I felt my fingers twitch as a slimy liquid clung to them. The moist surface soaked my body, and the heavy entity on top of me paralyzed my frame, making it impossible to breathe properly.
I gradually opened my eyes to acknowledge the terrifying reality I found myself in. The abnormal, pale-looking flesh surrounded me completely, and a foul odor hung in the stuffy air.
"Sato..." I tried to speak, but my words were failing me.
The poison is still in my body.
I thought, attempting to move some of my muscles.
A tingly sensation ran through my arms as they were the first limbs that I managed to regain control over. Despite my effort, Gojo's massive body weighed down on me, limiting any movement I could have done.
"Gah..." I said, trying to move him but failing miserably.
The adrenaline that took over me from the recent fight had started to wear off as the pain caused by my injuries slowly crept into my body.
"...wake up..." I said between breaths as I tried to nudge him again.
Nothing.
I moved my head to the right and placed it next to his ear as I whispered his name again.
Still, nothing.
I have to wake him up somehow!
I thought to myself, trying to come to my own senses as I wrapped my hands around his figure.
"He's going to hate me even more for this, but I have to use it," I muttered, placing my lips on his neck, right under his ear, as I activated my technique.
"Curse technique: Soul Harmonizer," I chanted in a breath as I let my mind drift away into complete darkness, inside the mind of Satoru Gojo.
***
I woke up to find myself standing in a very recognisable place with that beautiful tall ceiling and hardwood flooring that I still vividly remember.
The warm rays of sunlight peeked through the large, elegant windows, breaking the surface of the living room.
The intricate details, like the ornate patterns of the antique rug, or the mellow lighting cast by the gold abajur, contoured the space with a timeless look.
In truth, this scenery was only a lost memory of what it used to be.
My expression unintentionally saddened as the reality we were living in was nothing like this anymore.
Everything was gone.
I shifted my gaze away, calling for Satoru as I swiftly walked around the house.
"Where is he?" I asked myself, stepping inside his room.
It looked exactly the same. Every last particle of dust was there as he incapsulated this part of his past perfectly.
"Satoru?" I called for him again, trying my best to find Gojo.
"Why is he hiding in his own mind?" I mumbled with a frown, opening the door to his closed.
I even looked under his bed and still couldn't find him.
As I tried to get up, I managed to knock over one of the nightstands, making the only picture frame he had there fall and smash onto the floor.
"Good job Y/N," I sighed.
I really didn't know I could interact like this while I'm inside someone else's mind. But that's because I still don't fully understand what I can or can't do here. The major difference is the way this atmosphere is making me feel. It's so distinct being in his mind compared to that of the curse user. For the latest, I felt like I was prying open his brain as I searched around, however, in here I feel protected...I don't know how to explain it.
I lamented, gazing around.
I extended my hand and grabbed the picture. As I examined the fractured glass and torn edges, I noticed how unusual it actually looked.
"Hm? That's weird," I remarked, puzzled. The photo was completely blank.
Now that I'm thinking about it, not a single person is on his mind. He, himself is not even here. What's really going on?
I expressed, placing the broken frame back in its original place and getting out of his room.
My expression was breaking more and more as the hope I had for a second, as I saw myself back in this house, quickly disappeared.
"I thought maybe I could see her again," I pondered, going upstairs.
I opened the door to my old bedroom and slipped inside. As expected, Satoru kept the memory of it exactly as it used to look. Even some of my clothes were tossed on the ground as most of the times I was too lazy to pick them up.
"Heh, his mind definitely knows me," I spoke with a soft smile contouring my expression.
I walked up to my bookshelf. It was filled with all of my books, even with the ones that I haven't managed to read at that time.
"How did he remember all of this?" I thought to myself, letting my fingers brush over the spine of some of them. In doing so, I halted at one that seemed unfamiliar.
"I never had this book," I stated, pulling it from the shelf. The dark blue hardcover and the engraved white letters revealed its unique title...
"The Eye of Benzaiten."
Right when I uttered those words I heard some blaring movements coming from outside my room.
