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ievaxol · 2 years

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We're in the homestretch of the hard times

(ao3 link >>here<< if you don't want to read on tumblr, spoilers for the manga, ~2k words) ---

It isn’t his Takemichi.

The world tilts a little to the side, off kilter and nauseating when Takemichi meets his gaze without the depth that had been there just a day ago. Chifuyu knows, then, that something isn’t right.

He’s always been perceptive, a good judge of character — perhaps that’s why the pool of people he respects is so small. He’s comfortable with that, though, taking his time to pick and choose the people that he cares about because once he does, Chifuyu Matsuno never lets go.

Baji was there at the forefront, shining bright and bold with fangs bared.

In time, others had proved themselves to him. Mikey, Draken, Mitsuya and Smiley won him over enough that on the rare occasions he has to fall in line behind them rather Baji, it feels right.

And then, crashing through, came Takemichi.

An idiot declaring loudly and openly that he would get to the top of Toman, eyes bright with determination that saw Chifuyu huff in disbelief. A guy like him? Top of Toman? But Chifuyu is good with people and he could tell that Takemichi wasn’t lying, that Takemichi would die to get there — so he offers a hand. A favor for a favor.

In Takemichi he finds a captain to take up the torch for the First Division, so kind that Chifuyu had cried with it when they came back from the battle with Valhalla. Takemichi had cleaned Chifuyu’s busted knuckles, wincing like he was the one hurt as he wrapped them up and doesn’t that explain everything about Takemichi Hanagaki?

After all that, after nestling in and carving a space for himself in Chifuyu’s heart — he’s gone.

Chifuyu can tell.

It sits bitterly in his throat, this knowledge, but he follows him anyway.

Into the depths of hell and back he follows the Takemichi that isn’t his, watches him sigh and grunt and dole out orders that take lives with annoyance pressing down on his brow, like it’s some simple fucking inconvenience.

Toman grows and grows and grows.

Chifuyu picks up Kazutora from prison and doesn’t flinch when he meets his gaze. A victory, given the way his heart beats out of his chest as he looks at Baji’s friend (killer), the way his hands clench around the steering wheel. He hopes that it makes Baji proud.

Kazutora doesn’t thank him, doesn’t speak — Chifuyu gets it. He wouldn’t know what the hell to say either.

Then he meets Naoto, stands tall as Tachibana Hinata’s brother casts his judgment upon him — he, who was there for Takemichi making the order. He, who presents evidence for it, face carefully blank as Takemichi’s voice echoes tinny from the small laptop, dripping with indifference.

The years go on, one after the other.

In the evenings Chifuyu curls up in his bed and remembers the hitching sounds his Takemichi made as he cried for Baji, as he cried for Kazutora and Mikey and all of them. How big his back looked.

These are the only times he allows himself to miss the boy who barged into Toman with not a single shred of sense in his body and tried to save them all.

Until the day his Takemichi returns.

He bumbles through the doorway and whisper-shouts that he has no idea what’s going on, as if the mere presence of him doesn’t make Chifuyu’s heart fucking soar.

It’s too little, too late, but still a comfort.

That he can see Takemichi one last time, can look into the depths of his ocean eyes and drown there rather than think about the cold steel kissing his sweaty forehead, can listen to the hitch in his voice instead of his own panicked pants.

He’s grateful for that much and for the first time in twelve years, he means it when he calls him partner.

A flash of white, a quick prayer, Takemichi crying for him.

Not a bad way to go, all things considered.

Chifuyu knows that Mikey is coming for him. He has known for quite some time now.

So it’s doesn’t surprise him when he hears the soft footsteps following him — Chifuyu has made his peace with it. He turns, face to face with his former commander. In the depths of Mikey’s eyes he sees nothing but darkness.

“Any last words, Chifuyu?”

He imagines that the other version of him that died to Kisaki felt the same sense of loss that Mikey does in this timeline, denied rhyme or reason. One day Takemichi smiles brighter than the fucking sun and the next there is naught but a pale imitation, a farce — it would infuriate him too, not knowing.

