In exchange for power, maybe I've lost something that is essential to being human.
-Saitama, One Punch Man Chapter 4
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Satoru Gojo was the Strongest.
From the moment he was born, the world changed.
The balance of the world shifted the moment his Six Eyes opened and saw it for the first time.
He was special from that moment on, and everything now revolved around him.
First, it was a sign of stronger Cursed Spirits becoming more common worldwide. When the Sorcerers became their victims, those higher up and the elders of the clan said it was because they were weak, but when the same things started happening to them, their tune changed immediately.
They wanted him gone, and the balance of the world restored.
To that, he simply said no.
After all, what could they possibly do?
Stop him?
Ridiculous. Even before he attended Jujutsu High, he could easily defeat those so-called Strongest of the clan.
Those who tried to take his life?
Defeated or killed. Just the rest of them.
After all, he was the Strongest.
And then he met him.
Suguru Geto.
His equal, his rival, his best friend.
He was no longer alone atop the mountain, for someone else was with him. Not to mention all the people he befriended during his time at Jujutsu High.
It was one of the best times in his life.
Until it wasn't.
The Star Plasma Vessel mission was where everything started to change.
That mission alone was where everything changed. For the first time in his life, he was defeated and killed by someone who had no Cursed Energy, no less, but in doing so, he ascended.
He came back to life, learned the Reversed Cursed Technique, and truly became the Honoured One.
He was at the very peak, the highest he had ever been.
But at what cost?
First, it was Riko's death. The girl they were supposed to protect, the girl whose life was supposed to be changed and become something much more, was killed, turning her life into something meaningless.
In response, he threw himself into training nonstop. To the point that the mission became nothing more than a walk in the park for him. He pushed his techniques and eyes to their very top.
Limitless used to cause him something, but now? Now he could use it as easily as breathing.
Everything was going just fine.
Then came Haibara's death.
When he heard about it, he was fully numb; everything from that point on became a blur. He, the Strongest, once again couldn't save someone he cared about. From that point, he tried even harder, threw himself into even more missions, so that he would become even stronger, strong to the point that no one would die again.
Then Suguru went rogue.
He felt so stupid looking back now; he was so busy climbing higher and higher, going towards the very top, that he never stopped to look back at his best friend, someone who was supposed to be standing right next to him, who was not there anymore.
Suguru was at his lowest, as low as he would ever be.
So it was supposed to be his job, not as the Strongest, but as his best friend, to help him up, dragging him away from his lowest.
Yet he was too obsessed with becoming stronger that he forgot to be one simple thing.
A friend.
The last time he saw Suguru was that one faithful meeting where Suguru asked him that question.
"Are you the Strongest because you're Satoru Gojo? Or are you Satoru Gojo because you're the Strongest?"
...That idiot, instead of saying bye normally, had to act all cool and say that cryptic nonsense.
But even so, the question had stuck with him forever and would probably never get an answer anytime soon.
Now, back to the present, the past him would never have guessed he would become a teacher, teaching all these students to make sure that what happened to Suguru would never happen again.
It was going quite smoothly, really; he met his relative, Yuta Okkotsu, with strength and potential that could really become as strong as him. Not to mention that he got along well with everyone, especially Maki.
It was comical how easy it was to tease those two. He, Toge, and Panda had a bet on when they would get together, and, of course, neither of them had any idea the bet was going on.
Not to mention little Megumi, well, not so little anymore; he would be attending next year, and with all of the potential he had, Satoru could absolutely see him become as strong as him one day.
As long as he fixed that mentality of his, but after Tsumiki had gone into a coma, he was sure that mentality would change very soon.
Everything was going smoothly until now.
It was supposed to be night like every night. He was on patrol, looking for any sign of trouble and stopping it from escalating.
And while he was acting like Batman, by pure random chance, it was just him passing by, but his Six Eyes would never miss it. A spike of Cursed Energy, it was so much that with his eyes, he could see light up the whole area itself; it was comparable, if not even more, than Yuta himself, and that was saying something considering he had twice the amount of Cursed Energy that he had.
But that was not all that caught his attention; it was the Cursed Energy Trait itself.
Unlike Hakari, whose Curse Energy Trait gave them an 'edge', a rough, cutting feeling.
But this Cursed Energy Trait, from what his Six Eyes could see, was something truly absurd. If he were to describe it, it would be something along the lines of 'draining', for the Cursed Energy itself would drain the Cursed Energy and vitality of anything that came into contact with it, slowly killing them, while that vitality would be given back to the person generating that Cursed Energy.
