Chapter Text
“It…it worked…” Was the first words Satoru whispered after having hit the ground, passed out and then came back to himself, all the while almost giving Suguru a heart attack.
“Satoru!” Suguru called-almost yelled-his name for the hundredth time over the past minute but this time in relief, his hands-his trembling hands-shaking Satoru’s shoulders gently, afraid that he would hurt the man if he was too aggressive. Yes yes he was Gojo Satoru but Gojo Satoru also didn’t just pass out out of the sudden and lose all control on his infinity, leaving him completely defenseless either. And that was worrying enough for Suguru to be extremely careful with his actions.
“Su-Suguru…?” The albino asked when he finally looked at him, his voice trembling so much as he whispered Suguru’s name and his eyes too wide as if he’s seen a ghost. Okay. Suguru was going to shit his pants now. Maybe he should just go after Shoko and drag her back to the gym but to also leave Satoru alone in this state when he was completely vulnerable and looking terrified was out of the question.
“Yeah; yeah it’s me. Are you okay? What the hell just happened?!” He asked, his hands moving from one place to another, not sure where was okay to touch and not wanting to hurt his best friend on accident either. What on earth had happened?! They were just bantering in the gym and causing Shoko to run away; when Satoru had suddenly stopped in his tracks, his eyes rolling to the back of his head and body limping, falling back on the ground with Suguru too stunned to be able to do anything or catch him and only coming to himself and running to his friend’s side when the man didn’t make any effort to get back up and stayed on the ground like a fucking corpse. Like he wasn’t joking or being dramatic as Suguru had expected at first.
God Suguru could swear that he wasn’t even breathing for a second before his eyes had slowly opened after a few seconds of Suguru literally panicking beside him; and then he had just stared around the room with eyes so hollow and unlike himself before he had blinked, whispering ’it worked.’ And Suguru had no idea what that meant. Had someone attacked them? But they were inside the barrier of Jujutsu Tech. Hurt him? But he seemed physically fine. Possessed him?! No Suguru could easily feel it with his soul that it was still his Satoru beside him but then…then what had just happened?! What was wrong with him? God he needed to go get Shoko but-
He froze at the sudden feeling of Satoru’s fingers cradling his face between his hands and staring at him with…were those tears?! Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck what the hell was going on? Was he actually hurt? In pain? Bleeding somewhere? What-
“Y-you’re alive…” Satoru whispered so brokenly and unlike himself that Suguru felt uneasy at the sound. What…the hell was he talking about? Of course he was fucking alive. What was that supposed to mean?!
“Yeah? Did you…hit your head when you fell or something?” He asked with a small nervous chuckle, trying to play it cool and not accidentally scare the other man if he really had hurt his head. But then Satoru’s right hand slowly made it’s way towards Suguru’s forehead, caressing it so gently with his thumb as if he was afraid that Suguru was going to break on any second.
“Y-you’re okay…you’re…yourself…” Satoru whispered again and before Suguru could even think of what that meant or come up with any answer, the white haired boy was pushing himself off the ground and just threw his arms around Suguru, pulling him so close and holding onto him so tightly that it was suffocating because on that moment, he just wanted to feel something real. Something other than the pain and the hallucinations he’s been having after…that. He just wanted to…to feel warmth. Real warmth. His best friend’s…
Yes Gojo was touchy all the time but not like…not like this! Hugging Suguru as if his life depended on it. Not with so much emotion. So much…pain. Normally Suguru would push him away and talk about him being disgusting but this…this was just…he couldn’t do it.
“Satoru?” He called his friend’s name with his gentle tone but when a choked sob ripped out of Satoru’s throat the second the word was out of his mouth, Suguru was holding him just as tightly, not caring about anything else on that moment. Because…because Satoru didn’t cry. Not like this! Not so…broken. He didn’t…Suguru’s never seen him even displaying so much emotion. His true emotions. And no matter how much Suguru hated it, it never changed. Even though Suguru had always been able to see through him no matter what and made sure to be by his side at those times, he still…he never…
So to actually witness him like this was just…it felt wrong. And Suguru hated himself for feeling like that because Satoru was just as human as he was; if not more. But this…this what was just…not right? What had happened? He was fine just a few minutes ago and Suguru hadn’t realized anything off with him since this morning. Yes Satoru was very good at lying and hiding his feelings but Suguru could always tell. To suddenly pass out and wake up only to break down in Suguru’s arms…just what suddenly happened?!
“Satoru?” He called again, flinching when another sob escaped his friend’s throat, making him to tighten the embrace even more. “Hey, hey what’s wrong? Are you okay? What-what happened?” He tried again, this time sounding more gentle.
“I-I don’t…I don’t know…” Satoru whispered, because he really didn’t. He…okay maybe he did but he really wasn’t expecting it to work. Because one second, he was fighting to death with Megu-Sukuna, and the next second he was on the floor of Jujutsu Tech’s gym being held by his long dead best friend. Actual best friend. Not…not some corpse. Not some possessed demon.
But…but that meant what that woman -or ghost- taught him in the prison realm had worked. He was back in the past. Back in the past where his little boy was still alive and so young and not fucking possessed by the king of curses and trying to rip him in half. That Yuji was okay. Nobara…Nobara was completely alive; Maki and her little sister were still fine and so were Nanami and Haibara and Riko and…Suguru…oh god he couldn’t breath. And his head fucking hurt and his eyes felt like they were going to burn through his skull. God how much cursed energy had this technique consumed?! Had there been even anything left for it to use after his fight with Sukuna? Where….where were his babies now anyway; if he was back here? Were they okay? God had he abandoned them? But they…they were dead…dead dead dead again and he couldn’t save them again. Like all the god damn fucking time.
“Satoru? Satoru! Hey, just focus on me alright? You’re okay. You’re all okay, it’s going to be just fine. Don’t push yourself okay? Just breath.” Suguru talked again, cradling Satoru’s head to his shoulder and only then did he realized how hard he was gasping for air and squeezing the other’s shoulder. As if afraid he would disappear if he let go. Would he? Was this actually some nightmare and not time travel? Maybe the afterlife? But it felt too real…way more real than the hallucinations haunting him in the prison realm and his dreams all the time. He couldn’t touch those. But Suguru…Suguru was real. Holding him, talking to him, touching him. And Satoru felt like dying.
He shook his head, shutting his eyes tightly in the embrace he had just realized how much he’s fucking missed. Missed having those strong, gentle and warm arms wrapped around him; instead of the cold and motionless ones he had held after killing the man. Instead of the cold ones of his body being controlled by a fucking curse. Fuck where was…Kenjaku now? He-he couldn’t let all that happen. Allow him do what he did with Suguru and Megumi and Sukuna…
“Shhh it’s okay. It’s okay I’m right here. I’ve got you, it’s okay.” Suguru whispered to his ear and he sobbed, wanting to scream. ’But you weren’t…you weren’t there anymore and it hurt! It hurt you idiot it hurt so much that it made me wish for death to not feel the pain anymore! It hurt. It hurts even now and I just… He gasped, his hand suddenly letting go of Suguru to grasp at his stomach because fuck the pain was actually real. It wasn’t just the emotional, his whole body was actually in pain. His insides were burning and he…god he couldn’t see. Oh fuck. He was sure his eyes were open now but he couldn’t see and there was something warm running down his eyes that didn’t taste like tears but blood. And the horrified gasp that broke out of Suguru’s mouth at probably seeing his face just confirmed his theory. Yes this had happened before but not like…this, where he couldn’t see. Fuck was his nose bleeding too? He brought up his hand slowly to check and realize soon enough that his nose did have blood running down from it as well.
