"I always believed I could achieve anything if I set my mind to it. After all, I was his son. But the moment I saw what real monsters looked like, I felt the true scale of my insignificance. I was nothing more than a simple boy who believed he was more important than he actually was."
"The curse of being myself would never leave me."
<< 1 Year Ago >>
< 2nd Year of High School – Kawaguchi High >
– 3rd Person POV –
A young man sat alone at his desk in the classroom. While other students gathered in their circles of friends, he had grown used to the silence. It had been like this since the start of his first year, when his flamboyant and over-the-top introduction backfired. In trying to make friends quickly among strangers, he only succeeded in being labeled as "weird" and "fake." As a result, he spent his school days in utter isolation.
His attempts to fit in had borne no fruit. Subaru Natsuki had reached a point where his self-esteem had withered, until the memory of the young boy who thought he could do anything felt like a lie born of pure naivety.
If you asked him, he'd tell you he was fine. His mind hadn't yet reached the breaking point of skipping school entirely; his pride was still holding him up. However, the idea of taking a day off just to escape his annoying school life was starting to take root.
But no one could have guessed that a single decision would change Natsuki Subaru's life forever. His destiny was about to be tied to a cursed power that would shatter his worldview and force him to look at his own ugliness without any excuses left to hide behind.
– POV Haruki Tanaka –
I reached the cafeteria lady and quickly placed my order. "Could I get two rice balls, one bread roll, and three strawberry juices, please?"
"Of course," she replied, handing me the items. I turned to head back to class.
As I walked through the halls carrying the food the others had sent me to get, I couldn't help but reflect on how I had become the errand boy for my "so-called" friends.
It all started in our first year. I wasn't the most social person, but I thought I could manage. After all, I enrolled in this school with my best friend, Sora Yamamoto. Unlike me, Sora was an extrovert with natural charisma and the kind of looks that drew people to him since we were kids. Despite that, we always hung out to talk about manga and video games. He never stopped talking to me, even if others thought I was awkward. Since we were children, he'd come over to my house to watch movies or play games until late.
I did everything I could to help him, too. He wasn't the brightest student, so whenever he struggled with homework, I'd lend a hand until he understood.
But everything changed on the first day of school.
< Flashback: 1 Year Ago >
On the first day of high school, after everyone introduced themselves, one stood out for his sheer confidence: "I'm Natsuki Subaru! I love video games and... well, I'm good at pretty much everything, so you can count on me!" He struck a pose that was genuinely uncomfortable to watch. After an awkward silence, the teacher began the lesson.
At dismissal, Ren Sato—a guy taller than average and muscularly built—had already formed a diverse social circle. To solidify it, he was inviting anyone he deemed "worthy" to go to karaoke.
He approached us and asked, "How about it, Yamamoto-kun? Want to come with us?"
Sora turned to him and replied, "Sure! But can he come too?" he asked, pointing at me. Sato turned to look at me.
"You want to come?" he asked dryly. Sato looked at me with an indifference that stung more than an insult. His eyes scanned my uniform, lingering a second too long on my slouched shoulders.
"I guess one more won't hurt," he said finally, though his tone suggested otherwise. "But hurry up, we don't have all afternoon."
Sora beamed at me, giving me a thumbs-up as if I'd won a medal. I forced a grimace that was meant to be a smile. At the time, I didn't know that accepting that invitation was the first step into a tunnel with no return.
< End of Flashback >
As I entered the classroom, my eyes briefly met Natsuki Subaru's. He was still at his desk, staring out the window with an unreadable expression. He looked like the statue of a hero who was once important but had been forgotten by time. For a second, I felt a strange pang of envy: at least no one forced him to be an errand boy. He was free in his solitude; I was a slave in my company.
"Hey, Haruki! You coming or what?" Sora shouted from his seat.
"I'm coming!"
