Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Explain that again? Because I think I've been continuously hallucinating these past six minutes because you just said—"

"Stain is the Rat, or part of him at least." Nanamin calmly said for the fourth time, as if he was commenting on the weather. "Our hypothesis is that at some point in his ancestry, a Rat figment merged with his bloodline."

"I still must be hallucinating." Yuuji muttered, staring down at the (ginormous) mission debrief on his lap. "How is that even possible ? Stain is a human and the Rat is a cursed spirit! Did one of Stain's ancestors fuck the—"

"First of all, ew, gross, you're disgusting. How dare you conjure that image in my mind." Bubble girl snapped from the driver's seat. "Second, from your accounts and the limited interactions we had with the figments, the Rat does not appear to be a normal cursed spirit born out of the mere concentration of cursed energy. So, we should stop treating it like such and expect some… unexplainable behavior."

Yuuji nodded feverishly, his mind still in a frenzy. "Understandable. No weird who-bang-what theories. So, you figured out Stain was related to the Rat by…"

"Sheer luck and brilliance," Centipeder explained. "Your dreams after interacting with the rat were a great lead. Nighteye had the idea to look into psychiatric hospitals who may have experienced similar hallucinations. We were merely hoping to find indications of the Rat's whereabouts, but what we found instead was Danno Akaguro. He experienced persistent hallucinations, and was convinced that he was a poor man from the sixth century. He was also convinced that he was Mother Teresa and had an orphanage."

"… Surprisingly wholesome?"

"Until he tried to adopt the other patients, I suppose. When he wasn't crying over his dead lover, he kept screaming about paintings. Towards the end of his life, he kept crying for 'the doctor to take him too.' There was a doctor mentioned in your dreams, no?"

Yuuji felt a shiver travel down his spine. "Holy shit."

"Language, but an appropriate reaction." Nanamin commented, as Centipeder continued, "Danno Akaguro is the grandfather of Stain, Chizome Akaguro. Hospital records say that the Akaguro family has a history of hallucinations, at least spanning four generations back. Therefore, it is highly plausible that Stain also has this connection to the Rat."

"Furthermore, you mentioned that in your time affected by the fragment, you could peer into the vision of other figments." Nanami explained as Yuuji stared at the heroes in sheer awe. "This may be too ambitious, but perhaps given Stain's possible connection to the Rat, he could peer into the Rat's mind—"

"And uncover its location?! Holy shit, that's brilliant! And strangely makes sense!" Yuuji shook his head in disbelief. "And you found that info and came up with all that in two weeks?"

"Yup," Bubble girl beamed proudly, "there was so much overtime work, so it better fucking pay off!"

"Language." Nanami and Centipeder said simultaneously. Yuuji laughed, feeling the knot of tension unraveling in his stomach. He still couldn't shake off a vague sense of unease, but he decided to push that to the back of his mind.

"It's four against one!" Yuuji declared. "We got this!" Bubble girl cheered in agreement as the van zipped along the highway.

One trusty Nanamin and two seasoned heroes. What could possibly go wrong?

"I 'eally 'eed o s'op sayin' wha' could 'ossibly 'o wrong." Yuuji gritted to himself from the muddy ground, fruitlessly willing his limbs to move. The pouring rain and sauntering footsteps pounded loudly in his head. Or maybe that's the sound of another concussion. God damnit, why does he keep getting concussions?

"I will admit, your skills aren't too shabby." Stain crouched down. Yuuji flinched as the hero killer shoved his face so close that the sorcerer could see the blood red of his pupils. Another parallel to the Rat, red eyes. "Might've caught up to me if you weren't so rushed."

"Wha' oo wan'?"

"I accept you jujutsu sorcerers as a necessary evil." Stain continued, as if Yuuji didn't ask him a (albeit nonsensical) question. "Yet, you choose to partner with those posers instead."

"'Ey! 'ou don' know 'e! I don' even li'e 'eroes!" Yuuji garbled, feeling mildly offend. A month at UA and a ride in a sketchy van with a couple sidekicks and suddenly he's a hero lover?

