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The breath in his lungs burns with each inhale as he runs, legs raging against each impact on shadow. There’s nothing but darkness around him--in him--it blurs his vision and taints his hands blood red.
His world tilts as a reverberation shudders his soul, causing the solid shadow beneath his feat to waver. He slips, just barely, but a scream forces its way up through his raw throat anyways. His pace is compromised and that same scream turns into a choked sob as he regains his footing and forces his legs to move-- to keep moving.
Megumi doesn’t know why he’s running. He only knows that if he slows--if he stops --then that’s the end for him. There won’t be anything to prevent his soul from becoming one with the shadows suffocating him.
They used to be his to command, to wield. But here there’s no familiarity in that darkness, no way for him to summon his shikigami. Megumi has never been afraid of the dark, partially because his technique allowed him to be its master, but the edges of this blackness consume everything around him, stealing the very breath from his lungs and causing a slight tremor in his hands.
Another echo ripples through the darkness, but this time he’s prepared. Megumi blows out a short breath before steeling his legs against the vibration. His feet slip twice, but he never stops. His arms pump wildly as he pushes his body against its will.
The shadows move around him wildly, as if they’re reaching out and grab him, but Megumi ignores it with a grimace, sweat and tears mixing as they travel down his face. His breathing is erratic and his vision swims, but the fear of being consumed keeps him moving.
He can tell when the next hit is about to land when something bright flashes in his vision. Searing pain splits his head and he shouts, hand coming up to press into his temple. His feet don’t falter in their rhythm and right as the reverb pulses, something darts in the shadows beside him.
Megumi’s heart stutters and before he can fully turn his head to examine whatever it was, another bolts past his other side. His pulse beats frantically, but he can’t stop. He takes this as his sign to move faster, to damn it all to hell and squeeze every last ounce of energy he has into his legs.
The figures keep running beside him, haunting each step he makes, but when he dares a glance towards one of them, he thinks its movement looks familiar. The shadows cut around the figure as it turns its head to him, the marking on its head catches his eye and another sob lodges itself in his throat.
No- this isn’t- it can’t be.
He whips his head in the other direction, arms still pushing him forward. And sure enough the marking’s pair is found sitting atop this creature. His creature.
Recognition flashes in his demon dog’s eyes and it bobs its head as if to answer an unsaid question. The sob he kept in comes out in a small whimper as he runs with his dogs, tears welling up in his eyes. Its counterpart huffs beside Megumi, demanding attention as they sprint through the dimness.
He chokes out a laugh in disbelief. They’re here with him. He’s not alone in this darkness.
They howl beside him, urging him on, forward, and he follows their call. They run and run and run with nowhere in sight, but still, Megumi has never felt more powerful.
Something like hope claws its way up from the depths, but when he turns his head to catch another glimpse of his dogs, a ripple crashes around them, catching him off guard. His feet trip on a wave and he collides with solid ground, hands scrabbling against wisps of blackness. He pants, lifting his head to see if his demon dogs were okay, but his eyes meet complete nothingness.
His breath hitches as he tries and fails to push himself up.
No- they were just here. They were just here!
Megumi shivers as the shadows slither up his unmoving legs and he tries to stand up, but his body is no longer listening to his frantic commands.
Frustrated tears well up in his eyes as his breathing becomes frenzied--like a cornered animal.
“No. NO!”
It's useless as he fights against the encroaching dark. He pants as he tries to claw at the ground, but it pushes back against his fingers and swallows them whole.
He sobs, hopeless tears mixing with the shadows consuming him. He tries to scream, to shout at all the gods that betrayed him, but his throat makes no sound as he chokes on nothing.
Megumi’s cries become softer, accepting his fate as he becomes one with the shadows.
“I’m sorry,” He whimpers. A sunshine smile and a mop of pink hair flashes behind his eyes as he shuts them against the dark. “I’m not strong enough. I can’t-” His body numbs as he's engulfed by the darkness, soul sinking deeper into the abyss.
“I've had enough. I’ve really had enough.” It’s barely above a whisper, but he repeats it to himself, to the void, to the gods, over and over again.
Megumi Fushiguro always knew death was in the cards for him. He always thought it would be his use of Mahoraga in some last ditch attempt to win, or maybe even the delusional idea that somehow he would live a full life and die with lines carving his face, showing the years he's lived.
He never thought his death would be numb. He never thought it would be from his own gift. But when death reaches out its hand to him, he takes it without a fight.
--
He blinks his eyes open and recoils against the brightness that follows, shielding his eyes.
The sun casts a yellow-orange hue around him as he lifts his arm from his face and notices he’s at some sort of park.
His brain isn’t working properly as he tries to come up with how he got here, but everything feels sluggish and slow and when he attempts to remember, a sharp pain sears through his temple.
Megumi hisses, closing his eyes for a brief second before reopening them to take in his surroundings. The park seems familiar, like some distant part of himself had walked this path before, but when his eyes catch on a tree he doesn’t quite recognize, his confusion grows.
There’s a bench under the tree, and it's occupied. Megumi can’t make out who it is at first, eyes still adjusting to the light, but when the figure raises their hand in a welcoming gesture, Megumi’s heart stutters.
