The heat was thick and crisp that it nearly sizzled the ground they walked upon. Megumi and Kei walked in the most desolate area of the arena where collapsed rubble laid on the earth and most of the buildings that once stood were gone. The only thing standing in the amidst of it all was a church. How symbolic. And it was something Kei needed in this moment. A miracle of some sort to get him through this, because the more they killed and moved one place to another, the more it was killing him on the inside.
A silhouette walks out of the church and Megumi and Kei froze in their spots, readying their attacks while awaiting for the figure to appear closely. But the signature pink hair on the boy's head eased their bodies immediately. Kei's eyes glimmered and he let out a breathy laugh when he sees Yuji.
Megumi shouts, "Itadori!" before they exchange relieved expressions and ran over to their friend. Yuri looked fatigued, exhausted. His frown left and gave them a smile when he saw the two running over him with open arms. Kei was the first, leaping and holding him tightly and resting his crooked head against his chest. Megumi follows after and Yuji lets out a laugh.
"Hey, easy there. I'm still sore from the fight."
"Sorry! Can't stop, won't stop." Kei grinned before looking over his features to see if he has any bruises or marks on his face but Yuji had none. "You doing alright?"
"A little shabby but can't complain. I'm still alive." Yuji smiled back, patting him in the back. "But you and Fushiguro look like you guys just went through hell."
"Yeah, you can say that." Kei shot a look at Fushiguro and the raven-haired boy would rub the back of his head, letting out a hefty sigh.
"We managed to take down squad of sorcerers on the way. We're raking up some points, a-lot closer now to the one hundred mark."
"We just need to find higher-skill sorcerers. But now that the three of us are here, we can search for Higurama." Kei noted and after he explained their plan, Yuji's smile faded. He looked as if he had a lump in the throat and began scratching his hair before turning away, almost ashamed by something. Kei and megumi look at him confused and the blonde takes a step forward,
"Yuji, are you alright? You looked worried all of a sudden.."
"Uh, well.." And then he lets out a nervous laugh, resulting in Kei furrowing his eyebrows at him at an offensive manner. Kei begins to grow upset.
"You see, I, uh..actually met Higurama."
Dead silence follows and Kei can't muster what he is trying to entail. Did he kill him? Or fail to and he made his escape?
"And did you get him?" Megumi asked.
"Yuji.." Kei's soft voice attracts Yuji's eyes away from the floor and into his friend's blue eyes. His heart stopped at how pleading those eyes looked. "Did you kill him? Please tell me you did."
"I-I'm sorry." Yuji croaked. "I let him go."
"But..why?" Kei was lost for his words.
"It's not so easy, you know..You and megumi just go and kill like it's nothing but I.. can't do it."
Megumi slumped his shoulders, looking almost defeated while Kei continues his baffled stare.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I-"
"Yuji..what do you think we're doing?"
"W-What?"
"You know what I'm talking about. You think this is a game? This is life and death we're talking about it. Y-You know letting him was our ONE chance of us getting out of here!" Kei was now raising his voice at him, hands on his hip as Yuji looked like he wants to slither away from the conversation.
"Look, I tried! I really did, Kei." The boy shook his head. "But it's not just criminals..there are innocent people here trying to escape. Trying to find some purpose in their life and I don't want to cut their lives short. That's not me! I don't want to get to decide who lives or dies."
"Kei's right, Yuji. You knew what we were getting into when we joined the culling games. Death is indiscriminate here. We have to win if we want to survive. And besides, think of Gojo. Think of what we can do when we win. We can kill Kenjaku and all go home."
"If you guys want to go on without me, then go ahead but I don't want to go on this crusade and kill some of these people who were forced to participate."
"We can't do that." Megumi retorted.
"Dammit, Yuji! You're acting completely selfish. This isn't the time right now!" Kei's words struck a cord at Yuji and the pink hair boy looked stunned at him, before his face crumbled to anger.