"… Anyways." Stain shook his head. "I'd rather not kill you, but if you are going to collaborate with those fakes —"

"Ey! I 'ust said—"

"Stay put." Stain spat. Starting to pull away. Oh no, can't let him leave before Nanami (or someone who can talk coherent sentences) get here first. "Quit interfering with my culling, hero lover."

Yuuji felt his blood run cold. "Wha' 'id oo 'ust call 'e?"

Stain leaned back down, "come again?"

"I'M 'OT A HERO LO'ER." Yuuji roared. As if a spring in a mouse trap, lurched forward and with all his might, head butted Stain in the face, hard. "S'REW YOU!"

The vigilante reeled back, "you—"

"OU are gonna STAY 'ERE." Yuuji shouted. He had no control of his limbs, but somehow just enough mobility his torso to flop around like an earthworm. "FIGHT 'E YOU BI'H."

"Interesting." Stain muttered, rubbing his forehead. "It must be the jujutsu blood that alters my quirk's effect on you."

"Oh, 'is isn' 'ormal?"

 "And somehow your speech is impeded instead. Whatever." Stain's face splits into bloody-chilling grin and unsheathes his sword. "I will kill you on these streets."

"Na'amin!" Yuuji screamed into his comms as he violently flopped and dodged Stain's slashes (and almost head butted the hero killer in the crotch, to both of their alarm). His concussion was not mixing well with Sukuna's howls of laughter and Stain's bewildered growls of frustration. "Where a'e yuo?!?"

"Almost—on my way." The reply was more static than words, but Yuuji could hear Nanamin's urgency. "Keep him—few minutes, two her—I will be there in—"

"Stop flailing around!" Stain snarled, ripping away his ear piece Yuuji struggled out of the hero killer's grasp to narrowly avoid a stab to the neck. He rolled aside and bit back a groan. I can't evade his attacks forever.

Yuuji felt a twitch in his arms. Hope sparked in his core as he struggled to stand up, stumbling with trembling legs as shaking hands reached for his phone. "Yes!" I'll call Nanamin—

Stain licked his sword, Yuuji (and his phone) face planted into the ground, "S'REW 'OU! 'AT 'AS A 'RAND 'EW PHONE!"
"Do understand that with all this blood, I can keep reparalyzing you over and over again." The vigilante said ominously. At the sound of concrete scraping metal, Yuuji jolted aside, feeling the blade slice against his useless arm. "Ugh—"

"You have persistence." Stain admitted. "Should I feel honored that jujutsu sorcerers also seek to hunt me with such vigor?"

Searing pain snaked down his arm as the blade pierced his shoulder. Yuuji glared at the hero killer looming over him. "If 'ou 'emme 'alk 'ormally—"

He let the cursed energy course through his body, jolting violently to give him enough momentum to head butt Stain in the knee.

A crunch. A scream of pain, but Yuuji was laser focused on one thing. My phone's vibrating. It had to be Nanamin trying to contact him. With blood blurring his vision (somewhere along the multiple headbutts he must've cut himself), he stumbled towards the glow of his phone.

Using cursed energy helps, Yuuji thought hazily, though I can't tell if the numbness is from his quirk or my injuries. His legs buckle, but he perfectly timed it so that his face would crash right on the screen so his nose can answer the call and—

"Yo dumbass, why the fuck aren't you responding to my calls?"

… Huh?
"KU'SAKI?!" Yuuji screamed. "WHYARE 'OU CALLIN' ME INNA MIDDLE OF A FI—"
"Your shithead," A growl sounded from behind, "almost shattered my fucking knee cap."

Oh shit.

Oh shitshitshitshithsitihihht he sounds actually so mad right now. Yuuji felt his body freeze again as he heard a confused Kugisaki ask, "knee cap?"

"NO 'IME TO ESP'AIN," Yuuji garbled into the phone, frantically rolling on the ground to evade Stain's labored blows—and blocking the sword with his already fucked up shoulder to prevent a very pissed vigilante from stabbing his phone—he needed to get in contact with Nanami. "EN' 'ALL O I 'AN CAL' NA'AIN!"

"What?"

