If I Was Dead, the Worst Fortune Didn't Matter Anymore

The boy had taken God down with him. But ultimately, that was only the story of the boy in "that timeline."

He was different from the human who had been born as Yuji Itadori's twin brother and lived as Haruka Itadori.

In the end, Haruka's soul had been torn free, and his body, transformed into a cursed object, had been destroyed... He should have reached what humans called "death."

And yet, the world seemed to have been a little kinder.

Even if the vessel transformed into a cursed object was destroyed, its concept would not disappear. As long as curses were born in Japan again, the cursed object called "Haruka Itadori" would be born alongside them. That was the fate he had been given.

And that moment came sooner than anyone had expected.

...I'd heard the world after death was pitch-black, without any light.

I, Haruka Itadori, looked down toward the splashing sounds at my feet, then glanced around.

"If that's true, isn't this a little too bright?"

I knew this place all too well. It was Grandpa's house, where I'd spent so much of my life.

The scent of rush grass from the tatami tickled my nose, and the wind chime rang with a cool, pleasant tinkle. I tilted my head to listen to the faint sounds coming from somewhere... This place was far too happy and peaceful to be hell. It wasn't a fluffy bed or a soft, shaggy carpet. But how could I put it? Tatami still felt the most comforting.

At this familiar house, on the veranda I knew better than anywhere else, I had my feet soaking in a large wooden tub full of water. I was lying on the veranda floor.

In spring, I'd bask in the sun here and take naps.

When summer grew too hot, I'd soak my feet in a bucket like this and eat watermelon and ice pops.

In autumn, I'd watch the maple leaves planted in the garden change color, or play with the sparklers left over from summer.

In winter... the dried persimmons hung here. I'd gotten scolded for sneaking some.

Was my hell really this peaceful? Wait, as I was thinking about all that...

"Hey. Want an ice pop too, Haruka?"

The person who leaned over to ask made me suck in a breath and choke.

"Huh? Wh... why?"

Ignoring my confusion, he showed me a tray holding three familiar ice pops. The way he carefully inspected their wrappers, agonizing over which one to pick, brought back memories.

"Get up already, you lazybones. Sleep too much and you'll turn into a cow."

This time, it came from the other side. Another familiar voice I'd missed.

"Grandpa..."

"Still half-asleep, huh... Here, have a pickled plum."

"No way. The ones you make are super sour, Grandpa."

"Pickled plums are supposed to be sour."

Tinkle. There was no wind, but the wind chime rang.

"I'll just take whatever's left."

Even glancing at the ice pops on the tray didn't stir my appetite at all.

Gari Gari-kun, a Melon Popsicle, and Black Bear.

Exactly the lineup you'd find in the freezer back home. I wished there were a Papico.

"Then I'll take Black Bear."

"I'll have the Melon Popsicle."

They each took the one they wanted, and I picked up the remaining one. Without even looking at the wrapper, I tore it open and pulled out the ice pop.

"Oh, this is mixed fruit."

Looking at its pale yellow color, I couldn't muster much enthusiasm. I knew it tasted good, but whether I wanted to eat it was another matter.

"You're the one who said you'd take whatever was left, Haruka."

My friend chuckled as he crunched the red beans in his ice pop. I was a little jealous.

"You keep drawing the worst fortune because you always put yourself last like that."

Rustle, rustle. Listening to that refreshing sound... I gazed blankly up at the wind chime.

Clear glass, a flowing-water pattern, and a bright red goldfish.

It looked elegant, but we'd bought it at a hundred-yen shop... I remembered.

"Well, if I'm dead, the worst fortune doesn't matter anymore, does it?"

The wind chime drowned out that murmur, and it faded away... But the ice pop tasted good, so I couldn't complain. I found myself honestly envying the goldfish swimming through the sky...

"What are you talking about?" "Don't be stupid."

Caught between the exasperated voices on either side, I snapped back to my senses.

An arm with skin a little paler than mine rested across my shoulders. A wrinkled hand with thick knuckles rested on my head.

