Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

One would think the afterlife is simply… peace.

But then again, peace is something Obito has just admitted he understands nothing about. Peace isn’t putting everyone under a false dream where everything goes their way and everyone is happy. Apparently, Peace is something to fight for and to achieve rather than just pretending it's there. 

Okay, so maybe not all of that was true and can be backed up by someone people would also believe in. Someone like Minato, or heck, even Naruto. Hell, it’s not even connected to the kind of peace he’s talking about. Cut him some slack.

After all, Obito just died.

That’s right.

He just died.

As in he just did this sacrifice to save those two kids. Used his Kamui to not let that rod hit Kakashi because, yeah, he’s that selfish.

He expected to see Rin, or maybe he did see Rin but only for a moment?

He wanted to be with Rin the moment he died willingly, seriously, was that too much to ask?!

Now why in the world is he being scrutinized at by an old looking fucker?

And who’s letting a fucking baby cry their ass out near his ear?

“Tsk.”

??

Did that old man just sneered at him?

“I was not told that there would be twins.”

“The midwife was also unaware until this very moment as well, Father. Apologies.”

Keeping his eyes wide open was hard. Why does he feel so claustrophobic? Something’s keeping his entire body wrapped — he hates it.

“Twins are a bad omen in this world.”

“R-Right, oyakata-sama.”

“Do you understand what I’m saying, truly?”

“....”

Suddenly, Obito’s vision moved.

Someone… Were they holding him? They’re trembling.

No, why was he being held? Why is a grown man like him being held?

Now that he notices it… This view… isn’t it weird to be so high up and be looking up still like this? He can see the old man’s nostrils.

And why is he being held like a damn—

“ ████ already gave birth to a child having the Six Eyes. 15 minutes later, news broke that there's another child after him.”

“We… didn’t detect his cursed energy enough to pinpoint—”

“Didn’t or don’t? That boy doesn’t have an ounce of cursed energy, does he?”

“Father, if I may, it’s still too early to tell—”

“What is the name of the boy with Six Eyes?”

Obito couldn’t help but scrunch his face between his fussing.

How unlucky for that boy to be born with six eyes. How is that even possible? Why aren’t they weirded out by even just saying that?

“Satoru.”

“The moment Satoru was born, every curse user in the world felt his arrival, you know that.”

“Of course, Father.”

“This boy here, however, slipped in through the cracks. Nothing good ever ends for every identical twin that is born. It is a weakness.”

“Father.”

Obito was mid groaning (why the fuck did he let out an almost baby cry) when the old man suddenly tapped his cane to the wooden floor hard, approaching him.

There’s a weird energy emanating from the man. It surrounded him – almost. 

The old man’s hands raised, and suddenly it’s in front of Obito’s face.

Too close too close too close—

“Father!”

“In order for Satoru to succeed, this boy must die.”

His words rang clear in Obito’s head.

Die?

Didn’t he already die?

Look at this old man.

He literally just got here, what the fuck?

And suddenly he’s gonna die again?

For what?

For that Satoru to ‘succeed’? 

The audacity.

The audacity of them all.

Suddenly, the person holding him moved out of the way, trembling.

Was that to save Obito or to save themselves?

They were still trembling, more so now that the realisation of what they’ve done settled.

“O-Oyakata-sama! I-I… I a-apolo—”

“Tsk. Useless woman.”

“FATHER!”

The old man snapped his fingers and then—

Blood?

Oh.

They were beheaded.

Right in front of Obito?

While she was holding Obito.

Still holding Obito, despite the body already headless and brought to their knees.

Ah, they were saving Obito. In a way, still.

And the old man killed them.

Ha.

Really?

Obito feels like trembling.

No— why is he empathising with this situation too much?

He’s seen death. Thousands. Caused more of it, even.

And suddenly the death of a faceless person is making him feel like a 4 year old Uchiha being brought to an aftermath of a battlefield to stimulate their Sharingan? He never agreed to that anyway, so he wouldn’t be sure of the experience. Poor little Itachi, already seeing bloodshed after just learning to understand a conversation. Poor 8 year old Itachi, having his teammates die in front of him. Naive little Itachi, never realising that what killed them was the same man who assisted him in murdering the rest of the clan—

Hands.

Someone’s attempting to get close again.

Then—

Everything’s red

Red

Red.

Don’t touch me!

The hand phases through.

The adults in the room halt.

Because the beheaded body still holds the baby somehow, yet, the hand of his Father only phases through.

Red eyes glowed with lines curving out from the pupil slowly spinning like a wheel, fixated at everyone and everything at once.

The face of the old man is dark and deepened with an unexplainable scorn and shock.

Then he was once again Obito, but now the name holds a different meaning.

He was named Obito because his only worth is to die for the sake of his twin brother Satoru, the enlightened one.

Really setting up a good brotherhood there.

As for why they’re even saying that is beyond Obito’s understanding.

But Obito doesn’t really care.

If the day were to come where his life is needed in order for Satoru to achieve greatness, maybe he’ll just kill that boy himself to doom everyone else.

They look at him weirdly every time they stare.

They’d stare at Satoru’s eyes in wonder, then they’ll stare at his intently — even to his hair, for some reason.

Because apparently, Obito’s Sharingan won’t turn off. At the very least, it’s not in Mangekyo mode right now.

Oh, is the Sharingan part not interesting enough?

You know what? Sure. Why don’t we focus on the most confusing part?

He’s a BABY.

As in the kind that needs to be monitored 24/7. Can’t eat, can’t sleep, can’t stay still on their own BABY.

Maybe he should’ve let that old man kill him.

Reborn soul? Sure, why the fuck not. Death doesn’t even want to claim his soul for everything he’s done, huh?

Then they’d even thought, hey, why not give him a twin brother while we’re at it?

And now he’s got the most annoying brother in the entire universe.

SATORU WON’T LEAVE HIM ALONE.

This ugly baby would cry when Obito is being taken away to get washed. He’d cry when either of them is taken to change diapers.

Hell, he’d cry when Obito doesn’t look at him!

Does this make sense for a baby? They’re sleeping in separate cribs! How in the world is he supposed to look at Satoru just to stop him from crying?

Itachi didn’t tell him stories about little baby Sasuke doing this. Not that he was still in the village when Sasuke was born.

Do all babies do this? Or is it just that Satoru is too stupidly special in the head?

If Satoru turns out to be Kakashi all along, oh, he’s gonna go on a killing spree again.

But there’s no way for that to happen, anyway. He’s sure Kakashi and his students will win the fight against Kaguya back then. His soul wouldn’t have passed on so peacefully.

Oh, how short-lived that was, though.

In another time, Obito wouldn’t have minded, reborn mind or not. Not at all. Maybe stupid baby Obito would’ve done the same thing Satoru is doing, if not worse. Babies forget these moments eventually, right?

Except he has his Sharingan activated, so unfortunately, he’ll remember this till he dies.

If he does finally die after this life that is.

It’s been 5 months and Obito still thinks that Satoru is such an ugly baby, no matter what the clan members who visit them say.

It’s unfair. So unfair that Obito is only able to roll on his stomach for now with much difficulty in doing it once, but Satoru is able to roll as much as he likes. Laughing his ass out.

Satoru always likes to be inside Obito’s comfort space.

They don’t sleep in separate cribs now, no. Satoru made such a huge fuss in month 3 because Obito slept for nearly the whole day at once. Only waking up when it’s time to eat and bath, and still asleep during diaper change and morning because he was just soooo tired.

His Sharingan’s been active since birth, by the way! Who wouldn’t get tired of that?

Now, Satoru wouldn’t leave him alone. Always staring at him with those creepy bright blue eyes, even when he’s sleeping.

All the more reasons to cross out the idea of Kakashi being Satoru. There’s just no way Kakashi will be this annoying, traumatised or not.

If it were 3 months ago, Obito would’ve understood. It was still snowing back then. But it’s still fuckass cold despite the very expensive heater and traditional room they’ve got.

Oh yeah, there’s that too. Obito is in another well known Clan whose kekkei genkai is both within Satoru, which is apparently a very rare thing to happen at the same time. Happens only once every 400 years, if the nosy wet maids’ gossip is to be believed.

Gojo Obito. Pfft. Even he thinks it doesn’t sound good. A name that means 5 conditions to die? He’d rather kill 5 people.

What is he even talking about?

Oh, right. Satoru being in his personal space.

It’s May now, and it’s not the best time to be cuddling and shit.

But then you’d look over Satoru and it’s like this guy has a built in Obito tracker that even in his sleep, he’d roll and roll himself trying to find Obito and cling on to him.

Satoru is such an ugly baby.

If it weren’t for the cold night managing to slip through the well insulated room, he’d have kicked Satoru away for just being ugly.

Time moves so fucking slow for a baby like Obito who has Sharingan activated all the time. The only rest being his sleep.

Closing his eyes helps too.

But then Satoru would shake him for attention because of course the fucker would know the difference of Obito being asleep and when he’s faking.

Why does Satoru even like to bother Obito so much?

He doesn’t fucking know! He was an only child!

So now he’s here by the engawa of his and Satoru’s house. Basking on the rare sunny day of Japan’s July.

They’re 7 months old and Obito can finally sit up without difficulty. But of course Satoru will always one up him and is able to crawl now.

Honestly, he looks like a dog. Beaming at Obito’s way and bringing him different kinds of toys like everything’s all sunshine and rainbows. Like there aren’t gossiping wet nurses a few steps away from them. 

Like their parents never showing up once is the norm.

Would Kakashi have acted like this as a baby?

Not that Obito cares. He already prefers pretending that he doesn’t receive feeding from the wet nurses.

This clan is weird. You’d think they value Satoru so much they’d give him all the nutrients a baby would need to be strong and healthy 100%, even cozy up to him while he’s young so he’d do anything and everything they’d want. Desensitise him, if you will.

But no, none of that. None of the wet nurses even attempts to get close to any of them and attempt to form a ‘connection’. Don’t babies easily cling on to anyone maternal enough?

Speaking of clinging, there goes Satoru being an ugly baby again.

While Obito had been busy inside his mind, Satoru had crawled towards where he’s sitting and laid on his side there with his head on one of Obito’s thighs.

His blue eyes always look like there’s a universe inside there, it’s a bit unnerving.

Curious, Obito placed his chubby hand by Satoru’s cheek, looking into his eyes.

This contact made Satoru’s eyes widen, but he stayed still. He’s always like this — attentive to everything Obito would grace him with.

Obito would then pinch Satoru’s cheek.

Satoru would attempt to pinch Obito’s as well, but Obito would be quick to bring that hand to his mouth and chew.

Obito had been teething.

He hopes to forget these moments everyday.

He prays, everyday, that it’s not Kakashi underneath those unnerving blue eyes.

That would make this entire moment even more embarrassing.

For all the cursing Obito did towards his absolute dogshit of motor skills, he eventually was able to crawl fast.

Now, Obito is finally able to crawl away from Satoru’s clingy ass.

But Satoru has experience. So crawling away became a game to Satoru it seems, his happy squealing while crawling after Obito loud and proud.

That seemed like something Kakashi would be able to do— be so advanced in any skills despite his age. But he’s not this clingy.

At least that seemed like normal baby stuff.

What’s not considered baby stuff is what the twins are up to at night when there’s no wet nurse checking in on them.

Surprisingly, it was Obito who initiated what led towards everything else.

He was simply curious, that’s all.

He remembers that weird sensation he got from the old man when he was a few minutes old, just the moment he opened his Sharingan. He doesn’t remember why he ever activated it back then, but he does remember the old man’s hand phasing through him and that beheaded person holding him.

But yeah, the weird sensation. He felt it from the old man and he thinks he’s feeling the same thing from Satoru now, only it’s more… potent? More controlled compared to the old man? How does that even make sense?

Obito doesn’t know, and that’s what he wants to find out.

Obito and Satoru had been locked in a staring contest ever since the wet nurse left them in their large crib. Weird enough, one of them left the window open slightly, but Obito is too focused on Satoru to notice.

seemed to have no plan to sleep yet, Obito knew that. He’s always staring at Obito until the black-haired genuinely falls asleep. He has no idea how long that takes and when exactly after that would Satoru decide to sleep.

Obito was the first to sit up, Satoru followed after a moment. He fixed Obito with a curious tilt of his head, wondering what this is about.

Blue eyes watched as the three tomoe on those red eyes transformed to swirling thick black lines, the shape looking similar to a pinwheel.

Obito won’t be attempting Kamui, but it’s only pre-caution. He already slipped in one of their toys to their cribs earlier anyway.

He showed as much to Satoru. And as if the white-haired understood what the other was planning, his own eyes seemed to brighten a bit.

Is it a twin connection thing? Is that what’s happening right now?

Well, Obito wouldn’t want to dwell on that. This entire thing is still weird to him.

Without warning, Obito threw the small circle shaped toy block towards Satoru.

Obito believes he threw it with all the strength his baby fat could. But the circle block slowly lost momentum as it neared Satoru, ending with it hovering in thin air as if suspended.

Obito tilts his head. Does Satoru have levitation?

Blue eyes looked at the thrown toy, not surprised at the sudden attack. Instead, he looked at red eyes again and the toy flew towards Obito slowly as if careful.

The slow projectile didn't stop as it neared Obito and the dark-haired allowed it, not moving away its trajectory even if he had the time in the world.

The toy passes through Obito, blue and red locked in a staring contest. Out the corner of his eye, one of their blocks starts floating atop of black hairs, then dropping suddenly. It phases through Obito, all while none of them look away from the other.

It seems that was all Satoru needed, his expression morphing to genuine bright joy as if they finally found a game they could enjoy. His mouth opened wide in a smile as he crawled towards Obito and something in him clicked then.

Is this behaviour normal for 10 month old babies? Already able to use skills, born with it or not? What the fuck did Obito just do?

Satoru seemed unfazed, sitting up in front of his twin and pointing to himself suddenly.

What now?

Satoru was gesturing to himself. Babies can’t really talk yet, undeveloped tongue and voice box and all, so this is all they could for now.

Obito tilts his head, does Satoru want his brother to touch his cheek?

Obito drops his Mangekyo, black lines returning to just three tomoe. Making it obvious for Satoru that he’s dropped his ‘intangibility.’

But when he attempts to touch Satoru’s cheek, he feels like something’s blocking him?

His finger stopped inches away from Satoru’s face. It didn’t feel like a wall.. Just something… He kept pressing and when Satoru moved his face, Obito’s finger tried to follow but the space between remained the same. Untouchable.

He tried with his palm, and the landing of it followed the contour of Satoru’s fat cheeks.

It’s an ability Obito can’t wrap his head around.

He decided to activate his Mangekyo, attempting to see if he could phase around that weird barrier of Satoru, but just then, both of them felt an unfamiliar presence by the window.

“Grab the white one!”

Three masked men in black burst through their window, they were quick to their feet. Quick enough that one of them was already in front of the twins, bag to secure one of them held high.

He can’t have that. Why the fuck would Obito let some random ass goons get their way when he’s here?

His Kamui activated and sucked in the hands holding that bag.

Welp, there goes Obito’s night.

He glared at them, red eyes glowing in the dark.

“AAAARGH!!” the man wailed loud, staring hauntingly at his missing arms.

“What the fuck?!”

“I thought they said he’s too young to be able to use cursed techniques?!”

“Why is there even another kid—!”

Liquid blood sprayed around the room, but none touched the twins. 

Blue eyes turned, glaring at the three for disturbing the twins’ playtime.

Already sensing the aura Satoru excluded, the two attempt to leave.

“Let’s go!”

“This is a fucking bust! Let’s leave him!”

But then they felt themselves unable to move, suddenly feeling a pull.

“My arm! Don’t touch my arm—!”

“Oof—!”

“What the—”

Satoru’s hand raised, pointing towards them. But it seemed before he could do anything, the door burst open and he suddenly dropped his hold over the three guys.

“Intruders! Secure the young masters!”

“Hmmp.” Satoru seemed to pout, about to display his disappointment to Obito. However, he froze upon turning to his twin.

Blood was pouring out of his left eye. Obito could feel the strain of using his Kamui prematurely — his eyes were still too weak for such usage.

Mangekyo drops, and he falls forward. The last thing he saw was Satoru’s expression turning to horror and worry.

He wakes up hours later at noon. Satoru’s head by his chest sleeping.

Obito makes a point of moving enough to wake his twin. Then, when he sees blue eyes peek through, he gives in to the exhaustion again — if only to see Satoru’s panicked and worried expression.

It makes him look funnier rather than the usual ugly ones.

Despite the whole ordeal, their parents don't ever show up.

Obito wonders if it’s in the clan’s rules that the parents can’t interact with their children up until a certain age or not at all?

Not that Obito cared.

It seemed Satoru didn’t care either. Rather, he seemed to have gotten uglier since then.

They’d play around, try to stand up and Satoru would attempt to go after Obito while they cling on to the sides of their crib. Often, the wet nurses would come when they raised their arms, they knew after a bunch of screaming that the twins wanted assistance in standing outside their playpen.

Obito thinks of it as training, if only to push the embarrassment away. He has to accept that his life as a baby will be a long one and he can’t do anything but live in the moment of it.

The wet nurses come and go. Obito’s never seen the woman who had left their window slightly opened that night since then. She might’ve been a spy.

At night, Satoru and he would throw stuff at each other as if training their abilities. Satoru is unable to keep his passive barrier active for long, and Obito takes advantage in knowing whenever it’s down. He’d howl in laughter whenever he makes sure to throw a heavy toy every time and as much as Satoru would pout, Obito thinks he has an advantage over Satoru with how he’d bask in whatever attention the red-eyed would give him.

But the same could be said to Obito. He, too, can’t hold his ability for long and it seemed Satoru figured it out. Even when Mangekyo was active, the blue-eyed twin was able to tell exactly when he could touch Obito and cover his eyes forcefully. Afraid he’d strain it again.

Obito hates it whenever Satoru acts ugly like this. He knows his own limits!

He doesn’t want to be coddled by a baby, even with how weirdly intelligent Satoru acts already.

Honestly, that part still doesn’t make sense to Obito.

Satoru acts like a weird baby.

Or is it only Obito who’s being weirded out by this? The wet nurses stopped gossiping around them since that night, so he doesn’t have a source on how a baby should act and shouldn’t anymore.

Whenever Satoru covers Obito’s eyes, he’d babble this annoying baby song from start to finish. He’d sing it six times…. SIX TIMES! All in different versions and renditions! 

He’d sing a normal one, then a fast one. Then he’d slow it down, then he’d make it all jumpy. Then he’d hold every ending tone, then he’d sing it like he’s beat boxing! That’s not even all of it because he makes sure it sounds different whenever he pleases!

What song? TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR!

He’s so annoying.

God he’s so annoying.

It’s like he’s conditioning Obito not to exert his eyes so much unless he wants this to happen all the time.

Like, WHAT?

Obito already hid the keyboard toy where that shit lullaby plays, using Kamui and leaving it on that pocket dimension.

He’ll genuinely kill himself if this continues.

Their 1st birthday rolls around as the weather becomes cold.

Right. Obito does remember there being snow and cold for the first quarter of his life here.

Satoru was pouting the moment they woke up that day, glaring outside their house. Obito doesn’t know what suddenly put him in such a mood.

He seemed extra sulky too. Opting to just lay on the ground as he wrapped his arms around Obito’s waist from behind while he was just sitting down.

Satoru is at his ugliest as always.

“Satoru-sama. Obito-sama.”

Obito turned to where the wet nurses had called them. They were holding kimonos with different colours. It’s easy to tell which is whose.

He taps Satoru’s hands, signaling him to let go. But the brat dared to tighten his hold instead.

He pinches it, a last warning. 

Obito would never babble unless necessary. He’d only dare to speak once he’s sure he absolutely can form a word.

When Satoru still didn't let up, he activated his Mangkyo anyway and phased through, much to his twin’s pouting.

He lets one of the wet nurses carry him, and he sees Satoru give up as he lets himself get carried as well.

All of this is because of them turning 1, isn’t it?

It’s not something he can just hide from, then.

They were bathed and clothed together. Now, why is Satoru making a fuss with the kimonos? One was white and the other was dark grey, nearly black in colour.

Satoru kept pointing at the dark kimono when the wet nurse was attempting to put the white one on him. The woman can’t even do anything about it because she can’t put the kimono with Satoru’s skill active.

After a long hour of persuading — the wet nurse in tears, pleading — they gave him the dark kimono.

“I’m gonna get killed for this!” The wet nurse cried and left, then came in a replacement seconds later.

Kakashi wouldn’t be one to act so spoiled.

Obito doesn’t really care which colour he wears. But it seems Satoru is adamant in making a statement out of it — whatever that would mean in the eyes of the old people.

Honestly, Obito is just thinking — Not that he knows a lot about head clan rules and whatnot, Itachi would know more about that than someone like Obito — But wouldn’t these moments require their parents to be the one carrying them to the ceremony rather than their wet nurse and guards only?

He remembered their Miyamairi still going through 31 days after their birth. A small affair that happened in Gojo Clan’s shrine. He just slept the whole day though, as did Satoru. But he was at least sure that their parents held them for a moment in front of the priest.

Since they can’t walk properly yet, they were put in a stroller. But of course, who is Satoru if he doesn’t whine about that too?

The moment he saw two separate strollers, he clung on to Obito like a koala, crying loudly to his ears.

It’s one of those moments that Obito knows he can’t solve by simply phasing away from. He’d bet Satoru would keep crying all the way to their destination. He’s an annoying little shit— Obito prefers it when he’s horrified and doesn’t know what to do.

Now they had to wait for one of the guards to run to the nearest mall to buy a quality twin stroller because no way is the Gojo Clan ever gonna go to other Clans to borrow one.

He makes a point in pulling both of Satoru’s cheeks while they wait, not caring if it makes Satoru look stupid on their 1st birthday. He’s fine — beaming at the attention, even.

They arrived late to the event dedicated to them, just how Obito prefers it. Huh, maybe Satoru was making a good point.

The place was uphill, despite the twins’ house being one of the closest to the main branch house. 

“You’re late.”

A familiar voice echoed across the hall. It seemed that this, too, was just a small gathering.

The twins were unbuckled from their strollers, they sat in the two seats in the middle, just in front of the old man, the Head of the Gojo Clan.

Obito will never bother learning his name.

If he were to scrutinize the space Obito was given, he’d say it seemed like it was hastily added. A last minute addition placed next to Satoru’s. Word about the Six Eyes wielder’s multiple tantrums must’ve reached the old man and decided to concede.

That doesn’t sound like a good thing in Obito’s book for children.

Satoru will turn out to be a very spoiled child.

The old man stood up once the other old people settled down. Are their parents among them?

Not that Obito cares. He just thinks that Satoru will grow up worse if he doesn’t have that needed figure in his life. He’s already weird as is.

“As agreed by the majority of the Clan Elders, the erabitori ritual will not be performed on Satoru… and Obito’s first birthday.”

Oh, thank god. He was starting to worry it’d be an embarrassing Isshou Mochi too when he can’t walk without assistance yet.

“So let this feast be a celebration for their continued survival amidst all the attempts to steal the Six Eyes from the Gojo Clan. May the twins live a long, fulfilling life, and bring honor back to the Gojo Clan.”

The old man kept talking after— something about the history of Satoru’s eyes. Obito had long stopped listening when he felt a poke on his cheek.

“Ah.” Satoru made the sound of opening his mouth, holding up a spoon full of soft rice porridge.

Now, Obito has never been the son of the Clan Chief. But is it not generally appropriate to eat while the Head of the Clan is giving a speech?

The old man’s words faltered at the display, but continued on with no choice. Now, Obito can feel the eyes of the other elders on them.

What would Itachi do when put in a childish situation like this?

He’d probably correct Sasuke, because Itachi is a pacifist who follows orders and traditions to the tee.

But he is not Itachi.

Therefore, Obito takes the spoonful Satoru offered him, causing the latter to smile in joy.

Eugh. How ugly. Obito doesn’t like soups, and Satoru made it worse by looking ugly.

Obito decides to repay him, taking a spoonful from his own portion and offering it to Satoru who happily bites down, relishing the moment.

The old man’s speech stopped altogether, eyes twitching at the scene. He was not at all amused. Instead, he feels pure disrespect from this. But what can he do when one of them holds both the prized techniques of the clan they’ve waited 400 years for?

He coughs in the tensed silent air, “Let us eat, then.”

Obito decides to ignore the fact that he hates soups for that day. Satoru has had too many tantrums already, he is not about to instigate another one in that ‘celebration.’

The day ends with Obito not able to recognise which ones were their parents.

But as he keeps saying, it's not like he cares.

He just wanted to make sure there isn't any parental guilt there for birthing a prodigal son with a twin whose worth is measured for when he dies.

If there are, then they made the good job of hiding it. Not once did they send the twin longing glances, nor did they give them nannies that came from them. Obito would be able to tell the difference.

So now, Obito deems himself parentless in this timeline.

Does Satoru think the same way? Is it too early to tell if his twin is looking for parental connection?

Hmm…

Then again, so what if Satoru was searching for their parents? It’s not like Obito would be able to do anything about it. He’s just turned 1.

Red and blue is once again locked in a staring contest. 

How long has it been since their first birthday? Days? Weeks?

He remembers Satoru pointing outside when the first snow drops.

It’s been a few days since then.

“Hmm…”

He hears Satoru’s voice, bringing him back to the present.

They were in their crib. It's been replaced by a much larger one — a present from the old Clan Head.

“O… bi…”

Obito’s gaze never leaves him. Satoru babbling random letters is not new. He’d go a, a, a, i, i, i, u, u, e, o. And then go rambling nonsense again.

“Bi… bi… to.”

Oh. He’s saying my name.

Satoru sees realisation in his eyes and his face brightens in the softest smile. 

“Obito!”

There’s warmth in his chest.

What? What’s that?

He almost couldn’t hold Satoru’s gaze. His twin is being ugly again. No doubt he’d throw a tantrum if Obito were to look away.

But is this even normal? A 1 year old already correctly pronouncing something?

It’s just a name.

Then, would it be weirder if Obito doesn’t follow?

If Satoru could do it already, then he’d be able to do it too, right?

Why should he care anyway? Satoru just said his name.

It’s not even the way Kakashi would say it.

And for some reason, Obito finds himself happier that he’s not Kakashi.

Satoru is always so focused and stuck to Obito — of course he’d be his first word. It's not something out of this world.

It’s really not that big of a deal.

So why is he opening his mouth?

“Sa…”

A single syllable and Satoru is already sitting up, eyes widening in excitement.

Obito is feeling too focused to join him.

Sharingan is convenient in copying a skill. It copies the way the muscle would shift and how it works, making it easy for users to instinctively know what to adjust for a perfect copy.

Talking is a skill. 

“Sa… toru”

That night, Satoru engulfed Obito in a tight embrace, refusing to let go.

It’s one of those things about Satoru that Obito learns he’ll have to live with.

Chapter Text

There’s never a dull moment when it comes to Satoru. And by that, Obito means that there’s never a quiet moment with Satoru.

Obito just wants peace and quiet.

Satoru is not the embodiment of any of those.

His speaking skills only improved since that night, which was apparently Christmas day — whatever that meant.

Is this not the same world Obito came from? That same Shinobi World with the 5 Great Nations, or at least way into the future?

Obito could understand that not everything will remain the same. He knows even famous clans would fall and be deleted from history, even Uchihas. So he’d thought maybe the Gojo Clan were a fraction of both Uchiha and Byakugan, only weakened because of generational stuff and because it’s been more than 1000 years or something.

He did the math. If the Clan knew that Satorus’s Six Eyes — or whatever it is that happened with him — only occurs to one person every 400 years, then that would mean it’s happened more than twice to make a pattern.

So why is Obito doubting that this world might not be the same one he came from? Traditions can change in just 200 years, the Uchiha Clan is the prime example of that. The Shinobi way might as well be buried after 1000 years.

For starters, it’s the way Chakra doesn’t feel the same way it used to. No… the ‘Chakra’ he instead feels seems almost… negative.

He sees the ‘chakra’ paths in everyone, but it’s not ‘chakra’ as he understands it.

Chakra exists for everyone because it is simply the life force of people. It’s a life force energy people can enhance and foster to be able to do any kind of Jutsu. To be unable to use it is rare, but even those kinds of people have Chakra.

But here, people’s life force is simply their soul. And the energy Obito mistakes Chakra for is still unnamed in his vocabulary.

So imagine his surprise when he first encountered a ‘curse’.

Well, the encounter was short.

The twins are almost always just lounging by the engawa overlooking the garden. It’s either there or in their new room — they left their traditional nursery when it became apparent that it’s become too small to contain Satoru. Obito thinks they’re still too young to have left that room, but he doesn’t care either way.

It was still snowing and they’re wearing the warmest clothing Obito has worn for winter. Must be good in quality. 

Satoru was giggling as he jumped down from the wooden panels and to the snow-filled garden. There’s a small pond that has a few koi fish, but it was frozen and those fish were forced into hibernation.

“... toru.” Obito calls, exasperated. His twin just jumped from the engawa’s floors unceremoniously after wearing winter boots in a quick second.

Snow crunched under his weight, his limitless not activated to let the cold snow touch him.

He waved his arms towards his brother enthusiastically, “Tobi! Snow!”

How Satoru now managed to walk straight just weeks after their first birthday is beyond him.

A wet nurse still helps Obito wear his winter boots. Once done, they helped him climb down the wooden panels, Satoru grasping his hand to help him balance without the help of the other maids. Those women stay by the wooden panels waiting, just looking over them as needed.

“O-bi-to.” The black-haired would correct him. How Satoru’s brain ever settled on that specific nickname makes Obito overthink a lot. A lot about Satoru makes him weirded out.

“Too long.” Satoru would stick out his tongue in defiance. “To-bi!” He points a finger to the younger twin’s forehead.

In retaliation, Obito would point a finger to the other’s forehead as well. “To-ru.”

Unfortunately, Obito’s vocal vocabulary only retained Satoru and Obito. Why? He doesn’t fucking know. Apparently, his body deems saying their names the maximum that he could do as a 1 year old.

The name Satoru felt too long to say, so he dumbed it down to simply ‘Toru’ thinking that the blue-eyed wouldn’t like it. But it seemed to cause the opposite.

Satoru points to himself at that too, grinning wide as he does. “Toru!”

Then they would play in the snow for the next moments.

They played snow angels until Satoru became bored laying down just when Obito was getting comfortable. Then they started building snowmen based on the other. Obito thinks he’d seen those things in one of their toys and storybooks.

Satoru’s version became the ugliest, his was used as trial and error. He left Obito smoothing out the body for a quick second, running to the maids to bring him something. He returned holding a box filled with several items.

“Need stones!” Satoru points to a shrub in the garden, there’s a spot around it that didn’t have snow fallen and he could see stones they could use.

At this point, Obito was so used to Satoru holding his hand even during their sleep that he’s become accustomed to reaching out first sometimes.

It’s not something Obito minds anymore. But he does like to think of Satoru as a crutch instead.

While they were gathering stones, something caught Obito’s attention hiding on the other side of the shrub. It was small and red in colour. It had so many legs that it seemed right to call it creepy.

Oh. It’s a centipede. A centipede with a weird aura that Obito would mistake for a chakra.

“Toru.” Obito calls him, pointing in the direction of the weird centipede.

“Hmm?”

Satoru looked over and he froze. His carefree smile from earlier immediately dropped.

Obito wonders then, is he scared of centipedes?

Red eyes watched as he plummets the stone he’s holding to the centipede when it was starting to approach them.

It crushed the centipede flat, but then, it twitched and it's back to normal again and crawling closer.

“Curse.” Blue eyes glowed and Obito felt a flare of chakra-like essence. He could see it form in Satoru’s hand holding a new rock. He squished it to the centipede, stopping it on its track to Obito’s feet.

It writhed, as if in agony. Then it snapped in the middle before it dissipated to thin air.

That was when other centipedes came out of the plant.

Satoru seemed more tense when that happened.

“... Toru.” Obito tries to get his attention, tugging at his hand. This worked somehow because Satoru was then walking them away from those centipedes and back inside the house.

“S-Satoru-sama?” One of the maids stammered when the white-haired glared at them.

With his other hand, he pointed to the direction of the shrub, “Curse.”

“O-Oh. It seems… the sorcerers didn’t clear out the garden properly. W-We apologise for that Satoru-sama. We’ll have the entire house checked just in case, too.”

Satoru helped Obito climb up the patio, being the one to even help his twin in removing his boots.

The twins didn’t stay for long and went to their room, shrugging off their winter coats.

It seemed that the sight of the centipede greatly dampened Satoru’s bright mood so much that he’s back to burying himself in Obito’s side.

Obito just sprawls by their wide bed like a dead starfish, head tilted towards Satoru as he recalls every weird thing that occurred.

Curse. Centipede.

It didn’t die when it was struck by a normal rock. But dissipated when Satoru used some faux-chakra.

Sorcerers.

The ones that patrol around their house everyday?

Obito still doesn’t understand the timeline he’s in.

Satoru talks a lot.

There’s not a day Obito wishes he could completely shut him up.

He settles for a temporary solution: feeding Satoru.

“Boriiiiiiing~” Satoru drawls, laying down on the ground of an engawa that’s overlooking a body of water connecting to a river.

It's been 7 months since he encountered a curse for the first time. The sun of late July is scorching hot, but the body of water simmers it down.

Obito is sitting down next to his head, grabbing hold of the sliced sweet apples the maids handed.

“Ah~” the brat would open his mouth as Obito feeds him an apple. It’s become a routine that Obito unknowingly instigated in his desire to keep Satoru from whining.

Obito takes one for himself and the quiet lasts for only a minute.

“Tobi~” Obito fed him another, but then he kept talking as he chewed. “Want out?”

“Toru, ew.” Red eyes fixed the other sternly, giving him another apple. It’s because of Satoru that Obito came to have a stern personality, he used to be as carefree!

Satoru pouted, but didn’t talk as he chewed properly now.

He spoke as soon as he swallowed, “Tobi, wanna—”

Obito forced a slice down his mouth immediately.

“No.” 

“Hmph.”

Satoru never stopped trying to coax Obito to sneak out.

The only reason he’s declining is that he doesn’t want Satoru acting like that winter day should they encounter whatever that was again accidentally — Obito knows how these kinds of shit works.

It’s only 2 years later that Obito finally takes Satoru up on his offer.

They have turned 3 years old and Obito doesn’t need assistance in walking anymore. They can talk clearer now and he finally has the vocal vocabulary not limited to Toru and Tobi (how embarrassing).

A month after their birthday, they were given private tutors that’s currently teaching them how to write and read (not that he needed one anyway, but it’s fun to pretend and it’s still training his motor skills without looking suspicious).

Satoru still likes to coax him to skip tutoring: whining that it’s boring, pleading with him to just hide for the day and play hide and seek, all the bratty behaviour no doubt Satoru would’ve done if he didn’t have Obito as a brother.

Everytime, even Obito is surprised at himself for pushing Satoru to go do their homework.

Satoru really brings out the worst in Obito.

But all that faux-righteousness was thrown out the window the moment they spotted a maid carefully placing a kimono in the traditional rack in the middle of November, weeks before their 4th birthday.

“Toru.” Obito grabbed Satoru’s hand as they watched the scene from afar.

Satoru’s expression slowly morphed to a cheshire grin, already knowing where this is going but still asked, “What is it, Tobi?”

“Let’s go.” Obito gave a tug, pointing to a nearby window.

“Hmm… but we still have class, Tobi.” Blue eyes turned to slit as he mocked his brother’s voice. They do not, in fact, have anything scheduled today. It’s probably cleared up for the event they’re going to.

Red eyes glared, tomoe turning into a pinwheel shape. “Toru.”

He could barely handle the birthday celebration the Clan Head holds for them each year — he thinks this one held in November is similar to a tradition Konoha also held yearly for every child of the country for certain ages.

Which means Obito will be in the presence of snotty, crying, loud kids. No, thank you. Satoru is already a handful.

Red and blue locked in a stand-off, Satoru no doubt is gonna turn this into his favour.

Satoru sighed as though helpless in the situation, “Fine~ You owe me for this, Tobi.”

That’s bulshit, Obito wanted to say. So instead, he pulled the hand he’s been holding towards the window.

Their steps were quiet against the well-maintained wooden floor. Obito looked back and around to check before he led the two of them to phase through the wall, ending up on the pond that had been overlooking the window. It was in a corner enough that they managed to hide just as an escort entered the house just after patrolling the house.

“Is the young master ready?”

“Not yet, we were just about to start preparing as well.”

There seems to be more guards around now than usual.

Satoru points to the boundary wall next to them and Obito nods, walking up to it.

“Satoru-sama?”

“Has anyone seen the young masters?”

They had already phased outside the house just as they heard the maids start panicking.

“So cool!” Satoru always reacts at the sight and feeling of ‘intangibility’.

“Shh!” Obito tries to shut him up. It’s still morning, but he spots groups of family already walking down the road with their dressed up children heading for the Clan’s shrine.

“I think I saw a good spot to hide, Tobi!”

Obito lets himself get led through small alleys that families wouldn’t use at this time.

After much maneuvering and staying still until an adult passes by — the view of a wide lake. Orange leaves are seen dropping from the tree due to Autumn season, and it makes everything look like it’s been touched by the sun and burnt.

For Obito who never had the personality to stay still and appreciate every season around Konoha since everything, he feels like that kid again. The kid who was too small for the world and can only look up as the trees change colour for every season, wondering how long it was taking for him to be an adult soon.

“Like it?”

Satoru's inserted itself to his point of view, face proud and inquisitive.

Despite how ridiculous Satoru could be, it’s weird how Obito can feel nothing but genuineness from the boy.

His face softens, “...Yeah.”

He wonders if it's simply childish innocence. Will Satoru still act like this towards Obito after a few years?

Obito hadn’t forgotten the old man’s words.

And as much as he wants clarity in those words, a 3 year old shouldn’t be so worried about a memory he shouldn’t be able to remember. Especially when his life up until this point has been relatively comfortable.

So instead, he asked the older twin, “How long do we stay?”

It’s a simple question. A sentence that doesn’t hold any deep meanings.

“Hmm…” Satoru takes the time to think about it, “‘Till we get found?”

“Boring.” Obito is genuinely disappointed at the answer.

Satoru laughed, “It’s still too dangerous for us, Tobi! Maybe after more birthdays?”

The older twin sways their connected hand as they walk around the area. When seen from afar, they truly look like twin brothers.

Maybe because they really are.

They decide to sit down on a tree, snacking on some candies Satoru kept hidden in his pockets all the time. Obito also has some on him, but he prefers to only use them to shut Satoru up.

It’s been only 2 hours.

And Obito has been staring at weird blobs of eyes for 10 minutes now. Satoru has his eyes closed as he lays his head on the black hair’s shoulders.

“Toru.”

“Hmm?”

“Curse?”

Satoru opened his eyes and shifted, following Obito’s line of sight.

“Don’t worry.” He tells the younger, “They’re weak.”

“Hn…” Obito tilts his head as Satoru returns to his spot on his shoulder. “How do you know?”

Satoru rarely leaves Obito’s side. He wonders when the blue eyed kid would have the time to learn about things like these without Obito learning about it, too.

“Asked one of the guards.” He answers, “They said weak curses always group up.”

That makes sense. Shinobis do that a lot too.

“What’s a curse?”

“Bad stuff.” Satoru adds after, “Negative stuff.”

“Is the tree evil?”

“Probably.” Satoru snickers at this, “Should we move trees?”

How much does Satoru know about curses? Obito would’ve asked. But then something happened around them. 

First, he noticed that the sun over his feet seemed to slowly leave. This made him look down at the sight. And by the time he looked up, the sky had darkened unnaturally.

“Toru.”

The white haired boy sat up straight finally, stretching his arms as if he had just woken up. Is the situation not as dangerous as Obito is feeling?

“It’s fine, Tobi!” His voice still carries a cadence, “I don’t think we’re in trouble.”

“You never think, Toru.” Red eyes deadpanned at him, Mangekyo activating as he surveyed around. “I can’t see beyond the clearing.”

“I can’t either.” Satoru shrugs, sounding disappointed. And then his eyes lit up, “I know! Let’s test how far our eyes can see and play ‘I spy!’”

“Toru, be serious!” He tries to reprimand him, “Don’t you think we need to leave this place?”

“But we don’t even know what’s happening, Tobi.”

“Exactly!”

“All we can do right now is wait, really.”

“And you don’t think nothing’s gonna attack us?!” Obito is close to choking his brother to death. Immediately, he stood up and Satoru followed after him with their hands linking instinctively.

Just as he sensed, a strong force of water sprayed towards them. The water was strong enough to have taken down half the size of the tree that was behind them. They would have been obliterated if Obito hadn’t used his eyes.

Satoru looked unbothered, then raised the hands that were interlinked. “We have many ways to remain untouched, don’t we?”

“More importantly,” Satoru turned to look at the location where the attack came from, “Is that the Kappa?”

Emerging from the body of water were three river demons similar to a Kappa. They resemble a humanoid turtle. Their eyes are bulging out of their head, which, speaking off, is exposed with a portion of water balancing in the hollow head. 

“Are they weak?” Obito wonders, “They’re in a group.”

“Maybe?” Satoru tilts his head thinking, “Or maybe it’s just because they’re family?”

At the same time, the twins turned their heads to the left when they felt it.

“Someone’s approaching.” Obito voiced out.

“Must be a sorcerer!”

Obito scrunched his face, thinking. “Like, our guards?”

“Maybe!”

Obito rolls his eyes at the answer. If Satoru doesn’t actually know, why doesn’t he just shut up?

All the while, the Kappa Curses were still attacking them with water, the pressure getting stronger each time. Each would attempt to jump at them, entering their shells and acting like a cannon ball. But they would only phase through each time.

“You can turn off your ability now, Tobi.” Satoru tells him, “I’ll handle the next one.”

Trusting him, Obito lifted his right Mangekyo, closing it to turn off. He might need his left eye just in case.

“Should we bow our heads?” Obito suggests. He read about it in one of their books, “That should stop them, at least until the person arrives.”

“Hmm… should we try?”

Like absolute children that they are, they lowered their head in a bow just after an attack was done. But this seemed to have angered them instead?

“Oh, it didn't work.” Satoru huffs, Obito wasn’t really believing his suggestion either.

The curses stepped far back and near the river again, the energies fluctuating and meeting in the middle. The three Kappas seemed to merge, turning bigger now with all three curse energies merged back into one.

Obito saw the aura that was around the form looking like fire. The water on their head really seems to be more the source of their life and power.

The twins eyed the big Kappa as it gathered water from behind him, no doubt about to launch an even stronger attack. With how lazy Satoru looked, it’s probably still not enough to strain his skill.

But just before the attack would hit, a stitched up snake slithered in front of them and spread its neck wide to intercept the attack from reaching them.

It’s not something Obito hasn’t seen before — there’s quite a number of snake-contracted Uchiha’s back then — but he didn’t expect to see the likes of it at this time too.

“Goddamn! Why are there kids here?!”

A tall man with a muscular frame and tan skin came running, the stitched-snake’s curse energy linking back to the man. Is he the summoner?

“Hmm?” Satoru made a questioning tone, but otherwise stood back and watched.

“Step away, boys!” The tall man ran and positioned himself in front of them, hiding the twins from the Zappa curse.

The man flexed his hands and Obito saw a string of energy linking from somewhere again. Not a moment later, a stitched jester looking thing came running holding clubs as a weapon. It jumped high to gain momentum, and struck the Kappa’s head enough that it jostled out some water out of its head.

“Mister~” Satoru suddenly chimed in, “We tried bowing to it earlier, it didn’t bow back!”

“Toru, you’re gonna distract him.” Obito reprimands his twin. He’s always so loud with no care for the situation.

“Ehem– I see. Thank you for the help.” The tanned man awkwardly responded. He’s not used to dealing with kids, is he? Satoru soaks up every bit of affirmation he gets!

As expected, Satoru’s eyes widened in awe. “Tobi, see? We helped!”

We helped shit!

Obito sighs, exasperated. “Toru, did you forget that we just made it angrier?”

“Eh? But it was gonna do that anyway?” Satoru rebutted, “Isn’t that, like, his power up move?”

In the background, the stitched-snake wrapped around the Kappa’s feet tight as the stitched-jester struck its head again and again until it fell down.

The man turned to them just as the stitched-jester struck the finishing blow — the Kappa dissipating in the air as its signature energy disappeared from Obito’s sight.

He checks them for any injuries as Obito notices the sky started to go bright again.

“Is your eye okay?” The man fixed Obito a look.

“Yeah,” Obito answers, opening his right eye again as he debates whether to drop Mangekyo now or later when the man is not looking. “I just got tired earlier.”

Oh course, Satoru would always pick the decision for him. “Oh, no, Tobi! Close it, close it!”

“I’m fine, Toru!” Obito insisted, a bit irritated in his tone. “You told me to drop it, didn’t you?”

“But still—!”

Obito saw the smirk in his tone there. He knows how his twin operates already.

Satoru was about to place his palm over Obito, but he intercepted it with a firm hold. Red eyes glaring at his twin.

“I said I’m fine, Satoru.”

“Tobi called me Satoru…” Satoru immediately sulked in front of what remained of the tree they were resting in earlier.

The old man seemed to be experiencing something like this happening for the first time in his career. How old is he?

“Err… Why are you alone in this forest? Are your parents not with you?” The man tries to ask them, looking between the sulking white-haired and the black haired glaring at the other. “Can I know what your names are?”

“Mom told us not to tell strangers our names.”

“We don’t have parents.”

The old man clearly doesn't know what he’s working with here exactly.

