Megumi moved one foot back and raised his hands to prepare to dodge if Sukuna attacked and to attack Sukuna at the same time. Sukuna, on the other hand, just stood there with his hands in his pockets.
"You just don't get it," Megumi said, "He's... Itadori's coming back. Even if it means he'll die. That's just who he is."
"You give him too much credit," Sukuna replied, "This guy's just a little tougher and denser than other humans," Sukuna used the back of his hand to wipe away the blood that was dripping from the corners of his mouth, "Just a moment ago, he was scared out of his mind, on the verge of death, and prattling on about his regrets and all that nonsense. I know for a fact he doesn't have the guts to kill himself."
Megumi took a closer look at Sukuna and noticed his arm was restored from when he lost it fighting the special grade. Because of that, Megumi figured that Sukuna could use Reverse Cursed Techniques.
Even though he can live without a heart, it should still be damaging to him. Megumi thought to himself. He needed to make Sukuna heal his heart before Itadori could switch out. He needed to make Sukuna believe he couldn't beat him unless he needed his heart.
Megumi's hand began shaking as he thought about it. Can I do that? Megumi asked himself. He began doubting himself when he thought about how he was too scared to move in front of the other special grade.
Megumi looked past Sukuna and back at Kaiya. She could do it if she hadn't used so much of her cursed energy... Megumi thought. Maybe if I buy her enough time to get back on her feet--
Sukuna saw his eyes were looking behind him, "I wouldn't look to her for help any time soon," Sukuna spoke, breaking Megumi from his thoughts. Megumi looked back at him.
"Shinimi Reapers normally take a full week to recover from using that much cursed energy. Because she's young, it might take longer," Sukuna explained.
Megumi slowly raised his hands in front of his face, his hands still shaking. Then I have to do this. Megumi put his hands together in the formation of a bird. His shadow behind him grew in size and manifested into a large orange bird, Nue.
Megumi and Nue ran toward Sukuna. Sukuna took his hands out of his pockets and moved his hands to his head, resting them in his hair, "I'm finally outside, after all," He began, "Let's use the open space."
Megumi threw a kick at Sukuna which he easily dodged. Megumi threw multiple punches at Sukuna, he easily dodged all of them. "Interesting," Sukuna commented, "You use Shikigami, but you still come at me yourself?"
Behind him, Nue flew down to attack Sukuna. Megumi began throwing different attacks at Sukuna. Sukuna effortlessly dodged Megumi and Nue, his hands back in his pockets.
"More," Sukuna encouraged, dodging Megumi's attacks easily, "More." Megumi threw one more punch to Sukuna's face. Sukuna turned his body to dodge it and also grabbed Megumi's fist.
Sukuna pulled Megumi closer to him, "Put more curse behind it," Sukuna said, his red eyes glowing. Megumi tried to back away when Sukuna suddenly backhanded him, "When you strike me!"
Megumi still held his ground and made another formation with his hand, Orochi! Megumi shouted in his head. From the shadows, a large white snake appeared and bit Sukuna. Orochi took Sukuna up into the air.
"Gang up on him!" Megumi shouted. Nue's wings began charging up with electricity. Nue struck Sukuna with electricity which didn't seem to affect him one bit. Sukuna broke out of Orochi's jaws, splitting the snake down the middle.
Megumi watched in horror as Orochi was destroyed. In an instant, Sukuna was beside Megumi again. He grabbed the back of Megumi's uniform, "Hey, what did I just say?" Sukuna asked, "Let's use the open space!"
Sukuna turned and tossed Megumi into the trees. The throw was so powerful, Megumi ended up in the air, breezing past houses nearby. Megumi opened his eyes and saw Sukuna was in the air as well. Sukuna kicked Megumi down into the roof of an apartment complex.
The force behind the kick was so powerful, it caused Megumi to bounce off of the roof onto another one. Megumi tumbled on the roof and off the other side, launching him back into the air. Sukuna appeared beside Megumi in a flash and punched him into a building.
Megumi broke through multiple beams as he was hit through the building. Once he broke through the other side, Nue flew by and grabbed him with its claws. Nue was fast, but Sukuna was faster. He caught up to them almost instantly.
Sukuna hit Nue's back, knocking Nue and Megumi down into another building. Nue protected Megumi from most of the damage, taking most of it himself. Megumi began to go through his options, the White Divine Dog and Orochi were destroyed and Nue was at his limit.
Megumi released Nue to keep him from getting destroyed. Nue disappeared into the shadows. "I get it now," Sukuna said. "So your Shikigami are created from shadows."
