A/N
Not beta-ed I apologize for minor grammatical mistakes in advance

IMPORTANT REMINDER

I noticed some inconsistencies with the timeline after I re-read it. I realized they were all a year younger than they were supposed to be, so I edited the previous chapters making them older. Important details to note: Emi was sucked inside the blackhole on her 13th birthday (2003) just before 2nd Year of Middle School.

3043 January 1

What remained of the battle was injured sorcerers that covered half of the population and a couple of deaths, thanks to Shohei's sacrifice that eliminated a good chunk of powerful cursed spirits. In the end, no one managed to convince him to stay, and he decided to die along with the person he loved. The consequence of the said event left Emi with a wailing nine-year-old boy and an emotionally traumatized teen. On the good side, she was glad they were not taking it too well. It was always better to express your grief than let it fester and rot inside your chest.

Something she learned the hard way. On the downside, Emi did not only need to deal with minors but also the grieving adults.

Lis stood on her left, trying to hold back her tears after they finally made a make-shift grave. There was no carcass, and there was a high chance every part of his body was blown to smithereens. Not the best way to describe someone's death, but without a physical reminder that Shohei died, it gave the people he left the fastest way to move on. Emi did not mean to sound nonchalant about the older man's death (Satoru did rub off on her), so she quickly erased her thoughts and focused on the process of sending off the dead.

Emi glanced at the two boys kneeling in front of the grave. Daiki was still crying while Kouki was comforting him. Shichiro left earlier, probably to process his emotions in private. They buried all his treasured things on top of the mountain where they could easily access and remember him. She sighed inwardly and left the three people. The girl walked down on the mountain into the lush forest to be alone.

Even after witnessing countless deaths and experiencing one herself, Emi could never get used to it.

Which was something she was glad for since it was proof she still had humanity. The tricky part was its drawback and how it affected her how to process emotions. Without any external help, Emi's anxiety was as irritating as ever. For the love of God, she did not know how to solve her worsening self-confidence. Everything was covered with a façade ever since she came here, and the only thing she could do was damage control. Nothing solved the root cause for good.

Emi missed her friends. She missed the arrogance of Satoru, that in some way, they were keeping each other in check.

Secretly, the girl admired Shohei's decision. Something she would never admit out loud because if placed in his shoes, the moment her loved one died, she would die with them right away. Emi was a coward—that was something she could acknowledge—and as a person who had already lived her first life, she would not hesitate to die because of some minor inconvenience.

Hey, she was so close to ending it all, and she only needed an excuse to go.

"Damn," she whispered, finding herself at the foot of the mountain. If Satoru found her thought process, he would straight-up kill her. Shuddering at that thought, she stuck her tongue out, mentally cursing the white-haired boy.

AFTER SIX YEARS

3049 March 02

Daiki unhurriedly swung the metal ax over the cursed spirit, using cursed energy to strengthen his attack. Kouki appeared behind the curse then sent it far away with a kick. His senpai gave him a thumbs up, confirming they had already exorcised the special grade cursed spirit. Heaving a sigh of relief, he was glad to take a break from continuous hacking and slashing outside the camp.

The now 21-year-old Kouki drilled his fist on the top of his head while chuckling. "You did great, Daiki!"

"Stop, stop, stop!" The previous little boy was now a teen; however, he could never get used to the physical torture (knowing full well it was a sign of affection). "EMIIIIIIII! Kouki's bullying me again!" He complained out loud, which immediately forced Kouki to stop with his abuse.

A girl around Daiki's age appeared before them. With a slap of the man's hand, she warned him with a look. "For god's sake, Kouki, you're an adult now."

The man rolled his eyes. "Here goes our snitch," Kouki grabbed the Daiki by the scruff of his neck and threw him into the air.

Emi caught the boy mid-air, a little unimpressed. She dropped Daiki on the ground carefully and dusted off his clothes. The teen said a quick thanks as he glared at his senpai.

The girl looked the same as the first time they first met her. Maybe a little bit older, but Daiki was sure she looked way younger than Kouki in every aspect. Since she stayed on top of the mountains most of the time, people would mistake that they were the same age whenever they went out. Not that they bothered to correct others, but it started to irritate Emi, so the times she went down the mountains became less and less. She and Shichiro were still doing their thing, and the only difference was they now knew what they were doing.

Emi was going to leave them, and it was going to happen today.