“Hanagaki Takemichi —“ Chifuyu starts, feeling like he’s floating a little. He’s not afraid even if he can taste the blood in his mouth already. He smiles, a melancholy thing. “Do you remember him?”

Mikey doesn’t react beyond an inquisitive hum, showing no signs of recognition. But Chifuyu is perceptive and he knows the depths of Mikey’s love, can feel its siren call mingling with his own.

As if Mikey could ever forget Takemitchy.

Not when he loves him so desperately, so helplessly; Chifuyu would know.

He’s the same, after all, forever changed by the knowledge of what Takemichi has done, would do, will do for them all. His partner in crime and stupidity, currently fighting for all their lives.

"He will come looking for you. When he does, it will be as if he travelled through time. It will be the Takemichi you knew — look into his eyes and you'll see. They never lie. Trust me."

The press of a barrel between his eyes feels strangely familiar and Chifuyu has to stifle a laugh; somehow he doesn’t feel like it would amuse Mikey as much as it does him.

No thanks, if he has to go he prefers it to be quick.

It is.

Perhaps it is knowing about the time leap that makes it so he can instantly tell when his memories are being rewritten. Chifuyu drops the bag of animal food he’s holding and vaguely registers it splitting, sending it’s contents skittering over the floor and pooling at his feet like blood — he has to look down to make sure it isn’t.

Takemichi — his Takemichi — is back.

A drop of ink slowly coloring a glass of water is the best way to describe it, the memories shuddering before they reform.

Deaths, erased. Funerals he went to never takes place. Injuries change. Chifuyu tries to recall Draken’s death but it’s mingled up with him triumphantly opening up his new shop, Kazutora’s rage at Toman’s legacy burns bright in his mind before it flickers and settles into a melancholy view of him filling orders at the shop Chifuyu now finds himself working in.

It keeps hitting him, throughout the day. The ink spreads, changes everything and he slowly forgets what things looked like before. Chifuyu closes the shop an hour early and races home with a hand clasped over his mouth, thankful that Kazutora — fuck, since when are they friends? — isn’t there to see him lose it.

Thing is, he’s pretty sure that he’s wired to fall in love with Takemichi in every timeline since they met.

So when he opens the door to his apartment he braces himself for a wedding invitation; things are still a little fuzzy but he figures it’s the logical step. He'll go to Takemichi's wedding, he'll toast to their undying devotion and then he'll go home and toast to his own, idiotic heart.

But there's nothing pinned on the fridge and nothing in his mail and Chifuyu tries not to revel in the relief it brings.

Two days pass.

Chifuyu still catches the tail-end of memories reforming but not at all like the first day, now it's mostly hazy details that escape him, slipping through his grasp and returning different.

He's best friends with Takemichi in this timeline, he finds — they spend time shooting the shit, watching movies and hanging out like friends would. It's normal for them to hang out, so there's no reason for him to tremble when there's a knock at his door, right? Just because it's his Takemichi this time?

He tries not to think about Mikey. Or what Takemichi will do once he finds out about Mikey, because he will. Through tears and smiles and declarations of love he will get them to spill the truth, eventually.

Then he’ll find a way to go back and save Mikey because that’s who Takemichi is at his core, isn’t that why Chifuyu loves him so fucking much?

On the other side of the door Takemichi looks just as determined as he remembers, blue eyes so, so bright with the flames that have kept him going for this long; predictably, his face crumples the moment he sees Chifuyu and fat tears well up, dripping down his cheeks.

"Welcome back, partner," Chifuyu breathes, which, fuck, he was supposed to play this cool.

"'Fuyu." Takemichi says it like it's a whole sentence, the sweetest sound in the world.

Chifuyu prepares to step aside and let Takemichi in like all the other times, like this isn't in any way heartbreaking or world-shattering. Like he hasn't waited for this at all, like he doesn't want to cry too, like it doesn’t feel like he’s swallowed coal with the way his throat burns.

But Takemichi doesn't move — instead he reaches out and draws Chifuyu in with strong arms, smooths his hands down Chifuyu's back as he holds him tight and wails.