Gojo sits with one arm over the bench, the other still raised in the air greeting Megumi. “Hey kiddo, care for a chat?”
The air punches itself out of his gut because, that is Gojo right? He looks real enough, sounds real enough. And ultimately that is all it takes for Megumi’s feet to carry him towards the bench. When he reaches it, Gojo pats the spot next to him, gesturing for him to sit. He obliges, sitting down and facing the man next to him.
“Well, you’ve looked better,” Gojo opens with.
Megumi frowns at him, fists curling subconsciously on his thighs. “Did you really call me over here just to tell me I looked like shit?” Disbelief traces his words because 1. What is Gojo doing here, and 2. Why would he be here just to chide him?
The older man chuffs a laugh, turning to face the sun. Megumi watches as the light reflects off his glasses, pushed up the bridge of his nose. “She wanted to be here too, y’know.”
He flinches, not expecting that to be his next statement. His throat constricts as he struggles with the words. “I- she’s dead. I killed her, didn’t I?” The stinging of his eyes is his only warning as tears start to fall, racing their way down his face and onto his lap.
Gojo leans forward, resting his forearms on his knees as he taps his fingers against each other. A habit Megumi observed throughout his childhood when the other man was trying to teach them something about cursed energy or get them to understand a math equation that was a part of their homework.
“She was gone before you fought her, Megumi.”
His breath hitches at Gojo’s words. “What do you mean?”
Gojo tilts his head towards Megumi, glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose and revealing sharp blue eyes. “She passed long before that actually. When Tsumiki awoke, as you know, it was not her soul in that body. Her own soul had been overridden. She died.” He pauses briefly, considering his next words. “She didn’t feel anything, Megs. She wanted me to tell you that. She wanted me to tell you that it’s not your fault either.”
Megumi’s shoulders shake with his cries. “How could she say that? How could you say that? After-” He chokes up, a whimper barely slipping past his lips before he says, “After I killed you!”
Gojo continues to stare at him, eyes calculating before sighing and running a hand through his hair. “It’s not your fault, kiddo. It’s mine for not preparing you enough for this.”
Megumi’s sobs falter. “W-What?”
The older man leans back against the bench as he tilts his head towards the sky. The sun is deeper in its descent now, casting everything around them in a glow.
“I’m sorry I’m not going to be there for you. After everything. I’m sorry you have to do this alone from here on out, but I’m not sorry about what happened.” Gojo closes his eyes before leaning his head back down to meet Megumi’s watery gaze. “You and Tsumiki? You two were my greatest decision. I will always be proud of how you two have grown. I will always be proud to have been the one to watch that growth.”
Megumi’s stomach sinks at the realization that he’s lost his family. His sister…and his father. The father that taught him how to summon his shikigami. The father that would bring back stupid souvenirs when he was away on trips because he said ‘They reminded me of you!’
He shakes his head. “I cant.” Gojo frowns at him, head tilting in question. “I-I’m not strong enough. Gojo, I can't-”
“Yes you can,” Gojo fires back with a fierceness Megumi had not heard in ages. “The Megumi I raised was never a quitter. He got cut up, yes--bruised even--but he always- always got right back up again.”
Megumi shutters as memories flood through him. Images of himself messily trying to clean up his wounds after one of his school fights and Gojo tsking before showing him how to properly clean up ‘Since you’re going to be doing this so often.’
Another of when he first learned how to summon his demon dogs, too little to do anything but treat them like normal animals. One of his shikigami barrelled into him with a little too much excitement, causing him to scrape his knees. He remembers Gojo chuckling at first but eventually squatting and teaching him hand signals on how to command his dogs to stop.
“It’s not your time yet kiddo,” Gojo’s voice cuts through his memories. “They still need you. He needs you.” A flash of pink clouds his vision for a split second but he meets Gojo’s gaze again.
His figure starts to become watery at the edges, the sun finally fading into the horizon. He doesn’t want to go, he doesn’t want to leave Gojo. He’s not ready yet, but when he thinks about everyone waiting for him, when he thinks about a familiar mop of pink hair…Megumi knows what he needs to do.
Gojo tilts his head so his eyes meet Megumi's with a knowing look. He mouths something that Megumi can’t hear, his body starting to slip back into numbness. Frantically he looks back at Gojo one last time. The man is smiling softly at him, eyes shining as the horizon flashes green and he is drawn back into the abyss.
The world fades black again, darkness beckoning towards him.
When Megumi comes back to his body, he jolts, still crouched down where he was swallowed moments before, but where there were once shadows, he now feels warmth.
The darkness retreats from the light and he hears, “Wake up, Fushiguro!”
His eyes widen at the voice, and he fights.
He fights for Tsumiki, for Gojo, for himself.
He fights for the world Gojo wanted to build for him, for them.
He clenches his fists, nails digging into shadow and when he looks up, Itadori is already gone, but his warmth stays with him. And Megumi?
Megumi thrashes and rips into the dark.
Because he is Megumi Fushiguro, he controls the shadows, and they will bend to his will.
He grits his teeth and begins.