The sky was turning a light pink as the first rays of sunshine hit some of the remaining clouds. (Y/N) woke up and found herself alone in Satoru's bed. She didn't think much about it until some time passed and the man didn't show up.
'Is he already gone?'
Standing up she found her clothes on the bed and began to dress. As she exited the bedroom, she saw Satoru on the couch sleeping.
"Bastard." She whispered.
'Well, he asked if I wanted him to fuck me. I guess that's what this was for him. Just a fuck, no feelings.'
She couldn't be in his house any longer. She needed to go away from there, away from him. She didn't know what she was expecting from the night before, but not this.
'Would it be so awful to sleep next to me? Hell, we didn't even need to snuggle, the bed is big enough for two people to sleep in it without touching each other, so why did he have to be such an ass.'
Frustrated, she took a hot shower once she reached her home to try to relax. Afterward, she still felt tired so she laid down on her bed, ending up falling asleep. Sometime later she woke up to her phone ringing.
"Hello?"
"(Y/N)? This is Shoko, Gojo gave me your number."
Not expecting to get a phone call from the medic, (Y/N) shot up in her bed.
"Shoko, hi. How are you?"
"I'm fine. I was wondering if you could come to see me today and maybe let me take a closer look at your markings?"
(Y/N) thought for a few seconds. She wasn't especially eager to let the medic experiment on her, but that would mean she had an excuse to not show up by Satoru today... After weighing her options, she ended up agreeing to Ieiri.
*
Knock, Knock, Knock.
"Come in."
(Y/N) stepped inside Ieiri's consulting room. It wasn't early anymore, so the medic had only little time to experiment on her before she needed to leave for work.
"Hi, Shoko-san." The barwoman used her first name hoping to still have the right to do so. Since the medic didn't argue, she felt some relief.
"Hi, (Y/N)-san. Please take a seat."
Sitting in front of the desk, (Y/N) tried to do some talking.
"It has been a while since we saw each other. My shifts have been a bit duller without you to talk to."
"Why, didn't you find someone else to lie to?"
Her words hurt (Y/N). She understood the medic, but still, she hoped for some understanding back. She thought of the woman as a friend, besides having lied to her. But the lies were only about her name and some of her background, nothing more. The feeling of friendship was true. That's what she told the older woman.
"Ieiri... I'm sorry to have lied to you, but I knew you were a sorceress, so I needed to lie to you too because there was a big chance you knew Gojo. But I really enjoyed talking and getting to know you. I assume Gojo has told you already my motives, seeing that you know my true name..."
"He told me some things... But that doesn't matter now. I'm interested in your markings and how they work. Will you let me study them?"
(Y/N) sighed at her dry answer. "I can't tell you much about them. I have promised not to reveal the secrets of the monastery, but I think you can study them. I'm a bit curious about how they work to be honest."
"Okay, then you can sit on the bed, please."
The barwoman did as asked while Ieiri came next to her on a bench. As the medic took her arm, (Y/N) felt a shock as if it was a discharge of static energy. Instinctively, she pulled her arm back.
"What did you do?"
"I tried to heal your skin, but somehow it doesn't work."
"It was the same thing you did the first time we met, right."
"Yes... Hum. Can you maybe remove your clothes so I can see the patterns better?"
(Y/N) hesitated for a bit. She had realized that Shoko preferred women over men. But she was a medic so she should be able to stay professional. She stripped down to her underwear while the medic turned away, acting as if she was busy on her computer.
"Should I lay back down?"
"No, I would like to take some pictures, if you don't mind."
"Okay." She said a bit unsure.
Awkwardly, (Y/N) stretched out her arms as Ieiri took pictures of her, but the older woman stayed with a serious facial expression, so it helped for the barwoman to calm down.
After being satisfied with the pictures, Shoko asked her to lay down again.
"I would like to try something else. I was thinking of cutting your skin over your markings and then healing it. Is it okay for you?"
"Yeah, I can handle the pain."
"Don't need to. I will put on some numbing cream so you won't feel anything."
Sometime later, Shoko used a scalpel to cut the other woman's skin. She cut through her intact skin and over her burned skin. Afterward, she healed the cut. Normally, with her cursed technique, the cut would be gone, leaving the skin intact, even the part where the marking was. But that didn't happen.
The skin where the marking ran through, instead of being intact again, it took the burned form again.
"Hum..."
Shoko was a bit surprised with the outcome, but it was a hypothesis she had thought could happen. With professionalism, she once again took her scalpel. This time, she cut a strip of skin, removing it and placing it in a small container.