“Satoru? God, Satoru what’s wrong?! Oh fuck please just talk to me I’ll-I’ll get Shoko just-I-” Suguru started panicking and Satoru opened his mouth to answer him; to assure him he was fine and this wasn’t anything serious. Probably some side effect of time travel but the second his mouth was open, violent coughs started ripping out of his throat before he could taste the metallic taste of blood on his tongue; and soon he was throwing up too much red that he felt like he was going to choke on it. And the fact that he couldn’t see wasn’t helping the slightest bit either. God he had not traveled back in time to just die the second he was here. That would be embarrassing. Even for him.
“SATORU!” Suguru screamed again at the sight, at the amount of blood as he felt his own body trembling horribly and he just picked up his shaking and too warm best friend in his arms and made a run for the door, deciding to just go and fucking find Shoko himself while the man kept on coughing up more blood into Suguru’s clothes; whimpering in pain and clenching Suguru’s clothes in his hands. And he had almost reached the door when it suddenly burst open, Yaga standing there and glaring daggers at him before his eyes landed on Satou and widened, all the anger leaving his body and getting replaced with utter horror. “S-Sensei!” Suguru almost cried.
“Wha-Sato-Suguru?! What-what’s going on?! Is Sa-“
“I-I don’t know! I don’t know just please find Shoko! I-I’ll get him to the infirmary just please find her!” He tried to shout, only for his voice to come out as a wimper and thankfully, Yaga didn’t waste any time by asking more questions and ran outside, Suguru doing the same soon after and running in the opposite direction of his teacher, bursting open the doors of the infirmary the second he reached the place and placing Satoru’s still coughing form on a bed, his hands not letting go of his.
“Hey, hey Satoru just hang on okay? Shoko’s coming and she’s going to fix you and you’ll be just fine; o-okay?” He said, pushing Satoru’s hair out of his face and trying to convince himself more than the man. But the albino just shook his head, his bloodied eyes shut tightly and Suguru had to choke back a sob before it would rip out of his throat. He-he shouldn’t be making his friend panic even more. He had to stay calm and-fuck. Fuck god why was he bleeding so much?! Why wasn’t it stopping?! He wasn’t…he wasn’t going to d-die, right?
“S-S’gu-ru…” Satoru gasped and Suguru just couldn’t hold back anymore and let his tears start running down his face freely as a trembling hand cupped Satoru’s bloody cheek, caressing it. “I’m here. I’m right here. Everything’s going to be okay, hm? Just…just hang on please…?” He almost begged, watching as Satoru’s own hand grasped at his and he shook his head, trying to open his eyes. His eyes that were a pool of blood to the point that Suguru couldn’t even see the blue anymore. “Y-you-I…I have to t-tell you some-thing-“ Satoru tried before he was coughing violently again, more blood spitting out of his throat. Suguru would never be able to wipe the image off his mind.
“It’s alright, you can tell me after you’re okay, hm? Just focus on yourself now alright? I’ll be right here the whole time, I promise. It’s okay, it’s going to be okay.” He said, and Satoru wanted to scream and call him a liar because he had left at the end. Nothing was okay! So why bother with these fucking promises?! If only…if only he could actually make Suguru stay this time…god he couldn’t let Suguru go through all that alone again. Not again. Not anymore now that he was here. He would stop this. He couldn’t handle losing the man again. He would save them all this time. Nanami and Haibara and his babies. Riko. The precious and kind Riko who deserved the world. He wouldn’t fail this time. He wouldn’t. If only he could stop dying! God why didn’t that woman warn him about these?! “No you-you don’t g-get it; the…the f-future-“ He tried but couldn’t continue as more coughs ripped out, causing him to curl on his side with one hand grasping his stomach, and the other at his exploding head. Fuck this was only getting worse! He was going to die. Again.
“S-Satoru…” Suguru cried, not even knowing what to do anymore. Afraid to even touch him now and cause more damage. Where the fuck were Yaga and Shoko?!
As if reading his mind, the doors suddenly burst open and the two ran inside, their eyes widening at seeing the situation. At all the blood…already covering the bed. And Suguru couldn’t blame them because he was just as terrified. “W-what hap-“ Shoko started before Suguru interrupted. “I don’t know just help him!”
And he didn’t to say anything more because the girl was already running beside their friend, dropping everything in her hands and getting to work, forcing the now half conscious Satoru to lie back flat on the bed and told Suguru to hold his hands in place and he obeyed, holding them on his sides and squeezing as tightly as Satoru was. “It’s going to be alright…” He whispered too lowly that even he barely heard himself. But…but it was going to be okay. Shoko was here now and Satoru was strong so he was going to be just fine and Suguru would kill him for real for making him go through this. God he fucking hoped so. How the hell did this happen?! He was…he was completely fine just a few moments ago…
Soon after Shoko started working with Suguru holding his friend’s hands and Yaga standing as close as he could to help if needed; Satoru’s bleeding stopped and he almost lost consciousness, just small coughs and whimpers or unrecognizable words escaping his mouth every now and then until he completely passed out. Literally; passed out. And Suguru would’ve fully panicked if not for Shoko telling him that was a good sign and he was okay. That his heart had calmed down and she could heal him way better and faster this way. It didn’t matter that the Gojo Satoru had just passed out!
It didn’t take longer than forty five minutes for his friend to finish, declaring that Satoru was stable now and would completely heal soon on his own but in Suguru’s eyes, it had seemed more like hours, if not days. And hearing Shoko’s words, he just collapsed on the ground beside the bed, his hand clenched tightly around Satoru’s cold one and his tears falling down; this time in relief.
“Can you tell me now…what happened to him?!” Yaga broke the silence after a few minutes and Suguru looked up at the man for the first time as he slowly stood up on shaky legs, finding him sitting on one of the chairs beside the wall; pale with sweat dripping down his face and his eyes locked on Satoru’s still form.
Shoko took a really deep breath before answering from where she had collapsed on a chair beside the bed. “I have…no idea what the fuck caused this. His body doesn’t show any signs of an attack or shit. But the amount of cursed energy suddenly inside his body-which I also don’t know where it’s come from-kinda…fucked up his internal organs? Like…his lungs and other stuff…god I don’t even know how he’s still alive after such a damage. Not even a sorcerer can survive this as long as he did. No one should be even able to hold as much cursed energy inside one’s body as he was. I don’t even know how any of this is possible!” Shoko explained, covering her forehead with her hand and closing her eyes, trying to calm herself while her other hand didn’t leave from where it was on Satoru’s wrist, checking his pulse. “And the cursed energy inside his body is all his. Like…like it had gotten too much so suddenly that it had backfired and started eating him from the inside. I don’t know why or how it even happened.”
