Somewhere deep inside, it was as though a vast, dark, silent lake spread out beneath a lightless sky — the black of the heavens and the black of the water bleeding into one.
In the middle of that lake sat a small island, built from skulls and splintered bones. At its center stood a throne, and upon that throne sat a single figure.
Sukuna.
This was Sukuna's Innate Domain.
An Innate Domain is the projection of an inner world that a sorcerer is born with — a private universe that exists within every jujutsu practitioner's heart. And this lightless lake, built from the bones of the dead, was Sukuna's.
His soul was lodged inside Yuji Itadori's body, and so his Innate Domain had carved out a corner of that body for itself.
Sukuna had been yawning, bored out of his mind.
But gradually, the boredom faded.
He began to watch what was happening outside with something approaching genuine interest.
Things were... getting entertaining.
BOOM!
Yuji's fist grazed Mahiko's cheek and punched straight through the wall behind her, sending chunks of concrete spraying in every direction.
Mahiko slipped aside. The tip of her foot barely touched the floor as she danced back two steps, light as a leaf.
She caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye — Maki's bird was spreading its wings, about to take off.
That wouldn't do. She couldn't let it get away.
That bird was fast. If it brought reinforcements, her fun would be over before it started.
And she still wanted to play a little longer.
Mahiko raised her hand. Several hares converged in midair, condensing into a blazing orb of Cursed Energy.
Crack — BANG!
The bird took a direct hit and let out a wounded cry, tilting and tumbling toward the ground.
Honestly, slipping away from Yuji right now would have been trivial. But her playful streak had already kicked in.
Besides, she was curious — she wanted to see how much Yuji had actually grown.
BAM! BAM! BAM BAM BAM!
Yuji pressed the attack, fist after fist hammering through the air, each blow carrying a shockwave of pressure and Cursed Energy — and every single one passed harmlessly through empty space as Mahiko glided out of the way like she was dancing.
Yuji's punches could strike the soul directly, which was precisely why she kept dodging. But to be honest, Yuji probably didn't even know he was capable of hitting her soul — after all, he'd never actually landed a blow on her. He was just throwing everything he had at her, trying to keep her pinned down.
"You know," Mahiko said, sidestepping another swing, "you really should learn some flashier moves. All you do is throw punches. Fighting you is so boring."
She stepped back and raised her right hand.
White light gathered in her palm, a sphere slowly taking shape — threaded through with shadow and the blue luminescence of Cursed Energy.
It was roughly half her full output, condensed into a single point —
"[Husk]."
BOOM——!!
Yuji took it dead-on. The impact sent him flying, smashing clean through a wall.
"And honestly, you haven't grown all that much," Mahiko said cheerfully, pulling her hand back and brushing imaginary dust from her palm.
In truth, he had grown.
Quite a bit, actually.
Yuji was meaningfully stronger than the last time they'd met.
But even so — even with that growth — he still couldn't come close to keeping up with Mahiko.
Sure, his punches could strike the soul. But if he couldn't even graze her, that ability was worthless.
The only thing Yuji had right now that could genuinely threaten Mahiko was letting Sukuna out.
But Mahiko was dead certain Yuji wouldn't do that.
If Sukuna came out, civilians in the surrounding area could get caught in the crossfire — and so could Yuji's friends. And knowing Sukuna, he might just let Mahiko walk out of spite, purely to make Yuji miserable.
So for Yuji to release Sukuna, he'd first have to negotiate a Binding Vow — a promise that Sukuna wouldn't harm anyone else, and that he'd help take Mahiko down.
And hammering out a Binding Vow takes time. At minimum, Yuji and Sukuna would need to actually talk.
The moment she caught even a hint of that happening, Mahiko would be gone — she wouldn't look back twice.
So she was in absolutely zero danger.
And from the looks of it, Sukuna wasn't remotely interested in getting involved anyway.
In the original story, Sukuna had agreed to a contract with Yuji because he'd already been scheming to steal Megumi Fushiguro's body later — he needed leverage. In this version of events, Sukuna had no such plan, and therefore no motivation to enter any kind of deal with Yuji.
He was probably lounging around inside Yuji's body right now, legs crossed, thoroughly entertained as he watched Yuji get run in circles.
Crunch —
Rubble shifted and tumbled.
Yuji dragged himself out of the wreckage.
His face was covered in blood, a trickle running from the corner of his mouth, but he ground his teeth and got to his feet. The look in his eyes was ferocious.
"Where's Inumaki-senpai?!"
He'd noticed. Mahiko had already moved Inumaki out beforehand.
Earlier, the large white bird had carried the unconscious Inumaki out of the building, disappearing to somewhere unknown. After all, if Yuji actually did switch Sukuna in, she could flee on her own easily enough — but hauling Inumaki along would make things messy. Better to send him away first.
Yuji's voice was trembling, rough with emotion when it came out: "You saved me before. You saved all of us. I thought you were a Cursed Spirit you could reason with — something different. So why are you doing this?!"
"Do you have any idea what you're treating human lives as?!"
"...?"
Mahiko tilted her head.
These things...?
Mahiko chose her words carefully: "Uhh, actually — I modified Maki's chromosomes too, so if she's willing to wait it out... she can technically still have children."
Surely it's not that serious? Changing someone's sex — that's not worth this kind of reaction, is it? He's practically on the verge of tears.