"Hello? Is anyone there?"
Nobody answered.
Ultimately, I decided to get out of the room, with the book still in my hands as I had to remind myself why I was there in the first place. But then, all of a sudden I started to feel like I was watched, like I wasn't alone anymore.
"Creepy."
Chilling noises echoed from all around, resembling hurried footsteps and elusive whispers. It felt as if someone was running around, yet their presence remained invisible, shrouded in an eerie shadow.
"Okay, this is very unsettling, I should hurry and get out of here. There's no point in lingering around in his mind; he's going to kill me anyway after this..." I let out a pout and wandered away.
When I passed by the garden, an unusual sight made me stop. The once vibrant flowers, now withered, had lost their lively hues, blending into a somber, grayish tone.
I walked into it and crouched down, gently picking up a lifeless Dahlia flower.
"It used to be so red," I spoke to myself, studying it in my hand.
"What are you doing here?" a voice called as his presence weighed heavy on my mind.
"Sa...toru..." I said looking at him, but to my surprise I was looking at the kid version of Gojo instead of him right now.
He looked exactly the same as I remember when we first met.
"Oh... my... god! You're so cute!" I exclaimed, unable to contain my excitement as I jumped and hugged him tightly.
"Tsk, get off of me..." he grumbled, attempting to push me away.
"You're adorable!" I continued, disregarding his complaints.
I could feel the annoyance oozing from his demeanor yet I wanted to hold him as long as I possibly could.
I finally broke the hug, an unshakeable smile plastered across my face as I savoured the warmth of the moment.
"Stop smiling like that, idiot, you're creeping me out..." his cold tone persisted.
"Pff..." I began laughing at his attempt at being authoritative.
He rolled his eyes at me, but his expression shifted as he spotted the book in my hands, a concerned pause replacing his earlier demeanor.
"That's not yours," he asserted, reclaiming the book from my hands with a hint of possessiveness in his tone.
"Huh? It was in my room you know, how it's not mine?"
"Because it isn't..."
I paused for a moment, attempting to decipher the nuances of his behaviour.
"You... you didn't read it, did you?" he asked, a subtle undertone of distress coloring his words.
"No. Why?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Right, I forgot you were an asshole since birth," I sighed, but as I finished my sentence, the same mysterious sound from earlier intensified, resonating louder from inside the house.
"What is that?" I said, my gaze shifting from him to the source of the unsettling noise.
"Nothing that concerns you. You shouldn't even be in here," Satoru retorted as a subtle tension began hanging in the air.
"Well, I know, but I need you to do something for me..." I replied, getting up.
"Huh?" he looked at me with confusion.
I smiled and slapped him across the face. "Wake up, you little shit!" The sharpness of my touch aimed to jolt him from his slumber, urging him to focus on the obvious situation we are in.
"What the...?" He replied with an irritated tone, rubbing the side of his cheek that was vividly turning red.
"Right now, we are at the festival inside that curse's stomach. I can't move, and you are unconscious. Now, wake up!" I stated, intending to slap him once more, but my motion halted abruptly as I noticed a dark figure silently observing us from the shadows of the hallway.
Gojo also turned his gaze towards its direction, his body trembling with an unexpected sense of fear.
"Who is that?" I asked, sensing the slow build-up of dread inside me.
"Satoru... who is that?" I mumbled again, my gaze shifting between the mysterious figure and the paralyzing fear that gripped Gojo.
"That's... that's..." he attempted to articulate, but his words faltered, his breath quickening as he involuntarily took a step back.
"Hey," I placed my hand on his shoulder as I stepped in front of him, "it's okay..." I reassured, my voice attempting to mask the fear that echoed within me. Despite the unsettling presence, I tried to project a sense of calmness, both for myself and Gojo.
I held his hand, pulling him closer to me.
"Listen, it's just something in your head... it's not real, so it can't hurt you," I reassured him, my fingers gently caressing his cheek in an attempt to ground him.
"I know, but he can hurt you..." His words hung in the air, and my eyes widened as I turned back to the figure, witnessing it dashing towards me with unimaginable speed.
"Fuck! You're probably right," I exclaimed, pulling Satoru along in a desperate attempt to escape the approaching threat.
We entered the house through an open window, swift and desperate, our footsteps echoing down the hallway.
"There's nowhere to run," Gojo warned, but I wasn't ready to give up just yet.
"There's always somewhere to run, you know... just don't stop," I encouraged as we reached the entrance to the house.
I quickly opened the door, revealing a blank white void that seemed almost endless. My foot hung in the air as I almost slipped into the nothingness that surrounded us both.
"There's nothing beyond this house," Satoru explained.
"In that case, we're screwed," I replied as the thing that followed us appeared around the corner. A tall, shadowy figure materialized from the darkness with each step it took to reach us.
Instinctively, I sheltered Gojo, gesturing for him to stand behind me.
"What did you say earlier about running?" Satoru inquired as the looming entity closed in on us.
"Right, at least you're an attentive kid," I replied, starting to run upstairs. However, he stopped me suddenly when his book fell from his hands.
"Wait, the book!"
"Leave it!"
"No! I can't. He's going to destroy it!" Satoru pleaded with a type of desperation in his voice.
"What does it matter?" I questioned, finding it hard to comprehend his words because right now, going back for a simple book sounded more than ridiculous.
"It matters! That's why it was in your room. I hid it from him."
"You don't make any sense right now, Satoru!"
"Please..." he said, defeated.
I never saw him like that. An unusual helplessness was plastered across his face as he begged me to help him.
"What's it about?" I asked, sensing the strong attachment Gojo had to this book.
"I can't tell you..."
"Satoru!"
"Fine! It's... it's about you."
"Me?" I muttered, glancing at the figure as it took the book into its hands.
"It has my emotions in there. Every last one that I felt when I was around you..."
Surprised by his confession, my reaction was a simple, gentle smile.
"So please..." he started, a hint of embarrassment in his voice.
"Okay," I told him with a gentle sigh, ruffling his hair.
"I guess I'm actually doing this..." I muttered to myself, leaping onto the figure and grappling with it on the floor.
I stood on top of it as my fists aimed for its head. However, it was quick with its moves as its leg wrapped around mine, turning me around.
My face was pressed against the wooden floor as my hand got twisted painfully at the back. I couldn't help but let out a cry of pain as my arm broke.
With the corner of my eyes, I could see it better. The darkness it was swallowed into had entirely disappeared, revealing a bloodthirsty smile and strikingly familiar blue eyes.
"Satoru?" I questioned, and as he heard my voice, he momentarily froze, staring at my face.
Gojo loosened his grip, allowing me to escape from beneath him. My gaze fully focused on him as I saw his face more clearly—he had more than just one pair of eyes, with an additional set above and below his normal deep blue ones. All of his six eyes fixated on me as his body was drenched in blood. His hair was pushed back and dripping with the same crimson liquid as his expression stood cold.
"What's wrong with you?" I said, hesitating to touch his face.
He opened his mouth as his hot breath escaped his lips. His fangs were sharp as if ready to tear my skin.
Overwhelmed with fear, I quickly got up, retrieved the book that had fallen on the floor, and started running again through the house.
I heard his heavy steps rumbling as he chased me down. I entered the garden again but he caught up to me shortly enough and was able to throw me forcefully to the ground. He held me by my clothes and hurled me down on the soil, only to lift me up once more and repeat the action with even greater force this time around, rendering me weak and helpless.
"Sat... oru..." I struggled to make him come to his senses, feeling my strength wane to the point where I could barely keep my eyes open.
"...stop... please," I managed to say between breaths but still couldn't do anything against him.
I can't use my techniques in here, and as time passes inside his mind, I slowly began feeling like I was about to break.
"Don't give up now!" I heard a voice shouting at me. Tilting my head, I saw kid Gojo observing the battle.
Despite my efforts, I couldn't pry Satoru's hands open to free myself. He exposed his bloodthirsty fangs to me once more allowing them to tear into my skin, ripping off one of my cheeks, revealing parts of my teeth and tongue.