Understandable reaction, but Yuuji was about to lose his shit (and possibly his shoulder). "EN'. 'E. CAL'. NOW. SO I—ow—CAL'. NA'AMIN."

A stab through clean through the phone. Yuuji felt both his heart and shoulder shatter.

"Enough." Stain snarled. Finally accepting defeat, Yuuji rolled onto his back and took a good look at the hero killer, who triumphantly raised his sword, preparing for a swift execution. At least he seems exhausted. Can't run away too far after killing me.

What a loser, to let someone kill you this pathetically. Sukuna chimed in.

Maybe Yuuji should just let Stain end it all. I do NOT need your input when I might LITERALLY face god in like two seconds—

You, face god? What noteworthy deed have you done in your insignificant, miserable—

"—any final words?"

—ant-like life, scum?
"I JUS' 'AN'T CAN' CATCH A 'REAK CAN I?!" Yuuji screamed, with enough frustration that made even the raging vigilante pause.

Stain frowned, cocking his head to the side. "Got some trauma you want to unpack right now, kid?"

Yuuji frowned as well. "Why 're you suddenly—"

"Have no fear!" Suddenly, blurs bulldozed into Stain. Yuuji scrambled (wriggled) out of the way as two definitely not All Might figures barrel in front of him. The spandex-clad hero glanced back and beamed at the bewildered student, "Boomerang is here! … and Ingenium. Dang, really gotta work on my catchphrase."
"Not the time, Boomerang." The other hero—Ingenium, why did that name sound so familiar?—said smoothly, before also looking back at Yuuji, "thanks for the help, kid. Let us take it from here."

Did not need to ask him twice. Yuuji let out a garbled thanks before shuffling back, as the heroes turned their attention back to the vigilante who'd gotten back up and looked quite… serene.

I'm going to trust hero competency for once. Yuuji turned away, focusing on the painful crawl back to his poor, shattered phone. He cradled the device and choked out a sob, "my 'oor phone. You only lived for fi'e weeks…"

"Oh, you sound normal again! Kinda." Yuuji felt his heart sing with relief as Kugisaki's voice blared through the cracked screen over the sounds of fighting. "what is happening. Who is Ingen… Engine man and why does he have a boomerang—"

"My phone! It still works! It's a Christmas miracle ohmygod I'm going to hang up I need to call Nanamin~"

"Hold the fuck up—"

"Bye!" Yuuji ignored his best friend's screech of protest. Fingers still numb and barely functioning, he concentrated on dialing Nanamin's number. How did I let myself get so hurt. Yuuji chided at himself, wincing as he pressed against the stab wounds on his shoulder. No matter, once Nanamin gets here, and he can talk to Stain…

Yuuji paused. Wait a second, whose side are these heroes on? Are they working with Nighteye or just here to arrest Stain?? Oh god do I have to fight them after if they're here to arrest Stain?? Wait, maybe I'll just ask them first before I jump to any conclusions. No harm in that. He cleared his throat, though keeping his eyes focused on typing the right numbers. "So uh, hey guys! Not to break your concentration but was wondering if you talked to Nighteye about—"

" NO!! "

Yuuji looked up.

He looked up.

Just in time to see Stain's sword pierce right through Boomerang's skull.

The sound of the rain faded, just quiet enough to hear the hero's broken body crumble to the ground.

Stain looked down at the carnage, peaceful as if he was deaf to the way the world was silently screaming. "Idols." He scoffed, giving the lifeless body a kick. Yuuji couldn't breathe, his eyes trained on the vigilante's bloody sword. "You are nothing but idols when contrasted against a real god, a true hero."

The hero killer gazed calmly at the sky, before slowly making his way to the other hero, who was stunned into silence. "Your sin is your pride and vanity, to think you are worthy of being a god when you crave for nothing but fame and riches."