So Yuji had genuinely believed she was going to kill Inumaki.
What a massive misunderstanding. She had no interest in taking anyone's life.
Taking other things, maybe. But not lives.
"No — I mean the killing!" Yuji bit out, his voice rising to almost a shout: "Why did you kill people?!"
Mahiko blinked.
Killing?
Who did I kill?
Don't tell me someone else's crimes are being pinned on me.
Mahiko rolled her eyes. "I haven't killed anyone."
Yuji stopped cold.
"You... haven't killed anyone?" The fury on the boy's face shifted to bafflement. "For real?"
Mahiko nodded, perfectly earnest. "Yeah. For real. Not once."
And at that — Yuji actually brought a hand to his chin and started thinking it over. Carefully.
He just... instantly believed her? Just like that?
"So someone made a mistake?" the boy muttered to himself.
"Uh." Mahiko opened her mouth.
You came in here accusing me of murder, and I have no idea what you're talking about. But the moment I say I didn't do it, you do a complete 180... now I'M the confused one.
Why? Why would anyone just take an enemy's word for it like that? Mahiko was pretty sure the Yuji from the original story hadn't been this straightforward, had he?
Yuji looked up and met Mahiko's eyes.
"Because you saved me once." His voice was calm, but dead serious. "That's why I've always thought you were different from other Cursed Spirits. And I don't think you have any reason to lie to me. If you're telling me honestly that you've never killed anyone — then I'm willing to look at this whole situation again from scratch."
...Seriously?
"Pfft—" Mahiko pressed a hand over her mouth as a laugh slipped out.
"No way. You're too good-hearted — I almost don't want to mess with you anymore." She was grinning ear to ear, shaking her head. "Honestly though, someone as naive as you is going to get used by people one day because you're too understanding. You really should be more suspicious of others. Otherwise things are going to end very badly for you."
Yuji frowned and shook his head.
"No. We're still enemies." His tone was firm — and his fighting stance hadn't dropped an inch. "I'm not going easy on you. And I'm taking Inumaki-senpai back."
Mahiko smiled and shook her head.
"Oh, what a shame." She tilted her head, and the smile took on a knowing edge. "The Inumaki-senpai you know... is probably never coming back to you."
Yuji froze.
His pupils shrank.
"What do you mean?! What did you do to Inumaki-senpai——!!"
The urgency hit all at once. He stepped forward, fists already clenched.
But Mahiko only laughed — light, melodic — and stepped back. The wings behind her unfurled slowly, white feathers spreading wide across the dim floor of the building, a faint shimmer dancing along each plume.
"Two minutes are up," she said, arms spreading wide, smile radiant. "You didn't beat me. So — I'll be taking Inumaki with me."
With that, Mahiko beat her wings once, and sailed through the gaping hole in the side of the building.
"Wait——!!" Yuji lunged to the edge of the opening.
But he had no wings.
The building was too tall — chasing her meant going all the way down the stairs, and by the time he reached the ground, Mahiko would be long out of sight.
All he could do was stand at the height he had and search desperately.
He thought that at least from up here, he might be able to track which direction she flew.
He couldn't.
The hares suddenly exhaled a burst of mist, and in the blink of an eye, a flash of blue hair flickered between the distant rooftops — and was gone.
Yuji clenched his fists. His nails dug into his palms.
Six seconds later, Nanami and Maki arrived at the base of the building.
Yuji had just made it downstairs.
"Itadori! Where's the Cursed Spirit?!" Nanami asked, breathless.
"...Inumaki-senpai. She took him." Yuji's knuckles were white around his fists. His expression was pained.
Nanami's eyes flickered. He turned immediately to his communicator, and when he spoke, his voice no longer held the forced composure he'd been maintaining.
"Inumaki Toge has been taken by the blue-haired Cursed Spirit. Initiate a city-wide search immediately. We need him recovered before she does anything to him."
"That Cursed Spirit is extremely dangerous — extremely cunning. She is no longer something an ordinary sorcerer can handle. We need more Grade 1 sorcerers recalled and deployed as support."
"Also — when is Satoru Gojo back from his business trip? Tell him to hurry."
Nanami rattled off orders, rapid-fire. Fragmented responses crackled back through the communicator.
Yuji just stood there. Silent.
Mahiko's parting words echoed on a loop inside his head.
The Inumaki-senpai you know... is probably never coming back to you.
What did that mean?
What was she going to do to Inumaki-senpai?
And so — the afternoon of the second day after Inumaki was taken by Mahiko, with Jujutsu Tech at a complete loss and very nearly resigned to confirming Inumaki's death — they received an emergency signal sent from Inumaki's phone.
Grade 1 sorcerer Nanami, Grade 1 sorcerer Mei Mei, and the other students from Jujutsu Tech converged on the location and surrounded the hotel from which the signal had originated.
Together they entered the room indicated by the signal, and there, on the bed, they found a small girl — fast asleep — with long white hair, animal ears, and a tail.
After subsequent questioning and psychiatric evaluation... they ultimately confirmed that this white-haired girl was, in fact, Inumaki Toge — physically remade by the blue-haired Cursed Spirit's Technique.
Inumaki Toge was alive.
But the face that looked back at them was no longer the one any of his fellow students had ever known.
____
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