Chapter Text
It all started with a comment on the internet. Which to be honest was pretty rare for you to indulge in in the first place. Don’t misunderstand, you had strong opinions about things -especially when some of your favorite characters or shows were involved- but between the trolls online and the way things generally devolved in comment sections it just wasn’t worth raising your blood pressure over anymore.
It started innocuously enough in some TikTok comments of a Jujutsu Kaisen fight mash up from the current Shibuya Arc. It was one of those videos where the quality is so high you don’t even understand how the user posting found it.
75 Comments
“Dude I fkn hate Mahito he better get left right goodnight next ep”
- “lol get ready to be disappointed”
“I mean why mahito kinda…👀”
- “get help….”
- “girlie I’m all for ignoring red flags but that’s a whole red flag factory”
- okay but transforming body parts 😩
You laughed at the comments per usual thumbing up your favorites before going to type your own. This fandom was so unhinged but you loved it. These comments were tame compared to what you would see on the average JJK thirst trap video.
“Gege is the worst curse 😭”
You hit enter with a small smile before immediately scrolling through a few more TikToks. Your timeline was currently Jujutsu Hell. Just about every TikTok was JJK related and while you adored the show (maybe a little too much) you were feeling a little bummed out by it lately.
Season one had become your ultimate comfort anime. It was endearing, funny, heartwarming and all the characters meshed so well. It made you feel like a part of their family -albeit a very hot family where you thirsted over about 90% of the cast-.
Sure the Junpei arc in season 1 broke your heart but it was a manageable amount of sadness. The movie was much the same; a little sad but overwhelming the good guys win and the family is together at the end. Then came Shibuya and all hell broke loose. Gege made you fall in love with Suguru Geto despite knowing that wasn’t going to end well. Your sweet baby Yuji was tortured relentlessly physically and mentally. Then he put your man Gojo in an eyeball box before he killed off a bunch of beloved characters. You were honestly starting to feel depressed. It sounds dramatic but you really loved these characters and it felt like Gege was torturing them for the hell of it. Character deaths were fine with a literary purpose but it was beginning to feel cruel.
Your mood dipped with your thoughts as you decided to close the app down. Before you could flick it shut a notification popped up at the top of your screen showing someone had responded to your comment. You clicked it to see the bigger thread.
- “Yuji had to watch these ppl die to grow as a character”
You screwed up your face into an affronted expression. You had a tendency of wearing your thoughts on your face before managing to school them. Something that had gotten you in trouble more than once. Thankfully, in your own home that wasn’t an issue.
“Not really relevant to my comment..” you mumbled while typing a response. “But I’ll bite”
“Killing off characters just to make another one grow is the easy way out. Yuji is a kid. Torturing him senselessly isn’t making him grow, it's making him traumatized.”
Before you could even click away another comment popped up below yours
- “U think u could do any better?”
You rolled your eyes at the comment. You loved Gege’s work, the universe and characters he created were amazing; but that didn’t mean you had to agree with every decision he made as an author. This is why you didn’t bother to leave comments. You hated having to justify yourself to random people on the internet. You contemplated deleting your original comment before you typed
“I mean I could get to the same places plot wise and emotionally without murdering everyone the audience cares about..” Before the guy could respond again you hit the phones off button to put it to sleep and threw it across your bed. You hated that your emotions tended to get involved in things as tiny as internet comments or tv shows.
You huffed into your sheets before mumbling, “If I was there I’d end up being an annoying Shonen protagonist…” you smiled thinking of the way Naruto relentlessly chased down Sasuke or Luffy refused to leave his Nakama behind. Rolling over you lay on your back staring at the ceiling grinning, “Suguru Geto you aren’t escaping the power of friendship buddy! I would drag your monkey hating ass back kicking and screaming. Hell, I’m saving Yu Haibara first, sending Geto to therapy, and taking Nanami to a freaking hair salon. Emo looking…” you laugh out loud before your reverie is interrupted by the screeching of your phone's alarm.
Your mood is forced to instantly sober, “I’m pathetic..” you muttered. Knowing in the back of your head you had to get ready for another day at your mediocre job with your sh*tty coworkers. And for what? To come home and be sad that the gorgeous pixelated men on the other side of the screen were getting knocked off by their God Gege (who you just decided to dub God-Ge).