If you asked the child Daiki if he believed in time travel, he'd say no outright, but now, he begged to differ. His understanding of that stuff was on the surface level, and the only thing he knew was that Emi stayed here for another two years voluntarily. To be honest, he and Kouki were playing it cool. They were never composed at all. It was like the death of a loved one all over again. However, Emi was not going to die and was only going to disappear forever.

Daiki's heart felt a pang of pain, so he decided to distract himself. "Is Lis still busy with the council?"

"I think so?" Kouki was the one who answered his question. He scrunched up his nose, a little disappointed they rarely saw the woman. "But she said she would be with us later."

Lis became Shohei's replacement after his passing. Well, something like that. In truth, the one who was the 'leader figure' of their human camp was Kouki and the one managing the paperwork was the older woman. Everyone liked the set-up, and even if they gave those secretarial work to him, he would raise hell. The man had zero talent managing his schedule, and the only thing salvageable about his personality was his leadership skills.

"Daiki, you should train more with Kouki. You need some work with some of your extension techniques." Emi remarked offhandedly, opening the gates of their home in the human camp. Waiting for the two to follow her, she added, "Kouki, don't let Lis work too hard. Always remind her to rest."

Kouki hummed in agreement and closed the door as the last person who entered. Emi's way of teaching was too brutal, while Shichiro's was too strict. If combined, it made training feel like he was being tortured from the bottom up. Although it made him pretty competent in fighting, he didn't know if he could live another day. Daiki wanted to go to his room and sleep right away.

Kami, there were no days where he could rest easy.

Daiki entered his room and let himself fall on the bed. He closed his eyes, and right when he was about to fall asleep, the door to his room opened.

"Kouki, get outside of my room, or I'll get you out by force," Daiki warned while not even bothering to open his eyes; he was that tired.

There were sounds of his things being moved, and he was damn sure Kouki was tinkering with his things again. "You know Emi's leaving later, right?"

With a soft sigh, he opened his eyes to see his face inches away from his. "Of course, I do. Who wouldn't?" Pushing away Kouki's face, he sat up from his bed, visibly exhausted. "It feels surreal. I almost want to beg her to don't go, but I'm pretty sure that's what she always wanted to do since she arrived here."

"We have different priorities, and she always tells us to choose what we think is important. She needed to go back. On the contrary, for us who grew up here, we needed to stay. It would be selfish to force her to be here," Kouki said, lying down beside him with a thump.

For all Daiki knew, it took great courage to say these words because of all the people; he was the one most attached to her.

They were together for more or less seven years. It was like getting separated from your childhood friend right when you turned into an adult. Not to mention she became a large part of their lives, and without her, it would not be possible to reach where they were at all. However they both knew what they should do, and that was to support her decisions just like how she supported theirs.

"Hey, Kouki, do you think we could visit her there?" Daiki asked on a whim, lost in his thoughts.

The man who was staring at the ceiling bit his lips. "No. I already asked Shichiro-san. It was a one-way trip for only one person, and that was Emi," he sat up, trying to ignore the sinking feeling on his chest. "Time travel is complicated, and they tailored the research on Emi's biological makeup."

"Isn't that hard?"

"It is. But it would be much harder to make the trip free-for-all. Not to mention Shichiro-san didn't have as much cursed energy as before." Kouki remembered how the older man explained it patiently to him right after they informed them of the situation. "Let's try our best to find her when the time comes," he said in an attempt to comfort the teen beside him.

Daiki frowned but managed to reply nonetheless. "Okay."

Shichiro laughed lightly when Emi expressed her concern about him continuing to stay alone in the mountains. "I've been here for the longest time. What's the use of moving?"

"That's the point." Emi shot back in an attempt to convince him to stay inside the human camp. "You already stayed there for so long. What was the use of staying?"

The older man shrugged, refraining from answering as he finalized the details on the magic circle. Shichiro was preparing to send off the girl. Staring at her, Emi did not get old at all. At least, by his standards. The two boys she had taken care of now towered over her, and she did not look anywhere near her 20s. It was because the time in the future was three times faster than the 'current' timeline where she came from. They had few hypotheses, but the main one was that the quicker the dimension was nearing its end, aging for its inhabitants would be faster as well.

This was a dimension at the brink of being destroyed. If estimated, they still had a little over half a millennium before it disappeared.