He cries and cries and cries, until Chifuyu bodily drags him inside and somehow manages to shut the door so they can sink to the floor together, a tangled mess of snot and tears.

"Chi—fuu—yuuu," Takemichi draws out the syllables, like a dying gasp.

"Schh, you're going to get me to rack up a hundred complaints." It has no bite to it — Chifuyu would walk through hell for Takemichi. Thinks he has, thinks his body remembers the press of steel between his eyes. For Takemichi.

Takemichi snivels, noses along Chifuyu’s jaw and he stiffens because it’s a dangerous, terrible thing to do to him.

"I'm so glad," Takemichi mutters. "I'm so glad you're alive. Please tell me I'm not a giant dumbass this time — I don't. I don't remember everything yet."

"You're always a dumbass." Takemichi whines, entirely too close to Chifuyu's reddening ear. "But not that kind of dumbass this time around."

He sags with relief at Chifuyu’s words, going limp in his arms. It makes them slide down even further on the floor, until Takemichi half-lays on top of Chifuyu who struggles to support both their weight, bracing himself with a hand and sighing.

His chest feels like it's about to cave in on itself, with the burden of wanting entirely too much.

"You did it, partner." He can't help but turn his head, to nuzzle Takemichi's jet black hair and breathe in the scent of his shitty 2-in-1 shampoo-conditioner. An indulgence he allows himself, a greedy moment he steals and tucks away along the countless aches and bruises he’s resolved to carry for Takemichi.

"We." Takemichi mutters, in a tone of voice that brooks no argument. "We did it."

"Alright," Chifuyu laughs a little, incredulous — how can people love like this every day and not go a little crazy?

He wants to ask about Hina but at the same time not; the same way he wants to rip the band-aid off of the Mikey secret but also take it to his grave.

He knew all along that Takemichi could never belong to him alone.

"Chifuyu?"

He hums in response, hopes Takemichi doesn't notice the crack in it.

"Thank you."

And here is where Takemichi pulls back, re-establishes their boundaries and they spend the night reminiscing, catching up — all while Chifuyu gets to feel like he might die if he doesn't get closer much the same way he feels he might die if he does. Takemichi will tell him what changed in the past, Chifuyu will explain the future until they meet in the middle somewhere.

Except.

It doesn't happen like that.

Instead Takemichi pulls back and places a scarred, calloused hand on Chifuyu's jawline before he leans in, hiccuping still as he presses a wet and messy kiss to Chifuyu's slack mouth.

It tastes of salt and sunshine and Chifuyu thinks he might actually pass away with the way his breath catches and stays in his throat, eyes wide.

"I'm sorry," Takemichi murmurs — sounding not sorry at all. "I might not remember everything, but my body sort of does."

"But. We never —" Chifuyu watches a slow, bright smile bloom on Takemichi's face, unfurling like a present for him alone.

"I know. You don't have to do anything, Chifuyu — I must have fallen in love with you along the way. It's coming back to me, little by little. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I just —"

Chifuyu swallows the rest of what Takemichi is about to say with a desperate noise.

Their fingers interlace.

He prays it's enough to keep him this time.

(He knows it isn’t.)

#takefuyu #fuyutake #chifuyu x takemichi #cw death #death(s) i guess #spoilers up to chapter 200-ish #but they're very light #i needed to get this out of my system ok thank you #chifuyu is the number one ride-or-die character ever and i adore him #set in the future #tokyorev #mine writing #its messy and only lightly edited but its out #whew

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thepersonperson · 3 days

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Gege is doing to his characters what they did to jfk there's so much character assassination happening djsjdsnsdjn

This ask was sent to me shortly after I complained about JJK 269 leaks. (Aka before JJK 270's release so be nice to them.) And while I still agree that chapter contained character assassinations, JJK 270 has given me a good reason for them.

Since my other post related to this topic was trimmed down by Tumblr’s 30 image limit, I’m going to use this ask as an excuse to this burning question...

Why does everyone feel so out of character in JJK 268–270?

Notes before we start.

1) Read the light novels. They are the equivalent of Bleach's CFYOW for JJK. There is a fan translation (Book 1 & Book 2), but I will be citing the official translation from my own copies.