The vigilante's words seemed to shock the battered hero out of silence. "You know nothing about him. You know nothing about his goals and his motivations." Ingenium choked out, anguish raw and painful, reminding Yuuji of his loneliest, grief-stricken nights. "Y-you know nothing about how he works to help his ailing mother—o-or… you don't even care to understand—"

"I know enough from how he carries himself."
"You know nothing!" Ingenium roared, the engine exhausts on his arm blaring to life. Yuuji's blood ran cold as he sees Stain smile, "Ingenium, wait, don't—"

The hero charged, a blur of white zipping across the concrete—fast and precise in a way that reminded him of—

—Iida. Yuuji realized, as Stain's bloody sword ripped through the hero's armor, slicing through his arm.

The scream was deafening.

"You are fast." Stain admitted, sidestepping the collapsed hero clutching his broken arm. "But your grief makes you weak."

"Enough!" Yuuji shouted, stumbling forward. What am I doing? What can I even do?? "Leave them—him—out of this. You were fighting me."

Stain's expression morphed into a childlike awe as the injured jujutsu sorcerer planted himself firmly between the vigilante and the hero. "You have hero potential. I'm impressed."

" Enough with your hero bullshit." Yuuji snarled. "You talk about God, like you haven't been passing judgement on others this entire time?"

"You got angry when I called you a hero-lover. No?" The hero killer asked, bloodshot eyes wide with curiosity. "Then you must understand my disdain, my anger— fury —for the fakes and the posers who claim to be the good and just—"

"But I don't kill people because of it!" Yuuji all but shouted. "This is basic human decency and y-you, you just don't—you know what. You just can't be reasoned with. If you are going to kill Ingenium, then you'll have to fight me."

"But I don't want to kill you," Stain said reasonably, as if he was talking over afternoon tea. "You have potential. It would be waste. Plus, you are in no condition to fight me."

Rage and cursed energy coursed through Yuuji. "If you don't think I won't beat your face into a pulp—"

"K-kid," a weak voice sounded from behind. Yuuji glanced back at the battered hero, helmet shattered—god, how did he not notice the resemblance before? Even their hero suits look almost identical.  If the paramedics don't come, he's going to bleed to death. "Retreat while you can. You will only be put in harm's way."

Yuuji gritted his teeth, he didn't even have to look to know Stain was grinning. "You want me to—"

"Itadori." A calm voice broke through the chaos. "Stand down and rest. You've done enough."

Yuuji whipped his head to the approaching footsteps. " Nanamin." His sensei clearly looked disheveled, yet just Nanamin's hand on his uninjured shoulder offered a sense of stability he had not felt in the past hour. 

Yuuji should've felt relief. The person he'd been asking, practically begging for, was finally here. Yet…

Nanamin followed his student's gaze to the blood-soaked floor. His grip tightened for a second before giving Yuuji a firm pat on the back. "You did your job. If you follow Bubble girl or Centipeder and they can lead you to the medics—"

"I want to stay." Yuuji interrupted, wincing at his own interjection. He never interrupted his sensei. "I-if I may, I just want to see this through."

Nanamin gave him a long look before glancing back at the hero killer, who cautiously retreated into the shadows, clearly on the defense yet not straying too far from his prey. "You can watch from the sidelines with Centipeder and Bubble girl. Give us some space, though if all things go right this should not end in bloodshed."

"O-okay," Yuuji felt lightheaded, adrenaline still pumping and his surroundings blurred as backed away, but not trusting himself to look away from the vigilante again. More footsteps, his mind noted. He felt arms carefully wrapping gauze around his shoulders and arms. Bubble girl was mumbling something about blood loss and being careless. "It's a miracle you haven't passed out yet."

"I'm sorry," Yuuji rasped, to which Centipeder immediately replied. "You have nothing to apologize for. We shouldn't have spread ourselves so thin."

"Should we join him?" Bubble girl asked Centipeder anxiously, glancing at the Nanamin and the hero killer. The two men were staring at each other wordlessly, appraising one another. "Should only Nanami be negotiating?"

Centipeder shook his head. "Our presence will make this situation even more volatile. I trust Nighteye's judgement and his faith in the Nanami."

"Nanamin was a salaryman, so maybe negotiations are secretly his forte?" Yuuji piped in, wincing when the sidekick disinfected the gashes on his forehead.

