The old gym was too quiet.
Aimi's footsteps echoed across the cracked floor as she entered, the dim lights casting shadows that made her pause. A strange pressure pressed against her chest. Unwelcome. Suffocating. Her gaze swept the room.
The Occult Research Club gathered around a low table. At the centre sat an old wooden box, sealed in layers of brittle talismans.
"That's the curse object?" Aimi exhaled.
"It seems like it." Yuji hummed.
"Don't touch it," she scowled.
Yuka grinned. "Relax, Sensei. It's just a prop. Look."
Aimi stepped forward quickly. "No. I'm serious. Something's off. This isn't a game. You don't know what you're dealing with."
But Yuka had already peeled the talisman away.
The moment the paper tore, the air changed.
A blast of invisible force erupted from the box. Everyone flinched. Sasaki stumbled, knocking the table as the box tipped.
A single blackened finger rolled onto the floor with a soft, sickening thud.
Aimi's breath caught. A flicker of Gojo's warning flashed through her mind: Sukuna's fingers.
Then everything shattered.
The lights died. Darkness swallowed the room.
Something exploded into the space with a deafening shriek. Chairs flew across the gym. A wall cracked. Iguchi's scream pierced the air before her body was hurled against the bleachers.
Sasaki crumpled to the floor, unmoving.
Yuka staggered back, her mouth trembling with cries that made no sound.
Aimi stood frozen, her eyes darting through the chaos, but she saw nothing.
No form. No monster. There was just destruction. Walls tearing. Air convulsing. A presence, massive and malevolent, had taken over the room.
"What… what is happening?" she choked out.
Students screamed. Furniture shattered. The curses were everywhere. Dragging. Clawing. Consuming. Something invisible hunted them all, and Aimi couldn't even see it.
Yuji darted forward, standing above the finger, chest rising and falling in sharp, panicked breaths.
Curses continued to pour in. Though Aimi couldn't see them, their presence rippled around her like static. Dark and hungry. Drawn to the cursed object.
Yuji's eyes narrowed.
"It's the finger," he muttered. "They're after it."
Then louder, to her—
"I'll draw them away."
"Yuji, wait-"
Too late.
He snatched the finger from the floor and sprinted toward the doors.
Curses surged after him like a tidal wave.
"Aimi-sensei!" Yuji shouted as he ran. "Get them out. Take them and run."
She looked around. Yuka was huddled in the corner, crying. Sasaki lay still. Iguchi groaned weakly from beneath fallen chairs. Blood stained the floor.
Aimi's hands trembled.
She had no way to fight. But she had strength. And she had to move.
She dragged Sasaki onto her back. Hoisted Iguchi with her right arm. Then lifted Yuka, who clung to her in sobs. Three bodies. One breath.
The gym doors burst open as she charged through. The weight of three students pressing down.
The halls blurred past her.
Behind, something roared.
She was nearing the exit stairs when the glass window beside her shattered.
A figure crashed through.
Black hair. Sharp eyes. A young boy about the same age as Yuji?
Yuji skidded to a halt further down the hall. "Who the hell?"
"Stay back!" the newcomer barked. A shadow curled at his feet, responding to his movements like a living beast. "That's a Special Grade," he shouted. "Throw the finger away, you are no match!"
A sorcerer? Aimi deduced.
No time to think, no matter what, she had to make sure the majority if safe first.
She sprinted out the main doors, the gym exploding behind her with another inhuman scream.
Just as she reached the gate, she looked up.
On the rooftop, two figures clashed with a force that shook the building.
Yuji and the black-haired boy were fighting side by side against something colossal.
Aimi gritted her teeth and ran until they arrived at an emergency centre a few blocks away.
She moved carefully, placing the students down on a hospital bed.
When she returned about 30 minutes later, the school stood in eerie silence. Part of the roof had collapsed. The walls were scarred and scorched.
Smoke still curled from the rooftop. She ran to where they last were, and then she saw.
Yuji stood at the centre, hunched over the supposed mangled corpse of a curse she can't see, his breathing uneven.
The black-haired boy was covered in bruises and wounds. He was staring at Yuji.
"You ate it..." his eyes were wide in disbelief, "… and came back."
Yuji didn't respond. His face was blank, but his eyes held something different.
He looked at her and smiled. Soft. Apologetic.
"Sensei, I think," he said, "I messed up."
her face twisted with confusion, "What is that supposed to mean..?"
Then suddenly, like teleportation.
White hair. Blindfold. That careless walk.
Satoru Gojo emerged right behind Yuji.
"Well, well," Gojo pouted, "I tasked you with one little errand, Megumi."
Yuji turned in surprise.
"Gojo-sensei." Megumi exhaled, annoyed. "Where were you?"
"To get this limited-edition strawberry mochi," he raised a bag as if to show off, "it's only sold twice a year. Hard to come by. I had to go all the way to Hokkaido and stood in line for like 3 hours, ya know?"
Megumi's eyes twitched.
Gojo laughed, "but damn you look rough Megumi."
His smile widened when he finally noticed. "Ah! Aimi-chan~ you're here."
"Right." She deadpanned.
Megumi glanced between them. "… you two know each other?"
"Very well, even," Gojo grinned. "Though I didn't expect to see her here."
Aimi narrowed her eyes. "Can someone start explaining what happened?"
Gojo gave the space a quick once-over. Then looked down at Yuji.
"He ate it."
Aimi blinked. "What?"
Gojo pointed at Yuji. "Sukuna's finger. He ate it."
There was a short pause.
"…Why?"
Yuji groaned. "Because I had to."
Aimi looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "You had to?"
"Everyone was dying," Yuji muttered. "I didn't know what else to do."
Gojo nodded, almost impressed. "Honestly, not the worst decision. Risky. But gutsy."
Aimi stared at Yuji, still trying to understand.
"He should've been instantly possessed and died," Gojo added. "Instead, he's still himself. That's not normal."
He stood up again, facing Yuji. "So, can you still feel Sukuna?"
Yuji nodded slowly. "Yeah. He's inside me. But I can hold him back."
Gojo smiled.
"Wanna prove it?"
Yuji blinked. "What?"
"Bring it back. Just for ten seconds."
"I can but... " Yuji's face twisted. "What happens if I can't come back?"
Gojo raised one hand, fingers loose.
"Then I'll kill you before it does anything."
Aimi glared. "That's not funny."
Gojo turned to her, smile unchanging. "Don't worry."
He looked back at Yuji.
"I'm the strongest after all."
There was a pause.
Yuji closed his eyes. Then nodded once.
"…Alright."