Yuji Itadori's childhood was a lonely one.
He had plenty of friends, never lost a fight, always ca in first in track ets, and was the dazzling star everyone noticed in class.
But...
Loneliness was loneliness.
It was a poison there was no escaping.
So people spend their whole lives being healed by childhood. Others spend their whole lives healing from it.
No one had ever truly stepped into the heart of this little ringleader and seen the real darkness hidden beneath that bright, sunny smile.
His parents.
That was where it all started.
Back then, Itadori had just learned a little story from one of his textbooks.
He heard that after a mantis gets married, the female eats the male alive. The idea scared the young Itadori half to death, and he hurried off to ask his grandfather where his own mom and dad had gone.
His grandfather only stroked Itadori's head and casually told him, as always, that he'd been picked up out of a trash can.
But after hearing that, Itadori went back to his room alone and quietly wiped away his tears.
He knew he had once had parents.
When he was very, very small, he vaguely rembered having the most beautiful mother in the world. His father had always been cheerful too. The two of them would tease and play with him all the ti, while Grandpa sighed off to the side.
A family of four like that should have lived a happy, perfect life.
But overnight, his parents vanished without a word. And his grandfather, as if they had never existed at all, refused to say anything no matter how many tis Itadori asked.
Whenever Itadori pestered him too much, Grandpa would just say that his mom and dad had gone very, very far away to do sothing very, very important.
How important was it?
Probably important enough to shake the world, like Oppenheir inventing the atomic bomb.
So when he was in elentary school, Itadori had always been proud of his parents. He would brag to his classmates that his mom and dad were off saving the world and things like that, making the other kids envy him to no end.
But Itadori quickly realized that the children who really had sothing to be proud of were the ones whose parents drove over to pick them up after school.
A kid like him, one without parents, was supposedly ant to stay in the classroom and be lonely forever.
From behind car windows, his classmates would stare in envy, practically drooling, as Itadori slung his backpack over one shoulder and strode ho. Tuning out their parents' nagging, they secretly swore that when they grew up, they wanted to beco cool n like Itadori too.
But only Itadori knew how dull that cool life really was.
After running himself tired on the field, he would squat on a haystack with his chin propped in his hands, letting the evening breeze wash over him, wondering when his mom and dad were finally coming ho.
Autumn harvest was getting close, and Grandpa couldn't pull everything up from the fields by himself. More than anything, Itadori wished his mom and dad would suddenly descend from the sky in a helicopter, wave a hand, and have several tractors co roaring through. The rice would be hauled up one row after another, and all he would have to do was sit there with knife and fork in hand, happily waiting for a huge dinner that night.
Still, as he slowly grew older, he needed his parents less and less.
He could live just fine on his own.
As his body grew, he no longer worried about the crops in the fields, and he no longer worried that a car could get ho faster than he could.
He learned how to play dumb, how to act like nothing mattered, how to throw his head back and laugh.
Anyway, no one cared what Itadori did, and no one cared what he was going to do.
When he saw his classmates all polished and bright, chatting about trendy topics he didn't understand, Itadori would deliberately go over and put on an act, pretending he was so total bumpkin who had never seen the world. The others would laugh until their sides hurt.
And when they left, still talking and laughing, he would turn back and watch their happy retreating figures from a distance, thinking that in this world, aside from his grandfather, there was probably no one who would love him.
To Yuji Itadori, love was a luxury.
At least...
That was what he had thought. That he would never have it again in this lifeti.
"I heard you broke the school record at the competition? Oh my, why didn't your grandpa get you a new pair of shoes? Give that certificate to Mom. I'll get it frad properly for you!"
"You really do look just like your father did when he was young! It's been so many years since I last saw you, Yuji, and you've gotten more handso every ti. But don't pick up your grandpa's personality, all right? With a temper like that, no good girl's ever going to like you!"