2) I will be mainly using the TCB scans for the manga because of their accessibility.

4) Written as of JJK 270.

5) Read the light novels.

(Another extremely 'hear me out' discussion under the cut. Click pictures for captions/citations.)

Preface

This post is banking on the framework I set up in the previous related post so please read/skim over it. (If you don't? Just hear me out!)

Short Summary of the Previous Related Post:

Yuji is projecting a massive delusion onto Megumi that gives him a happy ending. JJK 268–270 is a mesh of Yuji and Megumi’s memories and dreams that serve to rationalize all that’s happened to them in a way that allows them to forgive themselves. Sukuna’s vessel memories are probably mixed in too.

Because of this I’m assuming the following:

>The battle recollection in JJK 269 is Yuji constructing explanations from his, Megumi, and Sukuna’s memories during their battle. Neither of these 3 ever knew the plan in full. This can explain why so much of the battle recollection is wrong.

>The characters we see outside of Yuji and Megumi are constructs based on their memories of these people. They’re more like representations than the actual characters.

I don’t know if it means they’re dead or not, but that doesn’t matter. I want to explore the way the characters feel off can be explained by them being memory constructs.

In the previous post, I used "Without love it cannot be seen." from Umineko to give my best faith reading of these past 3 chapters I've hated so much. This time the tool I'll be using is:

"Flipping over the chessboard."

This refers to how one should try to see things from a different perspective.

Memory in JJK

A neat touch that has always been around in JJK is characters remembering others as they last saw them. When Gojo recalls his best students, Hakari has a very different hair style from when we meet him. His recollection of Yuta's is accurate though. When Panda recalls Yuta, the hairstyle differs from what Gojo recalls. And when he recalls Kiara, he mistakenly refers to her as a guy.

This all can be explained by considering when Gojo and Panda last saw these characters. Gojo last saw Yuta in Kenya with Miguel where he changed his hairstyle. Panda hasn't seen Yuta since he's left the country. Neither Gojo or Panda have seen Hakari and Kiara for a very long time.

Their memories reflect how they last knew them. Kiara is a whole girl now and Hakari is blond. But if Panda and Gojo never saw them again? Those memories would be true to them, even if it’s no longer accurate.

And sometimes the memories aren’t accurate. See this side by side recollection of Gojo meeting Megumi from both of their perspectives.

I believe Gojo’s memory of this event is the accurate one because he’s 19 when it happens, not under distress when he recalls it, and has the Six Eyes which act like a supercomputer. Megumi’s memory is iffy because he’s 6 when it happens, has a head injury that knocks him out when he recalls this, and doesn’t have perception enhancing abilities. And though Megumi can’t recall the memory in its truest form, what he does remember still tells us a lot about his feelings towards the event and his relationship with Gojo.

The emotions child Megumi felt at the time distort what Gojo was actually like back then. Instead of a benefactor, he’s a suspicious weirdo with a funny face. The heart behind Gojo crouching down to his level, being way too honest with him, trying to give him options, patting him on the head—it’s all missing.

With all this in mind, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume Megumi and Yuji’s impressions of other characters via memory would influence how they appear in these delusions too. Yuji’s impressions probably take the most precedence since I think his will is shaping the delusions the most.

Recalling Incomplete Information

Yuji is very good at understanding people. He can intuit their feelings and sync up with them easily. (I go over this in greater detail in this post.) But that doesn’t mean he fully understands their hearts. He gets close enough to their core to bond with them, but the little details aren’t quite right.

If all the characters (save Megumi) we’ve been seeing in JJK 268–270 are constructs based on Yuji’s perception of them, I think this can explain everything off about them.

What made me consider this possibility was JJK 270. There’s this pattern I keep seeing... Characters’ motivations being misunderstood and being resolved by scenarios that aren’t quite right. Every time I try to explain what exactly is wrong with them, assuming their inconsistencies align with Yuji’s perception of them solves the problem.