Yaga nodded, forcing his eyes to look away from his unconscious student to look at the other who looked just as pale if not worse. “Suguru…you were there with him right? What happened?”
“I-I don’t know…we were just fooling around like always, Shoko was there for the most of it before she got bored of our bullshit ran out and then…I don’t know just a few seconds later he just…he was talking and he suddenly stopped and dropped unconscious on the ground.” Suguru said, looking over to see both his friend and teacher staring at him with unbelieving eyes. Of course they would be. Suguru couldn’t believe it at first either. “And yes I didn’t believe it at first either and though he was joking but then…then he wouldn’t get up and I…I ran beside him and fuck I don’t know but I think he wasn’t even breathing for a few seconds. Then he suddenly woke up and started looking at me with this weird look in his eyes; whispering words like, ‘it worked.’ Or ‘you’re alive.’ and then he was crying! Yes Gojo Satoru was crying and talking nonsense and I held him and tried to calm him down and ask what was wrong but before he could answer he just…he just pulled away as if in pain and blood was dripping down his eyes and nose and…and he threw it up then too… I-I just picked him up to come find Shoko when you walked in and so I came straight here.” He finished, having to cover his mouth with his sleeve so he wouldn’t just cry and Yaga and Shoko just stared at him with wide eyes, not knowing what to make out of the information.
He swallowed, looking over at Satoru’s unmoving body and took his hand back in his own trembling one, rubbing the knuckles gently. “We can-we can ask him what happened when he wakes up.” He said, looking at Shoko with tearful yet hopeful eyes. “He’s going to wake up, right?”
Shoko trembled, looking just as scared as him. “Of course he is.” She said and Suguru let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’s been holding. “Of course he’s going to wake up. Nothing can kill his stupid ass.” She tried to joke, but Suguru could clearly hear the fear in her voice.
Yaga nodded, stepping closer to Suguru and putting a hand on his shoulder as it trying to comfort him. “When do you think that’ll be?”
Shoko sighed. “Pretty soon actually, I think. With how fast his body’s healing which also isn’t normal.”
He nodded. “O-okay…yeah. That’s good.” He looked at Shoko then. “Try to get some rest until then. You did great. You too Suguru.”
“I’ll be right here.” Suguru said quickly and the older man only nodded, knowing fully well there was no way he could separate those two at the moment.
“I’ll go and take care of things to try to free my schedule for tonight. Oh and, do not tell anyone about this. It’s better if it stays between us three. Understood?” The man asked, his two students giving nods of agreement before he left the room.
“Call me if anything happened and I’ll be here in a sec. I’ve gotta get something to eat if I’m gonna stay functioning. And go get changed. You probably should too.” Shoko said, and with that she was out too, leaving Suguru alone with his unusually quiet friend and he let out a deep trembling breath before going to sit on the chair Shoko had been occupying and plopped down on it, taking Satoru’s hand back in both of his own and then just resting his head on the bed to try to calm himself.
He sighed a little while later, gulping as he pushed his head up to look down at his clothes, covered in blood. Satoru’s blood. And he had to look away before he would throw up or something and decided to gaze down at the albino himself, trembling at seeing him covered in even more. Yes it had dried now and Shoko had also wiped his face and neck from it after finishing her job. But the front of his white blouse was almost completely red now and there was still stains of blood visible on his skin too.
He ran a trembling hand through his friend’s hair, pushing them out of his peaceful and even paler than usual sleeping face. He breathed heavily, deciding not to fret on anything even more and rested his head back on the bed, holding Satoru’s hand tightly to both assure himself that the man was here and alive with a beating pulse and to also know the second he moved or was about to wake up.
Which took almost two hours, way sooner than Suguru had thought it’d take and he immediately looked up, staring at his friend who’s fingers had just twitched slowly in his grasp. “Satoru?” He called gently when he saw the small movement of his friend’s eyes before they slowly blinked open and he smiled widely, letting out a deep breath at seeing the familiar clear blue of his eyes. Not filled with blood and unrecognizable. Tired and swollen and red but still himself. Still his Satoru.
“Hey.” He greeted with a smile, causing Satoru to look his way and stare at him unblinking for a few moments, as if trying to understand where he was. Or maybe progressing the fact that he could see now. That his sight wasn’t one filled with blood anymore. Oh god Suguru was going to be sick.
“S-Suguru?” Satoru whispered and he nodded, finally relaxing at hearing the voice no matter how confused or scared it sounded. At least it wasn’t gasping in pain. Whimpering in pain. Crying blood in pain. Af if he was dying, taking his last breaths.
“Yeah. Yeah it’s me.” He answered, squeezing the sorcerer’s hand. “How are you feeling?”
“How I’m…” Satoru stopped as his eyes widened in realization. “Oh…fuck.” He muttered, bringing up his free hand to cover his face and Suguru actually found himself smiling at the sight. He was better. If he could move around so easily, he was at least better.
“Where…am I?” The albino asked slowly after pulling his hand away.
“The…infirmary?”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.
“So Shoko knows…”
“Yeah. Shoko and Yaga Sensei. You scared the shit out of us. He told me to call him as soon as you woke up tho so-“
“Principal Yaga knows too?” Shoko, he could guess. He was patched up so that meant she knew. But for Yaga too… Well, it wasn’t like it would be a problem. It actually made things easier for him to explain as well. Since he had to tell the man about the future; if he wanted to change it. How he was going to tell them though…he didn’t know. Hell he still couldn’t wrap his head around what happened with Sukuna. That he was actually completely intact now. No fucking limbs or anything missing. No blood pooling in his mouth every now and then cause of the amount of cursed energy he’s used. No fucking brain damage he needed to heal constantly so he wouldn’t die. Just nothing. Man this was so weird. Too much all at once.
He heard Suguru let out a small laugh, pulling him out of his thoughts. Or maybe not. Because fuck when was the last time he’s heard that sound? And now he felt tears about to fill his eyes once more; causing him blink quickly to not let that happen.
“Principal? Since when do you call him that? He just got the news.”
Oh right, he’s Yaga Sensei now. “Ugh…this is so annoying.” His head was going to burst.
“Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere?” Suguru suddenly asked with so much concern that Satoru wanted to laugh. Does it hurt anywhere?! Oh to think that anyone would ask such a think from Gojo Satoru. But well, Suguru had always been different. Special. Caring about Satoru in ways no one ever did. To see him as just him. Not a god. Just…a human. His friend. God he’s fucking missed his best friend so damn much he could cry all over again. He’s almost forgotten how this felt. Having someone to care like it was the most normal thing in the world. It hurt.
“Uh, okay maybe I should call Shoko…” Suguru said in panic and only then did he realize his eyes had gotten a bit glassy; probably making the other think of that as a sign of pain.
