DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN JUJUTSU KAISEN, ALL CREDIT GOES TO THE AUTHOR GEGE AKUTAMI-SENSEI, I ONLY OWN THE PLOT OF THIS STORY.

It's been a couple of months since I last updated this work, well not as long as the others.  I think the longest un-updated on is over four years ....  I feel guilty just thinking about it.  But I just don't know what to do with it.  I don't mean that I'll discontinue it, it's just that it'll take me a little longer until I can fully sort out my thoughts on what I have planned.  Though on all of my works, I have the beginning and ending planned out even before I start typing up anything.

The main problem is how to get from the beginning to end and fill in the space in between the two.

Anyways, I'm sorry for any grammar or spelling errors.

Enjoy.

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The day started out as any other day, sunny, warm, perfect weather to go out.

Too perfect.

The one day she went out "shopping" on her own to buy a few things she wanted she wasn't exactly alone.

She had found the third finger, but she was found as well.

~Ten minutes ago~

Putting her small shopping bag onto her arm, she walked out of the small connivence store as the store clerk wished her a good day and a farewell.  She had to keep up a pretense that she had actually gone to the store.  No one would question her if she had bought some toothpaste and gum.  She would have added some feminine products for good measure, but she still hadn't progressed that far to be using anything aside from skin care, which she was thankful for, because Shina was still not ready to once again experience puberty and menstrual cycles.

She aimlessly walked down the sidewalk window shopping at the stores and shops she passed by, though she did try to "feel" for any sign of Sukuna's finger(s).

She passed by an alleyway which she looked into, she paused and quickly looked away and sped walked away, 'Definitely not ready for that can of worms.' She shook her head with a shudder as she tried to wipe out the memory of seeing Mahito eating a smaller cursed spirit.

Shina didn't even know how far or where she had walked to, but when she finally came to a stop, she was somewhere she had never seen before.

"Where am I?" Shina looked at her surroundings and saw nothing remotely familiar.  There were parts that she previously recognized from when she was in a car and passed by the area, but she was sure that she had never seen this place before.

Her posture went from rigid to relaxed as she came to a conclusion that there was nothing around her, well at least as far as she could tell.

Shina pulled out her phone from her pocket and opened up the maps app while also turning on her location.

"Tokyo Metropolitan jujutsu educational institution." Shina lightly muttered as she typed in the name of the school as she remembered, then she pressed 'directions' and waited, but "What!?" She exclaimed out loud catching the attention of a few people passing by.

Shina awkwardly smiled, "Sorry." She said to the people who were watching her, and she quickly walked away until she found a place where there weren't as many people as where she was before.

Shina brought up her phone up close to her face, hoping that by some chance bringing it closer or maybe even in a higher spot it would actually give her results.  After the map search buffered and searched for jujutsu high, it came back with "This location is unavailable."

She tried again and again in various different places and heights, but nothing changed.  According to maps, the location she was searching for was unavailable, or in other words it didn't exist.

Or maybe under a different name, she faintly remembered hearing that it's referred to some private religious school.  But she didn't know what it would be called, with a sigh she closed the app, and decided that calling someone would be the best choice she had.

Opening her contacts, her finger scrolled down to Yuuji and she swiped* his name and the phone began to ring.

She didn't have to wait long for the call to be answered, she didn't wait for Yuuji to ask anything, "Yuu-ni, I'm kind of lost, can you send someone to find me?"

She would have asked Yuuji to find her, but he just like her didn't know the entirety of Tokyo having them just moving to the place not that long ago.

She had thought of calling Fushiguro, but she figured that it would have been best to call Yuuji first and let him know what was happened, because she was pretty sure that she would get an earful if she hadn't told him anything and something were to have happened.

"Are you okay?!  You're not hurt are you?  Stay somewhere where there are people and don't wonder off.  I'll go find you." She heard Yuuji say all out once.

"Yeah, I'm fine.  I was just a bit distracted and got lost, and I don't know how to get back.  I tried using maps, but it wasn't much help.  And it's best if you ask someone else to help you, because I'm pretty sure that you'll get lost too."

There was no reply from the other side for a few seconds before a long sigh could be heard followed by a "Okay.  I'll ask Fushiguro and Gojo-sensei.  Stay where you are, okay."

Shina scoffed feeling as if Yuuji were talking to a child, "Okay.  Bye." And she ended the call.