The pain was so excruciating that I couldn't even scream.
How did I ended up here again?
Is he going to kill me?
I can't do anything...he's breaking me...
"Y/n!" I heard kid Gojo desperately calling for me. My eyes locked onto the monstrous Satoru standing before me.
"Is your mind right? Do what you like..." I gathered my words as my body fell limp to the ground.
Then, in what felt like a fraction of a second, I opened my eyes to find myself alone in the garden, surrounded by a blanket of myosotis flowers.
"Ouch, my head hurts," I muttered, holding it with my hands.
"Better?" His voice resonated in my ears like a melody, and I instinctively turned towards it, starting at the current version of Gojo.
He came closer, kneeling to my level as he spoke.
"Wait..." I said, making a stopping motion, "are you the good Satoru or the bad one?"
He let out a soft laugh. "It's just me in here, good and bad."
"That doesn't answer my question," I replied, still looking at him with some suspicion.
"Perhaps this will?" Satoru spoke softly, throwing his arms around me as he held me tightly to his chest.
The fast beating of his heart resonated in my ears, making my eyes widened at the unbelievable sound.
Is he really hugging me now? I thought with a sad frown.
I wanted this more than I let myself believe it. His genuine embrace, not forced by anything just urged by his own feelings.
He's so warm.
I lamented, gently closing my eyes as I let him hold me for what felt like forever.
"I'm going to wake up soon, Y/n, but before that, I wanted to thank you," he said, backing away, pulling out the book that I had tried to save.
"Thank you for not letting me destroy this," he continued with a smile, looking deeply into my eyes.
"Sa..." I began, my hand reaching out for him.
However, before I could finish, the scenery around me changed completely.
"...toru..." I mumbled, holding Gojo's face as he looked at me with an unfazed expression.
"What did you do?" his words were sharp as his voice could be heard loud and clear.
"Umm, I... I don't think we have time for that story," I told him, retracting my hand as an embarrassed smile coloured my lips.
Gojo was still on top of me, both of us unable to move due to the lingering effects of the poison. He fixed his gaze on me with an intensity that made me feel like he was about to kill me again.
"Stop staring at me like that; you scare me!" I exclaimed, putting my hands over his face. He grabbed my wrists and pinned my hands above my head.
"I came to save your ass, and you decide you can go into my mind freely?"
Oh, he was definitely angry.
"It was to wake you up!" I pleaded.
"I don't care. You're not allowed in there," he told me, letting go of my hands.
"Whatever, I don't want to go back there either," I told him sharply, turning my head away from his gaze.
"Moreover," I continued, "I think we have a much more complicated situation here," I said, pointing with my eyes at the insides of the curse that had swallowed us.
"Don't worry. He's coming for us," Satoru mentioned, and in that moment, the curse was blown away into pieces as we both fell onto the concrete ground of the temple.
"Are you two okay?" Geto asked with concern in his voice, reaching our location.
"I've been worse," Gojo replied, taking Suguru's hand as he helped him get up.
"Same here," I said standing up. Right as I did, I felt a disturbing sensation as my feet started to tremble.
"You alright, Y/N?" Suguru asked, landing me his hand for support.
"I guess..." I told him, wiping my nose to see blood painting my skin.
I shouldn't have used my technique for that long.
I lamented still holding onto Geto.
"Come here," I heard Gojo's voice, instructing me to do as he said, pointing at his back.
He then pulled me towards him, his strong grasp offering reassurance, before gently hoisting me onto his back.
We were about to leave when Suguru noticed something on the ground.
"Huh? What's that?" I asked, looking at it but quickly come to an understanding. It was Sukuna's finger. Apparently, it couldn't be destroyed, so after Geto exorcised the curse, the only thing left behind was the finger.
"We should bring this back to Jujutsu High."
"Speaking of that, sensei is going to kill us," I replied to Gojo's statement, pointing at the mess we had made at the festival, which was now officially closed.
