Mahito saw Yuji Itadori as something more than just Ryomen Sukuna's vessel.
He saw a lost idiot in him. A sorcerer driven by emotion and so painfully naive that it made him laugh.
"And that's why... you are going to die," the patch-faced cursed spirit muttered as the human beside him stopped being human.
Why, you ask?
Because Mahito had transfigured him into something amusing.
Reeling his arm back, Mahito said, "Time for round two, Junpei."
The moment those words left him, the cursed spirit that had been human just moments ago lunged at Yuji.
"Junpei! Hold it together!" Yuji cried despite the pain, trying to reach the cursed spirit that still faintly resembled Junpei Yoshino.
Mahito swayed left and right in delight, watching Yuji struggle to avoid harming his "friend" while making desperate promises that he would somehow heal him.
Yuji gritted his teeth.
Panic surged through his mind.
Junpei had transformed. He had been turned into a curse right before Yuji's eyes, and he couldn't do anything to stop it.
But he refused to lose hope.
He had to do something. He couldn't lose a friend like this.
"Sukuna!" he shouted.
"What?"
A mouth split open on the side of Yuji's face, sharp canines emerging.
Yuji never imagined he would beg like this, but right now only one thought existed in his mind.
Heal Junpei.
"Heal him! I will do anything you want! Heal him just like you repaired my heart!"
Clenching his arm around Junpei to keep him from collapsing, Yuji cried again, "Please help Junpei!"
For a brief moment, Yuji actually believed Sukuna might agree.
The King of Curses had to have some motive, some plan to use Yuji for his own benefit.
But that fragile spark of hope was crushed instantly.
"I refuse."
Huh?
"I won't do anything you want. Crawl into a corner and feel how pathetic you are, brat."
Mahito couldn't help but smirk.
And then Yuji heard it.
The laughter of the two beings he hated the most.
Despite their different origins and the fact that they had nothing to do with each other, one thing remained the same.
Both of them were curses.
"Yu...ji..."
The teenager froze when he heard the broken voice of the curse clinging to his leg.
"W-Why..."
Suddenly, all the memories Yuji shared with Junpei rushed through his mind.
Their conversations. Their laughter.
The future Yuji had imagined with him, joining Tokyo Jujutsu High, becoming friends with everyone, living as a sorcerer together.
He watched every one of those dreams shatter right before his eyes.
Junpei collapsed to the ground, nearly lifeless.
And in that moment, Yuji's entire aura changed.
"Ahaha... he died already?" Mahito licked his lips. "Well, I might have transfigured him a little too aggressively."
Just when he expected Yuji Itadori to erupt in anger, something unexpected happened.
DHAK
Right beside Junpei Yoshino, Yuji suddenly collapsed, unconscious.
Standing where he had been moments ago was another person.
His face was hidden beneath a hood, and the mere presence he radiated unsettled Mahito.
'I didn't sense him arriving…'
Mahito had been close to the stairs, so the stranger hadn't come from that direction. Nor had he entered through the window.
Then… had he been here all along?
"Now… who might you be?" Mahito asked, blowing lightly over his nails as if the sudden appearance didn't bother him at all.
The hooded figure crouched down and placed a hand on Junpei's cursed body.
Mahito tilted his head.
Reverse cursed technique?
Just who was this guy?
"You know keeping him alive won't change anything unless I revert him back, right? Or do you want to torture him before slicing his head off? Not going to lie, he does look like a decent punching bag."
The hooded figure slowly rose to his feet.
Mahito caught a glimpse of a faint scar at the corner of the man's lips.
Then he heard a voice.
Deep. Lifeless.
"Heal him, Mahito."
Mahito chuckled. "Again? You really think—"
He froze.
The scenery around him shifted.
A burning pain exploded through his stomach, his body folding in half as if struck by a meteor.
The hooded figure's fist had already connected.
The strike moved at a speed even a special-grade curse couldn't perceive.
In the next instant, dark sparks erupted from the point of impact.
And then—
BOOOOOM
Mahito was hurled into the staircase with explosive force, his body smashing through the concrete and tearing it apart.
"Bwagh!" Mahito vomited blood as he pressed his hand against the burning spot on his stomach.
'He... damaged my soul?!'
The cursed spirit's eyes widened in realization.
That speed. That force. And the impact.
It was staggering. In his short life, Mahito had never encountered anyone this strong before.
He had heard rumors that the strongest sorcerer in the country, Satoru Gojo, possessed the ability to dominate any battlefield he stepped onto.
But this man wasn't him.
Then how...?
"Mahito, heal him."
The same words were spoken again, still completely devoid of emotion.
Mahito instantly shifted forms. His body shrank and twisted into a worm-like shape, slithering behind the hooded bastard in a blink.
The small worm suddenly sprouted an arm, reaching out to touch the sorcerer's leg and transfigure him.
That single punch had already told Mahito everything he needed to know. Fighting this being was pointless.
He would end it instantly.
"Idle—"
SQUELCH
Mahito froze.
In the next instant, his hand—and the rest of his body—were sliced apart.
Pieces of him fell to the floor.
For a few seconds, he lay there, limp and stunned, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Deep within Yuji's consciousness, the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna, hummed softly.
His expression carried both curiosity and amusement.
"Interesting."
°°°°°°°
A/N:- The only support I could ask is your comment.