If there was one thing Satoru does consistently, it would be his inability to leave things well enough alone.

The bee 's hives? Sure, why not poke it. That higher up that just talks a bit too much? Sure, why not go and tell him to shut up. Some kid being haunted by a special grade spirit? Sure, why not let him be a student. Sukuna 's fingers being eaten by this one kid who seems to be able to keep him down? Sure, why not feed him more.

It was the mere principle of the matter. Put something in front of Satoru and telling him

no, don 't touch, shoo

was practically an invitation.

And this? Whatever this was?

Satoru can practically hear the

shoo

.

'Vessel, Yuuji-kun? ' Satoru laid a reassuring hand on Yuuji 's shoulder. He looked like he needed it, with his face going all weird and looking like he was having one of the toughest revelations of his life. Megumi and Nobara were already on the boy 's side, squeezing their shoulders together and that was just

precious.

Yuuji nodded, no little effort. 'I think. ' His words went a little mumbly. His brain unable to process the information that he was given. So now it was churning and churning to no visible answer.

Satoru lets Yuuji take time. Satoru also needed a bit of time himself. He certainly remembers scouring through texts on vessels at some point in his life. None of which mentioned the Kyuubi, though. A heavyweight monster in its own era. It was a bygone era, now. And the Kyuubi was gone just as folklore monsters go.

A vessel to the Kyuubi would certainly be mentioned in the texts. On the rare few that exist on vessels; could be counted on one hand, really. They were exceedingly rare and Yuuji being the perfect vessel for Sukuna was something of a miracle in and of itself. A man made miracle, probably, but Satoru hasn 't quite figured out the who and why yet. And putting that on Yuuji would just be a bit too soon.

'Can executions go wrong, sensei? ' Yuuji asked suddenly; blunt as can be. Megumi and Nobara blinked in unison before tensing up slightly.

Nobody liked to think about Yuuji 's impending execution.

It was easy to think they had all the time in the world.

Satoru could relate.

'Why do you ask, Yuuji-kun? ' Satoru prodded. Placing a hand on Yuuji 's head to ruffle the boy 's hair and maybe knock some wild ideas out of it, too.

'That curse- I think he- it- ' Oh dear, Yuuji got attached. 'It 's like

me.

' Satoru hadn 't heard Yuuji use that tone before. The one that was

We 're nothing alike at all, but oh, oh, we could be. And oh, the answers he 'd have.

Because Satoru knows Yuuji has questions, was brimming with it with every mention of Sukuna.

No one really has any answers for Yuuji; vessels are rare. And the only thing as rare as the vessels themselves are information about them. Information that Yuuji craved- wanted. Answers that he 'd seemingly never get.

But suddenly there was someone- or something. Evasive and creepy but

answers.

And Satoru can take a guess at exactly what Yuuji wanted.

'Like ' you? ' Megumi asked. Taking initiative, Satoru approves.

'Vessel, ' Yuuji blurted out, like that meant everything. 'He- it- ' Yuuji let out a series of garbled groans. Satoru snickered as Megumi and Nobara shot him twin stares, very unimpressed, they were.

'Vessel. '

The word was stressed again. As though that was the answer to everything. And maybe it was, to Yuuji at least.

Megumi gave Satoru a

look.

Asking Satoru if this meant trouble. If they need to ramp up the security and maybe get in a sharp knife or two to stab this creepy curse with because clearly it needed a few more holes in its body.

Satoru gave a shrug. He knows exactly what the higher ups want of him. Extermination with

extreme

prejudice. Because the mere idea of a curse able to copy their precious techniques was giving them high blood pressure everytime they think about it.

Satoru had hoped that they 'd drop dead from a heart attack or something if he brought it up enough. But so far, no dice.

He half wanted to nab the curse and drop it in one of the meetings. See how fast it could pick up their techniques and use it against them. Maybe get some higher ups murdered, too, while he was at it.

But no, that was not how you were supposed to reform the jujutsu world. So Satoru let his idea stay, well, an idea. Something to entertain during boring meetings as a

you 're big talk now, but oh, we both know how easy it would be for me to end this charade. It wouldn 't be pretty but it would end.

Satoru was slightly more concerned that it would just break into Jujutsu Tech to talk to Yuuji. Not Sukuna like he 'd originally thought.

'Don 't worry about it, Yuuji-kun, ' Satoru assured. Patting Yuuji 's hair one more time for good measure. 'I 'm the strongest, so nothing will go wrong. ' Yuuji smiled at that, giving Satoru a relieved laugh.