"So what?" Megumi asked.
Sukuna put his hand on his chin in thought, "I don't get it though, why did you run back then?" Sukuna asked, "What a waste of talent."
"Whatever," Sukuna continued, "Either way, it won't be enough to fix this," He pointed to the hole in his chest. "You're risking your life over stupid shit," Sukuna added. Megumi stood back up on his feet.
"This brat isn't even worth that much," Sukuna continued. Megumi raised his hands once again. This time, there was a turquoise blue aura around his body. Sukuna widened his eyes in shock. He smiled evilly, "That's it."
"So this is where you start burning through your life!" Sukuna said, "Now I see. In that case," Sukuna took a couple of steps closer to Megumi, "Show me, Fushiguro Megumi!!"
"Sacred treasure swing and ring, ring Eight Grip," Megumi had a moment of realization and lowered his hands and the aura disappeared.
"Just so you know," Megumi started, "I don't have a logical reason for saving you back then. Even if it was dangerous, I couldn't bear to see a good person like you die. I did have my reservations, but ultimately, it was for selfish, emotional reasons. That's fine though. I'm not a hero."
While Megumi was speaking, the black markings on Sukuna began fading, signaling Itadori was coming back. "I'm a Jujutsu Sorcerer. So I never once regretted saving you." Megumi finished. The black markings completely disappeared and Itadori smiled.
"I see." Itadori said, "You really are smart, Fushiguro. You've put more thought into this than I have." Megumi's face softened and he smiled at the sight of his friend, "I think your conviction is a proper one," Itadori continued, "But I don't think mine's wrong either."
Blood spilled out of Itadori's chest and mouth. "Oh, sorry, I'm almost done for," Itadori said, "Guess I won't have to worry about you, Kugisaki, Gojou-sensei, or Shinimi-san."
Itadori began falling forward, "Live a long life." He whispered before collapsing in front of Megumi. Megumi's bottom lip quivered as he tilted his head back slightly. Megumi was quiet as he stood in front of his friend's body.
----
Meanwhile, back at the juvenile center, two figures were on the roof, looking down at Kaiya who was still too tired and worn out to move. One of the figures was sitting down on the edge of the roof, one leg dangling off of the side and the other was bent at the knee, up to her chest. The second figure was standing behind her, his green hair blowing in the wind.
The one sitting on the edge was shuffling a deck of cards with her hands. The green-haired one could hear the metal of the other one's hand creaking as she shuffled the cards mindlessly.
"Looks like she refined her domain," The green-haired one spoke.
"Hmm," The other one hummed, "And looks like Fushiguro Megumi is all grown up."
The green-haired one nodded his head, "If she can fight Sukuna head-on like that, then she's definitely a lot stronger than before," He said.
"But it shouldn't matter. She used a lot of cursed energy. She'll be weak. Remember what she told us? Once she uses a certain amount of cursed energy, she'll be weakened for a whole week. This is our chance to kill her," The other one stood up, letting her blonde hair flow in the breeze.
"And get revenge for what she did to us." The blonde held up one of her cards in between her index and middle finger. She threw her hand out, throwing the card into a bird that was flying by.
The bird called out in pain as it fell onto the roof, the card embedded in its neck.
"Wouldn't Gojou keep a close eye on her?" The green-haired one questioned, unfazed by the abrupt violence that just happened, "Remember how he barely let her out of his sight unless he absolutely had to?"
"We just need to separate them," She walked over to the bird that was still struggling and bleeding out. She gently picked up the bird with her metal hand. She grabbed the card and pulled it out by dragging it through the bird's neck. The bird stopped moving in her hand.
"How?"
"Send her a message," She dropped the bird onto the ground, the body making a disgusting thud, "Maybe reopen some old wounds," She looked at the bloody card, holding it between her fingers again. She turned the card over and looked at the seven red hearts on it.
"Or better yet... Rub some salt in the new ones," The blonde-haired girl looked over her shoulder and smirked at the green-haired male.
"Let's hope that Maki girl is still around," She made her way back to the male. "And we can also target--"
"--Kaiya!!" They heard a faint voice yell. The two of them looked over the edge of the roof, watching Megumi Fushiguro run back to Kaiya.
"Him," The blonde looked at the male, "Kaiya's a Reaper. Reapers are protective and loyal creatures. Target the ones they love and they won't think straight. Pushing Kaiya to her limits should be no problem."
"Find me a rat," She ordered, turning away from him.
"She hates those," She added, walking away.
"Sure thing."
----
a/n: idk why it takes me so long to update all of these are prewritten LMFAOO