Granted, it seemed it did not apply to someone born from the same generation here. Emi's 'time' was a different concept from theirs, causing her to age at the same rate she should have back in her own timeline.

"I'm finished with the preparations. I'll call the others here." Shichiro offered, standing from his previous kneeling position with a sigh.

"Please do. Thank you."

He went outside the door to call Daiki, Kouki, and Lisa, waiting patiently outside. When Shichiro opened the door for them, what greeted him was a depressing atmosphere like one of their loved ones was being sent to death row. The older man felt the same way; that was why he could not blame them. All of them were close with Emi and her leaving for good meant they would never see her again. However, they understood she was not originally from here and followed her wishes.

After entering, Daiki rushed inside to tackle the girl into a hug. Emi fell backward because of the collision then patted the boy's back. Neither of them said anything. The girl did not want to comfort them while they were too scared to say their goodbyes.

"That's enough, Daiki." Kouki pulled the boy from Emi. He could hear him sobbing as he placed him a couple of meters away.

"I-I'm sorry, Emi. Hic!" Daiki was sincerely sorry because he knew this was an important day for the girl. "I just—"

"—it's okay." Emi appeared in front of them in a split second, ruffling his hair. "I know this is hard for all of you, and I want to thank you for respecting my decision," she said, then hugged the two boys she grew up with. "Please remember me."

Kouki was not supposed to cry but got extremely emotional from her words. "You suck."

"Yeah, I do."

Shichiro met Lis' eyes as they exchanged looks. They were still young, and there were few occasions where they had cut off connections with a person important to them. He guessed it would be better this way. None of them would hold any grudges, and the older man hoped they could accept Emi's departure. Everything must come to an end, and they should be able to get that.

After a session of crying, Shichiro finally led Emi to the center of the magic circle. He activated his innate technique, limitless, and transferred some of his curse energy to the circle. A small indent appeared in the middle, and after a while, it turned into a dark void.

Emi only brought her broadsword and nothing else. Her hair fluttered from the air produced by the black hole below. The other three people in the room also waved goodbye. When she looked at the older man, he nodded at her, telling her to go.

"Then—" Emi tucked the flying white strands of hair away from her face, "—I'll be going now."

The girl bowed respectfully as a farewell. The others murmured 'itterasshai' to return the gesture and watched her disappear to the void. Shichiro did not notice his eyes getting wet after Emi disappeared. Heaving a deep sigh, no one moved from where they were standing until an hour later.

It was the third time Shichiro found that it was difficult to sleep. The first time was after the death of Radana, the second time was the self-destruction of Shohei, and the third time was when Emi left. The old man decided to go to the study room and distract himself for a moment. He was forced to walk down the hallways, and without the girl who used to light the lamps every night, it was extremely dark. But he didn't mind; his thoughts were swirling in his head.

"Ah, I'm going to destroy all these, aren't I?" He remembered when he saw the papers stacked neatly on top of the table.

The old man decided to put all the books and papers inside boxes to burn time. He was not sleepy anyway, and it would be better to get rid of everything in the room. He struggled to decide whether to keep his and the girl's research but placed them in a separate box anyway. Shichiro was so focused on packing when a book in between the shelves fell on his feet.

Narrowing his eyes, he leaned to grab it. The cover was a simple, hard-bound black book. It was unlike the books inside the study room. Someone had intentionally hidden it in between the shelves so that no one could see it. Nothing was written on top to indicate what it was about, so he decided to open it out of curiosity.

"Ieiri…Shoko?" He whispered, narrowing his eyes a couple of times to read it. It did not help that the candle flame was continuously flickering, so he placed the book nearer to his face. "Is this a journal of Ieiri Shoko?"

Shichiro browsed through the contents with a wrinkled forehead. The first pages contained updates about the research and how she and Gojo Satoru were progressing poorly. There was nothing much, so he did not read most of the parts. The old man lazily closed the book and decided to pack it inside the boxes with the things he should burn.

Eventually, he forgot about the book. He took out the boxes and lined them on the training ground. Feeling the urge to sleep, he yawned and walked back to his room. It took him until morning to separate the things he should dispose of and things he should keep. Shichiro felt it would be better if he followed Emi's suggestion and moved inside the human camp. She was correct; he was staying on the mountain for too long.

