Megumi x Y/n | Set In Stone

28 - Two futures

You continued to run through the school corridors, looking for the students with the cursed object. 

"This is your last warning, Y/n.

"Get out of the trance."

No,  You thought,  Why do you care what happens in the future, anyway? Was it you who gave the cursed object to the students instead of Itadori?

"Yes. I did it to keep the outcome of the future the same."

Which is for Itadori to become Sukuna's vessel?

The voice in your head didn't respond. Your body stopped when you saw someone up ahead, barely visible in the dark hallway.

"Who are you?" You asked in the trance.

"I warned you," The man said, "I told you I'd kill you."

Fuck. So now this same guy shows up in the future!?

He was holding a long black staff in one hand. "Sorry, but I'm not going to let you ruin the future I had in mind," He said. "If you're not going to let Sukuna's vessel kill you, then it's going to have to be me."

You concentrated as much cursed energy into your mind as you could. Nothing happened.

–––––

"How's Y/n's heart rate, Shoko?" Gojo asked, his fingers pressed to your temples.

"It's... it's very high. Something's bothering them. You should probably wake them up."

Gojo looked down at you. "No," He said. "I trust they'll be able to alert me if something's wrong. Their cursed energy flow is incredible, they should be able to do it easily."

–––––

Why isn't it working!?

"I've stopped your ability to leave the trance,"  The man's voice said in your mind.

The man started to swing the black staff, faster and faster. He then approached you in the blink of an eye, giving you no time at all to react.

The staff landed on your back.

You yelled in pain, leaping away from him and facing him again. He attacked you relentlessly and at such a high speed he blurred in your vision. You couldn't react fast enough, so you quickly made the decision to retreat. Using the hover technique, you flew through the hallway, flying past windows and rushing around a corner. You hid behind the wall. 

The girl, who had been hiding around the corner, was crouched next to you and staring at you in shock.

Before you could ask if she was ok, the man with the staff reappeared. You stood up and stood your ground between him and the schoolgirl.

Why do I have to die? You thought, asking him.

"Because if I spare your life, you'll destroy mine. I have an ally who can see into the future, too; he told me about two possible futures. One of them, the most likely, is that Sukuna kills you and the future of curses and sorcerers continue as they would without you. In other words, I will be able to take control over the Jujutsu world and curses will reign.

"The second future was less likely, but I had to rule it out. It was that you don't die."

And what happens if I stay alive?

"You'll kill me and all the curses I will absorb.

"That includes Sukuna."

Sukuna!? What do you mean–

"Enough talking. Just die quietly."

In less than thirty seconds, it was over. You were lying on your back, with the sole of his shoe pressed hard against your cheek. The staff was hanging close to your face; it was like he was teasing you, like he knew you were too beaten up to try and grab it. 

The girl had already been killed, her limp body lying right next to yours. The pool of her blood seeped out onto the floor, inching towards you.

Gojo, please... get me out of here... You thought. You kept on trying to push cursed energy into your mind, but something was blocking it. You could almost feel the man's energy holding you back.

Think, Y/n. How can you get out of here?  Your body was getting beaten and bruised. You would die soon.

"Megumi!" Your body yelled.

There was the sound of hurried footsteps colliding hard with the staircase. Megumi came rushing down and saw you on the floor.

"Y/N!"

The man was distracted by Megumi's yell for just a split second. But in that split second, his concentration on keeping you from leaving the trance faltered.

–––––

You woke up like your head had been held under cold water. You suddenly sat upright and gasped for air, groaned in pain and cried at the same time.

Gojo and Ieiri stared at you in pure shock. His fingers that had been resting on your head were raw and red, like they had been electrocuted.

"L/n-san, was that much cursed energy really necessary?" He asked.

"H-he stopped me! From leaving– I had no choice!" You told him, tears rolling down your cheeks.

Ieiri put a hand on your back to try and calm you down, but she put it right where the man had hit you with the staff and you flinched very visibly. She consoled you with words instead. "L/n-san... it's ok. It's over. You're safe."

"There– there was someone else, someone else who knew the future!" You told him, roughly wiping tears away. "He wasn't speaking in the dream– he w-was–"

"It's ok, you don't have to tell us now," Ieiri said, "How badly did you get hurt? Do you want painkillers?"

"Y-yes please, I'd like painkillers– he–"

Gojo put a hand on your shoulder, and that's when you noticed just how sore his fingers looked. "Tell me about it later. Calm down first."

"Sensei, I'm so sorry about your fingers... d-did I do that?"

"Don't worry about it, L/n-san, I'm the strongest, after all. You really think this bothers me?"

"Don't worry about Gojo's fingers," Ieiri chimed in, "When you look like you've been to hell and back."

Gojo used the reversed technique to repair them in an instant and said, "See? Back to normal."

You nodded, staring at the palms of your hand. You could feel that they were scraped and raw, but they looked perfectly normal.

So the injuries aren't showing up, but they're still there.

"How badly hurt are you?" Ieiri asked, "I'll heal you instead, then. Painkillers won't do much."

"Thank you," You mumbled.

Ieiri put her hands gently on your shoulders and shut her eyes to concentrate. Pain left your body just as quickly as it had come. When she was done, she said, "You should rest, now."

"What? No, but what about Megumi!? He's in danger, the man could kill him–"

"Don't worry about it," Gojo said. "I'm going to call him and get him out of there."

"But we can't just abandon the mission, we need to make sure the students don't get the cursed object! One of them's going to die, too–"

"I didn't say we're abandoning it. I'm taking over it, and I'll need you to come along."

–––––

A/N: I'll consider rewriting this part or removing it completely in case it's too confusing.