Bits and Pieces (Jujutsu Kaisen AU)

Chapter 1-11

Afterlife: Suguru

I expected death to be it. There are no second chances and no takebacks. It's just darkness for eternity. Imagine my surprise when I woke at an airport exhausted and on my knees, kneeling. It was like the tiredness from life had carried on to wherever I had arrived.

I looked up after processing that losing my life in battle wasn't the end. However, I was met with a sight that made me believe this was the end. A woman had a gun to my head as she looked at me with hatred in her eyes. I recognized her. One of the many souls I killed the night I became a curse user. So, this had to be the afterlife or something, and here I was about to die after just arriving. I faintly chuckled as I looked at the ground.

"Laughing. You don't get to have the luxury of laughing. Not after what you did." She glared.

I didn't avert my gaze from the ground. "To die once, I expected but twice; I didn't think people would understand me, but I was still dying again. Seems deserved, hence why it's funny."

"I waited ten years to take your life. You killed my son for nothing." She yelled. Her grip on the gun became tighter as she glared at me. "Any last words." She stated.

I shook my head as I closed my eyes. "I already said them."

I faintly smiled, remembering my final moments. Killed by my best friend was expected, so I wasn't complaining about dying again.

"Stop!" A woman pleaded as she rushed into the terminal.

I recognized that voice. I turned to my left, enveloped in a warm embrace. Mother? Her arms wrapped around my head as she pulled me closer to her chest, resting her head on mine. Her sleeves wrapped around me like a blanket, and I had a broad expression. Now, either I was dreaming, or this was the afterlife. My mother was here defending me.

My mother glared at my potential killer with anger and begging eyes. "Don't kill him. Please, he's my son." She spoke.

Son? Don't call me that. I killed... you...

The woman flinched, but she didn't waver until her own son called out her name and rushed towards her. She couldn't keep up the act and dropped the gun, turning to get her son to hug him. I watched, wishing that a bit of sympathy filled my heart seeing such a thing. But my hate for monkeys still keeps me on edge even here.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" My mother put her hands to my face and looked at me.

I wasn't a kid anymore and wasn't her son. What kind of kid kills his mother?

Stop caring for me. You'll get killed again.

I looked at my mother angrily, wanting to tell her off. Yet the moment I looked at her, my expression softened-her appearance. I recognized the style in which she had her hair. It was the style she had when she gave birth to me. A picture of the day I was born with her holding me in her arms passed by me every day I left home.

This wasn't some petty delusion or just a matter of words. She called me her son. She meant every word.

I shook my head, gently holding one of her hands. "I'm fine, Mom, " I said.

She pulled me in closer, hugging me tightly. "Oh, thank goodness."

"Son, huh?" a woman said as she stood before us and looked down at my mother and me.

My mother lightly shrugged at the woman. I looked at her, still feeling exhausted and confused. The woman had deep sea foam hair and gold eyes. She looked like jewelry one would find at the bottom of the ocean, shining like a star in the night sky at once. In her hair, she had six hairpins, three on each side. I could sense the faint cursed energy she had, but that didn't change the intimidating aura she gave off. Without a smile or even a pleased look on her face, she was almost frightened.