“Tobi, you’re making us sound like bad children!”

“But that’s the truth! What are you even trying to say?”

“I’m trying to make us look mysterious!” Satoru puffed his cheeks, as if he’s the one making the most sense.

“I’m Masamichi Yaga. Tobi and… Toru, was it?” Masamichi looks like he just wants to get this over with immediately.

“Don’t call me that.”

Yaga froze as glowing red and blue eyes corrected him with an unnerving stare. Suddenly, he registers heavy signatures of cursed energy in front of him.

“I’m Obito.” The red-eyed boy said.

“I’m Satoru.” The blue-eyed boy said.

‘Blue eyes… Strong cursed energy… So potent you’ll recognise him immediately…’

The twins shared a look as it seemed like Masamichi was rooted in place.

“Actually, Yaga-san~” The tilt in Satoru’s tone returned, acting like he hadn’t just intimidated the older man. “Are you busy?”

“I’m… yes?” Masamichi was taken aback by the question. “Yes, I am busy. Many sorcerers took a day off today so they can be with their children for the Shichi-Go-San festival.”

Suddenly, it clicked in Masamichi’s head. “Are you two 3? Shouldn’t you be there right about now? The ceremony’s only until noon for 3 year olds—”

“Tobi didn’t wanna go!”

“Toru! Why are you telling him that?!”

“‘Cuz it's the truth!”

Masamichi massaged an incoming headache, “I’ll just return you home. Do you know which way your house is?”

The twins shared a knowing look and grinned.

“Not telling~”

There’s a throbbing vein in Masamichi’s forehead, “Kid, you’re the Gojo kid with the Six Eyes and Limitless Technique, aren’t you?”

“Hmm?” Satoru didn’t look surprised, “If you knew then why were you asking so much?”

“Because I just connected it.” Masamichi sighed heavily, “You’ve been the talk of the town for three years now. Heh, ‘The Honoured One.’”

“Don’t feed his ego too much, please.” Tobi pleaded, dead-eyed.

“You’re mean, Tobi.” Satoru pouts, and then as if a thought struck him, he pulled his twin closer. “Oh! Yaga-san, what about Tobi? What have they been saying about him?”

Masamichi gave him a confused look, giving Obito another look. “Why should they be talking about Obito?”

“Hmph, there’s no way no one's talking about him, too!” Satoru glared as he kicked the grass lightly as a child would. “Did they give him some kind of nickname?”

“Again… why should they?” Masamichi looked utterly lost at what Satoru is asking about and insinuating.

We’re they talking lowly of Obito? Did they give him death as a nickname? Are they mocking him?

Satoru is only feeling irritation towards Masamichi’s genuine confusion.

“Yaga-san, it seems I read you wrong. To think that you also thought that way of Obito.” Satoru’s tone was cold and venomous, his eyes wide and looking straight at the man who can feel the tension rising again.

“What…? Gojo-kun, I really don’t know what you’re talking about.” Masamichi tries to explain.

“Toru, calm down.” Obito tries to appease him, “Why are you being so uptight?”

“‘Cuz it’s Yaga-san…!”

“We just met Yaga-san, Toru.” Obito rolls his eyes, “Just because you have those Six Eyes, you’re suddenly a good judge.”

“I am so confused.”

“Toru, he’s saying he doesn’t even know.”

“Tobi, there’s no way they don’t know about it. The maids and guards talk about it all the time!”

“When I’m not there, yes.”

“Exactly! They only make me hear it, and it’s annoying and irritating!”

Masamichi watches the verbal tennis in the middle, his cursed corpses watching along behind him quietly.

Doesn’t he have a mission after this?

“As confused as I am right now, I need to guide you back to your clan, Gojo-kun.” Masamichi sighs, “I need to go to my next Mission soon, we’re already short-staffed as is—”

“Hah! Just me, huh?” Satoru spat bitterly. “What about Tobi? You won’t guide him with me?”

Masamichi’s face scrunched. It’s like his beard had suddenly grown longer the more Satoru talked. 

With all his brain performing gymnastics with ineligible information, he settled with the question, “Is he your cousin? Do you live near each other?”

Obito was already done with the conversation 10 minutes ago, actually. Satoru was at his ugliest, after all.

“We’re twins, actually—”

“Yeah, Yaga-san. Is it not obvious how we look-alike so much? Or are you just ignoring his existence alto—”

“Twins…?”

The way Masamichi’s voice genuinely sounded so surprised stopped Satoru’s condescending words.

“You.. really didn’t know?” Satoru asked, looking down as he himself got lost in thought.

“No…? Every sorcerer received the news from the higher ups that you were finally born, we all felt your arrival actually. But it wasn’t mentioned anywhere that you were…” He stopped in his sentence, thinking it over. Misamichi looked deep in thought, looking between the twins. “... but you’re not identical.”

Now Obito’s out of the loop.

“That’s what I’m saying!” Satoru’s voice stressed, as if he’d been saying this over and over.

He has not.

What does Satoru know that Obito doesn’t?

A lot, apparently.

“What are you saying?” Obito finally asks.

He rolls his eyes when Satoru manhandles him suddenly, shaking his shoulders as if asking for more of his attention. “You see, Tobi. The clan elder actually—!”

— wants Obito killed?

Obito already knew that. Since birth, actually (heh).

But why did Satoru stop mid-sentence?

In the span of 20 minutes, this boy was subjected to multiple internal crises and realisation.

“... only one…”

Obito winced slightly when Satoru’s hold on his shoulder tightened.

“Toru, ow.”

“There was only one kimono.” Cold blue eyes fixed on lost Red eyes. “Don’t follow us, Yaga-san. We’ll get back on our own.”

The twins left, Satoru leading Obito by the hand.

Obito spared the still stunned and confused Misamichi Yaga a glance, but nothing more as the twins moved further away.

It’s only while writing a debrief about it did Yaga remember that Obito’s eyes had a different pattern from the moment they met and when they left.

He didn’t mention their conversations.

Yet, somehow, he ends up getting summoned to meet with the Gojo Clan’s Head.

“Agree to a binding vow, Masamichi Yaga.” The Clan representative speaks, the Clan Head behind him. “You are not to tell anyone about Satoru Gojo being a twin, and having a twin. Obito Gojo’s existence cannot be known. When the binding bow is accepted, you are not allowed to be in contact with both Satoru Gojo and Obito Gojo.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Then you’ll see to it you’ll face difficulties in your career. You were aiming to be a professor in the Tokyo branch in a few months, were you not?”

He is.

“You don’t think I can’t just start telling anyone about it now?”

“Nobody would even know you’d left, Masamichi Yaga.”

But Masamichi Yaga would not get so far with his Cursed Corpse Technique if he was such a pushover.

“Fine. What about in the scenario that word of Satoru Gojo’s twin status comes out not by me?”

The representative turned to the head for confirmation, the elder nodded.

“You will not be held accountable.”

“And in the scenario that someone else makes the connection of Satoru and Obito’s familial relation as twins?”

“You will not be held accountable.”

“And in the scenario that either Satoru Gojo or Obito Gojo is the one to tell everyone of their familial relation?”

“....”

“....”

“You will not be held accountable.”

“And in the scenario that either Satoru Gojo or Obito Gojo seeks out my presence?”

“You are to not engage with them in any way or form.”

Masamichi Yaga gives a polite bow.

“I agree with the terms and conditions. I accept this binding bow to be performed.”

Chapter Text

They never saw Masamichi Yaga again after that encounter. The twins have officially turned 4 years of age, and yet, Obito believes Satoru still remains the same as when he was a baby.

Their tutor is apparently going to be changed every year, so there’s a new one with them and she teaches them etiquette lessons alongside advanced textbooks — mostly about nature, which included curses.

Nothing historical yet, unfortunately.

Still, Satoru is better than him in many ways. 

His calligraphy looked great when compared to Obito’s first attempt. But it’s nothing his Sharingan can’t copy. 

“It’s practically the same…” They hear their tutor mutter, comparing the most recent word.

Satoru grins up at him, proud of themselves for having done that somehow. Is he aware of what Obito’s eyes could do?

“Do you think our handwriting will also look the same?” Satoru wonders at him, but then sees Obito’s notes and balks. “Wow, it’s like a chicken stepped on ink!”

Obito slaps his head, “That’s mean, Toru.”

“No, no, no! Tobi, I like your handwriting!” Satoru immediately wrapped himself around Obito, trying to redeem himself. “I love it! It looks… good!”

“Toru, shut up.”

“I’m telling the truth!”

They’d race around in the garden during the afternoon. They’re always loud, even when Obito tries to pretend he’s not. Satoru somehow is just able to push this button in him that had him returning into that loud Uchiha boy who thinks everything is sunshine and rainbows.

Right now, maybe everything is.

Satoru would laugh and it’s like Obito is staring at the sun itself. So bright and blinding that Obito needs to squint just to see his smile.

“Oof!” 

Satoru tripped on his own feet somehow, and it’s only with Limitless that he avoids a scratch on his knees.

“Look in front when you’re running, Toru.” Obito teases him, a small grin on his face as he offers a hand at him to stand up.

“I know that!” Satoru whines, taking his hand and instead pulling the unassuming twin to the ground with him. “But Tobi looked so happy I couldn’t look away~”

Obito has experienced this trick many times now that he just lets it be, sagging like an uncooperative cat, “I knew you’d trip so I was laughing in advance.”

“That’s mean, Tobi!”

Haha.

Obito feels a sudden throb in his head.

The sun is too high.

They’re now starting in martial arts. For now, they were only given light tasks to improve their stamina.

This one is something Obito is positive he’d excel at.

Surprisingly, however, it’s also one of those things that Satoru and he are equal to without the latter needing to use his eyes.

Well, he’d always known Satoru is also physically gifted. He was always the first to achieve their milestones after all.

They were training with their basic kata forms when the first slip happened.

They weren’t even doing complicated steps. They just started with the physical forms and it was just punching around and correcting minor mistakes with form, but somehow, Obito flinched when the gym light seemed to become a little too bright.

“Tobi!” Satoru reacted before Tobi did.

He was in the middle of a kicking form when it happened. The light seemed to engulf the entire room and Obito winced at the sight, causing him to lose form and drop out of balance.

Satoru was next to him in an instant, catching his arm before he could fall to a minor injury with his foot.

“I think I stared at the light too long,” Obito says, scrubbing his eye. “I’m okay.”

Satoru didn’t seem convinced, but he didn’t say anything.

Their training continued without another mistake after that.

It was by February when the next one happened.

Satoru insisted they try to bake cookies, the maids on standby in case any fire is started.

It was for Valentine's Day, he said.

“What’s that?” Obito asked as he read the step-by-step recipe Satoru asked the maids to get. It was a very complicated procedure just for some confectionery food.

“Valentine’s day? I heard that it's a day people give someone they love with anything, mostly chocolates.” Satoru, the one with the sweet tooth, would love such a holiday. Obito’s fine with anything, just not soups.

“That sounds romantic.” Obito could recall a version of that holiday existing in Konoha. He had given Rin a box of chocolate that cost him a few months worth of budget. Only to see Rin hand Kakashi her gift first, Obito secondary. He was still happy with that back then, though.

“Well, it’s a holiday for couples, sure.” Satoru hums, tongue sticking out as he whisks a mixture of chocolate in a bowl. “But it can still be celebrated by anyone with the person they love, generally.”

He then turns to Obito, smiling wide. “And I love Obito, so I’m gifting you chocolates!”

Satoru is still so ugly.

“Isn’t that supposed to be a surprise?” Obito says instead, shaking his head fondly.

“It’s impossible to surprise you,” Satoru pouts.

“Everything about you surprises me, Toru.” Obito laughs lightly, poking his cheek teasingly. “It’s okay. I’ll give you chocolate, too.”

Satoru’s eyes widened, beaming at him. “‘Cuz you love me?”

“Pfft..” Obito snorted, “Sure.”

“No fair!” Satoru pouts, “You have to say it, Tobi. Say you love your favourite brother!”

Obito looks at him strangely, “You’re my only brother, Toru.”

When Satoru sends him a winning grin, Obito rolls his eyes. Caught in his trap again.

“Your one and only brother!” Satoru shouts with pride, a smile beaming so proud that Obito’s vision swims and blurs.

???

Obito’s brow furrows as he focuses his sight. It’s normal again and Satoru’s expression now looked worried.

“Tobi?”

Looking around once more, Obito confirms that his vision is normal. Maybe it was just the light.

“I’m fine, Toru.” Obito assures him a condescending smirk. “You were just so ugly I had to double check if you were still human.”

“You’re so mean!”

They ended up burning all their batch of cookies despite receiving assistance from the maids. Obito would naturally blame those women because they know more than them, but he’d seen Satoru turning up the heat because he got impatient from waiting so the blame turns to him. Well, Obito had also apparently mistook the salt for white sugar because he also got impatient and didn’t turn to look at the brand.

You’d think that with his Sharingan and Satoru’s Six Eyes, they’d know better. Maybe it’d be better if they just bought a box instead of making one from scratch.

Oh yeah, Rin had made the chocolates herself back then, hadn’t she? There were bandaids in her hands when she handed him a box.

Maybe cooking really is hard for anyone impatient. Rin was the most patient out of the three of them back then.

“I’ll just surprise you next year, Tobi.” Satoru was still pouting by the night. He settled on Obito's side of the bed again.  He had offered different beds to sleep on at least, since Satoru was really against separate bedrooms, so he’s still compromising to this day on a wide King size bed.

“You shouldn’t tell me plans like that, Toru.” Obito sighs, feeling Satoru squeeze himself further to Obito’s side. “You’re like a squid, Toru.”

“You’ve said that already.” Satoru harrumphs, “Just sleep, Tobi.”

Obito does start feeling sleep settle on him.

Memories of another life flashes by as fast as it happened, back in that life.

His childhood seemed so short it might as well have not happened.

Didn’t Rin say something to him when handing him that box of chocolate, too?

“Actually, Obito. Sensei told me something about a few days ago. I didn’t know earlier so I couldn’t prepare a gift in advance, so I just doubled the portion of chocolates for you.”

Oh, yeah… Isn’t it February 10 tomorrow?

“Happy Birthday, Obito!”

The significance of that date to him seemed so far away now.

It hasn’t been celebrated after that year, or the years after that till he died.

Obito has a new birthday now.

He thinks he prefers it better… It being celebrated alongside someone.

“Tobi! Tobi, don’t die!” Satoru wailed, shaking his brother dramatically.

”I’m not dying, Toru.” Obito rasps with his dry throat, the action turning out to be too much for him and he heaves out a coughing fit.

”WAAH! He’s dying!” Satoru cried, tears bursting out his blue eyes. “My brother’s dying and he’s leaving me!!”

Crying is always easy for Satoru — where does he get the endless supply of tears? Did Obito luck-out in the sibling lottery so much that he got such a whimpy one?

Obito let out a sneeze this time, pushing Satoru out of his face before doing so. Obito can be petty, but he knows Satoru will be even more annoying if he ends up being sick himself. “Eugh, you’re ugly, Toru. Get out of my face.”

Instead of listening to a very ill-looking Obito, Satoru instead jumped on to the sick boy’s bed and dropped on top of Obito’s lower half while he’s deep under thick blankets.

Glossy red eyes stared at the form squinting, squirming a little as Satoru actually made himself comfortable on top of the ill boy.

“Toru, heavy...”

Obito thinks he feels Satoru shaking on top of him, it’s not one he’s used to.

Satoru is always confident in everything he does. Knows what to say to get what he wants, knows what to do to turn things in his favour — and isn’t that terrifying for a boy who just turned 4 years old?

So this… helplessness is rare.

Rare enough that something ugly stirs in Obito. A cruel, lingering curiosity. He wants to know what it looks like when that confidence cracks. What expression would cross Satoru’s face in moments he didn’t know what to do.

For all the redemption he chased before his death, some parts of him never changed. He is still the man who once stood before the shinobi world and demanded they despair. Still the one who wanted the righteous to falter.

He wants that moment from Satoru — wants to see the strongest waver.

“You can’t see, can you? I can tell with my eyes, Tobi. Your eyes aren’t working right now.” Satoru’s voice came out a little trembling, perhaps seething. “How? Why did that happen? Did you notice when?”

And there’s Obito’s current issue. He can’t see.

He doesn’t know how it happened. Obito was with Satoru all day, like any other day.

They ate the same food, met the same maids, saw the same guards. No one visited them, except for the envoys the Gojo Clan Head would send them to check their studies and situation every 3rd day of the Month.

Obito can’t pinpoint why he woke up essentially blind and with the worst fever.

He hadn’t noticed anything out of place yesterday, and the days before that.

Everything went to the usual routine. Satoru and he ate the same thing, even giving each other portions of what they didn’t like as is usual. 

So what caused him this predicament?

“I don’t know, Toru…” Obito could only mutter. Wincing when his head throbbed again. “Go away… you’ll get sick too.”

But of course Satoru wouldn’t listen. Who is Satoru if not stubborn? He clutched the blankets tightly like a koala, refusing to be separated.

“I won’t. I promise.” A muffled voice came from Satoru. His face was deep in the blanket, no doubt soaking it with tears. 

It’s still morning — Obito woke up this way, after all. Satoru was the first to notice, having always slept next to him since they were in diapers. Maybe it’s even accurate to say they’ve been that way since they were in a womb. 

Satoru had his eyes panicked at the sight of Obito breathing heavily. Then came his shouting when he realised that Obito was burning to the touch. The maids came and checked his temperature, deemed him having too high of a temperature and called in a doctor.

Satoru kicked out about three doctors he deemed too suspicious and incompetent. Stating condescendingly that the doctors were either trying to apply damaging cursed technique or they weren’t even a proper doctor who knows enough about how to treat a child and be able to determine something regarding Obito’s curse energy.

The clan is still determined to take Obito out of the picture, it seems. 

The only person Satoru didn’t kick wasn’t even a Doctor by profession, but still licensed. The clan head had no choice but to agree for a Sorcerer from Jujutsu Tech to be sent. The person was at the very least capable of performing reversed cursed technique for healing specifically.

“I-I’m deeply sorry, G-Gojo-sama!” She cried after trying multiple times, her voice trembling from both terror and exhaustion. She’d been told beforehand about how Satoru had kicked out ‘clearly’ competent doctors before her. “His… uhm, Obito-sama’s eyes are not receiving the reversed cursed technique at all, and his fever is not something the technique can remove. The fever is one thing, of course, but you said something is wrong with his eyes, so I should be able to at least tell what it is! I-I’m really sorry, Gojo-sama. I really don’t know why his eyes aren’t receiving my technique properly—”

 

“It’s okay, Ieiri-san.” Satoru’s tone was surprisingly neutral, but Obito could hear him sniffing ugly tears. “I can tell that you tried your best.”

 

“I’m really sorry, Gojo-sama.” Ieiri still mutters, sounding like she’s disappointed in herself. “If… I-If I may, uhm… I think it’s worth considering that h-his… O-Obito-sama’s eyes are… uhm— wrong, so to say— i-is because of his fever.”

 

“... I see.” He can hear Satoru approach his bed now. “Please lead Ieiri-san out, compensate her for her service properly.”

 

For a moment, Satoru had sounded so different then. So… out of character for once. 

 

Feets shuffled. A maid started guiding Ieiri out of the room, the others following as well.

 

But after the last of the maids exited their room, Satoru’s waterfall of tears came out like a dam.

 

“TOBI’S DYING!!!”

 

The reminder had Obito sighing out loud, trembling slightly.

He feels Satoru shift again, and now, there’s hands on his face.

“Your eyes aren’t red, Tobi.”

Oh? “What colour are they now?”

“Black.” Satoru gently raises an eyelid before covering it firmly with his palm as if to confirm. “Like, normal-people-black eyes.”

“That sounds insulting,” Toru huffs out, “Don’t say it like that to anyone, Toru.”

“It looks special on you though, Tobi. Don’t worry.”

“You know that’s not what I meant…”

The palm left his eyes eventually and Satoru settled on top of him like a koala again.

He’s still sniffing, but at least it sounds like Satoru’s starting to calm down.

“Is it really because of your fever?”

Obito thinks about it. Personally, his answer would’ve been that his sight deterioration was due to constant use. But usually, that came with a step-by-step warning before complete blindness. Mangekyo Sharingan is an imperfect form of Eternal Mangekyo, the former causes blindness the more it’s used. To fix the blindness would require a highly compatible eye donor with Mangekyo Sharingan themselves. 

Even back then, Obito had attempted to find a match even if the chances were low. The hashirama cells implanted in him made his DNA all wonky, so even if he had a sibling to exchange eyes with, it wouldn’t have worked.

In this world, he has no hashirama cells in his DNA. Unfortunately, he’s the only one with a Sharingan. If the chances were low before, then it’s become negative now.

But it’s not like Obito can just say all that information without sounding like a crazy kid making up worlds in his head.

“Maybe.” He says instead.

“So you’re not dying?”

A sigh, “A fever won’t kill me, Toru.”

“It can.” Satoru insists, tone hard. “I’m seeing it right now. It’s attempting to.”

That sounds concerning.

“...How?”

“Your soul.” Satoru says, cryptically. “It’s wavering.”

“Hn…” Obito hums, not really understanding much with his head still throbbing. “What’s wrong with it?”

“... I can’t tell.”

“Not even with your eyes?”

Satoru gave a grunt, “It’s the only way I could.”

“Right.” Obito remembers, “You see a lot with your eyes.”

“What about yours? What do your eyes actually do?” Satoru’s voice sounds like he’s been thinking about the question for a long time, he just didn’t have the excuse to ask. “Does it only do that swirly sucky thing?”

“Kamui.”

“Is that what your eyes are called?”

“It’s a skill. The swirly-sucky thing.”

“Pfft.” Satoru snickers at the way Obito said it so deadpanned. “Did you have to give it such a Godly name?”

“It just came to me one day, I never thought about naming it.” Obito answers truthfully.

Now, he wonders what kind of questions Satoru would have. He’ll answer it based on how structured his questions will be. He doesn’t know for sure if Satoru will be able to tell if he’s lying or not with those blue eyes of his.

“What about the one that makes you in… in-tangle? Hmm… In-tan-gi-ble?” Satoru talks a lot yet he often finds himself twisting his tongue for some words, he has a funny face whenever he does that.

“Hm… It’s also the same name, Kamui.”

“Why not give it a different name?”

“I don’t wanna.”

“Hmph…” He feels Satoru drops his head again at the simple answer. Obito thinks that’s the end of it, but Satoru followed up with, “Do you remember, Tobi? Your eyes bled after you used that swirly-sucky thing.”

“It’s Kamui.” Obito insists with a sigh, “And I do remember that.”

“You only bled on your left eye. I remember seeing so much energy bursting in just that eye too.”

Satoru can tell those too, huh… Is it even worth keeping stuff from him when he’s so all-seeing? 

“I did feel the strain on just my left when I used that Kamui.” Obito finally relents. “And it’s a light tingle in my right eye when I go intangible.”

“Oh, yeah, you closed only your right eye after using intangibility back then with the evil Kappa.”

“Hn…” Obito hums, agreeing. 

“So it’s different for each eye…” Satoru still asks, “What about the patterns?”

Obito tries to sound confused even when he knows, “What patterns?”

“Hmp, now you’re pretending. There’s patterns that change in your eye Tobi.” Satoru huffs, catching Obito’s attempt at lying. “Normally, it’s these three commas around your eye. But before you… use Kamui, it changes to these swirling lines. Like… the pinwheels in our garden.”

“Hmm…”

He feels Satoru’s stare as he mulls his decision over. To tell or not to tell? To share or to hide? Should he keep up with a lie? It’s not like Satoru can force him to tell the truth anyway. Obito is sick. And blind. Satoru is not petty enough to take advantage of that.

“It’s okay to know, you know. It’s not gon’ be weird.” Satoru suddenly spoke out. Once more, he feels Satoru put his palm over both Obito’s eyes, and with his other hand, he leads Obito’s palm to rest over his own eyes. “I already knew what I could do with mine even without the clan teaching me. Maybe I might even know more than what they know. But I won’t tell them that. And I won’t tell them yours either.”

No one’s listening, came unspoken.

This was a foreign experience for Obito.

Sure, the two of them had that playtime where they throw toys at each other like they’re ‘training’. But isn’t talking about said skills different when compared to that? 

This feels more… intimate. Something Obito was unable to ever experience in his life as an Uchiha.

He did not have parents who could tell him about the Sharingan. He did not have a close enough friend in the compound to talk about it either. 

Even with Team 7, there’s only so much they could teach him when he hasn’t even activated it until his… last moments with them.

Madara was strict. He can’t… compare this domesticity with that man. That ancient man taught Obito everything wrong about the Uchiha and how it's exploited to become strong. Madara taught Obito all the jutsu he knows, but they never really made a close connection through that weird… mentorship.

If anything, Obito would say he was manipulated. 

And he knew. Obito knew he was being used, but he was just so done with everything by that point.

Right now, is he being manipulated? To reveal all his skills, all his knowledge. All towards the child he’s told to die for.

He doesn’t even know why he needs to die for Satoru. The memory of the conversation before he activated his Sharingan was lost with his infantile amnesia. After the day with that Yaga guy, Satoru had left after he made Obito fall asleep. He didn’t say where he went, and Obito didn’t care to ask.

With his palm over Satoru’s eyes, is he seeing the same thing Obito is seeing? This dark, dark world. Is Satoru this clan’s salvation to greatness? 

Every year, they attend a birthday celebration in their name. Every year, the guests expand in number and connection. Every year, no one claims to be their parents. Obito does not care for the last, it was only a matter of observation.

Still, the guests would seek Satoru’s attention. To see him for themselves as though he is a relic on display. An item, not a person.

Would comment how strong his curse energy is. Would speak of his future as though it will go as expected.

In contrast to their words, Satoru devotes all his attention to his twin brother as a kid would.

Satoru would act as a little boy would, yet they will still see a weapon. They would glance in Obito’s way and give a sneer as though he’s holding Satoru from growing through his full potential.

So, is he being manipulated?

Obito knows he’s not the best at judging someone’s personality.

He did not understand how far Naruto’s will could go.

He did not understand how Itachi’s love for his brother and village went.

He did not understand how Kakashi would really grieve.

He still did not understand how it was possible for Obito to have seen reason in the end.

But he does understand Satoru.

Right now, he wants to believe that he understands Satoru better than anyone.

Satoru has never lied to Obito.

Satoru, who would get angry at Obito’s behalf whenever he’s pushed to the side. Satoru, who would be offended on Obito’s behalf when he’s not attended to.

Satoru, who would probably curse the world if he died.

This dark… dark world. Everything is starting to be… heavy.

So heavy.

“Toru… Can you ask again tomorrow?” Obito drawls, his eyes feel so heavy and it’s become so difficult to just talk. “‘M tired…”

Satoru was quiet for a moment. Obito can’t tell what his expression is now as he feels him move away on top of him. He holds Obito’s hand instead with a tight hold.

“Promise you’ll wake up?” Satoru asks, voice trembling.

“Hn..” Obito tries to nod, his head spins instead. “I’ll wake up.”

“I don’t trust you, Tobi.” Satoru spoke the words for the first time. He feels tears drop on their holding hands as Satoru’s shake. 

“If I don’t, you can ask me more…”

“I’ll keep asking.”

“That’s fine, Toru…”

Obito’s eyes shut, giving in to that deep sleep.

Satoru’s grip tightened as he watched his brother, blue eyes glowing in use.

“Don’t die, Tobi…”

He watches as his soul flickers around dangerously, like a lit candle being fanned on.

“You’re not allowed to die, Obito.”

Satoru stands up, fixing the blanket that covers the very still body of Obito.

“You’re not allowed to die like this.”

Obito did not wake up the next day.

Nor did he wake up in the weeks following that.

The Clan Head dies seven months since Obito fell into a deep sleep, said to have succumbed to old age.

Gojo Satoru became the official Gojo Clan head at age 4 and a half. No regent was assigned and the clan was nonetheless happy at this development, even as the other twin remained suspended in the questionable line of alive or dead.

More so because the other twin was near death’s door.

Gojo Satoru celebrated their 5th birthday in the quiet of their shared room.

And it was only a month after their birthday did Obito finally awaken.

He opened his eyes and Blue eyes locked eyes with a different pattern of red eyes. The three pinwheels turned into four, and now looks like it’s spinning itself in a vortex around the pupil.

Regardless, Satoru had plastered a smile so wide it’s like Obito’s heart hadn’t stopped for months. Like his soul wasn’t on the verge of disappearing if Satoru hadn’t done what he did.

“Yo, Tobi! Wanna leave this place?”

Those were Satoru’s first words to him after waking up from his deepest sleep.

“Let’s move to Tokyo!”

Chapter Text

The boy in the mirror seems so familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

Crazy how one year of sleep changes you.

Obito’s hair had gotten longer — he’ll ask to have that shortened before they leave. His face, still unmarred by scars from his previous life. It’s still so jarring to stare at half his right and see it so smooth.

His Mangekyo is now a different pattern. It still has the same pinwheels, just with an extra flap. And there’s a void in the middle. In fact, it almost looks like a combination of two Mangekyo Sharingan.

A combination of Shisui’s Mangekyo with Obito’s.

Obito fell asleep and woke up a year later to two Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. How is that even possible?

He can’t remember what happened beyond him getting a bad fever and losing his sight. One moment he’s promising Satoru something, and then he wakes up to a year older Satoru.

Thankfully, Satoru still looks the same and still acts the same. Or maybe he should be more concerned about that. What will happen to a boy who ends up having his twin brother sleep for a year after getting a nasty fever?

Satoru didn’t seem phased — in fact, he’s the Gojo Clan Head now! Surely him being asleep for a year made his brother mature somehow. It worked when Itachi did it to Sasuke (by traumatising him), it seems the method works even in different worlds!

“Tobi~ You done?” Satoru peeks inside the bathroom and sees Obito inspecting his eyes, Mangekyo activated (it’s Eternal. It’s actually Eternal). “Does it hurt?”

That said, Satoru remains the same. Still clingy, still loud, and still likes Obito’s personal space.

He grabbed another stool and stepped on it next to Obito, looking at his red eyes too.

“It looks okay.” Satoru comments after inspecting it, tilting his head. “Did you figure out why the pattern changed?” 

“‘Dunno.”

Obito really doesn’t know. He can’t explain why it’s changed because he genuinely has no idea. Can a person’s skill imprint on the soul so much that it traveled across the concept of time and space? Is it a residue that lingered on Obito because he used Shisui’s eye? He had used other Sharingans that benefit him, so why is it only Shisui’s?

Does that mean Shisui could’ve been enough of a match for him back then? If he hadn’t had Hashirama Cells alter his DNA, would he have attained EMS?

Was it simply Shisui’s DNA? A crow was able to fully utilise his MS… could he have been a match for anyone?

What a scary thought.

“Hurry up, then!” Satoru whined, placing his head on Obito’s shoulders, the two of them facing the bathroom mirror side by side. “I wanna move to Tokyo!”

“We’re not moving to Tokyo.” Obito rolls his eyes.

“But it’s so much better than here in Kyoto…” Satoru pouts, furrowing his brow. “There’s lots more unique sweets there, and I got to see the arcades while you were asleep and—”

“That’s why we’re only travelling there, Toru. We’re not moving out.” 

“But I wanna move out!” Satoru let out, the tone turning sharp as he raised his head. “I’m the Clan Head now, can’t we just move out of here easily? It’s so boring here, Tobi. I bet it’ll be more fun to live in Sendai or something.”

“We’re not moving out.” Obito sets down, his tone serious. “It’s safer to stay here. There are many people after you, Satoru, it’s too dangerous to be away from the clan.”

“Ehh? But I’m strong! We’re strong enough to protect ourselves!” Satoru says those ever familiar words. “With your Kamui and my Six Eyes and Limitless, we’re practically untouchable!”

“Being left to fend for ourselves means that we’ll be fighting a lot for a long time, Toru.” Obito sends him a challenging lift of brow. “I might as well cry tears of blood by the time we reach 10.”

Satoru actually looked stricken at these words, fumbling his words. “No! T-Then… I-I’ll do everything! I’ll do all the fighting!”

“You know I can’t let you do that, Toru.” Obito lets out a deep sigh. “I was exaggerating. I can fight for myself for a long time. Don’t ever think of me as someone to protect.”

Satoru opened his mouth again, about to say something but bit his tongue. It looked like he was having an entire conversation in his head so Obito leaves him be.

He stares at himself in the mirror again, staring at his hair.

It’s reached his shoulders, looking so untamed due to lack of proper care. If he squints, it’s almost the same kind of hair he had when he was near 20 — killing people around to manipulate the tension between each Shinobi nation.

It’s not a life he wants to be reminded of.

“I wanna cut my hair before we leave, Toru.”

Satoru snaps out his thoughts at Obito’s voice. “Huh? Oh, one of the new maids is good with that. How short will you be having it?”

The two of them step down from the stool, finally exiting the bathroom.

“Very short. Like yours, maybe.”

Satoru beams at his, “We’ll match again!”

“Sure.”

The moment Obito drops his Sharingan, Satoru was there to grab his hand to lead.

“Was it straining to keep it on for an hour?” He asks.

“No. I can probably keep it on for a year without rest. I just wanted to turn it off.” Obito clarifies, following Satoru’s presence.

Obito, one of the few people who managed to attain an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, is ironically still blind.

EMS is meant to cure the blindness that comes from overusing MS. Obito could still see more clearly with his Sharingan activated, more so with EMS now. But when turned off and his eyes are brought to the normal state, Obito is blind.

Satoru had been disappointed when he told him, more to himself than towards Obito for some reason, but nonetheless took the information in stride. On the occasion that Obito wants it turned off, he’s already placed himself next to him like a walking cane.

A walking candy cane, Satoru would insist.

Obito uses this as a way to learn to trust his brother with his life.

Maybe Obito has gone naive. Him, a once feared antagonist in the life of every Shinobi, the right-hand of Uchiha Madara, now trusting someone again to set a new trajectory in this life.

He’s playing blind-pretend in a world filled with sorcerers vying for his death, and the reason who would benefit from that is dedicated to guiding him if only just to keep him living next to him.

Being blind helps hone his other senses, he learns.

The creaks of the floor. The steps of feet — how light, how quick, who it was. The callusing of Satoru’s hand which wasn’t there the last time Obito held it.

The snips of scissors near his ear, resisting the urge to move away due to the lack of visual assurance that it’s not gonna cut his eyes and ears. 

The rustle of clothes prepared, the feel of fabric as it settles on him — He feels like a horse being desensitised to every curious thing and barely managing against flinching. Being blind should be a disadvantage he tries to avoid at all cost, yet here he is embracing such.

“Ready to go out?”

Satoru’s voice came to his right, his favourite spot next to Obito.

Obito activates his Sharingan, looking over themselves.

They’re dressed warmly and comfortably for the coldness of January snow. They wore modern clothing since they’re set to walk around the city for a set amount of hours, until at least Satoru exhausts his excitement.

His hair is comfortably short again, now easier to manage. Next to Satoru, they look more like twins now with their matching puffer jackets. They don’t like the feeling of any of the winter caps, so they opted out of that. They’ll have the maids hold an umbrella over them at all times anyway.

“Let’s go.” Obito finally nods.

His Sharingan drops as Satoru connects their gloved hands together.

Satoru leads them out of the house, telling Obito whenever there are doors and stairs. To wait when a person carrying a heavy item passes by first and tells him that everyone is now staring at them when one person finally recognised Satoru.

“They’re bowing, Tobi. You sure you don’t wanna see?” Satoru asks him, tone not at all in a whisper so anyone can hear him.

The twins never really leave their house, except for when they sneak out and during their birthday celebrations with the previous Clan Head — may he rest in peace. It’s probably not as known that their heir is a twin because of that old man’s doing.

It's been a week since Obito woke up from his deep sleep, body still fresh and mysteriously not weakened from lack of usage in limbs. During that time of rest to settle with the fact that a year had gone by so fast, he learns that Satoru did the Clan Head Ceremony a week after the previous one died.

A bit rude, but he knows how petty Satoru can be.

You’d think he would immediately jump at the opportunity and yell out Obito’s name for everyone to hear. But weirdly enough however thankfully, there was none of that.

“It’ll work as a good shock value during introductions!” Satoru had told him as a reason and while Obito agrees, he’s thankful for other things.

Based on how the Clan Head talks about their birth, making it known that Satoru is a twin would make the enemies believe that he’s ‘weakened’ with Obito there. They’d try to strike more if that were the case.

Twins being treated as some kind of omen in this world still confuses him. He plans to ask Satoru the next time it’s brought up again, but for now, he doesn’t really care if Satoru thinks it’s a non-issue.

“Maybe next time.” Obito finally answers when Satoru’s stare still lingered on him. He hears clothes rustling and thinks Satoru might’ve shrugged.

“We’re out of the clan compound now.” Satoru tells him as he hears the guards bow. “We’ll have to walk down the mountain due to the snow making the path slippery for the car to drive up.”

“That’s fine.” Obito hums, navigating through the path and hearing snow scrunch under his boots. “More practice for me.”

He feels Satoru settle his gaze at him again, not caring about slipping at all at the cost of just staring at his twin.

Satoru is still so young, yet it feels like he’s so used to making himself useful already. It’s not something Obito is comfortable with most of the time. But it’s also like Satoru prefers being useful, so Obito is often in a dilemma of whether he should let him be or try to change it.

“Hmm…” Obito settles on a decision.

Satoru grins at him naturally, “I thought you were gonna practice?”

Obito’s Sharingan flares at him, “I was gonna keep it active all day, anyway.”

“I’m fine with whatever you decide, Tobi.” Satoru declares, swinging their hands playfully now that he doesn’t feel the need to be careful.

Obito plays along with his antics as they walk outside the walls of the compound.

Then he spots him at the corner of his sight.

Obito and Satoru were so fixated with attempting to walk like robots that they already walked past the man when Obito realised something.

There wasn’t an ounce of curse energy in that man.

It’s weird. So weird that the twins noticed him at the same time, and turned back to him at the same time.

Red and Blue meets the look of a hulking man wearing warm traditional garbs. The man had straight black hair and green eyes. There’s a scar on the right side of his lips that only further made the man’s face look sharp.

There was surprise colouring his feature, as though the twins spotting him should’ve been impossible. Those green eyes moved between him and Satoru multiple times, piecing a puzzle that’s not really that difficult to complete. 

“Heh.” He broke into a startled single laugh, before quickly placing a palm over his mouth and tilting his head at them, mirth clear in his eyes.

Eventually, distance grew between them and the man that they couldn't see him anymore as they descended a path. 

“Who’s that?” Obito wonders.

Satoru rolls his eyes, “A Zen’in.”

Obito did not know what ‘A Zen’in’ is, so he just nodded. He’s a year behind their studies, so that must’ve been taught there somewhere. He’ll just have to catch up.

The rest of the day went on without any hiccups.

Satoru pulls him anywhere he deems smells the sweetest. At the end of it, Obito counts his remaining days until diabetes catches up to them. They only stopped for the day because the maids and guards looked more exhausted than the twins.

They never saw that Zen’in man again when they walked back to the compound.

On their 6th birthday, Satoru himself held a celebration for the event. Going so far as to invite the Clan Heads and Heirs from different clans, both big and small.

Satoru can really be such a little piece of shit.

“I thought we weren't announcing anything, Satoru.” Obito glares at his twin who pouts at the address used. Nonetheless, he grabs Obito’s hand, seeing as his twin is currently unseeing.

“I said it’ll work as a good shock value! I never said we’ll never do it.” Satoru clarifies, tightening his hold to send assurance. “Trust me! This will be the last time we’ll hold a birthday celebration like this anyway.”

Obito considers it.

“If you say so.”

“You know I never go back on my word, Tobi.” There’s a grin in Satoru’s tone, no doubt flashing a genuine smile.

They arrive at the entrance of the event hall. Satoru informed him that this one was not one of the Gojo Clan’s event halls, but is owned by the Jujutsu Headquarters in general. It’s located in Kyoto, protected by Tengen’s barrier. 

Thankfully, Obito has caught up with enough knowledge about this world and its Jujutsu Society.

Inside the event hall, the Clan Heads and their RSVPd family members already arrived and settled. Satoru screened all the attendees himself, telling Obito everything to know about them.

“The Zenin Head has lots of sons, but I bet he’d only bring his youngest. Keh!”

They could hear conversations occurring inside already. No doubt, the Gojo Clan Elders are being questioned a lot about Satoru, but they’d know better to keep quiet. Satoru proved himself to be a competent Clan Head despite his age that they could do nothing against him.

“Tonight, our objective is to scare as many adults as possible, Tobi.” Satoru relays to his twin, sporting a devilish grin. “Are you game?”

Obito hung his head low, letting out a deep sigh. “You make it sound like I have a choice at all, Toru.”

“They’ll target you once they realise we’re twins. Especially those Zen’ins.” Satoru made a disgusted face, always at the mention of the Clan name. “They hate anything that doesn’t conform to what they perceive as dominating and strong.”

“What’s wrong with being twins?” Obito finally asks.

“Listen, Tobi. Twins share a single soul in jujutsu. They’re often considered one person that way.” Satoru tells him, squishing their connected hand. “Their souls are split, only having half a soul each and this makes their curse energy become half their possible potential. That’s why the Zen’ins think twins are weak.”

Obito was surprised at this revelation. He didn’t expect that kind of information to accompany being born twins in this world. Back in Konoha, twins were a rarity. Uchiha never saw this come to their clan, but the Hyuga did, and there weren't really any complications that came with that when using their dojutsu. Just the complications of Clan Politics with the dilemma of two heirs being born at the same time.

“Does that mean we share the same soul?” Obito asks, tilting his head. “Is that why I’m having these kinds of complications with my eyes?”

This made Satoru quiet for a moment.

It stretched for so long that Obito decided to activate his Sharingan to meet his eyes.

“Toru?”

“Hmm…” Gojo closes his eyes, tilting his head in pensiveness. “We actually have different souls, Tobi, so it’s unlikely! Besides, I think that kind of thing only happens to identical twins. We’re not that kind of twins when we have such different hair and eye colours!”

Obito stares at him, evaluating his answer. Eyeing his hair, white. Their colours were a direct contrast to each other, Red and Cyan. Black and White.

What did Obito look like when he died again?

“Will one twin dying mean that the soul will return to the remaining twin?” Obito asks, remembering the stance of the clan elders that’s only being pushed away for now.

“Bingo! When the other half dies, the other will regain their full soul and have their full potential unlocked to them. That’s why everyone is so incessant in having you killed, just so that I become even more powerful or whatever. They're stupid like that, no matter how much I tell them that you aren’t limiting me.” Satoru rolls his eyes.

That makes sense, Obito thinks.

“That does sound stupid.” Is what comes out of him instead.

If there comes a day where everyone is demanding that Obito dies for Satoru, maybe he’ll just kill the enlightened one himself and then himself. What good is a world that tries to dump everything on the power of just one person? Obito hates systems like that.

“Where did you learn all this?”

“From the old hoot.” Satoru answers, pertaining to the late clan head. “He told me a bun’cha stuff and a lotta bullshit. ‘Now is the time to kill it, Satoru-sama, and receive what’s rightfully yours’ BAH! I’d have killed them there and then if he wasn’t already near his deathbed. I still want the money this clan has, so I can’t have us defunct just ‘cuz of this non-issue.”

“Even on his deathbed he doesn’t change his priorities, huh.” Obito let out a laugh.

“Glad he’s dead, anyway. He can’t attempt to plot your death anymore. I saw his notes about poisoning you, Tobi!” Satoru’s tone rose to agitation, the sound of his voice causing the chatter from inside the hall to stop. “Tsk. He even said something like twins being an omen wherever they go because a single soul being in two different bodies is an anomaly or something. His last words were literally saying that even if he dies, fate will still attempt to kill either of us. Says that it’s better to decide who dies now rather than the chances ending up as me.”

“You don’t believe him?” Obito asks. The chatter inside the hall continued, but more in hushed tones now asking if the voice had been the ‘Six-eyed Gojo.’

“There wasn't proof of that statement, I read around after he died.” Satoru looks like the situation irritates him. “If it turns out that it’s not true and the old bastard just cursed us, I’ll genuinely have him be brought back to life and burn him to death.”

The entrance door suddenly opened slightly and a maid of theirs peeked through the gap. “U-Uhm… Satoru-sama.”

“What.” Satoru fixed her a cold stare. “Can’t you see we're still having a conversation?”

Obito gives up reprimanding his twin. Choosing to deactivate his Sharingan and close his eyes from the world.

“T-The guests are asking when you’ll be arriving.” The maid lets out, voice trembling. She’s the youngest among them. “W-We’re an hour behind schedule, Satoru-sama.”

“Who cares about the schedule?” Gojo looked genuinely affronted, “I decide when it will start. Obito likes being late, so we’re gonna be late.”

“Why are you putting this on me?” Obito glares in his direction, rolling his eyes. “I think an hour is enough. Let’s just continue the conversation for later. Didn’t you want to mess with the other clan heads? They might leave before you ever get to.”

“Well if you say so, Tobi!”

Naobito Zen’in downs another cup of sake, clicking his tongue as the time stretches on.

His family and he were one of the early clans to arrive at the hall. An hour early, in fact, because he wanted to assess how the Gojo kid plans to host this celebration. 

His barely 5 year old youngest son Naoya is nodding his head off next to his mother, not used to staying still in one place for too long. Out of all his sons, Naoya showed the most potential with the curse projection skill. Once he proves himself, he’ll be officially recognised as the clan’s heir.

