Four victims, stabbed to death at the entrance of their apartments, automatic locks opened.

Different dates, different locations.

Why...

"Why the hell can't I remember this?"

As the group walked through Megumi's old school with assistant manager Nitta, Itadori seemed a bit disconnected from the group as they interrogated some delinquents and Megumi's former teacher.

"No... It's not that I don't remember... I just didn't pay enough attention to this part." Rubbing his chin, Itadori tried to recall the events that followed, but his lack of attention to the story made him miss most of the details. "Damn, my habit of skipping a few minutes of episodes is finally backfiring on me."

"Fushiguro..."

As the group headed towards the car to leave, the former teacher suddenly called out to him.

"Is Tsumiki okay?"

"Tsumiki? Oh, that must be Megumi's sister."

"Yeah, she's fine."

"Hey, who's that?" Curious about the unknown name, Nobara questioned her friend.

"My older sister."

"What?! You need to talk more about yourself!"

With the group finally leaving, it didn't take long for them to reach the cursed bridge... Itadori was lost in his own thoughts, so he ended up missing that part.

With the three of them heading to the bridge, they stood there for a few minutes, hoping to catch any signs of abnormalities.

Obviously, they didn't see anything.

"What if we raised a curtain? Maybe that would force the curse to show itself." Itadori suggested an idea that might work, but Megumi quickly explained why it wouldn't.

"It's not the ideal location for that, we're too close to the city, people would notice. Besides, none of us knows how to raise a curtain."

Itadori nodded in disappointment, and as he approached the edge of the bridge, he looked down with curiosity.

"I think we should head back for now, there's no sign of anything here." Nobara suggested with a bored look. The girl was getting tired of just waiting. "Maybe if we interrogate a few more people, we might find something."

"You guys can go, I'll stay here." Itadori declared as he sat on the edge. "It's better if someone stays here in case something happens. If this place is the birthplace of the curse, it will eventually show itself."

"If that's the case, it wouldn't be safe to leave you here alone." Megumi approached, clearly disagreeing with that idea. "If this is its birthplace, it's possible that it's very powerful, considering the range of its reach."

"Or maybe not, after all, to have such a large range, it would have to sacrifice something. The ability to defend itself, perhaps?" Itadori glanced at the lake below the bridge, his eyes narrowing as he noticed an anomaly in the air, disappearing as quickly as it appeared.

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"But- Hey... You might be right, when did you become so knowledgeable about Jujutsu?" Nobara questioned with some interest.

"I had two months to study."

Itadori remembered the training period with Gojo. Combat and refining cursed energy control were part of the training, but the teacher made sure to teach him about Jujutsu and its concepts.

Gojo could be playful and silly most of the time, but he was really great at teaching theoretical concepts, despite saying he found it boring.

"Damn, I feel like I'm falling behind." Nobara grumbled, receiving a nod of agreement from Megumi beside her.

"It's not just you."

With a sigh, Megumi simply turned away.

"Alright, I trust you, Itadori. Just send us a message if something strange happens, we'll come back as soon as possible."

"Finally, this place gives me the creeps." Nobara celebrated as she passed by the boy. "We'll bring you something to drink!"

With a farewell wave, Itadori opened a small smile as he watched the two walk away from the bridge.

...

And seeing them disappear into the distance, he turned his attention back to the area below the bridge, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Truth be told, the main reason he hadn't decided to go with the two was simply the unwillingness to walk all the way back to the car. But after noticing something strange below the bridge, he decided to investigate on his own.

He knew that if the two were alive in the future, then nothing in this place should be powerful enough to put them at risk.

But thanks to his intervention, and the possible death of Hanami, he didn't want to take any chances. Kenjaku could change his plans and add more firepower to his missions.

His next encounter with Mahito was supposed to happen only in Shibuya, but if there was a chance of encountering him in this place, Megumi and Nobara couldn't be with him at all.

Mahito wasn't as strong when it came to cursed energy, or even combat intelligence, but his cursed technique guaranteed a hit-kill for most of his opponents.

Itadori was the only one who couldn't be affected by him, thanks to Sukuna...

Sukuna...

The king of curses was still a mystery, but considering the events at the school, Itadori believed he should already have some interest in Megumi and his shadow technique.

But up to this point, Sukuna hadn't made any moves regarding this. No pacts, or even an attempt to persuade Itadori.

An outsider would think that Sukuna had given up on returning, since he hadn't made any moves in that game.

But Sukuna was cunning, Itadori knew that. He must be planning something, something that the boy was unable to guess at the moment.

He should be careful.

"Hey, Sukuna."

Calling out to the rogue sorcerer, Itadori waited for a few seconds.

But receiving no signs of response, he just sighed in irritation.

"Fine, don't respond."

With the boy moving to the edge of the bridge, he turned down with interest, his eyes narrowing when once again, the same anomaly formed in the air, disappearing in an instant.

"But I have a strange feeling about this place..." With him saying with a bit of interest, a small smile appeared on his lips. "There's a finger here, isn't there?"

"Heh..."

With an eye emerging from the tattoo on his cheek, a mouth opened with a toothy grin.

"So you noticed, kid. Looks like you're not so useless after all."

Itadori crossed his arms with a disdainful attitude, clearly unfazed by Sukuna's attempt to belittle him.

"Admit it, you're feeling threatened by me."

"Tsk!"

Rubbing his chin in curiosity, he remembered something Gojo had told him two months ago.

"So that's what he meant when he said the fingers would resonate... Well, in the end, it's not so relevant, after all, apparently I need to be close to the location where the finger is stored..."

'Oh well. Let's get this over with.'

"Watch, king of curses."

"You're a joke-"

*Slap!

But as the king of curses was about to respond, a slap silenced him, his eye and mouth closing to return to the tattoos on the young sorcerer's face.

"Shh."

With a disdainful smile, Itadori jumped from the bridge, landing on the ground with a thud that shook the ground beneath his feet.

It didn't take long for him to notice the anomaly in his field of vision, the feeling of something trying to draw him in putting him on alert.

"So it was here all along."

Taking a step towards the lake, the boy's eyes widened the instant his shoe was swallowed by the water, the sight before him changing in an instant.

He was now in front of a cave, with what seemed to be part of the curse scattered all over the place.

And it didn't take long for him to notice what should be the body of the curse emerging from a strange hole in the wall.

"Gotcha."