The wind blew outside and opened one of the boxes. Unexpectedly, one opened along with its contents. Unknown to Shichiro, the book he placed upside down earlier flew open, revealing a series of words at the back written in cursive.

Emi, I'm really sorry. Suguru and Satoru died, and I don't think I can continue this research alone. Please, please come back.

2004 March 02

"Do you want to visit Emi's grave with us?" Suguru gave the coffee he was holding to the white-haired boy. "Koichi-san's coming with us," he explained, hoping he would agree this time.

"Why would I visit her grave when she's not dead." Satoru raised his eyeglasses while he leaned on the mid-back office chair they bought earlier this year. He yawned and stretched his limbs to remove the soreness he was feeling.

"Well, at least get out of this fucking room, maybe?" Shoko dropped the rims of paper she was holding on the table in front of them and sighed in contemplation. "We're all doing this dimensional travel research, and none of us took a break this week. You should come with us. There's food in Suguru's house."

"Nope."

Suguru rolled his eyes in irritation and decided to pull the white-haired boy's long hair. "What are you stubborn for? Your hair's gotten so damn long, and you won't take a bath unless you're forced to. When did you become homeless?"

"Just get out of the room. Close the doors while you're at it," Satoru let out a lazy drawl and pointed at the door Shoko left open. Closing both of his eyes, he refused to talk to the two further and buried himself again with work.

Suguru knew that they wouldn't convince the boy this time, so he gestured for Shoko to leave. He placed the tray of food he brought inside earlier so that Satoru wouldn't forget to eat it. These days, he refused to let go of his research, even skipping meal times to finish it earlier. Closing the door behind him, he exchanged glances with Shoko, who was waiting outside. Both of them were worried about his physical and mental health, so they tried their best to talk to him whenever they could.

Out of the three of them, he was the most affected by the disappearance of Emi.

In the first week after she vanished, the Gojo Clan tried to find information about any cursed spirit with the same cursed technique like the curse Emi and Satoru exorcised before. However, it was to no avail. It was a one-of-a-kind cursed spirit created because of some people's fear of time, space, and everything they could not control. It would take a while before an enemy like that would appear again, and the best course of action was to find out how it travels from dimension to dimension.

The white-haired boy started to distance himself from them, and even though he acted the same way as before, he preferred to talk to the same people he was close to. Sometimes he would even refuse to speak with his father and grandfather. It was an alarming situation, so Suguru and Shoko made sure he could eat three times a day. The two could not even process the disappearance of Emi since they were busy taking care of Satoru. This was fortunate because the two would somewhat distract themselves than spiral into madness.

"What time are you going?" Suguru asked after they were at the Gojo compound's gate. His mother asked him to invite the two, and she would surely be disappointed if Satoru didn't come.

"I have to take care of some of Dr. Tomita's things. He was busy tagging along with Masamichi-san these days." Shoko rubbed her eyes because of tiredness. She was the one who took over Emi's work, making sure that if she ever came back, everything would be in perfect condition. "Do you think we should invite Nanami-kun, too?"

"The blond kid that you tricked into doing some of your secretarial work?"

"Hey! Don't make me feel bad. Plus, he had the talent. Do you think I would let that go to waste?" The girl crossed her arms, stomping one of her feet to defend herself. Shoko managed to pull the surprisingly competent recently scouted boy that was good with paperwork. After being fooled by Suguru, his life savior, he entered their middle school last year when threatened that he wouldn't have a normal school life again unless he were with them.

Which was partially right. It was hard to ignore cursed spirits when you could see them. The difficulty would rise a few notches if you were inside a school that produces curses like a damn factory.

Suguru waved goodbye to Shoko, walking to the opposite side to buy groceries since his mother gave him a shopping list before going outside earlier. "Then invite him. Kaa-san would like more children inside the house," he shouted, facing away from the girl.

It was raining. Shoko haphazardly opened the umbrella as she walked to Emi's gravestone. It was pretty far from the entrance, so they had to take a car. They were supposed to go home, but they saw a familiar silhouette earlier and decided to come back. Suguru was walking in front of her while Nanami was walking behind. She pulled the blond earlier by force, and when he realized he couldn't refuse to go with them because Emi's father would be offended, he gave up.

"I knew you'd go here." Opening another umbrella over the white-haired boy, she stood beside him as he kneeled before the gravestone.