After rubbing a hand over the bridge of your nose you tried to muster the energy to get up and get sh*t done. Raising up one hand towards the ceiling and making a fist you yelled, “Alright God-Ge you dick just you wait till I get Isekaied! Not one of my boys is dying and I all my babies are gonna grow up loved as f*ck!!”
~~
That was the last thing you remembered and what brought you to the here and now. Where ever here and now was… you were disoriented to say the least. You went from laying in bed to your body standing. White and red lights were flashing by with a blustery wind shaking you and rattling your clothes. Despite the confusion you registered that you were moving but not with any sense of purpose or even of your own volition. You were submerged in a crowd; bodies flowing around you pushing your stumbling form along. You were in sensory overload; the sound of racing vehicles, people talking, advertisem*nts ringing. The lights flickering around you were blurred and the voices surrounding you were unintelligible.
You felt as if you broke through to the air from a lake in the middle of winter. Your mind was having trouble forming full thoughts. The information it was receiving was partial and you felt goosebumps break out down your arms as you felt a shiver go down your body. You noticed a ringing in your head as it gradually grew louder in volume. The tinnitus like sound became unbearable as you hunched over putting your hands over your ears. Your posture was protective as you just hoped the overwhelming feelings would-
The ringing stopped. The sounds around you clarified and your vision seemed to return to normal. It felt as if someone had thrown you a life preserver in frigid waters and you gasped at the sudden shift in physical sensations.
Something was grounding you. This warmth spread throughout your body and a wave of reassurance engulfed you. Still bent over with your hands on your knees you registered a hand on your upper back near your shoulder. The touch, warm and light, rubs a gentle circle only partially putting its weight on you. You aren’t the type of person to want to be touched by strangers but the person barely holding you relays comfort and reassurance. Their form was removed enough to show concern while not intruding on your space or coming off as disrespectful.
“Hey are you okay? You don’t look so good..” the voice was masculine but had this buoyancy and brightness to it. The energy behind it non-threatening and almost inviting. You squeezed your eyes shut trying to regain some baseline of where you are. You registered the sidewalk under your feet and your familiar pair of shoes. It had to be nighttime based on the level of light surrounding you. It wasn’t dark but the only thing illuminating your feet was colorful artificial rays.
The hand on your back left taking its warmth with it. Your eyes flicked up to meet a pair of brown orbs with flecks of gold. The person's face peering down at you was so close to your own your noses almost brushed when you looked up. Your voice caught in your throat as you choked in surprise at the handsome features directly in front of you. His brown eyes were framed with long dark lashes. The first thought that left your mind was he’s beautiful before a heat raced down your stomach.
At your noses almost touching, he stood up quickly from stooping to get a better look at you. He must have seen something in your eyes that clearly concerned him as both of his arms reached out to steady you on either side of your shoulders. His fingers flexed lightly on your upper arms as he maintained a firm but gentle hold, “Hey I’ve got ya, let’s move over out of the walkway.” The voice sounded like how someone would coax an animal out of a hiding place. It generated a sense of security despite the confusion all around you.
You leaned up to your full height, the hands on your arms providing support in the event you needed it. You fought past a wave of dizziness as your gaze followed his legs on their way to meet his eyes. He was tall, almost two heads taller than you. His face now turned away from yours as it scanned above the crowd for a destination. His hair was the same honey brown color as his eyes. The style boyish, straight and short; stopping above the ears before ending in an undercut.The bangs were untamed like he had run his hands through them one time too many.
“Hmmmm, umm…there’s gotta be a seat somewhere..” he mumbled to himself aloud. You tried to focus on his words but felt your form stiffen as you were bumped by the throng brushing by you, intent on where they were heading. When he spoke his voice tickled the back of your brain, a sense of familiarity rolling over you. You couldn’t help but focus on the sensation of his hands on your shoulders.
He visibly perked up as he seemed to have found what he was looking for before he glanced back over to you. He smiled brightly, making eye contact that made you feel a blush on your face in response. He released your arms briefly before a large warm hand reached out and clasped your smaller one before navigating you towards a less dense part of the horde. “So I don’t lose you.” he explained lightheartedly over his shoulder. His grip was soft despite the roughness of his own hands. You felt yourself rub against him reflexively tracing one of his calloused fingers with your own.