"It's about time you drew a Great Blessing."

The ice pop gradually melted in the scorching heat. Licking up the pale yellow liquid as it dripped, I happened to look down.

The stick showed through the half-eaten ice pop.

"Winner"

I could see the word clearly.

"...It's not over yet. A lazybones like you can take his sweet time getting here."

I remembered that hand, like a withered branch, roughly tousling my hair.

"Exactly. It's not over yet. There's still loads I want to ask you to do, Haruka."

I remembered that arm hugging me so tightly it almost crushed my shoulders.

"...Grandpa. Kai."

At last, I remembered.

People said you died the moment you were forgotten. First your voice, then your face, and then the memories.

Had I unknowingly forgotten the voices and faces of those two precious people, along with my memories of them?

Even though, sooner or later, the same would happen to me.

"Can I... keep living?"

The voice I squeezed out sounded weak, almost pleading.

But of course, those two, who were always so strict with me, weren't about to let that slide.

"You ungrateful grandson. Finish that and hurry back."

"We'll just relax here and wait. Look, someone's waiting for you, right?"

With that, they gave me a push on the back as I held the ice-pop stick between my teeth.

"Ahh..." I looked up at the ceiling and stretched. Then, with a light push from the hand braced against the veranda, I sprang to my feet.

Splash.

Water splashed up. The clear droplets glittered like jewels in the sunlight.

"Here, a towel."

I took the towel my friend handed me and dried my feet.

"Your Waraji are over there."

I put on the pair Grandpa pointed to.

Scrape, scrape. I planted my feet firmly on the ground... and looked back just once.

There was the wooden tub filled with water. The tray with two ice-pop sticks on it. The towel I'd used to dry my feet.

On the veranda of Grandpa's house, so painfully familiar, there was no one left.

It felt as though the scene from a moment ago was rapidly receding, and I bit my lip in loneliness. Even so... in the end, I turned my back on it.

"Thank you."

Apparently, hell was far kinder than I'd expected.

For a time, every cursed spirit in Japan had disappeared.

But cursed spirits were born from humans' negative emotions in the first place. Even if they were wiped out, as long as humans existed, they would keep being born.

And so, in this world where curses constantly emerged and multiplied...

Sukuna Itadori, unable to become fully human or fully a curse, gazed up at the sky in gloom. The past few days had all been sunny, yet for some reason, today alone was overcast. He sneered at the dark clouds that looked ready to burst into tears and kicked the ground.

"How boring."

Those words said it all.

That brat, so enthusiastic about being the eldest brother, had become absurdly nosy about me. Annoying.

That jujutsu sorcerer called Gojo or whatever didn't just meddle-he practically loved pestering me. A nuisance.

The woman was loud.

Megumi Fushiguro... well, he was all right.

But still... something felt lacking.

Though he understood exactly what that feeling was, when it surfaced in truly unguarded moments, he never spoke of it.

For example, when he sat on the sofa reading. His lap somehow felt empty. The hand that wasn't holding the book wandered around with nothing to do.

For example, when he looked into someone's eyes. He knew a gaze spoke more eloquently than words. Somehow, as he stared into those eyes, he would feel disappointed that they were "not what he was searching for."

For example, when he made his way back to the dorm like this.

"..."

A steaming cup of tea was placed in front of him. The brat had made it.

He picked it up and took a sip.

"...Was this what tea tasted like?"

He murmured.

"Huh? Oh, uh... wasn't it? I thought I'd put plenty of care into brewing it."

"I suppose."

It wasn't bad enough to call unpleasant.

But somehow, it was "wrong." The tea he knew had been a little more astringent, not sweet at all. And a little hotter, too. He could list the differences endlessly.

"...Hah."

He sighed heavily, closed his eyes, and pictured what he had lost.

Still... not yet.

I still remembered his voice. His face. His scent, his touch, and our memories, too.