***
The heavy fist of our Sensei cracked my head in half right after I just got treated by Shoko. His angry tone and furious expression made me shiver as I was bowing apologetically in front of him.
"You three are something else!" his shouts filled the classroom as he spoke, each word hitting us across the face as his demeanor continued to haunt us.
"Who thought it was a good idea to chase down an accomplice of Sukuna?" He inquired, his irritation evident.
I raised my hand. Yaga delivered another disciplinary hit over my head, making me let out a squeal.
"Ouch."
"Now, who forgot to put up a curtain if you dumbasses did go after her?" Sensei continued, shifting his attention towards Geto and Gojo.
"Sensei, let's not look for the culprit here!"
"So it was you, Satoru!" Yaga stormed, hitting Gojo as if his infinity was never there.
I think he turned it off. Either way, Yaga is too vicious with this type of punishments.
I pondered rubbing the top of my head as the pain continued to persist.
"I don't even know how they're going to cover this one up. The higher-ups are fuming because of what you three did, and there will be consequences," Sensei started to explain, crossing his arms as he spoke.
"You three should be expelled for this, however, I managed to speak to them on your behalf. That being said, because you were able to retrieve one of Sukuna's fingers, you'll only get a month of cleaning toilets instead."
"A month???" I screamed, imagining how awful that would be.
Yaga shot his eyes at me, and suddenly I was quiet.
"Let's not pretend like someone didn't specifically placed the finger there, who knows might even be one of the highest-ups," Gojo retorted with a frown.
"Satoru!" Yaga said, punching Gojo for his impertinence.
"It doesn't matter who did what and why, we don't want to find the answer to that. What's important is that you three didn't get a much more deadlier sentence," Sensei explained, a serious expression materialising on his face.
We all understood. It's punishable if you disobey the higher-ups. The Jujutsu regulations are very strict and set in place by the leaders of the three great clans and their assistants. Nothing goes past them. However, I thought that I could manage to not draw this much attention if I were to go alone. But we all know how my plan actually went...
"Now you're free to go," Yaga sensei gestured us to leave as he started to look through some papers that seemed important.
"And don't cause any more trouble! You idiots!" he shouted after us as we slowly walked out of the room.
"Ay, ay" we said in unison, closing the door behind.
"Phew...we got off easy this time," Suguru exclaimed, walking in front of me.
"You think? I'm going to be dead for that entire month!" I complained, remembering our punishment.
"Next time, don't go off on your own and maybe Yaga won't persecute us like this," Satoru uttered, pointing with an annoyed expression at me.
"Yeah, yeah..." I replied, avoiding his gaze.
"By the way..." I continued, "I wanted to thank you actually," I said slowly meeting his eyes.
We both stopped walking so we could talk for a moment alone.
Even though I didn't want to involve him or Suguru, I was actually glad that he came to help me. If I'm being honest, I might not have been able to survive that if it wasn't for the two of them.
"Thanks for coming after me," I said, expressing my gratitude.
"You mean for saving your ass," he corrected me.
"Actually, yes."
Gojo let out a gentle sigh, remarking, "no need to mention it," before ruffling my hair as if I were a kid.
Even though he did that, his touch was soft and gentle, as if he wasn't intending to be mean or anything like that. Rather, his gesture felt like a way for him to mend the bridge between us.
Suddenly my stomach started growling as the fact that I didn't had anything to eat for that day was now present in my entire body.
My face quickly started to turn red from the embarrassment. Gojo certainly took notice of it, running a hand through his hair before turning around to talk to Geto.
"Suguru...wait up."
"What was the name of that one hot pot place? I'm craving some," Satoru asked, trying to remember the name himself.
"Oh, that'll be really good actually," Geto pondered.
"Then, what do you say we head there now?" Gojo suggested, turning towards me.
He gave me his hand, patiently awaiting for my response.
"What? Me too?" I asked with a surprised grimace.
"Don't make me ask you. Come on," he insisted, looking into my eyes.
I nodded, allowing my hand to find its place in his and a soft smile to grace my face.