"It's not about faith, or his negotiation skills," Bubble girl muttered, as Nanamin slowly approached the vigilante, stopping short of Boomerang's broken figure. "It's more about… his principles."

Yuuji frowned. "Principles?"
"Let's cut to the chase," Nanamin's voice rang loud across the debris. "I'm not here to arrest you."

Even from a distance, Yuuji could see Stain's bloodshot eyes widen. "Oh?"

"I am not here not on hero, but rather, jujutsu sorcerer business." Nanamin continued, as if he was reading from a teleprompter. "Your cooperation and assistance is needed to accomplish our goals."

" Oh ?" The viligante's tone was incredulous, borderline manic. "Enlighten me, sorcerer. What goals do you seek to fulfill?"

"What if I say they are in connection with your… visions." Stain's eyes somehow widened even more upon Nanamin's words. "They do run in your family. No?"

"Interesting." The hero killer's expression turned guarded, his bloody sword erratically tapping the muddy ground. "Someone has been doing some stalking."

That doesn’t sound too good. Yuuji tensed, Centipeder's firm hand on his shoulder holding him in place. If he hurts Nanamin…

"But I am intrigued," the hero killer rasped, "do continue."

Huh? "I thought you would be." Nanamin nodded, again as if he was discussing the weather. Yuuji sighed, some people are too hard to read. "If I have your cooperation, all will be unveiled in due time. For our goals, I will need you free, and stay free. Thus, if we enter into an agreement, you agree not to attract attention by targeting heroes during the duration of our… partnership."

The hero killer narrowed his eyes, "your request is akin to asking a fish to stop swimming, or a pastor to stop praying." Even Bubble girl couldn't control a loud scoff of disbelief at the vigilante's words.

"What's in this for you?" Nanamin asked, gesturing to the limp body before him. "You don't strike me as someone motivated by materialistic gain."

"True, I do seek a higher ideal."

"Then I hope to achieve an ideological understanding, with the firm promise that this mission is done with the ultimate goal to… save lives." Yuuji could see the tension in Nanamin's expression as he uttered those words. "Obviously we nor Nighteye would be pursuing you during this agreement, but as for the police or other hero agencies…"

"That is hardly of concern for me." Stain said dismissively, "I could care less about who comes after me. But you jujutsu sorcerers…." Studies Nanami intently, "it was one of your people's idea to reach out to me, wasn't it?" Studies Nanami's carefully blank expression, Stain grinned, " intriguing . I've hardly interacted with you jujutsu sorcerers before, but you have my attention. I accept this offer.

"BUT, you seem to understand how I hold myself to my convictions," Stain continued, "yet how can I be sure that you jujutsu sorcerers will stand steadfastly to yours? Words of saving lives and a peaceful world mean shit. How far would you be willing to go for your convictions? Would you be willing… to kill ?"

Yuuji felt his blood run cold as red eyes shift to a bloody figure. Ingenium, who'd miraculously crawled away and was now slumped against a broken building wall, barely conscious. Shit.

"Prove to me that our ideologies are compatible, that our convictions are compatible." Stain rasped, "show me that you can—"

"Kill?" Nanamin asked lightly. He walked towards Stain, "ridiculous."

Yuuji felt an exhale of relief. His voice was weak and scratchy, "Nanamin, get him out of—"

A clean swing, and the building wall exploded. A broken cry cut off by a cloud of rubble. The air was punched out of Yuuji's lungs as Ingenium disappears under blocks of concrete. Nanamin sheathed his weapon.

"You'll find no one that is as intimate with death like jujutsu sorcerers." Nanamin continued, now face-to-face with the startled hero killer. Yuuji couldn't breathe, the world was screaming again, but maybe it's Sukuna's laughter. "We know how to bargain with the devil, the importance of trading lives."

Stain dissolved into fits of laughter, the sound was broken, ugly, and delightful. "I name you hero killer! How delightful, an accomplice! I accept your proposal. You jujutsu sorcerers and I will bring about a new age." His face contorted into a grin as he nimbly leaped and scaled the battered apartment building. "We will meet in a week from today at dusk by the junkyard, two miles away from the Taboka muncipal park. Just you and your jujutsu sorcerers. Nanamin… is it? I will see you then."

