❄︎ — megumi fushiguro

Megumi was really fucked this time.

Somehow, he had gotten himself into the Culling Game, which was a cruel setup of literal kill-or-be-killed. In the Culling Game, you scored points by killing other players, and you had to keep killing to stay alive. He had originally entered the colony barrier with Itadori, but of course, each player had to be sent to a random location within the colony. So upon entry, he was dropped in an area of Tokyo Colony No. 1, near Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. Alone. With no help. Well, he didn’t necessarily need help, but it would’ve been very nice if he knew this was going to happen. But things never went his way anyway, it seemed.

I’m not like Itadori. I have no qualms scoring points, he thought. He didn’t care who he had to kill, as long as he didn’t know them personally. So gaining points was really no problem for him, even as taking a life was narrowed down to a mere system. After all, he needed to gain points to survive now.

It was a necessary evil.

Megumi cautiously looked around as he walked through the area, scanning his surroundings for any threats that might be coming his way. It’s pretty dead here, he mentally assessed. He’d like to get points, but he supposed it was a good thing that he wasn’t immediately getting attacked. Right now, he needed to rejoin with Itadori and save his sister Tsumiki, and if they were lucky, release Gojo from the Prison Realm. He needed his energy, and operating in the Culling Game alone, especially in Tokyo, was a risky move.

Meanwhile, you stumbled through the empty streets of the same colony, desperately trying to find some cover. You were alone in death-ridden Tokyo, bloodied by your own wounds. Your cursed energy was down to scraps. You clutched your arm in pain, blood running down your thigh as well. You were lucky the cut on your leg wasn’t lethal. You spotted a dark alley and decided to take advantage of it. You wouldn’t be able to walk for much longer now, so collapsing here was the safer option. Just short of the alley, you dragged yourself with your hands and arms, a trail of blood smearing on the ground behind you.

Megumi turned a corner and walked a little more before he stopped in his tracks, spotting the trail of blood, your blood. He saw your legs disappear into the shadows, and his eyes narrowed as he began to find the logic in this situation. You were alive, at least it looked like it. If it’s a sorcerer, I could just kill them and get points right off the bat, he thought. He began to walk again, stopping in front of the alley, where you lay on the ground, breaths labored, your body shaking. Your blood pooled beneath you, seeping into your clothes. He could sense cursed energy from you, even if it was a small amount. His shadow covered the light that spilled into the alley, and you looked back, exhausted.

“You’re a sorcerer?” he asked, his hand unfurling from the fist he had it in, ready to retrieve his sword from the shadows where he stored it. But he didn’t do it just yet. “How many points do you have?” he followed up with. He weighed his options in his head. He could just finish you off and gain points for himself, but at the same time, he could also work together with you if he could trust you, and if you had points, he could use those to reach his goal. It would solve the problem of operating alone as well… Something about the way you looked at him, desperate and scared, told him that you needed help. Protection. He thought about what he should do, and with your current state, his decision swayed a bit. Between killing you and helping you, he found himself leaning towards the latter.