“I want Kaa-nii…” Naoya mumbles, pouting as he sways in his place.

“Well, I don’t.” Naobito rolls his eyes, letting out a gruff. “That cousin of yours will just cause problems when brought here. We can’t afford to sully our connection with the Gojo clan further.”

“Hmph. What’s taking Gojo-sama so long anyway.”

“Something a 6 year old would probably prefer doing, playing pretend clan head.” Naobito snarks.

“My, be careful with that personality, Naobito Zen’in. I hear the Six Eyes wielder is an interesting character.” The Kamo clan head suddenly spoke up. The man was seated across from the Zen’in next to his wife. Both of them were sitting poised and proper, eyes closed as always. A contrast to Naobito who sat manspreading, his knees propped up where his same side arm is resting holding a wine-filled cup.

“I hear he handled clan matters immediately after the wake of the previous clan head. Quite well and efficient too for his age.” Kamo continued. “That reminds me. How is being a clan head treating you?”

Naobito was only given the title Clan Head a month ago. Jinta, his elder brother and previous clan head, fell out of favour from the elders when his son Toji left the clan and made his feats of killing Sorcerers known. Due to his inability to control his son from taking the lives of Jujutsu Headquarter’s sorcerers, he was stripped of his title and he killed himself in the end. Such are the rules in this family.

“Everything is as expected.” Naobito grins at the man. “And I doubt the Gojo brat is the one  actually handling all that anyway. What can a six year old do?”

“More than what you can do, that’s for sure!”

Heads immediately turned to the hall entrance when the grating voice made itself known. Naobito raised an eyebrow at what he’s seeing.

Two boys with their hands held together entered the hall. White and black hairs stand out respectively as they wore matching montsuki garbs with a colour gradient opposite of their hair colour. 

“Two..?”

“Which one has the Six Eyes? The blue eyed one?”

“No, why are there two kids entering? Is the other one his favorite cousin or something?”

“Does the Six Eyes wielder have a brother?”

Naobito turned to the Gojo clan elders present and noticed them closing their eyes in repressed tension. It's like they already know what is coming and are still unprepared for it.

Naoya’s eyes snapped open from the murmurs, eyes trailing after the two approaching figures. Blue eyes regarded him with an unreadable stare for a moment before it turned to his father, mirth in those eyes like they just found a toy to play with.

“A new Zen’in head already? That was fast! Did the old one kick the bucket already?”

Gasps echoed around the hall, the blue-eyed boy unaffected while the black haired next to him looked non-challant with his eyes closed.

“Toru, don’t say that,” The black haired says, tone neutral. “I don’t think he died old.”

Cue more affronted gasps.

“Wasn’t the previous Zen’in head Naobito-sama’s elder brother?”

“Indeed. The funeral was just last month as well.”

“These kids are too rude! Is the Six Eyes wielder really one of them?”

“Hush, dear. One of them is still the host.”

“Hmm?” Blue eyes turned to those hushed voices, having heard them. “Yeah, that’s me! Six Eyes-and-Limitless-wielder-sama! Wow, I bet you don’t even know what my name is huh?”

“That’s ‘cause your name’s ugly, Toru.” the black haired boy says, tugging their held hand. “I wanna sit down.”

‘Toru’ gave the seething Naobita another stare, giving him a teasing smirk before leading the other boy to the center.

“If anything, your name is uglier, Tobi.” The Six eyes wielder huffs, before leading the boy to one of the seats prepared in the middle meant for the host. “This is yours, Tobi.”

There had been two sets prepared in the middle for all to see. At first, Naobito had thought that the other seat was meant for a guardian regent or maybe a parent who decided to stay near the boy in childhood. But no, apparently, that was for this boy who needed the Six Eyes to guide him with his eyes shut close.

“No, my name is cooler.”

“As cool as a corpse, sure.”

‘Tobi’ sat down first, ‘Toru’ watching him successfully sit down before he sat to his right himself.

Now that they’re side to side, it’s become more apparent.

The two look very much alike if it hadn’t been for their hair colour.

Naobito didn’t stop the incredulous grin splitting his face.

Twins? The Gojo clan has twins!

As if hearing his thoughts, blue eyes settled on him again. “You really know your priorities, huh, old man? You look like you’re already having a party inside your head.”

There’s no doubt about it — even their cursed energies are nearly identical to each other. Where the Six Eyes’ are more potent, the black haired kid’s is fluctuating.

“Hah!” Naobito bursted out laughing, “No wonder the Gojo Clan were so tight-lipped about you! You’d think they’d speak anyone’s ear off about your arrival with those eyes of yours, instead they tried to hide their embarrassment from the world as much as possible!”

The black haired kid turned his head towards Naobito, eyes opening to show dull black eyes. It only further made Naobito’s glee rise.

He pointedly looked at the still quiet Gojo elders sitting just far behind the two brats. “You can’t even secure the full potential of your oh-so-greatest cursed technique huh? HA!”

“So much talk for a clan who hasn’t even seen a lick on theirs.” Satoru gives him a sharp grin, eyes slitted. Then he rocks his head sideways, “But this is so unfair, huh, Tobi? No one’s even said happy birthday to us!”

“Oh, dear… So it’s true?”

“The Six Eyes is a twin?”

“They’re twins?!”

“I don’t really care, Toru.” The other kid let out a tired sigh, “Can we eat first?”

“You heard the birthday boy!” The Six Eyed brat let out, snapping his fingers as the entrance door opened again to servers holding set tables filled with meals for each individual present. “Naobito-san, my twin brother is hungry so can you be quiet for a long while? Don’t worry, we’ll indulge your really stupid takes after we get our fill. The same goes for the rest! This will be the last time I’ll hold a celebration with you guys anyway.”

So what is this for then? Naobito lets out a humorless “Keh,” letting a servant change out his table. 

“Remember your manners, Naoya.” His wife reminds the boy.

“Tsk, ‘ya don’t hafta remind me.” Naoya replies rather rudely, no one tells him off.

They all eat their way through the meal, some often stealing glances at the twins.

How could you not? Satoru, Naobito remembers learning his name a while back, had moved his table and pillow seat closer and next to his twin brother who Naoya still doesn’t know the name of. Toru and Tobi sound like a nickname they gave each other. Would the other’s name be Satobi?

“Toru,” The other twin called him while the boy was moving his table. “Is this soup?”

Naobito watched the scene attentively, the black haired boy had his palms around the bowl while his eyes were back to being closed.

Satoru looks over, irritation colouring his face as he glances at a nearby servant. “Hey, I clearly noted that he won’t get any soup.”

“Don’t be rude, Toru.” He chided him. He angles his head towards the approaching servant, handing her the bowl of soup. “It’s fine.”

“I apologise for the mistake, Obito-sama. I was sure I made it clear to the preparation staff earlier—”

“I said it’s fine.” The now named Obito said sternly, “Take it before I dunk all of it at Satoru.”

“Eh?? Why at me? What did I do now?”

“Why are you so close?” Obito turned to him furrowing his eye brows, hands finally free of that soup. “I will kick you if you get annoying, Toru.”

They were not quiet at all. But at least it confirmed Naobito’s suspicions.

Obito Gojo is blind.

His attention perks at the slightest sound, head turning a miniscule amount towards the source like someone with impaired vision would. His eyes were shut close so unlike how the Kamo would do it.

Speaking of Kamo — ever since the twins entered the room, his wife had reacted weirdly.  Her eyes had opened wide and had not stopped staring at the two boys. It had lessened when the food had been brought, but still, she would ever so slightly peek at the two boys with a neutral expression.

“You done, Tobi?” Satoru Gojo suddenly spoke up.

“Hn.”

“Come on, we need to keep up appearances.” Satoru Gojo grabs his brother’s hand, pulling at it gently, “The sooner we get this done, the sooner this can end!”

“You just want to mess with everyone, Toru.” Obijo Gojo huffed, a small grin appearing in his expression. “I can’t let you do that alone.”

Naobito felt everyone tense and became wary of what that would mean. They did hear that the new Gojo head has an interesting personality.

The two stood up, and Satoru Gojo’s gaze immediately locked on Naobito. With their hands held together, Satoru led them in front of the Zen’in Clan.

“Told you he’d only bring his youngest, Tobi!” Satoru snickers at this, looking at Naoya. “It’s favouritism at its finest. Don't you have many other brothers?”

“I don’t really care for all of them.” Naoya declares, crossing his arms defiantly. “I only care about—”

“Doooon’t caaaaree.” Satoru immediately waves him off, which has Naoya sputtering. His mother quickly placed a palm over his mouth before he started saying rude words towards the Gojo head. 

Naobito rolls his eyes at Satoru Gojo baiting his son, taking another gulp of sake. “So? What did ‘ya bring your blind brother here for? To rub his further survival into our faces?”

“Hmm…” Satoru regarded him, with a smile still on his face despite the clear insult in Naobito’s words. “You really should stop assuming shit, Naobito-san.”

“Don’t say shit, Toru. People are still eating.” Obito chided him again, but a grin was on his expression as if something was humoring him. “And it’s not like he’s wrong anyway.”

Naobito smirked at the confirmation, to which Satoru pointed out.

“Whoa, look at him basically blooming at that.” He leaned to his twin brother, placing a hand over his mouth as if to whisper. “You should look, Tobi. He looks so stupidly ugly.”

Obito nods, leaning into him as if to replicate. “Don’t worry, I still think you’re uglier and stupider.”

Satoru furrows his brows, looking offended at the comment. “Stupider isn’t a word.”

“It is. See? You’re stupider.”

They weren’t whispering at all. Naobito feels his life thinning the more the twins talk their ears off in front of him. Just hearing them feels exhausting.

“There’s nothin’ about you lot interests me anymore.” Naobito lets out, gulping another swig of alcohol. “Leave if all you’ll do is bug me ears off.”

“No way, Noabito-san. You’re not even yelling yet!” Naobito’s eyes twitched at the Six Eyes wielder’s words. “You’re, like, our most awaited guest out of everyone here!”

“Except for the elders.” Blind kid followed up with a sinister tilt, “Can’t believe they even decided to come at all.”

“They must have missed you so much, Tobi!” Satoru Gojo laughs, gratingly, “They didn’t see you last year after all.”

“I’m sure they were praying their hearts out for my death then.” Obito Gojo snickers as if such a thing was a laughable act.

“That they did!”

Naobito gave them his most uninterested eyes, drinking another cup of sake. Hell, he might as well just drink from the cup at this point.

“He’s getting bored, Toru.”

“It’s ‘cuz you’re not showing it, Tobi.”

What are they up to now? Naobito let out a yawn.

“But there’s nothing interesting going on.”

“You want someone to cause a scene? Wow, Tobi, I didn’t know you were that petty. It’s our birthday! Can’t this be, like, your birthday present for me?”

“You haven’t even gotten me anything.”

“I handled everything for this celebration!”

“Hmm….”

“Bah!” Naoya gasps out after finally managing to remove his mother’s hand off his face. “You’re both ugly!”

A pin drop could be heard the moment his son shouted those words. The cup of sake in his hand froze mid sip, Naobito Zen’in absolutely did not almost choke in that moment.

“...Naoya!”

“I thought you’d be like my cousin since your hairs look alike, but you’re not! You’re ugly, UGLY!” Naoya let out, pointing at Satoru Gojo.  “You act like you’re cooler than everyone else, but you’re not! Kaa-nii is cooler! He— I— E-Even Toji-nii is cooler than you!”

The youngest kid was heaving angrily in his temper tantrum. Naobito is not equipped to handle this. That cousin of his is usually the one assigned to handle him when that happens.

The cousin he did not bring because that brat usually instigated it as well.

“Naoya, enough! Didn’t I tell you to never bring him up anymore?!”

“...Toji?”

Shit.

Naobito became sober immediately at how cold the tone of the Six Eyed became. He turned to the boy, seeing his blue eyes locked at Naoya who was still huffing and puffing, his arms crossed now.

Satoru Gojo’s expression broke, turning into the tense sneer he’d seen the kid expressed since the party started.

“HAH?! Toji Zen’in?! You’re comparing me to that absolute lowlife, you brat?!” Satoru Gojo would have launched himself at Naoya if Obito hadn’t been holding his hand in his right, a little far away from the younger boy. “That absolute bum is no match to me, you hear?! Cooler than me? Yeah, he’ll be as cool as a corpse when I get my hands on him is what’ll happen!”

Naoya looks absolutely affronted by his statement. “No way! I bet he’s waaayy stronger than you! No way he’ll lose to a lanky like you!”

“Naoya, stop talking! What did I say—”

“You don’t know a quarter of how the world works, you brat.” Satoru let out a humorless laugh, wide eyes fixed on Naoya. “You want me to demonstrate how I’ll defeat that Toji-nii of yours? I’ll show you right now—”

“Pfft— Oh my God, Toru— You’re picking a fight with a toddler?”

A series of laughs followed despite how tense everyone had suddenly gotten inside the room. Most of the other clan heads had stood up to try and de-escalate the tension, but stopped short when Obito Gojo’s cursed energy suddenly spiked as his shoulder shook.

“HAHAHA! I was wondering what kind of kid would pick a nerve on you, I didn’t expect him to be so tiny!” Obito Gojo laughed, wheezing and hackling. He washed down his left hand across his face, trying to settle his expression before settling his eyes on Naoya. “It’s the first time I saw that kind of expression on Toru. I have to thank you for that… Naoya, was it?”

Obito Gojo’s eyes were red.

No, wasn’t it a dull black earlier? Why is it—

“What the…” Naobito blinked and suddenly, those red eyes were on him. It rooted him to his core. 

He’d done his best to ignore how unnerving it had been to have Six Eyes trained on you, the suffocating feeling of having those powerful eyes to be locked on you and having your everything instantly read into atoms. But Obito’s red eyes were unsettling. Where it’s like seeing the universe in the Six Eyes, it’s like seeing the pits of hell in Obito Gojo’s eyes.

Add to that, his cursed energy had stabilised suddenly. Next to Satoru Gojo, they have almost the same amount of energy. It’s suffocating when they’re so close now, where does their supply of cursed energy end?

The moment was only for a moment before it shifted to his brother. “You’re 6 now, Toru. You should know better than to pick a fight with a 2 year old.”

“I’m four!” Naoya’s words were unheard.

Satoru pouts, “Why did you have to genuinely laugh, Tobi? Now I have to be thankful to the brat for that.”

Obito let out a snicker once more, poking Satoru’s cheek for good measure. “It’s ‘cuz you made a funny expression. It’s better than your usually ugly ones. Maybe Naoya-kun was right. You are ugly.”

“I know you love me so much so I’m gonna ignore that last one.” Satoru hangs his head, glaring at Naoya again. He points to Obito with his right hand, “Be thankful he spared your life today, Naoya-kun. Don’t compare me to that bum Toji again!”

Obito Gojo let out a laugh again, now steering him away from the family who was still reeling at Obito’s suddenly oppressive eyes.

“Of all people, to Toji?! Can you believe that, Tobi?”

“No, I can’t. I don’t know who that is, Toru.”

Suddenly, Satoru stopped in his tracks. Obito gets pulled at his sudden stop. “Toru?”

“You.” Satoru looked pointedly at the other side of the space. “You’ve been staring at us like that since we entered the hall. What gives?”

Obito follows his stare and realises that he was talking to someone’s wife. The Kamo Clan?

His brow raised, “Toru, you’re not picking a fight with an older woman now, are you?”

“I’m not picking a fight!” Satoru defends himself. “I’ve just been feeling her stare more than the others! I’m sure you felt it too.”

“Oh, it was from her?” Obito tilts his head, now studying the woman. Her black hair was neatly done in a bun, thick bangs framed her round face. Her eyes were round and brown in color, it had a lifeless look to it, but doesn't anyone else inside this room? Most are retired sorcerers, if not hardened ones. Obito is not one to underestimate a woman just because they became someone’s wife. Underestimating is what gets you killed.

“Oh, dear, I was more obvious than I thought, huh?” She drops her head on a palm, voice almost shy but still respectfully even. “I apologise, Satoru Gojo-sama. It’s just… well…”

“You’ve been staring at us like you’re trying to piece a puzzle, ‘ya know?” Satoru sneers, a lighter version than the one he had earlier. “Like you’re planning something, you think my eyes won’t notice stuff like that? You’re especially interested in Obito, too.”

The Kamo head looks like he hadn’t expected this from his wife either. Looking between the Gojo twins and his wife. “Please excuse my wife, Gojo-sama. It’s been… a difficult year for us.”

Her hands suddenly drop to her belly and Obito gets a sinking feeling about what she’ll say next.

“Yes, well.. We’ve been having a hard time in having a child of our own, so seeing twins suddenly just made me wish I could birth the same amount myself, see? Even if it’s more than that is fine for me.” The woman wore a gentle expression as she looked down. But for some reason, Obito doesn’t feel the genuineness of it. “My body finds it hard to conceive a child, for some reason. So I thought if I am able to conceive just once, may it be twins as well.”

All her words sounded absolute bullshit to Obito. But he doesn’t say anything.

“Even if we’re considered omens?” Satoru voiced. He’s feeling the same thing as Obito is, he could tell.

Something is up with this woman, but their eyes can’t tell what it is at all. If not for her soulless stare and tone, they’d be convinced that she’s just another woman, frail and unable to conceive a baby of her own.

“You’re right. Maybe I am fine with just having one baby.” She settles, empty yet gentle eyes rising to meet Satoru and Obito’s. “Then I’ll just wish he’ll grow up to be as strong as you two, if not stronger.”

Chapter Text

Time moves in constant and comfortable now that Obito is able to turn off Sharingan.

Let it be known that Satoru truly never changes as they grow older. He’s always in Obito’s space. Always challenging Obito’s set boundaries. Always getting his way regardless of the ridiculous way he got it.

“Satoru?” Obito calls out. The sun hasn’t even risen properly, yet he feels Satoru standing up from their shared bed. 

He feels his brother place his palm over his eyes. “Sleep more, Tobi. I just need to do some stuff and we can play after you get your sleep.”

‘What about your sleep?’ Obito wanted to ask, but Satoru’s touch was always so comforting that it lulled him instantly back to sleep.

Obito finds himself with more cherished memories without the need of the Sharingan than he did with it. The knowledge of how Satoru’s calloused hands feel over his forever archived in his mind and senses, confident that he’ll recognise his twin even if they were separated for years apart. The ways Satoru dotes on him, and moments of Satoru always becoming a child around Obito.

He can be too much sometimes, but Obito can also be too less in the same ways. Childishness is like an old friend Obito has long forgotten — only getting a glimpse of it on a busy street but never approached due to unfamiliarity with how long it’s been since they interacted.

And Obito tries. Oh, does he try, even before that weird conclusion of their 6th birthday. Regardless of the eeriness that is the Kamo Head’s wife, the rest of the party continued as smoothly as it could. They interacted with other kids, with other mothers, and with other Clan Heads.

Naoya never let go of the subject that is Toji Zen’in, but Satoru took glee in jabbing at the kid’s self-esteem. Too young, too childish, still easy to instigate a temper tantrum, Naoya had cried in the end that had the twins hollering despite the rudeness of it. Naobito could do nothing but roll his eyes and they were the first family to leave then.

The twins grow older, they improve their physique, their knowledge of the world broadens, and Obito is finally confident that he knows a lot about the world he’s currently in.

There’s still that nagging feeling — that ominous face of the Kamo Head’s wife always reminding him that if there are sorcerers keeping the evil curses at bay, then there are other forces out there challenging the sorcerers.

But he would hear Satoru’s ever-excited voice and remind himself that they are still children. Still too young to attempt to make sense of the very foundation of Sorcerers and Curses, still too young to be thinking about anything else other than learning, playing, sparring, and having fun next to his brother.

Obito has a brother now.

He may not have parents in his first life nor does he have one in his current one, the difference still exists that Obito is born with a brother next to him.

A brother who receives praises easily from every instructor and clan members around him for every little feat he does, voices always accompanied by reassurances that Satoru is the strongest. The one above every curse users and sorcerers alike sooner than later. A brother who gets praises from everyone else except from his own brother because Obito believes Satoru does not seek empty words from him.

All Satoru always asks for is a simple touch, a reassurance that someone’s next to his left, a presence he seeks more than the more constant praises he receives. All because Obito is starting to not be a constant next to him anymore.

“Tobi!!!”

Satoru bursts inside the room just as the instructor finishes collecting his belongings. Obito was being taught a special language meant for people with impaired visions, Braille. As tiring as it was having to learn an entirely different alphabetical language, he can’t deny that it will have its advantages in the long run.

Morning came and Satoru wasn’t there on Obito's side. Obito had woken up and Satoru hadn’t come to him to play. The instructor came and Satoru wasn’t there with Obito to learn. Lunch came and Obito had eaten alone.

“I’m sorry I’m soooo late, Tobi!” Satoru crowded him with a tight hug without even bothering if the instructor had already left or not, “I tried to finish as soon as I could, but they had me sitting in those cursed meetings where I couldn’t brat myself out of, hmph. Old man Naobito was there, so at least I made it less boring.”

Satoru’s routine is starting to become more hectic the moment they turn 9. 

Childishness is an old friend Obito has long forgotten. He finds that it’s actually easier to reconnect with that part of him when someone’s hyping him up to approach it, and Satoru had been that person for Obito. And if Obito tries to think deeper on it, he remembers that that person had been himself for someone else in the previous life.

Satoru’s genuinity is a comfortable blanket of assurance for Obito who had lived a life filled with deceit and traitorous scheming. Back then, Obito lived with hatred more than he had lived with love.  

But having been around Satoru for so long, Obito thinks he’s gotten too used to having the boy always next to him. Always with a smile, always the gentleness that contrasts his activeness well. Always, always, always — To the point that Obito could almost delude himself into thinking that Satoru had always been there next to him.

In another life, maybe Satoru existed next to him back in Konoha. Maybe Satoru’s eyes would’ve caused political debates in that land where every prodigy is meant to be a weapon for war, is he of Hyuga or is he of Uchiha? Maybe Satoru’s existence could’ve saved Obito from the fate of being used. Maybe, maybe, maybe. 

However, that is a world Obito has not lived in. Satoru does not belong in that world, and maybe Obito does not really belong in this world either. But the latter still happened, did it not? It is still happening.

Obito has long accepted that that life of his is long gone now, far from the world he’s now reborn in. He has long accepted that while reborn in a body with no scars to remind him, his soul still holds the bloodshed he had instigated. Karma still follows his very soul, for is that not why his vision deteriorated without warning at 5 years of age? Blindness didn’t come to him back in his previous life despite having used it almost everyday to its maximum, but he paid for all those years in this life instead.

“Satoru-sama is really dependable now-a-days.”

“Isn’t it because he’s been spending less and less time with his twin? It’s about time, don’t you think?”

“The elders certainly think so. I hear that it’s why they’ve been handing even their works to Satoru-sama.”

When you’re blind, Obito learns that people generalise it in their head that you’re deaf as well. Act detached enough and they will regard you with so little that they speak out of turn around him as much as they would compliment Satoru.

He was training his senses in an open space in the middle of their house. A bamboo water spout with its continuous flow of water was one of the sounds Obito was focusing on. Just as the birds would drop around the basin, and some around Obito’s space if not on his head. Around him, he could feel cursed energies differ from each living person and animal. Even the plants and waters hold cursed energies, down to the multiple items that exist and function.

People walk around the engawa not noticing him, gossiping without a care of their volume. Even if they do notice Obito afterwards, their guards still drop when they confirm that he is currently unseeing.

Their trainers would walk by and speak of Satoru’s improvement in fighting, or of him exceeding their expectations that are already so high. Always talking about him as if the end goal of his strength exceeds their expectations.

“He’ll be a force no one can withstand.” They will say, “Gojo Satoru will prove to be the strongest as expected. It will be a very peaceful life against curses with him around in this era.”

They stare at Satoru and they see someone Obito doesn’t see — a weapon in the making. Often, Obito wonders what Satoru will turn out to be if Obito was not born with him. If he’s already got quite a confident personality now, does it turn to egotistical instead?

That’s why when together, Obito makes a point of giving Satoru a different treatment.

“Tobiii!!!” Satoru crashes him with a hug as they see each other again. The sun had already set and another day had gone by without either of them crossing each other’s path at all. “I miss you, I miss you!!!”

Obito, despite having planned to ignore Satoru’s advances out of pettiness, gave in. It’s so unfair how Obito has already changed so much just because of a little gap in their bonding time. If it had been the 2 year old Obito, he would have already chewed Satoru off of him, letting him drown in his own puddle of tears for being ignored by Obito.

“It’s your fault, Toru.”

“I’m sorryyyyyy!” Those words are common now. That's all Satoru always says to Obito as a greeting. Because Satoru is always in the Clan Head’s office or walking around the compound to deal with something. Always moving in and out of the compound itself because of the meeting a 9 year old clan head has to attend.

Obito doesn’t know how much he can take from it. Doesn’t know why it’s bothering him so much. Is he so attached to Satoru to that point already?

Thus, out of pure impulsive thoughts, Obito said the words he knows he’ll come to resent himself for.

“Need some help, Satoru?”

The Gojo Clan became the first and only great clan to have a set of twins be Clan Heads.

“Satoru-sama, please reconsider!” One of the Gojo elders stood up from their seat and bowed down deep in front of them, hands placed under their face where they might as well plant it on the tatami floors with how deep they’re pleading. “To declare two clan heads will fracture the line of succession! The Gojo Clan has stood for centuries on singular authority — if that foundation wavers, so too will our legitimacy!”

“Satoru-sama, please reconsider!” Another one moved and bowed next to the first one, “If you bring this before the Clan Heads’ meeting, the Higher-Ups and the other great houses will not see innovation — they will see instability! The Zen’in and Kamo will demand equal concessions, claiming we seek to double our political weight!”

“Satoru-sama, please reconsider!” Another one joins in, as did the rest of the elders that only have arrived running with their confidants, must be some kind of immediate back-up. “If disagreements arise between you, even once, it will invite interference and opportunists! A divided authority at the top will embolden rivals and weaken the council’s capacity to shield this clan from external pressure!”

They bring up good points, for once. But do the twins care? Absolutely not. The elders knew that the moment these two came to the Head Clan’s office together meant trouble. That’s why they immediately called each and every council member to come and hopefully persuade the Honoured one from making this mistake.

The two of them flare their cursed energies and silenced their voices. The elders were immediately trembling in their forms but they kept their bowed heads, still insistent with their appeals.

This cannot go on. They cannot allow that… thing to ever lead the Gojo Clan alongside the Honoured One! They have done everything in their power to make the rightful heir feel the power he has, to know that he is above everyone else and this includes even that abomination! Why does the Honoured One insist to have that pretender next to him when he can become something even more without it?!

“Hey, are you looking down on us?” A vein appeared in The Honoured One’s expression as irritation surfaced from their words. “You think we’ll let some assholes get the better of us just ‘cause we might not always see eye-to-eye?”

“Might I remind you that you’re the ones who keep insisting that we’re a single soul split in two.” The other’s tone was sharp and cutting, red eyes fixed on each and every one of them. “That twins share one essence. That one must fall for the other to become complete. You weren’t really subtle with your contempt against me.”

He’s a demon. That’s what he is. Something that is worse than a curse, something that might even be worse than Ryomen Sukuna himself. What else could he possibly be but a demon brought to life?

Those red eyes come from the pits of hell themselves, they’re sure of it. The Gojo Clan does not, and will not accept such eyes to have been produced from them! Why did he not stay dead? Why must this demon of a child come back and continue to stand next to the Honoured one?!

“And you also brought this to yourselves, joining heads with that dearly departed old coot.” The rightful heir pointed to the framed photo of the previous clan head inside the Clan Head office. “You even tried to make that happen,” he says lightly, a cold smile on his face as he looks down on them, eyes wide and wild. “Because if Obito dies, I become ‘whole,’ right? Stronger. More suitable. More convenient. Perfect in every way possible, and above everyone in this world so you can save the ridicule the clan faces between those hundreds of years that the Six Eyes and Limitless user isn’t born yet.”

The clan even has a written manual on how to deal with the Honored one, from birth to his death. Passed down to the generation of each elders, each having their own individual roles in unique situations with the Six Eyes and Limitless user. Always aiming to take advantage of their strength, to instill their pressure on other Clans. To make themselves appear superior with their unique product.

However, there was no written manual on how to deal with the Honoured One possibly arriving as a set of twins. In cases of that, the only instructions were to eliminate the defect as earliest as possible. But how could they when their hands could only pass through the demon? How could they smother him under a pillow at night when the Honoured One is always awake and waiting? How could they when those demonic eyes could conjure something akin to black holes to suck everything off existence?!

“And yet now,” The demon presses, “you’re arguing that we must be separated in authority.”

The Honoured One laughs once, sharp and humorless. Mirth drops immediately as he says, “You don’t get to have it both ways.” He gestures lazily around the room. “If we are one soul, as you have insisted our entire lives—”

“—then our authority is one as well,” The other finishes.

The existence of this thing is something they really can’t wrap their heads around. He was not detected in the womb — essentially, he did not exist until he was birthed! He should’ve stayed out of existence. He should’ve kept himself dead to the world for he is an anomaly! A demon — A curse that aims to weaken the Honoured One from properly flourishing to become the rightful strongest sorcerer of this era!

“You call Obito my other half,” Their heir says, eyes gleaming. “You treat him as an extension of me when it suits the clan.”

“If that’s your belief, then we won’t counter that anymore.” Gleaming red eyes looking down on them with a clear mocking glint in his expression. “That will mean that you will treat Satoru as such in title, too.”

A demon declaring themselves equal to the Honoured One — oh, how the Gojo Clan has become. Everyday, they curse at the woman who gave life to this abomination. Why could she not have just stopped birthing the moment the Honoured One came to be? Bless the previous clan head for having ended that woman's life when she attempted to save the demon.

“You really underestimate the kinship we share.” The rightful heir steps forward, cursed energy pressing heavier into the floor. “You isolated me with work because you thought wearing me down would separate us.”

“I wonder, is it because we still show clear independence from each other? But it doesn’t really matter right now.” Red eyed gaze hardens. “We’re removing that option.”

“If we are one existence,” The Honoured One concludes as he brings his arms up and wide, voice steady and absolute with a smile on his face, “then the Gojo Clan will have one Clan Head!”

“And that one Clan Head simply has two bodies.” The demon says. He extends his arm over to the elders, palm open and tilting his head lightly. “We’ll have you all to thank for instilling that belief.”

Silence crashes over the chamber. The elders might as well be groveling on the floors with their revelations. Everything they stood for was being used against them, how can they even counter those words without contradicting themselves and possibly screw themselves more? They could only raise their heads when their pleas did not come through anymore. It likely never will anymore with this demon around their rightful heir.

“Don’t forget, you built this doctrine,” The Honoured One smiles without warmth. “We’re just abiding by it.”

They didn’t plan on having this entire conversation when they decided to stop by to grab some files. Obito glances at a clock, it’s already half an hour past 8. “Now, I think we’re late enough for the Clan Heads meeting. Let’s go, Toru.”

Satoru matches his steps as his red eyes dimmed out to black, their hands already reaching for the other in routine. 

“They usually give a 30 minute grace period for late attendees, won’t we still be early?” Satoru informs the other that only further makes the elders lament at their failure. The Honored one was always on time with his responsibilities, but whenever he is with this abomination, the rightful heir always indulges in disgraceful habits!

“Hmm, I did factor in transport time but you’re right. Maybe we could stop the car and help old ladies cross the road.”

Confusion clouds the eyes of the elders as they stare at what they’ve been describing as a demon. How could such a sentence come out of that mouth and face?

“No way, that’s boring, Tobi!” The Honoured One shakes his head, disagreeing with the other and the Elders sincerely hope that this might sway his perception somehow.

“Listen, Toru. Those ladies will give out candies whenever they receive help! And it’s always the best candies that they give out!”

“Wait, seriously?” Satoru Gojo gapes, “No way that’s true. Can’t we just stop by a shop and get candies we know we’ll like?”

“Ha! Let me show you first, Toru. This is a secret technique I’ll be entrusting to you to get the best candies there are. Oftentimes, it’s even the sweetest and ripest fruits they’ll give out.”

“Can’t we just buy them…? How do you even know this? You’ve never gone out alone!”

“I got it in a dream. We’re doing it, Toru.”

“…”

The elders were left in the dust, listening helplessly in their conversation as the demon whispers ignoble acts… techniques such as using acts of service for measly candies they could just buy anywhere else? Isn’t it just wasting time?

If the Sugawaras saw what became of their successors now, they would no doubt plead with Ryomen Sukuna to just end their line before it got to this point.

Eventually, of course, the tasks of being Clan Heads bore them.

Sure, they work more efficiently with two people operating now. With always dealing the protests against two heads from the other Clans and from their own council — at some point, toying with them starts to not become fun.

The saving point is the fact that they work next to each other, at least. They’re now 10 and they eat together at the same hour, they walk around together, they train together, and they attend classes together.

They try to do the most mundane side quests when they reach a burnout.

Sneaking out becomes a norm, and they decide that it’s an act that should only be done together. Leaving the other to tend alone makes the elders become annoying.

If it’s Satoru that stays, they always become a bunch of annoying bootlickers. They never changed at all that Satoru has lost count of how many he chewed out of their job. But as always, someone steps into their role without a hitch. Like a bunch of hydras, you cut one head and two more grow out of it.

Then if it’s Obito that stays, suddenly everyone’s either experiencing symptoms of flu, having familial emergency, gotten in an accident, or a very convenient excuse that gets them to have a day off. Everything will suddenly be handed to Obito alone.

One day, it all came to a boiling point at Obito’s hands.

Obito had always tried to be the bigger person. He’d seen what happens if he lets go of what little morals he has left. If Satoru can hold it in, can’t he? He assured Satoru that he’ll be fine. Just get that limited premium digimon-digivice or whatever. You can only get it in a physical store, right?

And then of course, Obito followed up with can you get me a Gunpla while you’re there? Get me the same one we built last time. I’m gonna build the new one with my eyes closed.

With Obito now alone in handling clan matters for the day, he had long expected that the other council would be truant the moment word of Satoru’s leave travels. It’s always what’s going to happen, they both know it.

But that didn’t happen this time. Surprisingly, most members were present and were actually communicating with Obito well.

Obito had expected there to be some kind of scheme behind this.

By the time the clock hits 3 noon, Obito sees them nod at each other as a signal. He watches the show unfold, his Sharingan having been activated all day.

‘I wanna build some Gundam…’ Obito’s mind kept saying. It was a hobby he took interest in in this modern era. They look so interesting, too. Don’t they look just like the Susanoo he might be able to create someday? He was a bit envious having seen that manifest from those brothers, and in an even distant memory, he thinks even Kakashi was able to conjure one…

“Obito-sama, this proposal needs your signature.”

“Give it.” Obito reads the title, Sugawara Heritage Shrine Remodeling Proposal.

He skims through the thick papers, it’s a sound proposal, though he can’t remember if the shrine actually existed— Oh, they’re planning on re-naming it. Previously named just Michizane Family Heritage, initially, it’s where what remained of Sugawara Michizane was buried —or what remained of him after turning into a Vengeful Spirit— along with the rest of his family once they passed eventually. Then came his grandchildren, and then their grandchildren. 

Over the years, it’s basically turned into an honorary cemetery. The burials on the site stopped when the family tree got to the 6th generation since that was when most of the family members got split because of Ryomen Sukuna’s rampage during the era. Sugawara’s were in hiding because the King of Curses had been actively hunting them for their Six Eyes. But back then, the most recent user had only died 60 years before Sukuna’s reign, the next Six Eyes user was born only years after Ryomen Sukuna’s ‘defeat’ and by then, the family had already converted into the name Gojo.

That’s right, Obito knows all that because he reads now. What a disgusting thought, but he needs to be knowledgeable since he put himself into this position of a Head Clan. Curse that 9 year old Obito.

And that’s precisely why he puts the proposal into the ‘Denied’ Pile.

“O-Obito-sama?” The deliverer of the paper had a tense smile on his face, likely only there to keep up appearances. “May I ask why it’s being rejected…?”

“Why would you build a shrine over a cemetery site like Sugawa Michizane’s?” Obito gave him a challenging lift of brow, “Do you want to incur the vengeful spirit’s wrath? Our bloodline isn’t as close to theirs anymore, if you don’t seem to remember. So, no. We’re not remodeling the site. Present me a budget proposal for the site’s preservation or for its upkeep, then I might agree to that.”

Well, they actually still need both Satoru and Obito’s signature for the proposal to be officially approved. It’s just no problem for the other to just sign the already agreed ones at a later time if they see no problem with it. Though they did make sure to include a clause in their Council Rules that if the other twin is otherwise incapacitated and/or unable to meet their responsibilities due to unforeseen circumstances, the other will be allowed to bear all the decisions and authority alone.

“But… But did you not see that Satoru-sama has already signed the proposal?”

Obito gave him his most dead-pan stare.

It stretched for too long that the tension around the room actually rose.

“I did.” Obito’s red eyes bore on him, elbow propping down on the table as he placed his cheek over a closed fist. “It’s the shitiest forgery I’ve seen. Even I could’ve done a much better job with my eyes closed, to tell you the truth.”

The poor guy, only a deliverer for a file that the elder council no doubt drafted, trembled at his stare. Obito at least had some mercy in him and he fixed his gaze on the present members.

“Now, I’m giving you all an out. I’m ignoring that slight because I don’t want Satoru to return with me in a bad mood.”

“Y-You!!” An elder suddenly snaps, standing up from his seat and pointing at Obito with a trembling finger out of irritation as it is out of fear. “You dare accuse us of petty crimes?! On Satoru-sama’s name, we would never defile his honour! How dare you, you demon! Was it not enough that you have already poisoned the rightful heir—!”

Obito’s cursed energy immediately flared dangerously heavy, suffocating the occupance of the room as the pattern on his eyes shifted to EMS. 

“I said I’ll be ignoring it, didn’t I? Wow, do you really want to see a reaction out of me?” Obito locks his flaring eyes on him in warning. “Just say the world and I’ll show you. All this is seriously irritating me.”

The old man did not look away. Was it stubbornness or the belief that he’s untouchable in this clan with his position? “You demon—!”

Everyone felt Obito’s cursed energy reach the man then, causing the old man to suddenly drop and everyone was already on him.

“C-Chorou-sama!!”

“Che.” Obito clicked his tongue, rolling his eyes as a medic immediately stepped in. Terrified glares were sent his way.

“What happened? Did someone die?” The tone sounded too jovial and was not at all worried at the scene that welcomed him.

“Satoru-sama! Obito-sama— he—”

Satoru entered the room, paper bags of his purchases dangling in his forearms as he ignored everyone’s pleas. His gaze was focused on Obito’s gaze only, blue meeting red.

“He’s not dead, if you’re worried about that—”

“Not at all!”

“— I only put him under a fake illusion. In his mind and in all his five senses, he’s currently walking around the compound completely naked and can’t seem to find spare clothes. Anything he attempts to cover himself with just seems to disappear and doesn’t stay on him.”

Satoru took the information in stride, a smile remaining on his face. “That sounds cool! The technique, I mean, not the naked part.”

Obito hums an agreement, pointing at a familiar package Satoru’s carrying. “Is that my Gundam?”

“Yeah! I got you other Gunplas, too. I saw a cool looking one, but they only had it in the small version. I ordered for a bigger one, though! It’ll arrive next month. There was a long wait line.” Satoru rattled on, the two of them stepping away from the room where the other members could only watch them helplessly. The old man laid twitching on the floor occasionally. “Back to your eye, though… the Sharingan? What else does it do aside from memorising and seeing faster?”

“Well, this is the first time I used it to cast an illusion in someone’s mind. It only works with eye-contact, maybe. And it’s more on copying and archiving, rather than just memorising. There’s a difference, I think… And I see things in slow-mo. There’s a difference there, too. Seeing everything in slow-mo allows me to see every detail, and it makes it easier to copy stuff… And follow fast stuff… The other pattern would be Mangekyo Sharingan, but you already know about that…”

“The swirly-sucky-thing!”

“It’s Kamui.”

It’s not the first time Satoru has actually heard of Obito’s explanation about his eyes, but he nonetheless still asks, just as Obito still continues to answer no matter how much he’s been repeating the same words over and over again.

He did say that Satoru can keep on asking and Obito will be fine with it. And he is. Fine with it, that is.

Obito never had anyone to talk about his eyes before. No one in the Uchiha Clan liked to talk to an orphaned failure like Obito, and Madara will never count in that category.

There’s a difference with Satoru. He can ask Obito about his Sharingan, and Obito can ask him about his Six Eyes.

It’s not the first time Obito heard Satoru’s explanation about his eyes, but he nonetheless continues to ask.

Obito prefers these kinds of differences.

The year 2001 is near ending and the twins will be turning 12 in a few days.

Snow still has not come, but the autumn air is still nonetheless chilly.

“Tobi, we can’t carry that with us! It’s too big!”

“But I wanna build it now! It’s the first 1/12 scale Gunpla kit released, and its MS-06S Char's Zaku II model! It’s also the first of the Hyper Hybrid Model series to be released! Who cares if it's ¥198,000?! It’s gonna be so worth it to see it standing tall—”

Satoru looked at him aghast, “Do you hear yourself? How do you expect to be able to build that in the next hour?!”

They were currently in the middle of the entrance of the store that mostly sold Gunpla kits. The adults inside watch them with varying fondness and light levity. It’s not out of this world to conclude that the two are a pair of brothers playing around.

Except Obito isn’t.

Satoru also knows Obito is not playing.

He really wants that Gundam model. It’s in red! Obito doesn’t really watch the show much, but he does like how the mechs look — and it’s only because of how they resemble Susanoos so much, that’s it!

Satoru is pulling Obito with all his might to exit the store, a store clerk helpfully holding the door open for them as the twins struggle. 

“I just wanna bring it with us, Toru! I’m not gonna let it out of the box — it’s gonna be 150 centimetres tall!” Obito struggled against the pull, not leaving his eyes away from the prized box already paid for on the counter. “It’s gonna be so tall..! So tall and shiny and red...”

“You just said you want to build it now! No way!” Satoru pulled, eventually deciding to use infinity to pull Obito further away. “The box itself is big enough already! We’re getting it delivered! De–li–vered!!!”

With the use of cursed technique, the two of them finally dropped to the ground outside the store.

The store clerk closed the door with a light laugh, a genuine smile on her face as she looked at them. “Please come again!”

They laid on the ground of the sidewalk for a long minute. The passerbys only regarded them with sidelooks before circling around them. They were heaving hard from the struggle, at least they could tell that the twins were still breathing and alive.

“No fair, you used Limitless!” Obito whined, a rare personality to come out of him. It only occurs when something he really really wants doesn’t happen and Satoru would always fold for him eventually, but not this time! It’s impossible!

“Tobi, the box was as tall and heavy as you. I don’t wanna carry that while we’re food hopping!” Satoru sat up first and went over to Obito, shaking his shoulders as if trying to shake the ridiculousness off of him. “Give me back my cool, aloof brother! Gundam has ruined you!”

Obito immediately sat up at his words, clasping his shoulder tight with a wide eyed look of warning. “Don’t you dare say that about my Gundam. Do you want me to hate your Digimons forever?”

Satoru was quick to backtrack, already pulling the two of them to stand on their feet and dusting the still glaring Obito.

“Let’s find something to eat!” Satoru says instead, already pulling his brother away from the store before he sets his eyes on the massive box again.

In pure pettiness, Obito vehemently refuses on every cafe Satoru points at. The other has no choice but to comply, trying to find other good cafes on the streets of Tokyo. But in the end, Obito settled for a Taiyaki stand.

Satoru likes Taiyaki, but he absolutely hates standing. He tried to look for benches, but the street was packed with people already.

“This is mean behaviour, Tobi.” Satoru mutters after taking a bite on the sweet flavour of his taiyaki, his other hand holding Obito’s. “I thought you already grew out of that.”

“I kept thinking the same thing about your clinginess.” Obito simply hums. “Obviously, you kept proving to me otherwise.”

“Well, someone had to be clingy!” Satoru defends himself. “Our childhood would’ve been boring without the much needed bonding moments!”

Obito let out a laugh at that, finishing their Taiyaki. Hmm… maybe Satoru had the right idea about settling in a cafe. 

He lets his eyes roam around the street, finding the cafe Satoru had first pointed at earlier. He remembers him saying that it had the best smoothies, the only downside was that their cakes weren’t a good match for it. But the pastas could do.

Like a beacon, his eyes landed on some pink hair, and above that was the logo of the cafe from earlier.

“Let’s go there, Toru.” Obito points, already pulling his brother who was just finishing his own Taiyaki. “You said their smoothies were good?”

Satoru looks up and sees the logo first, “The best! We can just get their Carbonara as side dish, or maybe even their Chicken Pesto—”

“Chicken Pesto sounds good.” Obito hums, nodding his head slightly on a short haired woman who just exited the cafe holding a take-out bag. She gave him a gentle smile, expression cooing. She had a smooth face, still quite young or maybe just youth-looking. Her eyes were black and met his kindly.

But then he was tugged back, Satoru had suddenly stopped in his tracks.

“Toru?” Obito looks back, only to see his wide eyes locked on the side of the entrance door.

Obito followed his gaze and oh, the pink hair belonged to the tall man in smooth-cornered rectangular glasses. The short haired woman motioned to the take out bag in her hand with a grin, their hands reaching for the other in routine. They look like a couple. Their fingers glinted lightly. Married?

Satoru still kept his eyes following after them. They aren’t that far from them and of course adults could feel the stare of a pair of children.