"Selfish? You're calling ME selfish? Kei, you have no idea what I'm going through! After I've dealt with you and ask about you several times, you have not, NOT ONCE, asked me about my own well-being." He then points at Megumi, "Have you ever asked Megumi if he was okay? His sister's here."
"How dare you."
"No! How dare you!" Yuji snapped. "W-When I was in shibuya, Sukuna took over my body and he..he." Tears welled up in his eyes and he swallowed a sob. He looks away for a moment before looking directly at Kei. "He made me kill innocent people and when he was done, I awoke and saw the chaos he caused. I-I'm tired, Kei. I'm tired and full of guilt. I had to confess to Higurama about everything and I had to admit, it was my own fault. If I didn't eat the finger, none of this would happen! I thought I could do this but I just don't think I can."
"Yuji, we can talk about this after we're out of here." Kei says and this annoys Yuji.
"You don't care, do you?"
"I do! Fuck, Yuji, but now's not the time!"
For the first time, the two boys bickered and Megumi tried to tone their voices down. He intervened when Kei grabbed ahold of his shirt, shaking him like a madman. He was trying to calm down Yuji but Yuji resisted, pushing back Kei.
"You're not the same person I know!" The boy cried out. "All you want to do is kill and kill till you get to Kenjaku."
"He's a horrible person. Of course I want to kill him!"
"But look how it's affecting you! It's consuming you. You're becoming someone I don't even recognize anymore. Almost like a mon-."
"I'm not a monster!" Kei snarled. "He is and all I'm trying to do is stop this!"
Megumi pleads again, putting his hands on their chests and pushing them away.
A fourth person joins the fray. A mysterious man in both white of hair with crazy electric, blue eyes in all white. He playfully smiles and the three shot their eyes at them.
"My, my. Quite the commotion." Through his fingertips, electric shoots into Kei's body and it propels him to the nearest wall. Kei tries to free himself but the electricity stings him whenever he resists. He screams as his friends watch in horror.
"Ah, Sukuna's vessel?" Hajime Kashimo smiles pleasantly at Yuji as the boy stands there.
"YUJI! MEGUMI! GET OUT OF HERE." Kei cries out but it falls deaf to their ears when a second person drops in. A woman in a brown ponytail lands down to the ground, leaving a shockwave aftermath that makes the two stumble. The girl raises his head and she gives off an emotionless stare. Kei's eyes widened.
"T-Tsumiki...?" Megumi whispered, his body shuddering when he recognizes his own sister. She bears a curse mark on her forehead and while she looks the same, her face is unreadable. She looks like an empty shell.
Kei panics, whimpering and tries to unbuckle himself but he cries out when the shock factor ripples across his body. He drops his head down, feeling already restless by the power.
Kenjaku watches from the surveillance with a pleasing smile.
"Kill them. Make Kei watch for just a moment."
Tsumiki would charge, throwing powerful punch into her brother's abdomen. It makes fly to the sky, blood seeping out and Kei screams out his name when he watches his body plummet back to the ground. Kashimo laughs, energy dancing around his body before he zaps it at Yuji. Yuji staggers and before he can fight, Kashimo deals with him in a combo fighting style. Kicking and throwing iron-fist punches at his face, Yuji screams and so does Kei's body, who only wants to fight back and save his own friends.
"STOP IT! PLEASE, STOP!" Kei begged profusely but they would not listen.
"Alright, that's enough." Kenjaku would say through the cam. "Bring him to me now."
Kashimo looked directly at Kei before flickering his fingers at him. The electricity around his body would fume and lighten up before charging his body backwards to a farer distance. Kei screams when he's thrown back thousands and thousand miles away. Colony to another colony. The environment changed through each transition. He'd find himself flying through a subway station and into an amusement park and then into untouched beautiful garden before flopping down into dirt. His face hit the ground hard and he tumbles before breaking it by hitting back against a pebble stone rock.
Kei gasps out, panting and drained from his body falling back for what seemed like a long time. He opened his eyes and found ashes dangling from the sky. He was in another zone. Something are grim. Everything around the colony looked grey and burnt. A few ashes from what seemed coming from a fire dropped in the palm of his hand. It was isolated and nothing but a strange whistle breezes past his ears.
"I was really hoping you'd kill that friend's sister of yours but with games like these, I can't help but have a little fun." The familiar, disgusting voice shakes him out of his mind and he turns a heel, seeing the man watching above in the balcony of a single building. A base of operations it appeared.
"Isn't it cheating for bringing me here like this?"
"No, not exactly." Kenjaku smirked. "That was some argument you were having. You and that vessel. I thought of being nice and separating you guys apart for just a minute."
As soon as he says this, Kei watches the crumbled debris around him lift up and there, spirits waited for him. They hid under the debris and stood up, towering over Kei but seemingly awaiting orders.
"You and him are a lot alike. Too easy to manipulate. He'll be really sad when you die, knowing how you two ended things the way you did." Kenjaku coughed out a chuckle, "He'll hate himself so much for that, he might just kill me for you."
"You're going to kill me?" Kei glanced left and right at the monsters, "But I thought you wanted to have as much fun with me as you like?" The boy gave out a playful pout despite circumstances and this annoys the game maker.
"Not so fast. I don't want to end what we have between us! No, No, I want you to suffer. The zenin boy and the vessel could die from my best fighters. And it'll be ashamed because you won't be there to see it."
Kei's eyes narrowed. So, that's what it was. He only pulled him away from his friends so his mind can be clouded in fear, wondering, hoping his friends would see the next day. But could they? He trusted them but what if the fighters he saw were stronger than they were? Now, he was starting to become anxious but he did not show it.
"Also..I wanted to see if you'd like to meet some of my other friends?"
"Help me.."
Kei shivered when he slowly turns to look at the spirit. The spirit cried, looking at him with such despair. It looked straight out of a painting and Kei shuddered when he realized that these were not spirits. Humans turned into spirits.
Of course. Kenjaku absorbed Mahito. He had his powers and thus he made these innocent civilians into these deranged, deformed body horror type of monsters that put a chill to the bone. They slugged forward at him and Kei whispered a soft 'no'.
Yuji was right. He tried to be cold and lock his feelings away from killing but when he hears their whimpers and cries, he can't help but hesitate. He understood now and he felt guilty immediately.
'Yuji..is this what you saw? I'm sorry.'
His thoughts snapped out of his mind and he jumped up when one of them slammed its large arm against the ground. Kenjaku smirks as he watches Kei dodge their attacks but doesn't fight back.
"Save me, Kei!"
"P-Please don't kill me, I have a family."
God no. How could he handle this? He stumbled back to the corner with his fingertips imbue with his curse energy. He looks back at each of them, wondering what to do. He stares from the distance and sees Kenjaku smiling.
'I fuckin despise you, you bastard. Curse you, CURSE YOU!I'm going to make you regret everything you've ever done!'
"Get away from him!" A voice shouts and suddenly an enormous nail pierces into the first curse and Kei stands there, almost petrified when a swarm of nails launch at the enemies. Then, another springs into action and stabs her blade past the monsters.
"No..why." One croaked before fading to dust. Kei stayed looking at that spot before two of the girls pulled him by the arms.
"Kei! Kei! A ringing hums in his ears and he stays there, disorientated and lost. A hand slaps across his face and his blue eyes blinked, he stares deep into the girl he loves and he takes in her features. He breathes deeply,
"N-Nobs.."
"We gotta leave! There's more coming our way.
"Let's go, slowpoke!"
Kei allows the girls to drag him away from the scene and Kenjaku scowls at the rescue team. He cursed himself for his sloppiness. He could've kept watched over the girls. He knew they would be at the same colony but he thought they had been on the other side of the map. He closed his eyes, seething his teeth when he realized his plans for later had been disrupted.
More of the transfigured spirits he spawned came running at them and Nobara looks back at Kei.
"H-Hey snap out of it! We have to keep going."
"They're still in there.." He mumbled.
"So what?" The girl exclaimed. "We've killed curse wombs close to this before. What makes it the difference?"
"They're innocent." Kei looks at her. "I-I don't know if i can.."
"Kei, with all due respect." Maki butts in, looking back at him as they run. "They can't go back the way they were. If you want to do some good, kill them. Put them out of their misery."
His heart sank but when he looks back at the horde of monsters chasing them, he realized apart of that could be right. They barricaded themselves in a tower nearby but the spirits cling and sprawl their bodies against the building. One tries to slither in using its body like slime.
"Up the stairs."
Nobara goes and looks at Kei.
"Thank god you're here." She puts a hand on his shoulder. "I think we got the worse yet. Ever since Maki and I jumped in here, there's been nothing but fighting. Many were already dead when we came."
"Funny. I got ambushed when I went to my first colony."
"Well, you are the golden prize." Nobara cracks a grin, trying to joke amidst the disaster. Kei smiles a bit before looking at the door.
"Come on, let's go." They made it on the top of the tower and the spirits desperately tried to climb but transfigured and deformed, they could not successfully do so. They began making their way up but their big bodies found it hard to squish up the staircase. Maki looks down and curses, looking around the tower to see if there was anything nearby they can land on.
"Fuck. We're trapped." Maki glances at the two.
"Are you guys ready? We'll have to fight them here."
"And then what?" Kei asked and Maki shrugged. "Then we retreat. Go somewhere else. It's a good thing we found you when we did, Kei. We heard the commotion and made way to you. I had no idea that blasted Kenjaku would be there as well."
And then it hit him. Perhaps, he did not want Kei to just be away from his Yuji and Megumi. Isn't it a too coincidence Maki and Nobara so happened to be here?
He looks at them, now frightened. No, this is all a plan. At this point, he's starting to understand. He wants him to suffer, he says. A cycle of pain that he can't escape. And so bringing him here with these two girls, he wondered..what plans did he have for them?
He looks at Nobara, who stares back in confusion but he flinches when he imagines again, the incident where Mahito touched her eye. Her socket exploding thin air before falling in his arms. His screams echoing in the air. And then he sees Maki, he thinks of Mai. If Kenjaku were to hurt or kill Maki, how would Mai react? She already has it bad and he could not bear to have her own sister be inflicted with his games.
He's had enough. There was no end unless he killed him. Sure, the games will continue and that's the thing. It wouldn't make a difference to the outcome. He should just kill him. He nods to himself, looking straight at the base he held himself in.
Kei Murasaki will not run away anymore.
"No..I'll handle them."
"What?!" The two girls exclaim and they immediately start to shout and try to pull on them when he jumps on the ledge, looking down at the swarm of monsters. Nobara tugs on his sleeve, begging and yelling at him to come down.
"He won't stop hunting us down. And I can't wait for him to come and hurt anyone of you guys. If you're me, you're a target too. And nobs." He knelt down, holding her face in his hands. She squirms in his grip as he presses his head against hers.
"I can't lose you. Not again."
"You won't!"
"Good. Then, stay here."
"Kei!" And before she can protest some more, he kisses her deeply. Her face relaxes in the kiss but her arms still wrangle on his arm, trying to pull his iron grip. Their kiss last for a few seconds before he breaks it apart, his eyelashes touching her cheek.
"I love you." He says with so much conviction. "I'm doing this for us. He will never hurt us again."
"Don't talk like you're going to die!" She whined and he doesn't respond this time. He releases her and he gives her one last look before diving down from the building. Nobara screams and Kei hurls in the air before casting his hands down to the horde. Blue energy ignites his entire body and he lets out a yell before it launches straight into the enemies like a falling comet. The floor explodes along with the enemies, their bodies split and cut to chunks. They all moan in unison, some in anguish and tears and Kei takes in the scene. The ones who aimed for Maki and Nobara stopped and crawled back down to face Kei.
"I'm sorry." He'd tell them before slamming a hammer of curse energy against their bodies. They fall flat and before they can counter, Kei cuts into them with his palm. He slinks into them with sudden speed, ripping into their mass. They explode as well and Kei is the last one standing. The girls watched, astonished and before they can call for him he runs away.
He runs away from them and straight at Kenjaku.
"No, no, no. You're not getting anywhere near me!" He'd press a button and it somehow teleports them into the pathway that leads to the base. The new players look confused but when they see Kei, a recognizable face of the games, run at them, they all grow with excitement.
"There's the golden prize!"
"Kill him! Kill!" One deliriously laughs.
"Yes, Yes." Kenjaku shouts through the intercom. "KILL HIM!"
"AHH!" Kei lets out a terrifying roar before throwing a punch straight into a man's chest, the energy burned right through his ribcage and spine before he discards him like trash. A woman comes at him, striking him with her sword.
"You think you're all that, huh, kid? Take that! And that!" He dodged with a huff. Kei grabbed the sword with his hand with his energy infused, he pulled the sword and aimed at her. The size of the blade would increase fast in size and zoom straight into her skull. Her blood splattered all across her face before releasing the weapon.
The boy let out an animalistic scream before slamming and hitting and throwing punches at all the enemies coming at him while Kenjaku watched.
He was afraid of the what appeared to be the mad sorcerer who reigned upon his people 400 years ago.
The bodies of corpses all littered around him like a circle and Kei stood in the middle, his face with some blood but not long until he wipes it off. His jacket had been discarded and he's left in his still, clean white shirt and purple dress pants. Kei looks up at the window Kenjaku stared into and the man runs away from the glass when Kei comes flying into it, smashing through the glass and entering the base. In a flash, Kenjaku's face is grabbed by his own hands before being thrown to the ground by his seat.
"Get up, you pathetic piece of shit."
Finally, the showdown was here. Kenjaku would say he looked like a villain and Kei had to admit, perhaps he was. In the end, he had to kill those human turned spirits. He had no choice and yet the last thing they must've thought before they died was how cruel and misunderstanding he was. He was a villain to those victims, perhaps, but he would avenge them.
"You've gotten so strong since I saw you. It's almost scary."
"Shut up."
"See." The man coughs before trying to get up. "This is why you'd be perfect. Why kill me when you can lead a new era of sorcerers? With your power, we could've take over this world."
"You're asking me this..after everything you've done!" Kei exclaimed in fury.
"I said could've, Kei. It would've been so nice and oh, so easy. But we know what you want. You sure you want to kill me even when these games aren't over?"
Kei shrugged and he pulled out a smile,
"You said it wouldn't matter, right? All I care about now is killing you. I've had enough."
The man scowls at that,
"Yes, Yes. I know you want your precious revenge."
"No more games. Let's battle it, face to face."
Kei can tell he's growing nervous and he continues to talk and talk and talk. He calls Kei a threat to humanity, hurting words that will stay to him. How the elders wouldn't accept him. Nor his friends but the boy would think of all those things after his death.
He clenched his fists as they both circled around each other. They watched with steady eyes and at one point, Kenjaku stumbles one foot forward. Saying 'boo' at him, pretending he'd throw a technique at him. He grinned when the boy nearly flinched but his visage remained fixated on him.
"Come at me, mad sorcerer!" The man taunts. He now turns enraged and the tension around the room is about to burst. "IF I KILL YOU, I WILL STEAL YOUR BODY NEXT."
"JUST TRY IT." Kei spits out. His blue energy rising.
'Let's fuckin do this, then.'
The two blast each other with energy and the building around them detonates in one blow. Nobara and Maki fought the remaining spirit Kei must've missed but they turned their heads to the explosive noise and Nobara stares up in the sky. She watches Kenjaku and Kei fighting above. The building collapses and Maki pulls on Nobara to stay back as caution
"KEI!" She cries out of worry but she had no choice but to retreat.
Kei would have him by the throat, aiming punches and throws at him but Kenjaku blocked them and they'd fall back on a blood pillar the evil sorcerer would implant as they raced up the sky. Kenjaku rolls and pulls himself back up, touching the blood pillar to make himself a sword of blood. Kei readies himself to block his blade but when he throws it at him, it instead sprays blood and when it makes contact on his shirt, it burns right through. The cloth turns to tatters and it touches his skin, making him wince. He then put his hand on the pillar, using the object to make a sword of his own. The blue sword clashes with the red and they battle it off, metal hitting metal as they clashed against each other. Kenjaku would try to splash blood again but Kei blocks his attack, running under the blood and came inches close to the enemies' chest. He'd grab him, releasing the sword as he did before pulling him back down to the building. Kenjaku and him would tumble before they broke landing on the destroyed building.
The man would break away from the boy, using Mahito's transfiguration technique to create a rumbling effect under the floorboards to distance each other. Kei fell back against the wall and with the split wood, he'd touch them and maximize them in size to create wooden spikes in midair. They'd circle each other again, still panting from the fall. The two would charge against each other, fighting hand to hand combat. Kei used his energy to help improve his skill on fighting up close and he'd land strong fists against his jaw and Kenjaku would turn and kick him, causing him to fall. He looks up from the ground, his hands signaling the pillars to run straight at him. He grabs one of them but the few poke in parts of his body. He screams when one thrusts into his ankle.
"AUGHH!" The man wails when it digs deeper to his bone by Kei's command and Kei gets up, take the chance to grab the man by the shoulders and with excessive force, throw him across the other room. Kenjaku propels through the walls and into the other room but the floor had a hole on the ground, he fell down to the first floor. His head dropped on top of a classic, vinyl record player in the intact room and when he hits it, music starts to play. An orchestral piece that continues to play as they fight.
Kenjaku sees Kei coming down, screaming with his fists ready to hit him but he dodges and the blue energy shudders the ground and he gets up, charging him again. Kenjaku uses the shed of his blood to counter and then, he creates his own net and binds the boy across the room. But the boy wildly squirms in the blood's grip before tearing it apart, his eyes now blowing blue and anger.
The boy lets out a scream and Kenjaku laughs breathlessly,
"This is what it's like to fight the mad sorcerer. Exhilarating. Simply marvelous."
The chorus of the music booms into the air, almost chilling as they sang their song. They pour their hearts out. A song about despair and sadness when they fight. Kei was like an animal, having no thoughts but to kill. His eyes blue and the wild screams he'd spill out made it seem he had no conscious of his own anymore.
He caught Kenjaku and pinned him to the floor. He grapples on top of him, breathing against him heavily. He wants to watch him suffer just as he did. He puts strong hands around his neck and begins to strangle him to death. The blonde's strands found his way in front of his face, sweat beading down his face as he gripped tighter.
Kenjaku played with his wrist and he smiles as he's choked. He shows no mercy.
"I.. c-can't wait to have your power." He chokes out before stabbing a blood thorn he made out of his bleeding wrist into the Kei's left eye. Deep into his socket, he ruptures his entire vision.
"GAHH!!!" A barbaric screech rips out of the boy's throat and he grasps onto his left side of his eye. Blood spills out of it and he tries to cup it with his hand, but it's no use. Kenjaku kicks him off and with blood forming behind him, he watches Kei grunts from the excruciating pain.
"It was fun while it lasted, Kei. But now you have to die." And with the click of his fingers, more blood thorns aim straight at him. Kei kneels, his left eye closed and stained with blood as he watched.
"NO!" The boy exclaims before he casts a shield of his blue energy to deflect the thorns. Kenjaku flinches, wondering how he'd have enough energy to fight back still. Before he can spout another technique, Kei cuts him off.
He has already used it before but he had to try.
It was his only hope.
"DOMAIN EXPANSION!" His hand raising at the enemy. Kenjaku's face crumbles to shock and before he can counter the expansion, the boy is quick to finish those words of his.
"NIGHTMARE FUEL!"
It was too late. The domain trapped the two inside. Kenjaku entered an abyss before finding himself away from the colony. He looks around and finds himself familiar with the place he's in. It's Japan but it's not the present time. 400 years back. He's brought back to the garden in the backyard of his old home. He looked down and looked at his body. He was just a child again.
He'd hear the sound of his mother's laughter and he'd smile, feeling safe and calm before revisiting his old home again. But when he walks in, he's all alone. His mother is not there and he calls for her.
"MOTHER? MOTHER, WHERE ARE YOU?" His cries echoed and he hears back a voice again but it's not his mother's. He clasped his hands over his ears when he hears the sounds of the people who would underestimate him back then. Bully him, criticize him for the belief he had of putting sorcerers first before humanity. He remembered how his classmates would mock him for the experiments and ideas he had. He'd kill them after that, of course but their insults burned deeply when he renters the experience again.
He remembers harvesting his own brain and using his technique to hop on to different bodies. He'd live like that and create vessels of his own but still, with every accomplish, he is still haunted by the words of those who despised him.
"Oh! I'll show them! I'll show THEM!" He screamed at the voices but suddenly the compilation of voices froze and his house shattered like a mirror. Suddenly, someone comes marching for him.
It's the mad sorcerer. Not Kei, but the one before him.
Kenjaku's fear is at a high and he screams, running away from this diabolical man. He runs and runs but it's no used as he'd grabbed by the scalp and before he can fight, the man breaks his arms and then his legs.He taunts him,
"You. are nothing."
It was an ongoing loop. What felt like seconds to Kei, it turns out to feel like centuries for Kenjaku when he's killed by the mad sorcerer over and over again.
"I-I am..nothing." He'd respond back. His mouth slurred and his eyes look blood shot, widened but yet empty.
The curtain pulls back and Kei watches Kenjaku falls on his knees. He could not even utter a complete sentence as Kei walks over to him. He grabs him by the head and with his energy, he forces Kenjaku to release a blood-curling scream when his head is peeled down. Like unzipping him out of his costume. Kei observes with a solemn look in his eyes, a thin line as lips as he scrunches his grip around his head until he feels the soft sensation of a brain. Cold to the bone, he plucked it out of the body of Getou's. The brain squirmed, it's small tentacles wiggling below as it's small teeth growl at me.
"You're mine! You're mine!" Kenjaku screeches but Kei says nothing to him. His body is destroyed in seconds and all Kei is left to hold is the blood in his hands. He lets out a tired sigh when he burst the monster into pieces. He collapsed down with the body of Getou's and he stared at it. He realized that it was over.
He was dead.
"Aha..hahaha."
And Kei starts to laugh in a hysterical fashion. His volume grows when he realizes the madness he went through was gone in all just a matter of seconds. His laugh cut to a strained wheeze as he laid against the wooden board, soaked in blood.
"Kei!" Nobara comes to the scene and she gasps when she finds him.
"Nobs..it's alright. It's over." She clasps a hand over her mouth.
"Y-Your eye.."
She skips over the pile of debris before kneeling down beside him. She takes his face and he hisses from the pain. She frowns,
"Oh god..Kei. you're badly wounded."
"It's okay. Yuta can patch me up. Where's Maki?"
"She's outside in case anyone comes here. We still have a game, remember? Oh! But it doesn't matter! What did he do to you?"