Your own emotions and feelings in your present situation baffled you. You were not some maiden needing saving nor some naive girl who would tag up with a random man. You watched way too much true crime to ever take a strange man’s hand and follow them into a side street no matter how attractive they were. However, rather than your intuition screaming for you to pull your hand away and run, it remained quiet. You had never believed in aura, chakra, energy or whatever but it was like you could sense his and it gave you only positive vibes.
Nothing made sense. A moment ago you were laying in bed on TikTok and now you were in the middle of a massive metropolitan area (you lived hours away from one) in the middle of a crowd with a guy you vaguely felt like you knew pulling you to God knows where?
Swallowing hard, you stumbled behind the larger male his broad back and strong shoulders taking up the majority of your view. You shadowed him closely so that you wouldn’t become separated. This was working fine until he abruptly stopped; someone cutting in front of you both with a bicycle. You tripped forward into his back, your fingers gripping tightly into his black crop top style jacket for support. A soft cry of surprise escaping your lips. He froze letting you regain your balance as you leaned against him fully. His back clearly muscled against your forearms and hands. “I’m sorry” you stammered out letting go once you reoriented yourself. The guy leading turned slightly towards you before readjusting your hand in his making sure not to let go. “N-no worries, one minute and we're there...” he announced in a soothing tone despite an outbreak of red flushing the top of his ears and the little bit of cheek you could see.
True to his word less than a minute passed before there was a gap in the crowds and you both emerged into a smaller offshoot of the main walkway. You must be between stores where the garbage and back employee stairs were situated because the area was pretty empty opposed to the sidewalk not five feet away. The familiar individual in front of you released your hand and began digging in his jacket pockets now. Below the jacket was a simple white t-shirt followed by formal black pants. The t-shirt was snug not leaving much to the imagination as you felt yourself swallow hard. Part of his tongue popped out in the corner of his mouth as he kept searching for something. Your mind immediately goes, cute, at the small pink muscle wedged in the corner of his lips. “Miss, do you prefer sweet or salty food?” He formally inquired looking up with a smile. He managed to fish out some candies from his pockets alongside what looked like a few candy wrappers and some pocket lint.
You blinked at the unappetizing handful in his outstretched hand before studying his face again. It was driving you crazy how familiar he looked. Though another part of you couldn’t help but assert you wouldn’t forget a face this attractive and boyish. A lazy smile graced his face as he looked you in the eyes holding forward his hand of proffered treasures. The way he expectantly looked at you reminded you instantly of a golden retriever. He was convinced that his outstretched handful would solve whatever issue made you double over in the street. “I bet it’s low blood sugar! My grandma has to deal with that so I got in the habit of carrying around a couple of candies in case she needs a little boost!” He gave a short laugh before reaching back to scratch his head with his free hand “but to be totally honest I usually end up eating it all and it’s really more of an excuse to keep candies on hand all the time…” he paused clearly still waiting for you to take one of the brightly wrapped sweets. His expression clearly reflecting that he could never imagine you not wanting one of the slightly melted goodies.
“Oh…okay, thank you?” Your response came out as more of a question then you intended as you glanced down and bridged your hand half way between you two before pausing. The wrappings were unfamiliar and you had no idea what exactly you were taking. A sarcastic voice in your head couldn’t help but quip, Good idea let's take candy from the stranger now that you’ve followed him into an alley.
He watched you, his smile never fading as you glanced up to make eye contact again a small furrow of confusion on your brow. He looked down at his own hand before exclaiming, “Oh! Right so this one is a little sour it’s got like a tangy…” the older teen continued to ramble on. His voice faded into the background as your brain went 100 miles per hour trying to catch up to everything happening. You definitely knew this guy. Was he a coworker's friend? That didn’t explain how the hell you ended up in a city. His candy spiel apparently ended as he looked up at you tilting his head to the side slightly.
A light bulb suddenly went off in your head as you exclaimed out loudly pointing as if you had the answer to a game of Pictionary. “Yu! Haibara Yu!”
