Chapter 4: eah?
POW! POW!
Two blows landed, an uppercut from the right aimed at the heart, followed by a strike from the lower left aimed at the kidney.
WACK! WACK!
A large Bo-Staff skillfully deflected both strikes.
"Fast but out of sync," he berated his two trainees.
Without giving them a chance to respond, he thrust the Bo-Staff forward, striking one of them in the stomach. Then he swiftly ducked and spun to avoid a Bokken aimed at his neck, finally sweeping the legs out from under the Bokken user using his staff.
Wack! Wack!
Two hits on his trainees' heads signalled the end of the training session.
"Ugh," groaned the black-haired teen, clutching his stomach. "Why do you hit so hard?"
"Because pain builds, Megumi. The harder I hit and the more pain you're in, the faster you're forced to adapt. That's why you get stronger seemingly out of nowhere in the middle of fights. Your mind finds all the ways to survive, no matter what," Yuki replied.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. I've got a mission. I'll be back in a few days," Megumi said with a frown as he got up and left, leaving Yuki and Maki behind.
"He seems upset," Yuki mused while helping Maki to her feet.
"Yeah, he's brooding about losing again. He feels weak and thinks he's not improving," Maki informed.
"That's dumb," he thought. "He's almost at semi-grade 1, if not grade 1."
"What about you? How are you feeling?" he asked Maki.
"I've improved a lot, but not fast enough. I feel like something is holding me back," she admitted.
"Right," he absentmindedly responded, patting down her back and hair to get all the dirt and grass off. 'Can she feel it? How very interesting.
------------------------------------ Some days later ------------------------
"You don't seem very concerned that I'm a finger bearer, Gojo," Yuki asked with curiosity and a hint of suspicion. It had always nagged him as to why Gojo never questioned him.
"Why should I be? You've been a host for what, 11 years now? I'm sure if you didn't have it under control, I would have noticed," Gojo replied in a cocky manner.
"Ah, so what are we doing in a market?" Yuki changed the subject.
"We're here to get Kikufuku! It's my favorite!" Gojo cheered, drawing the attention of the crowd around them.
"Must you be so insufferable and childish?" Yuki lowered his head in embarrassment and secondhand shame.
"But I'm excitedddd!!!!!!" Gojo dragged out the 'd' to emphasize his childlike excitement.
Yuki wanted to turn invisible to escape the stares they were receiving.
"You go get your sweets. I'm going to go for a wander and distance myself from you," he said as he walked off.
He sighed as he looked into a large mirror for sale. He had fair skin and neck-length bleached white hair with greyish-white eyes. He was wearing baggy pants and a tight black shirt, the same outfit as Toji. His face remained jovial, but his eyes darkened. He hated himself, his look, his mask—everything. To him, it all felt fake, a lie. He was a mechanic, not a fighter, not a kid, not a... whatever he was now. It disgusted him. He hated it. He hated all of i-
"Pat!"
"Let's gooo!" Gojo exclaimed with excitement while carefully holding a bag
"Yeah, let's," he muttered.
-----------------------------------------
"Woosh!"
"What's the situation?" he and Gojo appeared on top of a school building, alongside Megumi and a pink hair teen.
"Uh, Gojo? Why are you here?" Megumi questioned.
"Hey, I wasn't planning on coming, but man, you're all roughed up. I should show the second-years, hehe," Gojo pulled out his phone and took a lot of pictures. "The higher-ups wouldn't shut up about a special-grade cursed object gone missing, again," Gojo briefly glanced in Yuki's direction, though it was hidden by his blindfold. "So I stopped by while doing some shopping. So, did you find it?"
"Uhh... sorry, but I ate it," the pink-haired muscled teen, Itadori, said awkwardly.
A stunned silence ensued.
"For real?" Gojo asked, stunned.
"For real," Itadori and Megumi confirmed.
With another hidden glance in Yuki's direction— who was now standing behind Megumi—Gojo walked over.
"Hmmm..." Gojo inspected Itadori. "Hehehe, Dame, it really did combine with you. That's hilarious."
"Anything off with your body?" the blindfolded man interrogated.
"Not particularly," the pink-haired teen responded.
Gojo looked over at Yuki only to see a reassuring expression.
"Well, in that case, can you swap out with Sukuna?" Gojo asked.
"Sukuna?"
"The curse you ate."
"Oh... yeah, I think I can do that."
Gojo walked near the railing and started stretching. "Then give us ten seconds. Once ten seconds are up, come back to us."
"But-"
"Don't worry," Gojo interrupted. "I'm the strongest," Gojo proclaimed. "Yuki, hold this, will you?" Gojo threw the bag of Kikufuku over to Yuki.
BANG!
Sukuna was out.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone