Even the Strongest Can Fall (for Me)

Chapter Twenty-One: Those Who Chose Death Once

The Gathering Begins

It's Geto who calls it.

A quiet signal, a pulse of cursed energy tuned not to power — but to memory.

Only those who carry reincarnated souls can feel it.

And they come.

To a hidden temple under Jujutsu Tech, one by one.

The Storm, fiery grin subdued now. Geto, calm but watchful, one eye glowing faintly in the dark. A quiet girl with sky-blue eyes — your gut screams Rain Flame, though her name is "Himari." And another: a boy with sharp glasses, hands covered in sealing talismans, who smells faintly of gunpowder and genius — he calls himself "Verde."

You stand in the center of them all.

Gojo watches silently beside you. Guarded. Grounding.

Then...

Footsteps.

Shoko enters last.

But her presence feels different this time.

Not healer.
Not just friend.
Something deeper.

You meet her eyes.

And finally — she lets you see her.

The Mask Cracks — Itachi

Shoko steps into the circle, calm as always.

But her cursed energy shifts.

Sharpening.
Burning quietly at the edges.

"You've suspected," she says softly.
"But none of you ever asked."

The Rain girl whispers:

"She's not just Shoko."

"No," Geto murmurs. "She's..."

She looks at you.

And in her eyes — the mangekyō spins.

Black-red. Eternal.

"I was Uchiha Itachi."

Silence.

She continues.

"I died by my brother's hand... by choice. My soul broke free from a world soaked in blood and fate."
"And when I arrived here, I chose medicine. Not war."

Her gaze lands on you.

"But now the past is waking. And I can't just heal anymore."

✦ Scene Three: The Others React

Storm lets out a low whistle.

"Damn. The guy with the worst death got reincarnated as the calmest bitch alive."

Rain bows slightly.

"I remembered pain... but not peace. You chose peace."

Geto, quiet:

"You watched over us from the beginning, didn't you?"

Shoko nods once.

"I recognized Obito in you the moment your soul matured. I recognized Reborn's fragmented pride in him."
She gestures at you.

"And Kakashi's grief in both."

Gojo's hand slips into yours, silent, grounding.

"You knew all along," you whisper.

"And I waited. Because healing a fractured soul too early... only worsens the break."

The Shared Decision

Geto unrolls a map.

"There are more of us out there. Some stable. Some... already overtaken by their past selves."

Verde sighs.

"We're ticking bombs, really."

Storm grins.

"Or gods. Depending on who pisses us off first."

You speak:

"We can't keep hiding. Either we prepare—"

Shoko finishes:

"Or we're used."

Quiet, Between You and Gojo

That night, on the rooftop again.

Gojo leans his head on your shoulder.

"So. You're not just an Alpha from another world."

"Apparently I'm also two dead war veterans, the Sun of a broken Trial, and a reincarnated soul magnet."

"I must have excellent taste."

You turn toward him.

"You stayed."

He looks at you — not with Infinity.

But with everything real.

"I always will."

To Be Continued...