should have waited until he came here inside, I wasn’t thinking, sorry.”
Fushiguro looked at Kugisaki directly when stating the last part, but she just waved it off with a grin.
“Don’t worry about it, Itadori got me.”
Fushiguro let out a silent sigh, meeting Itadoris gaze and nodding him a thank you. He brushed it away just like Kugisaki did, a big smile present on his face that Fushiguro loved.
Itadori hand grabbed onto his own, the cold air Fushiguro felt melting away at the natural warmth of Itadoris. Then Kugisakis head fell onto Fushiguros shoulder, creating more warmth to melt into his body. Fushiguro wrapped an arm around Kugisaki, hand resting on her upper arm.
It was warmer than a couple, and Fushiguro knew he was biased, but he thought they’d be okay to wait for Ijichi like this.