Amai Rin

Rin is introduced as a coward. He’s unable to fight and goes along with the whims of those stronger than him to avoid getting hurt. This is why he keeps his head low as his friend is being harassed by bullies during his Jr. High days. Still, he tries to help. Just not at a risk to himself.

When Yuji saves his friend and beats all the bullies up, he turns to Rin and assumes he was part of the bully group. This simply isn’t true. He was a bystander. That’s why it’s weird for him to apologize like he was the one who beat the guy up.

Yuji’s false impression of Rin, one where he’s a bully that feels guilt over his actions, explains this. Rin’s actual guilt comes from him being a bystander—someone who doesn’t take action for others when something is wrong. He dealt with that in the Culling Games by helping Yuji and risking his life to save Angel. And he really stepped out of his comfort zone to join the medical team for the Sukuna battle. He might be the reason Yuta survived. (Yuji doesn’t know about that though.)

And what’s this? Here Yuji outright admits he doesn’t fully understand what kind of person Rin is. All he knows is that he did some good things and is trying to become a better person. So now we’ve got this other Rin that’s apologizing for something he didn’t do for the redemption he’s already earned.

(And that’s the pattern! Rin’s motivation is misunderstood by Yuji so he’s doing something that seems out of character to us readers, but is perfectly in character for Yuji’s perception of him. When I apply it to everyone else. Everything makes sense.)

Takaba Fumihiko

What Yuji knows about Takaba is pre-Kenjaku development. Yuji knows the Takaba that speaks over others, rejects their criticisms, and insists he’s funny. That’s kind of what he’s doing to Totally Not Kenjaku. In reality, Kenjaku caused Takaba to reflect on his approach to comedy and they are nearly in perfect sync by the end of it. Kenjaku satisfied Takaba.

Yuji didn’t see that battle and he hasn’t spoken to Takaba since. So he’s constructed a happy ending where Takaba has found his partner and is working towards the show of his dreams that already happened.

I also want to note that Takaba is 100% ok with sex jokes. Kenjaku makes one and he doesn’t object to it. This is just another little detail that makes everything so slightly off.

Higuruma Hiromi

Yuji knows that Higurama wants to go back to his roots. He knows that he feels guilt over killing people.

What he doesn’t know is that Higurama’s roots are him being a defense lawyer that cherishes the flaws of humanity. He doesn't want to ever look away from the impurities that even Yuji has. That’s why I think Yuji resolves his problems with him becoming a sorcerer who saves lives.

Yuji seems to think that Higuruma is like him. He’ll make up for the lives he’s taken via sorcery by saving more. That’s something he could assume from their convo, but that’s not actually what Higuruma wants. He wants to fundamentally change Japan’s legal system for the better in his own way.

Kurusu Hana

She’s the most in character of the bunch. In fact, there’s nothing out of character about her interaction with Megumi. What she represents is Yuji misunderstanding Megumi’s desires.

Yuji understands that Megumi’s type is someone with an unwavering humanity (literally the definition of Yuji’s name) via access to his memories. But for some reason (he’s kind of dumb academically), he thinks this means Hana is perfect for him.

I think this is because Hana meets Yuji’s definition of a good person. She’s just like Megumi. She saves others for a selfish purpose. And that means…Hana does not meet Megumi’s definition of a good person. Not once has he considered her saving others as selfless. (...But Yuji has.)

And that’s just facts. Hana is kind of unhinged. She’s extremely possessive of Megumi and saves others solely to win him over. Yuji saves others because it’s the right thing to do.

Megumi’s preferences are Yuji, not Hana. Which has led to the most awkward confession and rejection scene. That might have clued Yuji in to construct an alternative. In the memory Yuji is probably recalling, Todo does clock Megumi as someone into dudes. …The very next scene is Yuji hitting on a dude in front of his gf in a way that causes him to blush. (Yuji has not once complimented someone’s body up to this point if I recall correctly. And he’s been around some beefy dudes.)

(Yeah Nobara me too. Second most leftfield possible bisexual confirmation I’ve read in a manga. The first will always be from Baki the Grappler.)

Is this Yuji letting Megumi know it’s ok to come onto him? Is he not initiating because Hana’s forwardness freaked Megumi out? It’s possible.

