Silent Funeral
When you opened your eyes, what struck you first was the pain and numbness of your arms. And to add to that, your neck felt stiff. All you could watch was the plain white ceiling. The bed you laid on was soft, its sheets cool and smooth.
Where am I? What happened to Itadori and the rest?
Suddenly, you heard a door slide open.
"Oh, you're awake!" Gojo's familiar whimsical voice sounded.
When you wanted to ask Gojo what happened, you could only cough when you noticed how sore your throat was.
"You've been asleep for a few days," He stated, setting the paper bag he had brought along with him onto the cabinet next to you.
You peeped to your right, watching as Satoru leaned against the wall, avoiding eye contact.
"Itadori?" You asked, voice raw and a bit weird to hear from yourself.
Silence hung in the room.
"He was killed," Your teacher returned.
Your heart dropped. Wasn't Itadori going to switch with Sukuna? Sukuna would've saved him, right?
There's no way.
Gojo noticed your distressed look and sighed.
"As a Jujutsu Sorcerer, losing your life is to be expected."
Guilt overwhelmed you. You could only lay down and rest. You hadn't known him for a long time, but you despised the haunting sensation of being helpless.
Maybe we could've both come out alive.
Gojo seemed agitated too. Though once he caught himself, he immediately asked you an intriguing question.
"Fushiguro reported what happened to me."
He eyed you as you started to sit upwards despite the stinging ache, noticing as you winced from the bandages around your ribs.
"How did you manipulate the cursed energy?"
You looked at him with slight confusion, tilting your head in perplexment. Then, you realized what he had meant.
"I saw the finger."
He stood upwards, gaining attention from what you said.
"I could see its source of cursed energy. I could see the cursed energy. I felt at ease,"
You paused. You were unsure how to explain it,
"When I held the cursed spirit."
Gojo looked at you with astonishment. Finally, you noticed that his lips curled into a grin. As he left the room in a hurry, he told you to wait for him.
You looked around. The room seemed to be the school's clinic. Though the pain still lingered, it gradually improved.
Not long after, Gojo and Fushiguro came back with a small jar of a cursed spirit. Kugisaki entered after. Her eyes were somewhat puffy, but you didn't want to pry.
"I just woke up."
"It's alright. I can deal with it if I need to," Gojo assured, interrupting you.
Fushiguro opened the jar, holding the small cursed spirit with his hands. Despite how vulgar it seemed, you couldn't say anything.
"Touch it."
You turned to look at Gojo, dumbfounded at his demand.
"What?"
"When we found you, your cursed energy levels were incredibly high. Your cursed technique might have something to do with touch," Fushiguro explained.
You looked at the nasty creature, slightly cringing. As soon as you touched it, you saw something.
It was the same as before. A tiny ball inside the cursed spirit was glowing right before your eyes.
The more you touched it, the more you were at ease. However, there was a creeping sense of exasperation within you.
You couldn't keep track of time, but the small spirit soon immediately burst in front of you. Taken aback, you turned to ask the others.
You could tell that your teacher was engrossed. Gojo pondered on how to explain it. Soon, he started to speak.
"Your body's like a magnet."
A magnet...?
"It has little cursed energy but attracts highly concentrated cursed energy. When you touch something with lots of it, you absorb it. Just like how a magnet attracts its opposite," Gojo continued.
"However, once you absorb enough and you have a lot of cursed energy, you repel it. For example, if you touch one, you might blast it away. The same goes the other way. If you have a lot of cursed energy, your body naturally can't handle it. That's why it slowly releases the cursed energy to its surroundings."
You looked at Gojo, trying to comprehend how much information he said in a minute.
My body had a defense mechanism for cursed energy...?
"What about seeing its core?" You asked.
Gojo replied,
"When you absorb cursed energy, you're taking it away from something else. However, you can give it back just as easily if you practiced. How you can do that is through the core. In short, it's a bonus."
You gathered your thoughts. So if I'd known about this earlier, I might have saved Itadori? You frowned.
"That was a special-grade spirit. We're no match for it," Fushiguro said as if he read your mind.
But I could've done so much more.
You tightened your grip against the sheets.
* * * *
It only took you two days to fully recover. After all, you'd mostly recovered during the days you were asleep. During that time, Gojo tried to teach you as much as he could about your cursed technique.
Luckily, you were a quick learner. You could use it a bit more freely, and you'd been practicing with Kugisaki and her nails. As a result, you now wore a pair of black gloves around just in case.
There were a few times you thought about Itadori. Whenever you remembered what happened to him, guilt overwhelmed you. Even goosebumps from that day still haunted you.
Returning to your dorm, you noticed the distant sunset. Once you recovered, Kugisaki told you about the upcoming exchange event. For the first time, you would be meeting the second year students of Jujutsu High.
Since you had been resting for the past few days, you decided to practice extra hours. After changing into your uniform, you made your way to the training area.
The field was spacious, and you figured you could even hold an Olympics.
"Oh, is this the other first-year?" You heard someone say.
You turned around, noticing a tall girl. She had golden eyes and dark green hair tied into a ponytail. Moreover, she had a fringe over her forehead and wore a pair of glasses. Behind her, you could see she was holding a metal polearm.
"I'm Maki Zenin," She introduced herself, to which you added yours.
Kugisaki and Fushiguro stood with her, a panda, and another slim young boy. He had light skin and purple eyes. Furthermore, he had straight platinum blonde hair and wore a zipped-up dark collar with a white short-sleeve shirt.
The panda he stood next to slightly surprised you, especially when he started talking.
"This is Inumaki Toge, and I'm Panda," The panda said, noticing your astonished face.
"I know. Me too," Kugisaki sighed, laying her hands on your shoulder.
"Alright then, enough with the introductions," You heard Maki say.
"We're going to win the exchange event."