Chapter Text
“You’re late, Satoru.”
Suguru’s voice rang out as Satoru made his way toward him, steps slow and deliberate. Satoru rarely took that blindfold off, even Satoru Gojo himself wasn’t immune to overstimulation from information being fed to him, but he thought that maybe… just this once, he didn’t want to be a stranger in Suguru’s eyes.
He must have been quiet and too deep in his own head, because Suguru speaks once again.
“To think you’d be the one here at my end.” Suguru smiles.
He really smiles.
Even though he was probably in pain, and maybe grief, he smiled. Yet Satoru knew deep down that that smile wasn’t real. He’s seen Suguru’s smile in the days of their youth, and it didn’t look like this. Suguru’s smile felt warmer than this.
Maybe that’s why he couldn’t say anything. He was quiet, as he watched the mangled body of his best friend, his equal, sit on the hard ground. He had lost his right arm, which wasn’t a surprise. Yuta was strong.
“Are you going to make sure my family is safe?” That question actually makes Satoru react a little, if only a little. He looked at Suguru blankly, but he knew he had to speak eventually.
“Every last one of them managed to get away.”
Would this really be how he would lose his best friend? To Suguru, he felt a little relieved. He didn’t mind being killed by Satoru, he didn’t want to die to anyone but him.
Silence settled between them, interrupted only by the distant sounds of the city beyond the alleyway. Suguru let his head rest back against the wall behind him, eyes half-lidded.
The Night Parade had failed.
His family was safe.
Yuta Okkotsu had surpassed his expectations in ways both terrifying and strangely beautiful. And now… Satoru stood before him.
“I trusted a man as principled as you wouldn’t kill young sorcerers for no reason.”
Suguru let out a quiet breath that almost sounded like laughter.
“Trust?” he murmured. “I didn’t think I had any of that left after everything I went through.”
Suguru reached slowly into the folds of his robe with his remaining hand. Satoru tensed instinctively before relaxing almost immediately. A small plastic card slid into view between bloodstained fingers.
“Give this back to him.”
Yuta Okkotsu’s student identification card. Despite everything, Suguru had kept it intact.
“The elementary school incident,” Satoru said after a pause. “That was you too, wasn’t it?”
Suguru looked away for the first time since Satoru arrived.
“Yeah.”
“…I can’t believe you.”
Suguru only smiled faintly at that, weary and unreadable. The alleyway fell silent once again.
Somewhere far away, the city still breathed with life, blissfully unaware of the corpse-strewn battlefield left behind tonight.
Satoru lowered his gaze for a brief moment before looking back at him.
“Tell me, Suguru…” His voice was softer this time. “Do you have any last words?”
“… No matter what anybody says, I hate those monkeys.” Suguru’s smile was intact throughout his declaration, despite the pain burning through his whole body. “But… I never held any hatred for those in Jujutsu High. I just couldn’t wear a heartfelt smile… while living in this world.”
Satoru stared for a moment, his gaze following Suguru’s every movement. Then, with a quiet, intimate tone, he calls out.
“Suguru.”
Suguru turns his head, his smile dropping to listen to what Satoru had to say to him. He would pay attention to every word, he always did.
“____ , ____”
Suguru’s eyes widen slightly, before he laughs. How ironic. To think Satoru could say that to him in his dying moment. He could have at least been a little meaner. After all, Suguru had committed crimes, and he had betrayed Satoru’s trust a decade ago.
Suguru smiles warmly.
“At least curse me a little at my end.”
Darkness swallowed everything after that.
Suguru vaguely remembers the sensation of falling.
Or perhaps being carried.
Voices drifted in and out somewhere above him, distorted and distant, too muffled for him to make sense of. His body felt unbearably cumbersome. The pain came and went in waves, fading each time he tried to grasp it.
And then nothing.
When consciousness returned, the first thing Suguru became aware of was the sound of paper talismans rustling softly in stagnant air.
His eyelids felt heavy.
The second thing he noticed was the pressure binding his limbs as cursed energy hummed all around him.
Seals.
His eyelids felt heavy as he slowly opened them. Dim light greeted him, dull yet warm against unfamiliar concrete walls. Cursed energy hummed throughout the room in dense layers, enough for him to recognize immediately where he was even before his thoughts had fully settled.
Underground. Jujutsu High.
Talismans wrapped tightly around his remaining wrist and torso, layered over one another so densely they almost resembled bandages. Additional seals had been carved directly into the floor beneath him, dark ink pulsed faintly with cursed energy. Even weakened as he was, Suguru could feel the sheer amount of precaution taken into every restraint placed upon him.