What this suggests is that Yuji is kind of fine tuning this whole delusion to make Megumi as content as possible. It’s telling that the moment Megumi starts getting super uncomfortable the scene jumps to something else.

It happens at the beginning of the chapter too. Gojo is mentioned by Shoko in a way that causes Megumi to pause. And Bam! Change scene.

Anyways, I hope this demonstrates that Yuji working with the limited information from memories is most likely the reason for everything being so funky. It’s character assassination by accident.

Why make these happy endings when this is all for Megumi?

Two reasons as to why I think Yuji is trying to give everyone a plausible happy ending.

1) He genuinely wants them to live good lives.

2) It has to be believable for Megumi to accept them as real and forgive himself.

This line may have been about Yuji, but Megumi’s not any different. He blames himself in the exact same way Yuji blames himself.

I also think there's something to be said about Yuji crafting a dream that resembles the perfect cookie cutter Shonen ending. The guy gets with girl he has no chemistry with. All these complicated plot lines are wrapped up with a neat little bow. Everyone lives and goes on like nothing traumatic happened.

Yuji is a big fan of Shonen. Straight up his final move against Sukuna is a Hunter X Hunter reference. That's not just Gege doing a reference as a fan, Yuji himself is a fan of that manga.

I think Yuji is trying to make this fiction a reality because it's the only way he knows how to cope with his trauma.

JJK 269’s Character “Assassinations”

I promise I still hate this chapter. But I won’t deny how fun it is to pretend these are all delusions Yuji created for Megumi’s sake. I went over Kusakabe to cut him some slack in the previous post, so let’s do everyone else.

(The chapter’s formatting as one long unending nightmare makes it hard to separate this stuff out by the character. I’m just going to do groups this time.)

The 2nd Years

The most common complaint from readers outside of Kusakabe telling Yuji he should’ve died is Maki being really fudging mean to Yuta. Maki is mean, but she’s not that mean. You could assume this is her showing Yuta she cares and that her anger scales with worry but… Here’s a side by side comparison of her getting angry over Yuta risking his life in Vol 0 vs JJK 269.

Pretty big difference I think. Here is a Maki with a Yuta she thinks is about to die vs a Maki with a Yuta who is 100% ok. And the only reason she even gets mad in Vol 0 is because she had no idea Yuta did something that risky. Maki already knew Yuta was going to body hop if all else failed, so her reaction here is disproportionate, especially since he survived.

Speaking of survival, the first thing Maki, Panda, and Inumaki do when Yuta survives in Vol 0 is ask if he’s ok and thank him for saving them. This doesn’t happen in JJK 269. They're all very protective of Yuta after the events of Vol 0. We see them defend him from Gojo for being a little mean about his training. They’re all against the plan because of how much they value him. The 3 of them not checking in on Yuta immediately after the fact is wildly OOC.

The explanation I have? This version of Maki is based on Yuji and Megumi’s memories of her. (And let’s remember that Megumi claims he can’t openly respect her and the other 2nd years outside of Yuta.) When Megumi and Nobara mourn Yuji’s “death”, Maki does this to them.

Maki also intimidated Yuji pretty bad when they first met. Her, Panda, and Inumaki went along with bullying Yuji after he came back to life. It makes sense that Yuji would up Maki’s meanness. He’s not been around her long enough to know she’s not like this when it comes to people she cares about.

I do think it is weird Maki is pre-awakening levels of mean. This could also be Yuji trying to return to the time before everything went to absolute hell. Or...because she’s Yuji’s construct, this could be him expressing his anger at Yuta for defiling Gojo’s body in a very roundabout way. From both Yuji and Megumi’s perspective, Yuta didn’t discuss this beforehand and used it as a last second plan. And that’s kind of how the conversation goes. Everyone talks about Yuta’s Yujo plan like he didn’t clear it with them first.

It’s also telling that they harp on Yuta over Miguel and Larue. Miguel said no help unless Sukuna’s domain was down. Everyone except Yuji knew that. There was never a scenario where they’d help from the start. But to Yuji who only heard they might show up? It’s a missed opportunity.

