𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑳𝑴 𝑶𝑭 𝑺𝑯𝑨𝑫𝑶𝑾𝑺 ⇢ Gojo Satoru

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐋𝐕𝐈𝐈 - 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄 𝐒𝐍𝐀𝐊𝐄

SATORU PALED, SUDDENLY INCREDIBLY AWARE OF HIS POSITION. Léa dropped her hand, adjusting the lapels of her shirt before she turned towards the wall. If it weren't for the two feet of reinforced concrete and layers of wood panels, he could almost have sworn she could see him. The woman winked, danger written in her gaze. Dubois smiled, stepping aside and gesturing towards the door.

The German secretary nodded and picked up her things, quickly hurrying down the corridor and eager to leave Léa's office. Satoru didn't move. Instead, he watched as Léa walked over to him, leaning against the open door with a satisfied expression on her face.

"Mon chéri, come in" she greeted, stepping aside and welcoming the sorcerer into the room.

Gojo hesitated. Partly because he could cut the tension in the room with a knife, and partly because he found Léa's smile to be unsettling – unnatural, even. There was something about it that made his skin crawl, like a fake piece of wallpaper that had been stapled onto her face to hide the ugly truth; that she was just as rotten on the inside as everyone else. Satoru made up his mind, quickly bypassing the woman and sitting down on the leather chair set up in front of her desk.

Léa walked over to him, circling the armchair until she stood behind Satoru. He could feel her staring, and what looked back at him were not the eyes of a woman but the gaze of a true predator. The woman continued to smile, hands gliding over his shoulders until they clamped down, nails digging into the fabric of his uniform. No threat was issued, but he could feel it nonetheless.

"I've been waiting for you" Léa confessed, walking around the chair until she regained her spot behind her desk "I'm sure you have plenty to report after your latest mission" he could still feel the half-moon shaped marks she'd left on his skin "...I trust everything went well with Mikazuki?"

For fuck's sake, why was it always about Mikazuki? Satoru's lips turned into a fine line, and for a moment, he considered not to answer the question. It was tempting – he'd played by The Magistrate's rules for so long he didn't even know what freedom tasted like – although, seeing how Mikazuki lived her life, he guessed it tasted something like fucking ecstasy.

But that was not the path reserved for him. Satoru was the oldest of four, the heir of the Gojo clan – roles, unlike Mikazuki, he'd actually earned – and he had to set an example for future generations. He didn't have the luxury to say 'fuck it' and go the burn down, that was a privilege he was not entitled to. Instead, if he disobeyed, he had consequences to face. Consequences that would befall his entire family, because he wasn't a Kinzoku, and he didn't have the power to challenge the rule of the Council of Magistrates.

Léa sat down on her desk, crossing her legs with a wicked smile, almost as if she knew what was going through his head.

"Tell me, how is Mikazuki?" she asked, a devilish glint on her brown eyes.

Gojo Satoru sat there, words turning to ashes in his mouth as a terrible realization dawned on him. Was this what Mikazuki had seen from the start? The monster hiding behind this gaze, the serpent waiting to bite and poison the world with a drop of venom? Even with the power of the Six Eyes and the endless vacuum of Limitless, it seemed Satoru had been blind. Completely and unequivocally blind.

Léa Dubois was not the Mother of Sorcery, she wasn't just the Head of the Magistrate nor the kind woman who had taught him so much. She – like everyone else in this goddamn world – was a fucking predator. She was a natural born killed, and she had fooled him for a long time. He could see it clearly now and, for the first time, the sick feeling of doubt settled at the pit of his stomach.

What if Mikazuki was right? What if The Magistrate was behind all the chaos? What if Léa was the monster scheming and praying for Mikazuki's downfall? What if she had killed Keisuke? So many what if's he'd so carelessly refused before. So many unanswered questions he had rejected. So many amends he needed to make, for the evil Mikazuki had warned him about was as clear as day in Léa's brown eyes.

Satoru wondered, looking at the woman in a completely different light. A blazing red light made of blood and betrayal and glitter and gold. He could see it now, clear as day, ambition burning in her gaze with a hint of envy and righteous anger. Gojo swallowed the bile rising in his throat, the feeling of the chains of the unbreakable vow tightening around his heart like violent thorns. Léa looked at him, something dangerous flickering in her gaze even though she hadn't said a single word yet. She wasn't asking, and yet, he could feel the barbed wire asking in her stead. Asking he betray – just like it had ten years ago.

"Mikazuki is..." Satoru paused, knuckles turning white as he attempted to fight the pressure building in his chest.

Mikazuki is... what? He asked himself in the sea of calmness of his own mind, in the refuge of his deepest thoughts. Mikazuki is strong. Brilliant. Defiant. Wild. Crazy. Dangerous. Beautiful. Powerful. And yet, he hadn't been able to tell her any of this when she was still his. She belonged to someone else now, married off to whoever her father chose for the sake of the clan. Her heart had once been his, and now it was gone.

"Mikazuki is fine" he forced himself to say, words choked out as the bonds of the vow loosened around his bruised heart "Fulfilling her duties, like she promised"

Like we all promised. He didn't say, but Léa was able to hear it nonetheless. Dubois' eyes sharpened, yet she didn't bring it up. Instead, Léa nodded, scribbling down some notes on her clipboard, her engine red nails tapping against the paper.