The Cost of Happiness

Part 3

Yuji felt numb. He had thought this would happen, but he had pushed it to the back of his mind in his rush to change things. "Megumi," Yuji croaked out. His emotions drastically changed as reality set in. The black-haired Zenin turned to look at him only to see Yuji lunging at him, arms stretched open in a hug. CRASH! Yuji wrapped his arms tightly around his best friend, lifting him into the air.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!" Megumi cried out. Yuji didn't have time to answer before Megumi crossed his hands, intertwining his thumbs, and the sound of a bird-filled the air. Yuji, in his joyful state, poured cursed energy into his feet before jumping. Both teens soared into the air with very different expressions. One was filled with joy, and the other was sent prayers to whatever god was out there. "ARE YOU INSANE, WE'LL BOTH GET HURT AT THIS HEIGHT!" They continued to soar high into the sky, almost able to touch the clouds, and for a brief moment, a flash of recognition seemed to appear in Megumi's eyes.

But unfortunately, all things that go up, must come down and just as fast as they ascended, the teens begin plummeting back to the ground. Megumi begins to cry out in terror while Yuji just laughs. "LET GO OF ME NOW!" Megumi begins to punch the pink-haired maniac in an attempt to make him release his grip. No luck. He tries to kick him away. Again no luck. Gritting his teeth, he once again crosses his hands, summoning Nue again. The giant owl-like creature dives down underneath the two, providing a less deadly landing. As they hit the bird, Yuji's grip releases and they begin to roll away from each other.

Megumi wastes no time in hopping up to his feet and making another handsign, this one more resembling a dog. A wolf with beautiful white fur emerges from a shadowy puddle, charging at the still-laughing Yuji. The wolf leaps at him to which Yuji simply sidesteps, sending the pup hurdling over the side of the oversized bird. Yuji stops laughing, putting 2 hands in the air. "Wait stop!" "Huh?" Megumi calls out in confusion. "You're Megumi Fushiguri right?" Yuji couldn't contain himself earlier, but now he had realized his error. This wasn't the Megumi he knew, he had to be careful about his actions. After all, one wrong move and the future could change to where Yuji had no insight into events. If he was going to change everything for the better, caution is key.

Megumi's eyes narrowed at the mention of his name, "How do you know who I am? You should be a regular student." Yuji wracked his brain, searching for any excuse he could make to cover up his previous bizarre behavior. "I'm...uh...a friend of Gojo's!" Yuji came up with this after a bit of struggle. The Zenin's suspicious look didn't subside, however. "Is that right?" Yuji gritted his teeth. This wasn't good, he couldn't have his best friend suspicious of him, but it would be even more suspect to say he was from the future.

Megumi suddenly stuffed his hands into his pocket, his glare completely gone and replaced with his usual apathetic facial expression. "I guess that makes sense. That idiot seems pretty popular after all." Yuji breathed a sigh of relief. "So are you here about Sukuna's finger too?" Yuji nodded, "That's right, my name's Itadori Yuji by the way." Yuji extended a hand to Megumi. Shaking his hand, Megumi turned to look at the school. "Well Yuji, should we go exorcise this curse?" Yuji smiled. "I guess we should."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yuji and Megumi treaded through the halls of the curse-infected school. Megumi had sent his demon dogs in front of them to clear the curses out so they could get to get to the main curse faster. As they went further and further into the halls, a constant stream of cursed energy surrounded them. Funnily enough, Yuji didn't remember the hall being this long. "Hey Megumi, how long have we been running for?" Megumi glanced back at Yuji, "About 10 minutes, why?" That answer was enough to make Yuji stop in his tracks.

"What's wrong?" Megumi asked, stopping as well. "Nothing, just let me test something real quick." Yuji squats, taking in deep breaths and focusing cursed energy, before releasing it all destroying the hallway. As the hallway collapses, Yuji and Megumi leap away. "What'd you do that for?" Megumi asked. All Yuji does in response is point to the wreckage. Megumi looks over to the direction he's pointing to see a shadowy figure emerging from the wreckage. The figure stands, before slowly walking towards the two.

With the figure comes an almost suffocating aura of cursed energy. Megumi begins to sweat. His body begins to shake in fear. Clenching both his fists, they begin to gravitate toward each other in an all too familiar hand motion. "How strong is this thing," Megumi whispers to himself. He suddenly feels someone place their hand on his shoulder. Yuji walks in front of Megumi, grinning at the special grade curse.

"Don't worry Megumi, I got this." "But, that curse is definitely a special grade," Megumi reaches his hand to stop Yuji. "Just trust me." Yuji takes a deep breath before slipping into his stance. The whole time the curse never stopped walking forward in fact, it was only about 30 feet away now. 20 feet. 15 feet. 10 feet. Then it stopped. Yuji smirked before rushing forward at the special grade.

He throws a right hook which is easily dodged and countered by the curse with a hard palm to the gut. Yuji slides a few feet back from the impact and is immediately put on the defense as the curse attacks him. Blocking the initial hit, Yuji retaliates with a hard knee to the gut, sending the curse into the air. Flipping mid-air, the curse softly lands another 10 feet away. Just from that little exchange, Yuji knew this battle wouldn't be easy.

The two exchange a quick glance before rushing back in. Yuji leaps forward, kicking the curse to the side. He quickly uses this hit to trap the curse in a flurry of more strikes, each imbued with cursed energy. He then finishes his attack off with his signature attack. BLACK FLASH!To Yuji's surprise, that was all it took. The curse exploded into pieces, almost sending Yuji flying in the process. Yuji stared at the dead curse in disbelief, 'How did he beat it so easily?' Maybe he just didn't realize how strong he was. As Yuji was pondering the possibilities, he heard Megumi yell something at him just as a searing hot pain shot through him. Looking down, he saw the cause of this. An arm protruding out of his gut.