His gaze lingered on the seals before he lifted them. Satoru stood a few feet away.
Dark rectangular sunglasses rested on his face instead of the bandages he saw before, his hands tucked loosely into his pockets. The dim lighting softened the sharpness of his features somewhat, though the exhaustion beneath them remained impossible to miss. For a moment, Suguru found himself thinking the sunglasses suited him more.
He seemed more mature like this. Like the years between them had finally settled into something more tangible.
Neither of them spoke at first.
Suguru’s gaze swept over the room once more before settling back onto Satoru. “…So this is how they decided to imprison me.” He commented.
Satoru leaned lightly against the wall behind him. “Actually, they wanted you executed.”
Suguru let out a weak breath of amusement through his nose, unsurprised. “That sounds just like them.”
“The higher-ups weren’t exactly thrilled when I brought you back breathing.”
That made Suguru pause.
His brows furrowed slightly. “…Breathing?”
“I stopped your bleeding and took you to Shoko before you could even die.”
The words settled between them. Suguru stared at him silently for a few moments, almost as though he was trying to process what he had heard. His memories after that alleyway remained fragmented at best, reduced to distant voices and fading consciousness.
“You should’ve killed me.”
Satoru’s expression did not change behind those dark lenses. “But I didn’t.”
Silence settled over the room once more.
Suguru lowered his gaze slightly, exhaustion weighing heavily on his features. “…Why?” His voice was low, weighted.
The question sounded quieter than the others. Not bitter, and not even angry. Merely tired.
Satoru exhaled softly through his nose before answering. “Because I’m selfish.”
Suguru blinked once.
“And because despite everything,” Satoru continued, “I still think losing you would be a waste.”
For the first time since waking up, Suguru’s composure faltered ever so slightly. Not enough for most people to notice. But Satoru knew him too well, and he could read Suguru even more clearly now.
“You said it yourself, didn’t you?” Satoru spoke quietly. “You couldn’t wear a heartfelt smile while living in this world.”
Suguru’s eyes widened faintly.
“The jujutsu world is rotten. The higher-ups are stubborn old geezers. Sorcerers keep dying young.” Satoru lowered his gaze briefly toward the seals restraining Suguru before looking back at him. “You weren’t wrong for hating it.”
The room felt unbearably still.
“You just chose the wrong way to change it.”
Suguru watched him carefully now, something uncertain settling behind his expression.
“You wanted strong and intelligent companions, right?” A faint smile tugged at Satoru’s lips. “Then help me raise them.”
Suguru stared at him in silence.
“The higher-ups agreed to postpone your execution under conditions,” Satoru continued. “You’ll remain under surveillance at all times. Someone will be assigned to monitor you.”
“That’s just comforting.” Suguru laughs at the irony.
“You’ll also be working at Jujutsu High.”
That finally seemed to catch Suguru off guard. “…As what?”
“A teacher.”
A quiet laugh escaped Suguru before he could stop it, rough around the edges from exhaustion and injury despite being healed.
“A teacher,” he repeated. “You can’t possibly be serious.”
“I am.”
“You want me to teach your students after everything I’ve done?”
Satoru’s expression softened slightly. “I want you to help me make sure they don’t end up like us.”
The laughter faded after that.
Suguru looked away briefly, thoughtful silence settling over him. For the first time in years, Satoru watched him fall silent without anger or bitterness lingering beneath it.
“…And if I refuse?”
Satoru shrugged lightly. “Then I’ll just keep annoying you ‘til you give in.”
Despite himself, a faint smile pulled at Suguru’s lips. Even now, Satoru was still the same old Satoru.
“…What about the girls?” The question came quickly, almost instinctive.
Satoru’s expression softened further. “Mimiko and Nanako are safe.”
Suguru visibly relaxed at that, subtle though it was.
“They’ll still be monitored,” Satoru admitted, “but they aren’t being punished for your crimes.”
Suguru closed his eyes briefly before speaking again. “…Can they attend Jujutsu High?”
Satoru blinked once, caught slightly off guard by the question.
“They deserve a proper education,” Suguru murmured quietly. “A future outside of this mess.”
Something warm and aching settled heavily in Satoru’s chest.
“…Yeah,” he answered softly. “I think they’d fit in just fine.”
For a while, neither of them spoke. Then Satoru suddenly let out a quiet snort beneath his breath.
Suguru glanced at him questioningly.
“You’re definitely going to argue with one of my students.”
“…Hm?”
