Chapter Text
The cool waves of the sea swashed over his feet as he stood staring out over the horizon. Yuji always comes out here whenever he is overwhelmed. He took in a deep breath as he let the sea air wash away all the tension from his shoulders. It was quiet and solitary this time of year and brought him a sense of calm that was non-existent in his house. Wet sand itched uncomfortably at his ankles. The setting sun cast a soft glow over the sand and the gentle breeze tickled his skin.
Then that deep sense of dread and isolation came clawing back into his head as he thought about the events of the past few years.
3 years ago his grandpa passed away. He was 13 at the time. It was after that when things began to go downhill for Yuji. He never had any friends at school but he always had his brothers to hang out with and make him feel better; but after Grandpa died they began to treat him like he was a child; they would no longer play basketball with him, they wouldn’t let him watch TV after dinner, they got more strict on yuji’s grades, grounding him when he failed (which was more often than Yuji would like to admit) and even refused to let him download social media.
Yuji loved all four of his brothers, he really did, but they could be a lot. All of them just had such high expectations, Sukuna was a big shot lawyer now, Choso had finished medical school and started working as a nurse. Even Eso had become a famous fashion designer (or at least he said so) and Kechizu was, well, Kechizu.
All of them just kept pressuring him to “get a real job” and to go to some big fancy school just like they did. Yuji had tried really hard too, he passed all of his exams but he just wasn't good enough. It wasn't his fault that he was only able to go to the local college. maybe it was his fault that he was currently failing all of his classes, but college was hard!
And he didn't even understand what was wrong with his current job. He made an excellent Barista! His boss had even made him employee of the month last week!
Yuji had come out here to Kashiwazaki central beach after a particularly bad fight with his eldest brother Sukuna.
He had the bright idea to send him to some stupid study break in Nagaoka over Christmas break. Choso was against it of course but the other two were all for it.
“He's too young, we can't celebrate Christmas without him!”
“I say send him off, the moron needs to learn anyways” Eso chimed in, Kechizu hummed in agreement.
“See space buns, they agree, that little brat needs it” Sukuna argued back.
“Don't call me that asshole”
Tears had welled in Yuji's eyes as he watched them argue, it was his fault they were fighting and neither of them were even bothering to ask his opinion on the matter so instead he ran out the house. He knew he wasn't as smart as the others but that didn't make him any less of a person. It shouldn't mean that they could treat him like the dirt on their shoes. He was their brother and yet they hadn't even noticed he left.
It's not like Yuji had any friends to talk to about all this either, his classmates avoided him as his family had a bad reputation in town, they had labeled him a freak before he had even had his first day.
A silent darkness had fallen over the beach now. Yuji took another deep breath, he let the smell of salt and the cold breeze brush over him. He had made his decision, if his brothers didn't support him then he'd just have to support himself. He was going to run away.
It was 5 o’clock now. The library would still be open for another two hours. Perfect.
Yuji sprinted across town, reaching the library in under ten minutes.
Yuji burst into the library, doors swinging from the sheer force. “OI ITADORI”
“Sorry miss Tsukumo! I'm in a bit of a rush!” Yuji called back behind him as he rushed towards the computers.
He couldn't do this at home, those overprotective nuances would just go through his search history.
The computers here were old and slow as hell but it was all he had at the minute.
He'd just started researching Nagaoka when he spotted something. A news headline. In just five days Akatsuki Japan's national team was visiting their basketball club to recruit for their junior academy.
Of course he couldn't actually participate but if his brothers sent him there and he never came back that's where they'd assume he ran off too! It would buy him loads of time!
Yuji just needed a place with a fresh start. Maybe a far away big city so it would be harder for them to track him down? He had always wanted to go to Tokyo. He heard loads of stories about it from his mother when she was still around.
He looked at the bus price. 7000¥. It was expensive but he had quite a bit of money saved from his work at the café, he could afford it. This was perfect. He was actually going to escape!
It was pitch black now, he could only see where he was going thanks to the street lamps. It was freezing out now and Yuji was still wearing shorts which were damp from his trip to the beach earlier.
Yuji was humming happily as he unlocked the house and walked inside. Just as he slipped off his crocs a loud screech attacked his ears. “YUJI ITADORI WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN!?”
Oh no, Choso had gone mother hen mode.
“Do you have any idea how worried I've been!? I can't believe you!”
“I'm really sorry bro, I was just-” Yuji began.
“JUST WHAT?! Doing drugs? Smoking? Getting kidnapped!? Is that sand?” Choso interrupted loudly.