Amber eyes met them and gave them a gentle consideration, whispering to his lover who gave them cooing expressions when she looked back as well.

Obito turned his gaze back to Satoru when he heard his breathing stutter.

“Itadori?”

Chapter Text

Last Satoru remember, he was in an Airport scene surrounded by the people he’d come to appreciate and lost.

Why that bastard Toji was there is beyond him — did he seriously go to heaven?

But all was well because Suguru was there, looking like they’re still in high school. Still so young, not yet carrying heavy burdens.

Haibara and Nanami were there. Amanai, Kuroi, Yaga… It's the perfect dream— to see everyone you’ve mourned in one place again.

“She said if you’d like to become someone new, go North. If you’d like to return to who you once were, go South.”

Satoru never cared to think about what lies beyond life after death.

He died as was intended of him. He had fulfilled his purpose for the future — he still believed they would carry on from where Satoru Gojo’s life ended.

As such, unlike the others in this airport, Satoru has no regrets.

“Hey, Principaaal!” Satoru’s voice echoed across the open space, shouting in the man’s direction. “Thought ‘ya said no Jujutsu Sorcerers die without regrets?!”

Laughter comes easy at the jab. A vague memory of Sukuna praising Satoru comes and goes. Satoru knows he’ll have the last laugh over the old-age sorcerer eventually.

All is well and Satoru’s conscience is at peace. He’s surrounded by people he’d lost and his ending is the least of his problems now.

“So?” Suguru suddenly spoke once the laughter died down. “What’re you gonna do now, Satoru?”

Satoru turns to him, confused at the question. “What’s there to do?”

“You tell me.” Suguru gives him a teasing look, expression still gentle on the ends. “You seem to have regrets you haven’t acknowledged yet, compared to how all of us have already faced ours.”

Satoru gave him his most expressive scowl, “I don’t have any regrets. I already made sure to leave extra measures for that. Except… except maybe you, Suguru. You’re my number one regret.”

“How romantic.” Suguru laughs lightly, shaking his head. “But I’m not talking about that, we already know that one.”

Then, Suguru points to the space to Satoru’s left. 

“I’m talking about that.”

Next to Satoru’s left was a bundle of white cloth.

It was a baby.

Satoru feels himself in stasis.

There’s a rhythmic beating of something echoing around him.

A heartbeat?

It’s a calming sound, albeit a foreign beat.

It’s not like Suguru’s or Megumi’s or Tsumiki’s—

Satoru does not recognise the owner of this heartbeat. But he has no choice but to cling to it nonetheless. Because it’s both everything and the only thing he has right now.

He curls more to himself and stutters—

His soft head collided with something equally soft.

Oh.

He’s in a womb.

He’s a baby.

There’s another baby with him.

The heartbeat becomes more distinguishable now that he’s taken notice.

That heartbeat had come from this new roommate of his.

New?

“The fuck is this?”

“It’s a baby, Satoru.”

“I know that!” Satoru turned to him glaring, before returning his gaze back to the baby. “What’s it doing here?”

Haibara and Nanami strained their heads to look at the new addition, curious gaze settling on the small thing.

“Is that you, Gojo-senpai?” Haibara asks, standing up from his seat to look closer.

And that’s another thing, isn’t it? The baby had white hair, identical to the natural colour Satoru has.

“No way, this baby looks ugly.” Satoru sneers, poking at the baby’s cheek unkindly. It didn’t squirm at all. “I saw my baby pictures. I did not look like this.”

“I’d say you look identical enough. I saw the photos.” Suguru looks over his shoulder, swatting Satoru’s hand away from the baby. “Is it dead?”

“Aren’t we all dead?” Nanami drawls, his head dropping on his arms resting on the bench’s backrest as he looks over the baby as well. “What does that mean for the baby?”

White hair, looking identical to Satoru Gojo.

Haibara picks it up with practised ease, peeking under the covers, “Oh, it’s a boy.”

“Did you have a secret brother, Satoru?” Masamichi Yaga finally comes over, looking at the baby. 

“As far as I knew, I was an only child.” Satoru shrugs, scratching his head in thought. “My parents succeeded in life by giving birth to the strongest so they got their status improved for the better. I don’t think they had a plan to create another one after, or maybe the clan told them against it. Might cause a conflicting complex or something.”

“Maybe they were right to assume.” Suguru teases, “You’re exactly the type to build up a sibling-complex.”

Satoru pulled a face so extreme he had a double chin from the strain, absent-mindedly accepting whatever Haibara passed. “What? No I’m not.”

“Yeah? Then why are you holding the baby like that already?”

Satoru looked down at himself, surprised to suddenly have the baby in his arms, his head angled against the teen’s heart. “What the?! When did this happen?”

Satoru tries to wrap his presence around the other, only managing to land the other’s head by his chest.

The baby, Satoru surmises, is weak.

What are you? Satoru often wants to convey to the other. Who are you?

The heartbeat Satoru hears often stutters. It does not beat like a regular heart would — it stops and accelerates, it would turn faint and then it would boom.

Satoru could do nothing for the other. 

Their cords were entwined around each other in a way it definitely shouldn’t. 

Satoru could do nothing about that either.

He can’t do anything and so, he mourns early.

He does not fully understand what’s happening, yet he mourns for the loss. 

Why can’t Satoru do anything? Shouldn’t he be able to do everything?

Isn’t he the strongest?

Why is he the strongest?

“Wow, Gojo-senpai. You don’t know how to hold a baby at all!”

They send him snickering looks, finding his inexperience amusing. 

Satoru was hunched over, arms uncomfortably extended to the side as he held the baby like he’s a hot potato. “SHUT IT!” He looks like he’s moments away from tossing the baby.

Finally having enough, he holds the baby upright. The cloth on his head slipped down, further revealing white hairs and his arms finally freed from the cloth.

The baby’s hand moved while his eyes still closed, arms spreading in front of him — touching the hands that held him, trailing it and his small hands only ghosting to where Satoru’s face is.

“Wait, he’s actually awake?” Suguru looks surprised, bringing a curious finger around the baby’s palm and small fingers closed around it before letting go. He still has his hands hovering over Satoru’s face.

“Do babies his age not open their eyes yet?” Satoru looks him over, his glasses slipping down to look at the baby closely.

“All babies can open their eyes, even newborns.” Yaga informs them. With gentle force, he coaxes Satoru’s hold to lessen the distance between him and the baby. “But this little one seems…”

The baby finally felt Satoru’s face in his palm. Feeling his cheek, his nose — someone takes his glasses off of him as the baby feels around his eyes.

“...blind?”

Satoru felt it happening before it did.

The other’s life was always so brittle — you can barely tell he’s there at all if Satoru wasn’t so close to him.

They’re moments away from being born when the other died.

He died.

Satoru’s twin died and he cried as he was forcefully taken away from his twin.

He felt his soul rearrange itself, now placing the missing other half—

But Satoru denies the merge.

Get back.

Go back.

Give him back!

The presence of Satoru’s strong burst of energy only lasted for a few minutes until it was gone again.

The sorcerers in charge of guarding and assisting had been in awe of his eyes and cursed energy until they turned alarmed and confused, shouting questions as to what happened, where is it, why is it gone—!

Then a midwife shouted commands again and informed everyone that there’s another baby. Did no one know there were gonna be twins?!

No one knew.

Even Satoru didn’t know.

In those few minutes that Satoru had his soul completed, memories of another life played in his mind instantly. The life of Satoru Gojo, the strongest sorcerer alive. He became the rightful heir of the Gojo Clan, revered and praised for his Six Eyes and Limitless. He was the one and only friend of Suguru Geto, together as the strongest duo, the betrayal, his death. Satoru was a teacher to children who had the potential to shape the world to how Satoru views it should be. More deaths, the fight, his sacrifice— his last act.

Satoru’s last memory was being at that airport.

Satoru stares at the baby in his hold.

There’s a familiar sensation that envelopes his entire soul as he stares at the baby.

It’s like seeing something you cherished long ago pop up randomly again. The memory that was just at the back of your head resurfacing again, reminding you why you cherished it so much the first time.

He cradles the baby again, properly this time — almost instinctive as he tucks his sensitive head to his chest.

“I had a brother?”

Satoru’s voice lost all its levity and the others mourned with him.

“A result of the world’s equivalent exchange,” Yaga voices, expression downturn as he touches the baby’s cheek who tilts his head towards the touch. “You were born with Six Eyes, your brother was born with none at all.”

Fingers gently ghosts over the baby’s closed eyes, feeling nothing underneath.

The words strike Satoru straight to his soul, lips quivering at the truth. 

Satoru lives, and the other doesn’t.

“You were a twin, huh.” 

Toji had approached them, his hand waving to his back lightly before fully approaching them. There was a woman standing by the coffee stand, her hair reminds Satoru of Megumi’s wild hair.

“What’re you doing here?” Satoru glares, his hold on the baby turning protective. “And how would you know that?”

“Felt conversational.” Toji shrugged, “Just sayin’ if it were the Zen’in and they found out years later that one of their twins developed the Ten Shadows Technique, they’d have the useless twin dead after confirming. You know how it is with the conservatives' views on Twins and Jujutsu.”

“Monochorionic (Identical) twins share the same soul and are the same person, essentially.” Yaga informs them solemnly. “In terms of cursed energy, the two will only drag each other down as they live.”

“Then, Gojo-senpai’s twin is here as a baby because…”

“Gojo’s birth shifted the balance of the world. Curse and curse users alike felt that phenomena. That’s all the confirmation the Gojo Clan would need to figure out what they need to focus on.”

Satoru looked absolutely outraged as the pieces fell together, nevermind that it came fromToji of all people. To even figure out such a secret only after his death makes everything else just as shitty.

“Did they even give a name before killing him?”

His twin did not cry upon birth. But the sorcerers did not care.

They handed him to his mother, and Satoru’s eyes had been watching the entire time.

He cried for his brother. 

He wailed and wailed. The midwives try to calm him but he’ll only do so once he confirms his brother is still alive.

He can’t live this life alone again — not after knowing that he wasn’t even supposed to be alone in the first place!

The woman who birthed them cried as the baby was in her arms.

She cried and cried just as much as Satoru did. Then—

“I’m sorry.”

She did not name Satoru’s twin.

Instead, she placed a crushing weight upon his chest, the devastated expression on her face as she does so will forever be engraved in Satoru’s skull. His brother did not fight — could not fight because he’s already too weak to even cry.

Satoru’s eyes burned as he witnessed the scene. His cursed energy leaking out dangerously as the soul he tries to vehemently denies returns to him fully once more.

How dare you how dare you how dare you howdareyouHOWDAREYOU

Give him back!

The last wisp of his brother’s soul extinguishes as he dies for the second time.

It was not a painless death. But was his brother even awake for the most of it?

Is it simply meant to be? Was his brother destined to die every time before Satoru even gets to know him? Is that his fate to this world? To be an unnamed cannon fodder in Satoru’s life, meant to only fuel his status as the strongest sorcerer of this era?

No. He can’t just accept that!

He can’t go on living now that he knows of this! 

Give him back.

The realisation that this might’ve also happened in his first life only further his distress.

Satoru is the strongest.

What kind of man with that title can't even save his own brother?

Satoru just wants his brother back.

That was him, right? The baby in that airport limbo.

Don’t leave! Wherever your soul ends up, get back!

At that moment, Satoru did not care for what happened after.

So much for going south.

“You’re going back already?”

Amanai Riko approaches the group, Toji finally deciding he’s had enough of conversations and returns to his patient wife.

Satoru looks up, someone's slipped his glasses back to his face. “What?”

“Well, you look like you just came to a decision.” Riko grins at him, hands at her back in a carefree posture. “Do you even have a plan?”

Does he?

What was he planning?

Someone slapped his back. 

Suguru.

“You should start with your brother, Satoru.” Suguru gives him a smile filled with understanding. “At least after you do that, you won’t be alone.”

“Right… my…” Satoru looked down and blinked, “Eh? He’s gone…”

Suguru looked at him disapprovingly, “What, did you step on him or something?”

“Seriously, Suguru!” Satoru stands up in a panic, raising his feet simultaneously and looking behind him for good measure. “Where can a baby that small even end up?!”

The others only laugh at his expense. Are they not worried at how Satoru literally lost a baby?!

Suddenly, Satoru’s back collided with someone. That person tripped on the floor at the impact — Satoru is a tall and sturdy teen, after all.

“Ouch! Look at where you’re going, old man!”

“Old man?!” Satoru immediately bristles, looking down at the smaller looking teen. “You’re the one who should be looking at where you’re going, brat!”

The boy was a black haired teen with as much untamed hair as Satoru had when he was that age. He wore a blue jacket under the same colored blue top and pants with orange collar and linings. What a weird fashion statement, in Satoru’s opinion. Who wears such gaudy orange goggles nowadays?

“Why… why is he…”

Satoru’s birth mother hiccups, staring at the baby on her arms in horror.

Mere moments ago, his brother had turned blue and died of asphyxiation. Mere moments ago, Satoru had regained his full soul and the full potential of his cursed energy again.

It’s still there, but then, so is the life of his brother.

What once were white hair dimmed to black. The color of his skin turned healthy once again.

At the back of his head, Satoru thinks he recognises him.

“H-How…”

All eyes turned to Satoru, belatedly realising that he’s been staring all this time. His crying has stopped without them noticing, yet somehow, the air around the twins felt heavy.

Satoru’s eyes shined brightly, fixated on where his twin is, then at his supposed mother who flinched at the intense look.

“I… I can’t…” She cried, crumbling as she held one of his sons — still alive. “I can’t do this…! I can’t do that again…!” 

Then, a knock.

“Young master, the Clan Head summons you. He asks you to bring the boy.”

His birth father is shaken, looking between his wife and his children each. “Which one? Satoru?”

“He seeks to meet the Honoured One at a later time. He means the other twin, young master.”

“I— I’m coming with him.” His birth mother suddenly declares. Already attempting to stand with his brother in her arms. Not caring about the fact that she had just given birth to two babies just literal moments ago. Ignoring the fact that she had just killed the son in her arms moments ago.

Satoru also wants to be present in that summon.

However, once again, he can’t do anything.

Why can’t he do anything for his brother?

The boy squints his coal eyes at him as he stands up, putting fingers under his chin for good measure. “Wow. For a moment, I thought you were Bakashi. Your hair is somewhat similar, but yours are lighter.”

“With a name like that, the comparison feels like an insult.” Satoru tilts his head at him, arching his back down to meet the boy’s gaze. “What’re you doing here? This place is for loved ones only, kid! Except for that ugly old man in the farthest who kills teens for fun. He’s an anomaly.”

“My wife’s here, brat! Watch what you say!” Toji hollered, having heard him despite the distance. His wife still laughs at his antics, lucky bastard.

“Hell if I know why I’m here, anyway! I was just with Rin at the training ground.” He paused and thought about his words again, scratching his head the same way Satoru does often, “Or I was going to? I just died and planned to meet her there? Nevermind. Why am I in this place instead?”

“Hell if I know what you’re even talking about.” Satoru looks around. No one else is paying them mind, except Suguru. Suguru’s eyes will always be on Satoru.  “How’d you die, anyway? You look young. Did you die while on training? If so, that’s hilarious.”

“Hey, I died in a war! Don’t look down on me!”

Satoru’s lined up jabs receded at that. Expression turning empathetic towards the boy— because that’s what he is to Satoru right now.

“Hey, don’t do that. Don’t feel bad, seriously.” The boy scrunched his face at Satoru disgustingly, double chin appearing. “I started that war, fyi.”

Satoru’s jaw dropped, “Are you pulling on my leg, kid? How can a twerp like you start a war?”

“I didn’t die at this age.” The boy rolls his eyes, as if everything he’s saying is just casual facts. “I died in my early 30s, I think. I stopped counting. I just prefer being this age because Rin died at this age. It’d be weird if I spent the afterlife with her in my 30 year old appearance, don’t you think?”

“Hey, Suguru, do you hear this kid?” Satoru turned to his best friend with a disbelieving stare. “He’s saying he started a war.”

“Even I could incite a war at that age, Satoru.” Suguru laughs. Isn’t everyone being too carefree?

Satoru cried of genuine relief when his brother was returned back to him. He cried and cried to the point that it was the longest time he’s cried, even counting his record on his previous life.

News of the woman’s death didn’t mean anything to him. Whether she died trying to protect his brother or not didn’t matter to Satoru.

What matters is that his brother is with him, sleeping soundly and alive.

At night, Satoru strains himself to keep vigilance. He knows how the old bastards think and plan.

“… they’d have the useless twin dead after confirming. You know how it is with the conservatives' views on Twins and Jujutsu.”

It’s amusing to watch someone come inside their nursery, a weapon to kill his twin at hand. But then they’d lock eyes with a wide-eyed Six Eyes, cursed energy spiked in attention, and the idea that Satoru might one day remember them and hunt them comes to mind and they’d bail.

He does not leave his brother’s side. Ever.

His brother can glare and glower at Satoru all he wants, but the baby has yet to realise just how low the clan is willing to go to keep their higher status against the other clans.

But apparently not low enough to attempt to earn their Honoured One’s ire.

At least they still know their priorities.

There’s a lot of things that do not align with the baby Satoru remembers.

Still, his brother’s soul still remained the same. Isn’t that the perfect outcome? Satoru does not care what happens behind the scenes for as long as this boy is still his brother.

And everything is fine. He’s still his brother!

His brother had been blind, yet now he has the most striking red eyes that can turn himself intangible! But the way Satoru sees it, it actually seems like his brother is transporting parts of his body in a different space. He’s sure they’ll talk about it eventually, so Satoru just simplifies everything for now.

It’s no good if he keeps straining it, though. His brother’s eyes need to stay. It’s… it’s cruel on Satoru's part if he ended up depriving his brother the ability to see again.

Satoru has always had an eccentric personality. He doesn’t care if he looks like an idiot singing Twinkle, Twinkle little stars over and over again in an attempt to condition his brother not to strain his eyes.

“Obito!”

Satoru later learned the true meaning behind the name his brother was given. It’s not the most kind meaning.

Why couldn’t they have just kept it with the noble name meaning ‘commander’? He thinks Obito would have suited the name growing up. But no, they had to go through entirely different languages to connect his name to death.

Though maybe that name has always been tied to his soul through fate.

Satoru stands up to his full height, letting out a sigh as he looks down at the kid who hasn’t left his gaze. “What’s your name?”

“I don’t wanna tell that to someone who reminds me of someone I don’t like.” the boy crosses his arms to his chest, “Stranger danger and all that.”

“You’re still saying that at 30?”

“Which of us looks like an old man?”

“Brat! This hair is naturally white!” Satoru drops a fist at the boy's head, knocking it for good measure. “And I just want to call you something else instead of ‘kid’ and ‘brat’!”

“Stop it, fine!” The boy shoves Satoru’s fist away and attempts to fix his even more wild hair now. “If you must know, my enemies also know me as Tobi!’”

“That sounds like a childish name for a war criminal.”

“It was an alias. And the childish personality came with it!”

“You sure it wasn’t just you trying to pretend to be young again?”

“No?? It was a strategic cover!”

Satoru really likes Obito.

He likes spending time with Obito so much that the memory of his previous life is nearly forgotten. What use is a memory that only stresses him further? Is Satoru not allowed to simply cherish this new childhood and replace it with his dreary ones?

Obito worries about Satoru, too. He can tell that much and wow, is this what drives that half-curse to cling on to his student so much? To just be acknowledged by Obito is enough to lengthen Satoru’s lifetime, good thing no one’s around to judge Satoru’s actions yet.

Obito’s judgements are enough.

Satoru knows that when Obito calls him ‘ugly,’ it means Satoru is being too mushy and he appreciates it enough. Obito rarely pushes Satoru away!

Obito is too cute for this world.

He has the skill to evade Satoru, but he only uses it for moments it’s actually needed. (During baths, when he literally can’t breathe, and when Satoru miscalculates his throws— man, baby muscles are so hard to control!)

Six Eyes don’t allow you to stockpile memories — that was a skill Satoru simply hones as he grew up out of necessity. He needs to know a lot as the Strongest.

As such, the brain of a baby makes it easy to forget a lot. 

He still remembers bits and pieces. Pretty purple eyes. Blue ones, as well as honey coloured eyes. For specific memories to resurface, Satoru needs an even more specific reminder.

Like whenever the clan still tries to separate him from Obito, he’s reminded that they’re a bunch of idiots for still thinking that Obito needs to go. At this point, Satoru has settled on just thinking that they just want to take Obito away from him because he’s keeping Satoru away from his endgame as the Strongest Sorcerer.

Obito is not a weakness, Satoru doesn’t know what more he needs to say to instill that fact into their brains.

And then, Yaga.

“Twins…?”

The way Masamichi’s voice genuinely sounded so surprised stopped Satoru’s condescending words.

“You.. really didn’t know?” Satoru asked, looking down as he himself got lost in thought.

“No…? Every sorcerer received the news from the higher ups that you were finally born, we all felt your arrival actually. But it wasn’t mentioned anywhere that you were…” He stopped in his sentence, thinking it over. Misamichi looked deep in thought, looking between the twins. “... but you’re not identical.”

Now Obito’s out of the loop.

“That’s what I’m saying!” Satoru’s voice stressed, as if he’d been saying this over and over.

“What are you saying?” Obito asks.

He rolls his eyes when Satoru manhandles him suddenly, shaking his shoulders as if asking for more of his attention. “You see, Tobi. The clan elder actually—!”

How could Satoru forget such a key difference?

Obito’s soul is the same. But so is Satoru’s.

They were born identical twins, inside the same single embryo.

Obito’s black hair made it easy for him to forget that fact. Obito’s hair used to be white. The baby’s hair at the airport had been white.

“Obito’s death can still benefit you, Satoru.” The old Clan Head tells him when Satoru suddenly barged in after making sure Obito had slept back then.

“I keep telling you, I don’t need it!” Satoru bursts out, an irritated expression on his face. “I know myself better than you do!”

“You are being blinded by your own affections!” The Clan Head stresses. “Death will continue to follow you two nonetheless! It’s how it’s always been for twin-borns! It’s better it to be that thing than you—”

“If he dies…” Satoru’s voice drops to a growl, glaring at the old man with eyes that hold no lies. “I will kill everyone and then myself.”

“How do I leave this place?”

“Beats me. I’m trying to leave myself.”

Tobi turns to Satoru in question, “Why are you trying to leave? Isn’t this where your loved ones are?”

Satoru crouches down on the floor, dropping his chin on a hand that’s resting over his knee. “I just found out I used to have a twin brother. I’m trying to save him.”

“Oh, you meant ‘to leave’ as in ‘to go back.’” Tobi crouches down next to him, planting his chin over two of his knees. “What was he like? You’re brother.”

“I wouldn’t know. He died when we were just born, I think. I just found out after I died.”

“That sucks.” Obito offers lightly before colouring his tone with disbelief. “But time travel? Really?”

“Who cares? Isn’t it just being reborn again?” Satoru shrugs. “I’m just going South.”

“Does going South mean something to you?”

“‘Dunno. My kouhai said that if I want to return to who I once was, I should go South.”

“And for North?”

“Go that way if you want to be someone new.”

Tobi thinks over the words. “I’d want that. To go North.”

“What, you regret ever starting a war?” Satoru attempts to tease, but the words fall short to the serene expression on Tobi’s face. It did not match his words.

“I regret letting them use me for it.” Tobi offers him a pensive smile, “Everything in my life was manipulated to push me over the edge. I gave in to their words about a better world because of the circumstances they placed me in. I figured it out in the end, but I was just so far gone already, you know?”

Tobi reminds Satoru of someone he had long forgotten. Someone who would’ve kept living under the words and orders of someone else had that person not make him see who he should actually listen to and look after.

Satoru gulps down the knot in his throat, “You, uh, had no one to pull you out of it? Ever?”

“I saw him kill Rin, she was both our friend and teammate. I hated him so much already — how could he ever hope to snap me out of it? Even when I figured out that Rin had jumped to her death of her own volition, I still hated him because he’s still alive and she’s not.” Obito laughs despite himself. His voice sounds too young to be able to say such things. “It’s fine. I did turn a new leaf in the end eventually. I… fought to save the two kids that would save the world and even saved him. I thought, well, he should keep on living for a while longer. Rin and I were just gonna wait for him. I even let him use my eyes for a bit after I died!”

“Believing in the future, huh.” Satoru finally calms his nerves, smiling to himself. “Can’t say I don’t relate.”

Tobi recognised the understanding there. Satoru didn’t need to tell his own story for Obito to understand. Maybe they were much more similar than they thought. It was just that they took different paths, but the destination had been the same.

“I think I figured it out.”

Suddenly, Satoru is his 14 year old self wearing a light blue hoodie, standing the same age as Obito as he points at two boarding gates.

“It’s that way, our next flight.”

“Eugh, did you say that because I’m Tobi?”

“You chose to put yourself in that situation.” Satoru laughs.

Tobi laughs as well for a moment, before looking over the boarding gates again. “Neither of the two is gonna lead me back to Rin, is it?”

“Maybe not.” Satoru offers a tone of apology. “But it’s still North.”

“No other choice, huh.”

Satoru needs to think. He needs to think because his brother is dead. Again.

Why is he dead again? It’s the third time already!

He died in his sleep this time — In his sleep!

Satoru had ended up crying and begging for his brother again.

He said he’ll wake up! What a liar.

Obito is such a liar.

Satoru stands over his still form.

Why did Obito die the first time?

He had been weak.

Why was he so weak?

“For someone with so much cursed energy output as you, you would have needed a lot of nutrients to be born as healthy as you were.” 

The old Clan Head sits in his office as Satoru barges in suddenly. He had been confronting him about Obito — constantly asking questions he hadn’t before ever since Obito refused to wake up. 

“Essentially, Satoru, you were simply too greedy that Obito could not get enough to sustain himself.”

In other words, it was Satoru’s existence that doomed his twin to die in the womb. Cursed energy is still negative energy. That, too, played a role in his twin’s weakened constitution. Being next to Satoru like that must’ve been suffocating.

It was Satoru who had taken that chance from his twin to be born healthy.

“A result of the world’s equivalent exchange,” Yaga voices, expression downturn as he touches the baby’s cheek who tilts his head towards the touch. “You were born with Six Eyes, your brother was born with none at all.”

Everything Satoru has had ended up depriving his twin to have anything.

His second death was at the hands of their own mother.

And his third…

It was the result of Obito’s soul not settling properly.

Okay.

So Satoru just needs to anchor him back.

He stands in front of Obito again. 

“You really were the same souls, huh, Tobi?”

Give him back.

“I don’t care where you ended up in that you turned out like that, Tobi.”

Don’t leave. Wherever your soul ended up, get back here.

“So don’t stay dead and come back to me, Obito.”

“Go South, Obito.”

“Go South with me.”

“Did you find your brother, Satoru?”

They both turn to the voice. Behind them, everyone had gathered to watch Satoru.

“That’s unfair, Gojo-san looks cute as a kid!” Riko gushes with a disappointed edge, this kid.

“I’m not his brother?” Tobi answers the question, out of the loop.

“Couldave’ fooled me.” Toji snickered, then let out a wince when his wife hit him suddenly. “Woman, calm down.”

“Don’t tease the kids, Toji. The two brothers just met again!”

“But I didn’t say anything bad about them!”

“Oh, shush and let them have their moment.”

“I’m not his brother!” Tobi stresses, confused as to why he’s suddenly subjected to this kind of bullying. “We don’t even look alike!”

“You absolutely do.” Suguru laughs out. “And I’m the one saying that.”

“I’m an only child!” Obito heaves out a frustrated sigh, nudging Satoru next to him who hadn’t said anything to even defend his own honor. “C’mon, tell them it’s not true, Satoru.”

All the while, Satoru had been staring at Tobi nonstop.

“Go South with me.” Satoru suddenly said, unprompted. “Obito.”

“I didn’t give you that name.” Obito turns to him, alarmed yet curious. “Did you know my name this whole time?”

Then, Satoru’s gaze turned soft. So sudden that even the others were looking at him like he’d grown literal six eyes.

“Your soul went on quite an adventure, huh, brother?”

Obito remained dead asleep and the old Clan Head died of old age. 

Satoru didn’t need to dirty his hands to get rid of the bastard. The same thing had happened in the previous life anyway, he just had to wait.

Satoru hates waiting because it means that he can’t do anything but.

He’s useless and can’t do anything else to help his twin.

But it’s fine.

Satoru can wait.

For all his life, he’s always been waiting for his match to show up.

Suguru was there, but it’s different with him, you know?

Suguru will always be Suguru.

Right now, Satoru is talking about his brother.

It’s their birthday today.

He wishes for Obito to just take his hand and trust him.

Obito stares at Satoru’s offered hand in suspicion.

“Why should I?”

“What’s wrong with being the same?” Satoru asks instead.

“You know I wasn’t the best person.” Obito reminds him with a firm tone. 

“Who cares? I wasn’t either.”

Obito’s brows knit together. “We’re not the same, Satoru. Not like that.”

“Can’t you just trust me on this?”

“I don’t even know you long enough for trust.”

At that, Satoru let out a hefty laugh. “Ha! You’d be surprised, Tobi. I’m actually here right now to make sure you wake up.”

“But I’m already dead.” Obito said bluntly.

“Don’t say that, Tobi.” 

Satoru gives him a sad smile, tilting his head.

“You’ll make your brother cry.”

Satoru cries as he blows out two birthday cakes on his own.

It’s been so long.

Satoru’s been waiting and waiting and waiting. Why is he taking so long?

He curls around his brother still-form. He feels so cold it just makes Satoru let out a series of pleading again. 

“Don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me again. Pleasepleaseplease—”

Winter snow came early as if to mock Satoru further. The cold always manages to seep through their room despite Satoru changing and upgrading their heating system.

He pleads and pleads — pleasepleaseplease—

“Pleasepleaseplease wake up, Obito.”

“W-wait… huh?!” Obito panics, his arms waving around, not knowing what to do when Satoru suddenly bursted out crying. “H-Hey! Are you okay?! Why are you suddenly crying, man?”

“I can’t continue living this life again without you. Now knowing that you were supposed to be with me in the first place—” Satoru heaves out, arms reaching out and clenching Obito’s blue jacket. “I can’t— I’ll see you dead again and I’ll be all alone again!”

The people around them blurs away. In the middle of the wide airport, it’s now only just the two of them around.

Satoru’s fingers tighten in the fabric of Obito’s jacket, like he’s afraid that if he lets go even a little, Obito will disappear again.

“Don’t go,” Satoru says, voice cracking. “Just— come with me. Please.”

Obito furrows his brows, both concerned and confused. “Satoru—”

“I’ll stay with you,” Satoru rushes out, words coming out jambled. “No matter what happens after this. I mean it.”

His grip trembles.

“If you lose your sight, I’ll be your eyes. If you can’t walk, I’ll carry you. If the world hates you, then I’ll stand there and hate it with you.”

Obito stares at him.

“I waited for so long that we didn’t even get to celebrate our birthday together.” Satoru continues, quieter now. “You need to wake up, Tobi. I–”

The empty airport stretches endlessly around them, silent except for Satoru’s uneven breathing.

“You were supposed to be with me from the start,” Satoru chokes out through tears. “So if you die, I’ll— Y-You—! You’re not allowed to die, Obito. If you get yourself killed, I’ll follow after you. Do you understand?!”

Satoru lashed out suddenly, shaking his hold on Obito’s jacket.

Despite this, however, Obito made no reaction.

Obito’s hands rose, before it gripped around Satoru’s wrist so tightly that the latter winced at the sudden force.

“You’re so hopeless, Satoru. Did they ask too much of you, so much that you’re leaning on me as some kind of crutch?”

Satoru freezes, tears still clinging to his lashes.

Obito stares at him for a moment, something heavy settling behind his eyes. Something akin to an understanding for everything settled under those layers.

“If you’re gonna curse me, I might as well return the favour, right? That’s how this world works, doesn’t it? Fine. I’ll come back with you — under one condition.”

His grip tightens just a little—not painful, but firm enough that Satoru has no choice but to meet his gaze.

“If there ever comes a day where everyone is demanding that I die for you…” Obito’s voice drops, steady and unwavering. “…then I’ll just kill you myself and follow after you.”

Satoru’s breath catches.

“To hell with this world if they need just one person to carry it so badly.”

The words hang between them, raw and absolute.

And then they were much younger again, wearing matching montsuki clothing at 6 years old.

Obito exhales quietly through his nose, some of the tension leaving his shoulders.

“So stop acting like you have to bear everything alone.”

His grip loosens slightly, though he doesn’t let go.

“Let’s go South, then.” He tugs at him, changing his grip to his palm instead. “You said you’ve been waiting long?”

Satoru sniffs, trying to wipe the still flowing tears off his face and eyes. “Too long.”

“My bad, Toru.” Obito grins at him, gentle on the edges.

Satoru’s heart warms at the sight, and it’s like the wait wasn’t actually as long as he thought it was if this was his destination.

“I missed you, Tobi.”

“I’m sure I missed you too, Toru.”

This moment in the limbo will not be remembered by either of them, but words hold a powerful force. After all, there’s no curse more twisted than love.

As they passed through the South's boarding gate together, a red-eyed crow followed them overhead, unnoticed.

“Well, that was cute. Itachi should be next anytime now. Somewhere. I think. In a different world? Seriously? Man, this will be such a long wait!”

Chapter Text

A child’s brain is normally very active. It’s not rare for a child to be able to juggle multiple things at once in their brain, but it does make them unable to focus on one thing.

Usually, a commentator would say ‘with the sole exception of Gojo Satoru, of course’ after saying a fact.

However, Satoru is unfortunately not an exception.

In fact, an adult’s worth of memory ending up in a child’s brain apparently makes his focus much, much worse.

He did say that he needs a more specific cause to make him remember something just as specific. But memories are something you can’t measure and determine just how memorable they are. 

You can forget something you were literally just thinking, and you can even end up forgetting something so important you wonder why you forgot about it in the first place! Even with multiple series of trying to backtrack your steps to try to remember something, the memory would often never resurface and then you’re just stuck there trying to think about what exactly you forgot and why you’re trying to even remember it.

For Satoru, there are a lot of things he’s starting to forget in lieu of genuinely trying to live the life of a child next to his twin brother. He’s trying to mark this as his new childhood. He can’t enjoy this life to the fullest if he keeps on dwelling on thoughts of how to change the future! 

Satoru is a lot of things — the strongest, a dad, the strongest, a teacher, a friend, and did he mention the strongest?

Sukuna can stick every hollow purple up his ass. Satoru wasn’t gonna go all out against the man who still wears his kid’s face! (He was, and he still lost. Goddamnit.)

— but he’s also a brother now! Can’t he get some rest away from that mess for a couple of years at least?

Of course there are moments it doesn’t help that for even anything he does, he’s reminded of even the most minor memories. For every littlest thing, he’s reminded of someone from that life. Like that centipede curse they encountered in their courtyard. Seriously, are these sorcerers for guards doing their jobs in keeping the area clean of curses? How could they leave that one out?

The centipede curse was red, and it’s always been red. Suguru had multiple of that, an army of it, and he often likes to creep Satoru with those curses during their first year until Satoru had to man himself up and stand up against such bullying (He used Blue and threw the curses at Shoko instead, and they both ended up receiving bullying from her anyway).

So! He’s made a point of sticking around Obito, because Obito is a new addition. Therefore, everything is new with Obito!

Especially those red eyes of his.

Especially those eyes.

Everything about Obito’s eyes are new to him. It doesn’t remind him of anything from that life and this eases Satoru’s nerves about the future somewhat. Because it solidifies that Satoru can bring change with Obito by his side.

Satoru is not alone this time because he has a brother. 

He wakes up every morning appreciating the fact that Obito is still alive when there were once memories that haunted him of a white-haired Obito pressed to death as a baby by their own mother. Of nightmares with empty eye sockets opening and blaming Satoru’s Six Eyes for existing.

Satoru knows those won't exist anymore because Obito is with him, alive. He has black hair and he has those Red eyes that can see as much as Satoru’s Six Eyes. His brother is safe because he’s also untouchable. Obito will be fine because he’s also strong.

He should be fine. Because Satoru has been keeping track of Obito’s cursed energy, unstable as it is. So what if it was so compacted towards his eyes only? Obito’s cursed energy and soul was okay. Because Satoru never took his attention off of him!

“Toru… Can you ask again tomorrow?” Obito drawls, his eyes look so heavy and it must’ve become so difficult to just talk. “‘M tired…”

Satoru is so stupid.

Why did it take him until the last moment to realise that Obito’s cursed energy was instead attacking his red eyes?

Is that why he’s often asleep for an entire day?

Satoru had a feeling that the eyes were straining Obito somehow, but he didn’t expect it to be like that! Why couldn’t his Six Eyes tell that information sooner?!

What kind of cursed energy even attacks your own body that way?

Was Obito even aware that this happened?

Maybe Obito didn’t even know he’d actually die then.

Satoru is a useless brother.

He doesn’t even know how to help his brother.

Curse him? That’s cruel. Satoru won’t subject his brother to become a monster, even if it guarantees that they won’t be apart ever again.

There are better ways to curse each other without the other needing to die. Isn’t it better to just keep each other alive than having to resort to that?

You’re not allowed to die, Obito. If you get yourself killed, I’ll follow after you.

If there ever comes a day where everyone is demanding that I die for you, then I’ll just kill you myself and follow after you.

He barely remembers what was happening in the days that Obito remained dead. 

One moment he was harassing the Clan Head with questions about Obito’s birth (It’s all Satoru’s fault. It’s all his fault, why did he have to be the strongest even as a fucking fetus—) and the next he was just staring at Obito’s face like a statue.

Without Obito next to him, Satoru’s life became dull. 

It’s like he’s back in that life again where praises came easy, where everyone talks to him like he’s some God who finally came down and about to take all their burdens.

The Clan Head dies and Satoru finds himself sitting in that position again. It’s instinctual at this point. Take all their praises and prayers, sign some documents, attend his classes, and improve his physical training.

The only thing that makes a difference is standing in front of Obito every night. Satoru barely gets the time to sleep. He chooses not to — thinking that Obito might wake up anytime soon. He’s just waiting and waiting and waiting because Obito’s taking so long to accept his hand.

On their birthday, Satoru had bought two cakes because why not. Obito might wake up after Satoru sings Happy Birthday. Maybe even spook Satoru and tell him he’s been awake this whole entire time and Satoru would actually prefer that over anything. He wouldn’t care if Obito chooses to pop out of a box and surprise Satoru because that’s a better outcome compared to all of this.

But that doesn’t happen. Obito is still dead and Satoru sleeps next to his soulless body every night — the night of their birthday isn’t any different.

Satoru was nearing his breaking point then.

He was so close.

So close to planning to end it all.

And it would’ve been so easy, too.

He just had to burn it all.

Satoru used to hate the idea of cremation. But he knows now why it had been required in their field so much. (Seeing Suguru’s body being used to do things he would have surely hated doing still makes Satoru seethe at the thought of it.)

But then he’d end up just standing there all night long again, the plan not leaving his mind, and he’d wake up next to Obito. From there, the next day goes on.

He still thinks it’s too cruel.

Why can’t he do anything right for his brother at times like this?

Surely this isn’t like the quote ‘third time’s the charm’ and Obito really won’t wake up anymore?

Why does Obito keep dying? Is he trying to fulfil the meaning of his name or something?

What happens when he reaches the fifth?

And then, Satoru woke up in a good mood one morning.

It’s still snowing in January, the weather is at its peak. But Satoru woke up with a feeling that his twin will finally wake up!

He finishes all his commitments that day as soon as possible. It was a surprise even for him that he managed to clear out all his schedule by 12pm.

Now he stands beside their bed again, anticipation in his nerves as he stares at Obito intently. Watching, looking for any signs that might indicate that Obito is finally back again. Hopefully for the better.

Finally, Satoru saw his fingers twitch and he’s already hunched over Obito’s form, a smile splitting his face wide.

Obito finally opened his eyes and Blue eyes locked eyes with a different pattern of Red eyes. The three pinwheels turned into four, and now looks like it’s spinning itself in a vortex around the pupil, the middle part looks like there’s a void there with how much black it had. But Satoru thinks nothing of these differences.

Regardless, Satoru plastered a smile so wide it’s like Obito’s heart hadn’t stopped for months. Like Satoru hadn’t been planning to burn everything down the drain.

“Yo, Tobi! Wanna leave this place?”

Obito still had the same soul and the same cursed energy signature. Now, it looks more stable compared to before. Maybe hereafter, Satoru can finally relax about his brother’s soul.

“Let’s move to Tokyo!”

Unfortunately, Obito rejects his suggestions of moving out of this shit-hole.

“We’re not moving to Tokyo.” Obito rolls his eyes.

Still so sassy. This is probably a decision Obito has thought through since long ago, when Satoru was always trying to get Obito to sneak out.

Still, it wouldn’t be so bad to keep on trying to sway him.

“But it’s so much better than here in Kyoto…” Satoru pouts, furrowing his brow. “There’s lots more unique sweets there, and I got to see the arcades while you were asleep and—”

“That’s why we’re only travelling there, Toru. We’re not moving out.” 

“But I wanna move out!” Satoru let out, the tone turning sharp as he raised his head from Obito’s shoulder. “I’m the Clan Head now, can’t we just move out of here easily? It’s so boring here, Tobi. I bet it’ll be more fun to live in Sendai or something.”

Sendai is a pretty specific City to recommend, why had he suggested that? A tiger… Something about a tiger… Obito looks like a tiger… His hair is so long like a tiger that it tickles Satoru’s forehead a bit… He should cut it.

“We’re not moving out.” Obito’s serious tone snaps Satoru out of his random thoughts. “It’s safer to stay here. There are many people after you, Satoru, it’s too dangerous to be away from the clan.”

“Ehh? But I’m strong! We’re strong enough to protect ourselves!” Satoru says those ever familiar words. “With your Kamui and my Six Eyes and Limitless, we’re practically untouchable!”

“Being left to fend for ourselves means that we’ll be fighting a lot for a long time, Toru.” Obito sends him a challenging lift of brow. “I might as well cry tears of blood by the time we reach 10.”

Shit, he’s right. Satoru didn’t think that far. Stupid, stupid. He’s so used to protecting everyone and himself, he often forgets that not everyone can always keep up with him. Obito might be able to, but that would mean he’ll strain his eyes, and then he might actually lose it entirely!

“No! T-Then… I-I’ll do everything! I’ll do all the fighting!”

“You know I can’t let you do that, Toru.” Obito lets out a deep sigh. “I was exaggerating. I can fight for myself for a long time. Don’t ever think of me as someone to protect.”

Satoru opened his mouth again, about to say something but bit his tongue.

Because Obito has always been someone Satoru had to protect. He already died three times, doesn’t that just back up Satoru’s worries for him? Is it not valid for Satoru to be a little protective over him?

Sure, maybe over time as they grow up, Obito will master his eyes and become a very talented sorcerer even without using his Innate Technique. But would Obito really want to live a life fighting against curses everyday? Would he be able to go through the routine again and again like Satoru did? What if… What if that happens to Obito this time? And then it will be Satoru’s fault all over again. Because Obito is his responsibility now—

“I wanna cut my hair before we leave, Toru.”

Satoru snaps out his thoughts at Obito’s voice again. “Huh? Oh, one of the new maids is good with that. How short will you be having it?”

The dilemma in Satoru’s mind was gone and put back in a corner. He’ll dwell on that later on.

The two of them step down from the stool, finally exiting the bathroom.

“Very short. Like yours, maybe.”

Satoru beams at this, his simple mind focusing entirely on the fact now. “We’ll match again!”

“Sure.”

The moment Obito drops his Technique, Satoru was there to grab his hand to lead.

“Was it straining to keep it on for an hour?” He asks, watching as Obito’s cursed energy returns to its fluctuating state. 

It always becomes like that whenever Obito turns off his Technique. In a way, he’s suppressing the cursed energy that naturally comes from his eyes. With that turned off, his cursed energy becomes irregular since it largely originates from them.

Maybe it will stabilize once Obito learns how to spread his cursed energy through the rest of his body. His passive usage of Kamui doesn’t count, since the cursed energy for that skill still comes from his eyes.

At least it’s not attacking the organ anymore.

“No. I can probably keep it on for a year without rest. I just wanted to turn it off.” Obito clarifies, following Satoru’s presence.

This, unfortunately, is something Satoru hadn’t seen coming — His fear coming to life. Obito is blind and Satoru is reminded of that baby with empty sockets for eyes and Satoru can only ground himself by making himself useful to Obito. It’s not out of guilt. Satoru would do this for Obito even without the fear factor, but it just elevates Satoru’s worries.

Satoru does not like feeling helpless, especially when it comes to Obito. So to counter this, he’ll just make sure to be as useful to Obito to the best of his abilities. That’s what it means to be a brother, doesn’t it? Damn. He should’ve talked to Todo more back then.

“If you lose your sight, I’ll be your eyes. If you can’t walk, I’ll carry you. If the world hates you, then I’ll stand there and hate it with you.”

Satoru completely forgot about Toji. But that was to be expected — that man was easily forgettable. Basically dusting at the very end of Satoru’s memory orb shelves. Maybe in the list to be thrown to his Memory Dump already.

(The wounds had stayed even after maximising Reversed Cursed Technique over the wounds. The one on his head still throbs again and again and again—)

He was so focused on having fun with his brother that he forgot the moment he first saw the man and, well, goddamnit he’s bigger than Satoru remembered he’d be. 