Failed executions, past failed vessels, missing records. It made a worrying amount of sense.

Yuuji 's execution was only delayed due to Satoru 's intervention and Yuuji 's high compatibility to be Sukuna 's vessel. Two factors that wouldn 't have been viable in the past where such a vessel would be laid to rest immediately.

If there was a vessel in another time, with no Satoru and no such compatibility, they would be put down immediately.

Satoru can wager a guess at what happened.

A vessel who wasn 't meant to exist, an execution that created something even more terrifying than what it set out to destroy, men in power who refused to admit their wrongs and so struck off their mistake. Let the curse they thought dead be forgotten by history just as their mistake in executing it.

Refused to acknowledge the vengeful cursed spirit they had let be birthed by their actions.

But the real question was how it existed now, in the current era. When it was presumed exorcised before.

So Satoru was back at square one. It was paradoxical. The contradiction between what the curse might have been and what it was now. His guesses amounted to nothing unless he talked to the thing himself.

Well, that was something he could do, couldn 't he?

Yuuji will get his answers and Satoru will finally know more about vessels and maybe get the higher ups to shove up the execution unless they want another special grade cursed spirits on their hands.

If Satoru 's guess was right, this was one of those

no, don 't touch, Satoru, shoo, go away

things.

And Satoru loves to touch the hornet 's nest.

The next time Yuuji meets the curse was drastically different than the first.

Not to say that Yuuji was anticipating that the curse would come back or anything but it had said that it

would

and maybe Yuuji was just feeling a bit sour that it didn 't. Sue him, he wasn 't patient and maybe he felt more than normal disappointment at the fact that a curse hadn 't broke in the day after its last visit.

Yuuji reckoned that the curse didn 't want to remeet Yuuji like this either.

'Oh man, ' Yuuji started. 'Is that the curse I 'm sent here to exorcise? '

Said curse gave a garbled screech, much quieter than Yuuji had expected. Maybe it had something to do with the

black rod sticking out of its body.

Just maybe.

Something made a disgusting squelch as the curse removed its lodged weapon. Yuuji was pretty sure he never wants to hear that sound again. The squelch and the soft thump as the curse fell to the ground.

Yuuji 's unnamed curse just stared at him, unimpressed. And Yuuji gets it, he 's kind of scuffed and his fists are kinda tired and he just fought off around five small curses while Nobara and Megumi got separated from him because of course they would.

He 's not a pretty sight and he knows it.

But Yuuji doesn 't think he deserves that kind of look from a human shaped curse who looked like it saw one too many historical works and has decided to modify it in the worst ways.

Come on, the sandals? Nobara would have a heart attack if she saw such a disgrace to fashion. Megumi would judge, too, and Gojo-sensei would just cackle. But Gojo-sensei has that

blindfold

which has everyone looking at them oddly whenever they 're out as a four man group. Blindfold, Nobara had complained about that one too many times to count. Megumi had supported her, but mainly out of spite.

'You 're here alone? ' It raised a judgemental eyebrow, its tone so dry it could be the desert itself.

'No, but we 're kind of separated, ' Yuuji defended, not sure what exactly he was defending.

It sighed, like it was the one that was dealing with a massive headache. Sort of like Nanami actually and

let 's never think of this again since Nanami might really break out the stare of disappointment if Yuuji compared him to a curse.

'Where 's the adult figure? ' the curse asked, its judgement so severely high that Yuuji felt himself getting branded a criminal for his sins of being a teenager without supervision.

Yuuji winced. 'Uh, somewhere? '

Yeah, Yuuji knows it 's a terrible answer.

The curse sighed again, the weight of the world on its shoulders. Yuuji doesn 't know what exactly it was thinking but it seemed disappointed by something; not Yuuji, no, but something. The world, society, or just life.

A flash of cursed energy and Yuuji can suddenly

see

the aura of it surrounding the curse 's leg before it stomps down brutally. Burning through the other curse 's head or just simply crunching down

hard.

Yuuji bets on the latter since he can see the crumbled concrete beneath the curse 's foot. Exorcising the other curse beneath its foot like an ant and Yuuji does not want to be on the receiving side of that.

'You exorcised it, ' the curse said, glaring and yet not. Dragging its feet through the ground like it was trying to get the nonexistent grime of the exorcised curse off of it.

'Me? ' Yuuji points to himself. Pretty certain that

no, he did not.