“N-no. No, it’s okay. I’m fine. Really. Just…overwhelmed; I guess. I’m not…in any pain.” He said and as if to convince the other man more, suddenly shoot up on the bed and sat. “Actually, I’m as good as new!” He said with a grin, not expecting Suguru to just tackle him back down on the bed in a matter of seconds. “Stop moving and being an idiot! You might hurt yourself again! Just-“ Suguru started but was cut off by the sound of Satoru’s genuine laughter as he wrapped his arms around his shoulders and kept him down, hugging him tightly. “God I’ve missed you.” He said, and Suguru rolled his eyes despite the shock, his hands soon going to wrap around Satoru as well despite the uncomfortable position; the relief of seeing his friend okay and talking again filling his body and allowing him to finally relax. He was really okay…and Suguru wanted to hold him forever. To make sure it stayed that way.
“We’ve been together since this morning you idiot. And the day before that. And before. And before.” He deadpanned. “Now let go of me before you hurt yourself! Are you sure you didn’t hit your head or something? Maybe Shoko missed it. Actually, I have to call her and Sensei to come here or they’ll be putting me on the bed beside you.” He said, only for Satoru to chuckle wetly again. God had he really gone mad? He couldn’t stop crying before and now he was just laughing. But to see his friend talking so casually about him and Shoko just like their days in the past…as if they were still best friends…
“Suguru, since when do you talk to much, Hm?” He decided to tease.
Okay, maybe Suguru should actually leave him to die. Forget about it. Why did he even try to save him so much?! “Ugh, I hate you.” He muttered but couldn’t stop the small relieved smile from forming on his lips as he pulled out his phone to call Yaga.
And Gojo smiled, looking at the brunette fussing over him so much and he had to try so hard to not run forward and pull him in another embrace so he wouldn’t disappear or think about leaving again. He wouldn’t let that happen. Not this time. Never again. He would be here for his friend and listen to him and be by his side no matter what so he wouldn’t leave, thinking he had no one. Thinking he was alone. That felt the worse. Gojo knew that better than anyone. He would protect him this time. Wouldn’t let him to slowly break down after the Toji incident. After…after Riko’s death. Oh god Riko…Riko was also alive now! She was alive! Kuroi! Oh shit. Fuck. He could…he could save them too this time around! Saving them literary meant saving Suguru.
“Yes he-Sato-I told you not to get up you idiot!” He heard Suguru yell as he ran beside him to grab at his shoulders; and only then did he realize he’s somehow sat back up again somewhere between his thoughts. “My ass hurts from lying down so much!” He pulled out the annoying card but was soon laughing for real at seeing the look on Suguru’s face, completely ignoring Yaga who was asking what was going on from the other side of the line.
“He’s back to his annoying self, that’s what. So I guess he’s fine.” Suguru finally said, hanging up after Yaga said he’ll be here shortly with Shoko.
Then he was glaring daggers at Satoru who smiled at him sheepishly but freezing in surprise when Suguru’s hands came up to grab at his face and then putting the back of his hand on his forehead, probably checking for a fever. Suguru then sighed in something that sounded like relief before slowly sitting beside him on the bed. “Are you really okay? Really?”
He smiled softly, nodding his head. “I’m fine now. I promise. I’m…sorry for scaring you like that.” ’You idiot…’
“Shut up.” Suguru grumbled, finally allowing himself to relax until something else caught up to his mind. “But…what happened? Why did you just…why did that happen? And what did you want to tell me about that…future?! Right?” He asked, frowning at hearing Gojo sigh and tremble beside him. “How about I tell you when our other friends are here? Really not in the mood to go over everything twice.”
Geto looked at him for a few seconds then, noticing how terrible he still looked. Tired. So tired and…different. As if it wasn’t just physical tiredness but…emotional. As if he was hurting from the inside. Holding in too much pain. Way more than he always had. Almost…unrecognizable. And even though his eyes were now completely healed, they were still too red to be normal. “Hey…maybe you should get some more rest first?”
Satoru grinned, leaning closer to him, “Aw are you worried about me?” He giggled but Suguru didn’t budge, knowing that this was his way of pretending that everything was okay. “Of course I am. You didn’t…you didn’t see what happened. I…I thought you were going to die idiot!”
Satoru smiled guiltily while resting his head on his friend’s shoulder. “You can’t get rid of me that easily. Don’t worry.”
“Yeah I fucking hope so.” The dark haired boy grumbled while his hand slowly wrapped around Satoru’s small waist.
That’s when the doors flew open and their friend and teacher stepped in, causing them to pull apart slowly and make a move to stand up though Yaga was faster and was soon forcing them to stay on the same position with a hand on their shoulders. “It’s alright, just stay where you are.” He said before looking at Satoru. “You’re okay…” He whispered and Suguru could clearly hear the relief in his voice. And he knew Satoru did as well, given how he looked away awkwardly, chuckling.
“Oh let me see this idiot!” Shoko snapped, pushing the man away as if he was not actually their teacher; soon standing between Satoru’s legs with her both hands placed on his cheeks, pulling his face so close while examining him that Suguru wouldn’t be surprised if they kissed. Shoko could be the most unpredictable sometimes…
“Ah-Shoko-“ Satoru started, just as surprised but was soon silenced with a slap to his cheek. “Shut up.”
Did that actually just happen or were Suguru’s eyes deceiving him? Shoko actually slapped Satoru? No infinity still? He really wasn’t feeling okay, was he? Even Shoko herself looked taken aback.
“Ow! Should you be hitting your pati-ow ow ow!” He stared trying to push the girl away as she started looking at his eyes with a fucking flashlight, causing him to flinch. Meanwhile, Suguru just facepalmed, avoiding to look at his teacher who was looking at the scene with the most ‘what the fuck.’ expression anyone could manage.
“How are you feeling really? What happened?” The man asked after Shoko pulled away from Satoru-who was squeezing his eyes with his hands now and muttering something under his breath-, declaring that he looked fine and Satoru chuckled nervously, playing with the back oh his hair. “Uh…where should I start…um….”
“The beginning?” Suguru pointed with a raised eyebrow, receiving a kick in the leg from the other. “Ugh; Alright. Imma throw the bomb. I’m from the future.”
There was a few seconds of silence before Suguru was looking at Shoko. “Are you sure he doesn’t have brain damage?”
“At this point, no.”
“I’m serious!” Gojo groaned. “Just listen!”
Yaga narrowed his eyes, not looking sure either but telling him to continue. “Let him.”
“So um-I…died? In the future?” This was harder than he thought. With the fact that he couldn’t tell them the whole truth either. He had died…yes…but not just like that. Not by Sukuna exactly. Or did he? He was probably going to die by Sukuna after what happened but thankfully realized and-but it wasn’t like he could say that! And yet everyone were already looking at him like he was crazy. Yeah. They had every reason to but still! “Ugh.” He groaned, grabbing his head between his hands.
“Died?” Suguru asked, thankfully. Or not.
“Yeah. By Sukuna-“
Yaga suddenly yelled, making them all jump. ”SUKUNA?!”
Shoko held up a hand. “Uh…who’s that?”
Their teacher face palmed. “Have you been paying no attention in classes?!”
“Oops?”
“He’s the king of curses. Or something. Right?” Sauguru asked and his best friend nodded. “But I thought he was dead?”