“I just went for a walk and realised Sukuna was right, I need help, I'll go to that school thingy over christmas.” Yuji muttered, staring at his feet.
All the anger melted away from Choso immediately. “Yuji, what?”
“You guys i right I can't get a real job without good grades”
A sad silence settled between the two as it hit Choso what his little brother had just agreed to do.
Quickly, Choso crossed the space between them and was hugging him hard, sobbing into his shoulder begging him to change his mind, but he wouldn't budge.
It was safe to say Sukuna was happy when he found out, Yuji didn't think he'd ever seen that man look more smug.
After a long talk with the family Yuji went up to his room. It was the smallest out of all the rooms in the house but that didn't stop Yuji from making it his own. He'd painted the walls dark red and hung up posters of all his favourite movies.
He'd even managed to cram a desk in the corner of his room to fit his school books and computer on. He had a few mangas laying around as well but he had no room for a bookshelf or anything to put them on.
Yuji sighed and plopped down into his bed with a thump. Even having planned for his freedom he still felt so trapped. So isolated. Why wouldn't this feeling go away?
Tears began to prick his eyes. Yuji didn't bother to change. He just stayed in his sandy clothes and hugged his pillow tight to his chest.
Yuji's eyes fell onto his desk where an old family photo was. In the photo were two teenagers, one looking almost identical to Yuji smiling brightly and the other with dark hair tied up and pale skin. Next to them were two younger boys, the boy on the left had long brown hair that fell over his shoulders and on the right hugging him was a little boy with bright blue hair.
Standing behind them was a tall man with pink hair and glasses, he was smiling brightly at the camera, next to him was a scowling old man who looked as if he wanted to murder the person behind the camera. Then in the pink haired teenagers arms was a baby with matching hair and dressed up in a little tiger onesie. Behind the assorted family members was a huge banner that read: Yuji's First Bday!
The tears were flowing freely down his face now. Yuji wished he could remember the man in that photo. He wished he could remember the last time his brothers smiled like that. He wished he could remember her.
Why has everything changed?
Two weeks later on the 14th November Yuji had packed his things. He had hung an Akatsuki Japan's poster on his wall in hopes that they would take the bait and filled his search history with questions about how to join their academy to throw them off further.
He packed a few outfits and toiletries as well as some albums for his portable CD player into his Vans backpack, he wouldn't need much. He had counted the money he saved up from work, ¥400,000, hopefully that would last him until he found a job.
He already had his cv prepared with a reference from his boss in his bag, He couldn't use his last name if he was running away so instead he used his mother's maiden name. Luckily his boss didn't seem to notice. He was really going to do this. As of today he was a free man. Sure he was only 16 but he was sure he'd find some place to stay.
Just as he was about to leave his eyes fell back onto that photo. Without thinking he took it out of its frame and tucked it onto his hoody pocket.
All his brothers saw him off on the bus, Choso was crying and Eso was rubbing his back in comfort. Sukuna looked at them with disgust. Kechizu didn't even look up from his tablet, he was too busy playing geometry dash. Considering he was 21 years old you'd think he'd have grown out of the I pad kid phase.
Yuji waved, trying not to cry, realizing it might be the last time he saw them all.
Choso was waving with both hands and Eso was blowing kisses as the bus driver took off. Settling down into his seat Yuji pulled out his CD player and put on his headphones.
It took 45 minutes on the sin etsu line to get to Nagaoka. After that Yuji walked towards the school he'd told them he'd applied to and took a selfie which he sent to Choso. He captioned it: “made it! See you in 2 months!” Before tucking his phone away under a bush.
Yuji wasn't stupid, he knew his brothers could track him and since this school had a strict no phone policy it made sense for him to ignore all of their messages.
That's why he had to leave it there. It's not like he had anyone he wanted desperately to contact anyways, he'd never had any friends before. There was nothing important on that phone.
It was a quick walk to the bus station after that. The journey was not. It took 3 hours and 45 minutes for the Niigata line night bus to reach Tokyo. Yuji had run out of CDs halfway through the trip!
Luckily the bus was completely empty apart from him so he didn't have to sit next to anyone. Most people probably took the train as it was quicker, but he wasn't made of money and he only had two month's wage on his person.
Normally this time of night in Kashiwazaki it would be pitch black, but as Itadori stepped out the bus he was blinded by the city's lights.
He had never seen something so overwhelmingly beautiful. He couldn't even see the start from how bright the streets were.
Yuji paused, taking in a deep breath, letting the city air flow into his lungs. It was really polluted sure, but he would get used to it.
This was it. A fresh start. Where no one knew him. It was perfect.