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After she had ended the call, Shina decided to look for a place to sit rather than to be standing up for who knows how long she would need to until she was found.

Glancing around she searched until she found a small bench under a small canopy, but from the looks of it, it was most likely no longer in use.  Bench wasn't very well maintained, and the sign that should have been there to indicate for a bus to stop there was no longer there.  And she didn't see anyone near it either.

She walked towards said bench, she sat herself down as she looked down at the time on her phone before putting it away.

"12:30, I should have eaten a good breakfast before leaving." She sighed, lamenting that she had opted for eating a slice of toast with hot chocolate that morning since she hadn't been very hungry, and she would be back soon anyways.  At least that was what she had planned.

And now it was two hours since she left the dorms, normally someone would have called her and asked when she would be back, but, "I guess they really took it to heart when I told them not to call me unless it was an emergency."

Leaning back against the bench and let herself relax as she looked up at the dulled glass of the canopy ceiling.  She watched as the few leaves on it were moved around with the light warm breeze, a breeze that was almost lulling her to sleep.

Shina's eyes were beginning to droop closed until she felt a shock run throughout her entire body as felt a familiar presence.

'No way.  It can't be .... right.' She thought as she sat up and tried to focus on that feeling, "Maybe I just imagined it." It would have to be one crazy coincidence if there really was one of Sukuna's fingers.

"It's really here." She breathed out in disbelief.

She bit her lip for a few seconds debating if she had enough time to search and hide the finger before she was found, 'But I can't miss this chance.' She let out a deep breath as she stood up and began her search for the finger.

She searched and searched until she found it buried deep under a small patch of wildflowers.

"I can't believe it." She held the finger in between her dirt covered fingers.

"Can't believe what?" A voice asked behind her.

~Current time~

She recognized that voice, she would have been glad to hear him, but not at that moment.

If he had come much earlier, she would have been happy to be found, but why, just why did Gojo have to show up just when she had found Sukuna's third finger.

Her fingers tightened around the finger, hoping that she could hide it, but she knew it would be impossible to hide.  Especially form Gojo.

Taking in a deep breath, Shina got up from the ground, turned around and saw Gojo there standing looking at her then to her hand.  Well at least she figured he was looking at her and the finger, considering that he had his eyes covered.

"Hi." Her lips quirked into a small smile, "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

Gojo smiled back, "Well, you did call for someone to help find you." He rose his hand and pointed at her hand which she had been holding tightly, "Why do you have that?  Sukuna's finger." He was no longer smiling.

She felt a shiver run down her spine, "I .... I found it just now.  I was a little bored of having to wait there on the bench and I saw these flowers and decided I would dig around for some fallen seeds I could take with me to plant." She said hardly even believing herself.

And it seemed that Gojo didn't believe her either, he stepped closer, "Are you sure about that?"

Shina could feel her heartbeat quicken at having Gojo get closer to her and actually finding out what really happened, 'Should I tell him?' She wondered already feeling panicked, 'He'll be even more angry if I keep lying to him!' She internally cried and finally made her decision.

Letting out a deep breath and said, "Okay, I lied." She said clear and loud enough for him to hear, "I wasn't looking for seeds.  I'm sorry for lying."

"Why?"

It was clear what the single word meant, why did you lie, it was clear as day in a single word.

She pursed her lips and her gaze shifted from him to the ground, "Because you wouldn't believe me if I told you the truth." She softly said, "I would find it hard to believe if someone told me this."

His shadow came into view right under her gaze, she looked up and found him standing far closer than she had anticipated.

"What truth?"

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"What truth?" Gojo asked as he observed Shina, watching as she took every single breath, fidget in place, and seemed to sink in further into herself.

Shina's eyes bore into his covered ones, "Can we go somewhere else?" Her eyes looked to somewhere behind him, watching as a single person passed by on their bike, "I don't want anyone to hear.  Please."

After a few seconds, Gojo granted her wish and quietly led her somewhere else.

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"This seems like some scene of a manga.  With being here at a riverbank." She joked then drifted to silence for a few seconds, "Gojo-san, can you please keep this a secret for me."

"Is it that bad?"

Shina, sitting on the grass next to Gojo, once again repeated, "Please.  You have to keep it a secret." She said as she turned her head to look at him.

"Alright.  Though that may change on depending on if it may bring harm to anyone."

Shina looked away, "There won't be any harm, that I can promise you."