Satoru sighed. “He is; but not completely. That man’s too strong to kill. So he was destroyed but like, his fingers remained. As cursed object. Scattered around the world. I think the school already possess a few of them right? Inside Tengen’s barrier.” He asked, looking over at his once again taken aback teacher. “Yeah…four actually.”
“Oh only four?” Satoru hummed. “Well it’s gonna be a few more in the next 12 years or so. Wait what year are we now exactly? 2005? 6?”
“6.” Shoko said as he nodded. “Good.”
“I can’t believe I just answered that so seriously.” The girl muttered and Satoru rolled his eyes.
“So this Sukuna will come back to life? How?” Yaga pressed. The threat of Sukuna was too big to ignore. No matter how stupid this whole thing sounded. Because there was clearly something wrong with his student and even though there was no way he would come to the conclusion of time travel, the topic the boy had just brought up had taken all his attention.
“You see, these fingers. A boy will kinda…eat one of them?”
“What?!” They all exclaimed while Shoko made a face. “That’s disgusting.”
“So he got possessed?”
Gojo chuckled. “That’s the thing. He didn’t. He could control his body even then and so became Sukuna’s vessel.”
“A boy who can suppress getting possessed by the king of curses?!” Shoko raised an eyebrow. “Either this future of yours is too shitty or your sense of making up stories is too shitty.”
“I can’t believe I’m actually missing your future self…” Gojo whispered. This shit was way too hard and annoying for the to deal with right now. After everything that’s happened. He still couldn’t wrap his head around their fucking fight and was still on guard; feeling like that damn monster was going to show up wearing his son’s face and-
Shoko cut off his thoughts with a “what was that?!”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing my ass.”
“So what happened with this Sukuna?” Suguru, god bless his soul, asked while squeezing his hand and bringing them back to the topic. “This boy, Yuji, he was sentenced to death but I managed to stop it, or rather postpone it until he had eaten all the fingers. That way-“
“Killing him would destroy Sukuna for good.” Yaga completed and he nodded. “Exactly. I managed to postpone it ‘till then no matter how much the higher ups protested; but then, I would be the one to kill him at the end, since no one else could do it anyway.”
“But you still…ended up the one getting killed? How? So he’s actually stronger than you?” Shoko asked on disbelief. Someone being stronger than the Gojo Satoru? And a curse at that?
“He’s…maybe? Not really. I mean- yeah he was strong. A fucking challenge even for me. If he had put his all in…”
“He…killed you?” Suguru asked, trying to get over the fact that Satoru had just so easily confessed about the possibility of someone being stronger than him.
“Yeah, because I fucking couldn’t.”
“Why you couldn’t?! kill the fucking king of curses?! What, you had a love affair with him?” Shoko deadpanned.
“Ugh, no! The fuck made you think that?!”
She just shrugged.
“That wasn’t it. I wouldn’t have lost if he hadn’t ended up possessing my son’s fucking body at the end and gaining the upper hand ‘cause of it!” He snapped before he could realize what he was saying. He just…he just still couldn’t get out the image of Megumi’s face out of his head just as he was going to hit the finishing blow. To rip cut him up for good. With Gojo not being able to do anything. To kill his son. And to be honest, he wasn’t sure it would’ve been different even if Yuji was still the one possessed. Sukuna would’ve probably been way weaker yes…but that boy had become as much of a son to him as Megumi was. They all had. And yet, he hadn’t been able to protect any of them. He never could. Never when the one in danger had been the one he’s cared for the most.
“You have a son?!” Suguru asked after a few seconds of silence, pulling him out of his thoughts. Oh fuck. He really did say that out loud. He groaned, covering his face. “Not biologically. That’s not the point. He killed me. But then I had actually met someone in the prison realm-“
Yaga was back to yelling. ”THE PRISON REALM?”
Shoko was also back to her questions. “What’s that? Because I’m actually 100% sure you haven’t mentioned this one in class.”
“Because it’s considered a fucking legend.” Yaga sighed. “Lost. For decades. Some say even centuries. There’s no one alive who’s even seen it. That’s why many think it’s just a legend, made up to scare the sorcerers.”
“Tengen’s seen it!” Satoru chuckled at their faces. “Yeah well, it’s no legend. And it is very well hidden. You haven’t seen it because there’s never been someone so strong that the only way of defeating them was sealing them.“
Shoko chuckled despite the atmosphere. “Oh he’s still in his ‘I’m the strongest’ phase. He’s better than I thought.”
“So you were…sealed?” Yaga raised an eyebrow and Gojo nodded. “Yup. Because that was all those curses could do to stop me. And trust me that’s not somewhere you’d want to be trapped in.” He shivered slightly. “But well, there I met the…ghost or something of one of my ancestors who had been sealed back in her time too but had finally given up after a few decades and killed herself, causing her ghost to get trapped in there. ‘Cause you see, the prison realm can’t hold more than one person in at a time. So the last person should either get freed for it to be empty again or die. The second option wouldn’t happen in normal circumstances cause time doesn’t work inside there the same as it does here, so to die, they have to commit suicide. Like, you don’t age in there but time goes way slower yet faster than the real world at the same time while not moving at all. And so you tend to go crazy after a while in there.”
They all shivered at the horrible descriptions.
“How long were you there?” Suguru questioned. “A few weeks in real world. A few months in my eyes.” He answered.
They were all shocked speechless. To be trapped in such a place for so long…
“Okay so, back to the woman.” Gojo just continued his rambling as if there was nothing wrong. “I met her there and she knew another technique. Another technique from my clan. One lost in time and probably under the fear of the Jujutsu world; because of course they’d want to bury the knowledge of a time traveling technique from general knowledge. I had never even heard of her nor the technique’s existence before. And well to be honest, the technique is anything but easy. Takes too much cursed energy that even someone mastered in it can only perform it once every few decades. Or so she said. She’s been the only one strong enough and able to perform it even in the Gojo clan; and somehow, she thought I could manage it as well. So she gave me this…orb, crystal, or whatever and told me I can use it with breaking it when I got out and found the world beyond saving. That it would give my cursed energy a push towards how to perform the technique and told me to work it out from there. And I did. That world was beyond saving. So…I used it in the middle of our fight…right before I would…die and thought about the place in my life before everything went shit. So…of course I’m back before the Toji incident.”
“Toji? As in the Toji? The sorcerer killer Toji?!” Yaga asked, his head now getting assaulted with a new mystery. All this information was just getting to much. He couldn’t take this anymore, to be honest. Or maybe just didn’t want to believe it. But not even Gojo Satoru could come up with so much bullshit.
“Yup.” Satoru nodded, popping the ‘p’.
“Who’s this one?” Shoko raised her hand again and Yaga breathed through his nose deeply to calm himself.
“A guy who’s gonna attack us in a few days and kill Riko and fuck everything up.” Gojo answered instead, taking his attention. Attack? The Jujutsu high? But why?
“Riko?” The teacher asked with a small frown. So that was it…
“The star plasma! You came to the gym to tell us our new mission about having to protect her because of the bounty right?”