The curse stared at him for a moment, and Yuuji felt so very judged.

'Fine, go tell everyone that another cursed spirit exorcised it. ' The curse seemed faintly amused at Yuuji 's expense. 'See if anyone will believe you. '

'Hey, ' Yuuji argued. 'I 'm very convincing. '

'Sure, kid, ' the newborn curse said.

Or not, with Yuuji 's conspiracy theory about it being

not

a newborn.

'Why are you exorcising them anyways? ' Yuuji asked, taking note of the numerous other mini craters and what looked like more black rods strewn about the area. Sticking scarily through the concrete that surrounded them in the abandoned building. 'Aren 't they your friends, or something? '

It looked at Yuuji again.

'Okay, maybe not friends, ' Yuuji amended. 'But at least they 're the same species? '

'I have it on good authority that humans murder each other all the same, ' the curse drawled. 'Are you asking them why? '

That made Yuuji pause for a moment. But there was always a reason behind murderers, bad or good. Curses didn 't have reasons like that. They were curses, driven by whatever dark thoughts spawned them.

'Humans aren 't like curses, ' Yuuji argued. 'It 's

different.

'

The curse stared at him again with its coal eyes this time. The red eyes gave way to something more human and Yuuji wasn 't sure if he liked the curse to look like that. Humans in all the right way, even with its white hair and odd clothing but undeniably

human

in a way so many curses aren 't and shouldn 't be.

'Maybe I 'm different. ' The curse nodded to itself, satisfied with its answer. 'Just like how you 're different. '

Was that an admission? Yuuji wasn 't quite sure.

'Jinchuuriki, you mean, ' Yuuji stated, instead, finding that the word was heavy and just as out of place on his lips as it was last time. 'The power of human sacrifice. '

The curse paused then, really paused. It 's eyes still dark and human but undeniably

not

. Its cursed energy spiking and for a terrifying moment Yuuji knows why it's a special grade curse. The way its energy rolled off in mesmerizing waves. Speaking of spite, anger,

grief

and just

why, why, why-

.

Yuuji felt like he was drowning on land.

It lasted a moment before the curse breathed in quietly, then out, then in. The screeching of its energy went down to a quiet shimmer before nothing at all. Trampled underfoot and tucked back beneath its skin. Making it eerily harmless and human once more, with nothing to show that it was a special grade in the first place.

Yuuji wondered if that was how the Kyuubi felt. Way back when history was made.

'You know? ' it asked, its voice so blandly neutral that it was no doubt faked.

The curse sighed when Yuuji didn 't answer. His tongue still off on its merry vacation because Yuuji thought he was going to die and not need its services anymore. And wow maybe Yuuji should know the curse 's name instead of calling it curse because this was getting really weird.

'I don 't kill humans, ' the curse said. Then paused for a moment, 'Unless they deserve it. '

Yuuji choked out a laugh, pathetic and wheezy but it was something.

There was a moment of silence, the curse deciding it didn 't want to talk anymore or not even knowing what to say and Yuuji just regaining his bearings from whatever the hell that was. Special grade curses don 't usually have that, the aura thing that makes Yuuji feel like he was choking and drowning all at once. Mt. Fuji and the idle transfiguration curse didn 't, but this one does and Yuuji wondered if this was another one for the conspiracy board of

why this one curse is clearly a vessel before it was a curse

.

'So, jinchuuriki, ' the curse began again, clearly not letting this topic go. And Yuuji wouldn 't have it any other way either. 'You know what it means now. '

'It means vessel, doesn 't it? ' Yuuji challenged, finding that his gut burnt more than ever. The maybe, maybe, we could be- thrumming and thrumming to an unsteady rhythm. Yuuji wants and he wasn 't sure what he was wanting but he wants. He looks at this curse and he thinks he

wants.

Wants answers and connections and to not be like it; human but not and all the more wrong for it.

'Something like that, ' the curse relented. 'But not like you. '

Maybe, maybe-

'I 'm pretty sure they didn 't eat their curse, ' Yuuji stated, a poor attempt at a joke in the tenseness of the moment. But the curse quirked its lips, a poor attempt at a smile.

'It was sealed in them, ' the curse said. 'Most of them. '

Them, there were multiple, once, what happened-

'Sealed. ' Yuuji didn 't know what it meant, but it sounded solemn and heavy. An ancient thing for ancient vessels.