This man is seriously so weird. Is it even weirder that he literally sees him in Maki back then? He shouldn’t compare the man to his very precious student, but wow, Toji sure likes to haunt Satoru through his students. It took a long time for him to manage to grow out of spooking himself whenever Megumi gets out of the shower, and then he’d come out of that Prison to see Maki practically mirroring the man even through the weapon choice.

Satoru’s memory of that man is certainly limited and short, despite the lasting damage he caused. But he’s sure, 99.9% sure, that Toji hadn’t let out a chuckle the first time they encountered each other.

What’s got him laughing this time around? Is it because of Obito? Did he understand everything that fast already? Seriously? This man is so annoying.

He and Naoya were on that same bar of ‘most annoying’ meter in Satoru’s list. Of course, they’re only second to Sukuna and Kenjaku, but potato potato. 

“Listen, Tobi. Twins share a single soul in jujutsu. They’re often considered one person that way.” Satoru tells Obito, squeezing their connected hand outside the event hall for their 6th birthday celebration. “Their souls are split, only having half a soul each and this makes their curse energy become half their possible potential. That’s why the Zen’ins think twins are weak.”

“Does that mean we share the same soul?” Obito asks, tilting his head. “Is that why I’m having these kinds of complications with my eyes?”

No. Satoru would’ve answered, When you died for the second time, you came back as a completed version of your soul. And then you died for the third time because your soul didn’t match the body completely and your cursed energy attacked your eyes on top of that! But you’re fine now! Your soul adapted for some reason, and now you’re blind because you weren’t supposed to have eyes in the first place, isn’t that cool?!

No way Satoru can just tell him that! He doesn’t even understand it in the first place! The ideas mostly just came from this weird instinctive understanding, but there’s no clear memory to back it up on why he even knows about it in the first place!

Besides, telling Obito that it’s not the first time he died could make him question why Satoru knows about the first and second deaths. And frankly, the location they were at wasn’t the best place to have the talk.

Maybe he’ll tell him in the future once Satoru is sure Obito won’t be dying anytime soon again.

“Toru?”

Oh, right, he still needs to provide any kind of answer somehow.

“Hmm…” Satoru closes his eyes, tilting his head in pensiveness. “We actually have different souls, Tobi, so it’s unlikely! Besides, I think that kind of thing only happens to identical twins. We’re not that kind of twins when we have such different hair and eye colours!”

Crap. Maybe Satoru pretended a tad bit too much. He’s playing an uninformed twin who’s supposed to only know as much as Obito already knows, but is misleading him the right call? 

Technically, he’s not lying. They were born monochorionic twins, but the distinction to that was blurred when Obito came back with different colours and severed their soul sharing. He should back up. Maybe reveal it in the future that he read the truth in one of the previous Clan Head’s secret stashes?

“Will one twin dying mean that the soul will return to the remaining twin?” Obito asks, remembering the stance of the clan elders that’s only being pushed away for now.

“Bingo! When the other half dies, the other will regain their full soul and have their full potential unlocked to them. That’s why everyone is so incessant in having you killed, just so that I become even more powerful or whatever. They're stupid like that, no matter how much I tell them that you aren’t limiting me.” Satoru rolls his eyes.

“That does sound stupid.”

It’s so stupid that they actually went through it once, Tobi. Satoru doesn’t say. 

Once upon a time, Obito did limit him and had to pay the price for it with his death. But now he’s come back with an entire soul and they won’t need to share anymore, anyway! So yes, the conservatives are now stupid to still keep thinking that way and are still rejecting the monstrous presence Obito has. How could they even stand to slander his twin so much when they can’t even speak properly in his presence?

Now that he thinks about it, the two of them practically have the same amount of cursed energy, don’t they? Wow, Satoru must be so used to being next to him that it’s taken him this long to realise it. Is that why no one else, not even the sorcerer guards or the maids, could stand staying around them?

“Where did you learn all this?” Obito asked, once more bringing Satoru out of his fast-paced mind.

“From the old coot.” Satoru answers, pertaining to the late clan head. “He told me a bun’cha stuff and a lotta bullshit. ‘Now is the time to kill it, Satoru-sama, and receive what’s rightfully yours’ BAH! I’d have killed them there and then if he wasn’t already near his deathbed. I still want the money this clan has, so I can’t have us defunct just ‘cuz of this non-issue.”

“Even on his deathbed he doesn’t change his priorities, huh.” Obito let out a laugh.

“Glad he’s dead, anyway. He can’t attempt to plot your death anymore. I saw his notes about poisoning you, Tobi!” Satoru’s tone rose to agitation, the sound of his voice causing the chatter from inside the hall to stop. “Tsk. He even said something like twins being an omen wherever they go because a single soul being in two different bodies is an anomaly or something. His last words were literally saying that even if he dies, fate will still attempt to kill either of us. Says that it’s better to decide who dies now rather than the chances ending up as me.”

“You don’t believe him?” Obito asks.

Maki’s twin died. Mai had decided to kill herself because she didn’t want to limit Maki’s potential. Maki looked so different after. Colder. Sadder. Incomplete despite the fact that she’s reached her full potential. 

Suguru’s twins. The girls that made him decide to leave it all. His reason to rid the world of non-shamans, the same kind of people who had tortured those poor girls. Both dying to Sukuna, Yuji had told him, begging him to kill Kenjaku who was using Suguru’s body.

Different kinds of twins. Identical and Fraternal. Still meeting a tragic end. Bad omens. Deaths. Is it really unavoidable?

“There wasn't proof of that statement, I read around after he died.” Everything about the situation irritates Satoru. “If it turns out that it’s not true and the old bastard just cursed us, I’ll genuinely have him be brought back to life and burn him to death.”

There’s still a possibility of that. Maybe the twins being a bad omen was just a misconception due to word of mouth and the only reason for the tragedy was because of stupid people fucking around and finding out catastrophic consequences. Give the twins enough of hatred, of course they’ll be cursed in the end. And with enough curse in place, of course it’ll strike back to the cause two-fold — That’s what happened with the Zen’in Clan that Maki eliminated. That’s what happened to the village that Suguru burned down.

Satoru tends to remember a lot when he’s particularly irritated. Which he isn’t supposed to be on their birthday. And so, Satoru lets go of the feeling. Maybe he’ll revisit that again for later. He’s got a lot to think about, but that future is still far. Right now, he’s going to enjoy the day with his brother.

If only the people around him weren't tempting him so much.

Was Naoya this obsessed with Toji in that life too? 

Naoya always holds a permanent sneer on his face whenever he’s in Satoru’s presence, so they never interact unless Satoru deems it funny to annoy the family, which is all the time. But Naoya never made it obvious that he held Toji in such high regard. Did he grow out of it, or was it just locked in his inner thoughts?

Eugh. It makes sense why Satoru never liked the man.

Hopefully, their lack of interaction stays as it does after that 6th birthday of theirs. Especially Kamo Head’s wife. That woman was creepy and as hell. And he meant that in the literal sense. Who tells a 6 year old about their infertility like that? Of all things, what kind of sorcerer would ask for twins? Seriously? 

If Satoru were any dumber, he’d think that the woman has a few screws loose in that brain of hers.

But since he’s smart, he does know that there’s something wrong in that brain of hers.

Specifically, he knows that the damn parasitical curse user is in that dead body. The fact that they’ve managed to infiltrate one of the Great Clans makes Satoru seriously consider just how deep this bastard has had his claws into every little information that builds the entirety of Jujutsu Headquarters. Has it wormed its way to the higher-ups? The Zen’in — hell, have they managed to infiltrate Satoru’s clan?

What a headache.

If he could, he would’ve just blasted their head off that night. But that would paint Satoru a mad man. A mad kid? An unstable curse user — nevermind that he has Limitless and Six Eyes. What reason would the higher-ups have to trust him after that? They might even include Obito in on the punishment for the heck of it.

He can’t have that.

Obito needs to live.

And so, Satoru begins his plan: Build A Rapport.

Last time around, Satoru hadn’t taken the whole Clan Head schtick. Back then, his entire focus was centered on his Tamagotchis and learning calculus. He had no time for boring occupations! For someone like him, math and science made it easier to perceive the world, and funnier too. There was also the sneaking out to buy new versions of Tamagotchi and the digimon figurines, and if they’re cute enough, the plushes.

The clan elders tolerated him for as long as he still showed up on his physical training sessions. If he were to prove himself strong enough, he gets to keep that sweet freedom away from the stack of papers and still get praised by everyone everyday.

That childishness left a permanent brand on his name, even after he officially took care of clan matters and the like. The elders doubted his leadership, but apparently not his strength. That was part of the reason why no one extended an invitation for him to join the higher ups, not that he would have joined anyway — but, point is! Satoru only managed to lead back then only due to his status as the strongest. And he thinks some things need to change this time around!

“Are you the strongest because you’re Gojo Satoru? Or are you the Gojo Satoru because you’re the strongest?”

Satoru needs to build up a rapport that he is absolutely fit to lead the clan and be the strongest. This way, no one will doubt his decisions in the future and try to intercept and counter him. Add to that, he’ll have someone in the higher-up seat who knows about Satoru’s feats in the clan! Let them suck up to him, and they’ll continue to do so in the future.

So, he followed a familiar routine. Head Office by 5:00 to make sure he’s the first in the office and he gets to keep an eye on the routines of the Clan Elders and other Council Members that come and go. Attend the 8:00 daily meeting for Council Members, and the closed door 10:00 meeting with the Clan Elders.

By 11:30, he’d usually head to where Obito currently is and eat with him. But overtime, he’s getting invited to the general Clan Head meeting too, or is being asked to meet with some clan elder for an important discussion. By then, he’d already eaten lunch and it’s already 15:00, a time of which he needs to finish some leftover paperworks on top of having to check the improvements around the compound where he asked to change.

He’d end by 18:00 and Obito is giving him a cold stare by the time he gets back to their estate.

You’d think ‘there’s still so much time left! You can still have dinner with him!’

The thing is, Obito is a freak. He’s the kind to follow through a sleeping schedule religiously.

Obito likes to sleep at 20:00 and wake up at 8:00. And then follows through the listed classes they have the differs from day-to-day. He uses his breaks to meditate. What kind of kid has that kind of routine? Obito doesn’t even sleep at noon anymore! 

Who even sleeps for 12 hours a day? Wait, are kids their age required to actually sleep that much? Is Satoru the freak here for only sleeping for 5 hours? Shit. This isn’t gonna affect his flawless baby skin, is it?

They’re 9 years old now. How much sleep does a 9 year old need?

Welp. Too late to change his schedule now, anyway. He’ll just doze off behind the pile of papers on his desk!

But what was meant to be the usual 20 minute nap, turned to 2 hours. Why did none of the members wake him up?! Surely, they came through his office for some shit and found him sleeping?! Wow, what assholes. Now, he’s going to finish this later than intended, and Obito will be extra grumpier!

“Tobiii!!!” Satoru crashes him with a hug as they see each other again. The sun had already set and another day had gone by without either of them crossing each other’s path at all. “I miss you, I miss you!!!”

“It’s your fault, Toru.”

“I’m sorryyyyyy!” Those words are common now. That's all Satoru always says to Obito as a greeting. Because Satoru is always in the Clan Head’s office or walking around the compound to deal with something. Always moving in and out of the compound itself because of the meeting a 9 year old clan head has to attend. And when he tried to gather some Zs, he overslept!

Obito’s going to hate him from now on, he’s sure of it! He won’t talk to him anymore, then the next thing he knows is that Satoru’s sleeping on the floor! Maybe in the morning even, he’ll find out Obito moved out to a different estate!

He was about to apologise to his brother. He needs to because Satoru is really shit at handling his schedule. Gods, where is Ichiji when you need him?!

But then he caught a look in Obito’s eyes that made him pause.

“Need some help, Satoru?”

Seriously, Obito is a genius.

—----

What’s fun with being Clan Heads together now is that they can always play ‘Bad Cop, Good Cop’ and they like to switch roles around. This way, the clan members can’t just diss the other one without it sounding hypocritical! They both have individual accomplishments achieved for this ungrateful Clan, they better treasure it well while the twins are still generously cooperative!

He goes back to his obsession with Tamagotchis eventually now that he has more time at his hand, and he even finally manages to get the few premium ones he couldn’t get the last time! Surprisingly, Obito even helps take care of his babies from time to time. Must be because Satoru is always helping him out with getting the best sellers for original Gunplas.

That was also an unexpected obsession to come out of his brother. He knows his brother is weirdly meticulous at times, but not once did Satoru ever consider Obito to have the patience to sit through hours assembling Gundams! Honestly, Satoru initially thought that Obito’s patience was only reserved for him. Because why wouldn’t it be?

Hmm… That makes Satoru sound a bit possessive. Time to backtrack!

He once asked Obito why he suddenly liked Gundam and his answer was simple.

“I saw it in a dream. I think I could make my own kind one day.”

Which, pause. Is his brother secretly Mechamaru?

“W.. What do you mean?” Satoru couldn’t hold back the nervousness in his voice that made Obito give him a half-lidded stare. His feelings are valid, okay?! He doesn’t even remember much about Mechamaru at the moment! He was Utahime’s kid, not Gojo’s!

“Well… It’s not a mech if that’s what you’re thinking.” Obito finally decided on, going back to inspecting a chest plate of the mech and the instructions on the floor. “Think of a Tengu, it can be used as a shield and as an offence because it’s more of an extension of me.”

“A shikigami?”

“‘Dunno. Probably?” Obito drawls out lazily, snapping the chest piece and the lower abdomen part of the mech together. “There’s levels I need to be able to do before I perfect its full potential. The process is similar to building Gunpla, not including the preparation part of it, though, and not the cleaning chipped parts. Just straight to the assembly part.”

He presented this unfinished part to Satoru. It still lacked the chest plate and the engine on its back to finish the look.

“The first level is to be able to form the ribs around me. Just with that, I can probably block any attack aimed towards me. But I’m still vulnerable to attacks aimed vertically at me. I can also make use of its skeletal arm, but I won’t be able to use both at the same time at that level.”

“Will it only be anchored to you?” Satoru was very curious. The way Obito talks about it makes it not sound like a shikigami at all.

“Maybe? We could experiment around with it once I figured out how to form it.” Obito shrugs, clipping a shoulder to the still incomplete chest of the mech. “Level 2 is when I finally manage to make its other skeletal parts, complete with the head, spine, and all that. From there, Level 3 is turning it humanoid. Did I mention that the two levels don’t have legs yet?”

“Nope. Now my imagination of your Tengu is ruined.” 

Obito snorts, “You’ll manage, Toru.”

“Continue about your dream shikigami, Tobi.” Satoru nudges him, dropping his cheek to Obito’s shoulder. If Obito was having a much difficult time assembling his Gunpla while Satoru’s so close, he doesn’t push him away. “Does Level 3 Tengu have legs or not?”

“It can have legs. But Level 4 is the most ideal version. It’s when it finally gets its armor.” Obito finally snaps the chest plate that goes across the mech’s shoulder blades. He places the helmet Satoru was assigned on completing earlier and it made the Gunpla look more distinct. “That’s probably the form I’ll mostly use, if ever. It won’t drain me as much, but I could also use just the ribs if needed too.”

“What about the Tengu’s wings?” Satoru asks, glancing at the already assembled parts area that Obito started on minutes ago. He always likes to build the wings first and add them last. “It’s not a Tengu shikigami if it doesn’t have wings.”

He grabs for it, not removing his face from Obito’s shoulder. He managed to pull it close using the lightest Blue, placing the wings and weapon on his palm for Obito to just easily grab.

“That’s part of its last stage. Level 5 is the Tengu finally having functional wings and weapons.” Obito hums, finally making the mech stand on its own as he finishes both of its legs. “It’s the most draining one to keep up, though the most useful one. It’s called Perfect Susanoo after all.”

Satoru’s entire body froze, face going through a multitude of expressions; confusion, remembrance, bewilderment, scepticism, hesitation, and finally, more confusion.

Obito had already taken the wings and weapon from his palm by the time he came to.

“You named your shikigami Susanoo.”

It was not a question. Frankly, it’s not the first time Obito named his Technique using the characters of the word God. But come on, a Shintō God?

“What’s next, Amaterasu?” Satoru blurted out. He didn’t mean to say that out loud, but then Obito had bursted out laughing.

“Ha! No, I can’t do that. Would’ve been a useful technique, though.” Obito shakes his head, shit-eating grin on his face.

The fact that Obito believes it exists only fuels Satoru’s disbelief.

Nope, not taking this bait from Obito. It’s making Satoru’s head swim just hearing about it!

Seriously, he’s never heard of a Sorcerer naming their Techniques using some God’s name. Sorcerers need creativity with their skills, you know! If you name it something vague, then you can keep the enemy guessing on what your technique actually is! But who names a Tengu shikigami out of the Shintō God of Sea, Storms and Fields? His twin brother, apparently.

“And that’s the limit of how much information Gojo Satoru can take!” Satoru stands up, clapping his palms together as he changes the topic. “Now, it’s time to plan for our birthday in a few days! Any ideas, Tobi?”

Obito lets out a snicker at his reaction. Satoru always reacts animatedly when he overloads him with information about his Innate Technique — Sharingan Technique. Obito sure knows just the words to say that even Satoru ‘TMI Final Boss’ Gojo short circuits at his answers.

“We could just spend it at the estate with just the two of us this year.” Obito coughs into his arm, finally placing the finished Gunpla in his collection case. “And then we could spend Christmas Eve in a carnival.”

“How about gifts?!”

Obito tilts his head, and suddenly snaps his finger as he turns around with excitement. “I heard a new series of Gunpla models is gonna be released soon!”

How could Satoru say no to that face?

“Itadori?”

For a moment, Satoru really thought that he was back in that time again. The image of a pink haired teen wearing an easy smile towards Satoru, even when their world had gone to shit.

But the one in front of Satoru turned around and he’s faced with an unfamiliar face.

Yuuji didn’t wear glasses.

And the one next to him is certainly too feminine to be Megumi.

Obito turned to him, “You know them, Toru?”

Satoru is many things — to cut the list short, there’s not a battle he backs out of. Because he’s that strong. 

But this scenario is a land mine he absolutely cannot step on, Limitless and all!

“Nope~ Let’s go inside, Tobi!” He pushes him through the door, Obito letting himself be manhandled. “I’m hungry and thirsty!”

If Satoru is correct, which he usually is, those two would be Yuuji’s birth parents. But it’s only the year 2001, less than two years before his precious student is born! He doesn’t know what happened to his parents that had them missing by 2005, but Satoru can’t deal with them yet until he makes sure Yuuji exists.

They ignore the Itadori couple’s looks as they go inside the cafe. They won’t approach them because of Satoru’s slip up, won’t they? He doesn’t know their personality well, so Satoru really can’t afford to make contact this early.

But the woman’s eyes for some reason trained on Satoru suddenly, like realisation dawning on her. But before she could do anything, the door of the cafe was already shut and the twins have already blended into the busy crowd inside the establishment.

“Who were they?” Obito asks again once they’ve finished ordering and finally taking a seat. The couple was long gone then. “You looked pretty surprised back there.”

“Aww, you think I’m pretty, Tobi?” Satoru bats him his eyelashes, to which Obito gives him an unimpressed stare.

“Toru.”

“Hmph, you’re no fun.” Satoru slumps his face down to the table with a huff. “I just thought I saw someone similar. In my dream, that is.”

“Someone named Itadori?” Obito asks, he doesn’t sound like he’s doubting the possibility of Satoru’s dream to be imaginary. 

Satoru stares at him. Obito also likes to use their dreams as a way to explain something that naturally comes to them. Satoru suddenly knows when a clan elder will die? He’ll say he got it in a dream. Obito suddenly explaining something about moves that weren’t taught to them yet? He’ll say he saw it in a dream once.

Is it weird that the words don't make it sound like they're some kind of psychic? Obito takes everything Satoru says at face value, and he to Obito. If anything, it just makes it sound like Obito already lived the life in his dream. Is that also what Satoru sounds like to him?

He wouldn’t care where Obito’s soul came from, regardless. As long as it’s still him and he’s still here, Satoru will take what he can get for as long as he’s safe.

“Itadori Yuuji.” Satoru finally settles on. He trusts Obito enough with the information. He trusts his brother. “I think he’ll be their son.”

He feels a poke at his cheek as Obito beckons him to look at him. Obito was wearing a passive expression.

Satoru wonders then, if this is the moment they’ll finally get to have that talk. After all, even Obito is still keeping things to himself under his same excuse of ‘dreams’.

But the moment and perfect opportunity slipped away to the back burner when their orders arrived. When Satoru felt relief from the interruption, he berated himself for being such a coward. He’s still not yet ready to tell Obito about the horrors of their birth.

It’s been months since Satoru ran into Yuuji’s dad. Since then, he’s been keeping track of the family.

It’d be too conspicuous if he were to hire curse users or any people of his to monitor the family close. He still worries that any kind of change he puts around them is gonna delete Yuuji from existence.

Imagine his surprise when he learned that Kaori Itadori’s car accident happened just a few weeks after that encounter. After that, he had pulled away from the family all together. He had known that she'd be in an accident, somehow. When asking around about Wusuke Itadori, everyone always repeated the words “She’d changed ever since the accident!” 

But the fact that it was so close to their encounterer worried him. So instead, he decided to give them a few months. Deciding to investigate again just four months before Yuuji’s date of birth. That was the safest timeline Satoru decided on.

He just didn’t expect how suspicious everything about this family was in the first place.

INCIDENT SUMMARY

Patient Name: Kaori Itadori
Sex: Female
Age: 24
Date Admitted: December 28, 2001
Event: Single-vehicle crash during severe snowstorm conditions
Primary Injury: Severe cranial trauma from frontal impact

Patient was declared clinically deceased at the scene following cardiac and respiratory arrest. Resuscitative measures resumed upon hospital arrival.

---

EMERGENCY & SURGICAL ACTIONS
Immediate life-saving procedures were performed, including:

• Advanced cardiac resuscitation
  
• Emergency craniotomy
• Intracranial hemorrhage evacuation
• Fracture stabilization
• Forehead laceration reconstruction and layered suturing

Cardiac activity resumed during surgery.

All procedures were logged, timestamped, and signed by attending surgeons and anesthesiology staff.

No discrepancies found in operative documentation.

---

NEUROLOGICAL STATUS
Initial findings indicated:

• Diffuse traumatic brain injury
  
• Cerebral swelling
• Suppressed cortical activity
• Comatose state (GCS 3)

Patient remained under intensive care and ventilatory support.

---

RECOVERY TIMELINE

• Coma Duration: 2 months
  
• Consciousness Recovery: Spontaneous
• Rehabilitation Period: 2 additional months

Gradual restoration of cognitive, motor, and autonomic functions observed.

Attending physicians classified recovery as medically extraordinary but within statistical possibility.

Now, how the fuck is that possible. In what human era is a woman recovering from a fatal car crash that split her head open under 4 months within statistical possibility?

Next to him, Obito was also reading the report with him.

He was the one to pick up the photo of a 5 month pregnant Kaori Itadori, her forehead stitched scar having healed already.

Kenjaku. Satoru cursed the name over and over inside his mind. Who knew that parasite had been playing a creepy long game plan over all of the sorcerer society? Just how many layers were his plans to achieve what he did back then?

The information he gathered now was non-existent by the time adult Gojo searched Yuuji’s background. He thought nothing of it at the time — many people get erased and forgotten due to curses. Sorcerers aren’t heroes, and curse users are certainly no vigilantes.

Why infiltrate the Itadori’s?

The Itadori’s weren’t connected to any curse-user family. Not even when Satoru followed their family tree.

Kaori was from a curse-user, if anything else. But still not from a prominent family, not even participating in any job that would be illegal by Jujutsu standard. Is that why she had recognised him? Every curse user knows about Satoru Gojo, of course.

Why Kaori Itadori?

Certainly, it’s not because Kanjaku fell for Jin Itadori and decided to body snatch his wife and bear his seed, is it? That would be.. Should Satoru really judge it like that? No, what kind of fucker is willing to bend his back to bear children?

Yuuji Itadori.

Was the incident with Yuuji swallowing Sukuna’s fingers actually an accident?

“What’s the plan, Toru?” Obito sways the photo front and back, giving him a tilt of his head. Does he understand what’s running through Satoru’s mind right now?

It’s been a while since Satoru’s mind ran like this. He hadn’t thought about that life in years now, ever since Obito and he became clan heads.

But then again, they have less than 3 years until it’s time to attend Jujutsu High again.

Is it high time to start placing down some changes?

Satoru slams his palms down the table, standing up abruptly with a decision.

“Alright, Tobi! It’s time!” Satoru turns to him with a scheming smile, “Let’s visit Sendai!”

“Finish your paperworks first.”

“Nope! We shall head to the rendezvous point this instant!”

“I don’t want to wake up with this still un-signed tomorrow, Satoru.”

“Aw, man.”

Chapter Text

Their plan was simple. Really simple, in fact, that the plan only played around one factor.

Act like a normal 12 year old would.

Satoru thinks that they should just wing the whole thing through. It’s not that he’s underestimating Kenjaku — he knows how conniving that curse user can be. He wouldn’t have been able to go through that 1000 year plan with the Culling Game if he was any less incompetent! But then again, most of that thing relied on stupid luck that unfortunately benefited the parasite.

No one can convince him that Kenjaku planned for the merger to fail that happened to have been assigned to a sorcerer who happened to be close friends with the Six Eyes user who also happened to have Curse Manipulation Technique who happened to have the closest ideals to that parasite and who had happened to die and whose body happened to be not cremated because the Six Eyes user happened to be a sentimental fool. Creating the perfect vessel for Sukuna aside —because how could that entire thing just happen, seriously?— how could Kenjaku have known that a Ten Shikigami user would happen to be that one-in-a-billion compatible vessel to house that fucker and that he’d happen to have a sister to awaken someone who’s willing to die to Sukuna? 

See? When you compress everything that Satoru could remember like that, everything sounds like coincidences that Kenjaku just took advantage of and bulshitted his way through.

Satoru can’t really relay all this to his brother yet. Heavy on that YET. It’s definitely a work in progress that he should be getting into soon, preferably before they enroll into Jujutsu Tech. But he genuinely can’t find the right words for it and whenever he does try to talk about it, it’s like the universe is physically preventing him to. Or maybe it’s really just Satoru being a coward.

“We should scare it, Tobi.” Satoru said out loud, they were on an empty train platform. He made sure to choose the perfect time without busy people to travel since they didn’t want anyone from the clan tailing them. “But, y’know, not to the point of accidentally killing the baby.”

“What?” Obito turns to him with a judgemental stare, looking up from the Tamagotchi he’s been playing with. “Are you talking about that same woman we’re heading to Sendai for?”

“Yep!” Satoru looked over and paid no mind to Obito’s perplexed expression, “How’s your Arukotchi so far?”

“I already managed to get every ending. Now, why in the world are you calling that woman ‘it’?”

To tell Obito about everything could potentially break this sense of peace they managed to keep around them ever since he woke up. Since then, they’ve been more attuned to one another and Obito’s been letting himself loose compared to when they were toddlers when it seemed like he couldn’t really grasp how the world worked around him.

As much as Satoru finally made Obito feel more relaxed and act more freely, he often berates Satoru whenever he tries to do anything on his own that is not just about taking a break or skipping work. Sure, Obito makes him finish every paperwork needed with due strictness, but that was so Satoru wouldn’t need to stay up late and extend his work. Obito even makes sure none of their Council members could ever overwork or isolate the two of them.

Obito actually seems to really like their role, Satoru had noticed. He takes it more seriously compared to Satoru who only tolerates it, really. Will Obito prefer taking the role of Clan Head fully down the line? Would he prefer that over being a full-time or even a half-time sorcerer?

Satoru would think so if not for the fact that Obito seems really invested in making the techniques he saw in his dream come to life. Just this morning, Obito had asked Satoru to confirm to him if his usage with cursed energy is good enough that it’s not just stacked around his eyes at all times. And then also attempted to call forth that Level 1 Susanoo of his but only managing to shroud himself with cursed energy so far. 

To make his brother not feel frustrated at his failure, Satoru tried to show him his own attempt at producing Red and failing too. Which isn’t an act, unfortunately. Satoru is, sadly, back to zero with his progress. Blue is something he could always rely on since, really, that technique only relies on his mental calculations with numbers. And Satoru has always been the best in that category.

“Come on, Tobi. What kind of person survives being declared dead on the spot? I’m thinking that it’s like in that movie, ‘The Thing’.” Satoru lets out a grin as he hunches his shoulders and wiggles his fingers. “For all we know, Kaori Itadori really died that night already and an alien is just using her body and carrying another alien baby!”

“That’s not how the movie even went, Toru.” Obito gave him a disappointed side-eye.

“Like you could think of a better example.” Satoru blew raspberries at him, tongue sticking out. “But back to what I said, we could scare that alien so much it would go into hiding!”

“No, Toru. We’re not gonna interact with… it.” Obito rolls his eyes when Satoru snickers in victory, but then dissatisfaction coils his expression when he processes Obito’s words. “This is only gonna be a reconnaissance, Toru. Which means we’re only gonna be gathering intel.”

Immediately, Satoru pouts as he already sees the inevitable that the entire plan will go Obito’s way. It’s in moments like these that Obito showcases the actual meaning of his name; a commander. His reasons are always sound, even his impulsive and instinctive reactions carry results and meanings. But Satoru can’t condemn his brother for that — leadership is a good quality Satoru rarely respects! And Obito is already way up top in Satoru’s list of people he willingly listens to.

The only problem Satoru has with it is that Obito tends to be too serious, even when the task isn’t supposed to be one. Though in this case, Satoru can understand why Obito thinks they need to take it carefully.

“You said you don’t want to harm the baby, right? Even if you think it’ll turn out to be an alien, too?” Satoru nods at him. “Then we can’t alert it in any way. What if it runs and hides from us? We’d have no way to know where the baby ends up if that happens. What if it self-destructs when it realises we’re on to its schemes? Baby’s gone. What if it accelerates its plan further? Then your dream will end up being useless.”

“Fine.” Satoru concedes with a huff, crossing his arms. “We’re not gonna be super obvious. We’re just gonna be… low key.. eugh..!”

Satoru gagged trying to spell out the words. 

Regardless, Obito made a good point that Satoru didn’t fully consider. Change is good, of course, if it helps keep the death tally low. But change can also mean that Satoru won’t be able to know what the enemy will be planning, if all else fails.

They arrive in Sendai by 9AM, now walking through the neighbourhood of the Itadori family.

To blend in, they wore normal civilian clothing — stripped off of the usual kimono and yukata they became accustomed to wearing as clan heads when walking around the clan estate. 

Satoru always liked to match their outfits one way or another, isn’t that customary for twins? Satoru wore a white sweater with a grey polo shirt underneath whereas Obito wore a grey sweater with white polo shirt. They both had the same colored beige pants and white shoes. He made sure to get a maid to take a picture of them in those matching clothes and print it before they left without anyone noticing.

Satoru pulls them to the community playground; a lot of people would have to pass through the site in order to get to shops and markets. There’s already a few kids playing around and adults gossiping on the sidelines, and according to the multiple sightings they’ve gotten of Kaori Itadori, she usually passes by the playground.

Spying on that woman was not a problem for the twins — not at all. In fact, they could probably do it so well she won’t even find out they were even there. But that’s on the idea that she doesn’t have the means to detect cursed energy, and unfortunately for them, theirs are a beacon.

So Obito was right to just play pretend and just get a feel on what kind of person Kaori Itadori is, along with Jin Itadori. In the situation that either were approached and recognised, they can always use the excuse of impulsively running away again.

They never shut down the rumours about the twins leaving the Gojo Estate alone to travel around spontaneously, without guards around at that. Sure, there’s been some assassination and kidnapping attempts, but it’s not like they weren’t able to get out of those as the victor. Some don’t even go through with it when they meet the eyes of Blue and Red as a warning.

Playing in a playground comes easy when you’re already with someone to play with. They settled on climbing the tallest spot and hanging around, sitting on top of climbing domes and ignoring the more little kids trying to imitate the 12 year olds.

People were staring at them, both for Satoru’s white hair and Obito’s red eyes. Both were uncommon as much as they looked eccentric. His white hair proved to be natural as it paired with his eyebrows and lashes, whereas Obito’s looks like a mutation and a result of an illness.

It helps with being unapproachable. The kids could stare and gawk as much as they want, but the high placement the twins chose makes it hard for them to ask unless they succeed in climbing through the metal bars of the dome.

“How long has it been, Tobi?” Satoru asks, laying his back without a problem on top of the dome.

“We’ve been here for 20 minutes.” Obito answers, sitting down on a single horizontal bar and swaying his suspended legs. Red eyes surveying the sidewalk.

Obito had finished doing his daily routine with the Tamagotchi Satoru lended him. The franchise has been at an all time low lately, as Satoru already knew would happen like in the previous life. He had bought everything that came out this time, determined to get everything even when the recent releases had no connection to Digimon. It would be a while until the franchise goes back to that.

The movies, they already watched. Obito still insists that he doesn’t like the Gundam anime series and movies, that he only likes collecting Gunplas and building them. Satoru would believe his words if Obito hadn’t always known the names of the mechs and what version they are. He’d say that his Sharingan just stores all of that naturally when Satoru asks.

Well, as long as Obito’s happy, Satoru will get it out of him somehow, someday.

“Target is arriving.”

Obito’s voice snapped Satoru out of his thoughts, side-eyeing the sidewalk and saw Kaori Itadori walking with Jin Itadori.

The woman is very clearly pregnant, with it already being 6-months in. With his Six Eyes, it’s really impossible to tell that something is not right with her at all if he hadn’t known what the scar on her forehead means. At the very least, he was able to tell that Kaori Itadori is capable of manipulating curse energy — whether that’s because Kaori is aware of this or if it’s due to Kenjaku using the body with his own curse technique.

Jin Itadori on the other hand is completely normal. Cursed energy leaks off of him naturally with every step he takes, which is normal. What’s not is the seemingly abundance of it. 

He looks happy, no? He’s all smiles and chattering his ‘wife’s’ ears off about something, the palm of his hand on her back as they walk. So why is cursed energy leaking off of him so much?

If Satoru didn’t know any better, he’d say that Jin Itadori is depressed.

Does he know?

Obito went down the climb first, turning his back on the couple as Satoru decides it’s time he sits up. If they kept on staring, one of the adults would notice.

Satoru gave a last glance at the couple. They were right to assume that the couple would walk by and stay around the park to probably watch kids play and bask in the healthy sunlight. Other mothers came up to the couple to make small talks then.

Confirming that the couple will be staying for a while, Satoru followed Obito and jumped down. They decided to play on the merry-go-round this time. At least with that, they can simultaneously be able to look at the couple’s way without having to crane their neck.

They let the younger kids spin them around. Satoru made use of his Limitless to make it difficult for the kids to spin them around too fast, every kid does that with no regards to how dangerous the act would be.

“You should at least smile, Tobi!” Satoru chastises him. Obito was wearing a neutral expression as the equipment spun them around. 

“My fake smile would just expose us, Toru.” Obito huffed, looking over the couple as he got into the perfect angle to do so. “Something weird is going on in her womb.”

“You noticed too?”

In Kaori Itadori’s womb, Satoru could make out the familiar soul of Yuuji Itadori. But alongside him, there was also a different cursed energy being absorbed by the fetus. But it was so carefully sealed that Satoru could only tell so much.

What’s the probability of it being one of Sukuna’s fingers?

Highly-likely.

The idea left a sour aftertaste to Satoru.

Having spent enough time playing around the merry-go-round, the two jumped out as Satoru released his Limitless on the equipment and laughed as the kids who rallied together to push it around tumbled on the sudden weightlessness of it.

Satoru’s ears perked when a familiar series of horns rang. With the eyes of a predator, he snapped his head to a van parking next to the park.

“Ice cream!”

The other kids yelled out, Satoru did not want to be beaten by toddlers.

“Tobi, let’s run!”

Without waiting for his brother’s input, he was already dragging Obito by the wrist and ran towards the van, running past the other kids who had to go to their guardians first to get permission and money.

Too bad for them, more for Satoru!

“Those ice creams won’t disappear, Toru.” Obito said, exasperated. Still, he ran with his brother despite everything. 

With Satoru’s quick pace, they were the first in line to the ice cream van. Obito wisely ignores Satoru pushing away a kid 5 years younger than him who had tried to cut in front of them.

While Obito ordered a double scoop of strawberry in a cup with chocolate chips and syrups, Satoru chose to go beyond and ordered three heaping scoops of chocolate, cookies n’ cream, and strawberry in that order in a cone. He had to push the vendor to add stick-os and chocolate syrup, telling the person that yes, Satoru can eat it all!

Obito had to step in and pull Satoru away before he decided to add another scoop. The kids had been staring at his ice cream cone in envy and curiosity. The parents were affronted and chided their own kids to not imitate Satoru if they don't want their teeth falling off.

Satisfied, Satoru licks his ice cream joyously. Humming and swaying his feet as they sat on an empty bench feet away from the Itadori couple. 

Obito remained vigilant and watched the couple at the side of his vision, his Sharingan was useful like that. They were also close enough now to hear the chatters that surrounded the couple.

“When I heard Kaori-chan was pregnant, I was really surprised!” An old woman said cooed, sitting next to Kaori. “I remember you still having reservations about having a child. Jin-kun persuaded you eventually, didn’t he?”

“Miko-san, please, I wouldn’t push Kaori to do anything she won’t like.” Jin replied, letting out a huff of a laugh. “It was Kaori who told me that she finally changed her mind.”

“The idea of a baby looking like Jin wouldn’t leave my mind.” Kaori said, voice so gentle and soft as she rubbed at her stomach. “And what do you know, it’s a boy!”

Obito meets Satoru’s eyes then, remembering the name the white-haired had told him.

Yuuji Itadori.

“How’s old-man Wusuke taking it? I hear he's been on edge lately.”

Kaori let out a giggle at that, taking a while before she answered. “Father-in-law is really worried about the pregnancy. He doesn’t even let me out of his sights alone!”

Obito finished with his ice cream first and looked around for a trash can. The only one is the trash can besides the bench the couple were sitting on. When he turned to Satoru, the latter just shrugs his shoulders, nodding his head to the direction of the trashcan in silent agreement.

Better Obito than the Six Eyes to approach them.

Satoru was still halfway through finishing his own ice cream cone, so he watched by the bench as Obito walked to the trash can at a normal pace.

Adults can really be so nosy. Obito had just dropped his used cup by the trash can when a woman who just came back to the group spotted him.

“Oh, it’s the red-eyed kid.”

Obito, not wanting to react suspiciously, turned his head to the woman with a tilt of his head.

“Sena-chan, that’s rude.” the old woman, Miko, chided her. She then turned to Obito with a kind smile. “Sorry, little boy. We adults know everyone in this town. Are you new here?”

Satoru huffed at his spot, Obito was as unlucky as ever. He should finish his ice cream faster to have the excuse to help his brother out of the situation.

“We’re just visiting.” Obito answered politely, fiddling with the ends of his grey sweater. “My brother likes the mochi here.”

“Kikufuku?” Jin asks, tilting his head in thought. “I heard they’re close for today, though?”

Obito nods dejectedly, pouting his lips. “We didn’t know. We went early to be the first in-line, too.”

“Oh, that’s really unfortunate.” Sena cooed, tutting her tongue with a shake of her head. “Is that why you and your brother are in the playground? He’s the one with the white-hair, right?”

The words let out a noticeable reaction from Kaori. Finally looking up from her stomach and moving to red eyes. Obito made sure not to look her way, choosing to stare at his white shoes as he kicked at the grass absentmindedly, as any kid would.

Hmm… this is getting dangerous, no?

Eating the rest of the cone in one bite, he stood up and bounced his way to Obito, jumping as he engulfed his form from behind.

“Tobi, I’m hungry!”

Obito struggled in his hold, pushing Satoru away with a glare. “Toru, your hands are sticky! Don’t just touch people with your dirty hands!”

He scolds him as Obito takes out wet wipes from his pockets, wiping Satoru’s hands clean as well as his face.

“And we just ate ice cream. You’re hungry already?”

“That’s just an early dessert.” Satoru pouts, crunching his nose as Obito wipes around his lips. It was thankfully an unscented wipes. “And I want to eat lunch at this restaurant in Tokyo! We’ll get there just in time for lunch if we leave now.”

“Oh my, are you two alone travelling?”

They turned to Kaori who finally spoke to them. They were careful not to flick their eyes at her forehead.

Her smile was gentle, and her voice was kind. However, they find it so uncanny that her eyes look empty despite her demeanor.

It reminds them of the wife of the Kamo Clan. The woman who attended their 6th birthday. They heard from the Kamo Clan years later that the woman had died after getting lost in a forest near the Kamo Estate by a cursed spirit’s influence.

“We’re not.” Satoru easily lies, pointing between him and Obito. “Our guardian just left to buy some stuff to make up for the lost Kikufuku mochi. We’re gonna meet up with them in the store over here.”

“Should we just meet them on the way, Toru?” Obito sighs, stretching his arms out. “I don’t want us playing after eating so much ice cream.”

“You’re right.”

Satoru readily agrees, mouth breaking into a shit-eating grin. Obito could only stare as his brother immediately sprints away maniacally cackling.

“Last one there is a sore loser!!!”

“You’re being rude and a cheater, Toru!” Obito yells after him, letting out a heavy sigh before turning an apologetic face towards the confused adults Satoru left behind. “I’m sorry about my brother. Ice creams make him crazy after.”

“Ohoho, it’s quite alright, young man. You’re kids!” Miko giggles at him, she hands Obito something suddenly, closing his fist around something familiar. “Here have some candy. Share it with your brother, okay?”

Obito, who’s seen this coming from a mile away, easily plasters an eager expression. He accepts the hand that ruffles his hair and the pinch in his cheeks as he thanks the old woman.

“Thank you, baa-chan! I will!”

With a final wave, he runs after Satoru as he puts the candies inside his pockets. He ignores Kaori’s stare and Jin’s loud thoughts he accidentally voiced.

“I feel like I’ve seen them before…”

They decided to forgo using the train to get to Tokyo. Instead, they took a cab to avoid the busy foot traffic the noon will bring to commuters. That’s not to say that the vehicle traffic isn’t as bad, but at least the twins had their own space at the back of the car.

Obito had handed Satoru part of the candies that the old woman from the park had given them. But it’s like the sugar rush from eating three scoops of ice cream evaporated once they finally settled on the car, asking to be driven to a Yakiniku restaurant in Central Tokyo without care for how much the fare would be. The driver seemed eager when they told them this.

Satoru hates the dots he’s connecting inside his mind. Genuinely. Seriously. Grimly.

His favourite student had been bred to be a vessel for Ryomen Sukuna.

Isn’t that fucked up?

Satoru had thought that everything about Yuuji was weird. Weird in a way that Satoru couldn’t get a grasp on what made Yuuji so resilient while successfully housing the worst curse that ever existed.

He thought maybe it’s the name. Permanence (悠 yū). Benevolence (仁 ji). Unchanging benevolence. Satoru had thought it was ironic for someone with such a name to successfully  house the malevolent king. 

But maybe that was the idea. To think it was fate. To make people around Yuuji think that everything had been through fate and simply the way the King of Curses will end because of someone kind enough to shoulder the weight of the curse’s sins.

To sway their thoughts away from thinking that maybe there’s more to Yuuji’s suspicious strength. His unwavering will. And why everything good around him seemed to keep getting taken before he could even enjoy the moment — It’s like someone keeps dangling something good right in front of him, close enough to reach, only to snatch it away the second he tries, like he was never meant to have it in the first place.

Like a fucking experiment.

Yuuji had been a result of Kenjaku’s numerous experiments that finally came to life. Yuuji’s entire purpose was to house Ryomen Sukuna and have him swallow the rest of the fingers — to hold on to him long enough until the Culling Games came to be. Just to see what would happen if the King of Curses was added into the chaos of numerous sorcerers going rampant and to force human evolution with cursed energy while attempting to subdue the curse.

Yuuji was simply just part of the plan. Once Sukuna gets his way, it’s only a matter of what Yuuji could do about it.

Yuuji had been bred to be a vessel.

Megumi had been that one-in-a-billion.

Megumi, the boy he had taken the job of looking after and taking him away from his clan, was the one who could be used as Sukuna’s vessel and not die.

Yuuji was the perfect cage. Megumi was the perfect host.

Satoru really hates this.

He looks out of the window, eyes catching the name of the city and Satoru suddenly feels like a fish out of water.

His mind, already reeling from realisations and thoughts of Kenjaku’s cursed plans, compelled him to ask the cab to stop.

“Tobi, you go first to Yakiniku. I’m sure there will be a long line, but you can order first if I take too long. But I promise I won’t, okay? I just need to—”

Satoru was halted from stepping out of the car when Obito caught his wrist with a tight grip.

“Where are you going?” Obito fixed him with a look. He didn’t seem angry, nor did he seem offended. He’s been quiet for the whole ride, handing Satoru a candy when he finished chewing on the previous one. He had let Satoru mull over his thoughts quietly, and at that, Satoru felt thankful, even if his thoughts weren’t really the best at the moment.

“I just… need to check something, Obito. I need to confirm something, okay?” Satoru’s tone turned almost pleading. “I’ll follow after I’m done. You go first, okay? I promise, I will.”

They don’t look away from each other, paying no mind to the driver who craned his head to look at them exasperatedly. Red eyes searched for something in Satoru’s face that he allowed himself to show, vulnerability.

“You’ll tell me, won’t you? Satoru.” 

There’s defiance in Obito’s gaze when he said that, daring Satoru to say otherwise. And really, when did Satoru ever say no to Obito? Him dying is forever an exception.