Yaga was asking the next question before he could stop himself. “How do you…know?” Stupid question now that they all knew how. But still.
“I just told you!”
Shoko raised an eyebrow. “That you’re from the future?” She asked even though she now sounded hesitant too but still not completely believing either. Of course she wouldn’t be. No one would. Time travel was impossible! He had no idea how that woman who was supposedly one of his ancestors knew of such a technique that he somehow could do as well but yeah, it was impossible. Or at least supposed to. “I can’t believe we’re actually buying this…that I’m actually buying this.” Shoko said.
“Yeah…” Suguru muttered, his head still trying to process all the information.
Yaga sighed. “Satoru I swear to god; this better be true or I’ll make you wipe the floors for the rest of your education if you’re fooling around.”
“You have so little faith in me, Yaga-San~”
Suguru slapped him. “Don’t call him like that!”
Satoru only giggled. “I’m serious! I can show it to you actually, if you want. No; it doesn’t really matter if you want or not; I’m going to show you. The woman told me of something else; called ‘the memories of the universe’ and told me to use it to show you the future. She said it kinda like, has saved the information and the memories of the events that’s happened until now in my time. Or life. And will keep on holding them even if time travel ceased that world from existence; ‘cause even if you can wipe out the universes, you can’t wipe it’s memory; and-“
“Gojo for the love of god, can you slow down? And speak human? I’m not understanding half the shit your saying.” Shoko finally stopped him, rubbing her temple. What the fuck were all these bullshit? Why did everything and everyone from this stupid Gojo clan had to be so complicated?
Gojo laughed sheepishly, muttering a small “sorry.”
“So this woman, what’s her name anyway?” Suguru questioned and the taller man shrugged. “No idea.”
“What you didn’t ask?”
“Of course I did! She said, ‘My name is not important baby.’”
“Yeah she was a Gojo indeed.”
“Shut up.” Satoru rolled his eyes. “Well, she clearly had the six eyes. And well, the hair.” He said, gesturing to his own white hair.
“Are everyone from your clan albinos?” Shoko wondered.
“Yeah. Mostly. Some kind of a fucked up gene running in the family.”
“So this nameless Gojo lady taught you time travel. And also taught you how to see the memories of the world or shit?!”
“Mhm.” Satoru nodded. “That technique of hers allows her to know and watch every moment of time she wants but; she can only travel to when her body exists. Like, she can see and know the past completely but cannot travel too far back. Said it could completely destroy the balance of the world. The six eyes cannot see what’s not there so she couldn’t see into the future either and thus, couldn’t travel forward, not knowing if she’s going to be alive in the point of time she’s jumping into. Or change fate so easily. There should be a price for everything you do.”
“So even she’s not a god.” Suguru muttered.
“Yup. But she can still jump back if things go shitty so it’s pretty awesome.”
“And now you can do it too…” Shoko pointed out and he shrugged. “And I still have no idea how it actually works.”
“That does…sound like something the six eyes could do…” Suguru murmured in before snapping his head to look as his nodding friend. “You told me you can see wherever in this universe if you wanted to, right?”
“Exactly! But I never knew I could see anywhere from any point of time as well if I wanted to. Or like; knew it’s not only materials that my “Red” and “Blue” techniques can push and pull at, but time sand space as well! How could I, I mean? Just being able to see this much makes me want yo gauge out my eyes sometimes. That woman must’ve truly something been else to have…found out about the possibility.” He said, admitting to something he would never have at 16, and causing Yaga and Shoko who had no idea about this to raise an eyebrow.
Gojo continued. “Well; still not a god, since even she was powerless in there and went mad at the end. Ugh I hate that place.” He stoppers for a few seconds, muttering, “I wonder how…she got sealed though…” He groaned. “Anyway, so if we’re going to watch the world’s memories we should use my domain-“
“Domain?” Both his friends and Yaga asked surprised.
Gojo’s eyes widened. “Oh right! I can do domain expansion! That’s also something this me wouldn’t be able to do right?!”
“You can seriously do Domain Expansion?!” Shoko pressed again.
“Like the Domain Expansion?!” Asked his other friend.
Satoru sighed. “Yes yes, do you want me to spell it to you in all the languages I know?!”
“How many languages do you know?”
“That’s not the point!” Yaga snapped shutting them all up like little children. “Continue.”
“What’s your Domain called?” Shoko whispered, shutting up at the glare Yaga sent her.
“I can also do this!” Gojo continued, snatching a medical knife from the table beside the bed before anyone could realize and was suddenly cutting open his wrist.
“SATORU!” Suguru was already shouting and snatching the knife away and throwing it aside before he himself realized it, his trembling hands holding Satoru’s arms as if afraid he was going to disappear. Or worst start bleeding to death like…like he already had a few hours ago. God he was goin to be sick, looking at the boy’s wrist as it dripped blood, painting his forearms even redder than before. He didn’t…he didn’t cut anything serious right? This was…this was his wrist!
“I’m…fine, Suguru.” Gojo whispered, staring at him wide eyed and in concern.
“What the hell was that?!” Shoko snapped just as horrified as the other two, looking at Satoru who just laughed as if he had not just cut himself. Fucking god was he okay?! What’s happened to him?! Had he lost all the sanity he had left?! He was…he was fucking hurting himself!
But before Suguru could open his mouth Satoru was holding up his no longer bleeding hand as it slowly healed in front of their eyes. “Revered cursed technique! See? Don’t…worry.” He turned to look at Shoko, feeling a bit uneasy at the silence and the stares. “Tho I can only do it on myself, unlike you.” He said, the girl’s eyes about to pop out of her face.
“When did you…learn that? You were never able to…”She muttered, amazed as she took Satoru’s hand to examine his wound and also his cursed energy once again. There was also…no scar left. Just nothing. As if the wound had never even existed before.
“Uh…I guess…well Toji helped?” He said with a long sign. “Though I’m still not sure why I ended up throwing up blood from everywhere.” He said, and Suguru shivered from where he was still holding him.
“Well I may have the answer to that now.” Shoko announced, taking their attention. She hummed, still holding Satoru’s now healed hand and running her hands up and down on the snow white skin. “I’m guessing that the amount of cursed energy you can hold in your future is way more than your 16 years’ old body right?” She asked and Gojo nodded. “Yeah. It’s; you can say; almost limitless. I don’t even run out of cursed energy because of both my six eyes and reversed curse healing my brain constantly.”
“Wow that…okay I wasn’t expecting that much.” Shoko spoke aloud all of their thoughts. “Okay so yeah, it’s way more than what your 16 year old body has. And your future self’s used to it and it’s like a part of you. But your past body wasn’t. Not yet and not so suddenly. So when you just popped into this body of yours with that much cursed energy, it couldn’t process what the fuck was going on and it was too much for it all at once so your energy backfired and started eating you from the inside as an attempt to stabilize itself. It could also be the effects of time travel but I wouldn’t know since it’s supposed to be impossible.”