"You should've brought an umbrella, Satoru." Suguru lined up with them while throwing a towel over the boy's head. "You'd get sick if you continue to be like this."

Nanami, who was turned into Shoko's lackey, decided to interrupt them. "That's my towel Geto-san," he reminded them, his face flinching from time to time.

"Next time, be fast enough so that it wouldn't get stolen," she replied with a harrumphed expression. Shoko ignored the depressed blond kid behind them and faced the two boys. "Make sure to return the towel, Suguru," Shoko whispered, afraid the boy would hear her.

"Why are we bullying him again?"

"Because he's too rule-abiding, too stiff, we should cross the line for him once in a while." Shoko wiped Satoru's hair who was staring silently at Emi's grave. After drying it a little, she threw the towel back to Suguru, who hid it inside his pocket.

They stayed like that for an hour. The white-haired boy refused to talk from start to finish as if the only thing he could see was Emi's name engraved on the stone. None of them complained and listened to the raindrops as it pitter-pattered on the concrete. Even Nanami, who was not familiar with their friend, decided to wait behind them, minding his manners.

"Let's go back." Finally, Satoru stood up and wore his black blindfold over his eyes. Grabbing the umbrella from Shoko, he sent her a grateful glance then disappeared from where he was standing.

Suguru and Shoko shrugged then started to walk back. They couldn't teleport back with Satoru since they came here with Suzume and Koichi. On the other hand, Nanami was following behind them, peeking curiously from time to time.

2005 July 14

Kunitaro visited his old friend inside his house. Tadashi preferred to stay indoors right after her granddaughter's death. Emi was declared dead after her long time disappearance, and eventually, Koichi prepared her burial without her ashes. He also informed her non-sorcerer friends that her cause of death was a car accident so they could attend her funeral.

"You should stop acting like this," he did not even greet the old man right after he entered and started to scold him. "Even your son managed to recover. Do you want to die while lying on your bed?"

"Koichi believes she will come back," Tadashi murmured under his breath while lying on his back. "But I know better. She won't. Like how my dear wife didn't," he shot back full of underlying grievances in his tone.

The old man knew how his friend lost his wife. Like the same way Emi vanished, she was also eaten by a blackhole to God knows where and declared dead months after the jujutsu authorities labeled it an accident during a mission. While her death certificate was not released since there was no physical evidence (by civilian standards), there was no known way to save her currently. Kunitaro doubted that even Master Tengen could help them. Additionally, the jujutsu commissioner seemed rather glad that the three families were at odds again after the death of their only liaison. There was no chance they would lend a helping hand.

"I don't know what to do with you. Even my own grandson refuses to talk to me."

Kunitaro was left alone at home without anyone to talk to. While Satoru was slowly becoming like his father, doing whatever he was doing inside his room. Thankfully, his friends would drop by during the days he refused to go to school. It assured him a little; however, that was only a temporary measure, and there was still a large possibility he would also shun his two friends.

"The hardest part of caring for someone is the day you lose them." Tadashi continued to stare at the ceiling as if he was the only one in the room. "I'm this old, and yet I can't let go of my granddaughter. Satoru-sama must be in the same condition."

None of them spoke for a while, but the silence did not make it awkward for the two.

Everything changed after Emi vanished. Even his daily life was affected because he was rather fond of the girl. But it didn't matter now, considering they had attempted all the ways to bring her back and none of them worked. Kunitaro remembered what his grandson said. The boy told him that she would come back. The kind of trust he never showed anyone before.

He got a bad feeling about the years to come.

Kunitaro stood up from the tatami mat and proceeded to leave. Before closing the door, he decided to say what he was thinking, "He's a smart child. I know he knows what's right or wrong. But the problems of the mind didn't have a one-time solution."

2007 May 30

"Suguru!" Shoko shouted after the door burst open, and with a panicked expression, she said, "S-Suzume-san was attacked!"

The boy stood as the chair he was sitting on screeched as it was pushed back from the force. Shoko came back from Kyoto Jujutsu High to visit Dr. Tomita and Masamichi, so she had to skip school. On the other hand, the two boys were inside the Gojo clan compound like any other day. They finished school early, so he went straight to Satoru's room. Seeing the girl's presence, many things ran inside his head when a hand touched his shoulders.

"Let's teleport there," Satoru told him, grabbing the alarmed Shoko by the door to pull her near them. "Shoko, where are they right now?"

