A/n: I'm absolutely not sure about this chapter...
With a wince of pain visible on your face, you walked in front of Zenin, who held your wrists in one hand behind your back.
This is a crazy bastard...
Or at first, he wanted to kill you!
Why does he need all this? You're not someone he's interested in.
He didn't try to be gentle with you from the beginning. He never even wanted to be careful!
He hurt you. He was terrible...
It hurt so much.
Satoru would never do something like that to you.
So if he wants to kill you so badly, why does he even bother to bring you to Tokyo so Ieiri can heal you?
He is so vulnerable when he is away from home with you.
But a binding vow is still a vow. There's no way around it.
But there was a loophole in this.
However, unless you knew this, nothing could work.
Satoru's psyche was wearing thin. He tried to stay calm to give you some more time.
He knew that the longer you stayed with Naoya, the longer you would suffer.
However, you had to forgive him for also wanting you two not to have to run away after all this.
The bloody path would not allow you to live the most normal life.
And he wants to give you a life that you will treat as perfect.
Just as he promised to protect you, he promised you happiness.
Just as he promised you a life without pain.
Just as you want to let Him lead you through all the holes that are created in the path of your lives.
Your path is not over yet.
You don't die here, despite the pain.
You try, and you will try. Until it's too late.
Because life in lockdown can also be pleasant and happy.
Lying on a dark, invisible floor, a person only wants to reach for the doorknob that is in front of someone.
Even if it means getting into danger.
The invisible floor is life, which will never change. You're lying on it. Sometimes this turns into a staircase, making life difficult.
Sometimes it's different.
Sometimes there are doors that you can open, but you don't have to.
A door leading somewhere other than what you see and feel while lying in the world. A cold, unchanging world without care.
When you open the door, you walk blindly in the dark.
And you have a chance to find both good and bad.
Something that will make you regret opening the door. Something that will make you glad you did it.
And something may seem bad at first glance but is actually good. And vice versa.
You opened one door that showed evil, which is actually good. And then another door opened without your intervention. Something that should be good but is actually bad.
From the beginning, Naoya didn't care whether you died or not.
And the longer he keeps you alive, the longer he keeps himself safe. No one will attack him as long as you can get hurt. And when you die, even though he would like it so much, then he will die.
Because just one drop of your blood would cause your pain to return to him in the form of death.
You opened the right door.
And the second door was unsecured.
And the latter opened, not allowing you to go any further. You were sitting at one point where there was uncouth madness. A black wall that kept you from going any further.
Death that you can suffer at any time.
You don't like doors like this. You don't like it when something blocks your path.
It hasn't closed yet.
Your path is not closed yet. You just have to close the door that's blocking you from doing so. And you can continue on your straight path, along which the darkness that is light leads you.
Always go straight, because no obstacle has the right to disturb you.
You listen to the darkness because it is truly good for you.
There is light in every darkness. In every light, there is darkness. And the light that illuminates you in the dark is much nicer than the cold darkness that falls on you in full light.
And the light you lay under now was cold. The room was cold.
But the gaze of the person sitting next to me was warm.
"Long time, no see. How do you feel?"
"Eh?"
"I've never seen you in a worse condition than now. Even after the missions, you weren't that bad. Mental wounds are much more difficult to heal than physical ones. That's why you're so bad." she said, giving you her hand to sit down. "I didn't like it when Naoya brought you here, dragging you around like a dog. Now I'm starting to believe even more that Gojo was the better one."
"He was... He's like that." You said it with a tiny smile.
"You may not believe it or not, but like an idiot, he came to me and started saying everything one by one. He kept saying it was his fault. He walked around and talked. He's worried as hell. And seeing him so emotional is scary sometimes."
"Is he worried?"
"I'm worried too, because how could I let my former kohai go back to that son of a bitch? There was nothing there to threaten you except him. So I know exactly that he was the one who did this to you."
"You nailed it." You replied.
"You don't know how long Gojo thought about how he could get you back. He practically sat there and kept repeating the words, binding vow to come up with something that would make him able to exploit the weak point.
"Ieiri-san, please... I want to get out of here..."
"Naoya won't let you leave... I'm sorry. I don't know if you can somehow escape. This is a binding vow, though."
"Can I avoid this?"
"After all this deliberation, Gojo found a loophole in it. No one can take you out of there, but no one said anything about you not being able to get out on your own."
"Does Satoru know that?" you asked, placing your injured hands on the table so she could see.
"Yeah. He told me about it right after he came up with it."
"Can he help me with this now? How is he feeling? Can I talk to him? Isn't he going crazy?"
"The idiot is sitting behind the door. But I'll call him soon and tell him you're here. And he... It's surprisingly dark and calm. Because he said he was giving you two days to escape. If you fail or don't even try, he will come and take you by force. He said he was doing it so you wouldn't be mad at him for the murder."
"Murder? Does he want to kill them if I can't escape?"
She nodded.
"It's been almost a day. If nothing happens by tomorrow, he won't stop." She said. "By the way, can I ask you something?"
You looked at her, waiting for a question.
"(y/n), you never hated Naoya. For as long as I can remember, you've been neutral about him. Did he do something to you?" she asked, watching as your eyes filled with tears even more and your lips trembled at the thought of saying it.
You felt better that you were going back to Satoru anyway.
But he still wanted to kill someone. Taking you by force will be bloody. And then you will have to continue living in hiding.
You began to speak in a weak voice.
“He… You know him, right? What you know about him should be enough to understand..." You stopped speaking with the thought that he was the one taking it all away from you again. It takes the smile off your face.
Because he was the reason you had to lie to Satoru and not tell him the truth...
"I see. Well, you might think that if you don't do it more gently, there won't be that annoying smile on his face ever again."
Looking at you, the woman sat down next to you and let you cuddle up to her.
"Were you better with Gojo?" she asked, gently rubbing your back.
You nodded, sharply sucking in air through your mouth to calm yourself down.
"Wait here a moment."
Shoko suddenly moved away from you, stood up, and walked to the door.
She came back after a few minutes. With a phone in hand.
"I can only do one thing for you..." She began. "You're going to stay here a little longer. I told you your examination would take a little longer. Try to escape when I give you a signal. However, you have to be careful because Naoya is the one sitting behind the door. You will run away and come looking for Gojo, or he will find you. This asshole made your technique work. If you don't make it here at school, I'll tell him to wait for you near Zenin's house. He will probably tell me that you have to go as far away as possible, and he will find you and you will be safe. Then he will take care of everything. So do it. But first, we need to take care of you."