Feeling the helplessness of being left to gradually forget, he lowered the eyes that bore the seared image of the Hungry Ghost's final moments.

"How inconvenient humans are. To be shaken so badly by mere emotions that they spit out curses."

"...Curses?"

"Yes... this must be a curse."

The foulness pooling thickly inside him was a curse called "attachment."

He had grown attached to what he himself had caused to be lost.

As he was having that conversation with the brat...

"Delivery for the Itadori twins~!!"

The inexplicably exuberant jujutsu sorcerer burst onto the scene, yanking the door open with a bang.

"Oh, Gojo-sensei. I've told you loads of times, that's a sliding door."

"There's no point telling him. Finish your business and get out."

As always, the jujutsu sorcerer bore the title of the strongest, but his personality was twisted. Honestly, dealing with him was exhausting. Sukuna wanted him gone already.

"Oh my~? Are you sure you should be saying that? Are you suuure?"

The way he squirmed closer was irritating. Sukuna's face tightened, and he raised a hand.

"I said, 'Finish your business' and 'Get out,' didn't I?"

After he emphasized the words, that snow-white head finally seemed to understand, and Gojo swiftly held out a little box.

"I kindly bring you a present, and you're so mean. Honestly~."

He shrugged, but Sukuna accepted it anyway.

It was an ordinary little white box, hardly weighing anything. A faint rattling came from inside.

"...Sukuna, what's that?"

He pushed aside the face of the brat peering in from beside him and pulled the ribbon off the box.

"Some pointless prank again, no doubt."

Eyes half-lidded, he sighed... and opened the lid.

Clatter.

The things making that sound shifted inside.

"Mm..."

Why this?

With that question in mind, he looked at the jujutsu sorcerer, who only grinned.

"Huh, this is..."

The brat picked up a small piece, intending to hold it up to the light.

At that instant, cursed energy flowed through the brat's hand into the fragment...

Dazzling light and ominous cursed energy erupted.

The box containing the Prison Realm fragments fell to the floor as well, the pieces colliding with clear, sharp clinks. They reflected the room's light in every direction, the rainbow brilliance so piercing that it was impossible to keep their eyes open.

"...Whoa, that's bright. Sensei, what did you even bring...?"

The brat's words broke off.

"..."

And Sukuna, too, was speechless.

"...(Snore... snrrr...)"

His pink hair swayed as his head bobbed up and down.

His little back rose and fell with each breath.

His soft, round cheeks stood out on a face younger than the one I remembered.

His lowered lashes were long, hiding his eyes.

There was no mistaking him. It was.

Haruka Itadori.

"All right, all right, time to get up, Haruka. Wakey-wakey~?"

"Mm... mmm, mm-mm. Mmph."

At the Jujutsu Sorcerer's voice, he rubbed his eyes and tried to get up, but sleep seemed to get the better of him, and he flopped right back down.

"..."

Without a word, I picked up the little boy and gathered him into my arms.

Something welled up inside me... at last, I felt as though the sheath around my emotions had been drawn away.

"Sukuna..."

I gave no answer to the brat's call this time, either. I simply held that tiny body tight.

Perhaps feeling squeezed, the child snapped his eyes open. Still drowsy, he rubbed his eyes, but reached toward my cheek and said:

"I'm home, big brother. Yuji. Teacher."

He had become so much smaller than I remembered, and looked fragile, too-not at all how I had wanted those beast's eyes to look. But... this was fine, too, I thought.

"Ah... welcome home."

As long as I could answer him like that, I wanted nothing more.

The brat hugged him from the front, and the Jujutsu Sorcerer cupped that outstretched little hand in both of his.

The moment I reclaimed what I had lost, the curse that truly existed within me wound itself around this small child.

In the end, humans are such inconvenient beings.

Attachment never ended, and the curses that clung to them were far too tangled and numerous.

If this was what they called love, then this world was altogether too full of curses.

Sukuna laughed, letting out his usual "heh."

Yet his eyes were wet.