"In Jujutsu High." The teen closed her eyes in worry. She went straight to the compound after she received Masamichi's text. Dr. Tomita was the only one she saw in Kyoto. On the contrary, their sensei stayed in Tokyo because of the sudden unexpected situation.

Shoko felt it was the Star Plasma Vessel incident again.

It was rarely discussed, and if it came up in their conversation, Satoru and Suguru would try to avoid it. The two boys didn't manage to save Amanai Riko and had to watch the members of the Time Vessel Association clap around them while carrying her corpse. The girl was the designated Star Plasma Vessel that prevented Master Tengen from becoming a god, so they wanted to kill her.

The Time Vessel Association (時の器の会, Toki no Utsuwa no Kai ) was also called the Star Religious Group that revered Master Tengen as their God. They were filthy rich and had a collection of rare cursed tools taking into account their long history. They go way back to the Nara period, 710 to 784 AD, where Buddhism was at its peak. When Tengen, the immortal jujutsu sorcerer, started to preach for Japanese Buddhism to pave the way for jujutsu-shis at that time. In the end, it looked as if it was all for naught because, currently, those religious non-sorcerers were at odds with the people they were supposed to support.

They paid Zenin Toji to assassinate the girl, and he was even successful in killing Satoru for a short time. If only the white-haired teen didn't learn the reverse cursed technique because of the near-death experience, he might also be buried now beside Emi's grave. Shoko was not with them during that time because she was on another mission. So when they brought Riko back to Tokyo, it was too late to save her.

Shoko wished nothing terrible had happened to Suzume, or else she didn't know what would happen to both Suguru and Satoru.

Suguru cried while he embraced the dead body of his kaa-san. His cries echoed inside the morgue, and no one had the nerve to go near him while he was grieving beside the table where Suzume lies were Koichi's corpse, who was also killed during the incident. Satoru was sitting near the door while Shoko stood before Emi's father. Their co-students from Jujutsu High were also present, staying at the mortuary's reception room after they learned of the incident.

Yaga was at the center of the room, observing the kids that he watched grow up with sad eyes. "Some of the surviving Time Vessel Association members hired curse users to kill Suzume. They took revenge because you killed their members back in your last mission."

They were right. Satoru and Suguru killed some of them and they were not sorry. He had boundless hatred for them, and now that they killed her mother, he wanted revenge. Back then, no one expected they would hire the failure of the Zenin clan to kill Riko. As a result, they did not expect a non-sorcerer to join the fray and were not prepared. Despite the fact that it was a year since the incident, it continuously bogged the boy's mind.

It was all thanks to Emi's previous connections, so authorities pardoned them from killing many civilians. Shoko, Dr. Tomita, and Masamichi also helped them from being kicked out of the jujutsu community.

Suguru wanted all those monkeys to pay. How dare those ants kill his mother? How dare they?

2007 September 09

Masamichi was stopped earlier by Osamu. But he needed to be the one to deliver the news to Satoru. "Suguru massacred the village he went to and was now on the run."

"What?"

"He—"

Satoru widened his eyes behind his glasses as his tone became harsher. "I heard you. You don't need to repeat yourself."

Masamichi blinked, scratching the back of his neck as he explained the details. "He also started a fire in his home, and now the houses near it were burning as well."

"There's no fucking way he did—"

"Satoru." The older man warned, knowing full well how the white-haired boy would take it. "I don't get why this is happening either. But this is the truth."

He was inside the school's infirmary when he heard the news, and for kami's sake—he couldn't believe it either. There was no way. Masamichi was with them when they were children as well as when they became teens. He and Osamu saw their rebellious phase, he consoled them after Emi's disappearance and Suzume's death, and he was the one who taught them. The massacre hadn't sunk in, and he believed it would never do.

Masamichi left Satoru standing in the hallway, giving him some time alone.

"Yo, Suguru." Shoko sat by the pavement, waiting for someone to light her cigarette. Considering she was wearing her jujutsu uniform, no one even talked to her. "Need something from me?"

"I'm just trying my luck." Suguru ignited the lighter he pulled out from nowhere using his thumb, then offered it to Shoko, who gratefully lit her daily source of nicotine.

Shoko inhaled the smoke and exhaled it after a few seconds. "You really did it, didn't you?" She gazed at the blue sky, wondering how they arrived at this predicament. "Can I convince you otherwise?"