"His blood thorn stabbed me in the eye when I had him pinned down. I should've seen it coming but I was so..enraged." He touches her hand. "But Nobs, don't you see? We're free." He smiles at her. "Free from his torment and hatred. I-I feel..so alive again. I've never been this happy before."
She laughs with him, holding her love close as they both burst into laughter over what transpired. Kenjaku was to never hurt them again. Even if the games must continue, they were happy he was out of the picture. Nobara takes his lips and kisses him, despite his blood stained and grimy they were. They kissed passionately and Kei stroke the back of her hair, breathing in her beautiful scent. She helped picked him up and he stood up, feeling bit more proudly. He had a hand around her waist and she pulls something out of her pocket.
"Oh..and Kei, I found this by the entrance." She pulls a cube out of her pocket and Kei looks at it, stunned.
"You said Kenjaku put Gojo into a prison real-"
"The prison realm.." He breathed, staring at the shape. "Yes, this is it. This is Gojo." Their teacher, now in their hands. She too was excited but something held her back a bit,
"But..don't we have to win the games to free him?"
"To hell with that."
He takes the cube out of her hands before placing it flat on the floor. He sits down, criss crossed in front of the object. He closes his eyes, one hand drawn towards it. Nobara watches from the sidelines,
"What are you going to do?!"
"I'm going to release him." After everything he did with the fight with Kenjaku, he wondered what else he could do. His powers were of the mad sorcerer but what he implemented in the fight was just the minimal. It scared him, almost but he had to try to conduct his experiment. He looked at the cube, hoping he can open it.
"Don't strain yourself.." The girl warned yet watching intently as his focus. His eyes sewn tightly and his fingertips flinched as the blue energy envelops around the shape. He grunts to himself like he was squeezing the prison realm with his own bare hands. The restraints around the cube begins to unwind and Nobara gasps, watching the shape unfold.
"I think it's working!" The girl gasps when she sees the shape no longer becomes a cube. She looks at it with wonder and then at Kei. Her happiness shrunk when she saw Kei's wounds suddenly looking a lot worse. He stumbles out a groan and the blood on his left eye resumes. She looked at the cube then at him.
It was taking an enormous amount of his energy. His body shook as he sat but he stayed, trying to focus on the cube.
"Come on, you're almost there!" The girl exclaimed, wishing it would all be over but they needed to try. Suddenly, the cube loses its folds and now there was no singular shape in sight. A white light glows and fills the room.
Kei shields himself from the light and as it dies down, he uncovers his face and then his eye widened.
A streak of tears fall down to his cheeks when he sees the familiar teacher, his father figure in the flesh. He stands up for a moment, drinking in the destruction of the room he's in. Then he sees Nobara and Kei. Both of them at tears. Gojo smiles, happily before it fades and his legs give up on him. Kei catches him and Nobara comes over. She calls for Maki, who enters the room. The Zenin girl froze when she sees the teacher in Kei's lap and the two sobbing over the sight of their teacher.
His ice blue eyes would open and his white hair would move against his lap. He'd see his students surrounding him.
He then faces Kei,
"I knew you'd come and save me."
Kei pulls him upwards for a deep embrace, sobbing into his chest. Gojo smiles softly before wrapping a hand over his head. His cries escalated and he consoled him like a father would do for their son..
In a way it reminded him of the time he held Kei after expressing his feelings for Nobara. It reminded him of the time he held ten-year old Kei in bed after he had nightmares.
It reminded him that everything will indeed, be alright.
-
note: if you really want to know the orchestral song playing in the background, I envisioned it as living failures. Big bloodbourne fans know!
The next chapter will be Gojo helping Kei out of the culling games and more on the storyline with Sukuna. The final battle draws close and afterwards, drama ensues in the zenin family. Mai will confess something to Kei and he will be forced to make a life changing decision. Only a few more chapters and done! I know i've kept people waiting for so long but please let me know what you think! More chapters coming soon!