"It's Nanami." the jujutsu sorcerer replied tartly, watching the hero killer disappear onto the rooftops. "To think he could move like that with a shattered kneecap…"

Yuuji lurched forward. The sidekicks didn't stop him, their footsteps behind him drowned by the pounding in his head. "Ingenium!" He crashed beside the rubble, shaky hands reaching for the scatter of debris. "He—I—if I can get to him."

"Itadori…"

"Why did you do that?!" Yuuji shouted, head spinning towards his teacher. His hands still shoving away the concrete. "Why would you kill him just because that criminal and murderer asked you to?! You didn't even stop and think of an alternative!"

Nanamin's face was carefully blank, and Yuuji felt his heart crack.

"Itadori…" Centipeder quietly said, just as Bubble girl shook her head. Her voice soft and remorseful, "did you—"

"You have a concussion." Nanamin calmly cut in, crouching by Yuuji and also began sifting through the rubble. "Support this part of the beam while I move—yes just like that. Centipeder, step behind him. Itadori, take it easy. Your wounds are not light."

"I—oh." Yuuji said dumbly, feeling the anger vanish in a swoop, leaving him hollow and his mind numb. "Why are you…you just—now you're… oh, shit. I see his hand!"

"Hold the beam up higher." Nanamin ordered. Bubble girl shouted something about running back to get equipment. Yuuji couldn't help but flinch as his mentor unsheathed his weapon (and if Nanamin's posture stiffened for a second after Yuuji's involuntary moment, it was perhaps a trick of Yuuji's concussion-addled mind). With swift precision, Nanamin cut the remaining chunk of rubble in half before pushing the debris aside to reveal a blood-soaked hero.

"Ingenium." Yuuji breathed as Nanamin crouched forward, carefully pulling the unconscious hero out of the chaos. Nanamin laid his fingers against the hero's pulse. "Sensei, is he…?"

"Shit." Nanamin, his sensei , cursed. His hands immediately ripping into Iida's brother's crushed, bloodied armor. "He's not breathing. Shit. Shit ."

Yuuji felt like he was going to stop breathing too. "He's…?"

Footsteps sounded behind him. Bubble girl pushed into view with equipment in hand. "Stand back. We have—is he going into cardiac arrest?? Fuck—no, don't do chest compressions, he has too many open wounds." Bubble girl shouted, crouching beside the unconscious man. "Shit, all we have in the car is this basic tech to stabilize him—"

"Stop the bleeding first." Centipeder said firmly. In the few long hours he'd known him, Itadori had never heard him sound so distraught. "Bubble girl, when's the ambulance coming?"

"Six minutes. Without that brutal traffic from the hero festival—"

Yuuji felt himself sit back. The adults hunched over the unconscious figure pulling out different wires and technology and… something. More adults rush over. Sirens. Red. More adults start pulling at him, guiding away from— his eyes narrow in on the broken body covered in a white shroud —from—

"Itadori." He blinked. He was sitting on the side, next to a… tent? His injuries were all wrapped up in gauze too. He must've dissociated, hard. Maybe the last time this happened was… when his grandfather died? Or Junpei?

"… What happened?"

Yuuji looked up. Huh, Fushiguro and Kugisaki made it.

What happened? He felt his mind replay through… well, everything. Words tumbled out of his mouth, and he could see the growing disbelief and horror on his friends face.

"I think Nanamin just killed someone… a hero."

A stunned pause.

" He did what?!" Kugisaki shouted. Fushiguro looked at him like he grew two heads. "Then when that hot—I-I mean, when that horrible zodiac that was toying with us said something about a deal, it involved the murder of a hero ?! Actually, color me impressed. Nanami-sensei has the guts to become a criminal hunted by the state to achieve his mission objectives. Respect."

"Kugisaki." Fushiguro hissed and whacked his teammate against the head, just as Yuuji frowned. "A deal?"

"We ran into the sixth zodiac." Fushiguro explained. "He said… actually, it might just be easier to explain this to Nanami-san as well."