"Nah, unfortunately not." Her friend slid his hands inside his pockets and showed his usual bright smile. Suguru's face seemed a few years older than he was, and his eyes did not reflect the happy expression on his face.

Shoko knew this was coming. Ever since she witnessed Suguru's growing hatred with non-sorcerers, she had a clue. She tried her best to stop it; however, it was impossible considering he had already deluded himself with his beliefs. There was only one way to save him, or at least to give him something akin to redemption, and that was Emi's existence. But she was not here, and she doubted if she would ever be.

It was funny how they all depended on her, and now without her, every one of them had a few screws loose. If she didn't distract herself from work and her studies, she would also be like Suguru.

Ring!

"And why?" Shoko asked without malice as she pulled her ringing phone from the pocket of her skirt.

Ring!

"I want to create a world where only sorcerers exist."

Ring!

Shoko looked at her phone screen for a moment. "Suguru, you already know what you should and shouldn't do. This time, Satoru and I wouldn't be able to accompany you." She clicked the answer button and placed the phone near her ear. "Satoru, I'm with your man in Shinjuku. Hurry, or he will find a gigolo somewhere."

Suguru thought that when he met Satoru again, he would shout at him, maybe even curse him a few times. Contrary to his belief, there was no anger, spite, or blame when he met the white-haired teen's eyes.

"You already decided with this shit?" Satoru spat on the ground, looking at him straight in the eyes without his eyeglasses or blindfold.

Suguru smiled and tilted his head a little. "Don't you know me?"

They had been with each other for the longest time. Suguru's dreams, motivations, and aspirations were not a secret to the white-haired teen. It seemed Satoru realized that he wouldn't back out from what he was planning to do right when he met his eyes. Although he asked just to make sure, he appreciated the confirmation.

"Out of the three of us, you were the one who knew better." Satoru pulled out his black glasses from his pocket, his voice getting weaker the longer he stared at his best friend. "This will be the last time I will be willing to let you go." Then as if remembering something, he added before he left, "You really should've continued your sessions with Dr. Tomita."

Suguru could not help but snicker at the teen's last message for him. He was left alone, standing in the middle of the sidewalk. Walking against the crowd of people from Shinjuku, he realized his heart had always felt empty. Did he turn into some psychopath? But if he didn't save the world from those monkeys, who would?

2017 December 24

Suguru held the place where his arms were supposed to be. He sat on the pavement after successfully escaping from Okkotsu Yuta's last attack. Although he survived the blast, half of his body disappeared, and without a proper jujutsu sorcerer who could use the reverse cursed technique, the man had to suffer being armless his whole life. But it didn't matter; if he could get a hold of Rika, then he would be able to kill all those monkeys. Then he could free the world from those parasites.

"You're late, Satoru." Suguru heaved a big breath as he tried to ignore the pain from his missing limb. "To think you'd checkmate me. How are my other family members, huh?"

"They all ran away, Suguru. You ordered the same for those in Kyoto, didn't you?" The previous white-haired boy turned into the most powerful man in the jujutsu world. He looked at him blankly as he entertained him with this casual conversation.

Suguru eyed him sideways, smiling while he looked at his best friend. "I'm not like you. You even used me so that your students would improve, right?" He shot back with faux sarcasm, leaning on the wall behind him. "Satoru, I will never be like you. I know she's never going to come back."

"Emi's going to come back." The white-haired man instantaneously reacted as if it was his mantra.

"Next time, don't trust people too much. You and Shoko…" Suguru trailed off as if recalling a distant memory. "Both of you never gave up," he muttered with a weak breath. Turning to face the man, he said in hesitation, "Nevermind. You also sent all of your students even if you knew I would hurt them."

Satoru's gaze didn't falter, meeting his eyes. "It's because I trusted you. I knew you wouldn't kill young sorcerers for a reason."

He laughed loudly. There was something about his words that reminded him of their relationship when they were children.

Both of them went through hell and back. They took care of each other's backs, and even if they lost one of their precious friends, their friendship did not waver. Suguru did not know when he started to get twisted. Maybe it was when Emi disappeared or when he saw his kaa-san's body lying on the cold morgue table. The man couldn't remember, and the girl, the sound of reason in their group, was not there to point out the clearest path.

Ah, that was right. Maybe it happened when Emi, who was holding them together, vanished. Or at least that was what he told himself.

