cursed waters | yuuji itadori x male!reader

what's banishment again?

"itadori yuuji, under the regulations of the kingdom, you are hereby banished."

"..huh?"

"do you have any idea what you've done?" the maker grit his teeth, wrinkled hands clenching his staff he held tighter. "you had an evil sorcerer extract the curse within you!"

"uh, yeah. cause you wouldn't do it for me." he was confused, scratching the side of his head. "what's the problem?"

"the curse within you is the all powerful curse ryoumen sukuna. he's too dangerous to be let out! he could wipe out the entire world if he wanted!!" he continued, the boy's eyes widening. "and you let him go-!"

"really? that's what i had inside of me-?"

"you have put the entire kingdom in danger!! not even being a prince can help you get out of this!!" he was yelling, poor yuuji just standing there, confused and upset. "if you are not gone by sunrise, you will be executed on sight! do not speak to anyone about what you have done!!"

"executed..? banished?" he didn't know what he had done, but the maker turned and stomped off, leaving him be, absolutely baffled.

he had been cursed as a child, and had been living with that curse inside of him for all his life. it only made his life worse, so why wouldn't he want it gone-? but the maker had decided to force him to stay with it, not even listening to his pleas and reasons. so, he sought out an sorcerer he had heard about, who extracted it without question. nobody had told him that the curse would be alive and roaming free..!

he frowned, crossing his arms as he stood in thought. he was going to have to leave, otherwise he'd be executed. but the kingdom was surrounded by thick woods filled with dangerous curses, so he'd probably die if he left anyways.

all he knew was that he couldn't stay in the castle. there were only a few hours left until the sun rose, meaning that he had to figure something out before then.

..well, he had an idea of what he could and who could help him.

~~

"open the door!! i need help!!" he was banging on the door of an old cabin, somewhere on the outskirts of town. it was silent inside, making him wonder if the sorcerer was even home. he huffed, gently kicking the wood before turning around to leave.

then he was hit in the head with a chunk of wood.

he yelled, grabbing the back of his head, turning back to the cabin's roof, where the sorcerer sat, laughing loudly. "gojo-! that hurt!!"

"man, for a prince, you don't have very good reflexes, huh?"

"what do my reflexes have to do with me being a prince?" he pouted, already feeling a bump forming as the man jumped down from the roof, landing perfectly on his feet. "besides, i'm not a prince anymore."

"ah, i heard. you got banished." he grinned, nudging him with his arm as he walked past, the pink haired boy following him. "what did you do to get that punishment?"

"apparently i released the most dangerous curse into the kingdom, someone named sukuna?" he huffed, bumping into the white haired man when he stopped walking, confused.

"i'm sorry, you what?" he turned back to the boy, a smile on his face, but with the blindfold on, unable to tell what his expression was.

"uh, i thought extracting it would kill it. but. it didn't. so now he's free." he tilted his head the side, before he was hit in the head again with a fist. "ow-!!"

"yuuji, you're an idiot." he sighed, shaking his head and laughing a bit. "it's a good thing not many people know about my location, otherwise i'd be the one dealing with it. i'd be forced to go fight him, and it'd be a pain!"

"do you think you'd lose?" they started walking again, itadori not knowing where they were headed but still following blindly.

"no, i'd win." he grinned, bringing his hand up and pulling the hood of his cape up. "after all, i am the strongest!"

"yeah, yeah." he sighed, flinching when the sorcerer shoved a small hood over his head.

"cover up. we're going through town, and i'm sure the people know you've been banished. they won't like seeing you around, even if it's not sunrise yet." he explained, the boy wrapping the hood around his head to hide himself, keeping close to the man. "i'll take you to a neighboring village a couple days away. i've got some students there who'll watch over you while i'm gone."

"huh? where are you going?"

he smiled, snapping his fingers. "don't you think it'd be funny if sukuna suddenly died without anyone sending to kill him? i'm gonna surprise them!!"

he sighed, frowning as he thought. "..can i go with you to kill him?"

"huh? why would you want to do that?"

"i mean, i'm the one that got him free again." he muttered, staring down at nothing. "i feel like i should take some responsibility."

he flinched when the sorcerer pat his head, ruffling his hair with a grin. "come on, yuuji, it'll be fine! you don't need to be so depressed about putting everyone here in danger." he pulled his hand back, sighing softly. "but, if you really wanna help, then you can stick with me. first, though, we've gotta go find someone to get their help."

"you need someone's help? who's?"

he ignored the comment, just smiling as he walked. "an old friend of mine. a boy from the sea."