"I heard my name." Their sensei now blinked into view, Nighteye following closely behind. Yuuji took a shaky breath. No more wallowing. He needed to snap out of his daze. Everything was clicking into place, but first… "Sensei, why did you do that to Ingenium?"

Silence once again settled among the jujutsu sorcerers. Nanamin shifted his stance, his expression calm and empty. "Itadori. Do you know what is the survival rate of heroes that have encountered and battled Stain on patrols?"

The students exchanged perplexed glances ("was it in the thick ass packet they gave us?!" Kugisaki mouthed to Fushiguro, who scowled). Nanamin continued, "16%, and all of the surviving heroes have had serious if not career-ending injuries.

"He was not going to let Ingenium leave alive. Even if I could eventually convince him to enter in an alliance with us, if I had shown even a shred of hesitance in my intent, he would have killed him. My method was… extreme. But, it guaranteed a possibility of survival."

Yuuji let out an empty laugh. Everything makes sense now. "By crushing someone with concrete debris and sending them into cardiac arrest, okay."

Kugisaki squawked. "Sensei, you crushed him with a building?! That seems pretty career ending to me."

Nighteye shook his head, expression full of regret. "Ingenium is an experienced hero. I had hoped that he would've been strong enough to hold his grown against Stain."

"At least the deal part of our conversation with the sixth zodiac makes sense now." Fushiguro muttered to himself. Upon the look of confusion on Nanamin's face, he elaborated. "We ran into the snake zodiac on our way here and he must have overheard your conversation with the hero killer… and Kugisaki thought he was hot."

"THAT IS NOT RELEVANT TO THIS CONVERSATION WHATSOEVER!" Kugisaki screeched as Yuuji and Nighteye choked on air. "Imma curse you. You hear me??! Imma stab my nail right through the stomach of my straw doll and make you shit yourself to death!"

"Is that how your powers even work…"

"That's how shit works now you BITCH—"

" Continuing on our original topic," Nighteye interrupted, pushing up his glasses. "while it is unsettling how quickly the zodiacs were able to gather this information, I'm more disturbed by how willing they were to reveal how much they knew so carelessly."

"Yeah," Yuuji frowned. Didn't he meet "the sixth" in that vision of his ages ago after USJ. "Say, did the sixth zodiac have green hair, and looked like a teenager?"

"Yeah!" Kugisaki leaped to her feat. "Wait, he mentioned something about how 'we weren't the one that he saw' when we were talking… So that's you!"

"Yeah!! You know, he was kinda hot."

"RIGHT?! See, I'm not being weird AT ALL he was kinda hot."

"Okay, but how morally corrupt are you to be thirsting after a cursed spirit. "

"SHUT your fucking trap Fushiguro."

" Once again returning to our original topic," Nanamin scowled. "How powerful would you say this sixth zodiac is?"

Kugisaki's scowl deepened. "A far cry from Gojou sensei, but he was slippery. He probably could've killed the both of us if he wanted to but it seemed like he simply chose not to."

"… They're waiting for something, for us to do something. I'm not sure why." Nanamin concluded, his eyes narrowing behind his tinted glasses. "We'll have to proceed with caution, but it seems like realistically there's not much we can do without more information."

Nighteye nodded in agreement. "I did not receive any reports of a teenager-like figure moving through any of the zones, but in addition to spectating your interactions with Stain—which, should not be difficult at all even if we cannot be physically present—we will have to somehow tighten security in the periphery as well to avoid… this unwanted attention."

"Sensei, I have to ask." Fushiguro said quietly, "although I was not present for your conversation with Stain, are you sure it is a good idea to work with someone so unstable? To force your hand to attack a hero… should we not be worried about similar behavior targeting us occurring in the future."

"I don't think so." Yuuji responded, surprising everyone and himself with the confidence in his voice. "I don't think he will attack us like that because we are not a threat to his agenda."

"Please elaborate." Nighteye's expression was unreadable. "Did he not try to kill you for a good fifteen minutes?"
Yuuji looked down. "I've been replaying that fight in mind head. I was in the clear disadvantage. It wasn't like he wasn't trying to kill me, but it was like… his heart wasn't into it. He thought he wanted to kill me, he probably genuinely wanted to kill me after I shattered his knee cap with my forehead. Yet, at no point in that fight was his bloodlust comparable to the hatred and focus I felt when Boom—when the two heroes appeared in front of him."