“Huh, that makes sense.” Gojo nodded as if he hadn’t just almost died because of his own cursed energy. ’This utter idiot!’ Suguru though for the hundredth time that day and sighed as they all fell in silence, probably trying to process the information and make plans until he remembered something else from when Satoru had been dying in his arms. “Wait I have another question…what did you meant when you told me ‘You’re alive.’ back then? I mean…when you had just came back or something...” He asked, feeling nervous now that he had an idea why Satoru might’ve said that.
Satoru confirmed his suspicions, avoiding to look at him. “You’re dead. In my time.” He answered coldly but Suguru could clearly hear all the pain hidden behind those cruel words. But he really couldn’t press on those that much at the moment over the shock he had just experienced.
“He’s…what?” Shoko and Yaga both asked hesitatingly. As if the meaning of ‘from the future’ just came clear to them. Fuck…actually…how many of them were dead in this future? This…how come this hasn’t crossed their minds? Of what’s possibly happened into pushing Gojo to do time travel to change their fate.
“Oh.” Was all Suguru could manga before, “How…?”
“I killed you.” Another cold answer but this time it wasn’t only him who looked speechless. “WHAT?!” The other two people in the room shouted in disbelief.
“Can we…not talk about that now? We’ll see it when I show you the future. I’m not…the best fitted person to tell this story. I can’t.” Satoru muttered with his head held low, probably so no one would see the tears Suguru knew were forming in his eyes. But…but Satoru will kill him…why? Why would he…what’s going to happen to cause that? Was there just anything good about this future?! Toji. Sukuna, the king of curses. His death? Satoru’s death. A world beyond saving?
“You didn’t just do it without a reason tho, right?” He asked Satoru at last, as if he hadn’t just heard about his best friend killing him. ’Kill me if you want. There would be meaning in that.’ Satoru remembered those words as Suguru walked away from him on that day; and wanted to scream.
“I…no…” Was all he could manage through the lump tightening his throat. Fucking god since when he’s become so emotionally unstable?!
“It’s alright then. I can see you didn’t want to.” Suguru said gently and he could no longer stop himself from looking up at him wide eyed and throwing his arms around the dark boy and pulled him close, letting his tears run down, glad that Suguru’s untangled hair were covering them from their audience’s view. Not that it mattered though. Nothing except Suguru mattered this time.
“God I’ve missed you.” He whispered as Suguru wrapped his arms around his waist despite his own trembling body, now knowing what exactly Satoru meant by missing him. Satoru…had killed him. Or…will kill him? But he knew him well enough to know there was no way the man would do such a thing. Never. Unless…unless there was a reason. Unless he had to. Unless there was no other way. ‘You’re…yourself…’ Satoru had whispered as well. Did that mean he had ended up possessed or something too? Like that Yuji boy? Or lost his mind after all the curses he’s consumed? Is that what he meant? Why he had to kill him? If that…he wasn’t at fault. Suguru knew it. He wouldn’t have been crying in his arms now, if he had killed him, his best friend, on purpose.
“We’ll leave you guys to get some rest. Specially you Satoru. Take a shower and get some sleep, you need it. We can talk about this tomorrow.” Yaga decided to say, nodding at Suguru who smiled at him in gratitude.
“No wait, Sensei!” Satoru said, pulling a bit away and hoping they would just mistake the reason of the redness of his eyes for the bleeding and not the tears. Suguru kept holding his hand firmly yet gently in his. “We don’t have that much time to prepare. Probably only a week before Toji attacks and brings hell. We have to do this before that, if we’re going to change things.”
Yaga nodded then, looking at him. “What would you have me do?”
“I say we have to tell a few others too, if we’re doing this. Not only the four of us. For one, we should probably tell Nanami to come since he’s too very involved in this future. I can get Riko and Kuroi myself but they have to be there as well since, you know; she’s the star plasma and they’re going to die. The rest are…probably the kids from the future I’m from.”
“You’re going to bring other people from the future for this?” Shoko asked in surprise. “How? I thought only you could come back?”
“True. But now that I’m aware of this technique, I can probably find their souls from a time they’re all still alive when we’re inside my domain and pull them there. Not in the real world tho. At least not yet. I have no idea if that’s possible but I’ll find a way. But they all have a right to be there too because they are the future of our world. A future that’s going to get destroyed with their lives and dreams. They have every right to be here to change it, if they want.” He explained and Yaga nodded as well, agreeing despite his eyes widening a bit at Gojo’s words. At how he’s grown. Changed. And he could see the realization in the boy’s friend’s eyes as well. “Very well, I will inform Nanami in private. Is there anyone else you need me to get?”
Gojo hummed, thinking for a bit. “Maybe Utahime too. But other than that, no. I don’t think so. It’s not safe to inform anyone else.”
“Alright. Leave it to me then and just get some rest until tomorrow. You hear me? No shitty plans or thoughts for tonight. You need to be at full health if we’re doing this.” He said and Satoru looked up at him tiredly and smiled, nodding. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, Sensei.”
Yaga and Shoko both left after that, the girl also telling Satoru to take care of himself and rest as well or else she would break his bones. And Satoru chuckled at that, nodding his head as she left; thinking how different and…alive Shoko looked now. As if everything hadn’t crushed her yet. All those deaths and lifeless bodies she got everyday…
Coming back to the past really hurt in ways he’d never thought.
“Alright, how about we get back to my room now? You still look like shit.” Suguru broke the silence when they were alone, making him to finally look into his eyes in surprise. “You’re not gonna…ask any questions? About why or how I killed you? About what happened?”
Suguru bit his lower lip before chuckling nervously. “Well, the fact that you’re so scared of answering those questions is reason enough for me to not want to know.” He tried to joke, sighing when it only made his friend more uneasy. “Well I am curious. But you said you’re gonna show the future to us, right? So I guess I can wait.“
Satoru just stared at him as if he had gone mad. “Aren’t you…aren’t you angry?”
“What, at you?” Suguru chuckled, “Well I guess I am…shocked. Maybe a little scared at knowing I’m gonna die. Surprisingly. And curious. A little bit overwhelmed too maybe? But uh…no. I’m definitely not angry. Not at you. I don’t think you’d kill me unless you had to.”
Satoru seemed to only become angrier at his answer. “How can you just say that? How can you not hate me; knowing I’m going to…going to kill you? End your life? Dreams? What fucking reason can justify that? I’m supposed to be your best friend. Not…not your killer!”
Suguru smiled, just wrapping his arms around his friend and pulling him to his chest. “I can never hate you idiot.” He said. “And I’m not blind. How can I hate you when I can clearly see how it’s destroying you? I know you’d never do it if not forced to. You’re my best friend too asshole.” He pulled Satoru even closer then, rubbing his back when he felt him trembling a bit because of the small sobs he was so desperately trying to hold back while his hands grasped at the back of Suguru’s blouse, holding onto it tightly. “Please…don’t leave me again…” He sobbed. “Just…I’m here okay? If you ever needed me, I’m right here. I promise. Nothing…nothing matters anymore. Not this time. Okay? I’m always at your side.”