As for that said person, it seemed he had just noticed him. Standing in that flower field of his, Gojo could see he was holding onto something.
A Sukuna Finger.
Well, now, things just get even more interesting.
So, without delay, he clapped his hands together, teleported down, and appeared right next to him.
"Well, hello there, interesting situation I found you in."
The boy's eyes widened as he turned to look at Gojo, seeing the ever-confident smile on the white-haired man's face.
"So it would seem," the boy said, looking Gojo up and down as his eyes narrowed. "You are not getting affected by it?"
"Ah, you mean your Cursed Energy Trait? Of course not, after all, I'm Gojo Satoru, and I'm the Strongest," Gojo confidently answered, his eyes now taking in all the flowers and insects, and he immediately came to a conclusion.
Those were Cursed Spirits.
"Cursed Energy Trait? Is this what this energy is called? A bit grim, don't you think?" the boy pointed out.
"Well, it is born from negative emotions, so I think the name fits perfectly," Gojo nonchalantly replied as he walked forward, stepping on all the insects and flowers to have a better look at the man. "But judging by your responses, you have no idea what this energy is, and yet you already have quite a decent control over it, not to mention that finger you're holding. You sure are a bag of mystery, are you?"
Of course, he wasn't going to mention the fact that there was something off about his soul, but that could be his future self's problem.
"First of all, you're too closed, you weirdo. Second, of course, I have control over it; it's my energy, it's like saying you have no control over your body. Thirdly, this disgusting finger was dropped by whatever it was I killed."
"Ho? Now that made you even more interesting!" Gojo took a few steps back as he digested the information he had just learned.
The boy in front of him was talented enough to control his own Cursed Energy without training, and he was able to defeat a Cursed Spirit born of holding to Sukuna's finger.
An easy Special Grade material.
"You know, I feel like I'm missing a lot of context here," the boy said. "But at the same time, this is the most tutorial moment I ever seen."
"Oh, you played? Pokemon or Digimon?" Gojo, of course, immediately asked the important question.
"Digimon," and the boy, of course, immediately answered that very important question. "Aren't you supposed to like, I don't know, tell me about the lore and all of these mechanics?"
"Well, what made you think I would know about anything?"
"You did call yourself the Strongest, so I would assume you know a lot of things. Unless..." the boy muttered. "You do fit the bill of the dumb but lovable and cute idiot trope."
How dare he!?
"I'm not cute! I'm adorable!"
"Yep, definitely the type."
Gojo merely shook his head; at least he knew that the boy in front of him had some sense of humour, not like all those stuck-up elders.
"I guess to continue with the game analogy, that tutorial boss that you defeated had already taught you the basics of the game mechanics, and that finger was the loot from that thing," Gojo started to explain. "And I will help you to learn more about the advanced mechanics of the game."
"I feel like I was not supposed to defeat the tutorial boss, and you were supposed to save me here."
"You are correct!" Gojo energetically clapped his hands. "That thing was strong enough to fight any Grade 1 Sorcerer, but you defeated it like it was nothing. It was like you were doing new game plus or something."
"Ironic you said that," the boy muttered, but Gojo could still hear it, and he would ignore that for now.
"Anyway, how about I bring you back to a place more fitting to talk than this? Then I will tell you everything that you need to know," Gojo offered. "We have a place that teaches people like you, and you will fit perfectly right in."
The boy contemplated for a moment before giving him a simple shrug.
"Sure, let's go then."
Perfect! Gojo couldn't be more excited to have more talented young people like him, but now he was starting to wonder which school he should attend.
Putting him in Tokyo would make that year an absolute powerhouse, but he felt that would be a bit too much for everyone there to handle, considering the boy's Curse Energy Trait.
Maybe Kyoto would be more fitting?
The Goodwill event was close, after all, and giving them a fighting chance would be perfect.
Oh, now that he thought about it...
"By the way, what's your name?"
"You asking me that now?" The boy rolled his eyes but answered nonetheless.
"Akemura, Akemura Soga,"
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A/N
A bit short chapter, but it's just a bunch of setup, so I was kinda expecting it.
Character-wise, this was just me testing the water with Gojo characterisation. He's a complicated character that I feel like only someone like Gege could write perfectly, but I will try my best anyway.
As for the main character, he's a gamer, I guess, but that's just surface-level stuff. I do have a plan for him, so don't worry about his development.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please leave me a review!
Ciao~