<< 1 Year Ago – 1st Year of High School >> < Natsuki Residence > – POV Subaru Natsuki –
The sound of silverware against porcelain was the only noise in the dining room. My father, Kenichi Natsuki, ate in silence, but his mere presence filled the room. It wasn't a hostile silence; it was one of expectation.
"So, Subaru?" he asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin without looking up. "The final tryouts for the prefectural track club were today. How did it go?"
A cold sweat ran down my back. My stomach knotted instantly.
"Ha ha! Who are you asking, Dad?" I blurted out, forcing a loud laugh and thumping my chest in my usual pose, even though my hands were trembling under the table. "I'm your son! I left them all in the dust. The coach said he'd never seen such natural power."
My father paused. His eyes—those eyes I had always tried to emulate—looked at me. There was no suspicion in them, only a blind pride and an unbreakable faith that hurt more than any insult.
"I'm glad to hear it." His voice was deep and sincere. "I always knew you weren't like the others. You have that fire, Subaru. You don't need to struggle like ordinary mortals. You were simply born to shine."
"Yeah... shine," I repeated hollowly.
That "fire" he spoke of was a bonfire of lies I fed every day. He didn't see Natsuki Subaru, the social pariah who hid in the bathrooms during break; he saw the idealized version I pushed myself to project. And the weight of that facade was crushing my ribs.
That same afternoon, hours before dinner, panic had driven me to the municipal library. I wasn't there to study. I was hiding in the Ancient History aisle—where almost no one ever went—holding an official registration form for the track club.
It was blank.
I hadn't gone to the tryouts. I hadn't run a single meter. I had spent the entire afternoon sitting in a park, paralyzed by the fear of failure, imagining how disappointed my father would be if I wasn't selected. And now I was there, trying to fill out the form with fake data, knowing that without the "Received" stamp from the administration, the lie wouldn't last a day.
My hands were shaking so much. The library air, thick with dust and old paper, felt suffocating.
"If my dad sees this... if he finds out I didn't even go..." I whispered, nearly breathless. For a second, I forgot my act. I forgot who I was supposed to be. I was just a scared fifteen-year-old boy about to be caught.
"Hey, Natsuki-kun." The sound of that flat voice made me jump so hard I nearly knocked over the bookshelf. It was Haruki Tanaka, my classmate. He was wearing his part-time work uniform and pushing a cart full of encyclopedias. He saw me. He saw the blank form, my trembling hands, and most importantly, the absolute terror in my eyes.
I froze, waiting for the judgment, the mockery, the humiliation. But Haruki did none of that. He didn't look at me with pity or superiority. His gaze was a mix of indifference and compassion, as if he were looking at someone similar to himself but didn't want to get involved in someone else's business.
Haruki stepped closer and, without asking, took the form from my hands. He read the header: "Prefectural Elite Track Club." He looked at the empty space for the administrative stamp.
"No one at school knows I work here," Haruki said, his monotonous tone almost soothing in the middle of my panic. "This building shares administrative offices with the city hall on the first floor. I have access to the official stamps for library correspondence."
He tucked the form into his uniform pocket.
"What... what are you going to do?" I stammered, my "Cool Subaru" facade crumbling completely.
"I'll put the 'Received' stamp on it with today's date. I won't say anything at school. In exchange... someday you'll help me with something. Don't ask what. You'll just owe me a favor."
I accepted. I didn't hesitate for a second. The relief was so overwhelming I felt like I was floating. I didn't care about selling my will to this quiet boy for a red ink stamp. I just wanted the weight in my chest to vanish.
I never could have imagined that this favor would be the turning point that would end my ordinary life.
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Thank you so much for reading the first chapter of Re:Origin
This is my very first time writing a story, so I'm both excited and a bit nervous to share this crossover with you all. I really want to do justice to both the Re:Zero and Jujutsu Kaisen universes, so I'm completely open to your feedback.
If you have any critiques, please keep them constructive—I'm here to learn and improve! Also, if you have any suggestions or directions you'd like to see the story take, feel free to share them in the comments.