~Epilogue~

Haruka Itadori, resurrected after being reborn(?) from a fragment of the Prison Realm as a Cursed Tool, had become very small. He had, after all, been born from a fragment.

And so Haruka's body was that of a young child. It had nothing to do with Heavenly Restriction; he simply got sleepy easily.

Today, too, drowsiness overtook him as he toddled along.

Unable to fight it off, he found a spot in a cherry tree whose blossoms were about seventy percent open. Resting his back and head against its thick trunk, he fell asleep, snoring softly.

Haruka generally took his naps up in trees.

And the task of finding him,

"..."

Fell to Sukuna, who appeared without a word.

Though he hadn't specifically gone looking, he strolled into view and glanced up into the tree within seconds. He pulled just one hand from his pockets and raised it slightly.

"...Sigh."

In the end, he lowered his hand and approached the tree.

He smoothly hooked a hand around a branch, scrambled up, picked up the child sleeping soundly on a high branch, and dropped lightly back to the ground. He was just like a cat.

Sukuna looked down at Haruka tucked under his arm and paused for a few seconds.

Then he plopped down at the foot of the cherry tree.

"...Mm."

Next, he settled Haruka on his lap and sat still, serving as a human chair.

There was a warmth to the scene utterly at odds with the bearing of the King of Curses.

But Sukuna, entirely oblivious to that, fell asleep with his little brother in his arms.

The next to arrive was, of course, our very own Yuji.

Wandering around alone with two cans of juice, he widened his eyes slightly when he spotted Sukuna and Haruka napping. Then he dashed away like the wind.

A few minutes later, though, he came racing back.

He had a large blanket in his arms. Apparently, he had gone to fetch it.

"All right!"

He made a small victory sign and draped the blanket over Sukuna and Haruka. Then Yuji sat down beside Sukuna, lifted a corner of the blanket, and slipped underneath.

Smiling happily, he picked the petals out of Sukuna's and Haruka's hair... but springtime drowsiness seemed to get the better of him, too. He fell asleep with his head resting on Sukuna's shoulder.

"Well, then."

Now I can get a cute picture.

Thinking that to himself, Satoru Gojo took out his phone and opened the camera.

Just then.

"Teacher."

Startled by the little voice calling to him, he looked up from the screen.

The child in Sukuna's arms had lifted a corner of the blanket and was beckoning. That little hand waving him over was inexplicably adorable.

I couldn't help chuckling as I walked over.

"Whaaat is it, Haruka?"

When I asked softly, he caught my sleeve and gave it a gentle tug. Apparently, he wanted me under the blanket, too.

Following his lead, I sat down beside Sukuna.

I slipped under the fluffy blanket, where everyone's body heat made it wonderfully warm.

"Hehe, it's so warm."

At that, the child beside me gave a little smile, too.

"It's the warmth of happiness."

If this child said so, perhaps it really was.

Drowsily, the four of us dozed beneath the cherry tree in the warm spring sunshine.

I never imagined a day like this would come. I had thought it would be absolutely impossible for us to gather like this and sleep so peacefully together.

"Thank you for coming back, Haruka."

At the thanks that slipped so naturally from my lips, Haruka's eyes widened a little.

Then he smiled shyly, looking a little embarrassed.

"Me... I'm a total cuddle bug.

So I want to hold my big brother's hand, too."

As he spoke, he tucked a cherry blossom into Sukuna's hair.

"I want to see Yuji's smile, too."

He tucked one into the hair of Yuji, who slept soundly beside him, too.

"I want Teacher's hugs, too."

He even tucked one into my hair, though I wasn't his brother.

"Somehow... I just started missing all of it..."

Though he sounded troubled, his face brimmed with happiness he couldn't hide, whether he realized it himself or not.

"You can have hugs for as long as you want..."

With cherry blossoms already fluttering through my heart, I said only that, then decided to play asleep and make my escape.

Because I was already so full of happiness I could burst. If this bargain bonanza of happiness kept going, I feared I'd incur heaven's wrath.