"I'm returning this," he said, then flicked the card from his hands to his best friend. It was Yuta's identification card that he stole when they were exorcising curses.

"That elementary school ID was also your work?!"

Suguru leaned his head backward. "I guess."

"You're a lost cause," the man said in disbelief as he kept the identification card in his pocket. Satoru glanced at his dismembered body, then asked him after a while, "Any last words?"

The little boy full of hope that Emi saved from his abusive father was nowhere to be seen. Suguru knew that if she saw him now, she would be seriously disappointed. Sadly, he already lost all hope of the girl returning, and ever since he killed all those countryside monkeys to save the two children, he knew he would never be able to look back. But now that he was on the verge of death, he remembered how she would always remind him to prioritize himself first.

No one spoke for a moment. "I miss Emi. If she ever comes back, tell her I didn't regret a thing."

"She will come back," Satoru repeated with a sad smile on his face. "Alright, I'll make sure to tell her that."

Suguru grinned from the heart—the first time since Emi's death. Well, he guessed he would die with a clear mind after all.

2018 November 10

Gojo Satoru, along with Yaga Masamichi, was sentenced to death by the elders of the Jujutsu Headquarters. The former was accused of killing many non-sorcerers during the Shinjuku incident, while the latter was blamed for making it happen. The white-haired man had no misgivings at all. Zero, zip, zilch, nada . His last wish was for his students to live longer than him. So he already talked to the second years to take care of his first-year students; that was already enough.

The Shinjuku incident began with some Kenjaku guy manipulating Suguru's body to seal him in a box called Prison Gate's Boundary, also called Prison Realm (獄門疆, Gokumonkyō ), which was a cursed object of exceptional value that contained a barrier capable of trapping anything or anybody inside an impenetrable pocket dimension. However, he instantly reacted, removing that cursed brain from his best friend's body. The one thing out of his calculations was when that brain escaped during the fight.

"Did you make sure to cremate him?" Satoru glanced at Shoko behind bars, lying on the make-shift bed inside the cell.

"I'll make sure to cremate you, too," Shoko announced out loud, preventing her emotions from showing. "Are you really going to give up like this?"

The white-haired man observed her fluctuating cursed energy and smirked. "Careful of your feelings, Shoko. It's showing."

"Fuck you." Shoko cursed, her hands curling into a fist. "Are you going to leave me here like this? With a dying wish to continue that fucking research?" The woman growled . The anger she held since Suguru's psychopathic action and Satoru's selfish sacrifice started to show. Tears appeared in her eyes as she kneeled in front of the cell. "Will she go back? What would she go back to? A world where the two of you don't exist anymore?"

The white-haired man didn't reply. Instead, he sat on his bed, watching his friend sob on the floor. Satoru could not tell her his plans because if he did, then there's a significant possibility it wouldn't happen. Nevertheless, he tried to understand where his friends were coming from—as Emi told him to do. He trusted them more than anyone in the world, and he knew how the girl's disappearance ruined each of them in some way. He wanted to apologize to Shoko, but he held it in.

The sobbing continued as Shoko cursed at him and Suguru at the same time. Thankfully, this was the only cell that could hold Gojo Satoru, so it was isolated from the others. "Promise me. Promise me something would come out of this," she murmured under her breath while wiping the tears from her face.

"I promise." Satoru looked at her in assurance, knowing full well the only way this plan would work was with his death.

A/N

Aaaaaand that's the end of another arc! I think my brain overheated because of this long-ass chapter. I hope this answers most of your questions. To clarify, the latter half was what happened (or will happen) if Emi did not come back. And since the time ratio was 1:3 years (current to future), the events from 2004-2005 happened in the 'current' timeline. The events that occurred after that would happen (again) if our girl did not return. Anyway, I'm so excited for the next arc *cue screaming*. Let me know if I have some things I need to elaborate on more (so I could make a short note or add it to the next chapter).

To those who asked me about the extension technique of limitless, yes other people can learn it too. It's like an additional skill. Limitless itself works without six-eyes so we can assume those who learned the extension technique can learn it without issues. Inherited technique (Limitless Technique of Gojos, Cursed Speech of Inumakis, Blood Manipulation of Kamos, and Ten Shadows Technique of Zenins) can't be obtained if you did not hail from the same bloodline. Extension technique is like a bastardized version.