"How are you so sure?" He asked.

She brought up the finger, she was still holding, into view and handed it to Gojo.  There was no point on holding onto the finger, when it was clear that he would be taking the finger from her, "Because how harmful is it to talk about someone who has died already."

Hearing no response from him, Shina took it as a sign for her to start, "Do you remember when I told you I had a dream about what happened on the rooftop of the school?"

"I do."

She looked at the water slowly moving, "I had a dream of where to find the finger." She lied, but it also wasn't a lie if she were to think of the first finger she found.

"I don't know why I was able to dream of it.  I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth.  And I just wanted to find it, I thought that maybe I could hide it and keep Yuu-nii safe for a bit longer." She sighed.

"Is having those dreams part of your technique?" Gojo wanted to know, he hadn't heard of anyone being able to see the future in dreams as a jujutsu technique, though he had heard of people who saw futures in dreams or on the palms of people's hands, psychics.

Shina shook her head, "No.  Well at least I think it's not.  But I can take a guess as to why I can." She rubbed her fingers slowly, "Because Sam Beltner died."

"Sam Beltner?"

Shina turned her head towards Gojo and smiled, her smile seeming so sad, "Someone very close to me."

'A friend?' Gojo had thought.

Her mouth opened and closed, her lips trying to form various words and after a short while Shina finally said, "I was once Sam Beltner." Taking a shaky breath she continued, "Gojo-san, do you believe in reincarnation." It wasn't a question, especially at how serious she looked at him.

Not waiting for an answer, she continued, "I was Sam Beltner years ago, but then I died, and I'm now living as Itadori Shina." She paused, "I think that me being a reincarnator is the cause of me being able to see somethings in dreams."

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'Reincarnation.' The word rung out in his head, unable to process it for a few seconds, never in his life would he have expected something like that.  He at first wanted to brush it off as a lie or a joke, but he knew that she wasn't lying, that she had really died and been reborn as a new person.

"Does anyone else know?" He asked, though from her pleading to keep it a secret made him think that only he would know now.

He saw Shina shake her head as she pursed her lips and shifted her gaze, almost seeming guilty, "I had never told anyone, and I never planned to.  But things changed and now you're the only person who knows."

Gojo could see the way her hands clenched tightly into fists, 'Does she think that I won't believe her?' He brought up his hand and uncovered his eyes, and turned to look at the river, "I've never really thought of reincarnation, I had heard of it, but never put much thought into it.  But that doesn't mean that I don't believe you." He turned towards her, now meeting her eyes, "It's something you wouldn't hear every day of someone having a second life, but I believe that you're telling me the truth."

"Thank you." She breathed out.

He could see the way her shoulders sagged, almost as if all the weight had been lifted off of her, "If possible, could you tell me more about you?  From the past." He tentatively asked.

It took a few seconds, but she nodded her head, "Yeah."

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She didn't know that she would need to talk about it, she always thought that she had gotten over it.

But at the idea of finally talking about her past to someone.  Of her past as Sam, it felt as if her chest swelled with so much emotion and everything that she wanted to say just waiting to be spoken.

"Like I mentioned before, I was once Same Beltner.  I was an only child; I was my parents' miracle child." She softly smiled, "They both worked so they weren't home much of the time, but that didn't mean that they neglected me.  They were great parents', I had some pretty odd cousins, but they were nice.  Though my cousin's daughter was a bit to handle, well she was just a baby when I last saw her." Shina talked about all of her family, of her school, her friends, and what she liked to do.

"How old were you?" Gojo asked wanting to know more already immersed into what she was telling him.

"I was sixteen years old, so right now I'm mentally twenty-eight years old.  A twenty-eight-year-old in the body of a twelve-year-old." She laughed, "I was sixteen when I died, when I was killed."

"Killed." Gojo muttered the word.  He had expected to hear that she had died in an accident or was sick, but never expected to hear that she had been killed.

"I was home alone that night and well someone broke in and killed me in my own house.  In my bedroom." She said, her eyes seeming to look off into where he couldn't, "Did you know that breaking down a door doesn't take long as long as you know how to.  And hiding in a closet doesn't help either." She added absent mindedly.

Shina blinked a few times, "I left my family behind.  I'll never be able to see them again, never be able to hear them talk about some stupid thing, or argue about who gets to choose the toppings on the pizza." Her eyes began to blur as tears began to well up in them and stream down her cheeks.  She rubbed at them with her sleeve, though she ended up smearing dirt onto her face, "I hate to have my hands dirty.  The day I died, I came home so dirty, my hands covered in mud, it took a while to wash it all off."