(Y/N) goggled at the piece of her skin. "Now I understand why you insisted on that numbing cream..."
Ieiri was too focused to answer her as she healed the cut out skin again. As before, the once burned skin grew back the same way instead of being immaculate.
"How can this be? What if I try deeper?"
(Y/N) started to fear for herself. 'How deep will the numbing cream work?'
She quickly used an excuse to leave. "Ahm, Shoko? I think I need to go. Today I have work."
"Oh, right. I didn't even notice the time."
(Y/N) was happy when she reached the bar. Outside it was hot, too hot for her liking. That day would start her replacement so she had to show her around. That helped for the time to pass.
*****
The next day she received a text message from Gojo early in the morning.
I'm going on a mission abroad, so you don't have to go to school. I'll tell you when I'm back
She didn't even bother to reply since he didn't show the decency to at least greet her.
'What should I do today? I could just stay in bed...'
As her thought would always go back to a certain white-haired man, she decided to go out and look for some curses to absorb their cursed energy. At least she could replace some of the cursed energy she had released during training. She soon regretted her decision since outside was muggy, probably a storm would come later or the next day.
Later, she was again at the bar, and so the day passed uneventfully.
*****
The storm hit Tokyo during the night. The rain was pouring outside, making (Y/N) stay in her bed till later than usual. Eventually, she had to get ready...
As soon as she stepped outside, she saw a veil in the distance. 'What's happening there?'
Since she had time till her shift, she decided to go see what was happening. While still on her way, she could feel a malevolent presence growing from that spot. She started to run, ignoring the rain that was pouring down.
As she got nearer the veil, the rain began to stop. She stepped through the barrier but wasn't ready for what she saw. Megumi and Yuji were fighting. The pink-haired boy had his shirt ripped off, black markings run through his skin.
'That isn't Yuji, it's Sukuna...'
To her despair, she saw how Sukuna hit Megumi like a punching bag, sending the black-haired boy against a building.
"Hey, Sukuna!!!" She tried to get the spirit's attention so he wouldn't go after the boy to finish him off. "Come at me if you dare to attack someone other than a boy."
The king of curses responded to her provocations. Now that he was in front of her, she saw the hole in his chest where Yuji's heart once was.
"No, Yuji..." She didn't have time to mourn for the boy as its body, moved by Sukuna, attacked her.
Sukuna used his claws as weapons as he launched himself against her. In a fraction of a second, (Y/N) had her sai at hand to block his attack.
"Oh? Interesting technique."
He jumped backward and tilted his head before starting to laugh aloud.
"I see you have gone through the rite, right?"
Still in a defensive stance, (Y/N) didn't understand him. "What rite?"
"The one that marks your soul. You may have hidden your marks, but I could see them as you used your cursed energy. I wonder, do you even know your potential?"
"How do you know about them?"
"Can't you see?" He stretched out his arms. "They are the same. Mine may be black, but that is because I'm a spirit. Once you become a spirit, they will look the same as mine."
"You're lying."
(Y/N) launched herself at the spirit so he would shut up. Her speed was superior to his so she managed to kick him back. He flew against the prison, sending part of its walls down.
The sorceress used this opportunity to check upon Megumi.
"Hey Kid, are you okay?"
"Yeah..."
Sukuna recovered faster than what (Y/N) had thought.
"Who would have thought I would find such interesting people? A beauty who has gone through the same rite as me. You could become my queen, you know."
(Y/N) was helping Megumi up so she couldn't attack Sukuna, but she kept attentive if he would try something.
"I will pass. I don't like evil spirits that much."
"Haha. You fierce, I like that. But this boy is interesting too. A Shikigami user who uses shadows as an intermediary... But I wonder, why didn't you run away back then? I won't fix his heart, you know."
"Do you think I will just let you go like that?" (Y/N) said. "I know you weren't going all out just now, but neither was I."
"Yuna-san, please let me go up against him again."
"Are you sure?"
A firm nod came from the teen, accompanied by his cursed energy rising.
"I will back you up if needed."
"Haha, you're finally ready to go all out? Then show me what you got, Fushiguro Megumi!"
"With this treasure I summon..."
Something made Megumi stop.
"I didn't save you because it was the logical thing to do, Itadori."
The Shikigami user opened his heart to Yuji as if he was telling him goodbye. As he was about to continue fighting, the black marks on Yuji's body began to disappear, his face became once again the sweet boy he was.
"I see, you're so smart Fushiguro."
Yuji was back to himself, but his heart was still missing. He used his last words trying comforting Megumi and said his goodbye.