Say if you were, trying to find a reason for such a horrific defiling of a loved one’s body. Wouldn’t you try to reconstruct the crime by considering the motives and methods? That would help give you some closure, right?

I think that’s what Yuji is doing for himself and Megumi. Yuji is trying to figure out why things went the way they did through a blend of what Sukuna intuited and what makes the most sense to someone who never had full knowledge of the plan.

And if you think about it, this is still a happy ending for them. They’re all absolved of their guilt surrounding the outcome of the battle. Even if they screwed up, they’re all still alive and able to move forward in a better world. They did the best they could, so it’s time to move on from what happened to Gojo. Thinking about that too much would break someone.

Mei Mei and Ui Ui

Mei Mei is out of character in a way that’s unique compared to everyone else. She’s still herself, but with less…yikes. It’s odd since Yuji has seen how awful Mei Mei can be and is deeply uncomfortable with how she treats Ui Ui. He’s not missing information about her motives so why have we gone from this to this?

I propose this is an extension of Yuji’s denialism. (We’ve seen how avoidant he is with Gojo’s death.) Mei Mei is grooming Ui Ui and has made it clear this is all for money. Ui Ui is being abused, but he’s so attached to his abuser that separation would break him. How do you make a happy ending out of that?

Well, you can soften those edges. Spin a tale where Mei Mei is an over-doting sister who would kill for her cute little brother. She doesn’t touch him inappropriately, she just plays with him. She loves money as much as him! No abuse here! She’s not someone who would kill a child for cash.

And in a weird way this whole Simple Domain debacle mirrors Gojo killing the higher ups. If Maki is Yuji's rage towards the Yujo plan, then this could be him trying to process his mentor slaughtering a bunch of old people in mass for his sake.

It probably helps that Yuji wasn’t there to see Mei Mei tell Ui Ui to die for her. There’s no way he knows she was paid to help kill him either.

Mei Mei doesn’t care about the well-being of other people. She’s just a hardcore capitalist who loves money and will do anything for it. But this version of her can be less terrible to Ui Ui while still getting her cash and that’s sort of ok I guess? Yuji has moved on from this and so will I.

The Megumi & Nobara Problem

The 1st years going on like nothing happened after Sukuna has made readers feel betrayed. It flies in the face of everything that’s been established for them when it comes to mourning.

As stated in CFYOW, JJK Thorny Road at Dawn, Chapter 5: At the End of a Sidewalk, this is how the trio deals with grief.

Despite knowing Yuji for only 2 weeks his death screws with Megumi and Nobara pretty badly. In the manga, it looks like Nobara is more upset because she’s visibly in pain, but I think the light novels show they’re equally shaken.

This is why the non-reaction to Gojo’s death makes no sense. Megumi has known Gojo for a decade. He’s 6 when he first meets him and 16 when he dies because Sukuna used his Cursed Technique (CT). Nobara knew Yuji for 2 weeks, and didn’t see him for another 3 months. In all that time, Gojo was her teacher. She knew him longer than Yuji. When she “dies” Gojo is on the same tier as Yuji and Megumi to her.

So why is it that in JJK 268, Nobara thinks of Gojo as a creep? Why did she toss his letter despite him being one of the people she thought of in death?

Well… When Yuji came back from the dead via Gojo’s prank he heard Nobara say this.

Nobara is prone to saying out of pocket nonsense to people. If she thinks it, she says it. Yuji also doesn’t understand Nobara’s thought processes (Just like Amai Rin he admits it too!). Nobara tries to hide her feelings to appear tougher than she is sometimes. So I think Yuji has done to Nobara what he has done to Maki—upped the meanness and neglected the heart.

And though Nobara being a construct can explain her behavior, this still leaves us with Megumi who is definitely not one. Why is he acting like Gojo meant nothing to him?

Megumi in particular is super fragile when it comes to his feelings. This is how stressed he gets when he learns exactly why Tsumiki is in a coma.

She’s not even dead and he’s halfway to a mental breakdown. The idea that he can just look at her grave once after having a hand in her murder and move on this quickly makes no sense. Inadvertently killing his defacto guardian he’s been raised by for 10 years should be upsetting him to a similar degree. (Maki said Gojo treated him like a precious treasure!)

