⛔WARNING: Spoiler manga (If you've only seen the anime, I recommend you NOT to read this one-shot)

He moved the plastic curtain without really thinking much about it, Yuuji had run to the place where Shoko had indicated him and his eyes immediately fixed on the figure sitting on the stretcher. His vision was clouded with tears that threatened to escape as soon as he saw her, but he did not allow himself to cry for fear that the tears would take with them the image in front of his eyes.

"Oi, Baka" that was her voice, the same tone that seemed to be selfless and that made him react to approach her.

Shoko had told him to be careful, but he couldn't help but hug Kugisaki the moment he reached out, avoided hurting her, kept an eye out for her reactions when he hugged her a little harder, hiding his face on the left side of her neck, letting the tears finally come out when he made sure it wasn't an illusion.

I'm sure you should be more gentle with me, right?

-You're...- he couldn't really talk with what he felt inside, trying to control the tears and the tremor in his body.

"Alive, incredible, isn't it?" Kugisaki hugged him as well, her hand caressing his back gently, a comforting gesture as she leaned her face against the side of his head, breathing deeply. - I owe it to Nitta-san and Shoko.

"I ... should have warned you before, this."

"Don't do that, don't blame yourself." Itadori was silent when he heard her, her tone of voice a bit more serious, a reproach he understood. "We are sorcerers, remember? Anything can happen to us."

"Kugisaki," he pronounced her last name as he parted slightly from her, still slightly inclined by the difference in heights even with her sitting on the stretcher, noticing the dried blood on her white blouse before looking up slightly, facing the fact that his classmate's face was now bandaged over her left eye.

Nobara moved when he fixed his gaze on that portion of her face, but Yuuji did not move, he only felt her hands slide down his back and shoulders until she took his face between them, outlining with her thumb the scar that now had on his own face.

He noted her frown and her concentration on her as her fingertip carefully outlined the edges before moving to wipe away the tears he had stopped shedding but continued to wet his cheeks.

"What were you thinking to end with this wound?" Kugisaki didn't let go and Itadori really didn't want to walk away, so he knelt down, a slight sob still present in him that shook his shoulders at times, but he didn't weaken his grab, still worried that she might disappear.

"It was Mahito ... he ... Nanamin" Kugisaki denied, resting her finger on his lips, saving him the pain of saying those words that hurt inside him.

"I know, they told me, you don't need to repeat it." Itadori closed his eyes for a brief moment, tired from the last few days and finding a moment of comfort in Kugisaki's caresses on his face, but he rushed to open them when he felt that he would fall asleep and that the moment he woke up it could be all a dream. "I also know about the game, you are participating, right?"

"That's right, I'll head south now." He saw her nod, her gaze still fixed on him."You'll take care of yourself, won't you? We are already at hand with believing that the other was dead, although technically we were" Itadori felt the difficulty of swallowing his own saliva, a lump in his throat that resembled the one he felt in his stomach when he thought of all the death that surrounded them. since the incident in Shibuya.

"I will." He couldn't promise, they knew it was dangerous, even more than before, but he wanted to be sure that he would return.

"You must tell Fushiguro to do it too, understood? I don't want to be left alone in the team" he agreed, moving when she leaned down to hug him, staying level with her so that it wouldn't be uncomfortable. "I'll go help you as soon as they let me out of here, so wait for me."

"I will," he nodded against her shoulder, taking a deep breath.

"When will you leave?"

"Two hours, maybe."

"You have slept?"

"I came here when I heard about you."

"Should you be resting then?" He nodded after a moment of silence. "So how about resting?"

He nodded again, more instinctively than thinking about her words and when he lay down next to her on the stretcher, feeling that she was not going to disappear when he closed his eyes, he felt lighter.

He wanted to think of better times, to forget everything Sukuna had done with his body, the deaths and injuries of his friends, his imprisoned sensei and a game that put them in danger while they were against time for a plan that threatened the world.

With Kugisaki, trying to sleep to get some rest, he was the closest thing to being at peace and not feeling pain.