The Kid I Used to Know

Red Flags Flying

Unpacking was a weird experience for Yuji. He had fewer belongings than the last time he moved into the dorms, but he put the items he had back in the same places as before, giving him a terrible sense of deja vu.

What really did it for him though, was taking the back entrance of the prison realm out of his backpack and then shoving it into the darkest corner of his closet he could find with a ripped up shirt wrapped around it.

He stared at his closet for a bit, wondering what exactly he should do with the thing. Yuji had mentioned it to both Kei and the teenage Gojo. Kei hadn't wanted to touch it, not that he'd said as much, but Yuji could tell he was creeped out by the object.

Gojo on the other hand, had been fascinated. Even with his Six Eyes, he hadn't been able to tell if the back entrance to the prison realm would work for them if they opened it. He'd told Yuji to hang onto it, something about him bringing it into the past so it was his responsibility.

They'd decided they wouldn't try to open it. Not unless the events of Shibuya happened again because they couldn't make changes to the timeline. Or something happened to the Gojo of the past and they couldn't save the world without him or something.

Either way, the back entrance of the prison realm was, for now, just a creepy reminder of the future and a damning piece of evidence if anyone found them with it. Yuji would have to talk to Kei about where to hide it later.

Deciding not to spend any more time alone in his room, Yuji left the dorms the moment he finished unpacking. He considered knocking on Kei's door, knowing his friend would let him in, but he also knew that Kei needed some time to sort out his own thoughts. He'd known him for long enough to realize that, and he didn't begrudge Kei that time.

Instead, he walked towards the training grounds. Yuji didn't like to work with training dummies, he preferred sparring against actual people, but working out helped him to sort out his thoughts.

Of course, as it was just his luck, the training grounds seemed to be occupied already. Geto Suguru stood in the middle of the field, clearly practicing his martial arts against a dummy.

Yuji stood rooted on the spot, shifting unsurely from side to side as he watched Geto. It was clear that the older teen was a master martial artist. His form was perfect, and Yuji could see the clear power behind every strike.

"Are you just going to stand there and watch?" Geto called to him after a few minutes of Yuji's staring.

Startling, Yuji's legs automatically began walking towards Geto of their own accord. When he was within appropriate conversational distance, Geto halted in his assault of the training dummy, turning his attention to Yuji.

"Sorry, senpai," Yuji apologized, giving Geto an awkward short bow, "I wasn't trying to spy on you or anything. I came out here to clear my thoughts, but I was surprised to see your skill at fighting."

Giving him an analyzing look, Geto asked, "Do you know martial arts?"

"Yeah," Yuji answered, looking surprised before remembering Gojo had only mentioned that Yuji had Sukuna's technique and nothing else about his fighting style, "I primarily fight using hand-to-hand combat. I barely know how to use my technique, actually."

Raising a brow, Geto was clearly taken aback by this.

"Really?" He said, "How unusual. I guess Ryomen Sukuna's technique would be enough to award you special grade status though."

"Ah," Yuji awkwardly protested, "Actually, I think it was that I managed to land a hit on Gojo-senpai during my evaluation."

"Satoru was at your evaluation?" Geto sighed, clearly frustrated with Gojo and his secrets, "He never mentioned anything. He never mentions anything, really. But it's impressive that you managed to land a hit on him though. Was it with your technique?"