Yuuji closed his eyes. He thought about the hero killer's red eyes locking into the heroes like predator to prey, and how his face split into an eerie, wide grin. "I'm alive because he was careless, because he said that he accepted jujutsu sorcerers as 'necessary evils'. If he tried like he did against the heroes, I would have been dead." Yuuji buried his head into his hands. "And maybe if I wasn't so careless, maybe Boomerang and Ingenium would still be alive."

Fushiguro inhaled sharply as Nanamin squatted down to his student's eye-level and rested his hands on Yuuji's shoulders. "Itadori, look at me. You cannot process it that way. You were a jujutsu sorcerer put in a heroes role. You are trained to track cursed spirits, not humans. You deal with the dead, not serial killers like Stain. We underestimated how slippery and lethal he'd be and put everyone in danger."

"But there's more to this." Kugisaki softly added. Yuuji inwardly sighed. Trust his single-cell brain twin to understand him. "Itadori, this Ingenium, the way you are affected… is he—?"

"He's Iida's brother. Iida… he's a classmate," maybe even a friend. Yuuji silently added.

He could feel Nanamin's grip stiffen. Nigtheye's expression somehow turned even more grim. "I see." Nanamin said quietly. He looked silently away, eyes training on the scattered debris next to the broken building wall.

"I do not regret anything, lamenting only the circumstances that led there. But my actions are solely my responsibilities," Nanami's eyes drifted back to Yuuji. "And mine alone."

Do you even feel remorse. Sukuna cooed in Yuuji's ears as Yuuji staved off his nausea and nodded. Your stupidity sent those two scums into an early grave. Ha!

Ingenium isn't confirmed dead.

Yet. Sukuna's cackles almost drowned out the ongoing conversation. Yuuji felt his friends' hands carefully guide him to his feet. His sensei had shifted his focus back to Nighteye, talking about the transfer process for Fushiguro and Kugisaki ("not the note you'd like to end on today, I'm sure." Nighteye sighed, scratching his head. "It'll be a hero festival to remember with three—no, four people dropping halfway like this").

"Hey," Kugisaki's voice cut through Sukuna's laughter. "You good?"
A pause. "I have to be."

Katsuki had been fucking waiting for this very moment for a long, shitting time.

That being said, did this hero festival play out nothing like he fucking imagined because of some fucking jujutsu shitters? Fuck yeah. Though, it's all fucking okay, because he was gonna make it all fucking right, right fucking here, at the final fucking stage.

"IT'S BAKUGOU KATSUKI!!!" Mic-shitter-sensei screamed into the crowd. Katsuki scowled as the crowd roared to life. What were these fuckers screeching about? He had only one decent fight today, and it was during his first match with that gravity girl shitter. Then that Tonfa jujutsu fucker walked out on him, and for the next match that hammer swinging shitter didn't even fucking show up!?!?!?!!

"VERSUS!!!" Katsuki felt his hands crackle in anticipation. He was going to show the whole fucking world that he deserved this first.

"IIDA TENYA—w-wait a second, hold on—" urgent, indistinguishable whispers sounded on the comms. A pregnant pause. Then a trembling voice, "o-oh, oh dear. I-it seems that Iida Tenya has also dropped out due to a family emergency."

…

HUH?!??

"W-well, that makes things simpler! Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the winner of this year's hero festival… Bakugou Katuski?"

HUHHHH!??!?!?!??!??!?!??!?!??!??!?!??!?!??!?!??!?!?????!??!!???!???!??!??!?

"I WANT A FUCKING REDO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Katuski screamed, igniting his hands and breaking the stage in two. "WHAT THE FUCKING DOG BITCH SHIT IS FUCKING THI—"

"What a day." Aizawa sighed, as his student fell to the ground like a sack of bricks after the paramedic bot sedated him with a perfectly aimed sedation dart. "What a fucking day."