The curse waved a piece of paper in front of him, script marked on it like some movie prop. 'Things like these, seals. '

Monsters held back by pieces of paper.

Yuuji hadn 't heard such a security risk in a long time.

The curse, seemingly reading his thoughts, laughed. Bitter and jagged. 'Not these seals, no. ' It slipped the piece of paper back into his sleeves, tucked away but not forgotten. 'Seals on your skin. '

Yuuji still doesn 't get it, the idea of curses being stored via ancient script. But he supposes it could 've been someone 's technique. Lost to the sands of time.

He doesn 't get many things, anymore. Namely why is he still chatting to this special grade curse instead of running away.

Maybe he does know why, maybe it was an ill advised attempt at the

maybe, maybe-

'What happens if a vessel is executed? ' Yuuji asked, charging at the topic like a bull in a china shop.

The curse smiled, wry and something so remarkably tired. 'Finally getting to the topic you really want to get to? '

Yuuji gave it a sheepish look, finding that it was remarkably amicable for a curse. And socialized; which is another point for the idea that it wasn 't a newborn curse, after all.

'I don 't know, I 'm supposed to die, ' Yuuji said. Finding that the idea of him and dying wasn 't quite connecting just yet. Maybe he was still in denial, but he felt incredibly blaise about it. 'But no one really knows. '

Except you.

'You 're afraid of what happens after, ' the curse noted. 'If it goes wrong and your death was all for nothing. '

It was more than that. The ever prevalent fear that he might become the curse in front of him. Become the thing that his friends are supposed to exorcise. Be exorcised by his friend. Have his nature be twisted and changed.

So far this curse was amicable and human, but how long would that last? How long until it went mad like the curse that killed Junpei? How long until it lost its regards for human life like Sukuna had and became a monster amongst men?

How long until Yuuji becomes that when he 's changed and twisted and malformed?

I just don 't want to be like you.

Yuuji thinks, but doesn 't say. It feels cruel, somehow. To say that to a former vessel like him. Who probably died believing that he died for a good cause, who died thinking that he brought down a curse with him. But then he became an it and now is the very thing he died to destroy.

There is some kind of irony there.

Yuuji thinks that maybe it was a balancing thing, nature righting itself again. In the wake of a loss of a special grade curse, nature had grabbed onto something to replace it. And now he became an it and it is held back from being a monster by its own restraints until who knows when it snaps and becomes a true cursed spirit.

Yuuji doesn 't want that. He doesn 't want that irony in his life. He wants to die and die for a good cause. Not die and get made into the thing that he wanted to protect the world from. Living but not because he wasn 't Yuuji anymore and can never be Yuuji again.

'Sorry, I don 't really know, ' the curse admitted. Probably the most straightforward and honest answer Yuuji was ever going to get from it. 'People didn 't execute jinchuuriki. '

Yuuji blinked.

'They transfer the monster from one jinchuuriki to the next, ' the curse said. 'You don 't let a weapon die in one generation, do you? '

Weapon, jinchuuriki- generations.

Yuuji 's throat went dry again, and he felt like everything beneath his feet shifted three feet and then back but

not

and it felt wrong.

'Besides, if you kill a jinchuuriki, the monster reformed regardless, ' the curse said. 'But I doubt that that 'll be the case for you. ' It sounded confident and relaxed and a liar to its bones and Yuuji knows this with a conviction he doesn 't have for most things.

He looked at the curse, really looked at it. See the nicked injury beneath its head. The way something had slashed and had made contact. The fatal wound it would 've been, the way a human would 've bled and died. See the way the injury had left behind a scar that shouldn 't be because the person was supposed to be

dead.

'What 's your name? ' Yuuji asked, faint.

When you were human and whole, when you were human and wanting to do good for the world and died for it. Before, before the monster reformed and you became the monster.

The curse blinked, taken aback.

'Uchiha Obito, ' the curse said, the words sitting odd on its tongue. As though it hadn 't said those words in a long, long time. And Yuuji doesn 't doubt that in the least.

Uchiha Obito,

Yuuji thinks. An odd name for an odd curse. An odd name for a man that was once maybe not so odd.

His phone rang, breaking the silence that was forming once more.

He answered it.

'Yuuji-kun, you shouldn 't be making small talk with special grades, ' Gojo-sensei chided. Through the phone and yet

not

and-

Oh, Gojo-sensei was right there.

The curse- Uchiha Obito- looked at the man with distaste. 'Blindfold, really? '

Yuuji can relate.