When Megumi is on the verge of death he thinks of Tsumiki, Yuji, and or Gojo. It’s always at least 1 of those 3. There’s no way Gojo dying and having his corpse reanimated for reasons Megumi might feel responsible for isn’t screwing him up.

Unless…Yuji is suppressing his memory on purpose. He can’t even cope with what happened to Gojo, how is Megumi supposed to? How can either of them forgive themselves for that if they acknowledge it in full?

When Sukuna tries to tell Megumi to give up, he looks miserable. Every time Sukuna has verbally kicked Yuji while he’s down, he’s done it with a big old smile and laugh. He doesn’t hold back and goes for the throat.

Sukuna is being very nice to Megumi here when he doesn’t mention Gojo at all. The only death he blames on Megumi is Tsumiki. Everyone else? Nothing. That’s weird given that Sukuna will pass the blame of his kills onto Yuji to torment him.

Is this Sukuna a construct or is he playing nice because he respects Megumi? Who knows. Whatever happened here seems to point to Gojo’s memory being suppressed for Megumi’s sake.

And why might Megumi accept this suppression? Why does he seem to be going along with Yuji’s delusions? The Unlimited Void brain fog. Megumi brings attention to it after he wakes up.

If Sukuna can’t think straight after Gojo brain damage, neither is Megumi. Still Yuji has to be careful. If Megumi thinks too much, the illusion will be broken.

What does this mean for them?

Well, the character assassination isn’t real (probably) which is a good thing! Other than that? Not a clue. We’ve got a real catbox situation here. I can’t tell who is dead anymore.

Sukuna projects delusions when someone he’s connected with is dying. Yuji projects delusions someone connects with him while he’s severely injured/concussed. Both of them are kind towards the people they’re interacting with in this space between dreams and reality. They try to give people endings that leave them satisfied.

JJK 270 ends with the hunt for a curse user who can distort perceptions of reality. This curse user is initially mistaken as a cursed spirit. That sounds like Sukuna I think.

I’m pretty confident this happy ending illusion will be shattered, that's for sure.

My Final Answer

I'm betting it all on this being a delusion. This is a kind of prediction that will either age well, very badly, or interestingly. I don't know what's in store for the final chapter...but I do have some ideas I'd like to speculate with.

"Without love it cannot be seen."

This time I'm going to use this phrase very literally. I'm going to make one final gamble on the assumption that love is the answer. So let's go back to Love itself—one of those reoccurring themes in JJK.

Love is a curse in JJK. It has the power to distort reality and transform loved ones horribly. Desperation to save a loved one from death over and over has resulted in extremely traumatic things. Yuta turned his childhood crush into monster that caused havoc for years. You can blame everything that has happened in JJK on Gojo being unable to get over the loss of his loved one, Geto.

Hana could've vanquished Sukuna on the spot, but she didn't because she loves Megumi. It's something a lot of people blame her for. If she had just killed him there, the Sukuna battle wouldn't have happened. But that's not really the truth. The only reason Sukuna even got his powerful is because Megumi refused to let Yuji die.

Megumi and Yuji going back and forth trying to save each other have been acts of love driving the plot of JJK since the beginning of this manga. If Megumi actually died on Yuji? Who knows what would happen.

...

A lot of readers have been on a very funny copium because of these last 3 chapters. Some of them joke that they are just one massive Takaba-induced hallucination. This theory has some merit to it! After all, his CT does two things:

1) It distorts reality.

2) By sheer force of will it bends people's souls to his whims.

One of the biggest complaints about the past 3 chapters has been the Merger plot ending abruptly. As of JJK 270 Tengen and Sukuna's remains have been mixed into the barrier around Japan and everything is just fine according to Gakuganji.

People wanted to see what the Merger would do, just like Kenjaku. In universe, Tengen made a prediction. They guessed that the impurity from humans would dominate and consume everything. The impurity that Higuruma wants to protect. The impurity that Higuruma sees in Yuji.