Itadori Yuji's progress was astonishingly fast.
The high-intensity training every night was almost equivalent to four or five days of daytime training, and his Cursed Energy grew visibly.
He was no longer satisfied with simply holding a cursed corpse doll and outputting Cursed Energy during the day. After asking Gojo-sensei to help adjust the Cursed Energy requirements, he started fighting Panda while carrying a cursed corpse doll.
The young man's gaze became more introverted, and his demeanor constantly improved; everyone could clearly feel his change.
One time, seeing Itadori looking refreshed and showing no signs of fatigue, Kugisaki asked out of curiosity.
"I heard you go out to train every night now? Don't you rest at night?"
Itadori immediately smiled upon hearing this, proudly and happily boasting—
"I don't need to rest at night; I don't get tired~ My Sukuna will help me heal!"
His eyes curved in a smile, and his good mood could be felt from three meters away.
—Yes, his address for Sukuna had already changed to "My Sukuna."
Ever since their first training session that night, Itadori had become increasingly clingy to Sukuna.
Even when he was alone, he would chatter away at the back of his hand for a long time.
Fushiguro's brows twitched at the sight—
Alright... I know you like your Sukuna... but can you stop showing off? That's a Curse, a Curse! And you're a Jujutsu Sorcerer!
He stared at Itadori, his face filled with exasperation.
And another significant change was—
All the First and Second Years' attitudes towards Sukuna became increasingly friendly.
Ever since the "princess carry" incident, everyone's fear of Sukuna instantly vanished, replaced by a certain state with a pink filter.
They would occasionally come over to greet Sukuna, with mysterious smiles on their faces—
—This was most evident when Gojo-sensei appeared by Itadori's side and chatted with them.
Sukuna was puzzled and a little flattered... It seemed not all Jujutsu Sorcerers were so annoying; they were quite nice to him, a Special Grade Cursed Spirit!~
Sukuna was a little happy, and his favorability towards everyone also rapidly increased.
Of course, greeting couldn't just be greeting; everyone tacitly developed a new shared hobby with Gojo-sensei—
"Sukuna, this is Morinaga's Cream Shortbread, want a piece?"
"Sukuna, I bought LOTTE's Fresh Cream Chocolate Pie, want to try some?"
"Itadori's Sukuna, here, Thor's Chocolate Financier~"
Even Inumaki Toge, who didn't talk much, would occasionally and quietly hand over a Tuna Mayonnaise Rice Ball or a Brownie Cake.
So every day, Itadori would help Sukuna receive a large pile of snacks.
Feeling everyone's enthusiasm, Sukuna was touched and would always reply with reserved politeness: "Mm," "Okay," "Thank you."
Then the person who offered the snack would look satisfied, with an auntie-like smile, and continue the next time.
Sukuna couldn't help but sigh; his popularity was truly excellent.
Thanks to his personal charm—no, his spiritual charm~—he was able to win everyone over in such a short time.
Hmm! Confirmed, he is the most popular King of Curses!—
..."Sukuna, where does all this food go when you eat so many snacks every day?"
Itadori asked curiously, staring at the pile of snacks on the table.
Sukuna shrugged in his inner world.
[It's probably still absorbed by your body. You consume so much at night; how can you not eat more?]
"Is that how it is?" Itadori suddenly understood. "No wonder I haven't felt hungry. I thought it was because you, Sukuna, were healing me."
[Healing is for recovery, but you still need to eat. Look at your Gojo-sensei; he uses Reverse Cursed Technique every day, but he still eats, doesn't he?]
"I see."
Itadori expressed his understanding.
Immediately after, he rubbed his hands together, his eyes sparkling as he looked at the various snacks on the table.
"Which one do you want to eat first?"
Sukuna, reserved and aloof, glanced at the 'empire' he had conquered with his spiritual charm.
His tone was arrogant—
[From left to right, one by one.]
"Alrighty~"
Itadori skillfully unwrapped a snack for Sukuna.
Listening to his Sukuna humming a cheerful tune in his mind, he felt delighted.
When he looked at Sukuna's mouth on the back of his hand, his movements suddenly paused.
After some thought, he couldn't help but quietly speak.
