NARCISSIST || jjk toge inumaki x reader

chapter iii

•••

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I blinked awake, the hospital monitor thumping in my head. What the hell, how did I get here? Who brought me here? My eyes were dry. I opened them to see a white ceiling and an IV connected to my arm. Such a sterile environment startled me, I've always been afraid of hospitals. I sprung into a sat up position, but then being reminded of the piercing pain of my shattered ribs and my broken nose. Just to be surprised that my injuries didn't hurt so bad anymore. I sat in an empty room, no flowers, no cards or anything. Not that I expected any. Someone probably had just found me alive somehow and took me here. Well, if I wasn't going to die in an alleyway, at least a hospital is more appropriate.

I just watched my IV drip, trying to distract myself. Until a strange man walked in.

He was lanky and tall, extremely tall. He just looked weird. He sported a navy blue uniform with a button at the chest, striking white hair and a blindfold. Is this supposed to be my doctor? I think I'd rather accept death.

"Oh sweet! You're awake! Safe to say your surgery went well."

He flashed a grin at me then ominously stood over my hospital bed. What the fuck. My eyes widened as he bent over to look more closely at me. I couldn't tell if he was a creep or hospital staff..

"Yep, you're overflowing with it."

What was that supposed to mean?!

"Erm, hello? Were you the person that brought me here?"
"Oh yeah! How rude of me, I'm Satoru Gojo. Nice to meet ya, (Y/N)!"
"Nice to meet you? Thank you for taking me to the hospital-"
"You gave those thugs quite the beating! You're lucky that they're both still alive. A girl like you, I'd never think you'd have it in ya!"

I looked up at him with droopy eyes and shot him a dirty look.

"Oookay, well, I have something I need to discuss with you. So meet me outside the hospital when you've been discharged."

I mumbled a small 'alright' and he smiled once again as he strolled out the room. He had such a care-free, bouncy demeanour. What was that uniform for? No way he's a high-school kid.

•••

An aggressive orange light flooded the outside of the hospital as the sun set over Tokyo. You pause for a moment to let the automatic doors of the hospital open and you take a step outside, shakily inhaling the crisp air. The hospital was beautiful, outside the bushes were well kept and not a single flower was wilting. There was a bench in front of one of the flower beds. You look, and surely enough your strange saviour sat there with a can of cola in his hand. Do I really have to go speak to this guy.. what could he possibly have to say to me?

Your body aches as you slowly advance towards the figure on the bench and you touch your face to feel the stitches on your cheek and the bandages across your nose. I don't even want to know what I look like right now. The man notices you as you got closer and flashes you a smile with an enthusiastic wave, still wearing that blindfold. You try smile back but wince as the stitches on your cheek contort. He moves up and pats the place on the bench next to him. You sit cautiously making sure there's distance between the two of you.

"Sooo, Y/N, you're probably wondering how I brought you here. You see, I probably wouldn't have interfered if it was anybody else, but there was something different that caught my attention. To you, it must have felt like a regular fight, but as I was passing by I sensed something. A particular energy willed me to rescue you. Do you know what cursed energy is?"

You look puzzled as you reply.
"No, never heard of it. But I did feel kinda weird during that fight. I felt a vibrating sensation throughout my whole body and it wasn't thanks to adrenaline. It helped me to stand up and fight, more powerfully than I've ever fought before. It was strange, after every punch I landed my fists burned and my arms were tingling but my hands were unscathed."

His body perked up as you spoke, almost as if a lightbulb had switched on in his mind.

"That's your cursed energy. Being on the brink of death was the catalyst you needed to be able to harness your energy. But, as this feeling was new to you, you were unable to control it and the high concentration of energy you unknowingly channeled to your fists caused you the burning pain in your arms.
Cursed energy is the power originating from negative emotions, everyone has it, but few have enough to harness it and actually use it. These people are called jujutsu sorcerers. Having a high amount of this energy also allows you to see curses, which are invisible to the normal eye."

He picks up on your confused demeanour and chuckles.

"Right, I should probably explain what curses and cursed techniques are."

•••

The sky darkens and the chill of the night nips at your skin. That explanation was so long. Is it done yet.. You were less confused, but the flood of sudden information still shocks you, your whole world has been turned upside down. He told you about the world of curses, curse-users and more importantly jujutsu sorcerers.

"I think you have great potential, you've got the bark and the bite!"
"No, I couldn't possib-"
"I'm enrolling you at Tokyo Jujutsu High, starting on Wednesday!"

"But that's in three days, what about my job?"

"I already took care of that. Your manager's a real loser by the way."

You laugh at his sassy tone but also look off into the sky wondering if this was the right thing to do.

"No. Thank you for the offer, but I'm not interested in saving people. I'm not the magician you think I am, either. You're better off finding someone else with better intentions."

"You don't have to necessarily save people. If you walk this path with the intention of simply getting stronger, that's just as respectable. You might even find your mindset changing along the way."

You hesitate, then sigh and cross your arms.

"I'll give it a try. But if I don't like it I'm leaving."

Gojo springs up and stretches his arms as he sighs. "Great! You're meeting me on Wednesday, I'll need your number to stay in touch." You hand him your phone and also stand, getting ready to go home. Am I really just going to leave my life behind and blindly follow this man? You click your tongue.

"Smile! I'm showing this to the second years."

You snap out of thought as you're suddenly struck with the rapid flashing of his camera as Gojo stands there snapping photos of you, changing angles every time while snickering and snorting behind the phone.

"HEY!"