Suguru was a bit taken aback at the words and the meaning behind them, before he smiled softly. “Yeah okay. Okay. The same goes for you, you know. And I won’t leave you again. I promise I won’t.” He said despite knowing that that wasn’t just something you could promise. Not for a Jujutsu Sorcerer. Not in the world they live in where their lives are at risk on any moment. But still; he couldn’t help but promise, having felt just a glimpse of the fear of losing his best friend no longer than a few hours ago. And to know that Satoru had actually went through that once and still feared it happening this time around…He wouldn’t leave him. Not again. And he sure as hell wouldn’t let Satoru leave him either.
He smiled, pulling away and cupping Satoru’s face, wiping his tears gently. “Now let’s get back to our rooms and get some actual rest. We both know you need it. Everything else can wait until tomorrow. You look like shit.” He said, Satoru nodding a few seconds later as a small genuine smile blossomed on his face and he took Suguru’s hands, squeezing them before letting go and standing up from the bed slowly, swaying on his feet the second they touched the ground and causing the other to jump off of the bed immediately and hold his waist and hand in support.
“Are you alright?!” Suguru asked, his heartbeat picking up once more but the albino just chuckled, waving him off. “Yeah yeah, my feet are just a little numb, I guess. Didn’t realize.” He said, moving his legs around a bit to get them working, soon managing to stand upright.
“Well, you still did lost a huge amount of blood you know.” Suguru pointed out, and Satoru roiled his eyes. “I’ve lost way more and nothing happened. Don’t worry.” He said, only worrying the man more. The fuck did that mean?!
He didn’t ask any more questions though, but also didn’t let go of his friend’s waist as they made their way towards the dorm, Satoru coming to a stop in the middle of the corridor as if thinking. Suguru chuckled. “What, forgotten where your room was?”
“No.” Satoru chuckled. “I was just thinking how funny it is that it’s the room Yuji will be using in the future.”
Suguru raised an eyebrow. “The Sukuna boy?”
“Yeah, him.” He answered fondly, making Suguru chuckle at his expression. “Since when have you become such a dad?”
“Shut up.” Satoru rolled his eyes, elbowing him in the ribs as they made their way towards Suguru’s room. “I wasn’t there whenever they needed me. I couldn’t save them. So I guess I’m a terrible dad if that’s the case.”
“You’re still trying to save them, aren’t you?” Suguru pointed out as he opened the door, stepping inside. “Whose room was mine?”
“Oh Megumi’s.” Satoru said lighting up.
“Who’s that one?”
“That one’s literally my adopted son though he’ll never admit it! Aaaaah I miss him.” He said, flopping down on Suguru’s bed dramatically and making the laughing boy to run over and pull him back up, causing him to yelp in surprise. “The fuck you doing?!” He snapped as the other started pulling him around the room.
“In the bathroom! Don’t sit on my bed with all that blood you asshole!” Suguru yelled, pushing him inside the bathroom and Satoru found himself laughing so hard he could barely breathe. Oh how much he’s missed this over-dramatic ass. “Okay okay, don’t kill me.”
“I’ll put your clothes on the bed. Call me if you needed anything okay?” Suguru said then, standing in the doorway and he giggled, leaning close to his face. “What if I need you?”
The door was slammed to his face.
“So rude.” He pouted before smiling to himself and going to turn on the water but stopping midway at seeing his reflection in the mirror.
Wow he really did…look terrible. Dried stains of blood could still be seen on his face and specially his neck, mostly wiped but still there. He was even paler than usual and his eyes were bloodshot with dark circles under them and his hair were more red than white. As well as his blouse. Wow, he looked more like a ghost in a haunted house than himself. How the hell had those three been able to hold a straight face while speaking with him?
Oh, that’s when he remembered Suguru’s clothes were no better than him either. The blood wasn’t as much as Satoru’s but he was still soaked in it. In Satoru’s blood. Because he had been forced to watch Satoru almost choking to death on his own blood. Great.
He groaned, slapping his face guiltily. No wonder he looked like that when Satoru just cut his forearm open in front of him. So scared. Terrified. Ugh god he was the worst.
He decided to not fret over what a terrible friend he was and pushed all the dark thoughts running through his mind to the back of his head; took off his clothes and stepped under the shower, turning on the cold water and almost moaning at how amazing it felt as it ran down his aching head. He washed himself quickly then, getting rid of all the blood and throwing away his clothes, wrapping himself around a-probably Suguru’s-fluffy towel and stepped outside, smiling at finding his friend sitting down on his bed, a book in his hand -despite him having zoned out- and having changed his clothes already.
“Huh, you look better now.” Suguru said with a smile as he put away the book he’s been just staring at for the past thirty minutes and stood up, taking a small towel and putting it on top of Satoru’s head when he reached him, running it through his hair without notice. And suddenly Satoru was humming in pleasure and throwing himself on his chest. “Oh man I’ve really missed you.” He literally purred.
Suguru chuckled, pulling away soon. “Well sorry to disappoint but you’ve gotta hang on a bit more without me. I need to take a shower as well, I’m covered in your blood.” He said, shivering a bit at the last part.
“Right.” Satoru nodded, stepping away a bit. “I guess I’ll just…wait here then.” He smiled, watching as his friend stepped into the shower after giving his shoulder one last squeeze and turned around, walking towards the bed and picking up the clothes Suguru had put for him. Probably one of Satoru’s own clothes that were always in his room since the two literally lived in each other’s dorms all the time; resulting in always having each other’s clothes in their own closet. Resulting in Satoru keeping to find Suguru’s belongings after owing him…twice.
He put them on, wearing the comfortable black pajama pants and white oversized shirt; then just falling down on the bed head first, soon melting into the soft mattress as he realized just how fucking tired he was. He doubted he’ll even be able to get up anytime soon again. When was the last time he’s even…slept? He couldn’t even remember anymore.
He was almost out when Suguru came back twenty minutes later, chuckling softly at seeing him half sleep in the middle of his bed with his legs dangling off of the edge and not even using a pillow.
“You’re gonna wake up sore if you sleep like that.” He pointed out as he stepped into his own dark blue pajamas, making Satoru to mumble something unrecognizable under his breath, causing him to laugh and shake his head; watching as the albino slowly crawled to the top of the bed and dropped his head into the pillows.
“S’guruuuu.” Satoru started whining soon, staring at him with one half open eye.
He chuckled. “What?”
“C’me here.” He said, opening his arms wide and Suguru laughed again but still walked closer. “My hair’s still wet tho.”
“I don’ care.” Satoru whined, opening his arms even more and he smiled fondly, going to turn off the lights. “Of course you don’t.” He said, sitting on the bed and covering them both with the blanket before lying down beside the other. “Better now?”
Satoru hummed and was soon crawling towards him to wrap an arm around Suguru’s waist. And Suguru only pulled him closer when he felt Satoru putting his head on his chest, probably to hear his heartbeat and assure himself that Suguru was alive and here. “I‘ll be here when you wake up. I promise.” He kissed the top of his friend’s head before he could stop himself but didn’t say anything when Satoru didn’t. “Just get some sleep, alright?”
And Satoru hummed, soon falling into a comfortable and dreamless sleep for the first time in years.