"Sukuna, actually, I think..."
He paused, somewhat hesitant, but still said it.
"I think... actually, you could switch out during the day too. Everyone probably wouldn't mind."
He always felt that feeding Sukuna like this was a bit unfair to him. Wouldn't it be more convenient to just switch out and use his body to eat?
Moreover, everyone had accepted Sukuna well, so they probably wouldn't be afraid if Sukuna switched out anymore.
Sukuna's humming slowly faded, and after a moment of silence, he replied.
[Let's not.]
"Not minding"—that's a relative thing.
He knew very well that everyone's friendliness towards him was based on his being restricted. The moment he appeared openly, the nature of things would be completely different.
Could Maki and the others truly accept a King of Curses who could appear anytime, anywhere?
Or rather—a King of Curses who had almost completely replaced their classmate, Itadori Yuji?
He thought the answer was no.
Besides, if he also used Tiger-chan's body during the day, it wouldn't just be these few students who would see him. Others would definitely report his situation to the Higher-Ups, whom Gojo Satoru was always wary of.
It was already difficult enough for Gojo to protect him and Tiger-chan. If the positions were reversed, he might not be able to do the same.
His staying inside Itadori's body was a safe state for everyone.
There was no need to break this balance.
He said in a relaxed tone:
[This is enough. Being able to come out for three hours at night is quite good.]
[Besides, just this much is already quite dangerous. Didn't you see how nervous that Fushiguro kid was?]
"…Okay." Itadori looked a bit dejected.
He didn't understand why others were so wary of Sukuna; the records from a thousand years ago didn't match the current Sukuna at all.
Or... once Sukuna regained his memories... would he perhaps become like the records from a thousand years ago...?
Itadori wanted to say something, but the words turned on his tongue and he swallowed them back.
He couldn't bring himself to say... to say—Sukuna, don't regain your memories.
"Sukuna..."
"…When you regain your memories…"
His voice was a little low.
His fingertips tightened slightly, creating a deep crease on the packaging bag.
He was somewhat hesitant, and the light in his light brown pupils dimmed.
"It's nothing..."
He didn't say the rest of the words.
Saying them would feel like forcing Sukuna to make him a promise.
Sukuna didn't speak; he knew what Itadori wanted to ask.
But he himself didn't know what his memories—or rather, the memories of the King of Curses from a thousand years ago—were like, so he couldn't give an answer.
If he really became the terrifying King of Curses described in the records after regaining his memories, wouldn't his promise to Yuji now just be another harm to the young man?… No… why think so far ahead? He doesn't even know if he can recover his memories…!
It's been so long, and there are no clues at all. The fog of memories rolled twice and then stopped. Maybe he won't regain his memories?
Eating is more important!
[Tiger-chan…]
[Tiger-chan?]
[Tiger-chan, wait! What are you doing? You ate all my snacks!]
Itadori looked at the snack wrapper in his hand, his chewing motion paused.
"Sorry, it was subconscious... I fed it to the wrong place..." He quickly swallowed. "...I was wrong!"
Sukuna looked at the empty wrapper with teary eyes. This was the one he wanted to try the most, okay?
Although Itadori had subsidies from the Jujutsu school and mission rewards, that little money was only enough for daily expenses, not enough for him to buy the snacks he wanted.
He relied on these things he got through his spiritual charm every day!
[Sigh…]
He sighed deeply.
[Compared to coming out during the day and regaining memories, right now I want to know why we're so poor.]
[This is really unreasonable, okay?]
A King of Curses who can't even afford a bag of snacks, what kind of situation is this?
[…What do you say about me finding a part-time job at a hospital at night?]
Itadori: "…"
He blinked, then cautiously said.
"I don't think Gojo-sensei would agree."
Having a master of Reverse Cursed Technique treat patients at a hospital... wouldn't that be a definite medical miracle?
He'd be on the front page and famous across the internet by the next day!
Fushiguro specifically mentioned in class that their identities as Jujutsu Sorcerers couldn't be known by ordinary people. How would you explain those medical miracles?
Sukuna: […]
Sukuna was annoyed.
Alright... he frowned, staring at his hand.
Reverse Cursed Technique, what good are you to me!