Satoru nods, steel in his voice as he answers. “I will.”

Obito finally lets go of his wrist then, letting Satoru leave the car.

Satoru watches as the car drives away, feeling Obito’s curse energy slip further away before he himself moves from his spot.

Saitama.

Magumi’s hometown.

From what Satoru could remember, Toji has only ever moved between two houses from before he had Megumi and after his birth.

Satoru walked through the neighbourhood, it wasn’t far from the highway he was dropped off on. Toji had lived at a humble house before he moved in with his second wife.

He stopped on his foot, 100 meters away from the house now.

A good two-storey house, in a well-off neighbourhood. Staring at what he could tell was Megumi’s curse energy, Satoru suddenly feels very stupid.

All his heightened emotions dwindled as his shoulder slumped upon a realisation.

Megumi was born on December 22, 2002.

The current date is November 2002.

A month before Megumi is born.

Despite himself, Satoru couldn’t stop himself from walking up to the gate of the house.

He doesn’t think he’ll be knocking. What use would that be?

Toji would know who he is — he’d recognise him the instant Satoru steps closer within their home. And frankly, Satoru isn’t really in the mood to deal with that man.

He just —

He just wanted to make sure Megumi’s okay.

There, Megumi is still cocooned inside a woman’s womb. He can hear laughter inside the house filled with warmth — the idea of Toji of all people causing that sound brings discomfort to Satoru.

He should leave.

He shouldn’t stay any longer. He already confirmed that Megumi’s safe. He’s alive. He’s not being used by the King of Curses as a puppet—

Yet, he basks in the sight of Megumi’s energy. His ball of cursed energy, despite being a negative force in nature, calms Satoru’s nerves with the idea that Megumi will live. He’ll meet him someday again and Satoru will make sure that this time, he won’t be used by anyone or anything ever.

“Yo.”

Satoru’s eyes widened, snapping out of his thoughts as he turned sharply at the source of the voice.

Shit! is it—?!

But no one was behind him, where he could’ve sworn the sound had come from. Instead, he looks down to see a dog.

A small, brown pug?

No. The dog is filled with cursed energy. A shikigami?

“What’s your business standing there?”

This time, Satoru met someone’s eyes behind him again, standing by the gate now when there wasn’t anyone there earlier.

Satoru has never met this boy before.

It wasn’t until 45 minutes later that Satoru arrived at the restaurant. Obito locked his brother's cursed energy the moment he entered his vicinity.

“Sorry I took awhile, Tobi.” Satoru grumbles, irritation still visible in his brows. “I encountered a very annoying kid. Don’t want to see him again, seriously.”

Obito quirked up a brow at that. He doesn’t care about that at the moment.

“Have you ordered?”

“Just some appetisers.” Obito answers, pushing the plate of fries towards him and a glass of juice he had left. They can just order.

Obito stared at Satoru keenly. 

Satoru’s always behaved weirdly out of Obito’s expectations, all the way since they were in diapers. With his Sharingan, he could remember a lot about Satoru’s behaviour.

Obito’s not dumb. Neither is he stupid.

He has his own ideas, and he’s sure Satoru isn’t blind about Obito’s either.

All these years, all they’ve done was dance around the topic. Hiding it behind weak white lies, and a futile attempt of masking anything they do towards each other and for each other.

They’ll be thirteen soon. Hasn’t it been long enough already?

They ordered their food after Satoru looked over the menu, plastering a smile Obito knows that he intends to bullshit the topic away from his behaviour again. Satoru wouldn’t lie. He won’t, not to Obito. But Satoru is also capable of just hiding it behind a dream again and Obito will become a hypocrite for countering that.

But Obito is not a coward.

That’s Satoru’s job, and frankly, he needs to stop being a coward too.

“Satoru.”

And so, Obito is the first to lay it out.

“I’m not originally from this world.”

Satoru’s smile dropped instantly. Blue eyes widening as they locked on serious red eyes.

“I don’t think I’m originally your brother, either.”

Confusion clouded Satoru’s eyes.

“What…?”

Chapter Text

“I’m not originally from this world.”

Satoru’s smile dropped instantly. Blue eyes widening as they locked on serious red eyes.

“I don’t think I’m originally your brother, either.”

Confusion clouded Satoru’s eyes.

“What…?”

Satoru stared hard at his brother, looking over him again and again and there’s nothing wrong! What is Obito talking about? His soul remained the same since they were kids! Since they were infants! Satoru may not remember their childhood as vividly like Obito, but he at least would know if there had been a switcheroo that happened, right?

Right?

“I have memories from another life. I lived there for a long time and when I died, I woke up in this world.” Obito continued, his stare unyielding that it’s unlikely that he’s lying to Satoru. “It was a jarring experience. One moment I was dying in the middle of a battle, and the next I was a baby about to be sentenced to death. My Sharingan activated when I saw someone die and from the need to survive then. I had the same eyes in that other life too.”

Satoru opened his mouth, maybe trying to say something to add to Obito’s words, but came out empty. Obito remained staring at him in return, waiting for Satoru to make up his mind.

But there was a knock on their room and a server entered, bringing plates and utensils for them, along with their side dishes and their rice and drinks. The server left after a bow and closed the door again.

Obito had planned for this talk. Why else would he have chosen to get them a private room? Satoru should’ve guessed so when he was ushered in here.

“But you are my brother.” Satoru finally said. Emphasizing at the edge of it, insisting on the reality of the sentence. “I’ve known your soul since we were in the womb! It’s been the same since. Sure, it’s— your soul is whole now, and we don’t share a soul anymore— but you’re still the same!”

“Satoru, I didn’t have a brother in my first life. I didn’t have anyone. You weren’t anywhere in that life.” Obito said, tone painstakingly so devoid of emotion for Satoru to ever know what his brother is trying to tell him. “I’ve always thought of what could’ve been if you existed in that life, too. If you had been with me, would I have taken the path I chose?”

“Why does that matter now?” Satoru finds himself confounded with Obito’s words, confusion bubbling within. “You’re not in that life— we’re not in that life now!”

“Am I?” Obito hums, looking down at his hands for a long moment before bringing it back to Satoru’s eyes. “Are we?”

“We aren’t!” Satoru insisted, dropping a fist over the table in the heat of his emotions. He grumbles out an apology when Obito pointedly glances at the fist. Obito is so hard to read right now. What is his end goal for having this conversation with Satoru?

“There are moments when it feels like I am. After all, I still have the same name I had in that life. I always wonder why that is.” Obito continued speaking, placing his elbow on the table and dropping his cheek on a closed fist as he looked at Satoru this way. “Uchiha Obito. That was my name then. And then you also started calling me Tobi. Only my enemies and the people I don’t trust have called me that.”

Satoru’s blood froze at his words. But.. Obito hadn’t told him off from calling him that? He had tried once, and only once, when they were still toddlers and when Obito could barely walk without Satoru’s help. Had… had Satoru made a mistake?

“What… To— O-Obito, what are you…? Why didn’t you…?”

“I thought it was funny, so I let it be.” Obito shrugs, drilling Satoru with another stare he could not read. “I didn’t have any idea on what kind of world I was in yet, so I had to play it safe for a long time.”

“What are you planning with this, Obito?” Satoru asks, brows furrowing deep. “I thought you were going to question me. So what are you on about, talking like this?”

Obito taps his fingers on the table, not changing the position of his head. The sound of it grates on Satoru’s ears and only further heightened his tensed shoulders.

“You’re quite lucky, aren’t you, Satoru?” Obito drawls, and dread sunk on Satoru’s stomach at his words. “Born into a prestigious clan and donning a unique, highly sought after ocular technique. You were born and you already made a difference in this world, already made a mark for yourself that the only thing to do now is to live up to the expectations.”

Satoru threw him an exasperated wide-eyed look, throwing his hands up. “What? Are you comparing shit now? Why? I could say the same thing to you!”

Infuriatingly, Obito only gave him a ‘hn’! What kind of a response is ‘hn’?! He’d always thought Obito sounded cool whenever he used his grunts as a response, and Satoru would have been proud to say that he understands what they’d mean! Except, it’s at this moment that Satory can’t make out what Obito’s trying to say.

That was the moment a server chose to knock again, entering the room carrying multiple plates of pork and beef that they ordered to cook. Still glaring, Satoru drank his glass of juice as the server lit their grilling pan. The tension must have been really obvious that the server looked worried that a pair of 12-year olds might burn each other. Probably even questioning why two minors were allowed to eat alone in a yakiniku.

But Obito had turned to the server slightly, flashing an apologetic small smile, enough to ease the server and have them leave the room.

Satoru scoffed, rolling his eyes at him. Obito really doesn’t make any sense right now and it’s reminding Satoru a lot of that one lowest moment he’d been in.

Satoru never liked that moment.

Still don’t.

Trying not to dwell on that thought, Satoru picked up one of the tongs and placed all of the Karubi and Harami in the net grill. 

“The Uchiha was a clan where practically everyone with the bloodline is capable of getting these eyes, the Sharingan.” Obito suddenly continued, now pulling away from the table and crossing his arms as he straightened up. He looked at Satoru dead in the eyes as he spoke. “So, Satoru, while I did come from an elite clan and donned powerful eyes — I was not unique. Like I said, I was a nobody. Where most of my cousins got their eyes from 4 to 8 years of age, I was considered a latebloomer and got mine at 13. My birth didn’t make a difference in that world. I was a disgrace to the Uchiha, and nobody expected anything out of me.”

“Why would that matter now? Seriously!” Satoru groaned, feeling the urge to break something— Maybe even choke his brother until he stops spouting bullshit. Can’t he see Satoru’s busy cooking at the moment? “You got your eyes as an infant this time, isn’t that practically breaking records? Bet no one from that clan ever had an infant open its eyes and suddenly be met with the Mangekyo.”

Obito looks up, just responding with a non-commital hum again. It’s like Satoru’s words just go inside one ear and immediately out the other!

“You know, at first I took everything in a stride. I didn’t mind if everyone didn’t believe in me. For a long time, I strived to become someone who will make a change and become this person everyone wouldn’t doubt ever again.” Obito finally tilts his head down, lips turning slightly upturned when he notices the beefs were starting to become burnt on one side. 

“Well, that was the dream. It became impossible at some point so I decided to switch tactics. If someone like me couldn’t achieve that dream, nobody else probably could with their own either. So I wanted to give everyone the means to do so. Achieving their individual dreams, that is.”

Satoru stared at him, ears ringing.

The beefs were getting burnt, smoke sizzling out at being on one side for too long.

Obito decided to turn it himself, but he kept on talking and talking.

“The world was too cruel for people like me to even survive past our 20s. Prodigies could live past their 30s, but eventually, they’ll be put on a mission that would become their grave. Being a child isn’t an excuse, especially if you're born a prodigy. Eventually, they’ll also be put in the front lines. If they’re strong enough, they live for another day and will be given another mission. And if they die, then they’ll just be a name on the long list of the fallen.”

Satoru’s hands twitch. He wants out of this conversation.

But Obito’s gaze fixed him on his spot. Why why why— 

Satoru turned up the fire, uncaring if the fire flared past the net grill.

Uncaring of the fact that the beef is already half-cooked, probably even cooked enough already.

“I would know. That’s what happened to me, after all.” Using the second tongs available, Obito took out all the beef to an empty serving plate. He started adding another batch after, not changing the intensity of the grill’s fire. 

Red meets intense blue, the latter’s eyes turning even more furious as it looks ghastly.

“Shut up.”

Obito kept talking and the fire was still ablaze.

“Stop talking. Please. Not like—”

“Please, Obito.” Satoru sobbed out, not knowing when the tears had started falling. “Stop talking. Stop sounding like you— like you would—”

“Like what, Satoru?” Obito still asked, cruel in his tone as it sounded so cold and distant— Satoru can’t handle any of this—

“Like you’ll leave! You talk like you’re gonna disappear later or tomorrow! Like I’m gonna be alone in this world again and I’d have to go through everything alone again!” Satoru rasped out, curling his lower half to his chest as he broke down. “I’m sick of it! Why— Suguru left. He left and I was all alone, and now you’re leaving me too! Why is it always like this?! Why give me a second chance at life if I can’t even get you two to stay and be alive at all?!”

“Did I die, too?”

“You always die.” The words came out in a broken whine, the smell of another burnt meat surrounded the air. “Always. At the start of it all. I didn’t even know you existed until I— Until I turned back…! I grew up alone and bearing every expectation until he appeared. But that was short-lived, too, because he left.”

“Hn…” The strong heat of fire dissipated, and Satoru could sense that Obito just lowered the intensity of it. The sound of tongs started taking the burnt food, but separating it on a different platter this time. It’s not something they can eat anymore.

Obito didn’t add a batch after.

“I was always on my own, so when I found out about you, I did everything I could to keep you alive.” Satoru confesses, peeking out of his arms to look at the now empty grill. “You died before we were born, so I gave you back the soul we shared as twins. Then she— that woman killed you, because they want me to be at my fullest. I thought I really lost you then. I thought I would always be fated to be alone, but you came back. And you were whole. You were still you, Obito. So, don’t say you’re not my brother. I don’t care if you… if your soul came from somewhere. The fact that it’s still the same soul means that you will always be my brother.”

“Is that really enough for you, Satoru?”

Satoru snapped his head up with a glare, expression firm as he answered with resolution.

“You’ll always be my brother, Obito. Even if you look different or if you’ve changed — as long as it’s still the same soul, you’ll always be my brother. I’ll always know if it’s still you. If you’re still alive. I…” Satoru looks down at his hands clutching the ends of his sweater. He can see the tears that have dropped down and still are. 

“I… I didn’t know what to do when you died so suddenly, Toru. The third time, when we were 5. It was so sudden and your soul was barely still on your body. I thought… I thought I’d lose you for real that time.” Satoru shuts his eyes close when the memories of that year flashed. He really didn’t want to remember that point of his life, as little as he could remember from that time already. “Please don’t die again, Obito. You dying scares me so much because I genuinely don’t know what to do— what I would do if you were to really die next time!”

Satoru flinched when a palm dropped on his head. He looked up to his side, he didn’t hear how Obito had moved to sit down next to him. He made sure to sit as close as he could, their shoulders touching.

Satoru was unaware how much he had wanted Obito next to him until Satoru found himself dropping his head on Obito’s shoulders. Wanting to bury himself deeper there if he could, Obito would probably let him try with that technique of his.

Obito didn’t say anything anymore. 

He just sat there, moving his palm from Satoru’s head to his back and rubbed it soothingly. Satoru’s breathing evened out that way.

Satoru glanced at the table, seeing the half-burnt food Obito set aside and the terribly burnt ones on the far end of the table.

He reached out, grabbed the plate of the half-burnt ones, and ate it.

It left a bitter, charcoal taste. But he could always pair it with the side dishes and dip it in sauce.

“Does this mean you won’t leave, Tobi?”

“Hn.” 

Finally, Satoru understood Obito’s clipped words again.

“Time travel, huh?”

“It’s more like being reborn again than that, anyway. It’s you who travelled dimensions here.”

Satoru mellowed out since that yakiniku lunch.

He’s told Obito a lot about his previous life, there was a lot but he was specifically cagey around this one person.

Suguru.

Satoru never spoke of his name since yakiniku. Not even when Obito specifically asked about him.

When Satoru always looks like he’s about to clam out, Obito drops the subject of Suguru entirely.

Back at yakiniku, Obito’s entire plan was really just to overwhelm Satoru enough that he’d feel subjected to telling his own story to make sense of Obito’s.

Was it a good plan? Definitely not.

He was specifically worried that it might break Satoru instead, and it did.

All because of that Suguru.

The man who left Satoru alone. Caused enough against his brother that he broke down for every sentence Obito uttered. That hadn’t been part of his plan. He didn’t mean to make Satoru feel like he regressed back into that life.

But he wanted to make Satoru spill his guts out and it worked with that direction. That didn’t mean Obito liked having to take advantage of it.

“I grew up alone and bearing every expectation until he appeared. But that was short-lived, too, because he left.”

Satoru didn’t need to say the bastard’s name for Obito to understand the context of those words.

Satoru had, at the very least, depended on that man ‘till the very end.

Maybe Obito’s irritation towards the faceless man is baseless and entirely biased, maybe even out of his character entirely to simply hate someone for someone.

But as he’s been trying to say, he’s a brother now. He’s learned to lean on another and to be leaned on by another. If that conviction of his didn’t shine out at yakiniku, then everyone else is blind to Obito’s sacrifices.

Sure, maybe next time, Obito could plan out a better approach without needing to accidentally bring out unresolved trauma for his brother and having to just bounce with it — because what else could he do when it worked? 

But anyway, he’ll make sure to never step on that landmine named Suguru ever again. Maybe even make sure it won’t even turn into a landmine in the first place, or, hm, again?

Whatever.

The first step should be to never think of that name again.

Right now, he needs to focus on a more pressing matter.

“Don’t make me go into a separate house entirely, Toru.”

“No way! I’ll just follow you!”

“Satoru!” Obito shouts at him, really tempted to strangle him and lock him inside his Kamui Dimension this time. “Sleep in your own bed!”

“NO! I wanna sleep next to you!”

Satoru has fucking abandonment issues.

He’s still scared that Obito will be gone by the time he wakes up.

“You need to sleep on your own bed eventually, Satoru.” 

Satoru’s eyes immediately welled up with tears, but Obito knows enough now that it’s fake.

“Tobi’s leaving me again!” He cried out, wailing as he clutched one of the pillows in Obito’s bed. “Tobi doesn’t like me anymore! He’s sick of me!”

“I will be if you don’t move your ass out of my own bed!” Obito flared out, pulling at Satoru’s feet to get him off the bed, but the white-haired boy clutched onto side frames that made it difficult. “I swear to God, Toru— I WILL lock you into a different room if you don’t move! I’ll leave you there for an entire day!”

“So cruel! Tobi, you’re even cruel to your own brother! This is abuse! Kidnapping!” Satoru kicks his feet, trying to slip it away from Obito’s hold, but the latter just grips it even more tightly.

“Grow up, Toru, we’re THIRTEEN already! Thirteen! —”

“That was just last month—”

“If you don’t sleep on your own bed, Satoru, I WILL go sleep in a place where you can't even get to.” 

Satoru laughed out a confident huff, “Ha! Like that place exists. I still know how to teleport, though I haven’t tested it yet. But there’s no way I won’t be able to find—”

“Do you want to test it out?”

Satoru froze at Obito’s challenging stare and tone, Sharingan now flaring red with the tomoes immediately swirling into his Mangekyo.

“No.” Satoru uttered, tone disbelieving. “No way — it’s true? My different-space-theory is true?! Your body actually travels into a different space when a part of you is intangible?!”

“Kamui Dimension.”

“A dimension?!” Satoru looked excited now, standing up from the bed entirely to hound Obito. “It’s not just a vast, empty pocket space? Can you walk around there or do you just float endlessly? Wait— does everything you use Kamui on end up there?!”

“Satoru.” Obito interrupts him, letting out a tired sigh. “I’m currently threatening you, in case you’ve already forgotten. Time works the same there, and I will sleep in my dimension if you keep on being a brat.”

Satoru sputtered, “Wha— That’s not fair! I wanna see your dimension!”

Without using his words, Obito pointed to the bed on the other side of their wide room. It’s already 20:30, which is already way past Obito’s preferred bed time. The shift in his schedule is already making him cranky. And he loves his brother, truly, but Obito has his limitations when dealing with Satoru’s non-existing ones.

“From now on, we’re sleeping in different beds. And I don’t want to hear any objections, Toru.” Obito dictates, his tone marking it as an end-of-discussion kind of thing. “If I wake up with you on my bed, I’m sleeping in a different room. If you still persist, I’m gonna escalate on sleeping in my Kamui Dimension entirely.”

Satoru face slumps defeatedly, looking at Obito with a broken-hearted stare like a kicked puppy.

Obito has long been immune to it, so he pushes Satoru to his own bed and settles him into it himself. He tucks the still pouting Satoru over the thick comforter, closing blue eyes manually out of pure pettiness, and closes the light before laying down on the bed himself.

There’s only a few battles Satoru has won over Obito, and majority of those is only because the latter gives it to him willingly.

It was finally quiet, and Obito was leaning into that feeling of sleep.

Except until Gojo Satoru spoke up, of course.

“Does that mean my favourite toy keyboard is in there?”

“Goddamnit, Toru.”

“A… gunbai, sir?”

Obito nods, handing the cursed weapon seller with the sketch notes of the weapon. “I figured someone in the past probably already made a weapon like this, though I suspect it’s not the way I’d prefer it to be. So it’s better to just find something that fits the size and just rework the cursed technique woven into the weapon.”

It’s in the middle of Spring in April, and Obito decided that it's time to gather useful tools. The Gojo Clan had been associated with this cursed weapon seller for generations now, and currently, the family is residing in the boundary between Shinjuku and Shibuya. They run their cursed tool shop in the guise of antique sellers to the non-shaman people, only few know about the family’s location since they’re one of the few best sellers.

The old man, fingers trembling at being in the presence of a Gojo heir, looks over the sketched paper. It has a well-detailed overview of the gunbai weapon Madara lent him to use, the Gunbai Uchiwa. The huge black and white non-folding fan passed down between Uchiha clansmen for generations.

Given the history of the sorcerers in this world, it’s not far-fetched to think that someone has already made a curse tool out of a gunbai — sumo is also part of the many foundations that sorcerers built upon their ways, specifically about their understanding on domains.

“This is… a fine idea for a weapon, Gojo-sama.”

“Call me Obito. There’s two of us, after all.”

“Then— Obito-sama. As I said, however, these specifications would require a wood that’s been imbued with cursed energy.” The cursed weapon seller says truthfully.

Obito thinks about it deeper. “Huh, right… It can't be a gunbai if it’s not made of wood. It would be difficult to carry and parry it around if it were made of metal, too…”

The cursed tool seller have access to the underworld where they also sell weapons and buy ones that are requested from them. 

“It will be possible for us to create one, however, the process of creating a specialised cursed tool will take years to finish. That’s not even mentioning the time it will take to find the perfect wood to use, of which we have no idea where to find one.” The old man explains. “Metal is the only material to have consistent successful results when imbuing cursed energy and techniques as it can be molded to the desired form of both. Wood, however, still proves to be a challenge even today since cursed energy does not cling easily to plants compared to other living organisms.”

“I should’ve started my search years ago, then.” Obito sighs in regret. “It’s fine. I’ll leave it up to you for now to keep on finding other ways. I really want to get a weapon like that.”

There’s no other reason for Obito, really. He just finds the gunbai weapon more useful and familiar since he spent more time training with it to perfect Madara’s moveset. It’s not like he was attached to the weapon or anything. 

Maybe a little.

Sue him, Obito likes unique weapons.

“I’ll search around for a weapon like this, I will also ask around if there’s any special trees in the talk, Obito-sama.” The old man promises, shoulders losing its tension when he determines that Obito won’t be throwing a fit at his failure. “Is there anything else I could get for you?”

“Yeah, it’s on this list. Make sure they’re above Grade 2-level. But if it’s lower, explain to me the technique imbued in the weapon and I’ll consider if it’s still worth it.” Obito hands him a list, shrugging. “Can’t always judge a tool’s usefulness by its grade.”

The old man looks startled at this, not expecting such words to come out of a great clan’s Head of all people. In the end, he barks out a good-hearted laugh. “That, I agree, sir. I’ll make sure to get you the best, then, Obito-sama.”

Obito gives him a small smile, nodding. “Good to hear that. I’ll try searching around for any tree like the one you said the Gunbai will need.”

He turns around, hand waving off.

Stepping out of the veil that surrounded the cursed weapon store’s door, he sees Satoru looking at a gaudy antique vase holding two crepes with the strawberry flavoured one already bitten in the corners. 

As soon as he steps out of the veil, blue eyes immediately honed in on him with a smile. “Tobi! You done?”

“Yeah. I think the other weapons will be easy to gather, but obtaining a gunbai will be difficult.” Obito shrugs, taking the tiramisu flavoured crepe from him. “Are these from the shop in Takeshita street?”

The two exit the shop entirely, stepping into the streets of Shinjuku.

“Yep! There was a long line, too. Good thing I went ahead earlier.” Satoru tells him, happily eating the crepe with a spoon now that both his hands are free. “And I told you so about the gunbai. I don’t think I’ve even heard about a weapon like that before, not even from the other clans.”

“Well, it’s still possible. We just have to find a tree imbued with enough cursed energy.”

Satoru gives him a perplexed look. But pondered on it after a second. “Hmmmm….”

Obito turns to him, eyebrow propping up as he mouths a spoonful of cream and tiramisu from the crepe.

Satoru snaps his fingers suddenly, lightbulb lighting up as an idea comes. “We could always try getting one ourselves!”

“You mean giving a tree our own cursed energy?” Obito asks just to confirm. “Sounds explosive.”

“Nah!” Satoru waves him off, “Yoyogi Park should be near! We can enter through Kitasando Torii, so it should be just a few minutes walk. There’s lots of trees for testing there!”

“Toru, I am not committing deforestation with you.” Obito felt the need to state. With Satoru, you really need to say your boundaries, not that he’d care about it anyway.

“You make it sound like we’re actually gonna be exploding trees.”

“Aren’t we?”

Satoru wrinkled his nose at him in disbelief. “We know our limits. How hard can imbuing trees with cursed energy be?”

Turns out, it was practically impossible.

“RAAAAAAA!!” 

Satoru has been screaming at the tree for 3 minutes now, Obito counted. He’s been pumping cursed energy into it to no avail. 

“Try cursing it to hell, Toru!” Obito inquired, sitting on the grass. He also tried his own way earlier, surrounding the tree with cursed energy continuously. But the energy didn’t even leave a residue on the tree, sliding off of it seamlessly.

Satoru slumps in defeat, giving up and releasing the small veil he put up around them. “It’s no use. The curse should come from the heart or pure hatred, and I’m only feeling pure irritation towards every tree right now.”

Obito watches the black veil go down, the afternoon sun lighting the area again. The incantation was already taught to them years ago, along with other techniques that the only specific members of the clan are allowed to know. 

Satoru had explained that some techniques are coveted by other clans out of the desire to overthrow or prove themselves better, so great clans always keep their own unique techniques a guarded secret as much as they could.

Not much different from the Shinobi world, really. So Obito can understand the prospect of it.

“Tobi…” Satoru whined, walking over to Obito with his shoulders hanging low. He ends up burying himself into Obito with a hug. “I’m hungry.”

‘Again?’ Obito wants to ask, they just ate some crepes after all. But then again, Satoru is quite the glutton for sweets in the first place, and he just used cursed energy fruitlessly. 

“What should we get now, then?” Obito hums, patting his back.

Regardless, they can always indulge themselves in anything they want. They’re kids. The world won’t explode if they accidentally overdose on sugar.

“...Takoyaki.”

“Okay. Harajuku should have one of the best ones, right? Let’s just walk through the path leading to the street’s exit.” Obito grasps Satoru’s hand, pushing him to stand straight again and starts leading them.

Satoru follows suit, looking up as the sakura petals drop from the trees.

The world they were in now was a lot denser than the Shinobi world Obito remembers. Here, there are more languages to learn and a lot more race of nations Obito had a hard time grappling his mind around. 

It took some time for Obito to learn the general language that is ‘English’, the language he learned alongside Braille. But learning it was interesting enough. It sounded foreign and weird whenever he spoke the language, but Satoru assures him that he actually sounds more natural compared to any other Japanese speaker.

Hmm…

His mind really likes to dwell on unimportant matters.

“Tobi.” Satoru finally spoke up, his quietness is why Obito’s mind is so random. “What are your plans for the future?”

Obito tilts his head at him at the sudden question, but he answers nonetheless. “We’re gonna be sorcerers and help those students of yours in the future.”

“Disregard our plans to save the world for now.” Satoru shakes his head, their walk slows down but they keep trudging on. “I just mean… is being a sorcerer what you want? Or do you want to keep being the Clan Head?”

“Well… not really? For either.” Obito answers truthfully, he’s had this thought before. “Striving to be a sorcerer is a familiar goal, the necessity of it. And being the clan head is a role that we can’t just hand over. Better be us than anyone else, y’know?”

Satoru hums, mouth splitting into a soft smile.

“My goal is still the same for me. I’ve told you before how corrupt the society of jujutsu is, and I plan to change that.” Satoru tells him in his rarest tone of solemnity. “I already started the shift by being more involved in clan matters. In the future, this will help in shaking the higher-ups.”

“Ah, the good old tales of overthrowing the government.” Obito huffed, though it’s not to deprecate Satoru. “Count me in, then. You know what could help you even more? A Prime Minister.”

At this, Satoru turns to him with a disbelieving stare and grin. “What? You? A Prime Minister?”

Obito shrugs, grinning. “Why not? You know in that life, my dream used to be the equivalent of wanting to be the next Prime Minister. And I could’ve had it, too!”

“Ah, yes. Through pure terrorism!” Satoru chidded in mirth, laughing. “Who would even vote for you? Good looks won’t be enough to win over the Japanese people, you know.”

“I can always just hypnotise them.” Obito snickers to himself, knowing that Satoru won’t understand just how possible his words are yet.

“Booo!!!” Satoru bellows, sticking out his tongue disapprovingly, “I’ll raise a revolution against you if that happens” 

“Over your own brother? How heartless.” Obito let out a fake heavy sigh, but straightened up suddenly when a spark jolted in his nerves. He turns, trying to search for the source. But no one’s around them, save for the few people in the lake a few kilometers away from them.

“Tobi? What’s wrong?” Satoru asks, suddenly alert when Obito starts looking around.

“I just felt something right now. Did you not feel it?”

There’s nothing wrong around them at all, and neither can sense a sorcerer or a curse user near them.

If anything, there’s just a huge tree a few steps away from them. A tree that doesn’t look the same as the other trees in Yoyogi Park.

Satoru looks up and points it out. “What kind of tree is bald in the middle of Spring?”

Obito turns to said tree. It was a huge one, multiple thick stems sprouting out of its middle. It’s so different from the clean, tall trees around it who have their own leaves falling from its branches. This one, though, is leafless. It doesn’t look alive, but it doesn’t look alive either.

There’s something weird with the tree.

Coming into a decision, Obito chanted. “Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure.”

Around the small area they’re on, the grey-coloured veil of Obito’s surrounded them. 

“You think we found your tree?” Satoru inquires.

“One way to find out.” Obito hypes himself up. He really hopes this tree would be the one, never mind the foreboding feeling at the back of his mind. He’s not wasting another few years searching for another tree for a weapon he really wants to hold soon.

What’s the worst that could happen with this tree, anyway?

He approaches the tree, Satoru following a few steps behind for good measure. Obito appreciates the gesture, maybe he should really listen to that nagging feeling?

Too late, he’s already decided to touch the foreboding tree, touching it with a curse energy-coated hands and what do you know— the tree actually takes it!

Red eyes equally meet wide blue ones at the realisation. They found it!

“Should I also give it mine?” Satoru asks, talking about cursed energy to give the tree.

Obito shakes his head, “Mine should be enough. Our curse energy might clash and make it difficult for a technique to be imbued by the weapon artisan.”

Satoru shrugs, “True.”

Obito continues to pump his cursed energy, and it’s almost like the tree is taking it hungrily. It’s weird and somewhat… familiar. But the tree hasn’t done anything outside of just soaking itself with cursed energy. Once Obito gives it enough cursed energy for the entire thing to feel like a Grade 2 curse, he stops and moves to step back.

Actually…

“Now that I think about it, wouldn’t everyone in the blackmarket want a piece of this?” Obito asks, remembering how rare the phenomena should be.

“If we sell it, yeah. It’ll be a few billion yen for a kilogram.” Satoru supplies, thinking it over.

“Ugh, too cheap. I’ll keep it to myself, thanks.” Obito grins, using Kamui on the entire tree— dirt, stems, and all— and transporting it to his Kamui Dimension.

The veil around them drops as Obito wants it to be done, the two walking away from the now empty wide patch of ground.

“Should we eat first or do you want to check out the tree in the dimension now?” Obito asks, talking over the curious questions of people now noticing the mess they left behind without care. It’s not deforestation if they just took out one tree!

“Tobi, I want to be full before I explore your dimension!”

That had been a bad idea for Satoru.

“WOAH! Kamui feels like spinning around continuously, it’s so different from my instant transmission!” 

“You don’t teleport?”

“Nah, I just let people think that. I just move really fast in a clear path, like— point A to point B in 0.000000000000000000000001 seconds.”

“That’s a lot of zeroes.”

“Thanks, it’s my favourite number— wait, is that a literal arm?! Why is it still bleeding?!”

“Toru, focus. I need you to separate this much from the tree—”

“And my keyboard is actually here! And my blankie! Seriously?! Tobi, why the fuck is there a bed here already?! I thought you—”

“Tree. This much. Separate it now.”

“Fine! There! Now answer me, I thought you said you won’t—”

“Thanks. Let’s go.”

“Wait! NO— TOBI!”

The old man’s heart nearly combusts in itself when a thick log of tree drops in front of him, just as he was closing both his shops for the day.

Then two 13 year-old materialised out of nowhere, the air in front of them swirling out their form. The white-haired boy, Gojo Satoru, clutches his head in a dizzied manner, his left hand held by the black-haired boy, Gojo Obito.

“I found the tree you asked for.” Obito motions to the log, and he wasn’t lying. Even from afar, the log held essences of cursed energy.

“Goodness.” The old man clutches at his heart, not knowing what to focus on. The presence of the Six Eyes holder? The pressure of being in the twins' curse energy together? The existence of a tree successfully imbued by a strong cursed energy? Or the way they all appeared out of thin air?

Obito takes his reaction in stride, now walking out of the shop and leading a disoriented Satoru. “Thanks, old man! I’ll make sure to add extra when I wire you the payment!”

It’s in moments like this that the old man misses Kenya.

Chapter Text

The months leading up to their 14th birthday was… interesting, to say the least.

Dare he say, it’s the most eventful year they’ve had since becoming a pair of signature machines as the twin Gojo clan heads. Why there’s still so much work, Obito doesn’t have a fucking clue. Often, he wonders if it's the same experience as being the Hokage, but he lets go of the idea as it forms — He’s far from that life now.

It’s a never ending mantra.

The weapons Obito ordered arrived a week after visiting the shop. It’s only a short list since he already got some of what he needed from the Gojo clan’s weapon vaults.

There were those Unbreakable Chains just sitting in an interrogation room of the clan. The use of the tool is reflected in the name itself, the technique is imbued on the 3-metered chain to be unbreakable by any kind of strength and pressure put against it. But outside of that durability, the tool cannot be used to kill curses.

In a world where a tool’s usefulness is determined by how well it can be used to purge demons, Unbreakable Chain was given a measly Grade Three rank tool. If only the chains could immobilise curse energies, it would’ve jumped up a few more ranks.

But that didn’t matter. When paired with Obito’s Kamui, it’s perfect. Who cares if it’s a one-trick move? If anything, it’s a sure-hit move.

He got the weapon without much resistance. It’s not the only kind of binding the clan has in their vaults, anyway.

Katanas were in huge numbers in the vault assigned with different grades. They didn’t fight him much when he took half a dozen Grade Twos and Semi-Grade Ones, but they did try to go against him taking one of the Special Grades — though this is to be expected.

The Second Sun Blade. A one-of-a-kind weapon uniquely imbued of positive cursed energy, this fact immediately puts the tool into the category of Special Grade. 

The weapon was made during the Marumachi Period, the ‘golden age’ of Japanese culture when it comes to multiple arts while also being known for being one of the most turbulent and violent eras due to its own civil war. The holder of the then-Grade-Three weapon was a lower ranked Gojo clan member. 

He knew nothing about fighting, but participation in wars was mandatory for every man of age at the time. The weapon’s technique lies in its ability to copy the swing the user did, creating a delayed follow up of the same attack 1 second later made up entirely of cursed energy. The power lies in the user’s strength, of course, which the man didn’t have much of.

He was a pacifist in the era of constant war. The man reminds Obito of a certain distant cousin from another life, but he digresses.

After witnessing a multitude of deaths from multiple sides of the war, the man unexpectedly learns Reverse-Cursed Technique. He heals those that he could, and he actually became quite the war hero that’s even mentioned in non-shaman histories. The clan made sure to leave out any inkling of jujutsu in some portions.

The katana was always in his person, keeping it close for his own protection. But due to his constant use of RCT, the weapon was constantly exposed to the energy as the man improved his control on the technique. The man never used his weapon against someone since he became a healer in the battlefield, but after his death, it was only then that the Clan found out what became of his weapon and thus named it Second Sun Blade.

The thing is, not everyone can use the weapon. One must be already attuned to using positive energy to be able to wield it without causing drawbacks to oneself.

Unfortunately, Obito does not know how to perform RCT, even with Satoru trying to explain the mechanics and the trick to him. This is one of the counter-arguments the clan has made against him taking the special-grade tool.

Fortunately though, Satoru told him of a girl who has the best aptitude for the technique. Someone who will eventually be their classmate in less than 2 years.

By how Satoru explains the technique, there’s an 80% probability of Obito being able to copy the technique upon witnessing it with his Sharingan. The 20% is due to his own scepticism that RCT is just the same as a shinobi’s Medical jutsu— which is something Obito hadn’t been able to replicate ‘till the day he died.

It’s either that, or Obito putting himself in a difficult situation and desperately trying Satoru’s way. There’s at least the experience of healing through Hashirama cells that can help with muscle memory.

“Unless you can guarantee that you can learn Reverse-Cursed Technique, we cannot hand you the Second Sun Blade, Obito-sama.” Ryōsuke, the council member assigned with handling the weapons vaults, said to Obito. His tone has long lost its edge when talking to Obito, character development and all that schtick.

Transferring of cursed weapons to Obito’s care is held over a meeting with other council members. While the majority still holds reservations against Obito’s continued existence, there’s been less talk of getting him to step down from his role in the clan.

There’s merit in Obito’s consistency when it comes to his role as a clan head. Between the twins, the council members begrudgingly agree Obito handles clan matters better than Satoru. But they only say that because Satoru’s investments in some company stocks aren’t bearing fruit yet. Obito calls him out on it for being a cheat, but who even cares at this point?

That aside, Obito wants to get his hands on that weapon. Does he need the technique and positive energy it comes with? Not really. Does he just want it for its special-grade status? Absolutely. There’s a difference between making a weak weapon look cool, and wielding a weapon that’s already cool.

He wants to achieve both at all times.

“How about a duel for the weapon?”

If there’s a fact Obito doesn’t doubt that all the great clans share, it’s in their traditional belief to solve everything through a duel.

Ryōsuke considers the preposition, but shakes his head after much consideration. “You must understand, Obito-sama, the exchange needs to match your prize.”

“I’ll fight blind if need be.” Obito challenges rather off-handedly. He never skips out of physical training, nor did he ever consider not having to fight without his Sharingan someday. Madara was unfortunately a good mentor.

“Put him up against five men!” Satoru piped up, snickering snidely towards the other council members present. “Not that he’d lose that anyway. Honestly, is there even a use to debating this? Just give it to him! If you need a Clan Head’s signature excluding his, he has mine.”

Satoru knows better, of course. But it’s not like he’s wrong either. The procedure of handing a Semi-Grade One tool or higher to someone is a long procedure written in the laws of Jujutsu Society. Everything must be written in accordance to the rules, down to the intentions and missions it was used in for documentation. Even lending a high ranked tool for a single day requires 3 days to process.

This is needed to make sure the weapon won’t be hoarded by other clans or fall into possession by the Jujutsu higher-ups entirely. There’s also the fact that the weapon is used to its potential and not let the technique put upon it be altered by improper use.

They’ve covered the assurances from Obito of his means to store the weapon, and while astonished at his usage of displacing the weapons to his Kamui Dimension, there’s still the matter of lending him the special-grade tool. They’ve been discussing this for a week now, and even with the twins adding more in the challenge Obito proposed, their council is still not agreeing to the exchange.

“Three years.”

All gaze turned to Obito once more when he spoke.

“Within three years, I give you my word that I will learn Reverse-Cursed Technique. For my own assurance, the weapon will be handed to me.” Obito offers up a palm when multiple mouths open to refute, “To make sure the weapons will be put to good use, I will allow myself to be sent to missions from now on. Collaborate with the Headquarters, if need be, but I will still be attending Jujutsu Tech after turning 15.”

Satoru was the first to react.

“What?! If you’re going on missions, I’ll go, too!”

Obito shakes his head, “I’ll allow you to come, but you can’t participate, Toru. This is my exchange, and it does not include you since you’re already capable of Reverse-Cursed Technique.”

“So just let the weapon be put under my care, then! I’ll just lend it to you, let you put it in your dimension.”

“Inside thoughts, Toru.” Obito chided him lightly, intending to joke when several council members sputtered at his brother’s plan. “We need to heed with the rules, remember? And the papers we’d need to write on whenever you lend it to me is exhausting. Owning it myself is much easier.”

Satoru pouts, disappointment clear on his face as he crosses his arms against his chest. “They’ll work you to the bone, you know.”

“We knew that was already bound to happen regardless of when.” Onito lowers his tone as the council members discuss to themselves about Obito’s offer.

The chatter of adults die down and the Elder of the highest position in the clan besides the twins meets Obito’s gaze head on. Makoto is the only one with a still unwavering stance against Obito’s continued existence.

“Your proposal is unanimously accepted. You will be given missions twice a week. You will work your way up to Second Grade missions and your rank will follow along as you clear those missions.”

Obito huffs, feeling a bit insulted. “That won’t work for my already busy schedule. I still have my classes and commitments as Clan Head. Make it once a week and put me into a Semi-Grade One immediately. Make use of the entire day with multiple missions, if you want.”

“I still don’t like this.” Satoru voices his displeasure, brows frowning deeper as he sulks.

Obito tries to give him a reassuring grin, it does nothing to placate his brother.

So that’s how Obito managed to get his way with the clan’s weaponry. 

As for the weapons he ordered from Kamau, the cursed weapon seller old man with distant ancestry to sorcerers from Kenya, the tools were the more uncommon ones and can only be found in the underworld’s secret auctions.

He got his Kama from him, an unnamed semi-grade one weapon. It's dull and has no sharp edge at all, but its saving grace is that he can change its size to his liking as long as he imbues it with his cursed energy. If he connects its chain with his future beloved Gunbai, he bets he can take advantage of the curse energy he put in that wood.

After all, a wrecking ball has no sharp edges, but it still does its job to kill, no?

He can’t let go of old habits so he also got himself a bunch of kunais and shurickens, the only ones he allows in the note to be low graded.

And finally, the one weapon he has no prior experience with but has been eyeing for a long while — a scythe. Lover’s Oath. A long scythe, too long for his still growing body but will definitely be the perfect height for when he grows past 2 meters, black simple rod for the handle and its ‘knife’ a bloody red in colour and silver on its edge.

Its technique is interesting and complicated, but he has the missions to test out all the mechanics for it.

His missions were scheduled for every Saturday, and for the few weeks so far, it wasn’t so bad to add to his schedule. 

Satoru tags along on some, entering the veil and watching close as Obito tests out his synergies with his new weapons.

He gets the average of 3 missions for the day, the amount depending on the mission’s rank. Two missions if it’s both semi-grade one, 3-4 if there’s grade 3s or 4s mixed in since the Jujutsu government is so understaffed.

“They are sooo overworking you, Tobi.”

Satoru enters through the veil just as the fight between Obito and the curse nears its end.

Obito drops an enlarged Kama to a Grade two curse in the form of an overly large puffer fish out of water. He jumps on the inner edge of the weapon to drive the other blunt deeper again and again, each force heavier than the one before until the curse deflates from its flailing and dies from being squashed in half.

“Not when I find the process entertaining.” Obito replies, fixing his hakama after jumping off of the still enlarged Kama. He grabs hold of the tool and manipulates it back to its original form before he places it back to Kamui Dimension. “That’s the last one for today. What do you want to do for the rest of the day, Toru?”

The sun’s heat is at its peak in the middle of August. Usually, Satoru would goad him into getting the nearest ice cream shop and follow that up with snow cones. And then for the heck of it, maybe even visit the ice skating rink open either in Tokyo or Edogawa.

“Let’s go to the beach.”

Obito blinks up at him, tilting his head as he looks around them. The veil has fully dropped now that he exorcised the threat, and the sun shines on dirty tiles and equipment.

“Is it because we’re in an abandoned pool park?”

Satoru glares at him, still pouting as he leads them to an assigned manager’s car. “No. The sun is hot and you’re exhausted. You haven’t taken an actual break in months. We’re going to the beach to get you to decompress.”

A teasing grin sneaks its way out of Obito’s expression, he really meant to look more grateful.

“D’aww, Toru, were you planning on that for a while now?”

Satoru sniffs, wearing the skin of a nonchalant brother. “I already have our room booked for a resort. It’s for 2 days and 3 nights to get the full experience.”

Obito stopped in his tracks and didn’t move to enter the car when Satoru opened the door for him. Red turned to Blue, eyeing the latter sternly. “We have classes on Mondays.” 

“I informed them we won’t be available in advance, duh.” Satoru rolls his eyes, pushing Obito into the car now. “It’s just some advanced calculus —which I know you don’t like to some degree— and history lessons about how much the Fujiwara sucks and Sugawara rules. And there’s that archery, but we already passed that the moment we stacked arrows on top of our teacher’s shots.”

“I like archery.”

“Say that again once you show me a bow and arrow in your arsenal, Tobi.”

Obito actually finds archery boring.

They enjoy the beach anyway and Satoru got his mementos of Obito fried red under the sun, falling asleep on a bench with no shade.