“Maki Zenin. Terrible attitude.” A grin tugged at Satoru’s lips now. “You called her the failure of the Zenin clan.”
Suguru froze briefly before exhaling softly through his nose. “…I suppose I’ll have to apologize for that.”
“You definitely will.”
“That bad?”
“She might actually kill you this time.”
A quiet laugh escaped Suguru at that, softer than before. The room gradually fell silent once more after that, though this silence no longer felt suffocating. He knew Maki couldn’t actually kill him, but the thought was amusing.
Ten years had passed between them. Ten years of grief, distance, anger, and loneliness too complicated to fit into words alone. Yet somehow, sitting there under layers of seals and dim underground lighting, the space between them no longer felt quite as big as it once had.
And for the first time in a very long while, Suguru found himself wondering if perhaps Satoru had been right.
Maybe there was still another way forward.
The thought itself felt absurd.
Suguru let out a quiet breath through his nose before speaking again. “…You make it sound so simple.”
Satoru glanced toward him. “Hm?”
“Teaching as redemption.” Suguru’s gaze lowered briefly toward the seals wrapped around his body. “As though putting me in a classroom will suddenly undo ten years of hatred and destruction.”
That caused the faint amusement on Satoru’s face to fade slightly. Neither of them spoke for a moment.
Then, “Do you really hate them that much?”
Suguru’s gaze turned toward him once more.
“You heard me yourself.”
Monkeys.
The word lingered heavily in the stagnant air between them.
“I meant what I said back there.”
Satoru studied him carefully from behind dark lenses. “I know you did.”
Suguru looked away slightly. “Non-sorcerers continue creating curses without consequence while sorcerers die cleaning up after them. That reality hasn’t changed.”
“No,” Satoru admitted softly. “But they don’t even know they’re doing it.”
“Does ignorance make the deaths any less real?”
“No. But intent matters.”
Suguru’s expression remained composed, though exhaustion lingered heavily beneath it now. “Intent doesn’t erase the consequences.”
“I know.” Satoru’s voice stayed quiet, absent of its usual carelessness. “But hatred built on consequences alone is really dangerous, Suguru.”
Suguru let out a subtle breath of amusement through his nose, though there was little humor behind it. “You say that as though I don’t already know.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Satoru pushed himself lightly away from the wall behind him, gaze lowering briefly toward the seals wrapped around Suguru’s body before lifting to his face.
“You spent too long surrounded by death.”
Suguru’s brows furrowed faintly.
“You kept swallowing curses. Watching sorcerers die. Carrying missions alone...” Satoru’s voice remained steady, though quieter and more melancholic than before. “And somewhere along the way, hatred became easier to carry than grief.”
Suguru’s expression tightened. Satoru knew him far too well, it was a little frightening.
“The weak stay weak,” Suguru murmured after a while. “Sorcerers continue sacrificing themselves for people who will never even know their names.” His gaze drifted toward the dim ceiling overhead. “You know that better than anyone, Satoru.”
“I do.”
“Then why defend them?”
Satoru was silent for a brief moment before answering.
“Because humans are complicated.”
Suguru glanced toward him once more.
“They’re selfish sometimes. Cruel too.” Satoru exhaled softly through his nose. “But they’re also capable of loving people. Protecting people. Regretting things.” His expression softened slightly. “Changing.”
The room fell quiet again. For a short moment, memories surfaced uninvited within Suguru’s mind. Riko smiling brightly beneath Okinawa sunlight despite the fate waiting for her, Haibara laughing loudly enough to irritate Nanami during long missions.
Nanako and Mimiko clinging desperately to his sleeves years later. Humanity had never been that simple.
Perhaps that had always been the problem.
“You needed another outlet before things got this bad,” Satoru said quietly after a while. “Something besides carrying everything by yourself.”
Suguru lowered his gaze slightly.
“Maybe teaching won’t magically fix things,” Satoru admitted. “And maybe you won’t stop hating non-sorcerers overnight.” A faint smile tugged briefly at the corner of his lips. “Honestly, I’d be more concerned if you did.”
That earned the faintest breath of amusement from Suguru.
“But at least this way,” Satoru continued more softly, “you won’t be alone with those thoughts anymore.”
The words lingered heavily in the stagnant air.
Suguru sat quietly beneath layers of seals, listening to the faint hum of cursed energy surrounding him. Somewhere above them, Jujutsu High continued on as usual, blissfully unaware that the most dangerous curse user of the last decade sat hidden beneath their feet.
And yet, for the first time in years, the thought of remaining in this world no longer felt entirely unbearable.