"I'm sad and mad about having died, but there's nothing I can do now.  It took a while to get used to this new life, but I did.  I was able to experience having a family again, though my new family was torn apart so soon.  Even though I knew them for a short while, I really loved my parents in this life."

"Are you able to remember them well?" Gojo asked wondering how a child could remember, unless she always had a coherent and conscious mind.

Shina looked Gojo in the eyes, "I've had my memories of my past life and completely conscious of my surroundings since the moment I was born.  Though I'm pretty sure that I was already conscious in my mom's womb."

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The two continued to talk about various things, Shina had even hinted on in something happening to Yuuji during a mission in a couple days.

They talked way longer than they expected, "Thank you for listening." She sighed.

Just as Gojo was about to reply, a growl could be heard.

With a smirk Gojo said, "It seems like we've stayed here too long, and we need some food.  Want something to eat?" Gojo stood up and stretched out his hand to Shina.

"Yeah, thanks." She grabbed a hold of his hand and pulled herself up, "But first we'll have to clean up." She looked down at her hands, and at their clothes which were now also dirty from sitting too long on the ground.

After getting cleaned up, they both had a nice and filling meal.  Of course, Gojo let her choose, but he would not compromise on the dessert, not matter what.

By the time that they arrived back to the dorms, Yuuji was pacing back and forth and kept talking into the phone.

"Shi-chan, please answer your phone." He said just as Gojo, and Shina walked in.

At seeing them, Yuuji nearly crushed Shina's bones at how tight he hugged her, "Where have you been?  Why haven't you answered your phone?"

"My phone?  It hasn't rung at all." She reached for her phone, pressed the power button to turn on the screen, but nothing happened, "Oh, it died." She let out a small awkward laugh, "Sorry, I should have checked and called you before it died."

Gojo watched as the two siblings talked to each other, one giving an earful while the other apologized.  He could now see why Shina was so desperately trying to save Yuuji, 'She was taken away from her family in her first life.  Her parents were taken from her in her second life, and now she only has Yuuji.' She no longer wanted to lose any family.

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By the time that she went to bed it was already ten at night, and she was so tired that she was already falling asleep once her head touched her pillow.  She was especially tired at how much Yuuji scolded her, telling her how worried he was, and that he almost went out to search for her but was stopped by Fushiguro and Nobara because Gojo had gone to look for her.

She couldn't believe how much or rather how long she had to hear how worried Yuuji was, but she understood.  If she were in his shoes, she would have been worried as well.  And she was thankful that she wasn't the only one who got an earful, Gojo got some words thrown his way, about not calling to say that he had found her, for not bringing her back as soon as he found her.

And now that she was in bed, she couldn't wait to sleep.

'I'm so glad that Gojo didn't ask any more questions about the finger and dreams, I don't think I would have been able to think of anything else on the spot.' She closed her eyes, "Half-truth is better than a lie."

She told him of her past, but she was planning to take the truth of Jujutsu Kaisen to her grave.  From now on whatever she does, she would brush it off to her dreams being the cause of her knowing of whatever she does or happens.

Shina pulled in the thin blanket to her chin as she curled up on her side and promptly fell asleep.  A sleep that granted her dreams of her parents, of her family.

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*I don't know how you guys are able to make call with your phones, but for mine I can just swipe on the contact's name to the right and it starts calling them.  Or I can do the harder way of pressing on the contact and pressing on the little call phone to connect.

So, what did you guys think of this chapter?  I personally liked it a lot, I think that this will be the beginning of the change of Shina and how she will grow.  Well, at least I think so.

I think I'll be updating the next chapter pretty soon; I have a whole week off of work for Thanksgiving.  Yay!  I wish I could sleep in, but I can't.  It's not that I can't, but I just can't sleep for long.

For some odd reason, I have so much trouble waking up in the morning for work, but on my days off, I wake up so early.  I need the sleep, I wake up at five, sometimes at 4:50 in the morning to get ready and leave at 6:50, sometimes earlier depending on what I have to do for the day, since I start work at 7 in the morning.

I feel like this is the longest chapter I've typed so far.  Or maybe it's because it's been a while since I last updated.

So, that's it for now.  Hope you enjoyed it.