"I wanted to get in touch with you before, but I never had the chance. Your grandpa really hated coming to see you, so all I could do was hide off to the side and steal a glance at you from far away. Even that was enough for . But things are different now. In a bit, I'm getting you the trendiest phone there is. Kids these days are online all the ti, right? You can't go falling behind. From now on, whenever you miss Mom, just call !"
Then his mother's hand ca down to rest on Itadori's head, gently stroking it.
"...I'm sorry, Yuji. The truth is, Mom has always loved you."
The word love had never felt especially real to Yuji Itadori.
Seeing it in books never did much for him, but hearing it co from his mother's own mouth made this supposed tough guy's eyes suddenly redden.
Love, spoken aloud, was like a sharp lance, punching straight through the shell of indifference Yuji Itadori had worn for so long.
"I'm going to the bathroom."
Leaning against the bathroom door, Yuji let his tears fall in silence.
He felt stupid.
His mom was obviously a heartless woman. He absolutely should not have welcod her back. And yet not only had he failed to resist, he had gone along with every arrangent she made like so hopeless mama's boy.
Itadori had never wanted to transfer schools.
But the mont he heard his grandfather could be moved to a better hospital for treatnt, he had no choice but to agree to his mother's suggestion and leave Sendai just like that.
He crouched by the door, tears pouring down.
His grandfather was seriously ill, and no one had been willing to pay for treatnt. Itadori had already been terrified, afraid that he would end up truly alone in this world.
But he didn't want his grandfather to worry, so this whole ti he had forced himself to hold on, laughing with Grandpa and acting like nothing was wrong.
It was only after his mom appeared that Itadori finally got a mont to breathe. And once he did, the sting in his nose hit him all at once.
There was nothing he could do if he suddenly wanted to cry. Worst case, he could just say he was taking a dump in the bathroom. No way was he going to leave himself open to being laughed at by his mom forever after this.
Having family felt really nice.
After fixing his expression in the mirror, Itadori finally forced out a smile and was just about to open the door when he heard his mom speaking outside.
"Yuji, I'm probably going to get busy again for a while. Rember to take good care of Grandpa. If anything cos up, contact on your phone. And whatever you do, don't ntion to Grandpa. It'll only make his condition worse."
"You... you're leaving again?!"
Itadori blurted out in a panic.
"What about Dad?! I haven't even gotten to see him once!"
"Your father is still working overseas, Yuji. You have to be understanding. Without all his hard work, your grandfather wouldn't have the money to stay in such a good hospital for treatnt."
"...Yeah, I know. I understand that Dad works hard to earn money."
Itadori felt unbearably empty inside.
"It's just... I can barely even rember what he looks like anymore. Sa with you, Mom. I want to know you both a little better..."
"Hehe, so you're actually this clingy?"
His mom laughed outside the door, covering her mouth. The sound of it made Itadori's face flush.
"It's okay. The work will be over soon, and when it is, I'll bring your dad with to see you."
His mom smiled gently.
"But Yuji, if you really do feel lonely, I can ask so other family mbers to co keep you company."
"...Other family mbers?"
"Yes. I'm sorry for hiding it from you this whole ti, but Yuji, you do have older brothers."
Itadori was so shocked he nearly went blank.
"B-Brothers?! I actually have brothers?!"
"Hehe, but let warn you first. Your brothers are a little ugly, so when the ti cos, make sure to be a bit tolerant of them, okay?"
"I definitely will!!!"
"I see. That's really wonderful."
Hearing the excitent in his voice from behind the door, Kenjaku finally lowered her eyes and smiled in satisfaction.
"In that case... I can rest easy..."
"Yuji, goodbye."
She whispered softly to her son.
"But... wait, and keep hope in your heart. We'll see each other again very soon."
"As for Mom, I need to go teach a lesson to the one who has been trying all this ti to keep mother and son apart."
Kenjaku stepped out of the house and narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked into the distance.
"Naoya Zenin. In the past thousand years, you are the first existence to stir this much interest in ."
A smile of pure madness curled across the face of the mastermind behind it all.
"How far into the future can those eyes of yours really see?"
"I would love to dig them out and roll them around in my palm for a while."
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