They spend their 14th birthday within Kyoto.

It’s not something they like to do on such an occasion. But for this age, they decide to spend it in their hometown because they know the following years would take them far from Kyoto. Aside from resolving Clan issues, it’s unlikely they’ll be visiting much while studying at Jujutsu Tech anyway.

Obito had been swamped by missions upon missions that’s been recently borderlining between Grade One and Special-Grade kind of curses. There’s been a lot of miscalculations recently, and even Obito took note that the curses seem to randomly get stronger during missions.

Satoru has the theory that it’s because of Obito, an anomaly connecting itself to his existence yet again.

He explains that the issue already existed the first time around, even when it was just Satoru. The world tried to balance the powerscale that Satoru tipped and empowered the curses — making it possible for highly intelligent curses with minds on par with humans to exist.

Obito’s existence with a whole soul and cursed energy comparable to Satoru’s might’ve tipped the scales yet again, and the universe’s meddling is bearing faster now when it took a while in Satoru’s time for the scales to cause problems.

That aside, they plan on going to the carnival opening for a week that starts on the very day of their birth. Since it starts at 17:00, they agree on eating an hour before, just near the street so they can be there before the rest of the crowd peaks after dinner time.

They give their usual petty gifts to each other (A bow cursed weapon for Obito who hates the sport and orange goggles for Satoru who simply hates on anything out of his style), once the items are safely tucked in Obito’s dimension, they eat their fill of unlimited sushi, the restaurant to singing them a birthday song with two separate slice of cakes (they just wanted to try the birthday promo), and now they’re trying out booths after booths of rigged challenges.

They still won the majority of it.

Satoru catches the sixth goldfish in a row and the thin paper layer for the challenge hasn’t been touched wet at all. Kids were watching his cheating ass now, usage of infinity invisible and incomprehensible to their unawakened eyes.

“Alright!” Satoru stands over the gapping kids, holding his six prized goldfishes inside separate plastic on top of their little heads. “New challenge! The ones with the best candies to give me… gets a free goldfish! HA HAHAHA!”

The adults who watched the entire scene unfold shakes their heads in light-hearted exasperation as the kids offer all their candies like the goldfishes are worth their entire fortune. 

Obito stands to his left, pulling at his ears when he reacts a little too much towards a little girl who only had sour candies on her person. 

“I already ate all the sweet ones and I was saving these for a big brother…” she had pouted, “He likes sour candies more than sweet ones…”

“You’re so nice, chibi-chan.” Obito gives her a smile while pinching Satoru’s hand, making him let go of the last goldfish with an indignant yelp. He grabs it in seconds, handing it over to the kid after taking just one of the sour candies that looked a familiar brand to him. “This is enough, I also like sour candies, you know?”

The little girl’s eyes shine as she looks over the goldfish Obito had picked for her. It was actually quite a fat one compared to the other ones Satoru already handed out.

“Wait…” He could hear the furrow in his brows as Satoru ponders, “You never said you liked—”

Having known what he was going to say, Obito had opened the sour candy and pushed it into Satoru’s open mouth with his left hand, all without looking away from the kid and still smiling. “In fact, I think my brother loves it just as much as that big brother you’re saving it for!”

They ignore Satoru’s suffering at having been fed his worst nightmare; sour candies. His face jumps to different exaggerated expressions under Onito’s palm still clamped over his mouth, refusing to have it open up and let him spit the candy out.

“Mhnmm!! MHRNMM!!!!!!”

“Thank you, big brother!” The girl bows at him deeply, jumping at her step in her eagerness to go to someone and boast about the fish. She turns to Satoru who’s starting to turn jelly, “Thank you for winning the fish, big brother!”

Does she just call every man older than her ‘big brother?’

Obito watches the girl be out of sight, waving his other hand at her as she goes, before removing his palm over a defeated Satoru who definitely could’ve just used infinity against Obito’s attack.

“You’re the worst, Tobi.” Satoru cried, his tongue hanging out in an attempt to remove the taste of the candy. “I accidentally swallowed it, y’know?”

Obito taps his forehead, pushing lightly, “You were being too much.”

Still whining at his own demise, Satoru drops his head over Obito’s right shoulder. “I need candy apples to get rid of the taste, Tobi.”

“You’re just gonna eat off the sugar glaze and throw the rest of the apple, Toru.”

“I’ll feed it to the dogs! They’re good with fruits!”

Satoru was already leading them to the candy apple stand, maneuvering Obito while his head was still on the other’s shoulder. How Satoru knew where it exactly was, Obito still has no idea.

They were in line for the Ferris wheel that looked seriously dangerous, just the way Satoru likes it. He treats it like it's some extreme ride when the more deadly rollercoaster is just next to it.

They were already in the middle of the long line when Satoru remembered something, “Wait, smoothies and cotton candies! It won’t be a perfect Ferries Wheel ride without smoothies and cotton candies!”

Multiple heads swiveled their way at his sudden exclamation, not to mention what he’d just said.

“What the fuck kind of combination is that?” Obito would say if he hadn't been already used to Satoru’s weird tastes. The last time they were in line for the ferries wheel, Satoru wanted multiple dango sticks, crispy spiral potato sticks, and frozen slushies. It had been hell to just hold all the food together.

Instead, he lets out a sigh and like the best brother he is, he offers, “Stay here, Toru, I’ll get those.”

Satoru lights up like a Christmas tree, “You’re the best, Tobi!”

Obito shakes his head ducking out of the line as Satoru yells out the flavours. “Bubblegum cotton candy and strawberry smoothies! I WANT IT THREE TIMES SWEETER!!”

“Toru, don’t shout!! I’m literally just three-steps away!”

Some of the bored people in line laugh at the display, now noticing how interesting the twins are visually. Obito steps away from the murmurs before they evolve with him still around, trying to navigate the maze that is this entire fair.

Without Satoru’s weird accuracy in locating every kind of stand, Obito found himself a little lost. 

He spots the cotton candy stand easily, but decides to buy the snack last. It’s too sticky to hold for too long, and he’s not gonna walk around aimlessly holding the abomination while trying to find a milkshake stand.

There can’t be just a single stand for that to exist in this huge fair, can it?

By the third time he’s walked around the entire lane of food stands, he’s been asking around the vendors.

“If you go straight from here, I think it’s there.”

“This is a frappe stand. If you go left now, you’ll find it. Maybe.”

“Maybe juice is for you— oh. Well, if you just follow that line of people, it might be there.”

At that point, Obito is considering that maybe he’s been cursed. It’s not like him to be bad navigation — he’s never found himself lost!

He’s turning to a different lane at the farthest part of the stands when he felt a slight spike of cursed energy, like a sorcerer activating their technique. 

He looks around, fixing his haori in case a sorcerer recognises him. But what he pinpoints with his Sharingan instead falls onto a teen his age, medium length black hair wearing black long-sleeved sweater and dark green cargo pants. 

In his hand, he held a ball of swirling black and gold in colour, the item’s cursed energy similar to that of a cursed spirit, maybe a grade four curse generated from the little negativity the fair brings for some people.

“Alongside the girl with Reverse-Cursed Technique, there’s also this guy with Curse Spirit Manipulation. He needs to eat them to be able to use them. That’s all the classmates we’ll be getting!”

The memory of Satoru’s vague explanation of their future class resurfaces, and despite his lack of names, Obito could immediately tell the nostalgia and fondness that switched upon talking about the boy. Satoru only ever brings forth complicated emotions for one person in his previous time.

Obito’s expression darkens upon the realisation, unable to keep himself in check as he glared at the teen who now noticed his presence after swallowing the orb.

Suguru tilts his head, brows furrowing in slight insult at suddenly being subjective to negativity by a stranger. When Obito spots what he remembers to be Yaga approaching the teen, he promptly turns to his heels and walks away. He doesn’t want to further sour his mood on their birthday.

Masamichi sees the back of Gojo Obito leave the scene, seemingly in a bad mood after spotting the kid he’s recruiting.

Getō turns to him with a curious and worried expression, “Who was that? I think he just saw me use my technique.”

“That was Obito Gojo, he comes from one of the prominent clans in Jujutsu Society.” Masamichi informs him, “If you agree to my offer, you will be in the same year as him in 2005.”

“That’s bothersome. He looks like he hates me already.” Getō looks quite irate, remembering the red-eyed boy’s expression.

Masamichi sighs, but tries to reassure him. “I hear he’s actually quite professional on the job, so don’t worry about it too much, Getō-kun. He sounds more amicable compared to his twin brother when in the wild, at least.”

“There’s two of them??? You’re making me re-consider my decision, Yaga-san.”

Obito gets back to Satoru empty-handed. He was preparing his apology speech to Satoru when he spotted him out of the long-ass line.

Satoru was waving his hands annoyingly towards somewhere, tongue out in a sneer even when Obito approached him.

“What happened to riding the Ferris Wheel?”

Satoru turned to him scowling, clearly still irritated by something. “What took you so long? You just missed Naoya-kun and his annoying cousin.”

Obito clicked his tongue, quirking his brow up at him. “Why are you so annoyed? I got lost for some reason, couldn’t find your stupid smoothies.”

“Why are you looking so annoyed?” Satoru returned the question, noting the spike in his cursed energy.

Obito sighs a heavy breath, trying to calm himself. “Nothing. It’s just having to deal with stupid people. What happened to the Ferris Wheel?”

“Oh, don’t even get me started on that.” Satoru rolls his eyes, shaking his head in exasperation at the reminder. “Naoya was bitching like a spoiled brat about wanting to ride the Ferris wheel immediately, he wanted to skip the line and was having a fit with his cousin.”

“I’m guessing you made his night worse?” Obito asked dryly. Partners in crime as the twins were, even Obito thinks Satoru treats little Naoya too much whenever Naobito brings him along in some clan meetings.

“Tried to! I swear his cousin did something just before it was just getting good.” Satoru sighs dejectedly. “Multiple dogs started running through the line of people, tripping some, and then getting to the operator’s machines and did something that temporarily cut off power. They had to get the people off the ride and shut close because Naoya’s cousin shouted that he saw one of the dogs pee somewhere. They had to make sure the ride was still safe.”

“Were the dogs his?” Obito asks, looking around to see if there are some of those dogs wandering around but found none. The Ferris Wheel attraction closed all its light and the entire carnival seemed to dim without it.

“It’s weird, actually.” Satoru twitches his nose into a small scowl, thinking over it. “The dogs had the cursed energy of a shikigami, but normal people were able to see them! I’ve never seen that before — hell, I’ve never seen Naoya’s cousin before.”

“Have you even met all of Naoya’s brothers?” Obito shrugged at him, “Whether you met them or not, it’s not like the future will remain the same as it was when you’re acting differently and I’m here.”

Stubbornly, Satoru huffs and crosses his arms, “Still, I don’t like that guy. He looks like the type to be allergic to chocolates. People who can’t eat chocolate are bad. Don’t interact with those kinds of people, Tobi.”

Obito shakes his head with slight amusement in his expression, “Whatever you say, Toru.”

“I mean it, Tobi!”

A still 11-year old Naoya (he turns 12 in a few months!) glares at Gojo Satoru’s way as his cousin whisks him away from the annoying teen.

“He’s so annoying. I really don’t like that Gojo.” Naoya grumbles, following the strides of his cousin. Naoya was the one who wanted to experience going to a carnival — he was getting bored with how many lessons he’s been needing to take as the year he’ll be admitted to Kyoto Jujutsu Tech nears (It’s still 4 years away).

“Maa, Naoya-kun. You just have to remain unaffected by their shenanigans.” his 13-year old cousin tells him. His voice turning wise in Naoya’s ears, “They end up looking funny when they end up having to do the most ridiculous things just to get a reaction out of you.”

He’s seen his cousin treat the other clansmen in varying degrees of nonchalance and coolness. Ever since his cousin showcased his Cursed Technique, the elders were always keeping tabs on him, trying to get every detail on how his cursed technique works.

What they don’t know is that his cousin has a second technique he’s been practicing behind their backs. Naoya preened to being allowed to know this secret before anyone else.

They disappear in the cover of a milkshake stand, the booth shining so much with all the neon lights it had of ‘Milkshake here! Over here!’ signs. Only an idiot would miss the booth.

“I want watermelon.” Naoya decides on, trying to pull his older cousin towards the booth.

But his cousin remained on his spot, eyes smiling expectantly at Naoya. 

Naoya fumbles in his mind, wondering if he did something when he remembers.

“Please? Can I get the watermelon, please?”

A palm gently drops over natural dark hair, jostling the head lightly before fixing it. “Since Naoya-kun asked so nicely, we can even get some cotton candies to pair it with the milkshakes!”

Naoya made a face at that, “What kind of combination is that?”

His cousin shrugs, “‘dunno. I heard it from someone.”

They fall in line for the milkshake stand, there weren't much people now since the carnival is about to end for the night after the whole fiasco his cousin did with the Ferris wheel.

They already got their drinks and were walking towards the cotton candy stand when his cousin asked, “What’s the name of Gojo Satoru’s twin?”

“You should ask Father, ‘cause I don’t really care to know.” Naoya answers honestly. His cousin doesn’t deserve any lies. “They always call each other Toru and Tobi, so maybe his real name is Satobi.”

His cousin snorts, “That’s a possibility. Naoya-kun is so smart!”

Naoya lifts his nose in praise.

Kakashi-kun is really the best.

Chapter Text

Ieiri Shokō likes to think of herself as cool-headed. As a child, she was always praised for being calm and not fussy like the other kids her age.

She comes from a family of doctors and healers, rather than the general classification for sorcerers. Still, their family is somewhat connected to that secret society.

Her line of family (never sticking to one surname enough to be considered for a clan) don’t give birth to sorcerers capable of manipulating cursed techniques, instead, they bear sorcerers able to naturally generate positive cursed energy. This kind of child appears for every other generation, some jumping more in between.

There are other families like them, and Shokō is not that special in history books. Still, their affinities are a rarity in the secret society and are closely monitored by the higher-ups.

Ieiri Shokō was born just a generation after someone already lived to wield positive cursed energy. Apparently, this was the first since many centuries ago after the King of Curses made a dent in the shaman mortality rate. 

You’d think sorcerers would do everything in their power to multiply and improve their numbers since the apparent golden era. 1000 years is a long time—But no. Instead, they doubled down on making sure their prized techniques stay within the family and don't even entertain non-shamans mudding their generational genes.

Instead, they became obsessive with tweaking generations upon generations of sorcerers and trying to prove which clan actually won the genetic lottery.

The stain of this mindset carried on for years, and Shokō’s family is unfortunately or fortunately already thriving enough to be in on the millenia-old gossip. Enough so that it was passed down up to her generation.

Her family is the real gossip in this society. They know so much because of their status of being the most useful and protected in any generation — they hear a lot of sue-worthy gossip from every clan and they don’t give a shit about patient confidentiality as long as it’s only shared within the family, apparently.

For that to work and because of the family’s line of occupation, her family is a group of cool-headed people you’d like to meet. The kind that won’t even react if you tell them you put a rod up your ass. The only thing worthy of a reaction from them is if they find out a Zen’in clan head slept with a twink.

Of course, in every family there’s always someone who will break out of this mold. That had been Shokō’s mother — she who wore her heart to her sleeves.

Shokō appreciates it as much as she pities her. Her mother simply just can’t keep up with the continuous gossip that her grandparents give to her, and she looks faint at just hearing how an ancestor of theirs once helped a Fujiwara man and a Sugawara woman kinkly get it on in secret. (It’s a good thing neither of the clan back then ever suspected their ancestor when the couple ran away and hid with their child. Their neutrality to every clan can only go so far.)

Shokō grew up a natural gossip due to her family’s interesting role in shaman history. So she still remembers the words her mother relayed to their family dinner when she was 5 years old.

“O-Oh, right! Did you know… Satoru Gojo is a twin?”

Gojo Satoru. Who doesn’t know Gojo Satoru in their own, little world?

The first time her mother shared her own, unique gossip to the family, and it’s about the Honoured One.

As you would expect, the rest of the family wanted a piece of this gossip. The conversation and theory went on for so long that Shokō fell asleep in the dining area without hearing through the end of it. Her 4 year old brain can only remember so much, but she thinks she has enough to go by.

News from the Gojo Clan had been meagre in the years that go by, Shokō heard from her great grandmother when she compares different eras. The Gojo used to be boastful and loud for every achievement a member of their clan does, desperate to prove themselves still at the top of the chain while they wait for the child with the Six Eyes to be born.

When Gojo Satoru’s birth made itself known to every shaman in the world, they never shut up about it. But for some reason, the clan had seemed withdrawn from any more news from their golden child.

Gojo Satoru was never properly introduced to the society except through word of mouth. They talk of his appearance —hair as pale as snow, bejeweled eyes that visually housed the universe and sky both within— of his achievements, of his strength, but had no evidence to support the gossip.

There was no talk of Gojo Satoru’s twin existing.

It was only 2 years later —after more talks about the Gojo stepping up as the new Clan Head at the age of 5. At that age, Shokō was still lamenting the fact that re-creating Frankenstein is still impossible even with a cursed technique— that they start hearing more about Gojo Satoru’s twin.

It varied from different sources that it became hard to distinguish which is fact and which is exaggerated.

“They never got his name,” they bemoaned.

“Gojo Satoru’s twin is blind!” Someone would say.

But another one would shudder and correct them, “He has the eyes of a demon.”

The years go on and even more ridiculous gossip passes through when the twins come out the clan claiming to both be the Clan Heads.

It’s unheard of. It’s ridiculous. And it spurred more gossip out of the society.

“He’s an incarnation of the devil!” Someone would say after chaperoning a higher-up to a meeting and saw the twins for the first time. “I hear if you look him in the eyes, you’ll see your worst fears.”

“I hear he put a clan elder into a coma with a single look!”

“His eyes are so red. It’s like seeing the pits of hell.”

His name never comes up, like a devil's work whose name can never be uttered.

“He pretends to be blind and has the Six Eyes user’s pity. I hear he’s very efficient as a Clan Head, he must be using the Honoured One’s kindness!”

Gojo Satoru’s character went from being the Honoured One, a weapon, to being the pitiful Angel from the heavens ensnared in the claws of a Demon from the pits of hell.

But that’s all society’s gossip anyway.

The Gojo’s are too quiet about their heirs, so the masses had to piece puzzles however makes sense for them. Maybe for other clans, the gossip that entails the twins are different and at the very least more comprehensible, but for the lower society who can only take little to make sense of the small source.

“Gojo Satoru’s twin brother is a beast, I tell you. He defeated a semi-grade one on his own with a scythe bigger than himself!”

“Gojo Satoru always accompanied him. It’s daunting to see them next to each other.”

“The Six Eyes and the Red-Eyed Demon of the Gojo Clan.”

Sincerely, Shokō doubts Gojo Satoru being the personification of an angel. If she knows anything about twins, it’s that there’s no way both share different morals unless the two grew up in different environments.

Ever the gossip, she shares everything to the unsuspecting boy unfortunate enough to have been born a shaman in a non-shaman family. He’d need all the help he’ll get to survive this shithole of a society, after all.

“Crazy right?” Shokō stretches after her long rambling, “That’s not even including the other clans yet, which is a whole other can of worms. Yaga-sensei told me to not mind the rumors about the red-eyed twin much. That he’s actually much more socially inept compared to Gojo Satoru. That’s already contrasting the rumors around them.”

Getō Suguru hums as they settle on the common area’s couch. The two of them arrived a week before classes start, wanting to finish arranging their rooms before they inevitably get busy with the school’s unique curriculum.

It’s already night and tomorrow will mark the first day of classes, but the last half of their class still hasn’t arrived.

“I encountered him already, I think. Obito Gojo.”

Shokō blinks at the revelation, trying out the name. “Obito Gojo? Really? Not Satobi?”

“Why would it be Satobi, of all things?” Getō huffs a laugh at the ugly name himself. “If that were his name, it would be easier to make fun of him. Because I don’t think he likes me.”

“Already? What’d you do?”

This was interesting, and as her family would say, this is gossip.

“It was two years ago, December. Remember the famous carnival back then where there was a stampede of dogs during Day 1?”

Shokō snorts at the memory. “Oh, yeah, I was there. I was riding the ferris wheel when the shit show happened. More extreme than the roller coaster, I’d say.”

Getō nods in confirmation, “Yaga-sensei asked to meet there and had me use my technique as part of his recruitment procedure. Obito Gojo saw me then and for some reason glared at me, I didn’t even know who he was or met him before that.”

“That is weird.” Shokō agrees. Why be hostile towards someone with no shaman ancestry? “What did he look like? Did you lock eyes with him and see hell?”

Getō rolls his eyes with a shake of his head in bemusement. “He definitely got the red-eyes, but I think the ‘pits of hell’ part is a bit exaggerated. He had short black hair, and normal skin. He doesn't look like a demon at all, even when he was glaring.”

“He really didn’t do anything else?”

“He turned around when he spotted Yaga-sensei. I don’t think he’s the confrontational type?”

Shokō considers this, “There’s a rumor that the two are inseparable. You didn’t see Satoru Gojo anywhere?”

Getō shrugs, “I didn’t really stick around much after Yaga-sensei cleared me.”

They move on from the topic after that, Shokō still has other gossip to share with Getō.

Not long after, they decide to retire for the night and head for their dorm rooms. Tomorrow, maybe the wonder twins will finally show up and satisfy Shokō’s curiosity.

Getō seems like the easy type to get along with, she doesn’t doubt he’ll make use of the knowledge she ingrained him with.

Their teacher is late.

Annoyingly late, considering it’s their first day of school and today is supposed to be the day their entire curriculum is explained to them properly.

There’s only so much two teenagers can do to pass the time (it’s been 2 hours!), and they gave up with the ‘no-phones-out-during-class-hours’ rule by the 1-hour mark.

Maybe Yaga got eaten by a curse and the school is searching for an immediate replacement. 

Or maybe he forgot his own schedule and overslept.

They got their answer when voices echoed outside the room as they approached the room.

“See? Perfectly late, just as you prefer it to be, Tobi.”

“Toru, I don’t get late because I want to be. I get late from helping grandmas cross the street.”

“Yeah, didn’t we do that? We even got kasugai gummies out of it!”

“Well, you make it sound like I’m doing it specifically to be late — I’m not!”

Ieiri met Suguru’s gaze, equally meeting each other’s questions about the weird conversation they’re hearing.

Toru, Tobi. Satoru, Obito. Was that why Ieiri thought Obito’s name would’ve been Satobi?

Yaga opened the entrance door to their classroom, looking like he’d aged 10 years since the last time they’d seen him just a few days ago.

“Sensei, you’re aging well.” Ieiri voiced out jovially, grinning as she looked at the boys peeking inside the classroom and boy, Suguru was not prepared enough for this.

Yaga let out a heavy sigh, sounding too tired for this beautiful sunny morning in the middle of June.

“Apologies for being… late. The new students wanted to set up their rooms before class started.” Yaga turned to them, waving his palm to direct the twins in entering and standing in front of the classroom. “Let’s just get this started since we’re off schedule already. Introduce yourselves.”

“Yaga-sensei, you’re still as uptight as 12 years ago.” The boy with the most striking blue eyes Suguru had ever seen snickered. Belatedly, he connects a name to the equally striking face. “Satoru Gojo, at your service! Feel free to call me Satoru since calling me Gojo would just confuse everyone else.”

Blue eyes regarded him with a careful look, as if unsure what the correct emotion is right for this specific moment. Suguru doesn’t know what to do with that information.

“Obito Gojo. Just Obito is also fine. Sorry we arrived late. Satoru took a long time to unpack his things”

Red eyes settled on Ieiri for a pregnant pause before it seemed like he had to force himself to look away and regarded Suguru with a cold look. It was gone in a blink before Suguru could react, like it never happened.

Yaga sighed again, grateful that introductions went on normally. “Sit down on the seats available, thank you. The others, just stand up from your seat and introduce yourself to the other two.”

Ieiri was the first to stand up out of the two of them, she sat by the window, having claimed it first.

“Shokō Ieiri. If I’m gonna be calling you by your name, then I won’t mind if you call me Shokō, too.”

“You seem like a cool person, Shokō-chan!” Satoru commented, sitting down on the farthest chair on the right.

Shokō flicks her hair at the praise, nose high. “Damn right, I am.”

As luck would have it, Obito sat on the chair next to Suguru’s right. Just between him and Satoru.

Bored red-eyes looked to him as Shokō sat back down. Maybe the rumors were right to say that Satoru’s twin brother is a demon in hiding.

Nonetheless, Suguru stood up. “I’m Suguru Getō. Feel free to call me however you prefer.”

Yaga claps his hands as Suguru sits back down. 

“Alright. Now that introductions are clear, we’ll be going on a little trip.”

They arrive in an old mansion within Miyoshi, Saitama. The lot owner hired their service to cleanse anything evil inside the mansion, they planned on putting it on sale again and were just covering bases.

“They’re new recruits.” Yaga relayed when the lot owner decided to check the people he hired for the job, turning dubious at seeing four teenagers present. 

“I was assured that I will be hiring professionals for the job! Not students!” The man bursted out suddenly.

“Unfortunately, sir, the job has been handed to us due to time constraints. There aren’t any shamans available at the moment but us.”

Unable to stop themselves, Shokō and Suguru turned to the twins who had caused their schedule to veer off from the original plan in the first place.

Obito let out a sigh of great exasperation, whereas Satoru stuck out a tongue with an unabashed grin.

“Send another one of you shamans! I’m not trusting a buncha’ brats when I paid you good money for this job! Or else I’mma call this a scam!”

“Sensei.” Suddenly, Obito stepped up as the man turned around, brandishing his phone and trying to dial someone while he cursed the high-heavens. “I can make it so he’ll believe we’re adults. It won’t last, but at the very least it will stay until we finish the mission.”

“You’re gonna make him believe he’s running around naked again?” Satoru pipes up, snickering as he watches his brother go.

‘Again?’ Suguru sweatdropped at the image and shuddered.

Yaga set his mouth in a grim line, thinking over his offer. “He’s a civilian. Can you ensure that it won’t have a lasting effect?”

“Of course.” Obito assures, tapping the man’s shoulder now. “Since he’s a non-shaman, he won’t even notice he’s been under an illusion.”

“What, brat? Can’t you see an adult is—” Like suddenly put in a trance, the man’s arms dropped as he glanced at Obito’s red eyes. Obito held his right hand up in a mudra as he used his innate technique; his index and middle finger held up while the other three fingers’ tips were brought close together. A prana mudra.

“Huh. Maybe the gossip wasn't all that exaggerated.” Shokō comments, eyebrows up in slight surprise.

Satoru turns to her in question, “What gossip?”

Suguru huffs a little, deciding to be the one to answer. “That your brother is a red-eyed demon who’s been controlling you.”

For a moment, Satoru had been speechless. And then he howls in laughter, hackling even when Obito finally returns to his side. In the background, the civilian man is finally smiling in content as he gives their teacher parting words and leaves the area.

“Did I miss anything?” Obito asks, pushing Satoru by his forehead when he tries to cling onto the dark-haired teen’s shoulder. 

Before Satoru could speak, Yaga coughed into his fist to get their attention.

“Alright, settle down. Let’s get on with today’s task.” He leads them to the mansion’s front gate, briefing them on the spot. “The mansion hasn’t been lived in for years now. There’s been a lot of break-ins since, and children like to sneak in and play in the mansion’s wide garden. Recently, there’s been talk of the kids seeing a tall figure, trying to get them to enter the house. This has been classified as a Grade Three Curse, but due to recent issues of curse spirits suddenly spiking in power, it might turn to a rank or two higher so I want you all to be careful.”

Then, Yaga performed the chant and mudra for the veil. A dark curtain enveloped the whole area of the mansion’s wide lot.

“Shokō, you can choose to stay behind since your technique mainly focuses far from offensive attacks.” Yaga tells her, tone neutral. “I’m sure you already know this, the higher-ups want to ensure your continued safety and the tasks given to you will be different from the boys. But since this is a general assembly to oversee how well the class will work together, you can choose to join in.”

Shokō looked surprised at the offer. Right, she did mention how valued people with her techniques are in their society.

She tilts her head, thinking it over. “Well, if I join, then I’d need a weapon, right? Do you have a weapon for me, sensei?”

Yaga nods, “Of course. If you plan to join inside the veil, then I would deeply ask that you stick close to at least one of your classmates at all times.”

“Got it.” Shokō nods.

Yaga was about to walk back into the car they used to get to Saitama. Since there were five of them, the mission forgoes having a manager drive them and Yaga had to do the job. Suguru has complicated feelings about the experience.

Obito suddenly spoke up again. “I might have a weapon to lend her. Just this once, though.”

Satoru was immediately gobsmacked, as if he knew what his brother was pertaining to. “What?! You’re letting her use that? You haven’t let me use it since last year!”

Obito’s left eye glints a little as the space in front of him warps in a vortex before seemingly materialising a black katana with a golden dragon guard out of nowhere. Obito catches it by the sheathed scabbard and unsheathes the weapon for Shokō to use.

“I let you have it to try to copy how you use it but your ugly form makes the experience not worth it.” Obito replies to Satoru. “Why are you so inelegant with a katana, of all things? I don’t see you blundering with a bow.”

“I’m trying to create my own style, you meanie! And it’s not like Shokō knows a lot about handling a katana anyway!” Then, looking like he just caught how his words might come across, Satoru gives the girl a careful look. “...Right?”

Shokō gives him a grin, taking the katana by the hilt from Obito’s offering hand. She holds it up like a proud amateur playing samurai, looking up in awe as the tip of it glints in the sunlight.

“We’re all gonna be a witness whether that’s true or not!” She declares, they hear Yaga let out a worried grunt as she tries a swipe with it away from them. “What’s this baby’s name?”

“Second Sun Blade.” Obito offers, and the scabbard in his hand disappears again with a swirl in the air. “Special Grade weapon. Only people who’s able to generate reverse cursed techniques can use it. If you imbue it as you attack, a slash of cursed energy follows up after.”

“You’re kidding.” Shokō says, not expecting his answer. Suguru’s guessing ‘special-grade’ means it’s the highest rank amongst others. The grading must be the same as how curses and sorcerers are classified. “You’re lending me a special grade?”

Obito shrugs, “I don’t mind if it means I get to watch someone else who can do RCT brandish it. I have until next year to learn Reverse-Curse Technique as a condition of the clan giving it to me. If I don’t, neither me nor Satoru gets to have it.”

“Unless we steal it, of course!” Satoru pipes up, resting his arm on Obito's shoulder as he leans in. “Told him if he really wanted it so much, we could’a just take it by force and the clan will give up anyway. But he’s such a stickler for the rules, see?”

Huh. More professional than the other twin, indeed. Still doesn’t explain his apparent disdain for Suguru. Maybe he just doesn't like that he’s apparently born from non-shamans?

Isn’t that just racism?

Whatever. As long as they can function well on the job and at the very least be able to co-exist for the next 4-5 years, then Suguru will be at his best behaviour.

Satoru on the other hand…

Yaga finally gathered his wits again. “If Obito is fine with it, I’ll let him handle the paperwork for that. That said, we shouldn’t be wasting any more time. The old mansion will be filled with other grade four curses so clear as much as you can. Don't damage any furniture or walls. My cursed corpse dolls will follow each of you for your safety and later evaluation, so don’t forget that I’ll still have my ways of observing you even from afar.”

“Sensei!” Satoru raises his whole arm up in the air, “What happens if the curse turns out to be higher than expected? What if there’s more than one?”

“Then I trust Obito to decide the best course of action. He’s been taking missions for nearly two years now, no?” Yaga answers him, exchanging affirming nods to the red-eyed boy. “Now, off you go. Don’t waste time, but take your time in learning from one another.”

They enter through the veil, hearing their teacher’s parting voice. The pathway leading up to the mansion’s home entrance was long enough to have rows of untamed bushes lead them to it. The front yard was littered with forgotten shoes and children’s toys.

At the sight, Suguru couldn’t help but ask, “By the way… did the curse manage to get anyone?”

“The windows who investigated here would inform Yaga-sensei if that were the case.” Satoru answered, looking all over the place and kicking a lone frisbee on the ground. “That said, do you think the curse is something like Hachishakusama?”

Something passed over Obito’s mind as he let out a grimace. “If that were the case, then I hope this one stays at grade three. Those kinds of yokai are annoying to handle.”

“Dealt with something like that already?” Shokō asks, tilting her head at him as they finally enter the house. “Yaga-sensei mentioned you’ve been going to missions since at least a year ago.”

“It was part of the condition of the clan giving me multiple high-graded cursed tools. That katana you’re holding heightened the scales.” Obito shrugged, looking around the wide receiving area split by a huge staircase to the second floor. “We can discuss that for later. For now, what are you guys’ opinions on splitting up?”

Behind them, the cursed corpses following after them made a buzzer sound of displeasure. It came from a stuffed-blue rhinoceros with a glowing horn.

“A hard no.” Obito reads through the reaction. “What about splitting in pairs? I’ll be with Shokō since I have to monitor her usage with my weapon.”

“I feel like there’s more curses on the other levels of the mansion. I wanna stay on the lower floors.” Shokō decides, grinning as she holds up the katana amateurly again and pointing it towards a hall with many peeking curses. “I wanna try at exorcising shit.”

Suguru couldn’t help the surprise twitch of his shoulders when Satoru suddenly placed his arm over it. He looked to the side with wide eyes at the sudden close proximity. Satoru must be the type to not care about closeness as much as he lacks tact. 

“Suguru and I will deal with the higher levels then! We’ll search for the main curse.” Satoru decides for both of them. At the very least, his twin brother wasn’t as assertive. Obito had only offered plans and let Shokō choose however she wanted. “Hey, d’you wanna eat the curse and add it to your arsenal?”

Suguru stops the sigh that attempted to escape him. Satoru still hasn’t put space between them. “If the curse proves to be useful enough, why not?”

Satoru grins at him so easily, the blue of his eyes was actually a little blinding. “Got it!”

Please get off me. Suguru doesn’t say out of fear of possibly insulting someone from a prominent clan and high ranking figure. He’s already out of favor from the other twin, he’s not adding more to that and making his life worse in this still-unknown society.

Thankfully, Satoru initiated the act and moved away from Suguru. “Let’s go! Wanna start a tally on who gets to defeat the most curse?”

Suguru has expected his time in Jujutsu Tech wouldn’t be as peaceful as he wants it to be, but maybe he should start expecting disappointments from now on. Should be worth it if the source of it comes from an eccentric boy named Gojo Satoru.

“Loser buys ice cream from Edoya Kotoen.” Suguru decides his fate with. If he loses, then he says goodbye to half of his designated budget for this week. He’s not one to go back to his word, even if the one he’s betting with has generational wealth backing him up.

“Fuck, I love their potato ice cream! You’re going to eat shit, Suguru!” Satoru declares with an excited glee now. Eyes wide as he shoots a red beam towards a group of blob curses hanging off the mezzanine near the stairs. “That’s three. Geez, Suguru, try to keep up will you?”

Suguru feels a tick on his forehead at the clear provocation. A mixture of a snake and eagle curse bursts out behind him as summoned, flying fast with its wings and plucking out five wide eyed curses from the chandelier and the long snake part of it encircled on four of it and crushed the curses to death. The last one is eaten by the eagle part. 

Despite himself, Suguru gives a challenging smile to the watching blue-eyed teen still meeting him with a wide grin. “That’s five, Satoru-san. Think you can keep up?”

They’re on a mission to assess how well they work together, so this kind of bet is childish. Nonsensical, even. They should focus on finding the reported curse rather than tallying their kills. 

Suguru doesn’t have the time to play around. Not when he needs to prove himself to be something and someone to this society that can better understand him.

“BOOO!!!” Satoru stuck out his tongue playfully, giving him a thumbs down. “Minus points for the formal term! You’re down to three, Suguru. Now we’re even!”

Instead, Suguru let out a laugh. It wasn’t even that funny, what the fuck.

“That’s a bit unfair. How does the system even work?”

“However we want it to be!” 

Satoru wore a winning grin when Suguru laughed. Every grin of his seems to be different from the last and he’s not sure why he’s keeping tracks.

“Then..” Suguru hunched his shoulders comfortably as he walked up the stairs right next to Satoru. The other easily met his gaze awaiting, like he’s already used to being around Suguru. “You get minus points whenever you curse.”

“Hey, I don’t curse that much to warrant that!” Satoru affronted, furrowing his brow with a pout. “Do I? Obito’s the one who curses a lot, not me!”

Nonplussed, Suguru shrugs, “Why fight the condition then? As long as you don’t curse and I don’t call you by name, there won’t be any points deducted.”

Satoru gasps as if the realisation struck him so much, “What?! That was just to get you to call me by just my name! This is torture! I can’t have yo— any of my classmates calling me ‘-san’!!”

“Satoru-san, you’re being too loud. You’re gonna scare off the curses at this point.”

“Minus 2 points from you, Suguru! It’s just Satoru. SATORU!!!!”

“At this point, I’m gonna have to take points from you for being too loud, Satoru-san.”

“WHAT?! You can’t just add shitty rules like that! Minus points for the name again!”

“Minus points to you for cursing as well. Maybe considering the negative values will be worth something.”

Shokō watches Satoru and Suguru disappear into a hall on the second floor from the ground, a walking pink cat plush and multi-coloured centipede following after them. Their still bickering voices echo as she tilts her head and studies the dark-haired Gojo next to her, his expression pinched as if he just witnessed something scrofulous — like he can’t decide on what expression to choose after witnessing what he just did.

She noticed how it’s always been like that when he regards one Getō Suguru.

Deciding to be a little nosy, she asks, “Do you not like him? Suguru.”

Obito straightens up his bag and glances at her a little before looking to somewhere else, it didn’t seem like a deflection. 

“Is it weird to worry about what my own brother might be getting into?” Obito settles with, which doesn’t make sense to Shokō at all.

“It’s weirder that you clocked it years before they met.” Shokō points out, and that’s true, isn’t it? Suguru never met Satoru before literally today and both brothers are already acting weirdly around the non-shaman born teen.

“Brotherly instincts?”

“What’s next, twin connection?” Shokō stares at him straightfaced as he just shrugs. In the end she relents. “Fine, keep your weirdness to yourself. Don’t be rude to Suguru, though. He’s not used to the scenes yet and I’m guessing your brother won’t like it if you scare his new friend away.”

“Why do you think I’m not holding a conversation with him?” Obito snorts at that, shaking his head and Shokō actually wants to argue that that’s exactly part of the reason Suguru’s unnerved at him. “But enough of that. We’ll leave the curse hunting to those two. Let’s have you try out that weapon with your reverse cursed technique.”

Obito starts walking into a hall, searching for a place where a group of curses may be hiding.

“Oh yeah, I wanted to ask how you’re gonna be able to copy that.” Shokō follows after him, katana in hand. Obito watches as she plunges the tip of it to a small snail curse on the ground. It disappears after a seconds from the follow-up attack of curse energy.

“With my eyes. Sharingan — It’s my innate technique, and every skill I have stems from it.” Obito furrows his brow, staring hard at Shokō’s hand as she gives the weapon little of her reverse cursed energy as she slashes a fleeing fly-curse with a ‘woops!’ when she stumbles a little. “When active, it retains eidetic memories of whatever I see and this allows me to remember and copy anything perfectly. Unfortunately, it doesn’t include cursed techniques. It works on copying how someone molds cursed energy, though.”

“Huh, so it’s active now? Since we were in the classroom?”

“Yes.” Obito didn’t explain further about the unsaid question if he could turn it off. Instead, he sighs out an air of slight irritation. “When I heard someone of your technique will be joining the roster, I figured I could cheat my way and copy the way you manipulate cursed energy to reverse. As I half expected, it won’t be as easy.”

Shokō considers this before letting out a light-hearted huff, putting a hand on her hips. “I feel like I should charge you for this.”

“Name your price then.”

She blinks, not expecting him to take her seriously. “That quick? I can’t even guarantee to being a good subject.”

“You’d be better than Satoru, that’s for sure. He uses RCT differently and in a way not useful to me in the long run. And he’s shit at explaining stuff, so.” Obito shrugs, as if he hadn’t just told Shokō how one of the Gojos knows RCT already. She doesn’t count to be a surprise, it’s in her genes!

Obito leads them to a wide dirty kitchen infested by multiple curses. Some screeched and flailed to try to attack, but apparently, Obito’s weird eyes can also affect cursed spirits and the curses stopped in their spots.

“Go crazy, if you want.” He offers to her, motioning a palm to the unmoving curses.

“You think you can line them up around me?” Shoko grins, a bit of excitement in her tone. “I’ve always wanted to try that 360 slash move.”

At that, Obito let out a surprised laugh. “Sure, why not? Make sure to be on your toes for that to work, like a ballerina.”

She listened to his advice and found that the curses actually moved towards the katana easily. How crazy is that? Gojo Obito has eyes that can command an army of curses, and can even do it to humans.

What else can he do?

“You’re crazy.” Shokō decides to tell him after they have cleared pretty much the entire ground floor already. The maid’s rooms were specifically housing more rotten curses, just how miserable were they serving this huge mansion? “Aren’t you tired from using your technique at all?”

“I can keep it up for a year straight if this is all I’m doing with it. I have more curse energy draining moves for dire situations.” What situation can’t a bit of eye-mind fuck manipulation solve?

Shokō whistles, “I might end up having special-grades for classmates, huh? You know what? I’m just gonna have you as my errand boy for cigarettes.”

Obito gave a confused stare, eyebrow raising a bit judgemental. Yeah, she expected that gleefully. “Cigarettes.”

“Yup! Not a bad deal, eh?” Shoko grins at him, conspiringly. “I’ll tell you the best stores to easily get those. You’re tall enough, they won’t ask you for an I.D!”

He tilts his head, considering this with a bit of mirth shining through his expression. “Ha. Sure, why the fuck not.”

“I knew you’d be the cooler Gojo!”

Suddenly, the sound of shattering glass erupted from a few floors above, loud enough that they ran out the entrance door to see an 8-feet tall woman drop from the sky with the shattered pieces of glass below her.

From the fourth floor, two figures were pushing each other as they descended to the lower ground in a stingray curse.

“I told you to wait for her to gather her ‘daughters’ before attacking! She’s as tough as a fucking rock without them around!” They can hear Satoru shout as he pokes Suguru’s cheeks to further annoy him. The latter just swats his hands away as he dismisses the stingray when they’re low enough.

“That’s another points docked from you, Satoru-san.” Suguru tells him airily, summoning a group of curses from his arsenal again as the 8-foot tall curse stood up. “How low is it now? Negative 20 points?” 

Satoru pointed at him with an affronted glare. “You got minus points again! You’re on negative 11!”

“Sounds like I have more scores than you. Do you even want to win?” Suguru gives him a pitying smile, brows furrowed in mirth.

Have they been bickering while the exorcised curses? Shokō looks up to confirm that, yes, they did come from the last floor. 

“I’m gonna get that sweet potato ice cream from you, no matter what.” Satoru declares, sounding absolutely serious and determined for a scoop of local ice cream.

The Hachishakusama curse—because, really, an eight-foot-tall woman in a white dress and wide-brimmed hat is unmistakable. A yokai known for abducting children. She takes a leap in theorizing that the “children” Satoru mentioned are the ones this curse had already killed in the week following a widow’s investigation of the mansion.

It lets out an ear-shattering scream toward the two boys. The sound waves are powerful enough to crack the ground and damage part of the wall behind them. Yet Satoru and Suguru remain unharmed, Satoru having placed a palm over Suguru’s shoulder just before the attack.

The same way Obito was quick to place a palm over her shoulder when pieces of dirt and stones came flying at them from the intensity of the attack — this has to be above Grade two level— She could only flinch as she wasn’t quick enough to move away from the barrage, but found herself gaping in surprise when everything just seemingly passed through her. As if she’s a ghost.

“Don’t worry, that was just my skill.” Obito was quick to assure her, but it still didn’t make any sense. What the fuck are they feeding these twins?

Obito turned his focus back to the other two facing against the Hachishakusama curse, it had called upon three other human-looking curses suddenly, but Suguru summoned a long-snotted curse that blew out cold-zero air towards one of them. It freezed up and Satoru followed up the attack by holding up towards the frozen curse and closed it into a fist, at the same time, the curse was crushed into particles and Hachishakusama is down to two children.

“Hey, that worked!” Satoru beamed in surprise, as the Hachishakisama wailed out an ugly cry as it lost a child. “I thought for sure being in the sun would instead do the trick. Turns out it was ice, huh?”

“Satoru!” Obito suddenly called out to him, “Sensei said not to destroy stuff!”

“Can’t really help it if we’re up against at least a semi-grade one now, can we?!”

“Finish it up soon, then! Stop playing around!”

Satoru sputtered, “Hey! I’m not playing around!”

As if to remind him of their ridiculousness, Sugura added in. “Shouting again. Negative 22 now, Satoru-san.”

“What the— Why did that count?! Don’t think I didn’t notice your points dwindling, too!”

Once more, Suguru summoned a curse that only vaguely looked like a sad snowman when two children now ran up to attack them, long claws glinting with their bloody teeth in an enraged snarl. 

The snowman summon meets them halfway. When the two clawed at it, the snow clung onto them instead, freezing their arms up.

Where does Suguru find curses like that and how the hell was he even able to defeat it? This certain curse was clearly born from hypothermia!

She knew he was crazy, but she didn’t expect him to be already unhinged that he’s even able to keep up with a Gojo for some reason. Is there even an end to his cursed energy? He’s been summoning curse after curse since they arrived!

Shrieking in pain, the two children wailed around while the Hachishakusama ran to them in an attempt to ‘save’ them. But one moment, Obito had stood next to her, then there was a swirl in the air and Obito appeared in the semi-grade one curse’s path, red eyes glowing in use.

The 8-feet tall curse stopped in its tracks, its eyes turning the same shade and pattern as Obito’s Sharingan as it was put  under his control.

Shokō wonders if Obito can kill a curse, or anyone really, by frying their brains out through the control.

Behind Obito, the other two surround the now-fully frozen children of the curse. They each tried to test how solid Suguru’s snowman curse made them to, and then turned to Shokō, motioning for her to get close.

“Hey, Shokō-chan! Why don’t you try if that katana can cut through something solid like this?” Satoru beckons to her and she shrugs as she walks up to them.

She notices Obito turn to them, his hold on the semi-grade one curse still withholding even without keeping his eyes on it. What a terrifying technique to be at the receiving end of.

She walks up to them, casual on her steps. She held the katana upright with the blunt of it resting on her shoulders, not afraid of how dangerous it is to do that since she’s technically an amateur with no prior history of handling any weapon aside from a kitchen knife. 

“It might need a proper form, though?” She asks, just to double check if they actually what they’re asking her for. She’s not one to back down from a challenge, of course, but she at least doesn't want her involvement with the two’s ridiculousness to show on her papers later.

“Nah, just take a wide swing at the two. We’ll see how the following swing results to, then.”

On his side, Suguru just gives her a non-committal shrug. Right, what would he know about cursed tools at the moment? It’s their literal first day.

“Make sure your whole body follows the swing, not just your arms.” Obito advises her, and she’s found out ever since earlier that he’s actually good at giving advice about weapon handling, so she listens.

With a swing that still actually strained her shoulder a little, she’s really not used to this kind of activity, the initial slice actually created a line through the frozen solid curses. Then, a second slice made up of cursed energy sliced completely through their bodies, the upper half sliding off cleanly and breaking into pieces dramatically when it reached the ground.

“Huh.” Shokō studies the sharp edge of the weapon closely with her fingers, seeing it still nick her skin easily at a simple touch. She healed it over just as quickly. “It didn’t even chip the metal.”

“It’s always been exposed and housed positive cursed energy, it probably mutated the tool enough that it’s known to restore any damages to the weapon itself.” Obito tells them. He held up his palm asking for the weapon to be returned to him now that there’s just one thing left to do to finish their mission. “Now, who’s dealing the final blow to this thing?”

Satoru points at Suguru, “Suguru said he wanted to take it for himself.”

Obito gives a ‘hn’ at that, stepping out of the way and pointing at the curse with the katana now in his hand. “Suit yourself.”

When Suguru approached and used his technique on the immobile curse, it turned into a dark orb on his hand, flecks of gold swirling inside the perfect sphere. Just as Shokō was about to question the process of him being able to manipulate curses, Suguru suddenly swallowed the 4-inch wide orb.

4-inch wide.

About 10 centimeters wide.

What the fuck.

Looking around, wide eyed, it’s like she’s the only one surprised to witness this!

Is she the only sane one in this group?

“Does that even taste anything?” She couldn’t help but ask, because clearly, she’s the only one in the group curious enough to know.

Suguru was about to open his mouth to answer her, grimace clear on his expression, but Satoru beat him to it.

“It probably tastes like shit.” Satoru says with his tongue stuck out as if physically tasking the concoction. “There’s no way curses taste like cookies and candies.”

Above them, the veil slowly recedes now that the condition Yaga put is met. It’s only a matter of time until he enters through since the cursed corpses he had followed them are gone. Shoko hasn’t seen them since Hachishakusama dropped from the fourth floor.

Probably already tattled on their ass.

Suguru’s face looks about like he wants to ask ‘how the fuck would you know something about that’, but reigns himself and thought it over. He closes his eyes in consideration, before his shoulders eventually lose their tension again. “You said a curse again. You’re at negative 24 now, and I got mine raised to negative 12, which is half more than yours… technically.”

“Hey, why are you still counting… Fineeee, I lost. You get your free ice cream, or whatever.” Satoru grumbles in mock disappointment, as if he doesn’t have cash just sitting in his family’s vault.

Shokō grins up, letting go of the whole Suguru-eating-a-curse-orb thing, “Actually, I won.”

The two idiots turn to her with a perplexed expression. “What.”

“How much was it that you two got? Negative numbers? I got a positive 28, losers.” She lords over them, squaring her shoulders and leaning slightly as if she’s the tallest of the bunch. “Add that last kill and I’ve got 29. HA!”

“How is that fair?” Suguru argued, not wanting to hand over his win. “You didn’t make your participation known!”

“Yeah!” Satoru the loser pipes up, as if he has a say in who he’s gonna be treating when he’s the one that lost the bet. “If you’re in, then Obito joins in, too! How many did you kill, Tobi?”

“Zero.” Obito answers with a straight face. He became boring again. “Shokō was the one that killed everything on the ground floor. I just accompanied her.”

As if the confirmation somehow struck them and their entire belief in the betting system, Satoru and Suguru drop to their knees in despair.

“My sweet potato ice cream…” Suguru laments.

“This system is broken. A fake!” Satoru cried out.

Obito sneers at them both, rolling his eyes, “You talk as if you can’t just buy the ice cream for yourself anyway.”

That was how Yaga found them, pieces of broken windows on the ground and cracks clear on the exterior wall of the mansion. He really drilled their mistakes (It’s just Satoru’s and Suguru’s!!!!) into their heads, making them apologise and receive the heated shouts of the lot owner (Obito offered to alter his memories, to which Yaga abhorrently refused and gave Obito a separate lecture about inappropriate use of techniques).

Yaga still takes them to Edoya Kotoen and he was the one to buy them the potato ice creams out of his own pocket. 

Shokō retained her spot on the passenger seat while the three tall teens squeezed themselves on the sedan car’s back seats. Obito sat by the left door while Suguru sat on the other end, Satoru was perched in their middle, chattering about different conversations between two different persons.

Eventually, sleep overtakes them and they end up sleeping in the car on the ride back to their school mountain. Shokō was the last to fall asleep 30 minutes in and she managed to take a quick picture on the sleeping trio of boys. Satoru ended up sleeping on Suguru’s shoulder while the latter had his head leaning on the window. Obito had his chin to his chest with his arms crossed, brows furrowed in his uncomfortable sleep. Shokō made sure the photo included herself and Yaga’s head, it’s their first mission, after all.

They all wake up instinctively just as Yaga goes through the final turn to the school’s long stairs. Yaga drops them off there, telling them to return to their dorms and not worry about writing mission reports for now.

“Your hair’s all messed up on the side, Suguru.” Satoru snickers, pointing at the tangled mess on Suguru’s right, the part that had been leaning into the window when he slept.

“Pointing is rude, Satoru-san.” Suguru swats Satoru’s hand away with a light glare, trying to fix his hair. How long is he trying to get it to? It’s not in the length long enough to tie it back yet.

Satoru scowls at the formal term again, “C’mon, Suguru. It’s Satoru. Sa-to—”

“Toru.”

They all turned to Obito and her eyebrows raised when she took notice how his eyes weren't red anymore.

“Oh, right!” Satoru realised and then he was on Obito’s rights, holding his hand.

Shokō and Suguru found each other’s questioning gaze at the confusing sight the wonder twins displayed yet again.

As if sensing their questions, they hear Obito’s words.

“I’m blind when I turn off my technique. My red-eyes.”

Huh. That small piece of gossip was true, too.

Shokō was the first to shrug at Suguru who’s still confused by it. He doesn’t have enough information about Obito like she does, now that she thinks about it.

In the end, Suguru just takes it to what it is. They have years ahead of them together anyway.

They follow the pace of the twins up the school’s stairs.

Twins that were born with possibly the best ocular technique in the world, but one of them is born blind without it.

Sure, why not.

Now Shokō has to think of a way on how to tell her family of this information without making it sound made-up.

Chapter Text

Satoru barged into Obito’s room without knocking.

“Tobi, did you see my wetbrush? The pink one.” 

Obito had been just putting on his uniform slacks then, and he definitely hadn’t forgotten to lock his room’s door. 

Satoru had broken his doorknob.

Again.

“Fucking knock, Toru!” Obito barked out immediately, throwing at him the first thing he grabbed. It turned out to be the sunglasses Satoru’s been insisting Obito wear to match. “For fuck’s sake, I’ll stay at Kamui at this point!”

Satoru caught the sunglasses with his technique mid-air, clicking his tongue as he placed it on the sideboard Obito placed next to the door. 

“C’mon, Tobi, I just got that wetbrush! I can’t let anything else touch this hair!” Satoru whines, pointing to his drying hair. The door was still wide open and Suguru, who resided in the farthest room of this wing which was only 2 rooms from Obito’s, walked past behind Satoru and unfortunately got a glimpse of Obito’s state before he hurried in his step when red eyes glared at him.

“I don’t fucking have it!” Obito shouted as he wore his slacks. “This is why I told you to get a vanity, Toru. I’m seriously getting you one now. Get out and find your  brush.”

Satoru pouts at him, “Why are you in such a bad mood already?” And with a final huff, stepped out and didn’t even close the door.

Obito should’ve pushed to get different bedrooms before they turned 15. This is what he gets for feeling bad at needing to go on missions. Being a brother sucks.

Closing the door himself, he stares at the broken lock. Does he need to incorporate his chains into the door at this point? Or maybe just glue the door to the casing. He can just use Kamui to come in, right?

He continues in his task of wearing his uniform, begrudgingly putting on a t-shirt and a dress shirt underneath despite the heat August brings. Next he wore his uniform’s top — It was one of the school’s typical designs, the other being the ones Satoru and Suguru wore. 

Obito chose the high-collared uniform, Shokō having chosen the same one, but he had his sleeves customised to be like a kimono’s sode for easier movement when using his weapons. He’d been doing the missions in a kimono and hakama, a standard the Gojo Clan up held the same way the other great clans did with their own clansmen. 

It’s been months since class started, and they’ve only been sent to missions once or twice a week. It’s certainly a better schedule compared to the missions he handled for almost two years, after all, he’s not being sent alone to deal with everything.

The only downside is having to interact with Getō Suguru.

— 🔴 —

They were at their 10th — or was it 12th? — mission and Shokō sat this one out since there weren’t any civilians around the location of the curse.

Obito sat on the usual left seat of the car’s backseat on their way to Gifu Prefecture, where their mission for the week resided. It’s already 3pm when they arrived on the outskirts of Takayama, an eerie road welcoming them ahead.

“Woah, it's Hida Mountain!” Satoru points out through the thick fog of the abandoned road. There’s not much of anything around, save for a bus stop and old walking paths.

The air was cold in the area, nothing like the heat from Tokyo during this time.

“Is the curse spirit the kind that needs to be lured out?” Suguru asks the assistant manager that drove them here.

“Yes. It’s been reported to be an imaginary vengeful spirit, Kuchisake-onna. It has already lured about four civilians — 3 men got their car stalled in this road and consecutively encountered the curse when trying to find help.” The assistant manager lists out, showing them a photo report, “One of them got their face sliced, and another almost got the worst of it before their other friend managed to kick start the car and drive away. The fourth one is a woman who chose to jog this path. She encountered the curse and managed to get away from it by using known beliefs against the Kuchisake-onna.”

“By saying it looks ‘average’ instead of answering with a yes or no?” Obito asks. He’s been reading around on yokais since he found out about imaginary vengeful curse spirits.

“Right.” The manager nods, “Giving a neutral answer to the curse makes them disappear, so the task is to avoid that from happening and instead lure it out completely to exorcise it.”

“I’ll take it from here, Shinta-san.” The grade one sorcerer accompanying them for this mission finally spoke up. It was Kusakabe Atsuya, a man with slicked-back brown hair and an unlit cigarette already in his mouth. His hands were still inside his brown trench coat when he walked over to them. 

“The higher-ups have personally pushed forward your Grade Level Assessments to be updated. Since you’ve only been exorcising high-level curses together as a group, you’ve only been given semi-grade one titles, yes?”

Obito can already see where this is going. Looks like the higher-up’s been monitoring all their missions, as expected. He wasn’t planning to hide his Sharingan’s full capabilities, anyway.

“Are we getting promoted?” Satoru grins, having been waiting for this moment. According to him, they were only given Special-Grade titles near the end of their second year — when it became apparent that Getō Suguru’s storage for cursed spirit is bottomless and Gojo Satoru had matched all of their expectations on his strength and yet proved himself to be a loose canon out of their full control. 

“Depending on how this mission’s curse is carried out, the higher-ups will conduct the final measurement of your grade levels.” Kusakabe tells them, dropping a veil without any more words for them. “I’ll be entering with you to observe and report. Don’t worry about me and just… go crazy and display all your schtick, or something.”

As the curtain drops, thick fog appears all over the open space and Kusakabe’s form slowly disappears from their sight. Satoru and Obito can still see his curse energy signature, jumping between the road’s electrical poles where the man can still see them. 

Looking around, it’s becoming difficult to even see beyond 3 steps ahead of him. He was about to turn and advise that they should stick close, but found himself stuck in his place.

“Hey, am I pretty…?”

Suddenly, Obito was put into a simple domain. The fogs that surrounded him seemed to have even stopped moving. 

Floating just a few steps away, Kuchisake-onna appears to be a tall woman with long, disheveled black hair that reaches past its shoulders with its entire face also wrapped in bandages as well as its hands. It oddly wore simple black shoes, had polka-dots on its legs, and had a simple light-colored trench coat tied closed tightly around its waist.

“Tell me, am I pretty?”

Obito found himself unable to move, the simple domain overriding his access to Kamui Dimension as the giant shears now surrounding him snipped pieces of his hair.

That should have been avoidable with how automatic his Kamui is now.

Even with the missions he’s been given before, he’s never encountered a curse that had a domain, even with everything becoming unpredictable with level missions leveling up suddenly.

This is the first time something affected his Kamui. Was his dimension considered a domain after all?

With no eyes from the curse for Obito to look into, he finds himself at an impasse. 

How should he go about this?

— 🧿 —

“You look ugly as hell.” Satoru answers the curse bluntly, smirking when the shears strained trying to close in on him with Infinity in the way.

The curse screeched, multiple eyes opening on the top of her hair as her slitted-mouth opened. She flailed, movement around Satoru continuing again as the simple domain is dropped and allowing him to finally move.

“Kill. Kill! I’LL KILL YOUUUUUU”

She takes the shears to her side again, hand raised in commanding the tools. As she drops her hand towards Satoru’s way, the shears flew towards him at a speed enough to strike through the road’s concrete as he moved around just enough to avoid the barrage.

He jumped to land on one of the shears stuck to the ground, looking around and trying to see through the thick fog. Just a few feet away from him, Suguru’s unique cursed energy flares as he summons his curses to deflect an attack. The sound of metal getting crushed echoed through the area.

Satoru leans back on time, just on the right moment as another shear striked past in front of him. He looked at the Kuchisake-onna above him and wondered, “Do you appear for every person present, or are there actually multiple of you?”

“Am I pretty?”

The curse’s simple domain activates again, and Satoru is forced to stay in place as time around him stops for him. He couldn’t see past the simple domain, unable to detect Suguru’s cursed energy nor Obito’s who he hadn’t even seen yet.

“You’re dumb.” Satoru answers, the simple domain dissipating in his answer as once again, the shears still doing nothing to him. Satoru uses blue to suction the shears together and he crushed them into pieces easily as he sneers at the curse. 

“You should know by now that you can’t do anything to me, so just, I don’t know, surrender already? I can’t exorcise you since Suguru will want your simple domain, so.” He shrugs, at least that was how it went the first time.

“Hey, am I pretty?”

Satoru is put under the curse’s simple domain again, and the feeling of its restriction is starting to get on his nerves.

“Ha. So you can use your simple domain multiple times. So fucking wha—” 

Satoru’s taunting voice halts when he looks back at the curse. Because instead of seeing just one Kuchisake-onna, there are now two next to each other.

“Huh.” He lets out, less of a confused sound and more of just letting out a form of reaction. “This is actually such a petty move.”

“Do you think I’m pretty?”

The two Kuchisake-onna multiplies more into four, then eight, and then Satoru’s being surrounded by sixteen Kuchisake-onnas from above him. No doubt their only intention is to keep Satoru trapped in its simple domains until he eventually gives and dies.

He can look around his spot but no other movement than that. The simple domain enforces non-violence between him and the curse, so he can’t even strike first unless the simple domain is dropped. But with the curse able to multiply and already had many surrounding him, the split second he only needs won’t even be available to him.

Satoru lets out an annoyed sigh, musing his hair to dishevelment as he tries to actually consider his next move now. “You’ve become an annoying special-grade curse thanks to Obito, huh? What luck.”

“Do I look pretty?”

— 🔮 —

Suguru can still summon curses even when under a simple domain, which is a good thing because this means the curses aren’t an extension from his will entirely.

“I’m sorry, but you’re not my type.” Suguru answers as he summons thick skinned curses that protected him from the snips of the shears that surrounded him.

Kuchisake-onna screeches at the failed attempt. She tried to lunge towards him, but he’d already hopped on top of his eagle-snake curse and used the chimera to avoid the shears.

He attempts to fly upwards to try to see where the twins are, but the shears appear ahead of him to cut him off from high areas. 

How annoying. If he could just get close to one of the twins, he could get a better understanding of what kind of curse they’re dealing with, exactly. Are they dealing with a different curse or are there multiple versions of this Kuchisake-onna? 

A barrage of shears flew towards him again, wide and snipping tauntingly. One of them managed to get a slice through his cheek; he summoned the sturdiest curse he has and used it as cover while he checked on the damage.

“Shit.” He hissed, seeing blood on his fingers and still feeling the sting of the injury along with the blood freely sliding down his chin. The cut had been deeper than he initially thought, hopefully it won’t scar by the time it’s tended to.

Kuchisake-onna proves to be an intelligent curse — that puts this mission above Grade One already, maybe even a Special Grade. She’s trying to keep them separated, does she understand how capable each of them are already? Has she figured out how to deal with each of them successfully?

With Kusakabe watching over them somewhere, Suguru’s nerves are at the very least comforted by the idea that their back up is ready to step should this mission turn out to be more troublesome than initially expected. Not that they weren’t expecting it to be difficult, but the curse learning to adapt and keeping them separated does prove to make everything complicated.

—------

Obito finally decides on an approach.

“Fuck you.”

The moment he can tell that the simple domain drops, he feels his connection to Kamui return and he immediately moves far back as the shears close in on nothing.

He was about to get his Kama from Kamui when someone’s cursed energy signature caught his eyes. Just a few meters away, Getō Suguru’s cursed energy flares in his multiple use of summoning cursed spirits. One of them is covering him as other cursed spirits move around, engaging against something.

Was there more than one curse after all?

Changing tactics, he takes his scythe — Lover’s Oath. It’s the perfect weapon to use when dealing against two enemies at once.

Its technique connects two signatures of cursed energy together. It even works on clones for as long as there’s a small difference between them, down to the anatomical level. He takes advantage of the very true fact that no one can ever perfectly copy something and someone. Well, except Obito with his Sharingan, of course.

With the scythe at hand, he amplified his legs with cursed energy and shot himself towards the Kuchisake-onna in front of him. It screeched as Obito trapped it between his scythe. He held the pole handle of the weapon with his arms extended in his back and he moved towards where he sensed Suguru, taking the curse with him.

“Hang on, will you?” He taunts at the curse. 

With the contact, he sees the cracked gem of Lover’s Oath glim red at meeting half of its requirements. He stops abruptly once he can tell he’s close enough, the curse shooting forward as it follows through the motion Obito set them at.

Obito spins, maneuvering the scythe around his hips for wider movement to create winds strong enough to blow the thick fog further away. He finally sees Suguru without the fog on the way, though it was quick to move back into the now empty space. But it was enough vision for the two to group up. 

Satoru should be around somewhere, though he guesses he’s still stuck with the curse’s simple domain, making it difficult to sense them despite the lack of an actual barrier.

They regarded each other with clipped nods, having never really conversed with each other without a third person between them. Instead, they focused their attention on the two Kuchisake-onnas visible in front of them, one standing and one still on the ground.

As if it truly understand the danger Obito poses, the eyes on the standing curse closes out of sight.

“She’s intelligent enough to understand our different strengths.” Suguru supplies, having already theorised this earlier, “I suspect multiple Kuchisake-onnas keeping Satoru-san in their simple domain, that’s the only explanation why he hasn’t sucked all the fogs yet.”

“Do you think his technique is akin to a vacuum, or something? Whatever.” Obito shakes his head, ignoring Suguru’s confused expression. “My weapon can deal with cases like this, the one standing there is the one that trapped you, right?” 

“...Right.” Suguru sighs, letting go of any negativity in him that might escalate something between them. With a taut, annoying smile, he asks, “Can I assist you with anything?”

“I don’t need your help.” Obito instead tells him, coldness seeping through his tone, uncaring of the nerve that appears on Suguru’s forehead. He focuses on engaging against the two identical curses, focusing on the left one that was his target.

He passes through the shears aimed at him, scythe held tightly as he turns to gain momentum, swinging it to the curse. Before it could get closer to its neck, a shear intercepted the scythe’s handle with an opened scissor, keeping the entire weapon away from the curse.

But that was fine. The blade of the scythe was in perfect position anyway. 

Obito pulls the handle in quick succession instead, the blade slicing through the curse’s hair and effectively slicing its neck. Coating Lover’s Oath with a target's blood works faster than just exposing it through their cursed energy too.

He smirks, watching as the cursed weapon creates the connection through completing the gem in appearance, a ruby heart pulsing with Kuchisake-onna’s cursed energy. With the weapon’s technique requirements met, a second blade appears on the lower part of it, a perfect mirror to the already existing one. It’s a good thing that the blade appears on the opposite part and not next to the existing one, it would have made the form of the scythe look more like a pick-axe instead.

This way, he looks more like having a dual-sided scythe.

“Seriously, where does this guy get these weapons?” He hears Suguru let out exasperatingly.

“I have a good eye.” He jokes, though it didn’t really land well when his tone is so flat. His tone automated for when it comes to the person he most dislikes at the moment. “I apologise in advance if I fully exorcise this curse, though I don’t really care.”

“You never care, Obito-san, you don’t have to say it everytime. Please just get on with it.” He could hear Suguru roll his eyes at him even when he fakes politeness in his tone. Rude. This is one of the reasons Obito doesn’t engage in anything with him. He’s so fake. Sometimes even with Satoru, the guy is fake. Fucker.

“You’re right.” Fuck you, goes understandably unsaid between them.

He spins the dual scythes between his hands, creating momentum as the two curses try to get far away from him. But a daruma doll curse drops on top of them each, trapping them to the ground and sealing their fate.

“Fucker, I said I don’t need your help!” Obito shouts, irate as he sliced the head off of the Kuchisake-onna’s shoulders anyway. With their connection sealed, whatever happens to one of them will also be reflected to the other. As such, the other Kuchisake-onna’s head gets sliced off the same way as the first one.

There’s a loud wail that echoed around them, the sound loud enough that it disturbed the entirety of the thick fog and dissipated it.

“What was that, Obito-san? I couldn’t really hear you!” Suguru adds on infuriatingly. The bastard should be thankful that Satoru still thinks of him as a friend. Once that view ever changes, he’ll consider letting half of him rot in his Kamui.

Satoru’s form finally became visible to them as multiple bodies of Kuchisake-onna’s dropped around him, head rolling in different directions.

“ — and seriously, what that fuck is up with the trench coat? It’s hideous and— oh, you’re dead.”

He stops in his rant, looking around and locking immediately on their spots. “Tobi! You used Lover’s Oath! I had in my bet that you’d use your freaky eyes on them instead and somehow manage a hive-like connection between all of them, but this works too!”

“How many of them were on you?” Suguru felt the need to ask, eyes zeroing in on the multiple lumps of cursed spirits atop each other. Why they’re not dissipating yet is a better question.

Satoru tilts his head, “Oh, I tried to test out if there’s a limit past sixteen of them, so I just answered each of them in quick succession to test how fast they could do it too. But when it got to 35, I got bored hearing ‘pretty’ every second so I just critiqued her looks. She didn’t like that but not like she could do anything to me, y’know? Anyway, why aren’t they disappearing yet? Is there gonna be a final boss, or something?”

Suddenly, the forms of the multiple Kuchisake-onna’s wavered and moved, as if turning into ink and flowing towards the middle of the road in front of them, in an area far enough to still be filled with thick fog.

“Ugly.. How ugly…”

A woman’s figure appears through the fog — long hair dishevelled in a messy attempt of a half up-do, a long and thin scissors used to keep the up-do from dropping. She wore a yellow floral kimono, bloody and unkempt. It’s opened wide without an obi and she had nothing else underneath, though thankfully, the special-grade curse had no gender-defining parts to emphasize how humanoid she is.

She had a cream coloured fan covering half her face, entirely black slit eyes staring back at them. 

“Such ugliness… should never live to exist!”

She closed her fan with a snap, showing a grotesquely slitted mouth in a snarl. There’s a healing injury in her neck, not too dissimilar to the work Obito had done to the other Kuchisake-onna. So she was affected by it, too. But curses like her are capable of healing themselves, so the effect didn’t quite last.

“Woah, it’s the final boss!” Satoru cheered, “I’ve got two things close today, should I bet in a lottery later?”

She finished returning each and every one of the Kuchisake-onnas back to her in the form of cursed energy. Was she controlling them, after all?

“Die! I’ll kill you! Ugly!” She glared at them, the fan disappearing from her hand.

They all froze when her hands suddenly formed a mudra — index, middle, and ring finger sprawled apart on each hand, tips of both index and ring finger touching each other’s mirror while both the middle fingers were parallel to each other. The mudra formed two triangles in form as the thumb and little fingers are closed and unused.

“Domain Expansion!”

Satoru was the first to move, using Limitless to pull Obito and Suguru close together without notice. “Obito, make sure no one gets affected.”

“What— what the—” Suguru sputters, looking wide eyed at Satoru’s way as he continues on his approach towards the forming barrier, “Idiot! Domain Expansions might still affect you even with your technique! You can only defeat it with an even stronger—”

“—an even stronger Domain Expansion, I know, Suguru.” Satoru turns to him, enough just to shoot him a reassuring grin if it wasn’t so obnoxious as well. One of his hands comes up, index finger raised with the middle finger curled around it while the rest are closed shut — a one-handed mudra.

“Domain Expansion.”

Besides Suguru, Obito released a deep exhale, whether the sound was irritated or tired, Suguru didn’t really have much to ponder because he finds himself coated with Obito’s cursed energy in the next second. The effects of the Domain Clash in front of them getting cut off by what seems to be a barrier of Obito’s own.

“Susanoo.” He hears Obito chant. Suguru looks up and— oh, that’s a tengu mask, no?

A shikigami?

Obito moves his arms around, looking as if he’s grabbing something from thin air, and bring the closed fist to his chest — 

“What in the—!”

— just as Kusakabe gets dropped in front of them. Starring wide eyed around him and at the enclosing domain clash outside Obito’s shikigami.

“A Domain Expansion and a shikigami capable of withstanding the effects of the domain clash in its surrounding.” He lists off, a hand ending up in his hair to dishevel it, shocking even himself by the words he’d said. He stares at Suguru in a tired plea of normalcy, “Kid, please tell me there’s a limit to how many curses you can take in.”

Suguru couldn’t keep the amused huff to himself, seeing a senior of theirs looking more affronted by the second, “I could eat 10 curses a day if they didn’t taste like shit, Kusakabe-san.”

“Speaking of!”

Kusakabe jumps to his feet when Satoru appears just outside of Obito’s barrier, knocking on it as if it’s hard material. It’s only been 20 seconds since he engaged with the domain!

“Kuchisake-onna is now subdued!” Satoru flails his arm on a form behind him, the special-grade standing frozen and eyes empty as if staring at the space itself. “Suguru can just take it for himself now. Happy birthday!”

“It’s your birthday?” Kusakabe asks tentatively, out of it and watching as Obito’s shikigami dissipates. The area around them had cracked from the pressure of the domain clash, everywhere except on the spot Obito’s Shikigami had protected them.

“August isn’t even close to my birthmonth.” Suguru corrects, letting out a huff of mild amusement as he walks over the petrified curse and using his technique over it. With it already put into submission, there weren't any complications in condensing the special grade into an orb.

He swallows it after braising himself from the acidic aftertaste, the curse tasting like vomit and metal with a sprinkle of ash. It’s the worst tasting curse up to date.

He walks back over to them, hearing just the right moment of Satoru asking Kusakabe how he managed to not get targeted by any of the Kuchisake-onnas.

“I threw hard candies in your direction whenever it noticed me.” Came Kusakabe’s serious reply.

Seriously, what the fuck isn’t wrong with this society.

Instead of going straight back to their school in Tokyo, they were sent to Jujutsu Headquarters in the summon of the Higher-ups. The car drops three of them in a set of stairs not too dissimilar from the stairs their school has, similarly lined with torii gates.

Kusakabe opens his window to talk to them, “The Higher-ups will determine your grades from hereon, so it’s up to you how you’ll explain your techniques to them. Personally, I’d say be as up front as possible, but who am I to tell you what to decide for your future?”

He waves his hand at them in a shooing manner, “Yaga is already on his way here, but you should go talk with the higher-ups already. They don’t like waiting around.” He looks at them sternly as the window slides back up, “Don’t cause any trouble for Yaga.”

And the car drove off, leaving three teenagers to themselves.

Their climb to the headquarters was filled with Satoru’s chatter, the other two only talking when the white-haired boy specifically talks to them.

When they reached the top, Obito was the first to be called in.

A curly-haired man in suits guides him to the room where the higher-ups resided, opening the door for him to enter and closing it without entering with Obito.

What welcomes Obito is a dimly lit room illuminated only by candles. There are 6 figures encircling a wide empty space, each one of them concealed behind shoji doors.

“Stand in the middle, Obito Gojo.” The old man behind the door with a symbol of a yottsudomoe spoke.

Obito moved to the middle of the room, feeling eyes trained on every little action he does.

“What is the name of your technique?” 

He’s kind of tempted to answer ‘can’t any of you read what’s on my identity sheet?’, but doing so would just be a waste of time that Satoru will undoubtedly spend once it’s his turn, so Obito answers, “Sharingan.”

“Copy Wheel Eye… Obito Gojo, give us the full explanation of the Sharingan’s capabilities. What would you say are the correct terms for what the eyes grant you with?”

Obito thinks everything over. Initially, he never really plans on lying to these ancient conservatives — in fact, he’s banking on being so honest they’ll get horrified by what he could do. It doesn’t matter if they know what he’s exactly capable of; they won’t be able to do anything to limit him without possibly insulting him and risking them his alliance.

But then again, it’s always fun to have them shake in terror, no? He could always say that Kusakabe made him see honesty as the best morality.

“In broad terms, Sharingan grants me two abilities wherein the rest of my skills stem from. ‘Eye of Insight’ and ‘Eye of Hypnotism.’” He lists, shifting to stand comfortably, placing a hand to his chin as he explains. “Explaning Eyes of Insight — I can see cursed energy, seeing it in colour and distinguish it by its composition and source. It grants me the ability to see the flow and nature of cursed energy in someone, though not in the same level Satoru’s Six Eyes can. It gives me incredible clarity of perception, enabling me to read lips, even see something on a cellular level. From the name, it allows me to perfectly copy anything I see, though it’s limited to copying techniques as some are unique to their souls. But anything that anyone can do just by manipulating cursed energy, I can copy those in a single glance. Even if it were to be done in a fast movement, I can follow through with anything, possibly even at mach speed.”

Well, so long as it’s not being hidden from his view. But he’s not gonna outright say it, he’ll let them come up with that on their own.

Silence followed his words, and he shifts as he waits, placing his hand to his hips now as he lets them ponder on what he’d just said.

“And what of the ‘Eye of Hypnotism’?” The door with a swallowtail butterfly for a symbol spoke up first. “On your first mission as a student of Tokyo School, it was noted that you put a civilian under an illusion of seeing you as trusted adults, all under the permission of your teacher, Masamichi Yaga.”

“It depends on my intentions on how the technique results. Sharingan requires eye contact for the connection to last, and it’s not just limited to just placing false illusions. I can suggest thoughts and actions to a target, coercing them to divulge information or act in a particular way, possibly without the target even realising he’s under Sharingan.” Obito shrugs, ignoring how everyone is tensed by the implications of what he could just do in extreme cases. “It’s easy to tell when I’m controlling someone, though. Their eyes would reflect my Sharingan whenever I do this, and even someone without cursed energy will be able to tell.”

There’s a sound of a table getting slammed, the sound echoing through the room that made the candle’s fire flicker.

It came from the door with a 12-petalled chrysanthemum for a symbol. “I cannot be alone in thinking this! That technique in the hands of the Gojo Clan alongside their already existing Six Eyes is unjust! Dare I say dangerous!”

“Do not speak as if the Gojo Clan do not understand!” Came a shout from the door with a triple pine tree with branches for a symbol, this one, he can recognise as the Gojo Clan’s crest. “Let the boy finish explaining before pushing for a decision upon him.”

They talk as if Obito will just agree with what they decide onto him, how fucking hilarious. The Gojo higher-up is blindsighting them in his attempt to keep his pride.

“Obito Gojo, it is noted that your eyes change in appearance when you are in certain scenarios. This is not specified anywhere in your written skill assessments.” The shoji door with a five-petaled bellflower with a sword-shaped centre spoke, tone neutral amidst the brewing tension. 

“It is, I wrote it as Mangekyo Sharingan. If it’s not obvious from the name enough, it is an evolved state of the Sharingan wherein the three tomoes change into a pinwheel design. It allows me access to abilities that’s only tied to that state and to which I put under a single term — Kamui. With Mangekyo, each of my eyes are capable of different techniques by extension.” 

He points to a specific eye as he explains further. “A pocket dimension comes with Kamui, I call it my Kamui Dimension. It’s a space I can travel to anywhere and anytime with my eyes being the only mode of transport. With my left-eye, I can transport anything and anyone to the dimension in long-range, I can also take anything from the dimension back to this world the same way. It’s noted as to where I store my weapons at. With the right-eye, I can transport parts of myself to the dimension so the eye works short-range. That’s what happens whenever I become ‘intangible’ to anyone’s eye.”

Should he also talk about Kotoamatsukami? Hmm… maybe not yet. Or he could keep it as some sort of a trump card, though Satoru already knows about it. There’s no telling what happens in the future with the ability in his grasp.

“With both eyes available, I can also manifest a shikigami that I call Susanoo. Basically, it’s an armored tengu capable of withstanding any damage, even the effects of a domain clash from the outside. Withstanding the effects of a Domain Expansion is theory yet to be proven,” Obito shakes his head, though there’s a grin on his face at the thought of trying it out. “It’s an avatar made out of my cursed energy, and I act as the medium of it. Susanoo surrounds me and it can also move or fight on my behalf.”

“... Is that all the skills your Sharingan Technique has?” The 6th door, the one with a filled out symbol that outlines a bull’s head, finally talked after a long silence.

“As far as I understand, yes.”

“As far as he understands—!” The 12-petalled chrysanthemum door stresses, “The boy does not even understand his own technique fully! What is the Gojo Clan doing about this?!”

“It is a technique unheard of from anywhere!” The branched-triple pine tree door insists. “Whether it is a mutation for being the Six Eyes’ twin, the fact still remains that there are no records about such technique!”

“We have not forgotten how the Gojo Clan has kept the existence of the Six Eyes’ twin in secret.” The swallowtail butterfly door reminds them, tone irate. “If this issue had been known to the rest in the first place, we would not be in this predicament now!”

“Silence, everyone.” The yottsudomoe door’s tone raises to maintain decorum. “The Gojo Clan has long been reprimanded for their lapse in judgement, let us move on from there. Let us focus on the topic of Obito Gojo’s cursed technique, and what is to be done to make sure it cannot pose a problem.”

Obito raised a brow at his words. Wow, they’re being up front about their intentions?

As if seeing Obito’s reaction, the bellflower door spoke up, “We mean you no harm, Obito Gojo. We always require such intentions to any sorcerer that is within the Jujutsu Society. It is how we make sure jujutsu remains standing to this day and the future.”

Obito laughs snidely at that, not stopping himself a reaction. He’s already done what he’s intended to do to them. He’s been here long enough, no?

“You’re misunderstanding something here, old man.” He ignores the indignant sputter from behind each door and continues on. “If you think I’m gonna let you place a restriction on me, you’re all delusional in thinking you can even do that.”

“How dare—!” Bull head door reacts, “Your role as a clan head, while recognised, still does not excuse your rudeness in this sacred space, boy! Show respect to Jujutsu Society’s Higher-ups!”

“Obito Gojo!” The voice behind the yottsudomoe door booms, “Agree to a binding vow and swear that you will not put any sorcerer under Sharingan’s control!”

Specifying ‘sorcerer’ and not the general term ‘human’? They’re thinking of having him use it to rogue curse users, aren’t they? He can at least give them an applaud for that, maybe they’re not as brainless as he thought. Just utterly naive in thinking everyone will bend to their wills.

“No.”

The simple answer immediately shuts all of their resolve low. Making them hesitate in gauging how to handle someone with his technique. It’s probably a hard pill to swallow when they realise that Obito actually has the ability to make them bend to his wills, and they won’t even be able to do anything about it.

More shouts follow after, every single one of them talking over each other as they both try to talk to Obito and reprimand everyone else’s words and ideas in getting Obito to agree to something they propose.

“T-Then!” swallowtail butterfly door tries this time, “A system should be in place wherein we will be notified for the circumstances that you will need to use such Technique and cast it onto someone! We will need to keep track of your illusions, Obito Gojo!”

“No.”

“It is a must for anyone! Even with the Curse Manipulator, we require a list of the curse spirits he has taken hold of!” 

They’re talking about Suguru? That’s fucking pitiful, why is he letting himself be closely monitored like that? What’s next, the higher-ups will have a say in what curse he can and can’t have?

A tick appears in his forehead at the thought. Not because he gives a damn about him, but because he knows Satoru will. 

For someone with an actually terrifying technique, Getō Suguru sure likes to be in the role of the oppressed. He has the actual skill of turning the entire society upside down with his manipulation of the very species Jujutsu is trying to eradicate, why the fuck is he the one keeping morals?

“Fucking listen, you lot.” Obito calls them, flaring his curse energy to show his resolve. “I’m not gonna be controlled by the likes of you or anyone. Neither will Satoru, nor Getō Suguru.”

“That is not for you to decide, boy! In this society, there are regulations to up-held and not even the likes of you will have a say in it, you demo—”

Maybe he’s let out too much cursed energy, because the door is opened by the curly-haired man that guided him to this room, shoulders tensed and hands ready to probably subdue Obito should he do anything.

“What are you gonna do if I don’t conform to your ‘regulations’, then? Try to punish me? Fucking how?” He taunts them, laughing mockingly. “Ha! Try it. I dare you. You know what’s gonna happen? I’m gonna go against your fuck-ass system and shit on it! You know who else is gonna join me on that?” Obito grins, “I know Satoru wouldn’t mind joining me in the act.”

Silence followed his declaration. Though at this point, it’s delivered as a threat. A threat that the twins can absolutely deliver.

Doing this, Obito belatedly realised he’s butchered the ‘professional’ character he’s built up all these years for. But hey, at least he’s not dropping a nuke on them at the moment, right? That level of restraint should count to something! He’s still keeping his composure! They should be thankful he’s not leaving to find an orange mask.

“You’ve made your point.” The curly-haired man spoke behind Obito, still by the open door. “Drop your cursed energy, Obito Gojo.”

“Hmph.” He huffs, rolling his eyes as he listens to the older man. He hasn’t even got his name.

“A final proposal, Obito Gojo.” The yottsudomoe door spoke again, though his tone is less assured now. Voice wavering as he takes a deep breath. “Work with Yami Usami in creating a dispelling technique for your illusionary technique.”

“Are you going senile? I said—”

“Further opposition will result in Obito Gojo’s expulsion from Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College.” The words came from the branched-triple pine tree door.

That shut him up.

The fact that it came from a Gojo Clan member is very telling — they’ve begun to read through Obito’s acts. They’re not threatening his clan head position, instead, they target what he’s been obviously focusing on since he began collecting the clan’s weaponry. 

They now know that he actually cares enough to go through their program of sorcery — that he’d follow through Satoru’s wills. If Satoru hadn’t been the way he is and is keeping up his own acts of free will, he’d have been used as leverage against Obito. Maybe they’ll even come up with something akin to that in due time.

At least they prove themselves to not be some headless chicken in a position of power.

Obito turns to lock eyes with the curly haired man behind him. He wasn’t dismissed, and he hadn’t gone out the door when he closed it.

“Yami Usami here will be the person assigned to develop the dispelling technique against your illusionary technique, Obito Gojo.” 12-petalled chrysanthemum door confirms to Obito his ideas. “He will be in contact with you in developing the technique and you will cooperate until it is perfected.”

“This is the final agreement the headquarters will settle with Obito Gojo.” The bellflower door states with finality in his tone, assured that Obito won’t be objecting this time. Fuckers. “Obito Gojo is therefore recognised as a Special-Grade Sorcerer for his capabilities of illusionary techniques in the minds of multiple humans and curses alike,” He didn’t state that, was it from Shokō’s report? “—along with wielding an unmeasured scale of an armored tengu-shikigami named Susanoo and of an untested innate domain called Kamui Dimension.”

Well, if they list it down like that… Wait, no, isn't there anyone from the Shinobi World with even more catastrophic techniques than him? Sasuke should be above him, right? Amaterasu should be more dangerous than his Kamui. No, should it be Shinra Tensei? What even is he scaling now?

Whatever. Is everything done now that they’ve listed how destructive he is for the nation?

“Obito Gojo, you are now dismissed. Call forth Satoru Gojo.”

By the time the headquarters was done dealing with the three of them, the sun had already set. Yaga was waiting with the school’s car at the end of the staircase.

After looking over the three of them, clicking his tongue at the bandaged cheek of Suguru, he pushes them inside the car and drives them back to the school.

Three Special-Grade Sorcerers going back to their dorms, what a statement.

Obito shakes his head no when Satoru asks what he wants for dinner, “I’m kinda tired, Toru. I’ll rest first and see if I’m up to eat anything later.”

He ended up going to Kamui Dimension after closing his door shut (he still needs to fix the lock, fuck that). He keeps a few clothes in the dimension just in case, so he switched off his uniform there too.

Ignoring the bloody hand he moved to another block island (he should really take care of that someday), he eats a few takeout food he kept around the space as well (Does he even need to invest in a house when he’s already like this?).

He lays on the bed he put into Kamui, sheets still smelling as fresh as he had gotten them years ago. This place really is weird.

With nothing else to do, he opens a window to the real world overseeing where his brother is. He’s probably still eating or watching another movie—

Oh what the hell.

“—Shokō patched your cheek okay?”

Suguru was sitting by the common area’s couch, Shokō having just left in the background with a wave of her hand. Satoru leaned over him from the back of the couch, the back of his hand ghosting over the cheek Suguru received a slice on earlier.

“She had to re-open it so that there won’t be any scarring. That hurt a lot.” Suguru answers him, not even moving away from the touch  — though he didn’t move closer to it either, “It’s fine, though. Thank you for asking, Satoru-san.”

“I’m gonna get you to call me just ‘Satoru’ someday, you won’t even notice it happen until you already do.” Satoru huffs, pouting as he leans half his body deeper at the back of the couch to try to meet Suguru’s gaze. “Anyway, what did the higher-ups tell you when they assigned you to Special-Grade? For me, they tried to get me to spill about what I know can be used against Obito, what a bunch of pussies.”

Suguru had his eyes closed as he seemingly pondered over the answer, “They asked me to make an enumerated list of the curses I have. They’ll be basing from there about what curses I should and shouldn’t keep.”

Obito rolls his eyes at the same moment as Satoru lets out an irritated groan. The higher-ups sure are persistent.

“If they didn’t subject you to a binding vow yet, just ignore them, Suguru. You shouldn’t let them walk all over you!” Satoru tells him, hands expanding as if to stress his point. “Listen to Kusakabe-san! Decide for yourself what to take and what not to. You can even lie about the amount you have whenever they ask.”

“Unfortunately, Satoru-san, I’m not like you and Obito-san to be ignoring the higher-ups like that.” Suguru gives him a smile, but it lacks any emotion that it just ended up landing bitterly. “I don’t have any clans backing me, and I don’t want to risk getting kicked out from this school in just three months.”

“This isn’t about connections, Suguru. That doesn’t let someone last long in the society!” Satoru says, jumping over the couch and sitting next to Suguru, much to the former’s surprise. “It’s being strong enough to do so. Which you are! You’re strong, Suguru! Like us!”

The last one sounded almost like a final addition that Obito glared through the invisible vantage point. When did Obito become an afterthought?

“Please be realistic, Satoru-san. I’m not like you at all.”

“You are. You definitely are. You wouldn’t be classified as a special-grade alongside us if you weren't!” Satoru states as if it’s an undeniable fact long known to man. “We’re both strong, Suguru, and that’s as real as it gets!”

Suguru lets out a sigh, sounding more tired for every second Satoru talks to him positively. “Satoru-san, I'm not as strong as you.”

“You’re right.” Satoru stares at him in the eyes, blue to violet and it’s weird because Obito once saw a scene like this once upon a time—  “‘Cause you’re stronger, Suguru.”

He shuts the window as the thought settles over his mind. That’s crazy— the colors aren’t even anywhere near each other for him to just—