Chapter 23

For the next week, Suiryu was at Yuuji's side.

He was able to eat and drink okay, and yet at the same time, his body was changing. Something was defiantly happening, yet he couldn't understand what or how. Even Gojo was confused as he noticed the alterations. "Is he healing?" Satoru asked aloud one morning.

A week had passed since it all happened. Peering over Yuuji. Suiryu was taken aback, the small cracks that had started to appear… vanished. The larger gaps that formed were closing up. The veins had begun receding. "He is." Suiryu said with great amazement. "But… how? This isn't possible, nothing we did worked."

"I wonder…" Satoru said. "When you went to Suiryu land, Ryujin took over and asked to use Yuuji's body for a moment. He disappeared in an instant, but no one knew where he went to or when he came back!"

He paused. "Suiryu land?" he asked in confusion.

Gojo smirked. "When you get deep into thought, you zone out completely. You didn't even know Ryujin left or had a plan of his own, the moment you heard the idea of swapping bodies, you were gone into your little world there."

A moment of pause came over him, but he agreed. He tends to zone out when he gets deep into thought. "Figures as much, by the way, you are not welcomed to Suiryu land,"

Gojo laughed, perhaps he wasn't anticipating a joke at a time like this?

"Still, the fact that his body is recovering, I won't say it's a bad thing, yet at the same time. I wonder, how do you heal damage done from part of a dragon?" He had taken some time with Kitsune of all people, to look over the device that the body thief known as Xing possessed. Kitsune pointed out that it was formed from dragon scales, so when the device went off, the scales became shrapnel and tore the body from the inside.

"Such a barbaric device," he muttered.

"You say something?"

"It's of no concern… still… how is he healing?" Suiryu muttered.

A gasp was heard. Yuuji's eyes opened for the first time in three days. "Hey…" he said weakly.

"Bro… how do you feel?" Suiryu asked gently.

He paused, there was a look of confusion on Yuuji's face. "I feel… strange," he said offhandedly. "I felt this before when I first woke up… my body is changing… but I can't explain it."

"Changing in a good way? Or awkward puberty way?" Satoru asked, only to get an elbow in the ribs by Suiryu.

"I… I don't know," he whispered. He let out a yawn once more. "I think I need to sleep some more…"

"Go ahead bro," Suiryu said gently. "Next time you wake up, hopefully you will be in better shape."

Yuuji smiled for a moment before his eyes grew heavy and he fell back asleep. Yet as he did, the moment his eyes closed. Half of the cracks on his body healed over. "This really isn't right," Suiryu muttered.

"It's remarkable to say the least, but still, what has happened?"

Suiryu didn't know, but perhaps it's about time he asked. He went to the corner of the room, there he went still and silent before he fell into a meditative state. The moment he did, he paused and peered about Ryujin's realm.

"RYUJIN!" he called.

But it was oddly empty. In fact, the whole place felt like a void despite the grass and cherry blossom tree that was before him. But this place, it felt far darker than before. "Where are you?" he muttered.

"I'm glad you came,"

Suiryu paused as he peered over his shoulder, he saw nothing, but he heard him. "Ryujin! What's going on?" he shouted.

The dragon snickered. "It's all going to be okay, Itadori will heal, it is going to take time, but he will heal."

"How? What did you do?"

There was silence, Ryujin never said. "Suiryu… I saw what you tried to do for him,"

"What of it?" he demanded. "If you think I would let him die because of some goddamn body thief, you are sadly mistaken!"

He heard the dragon laugh. "I am more than aware of that," as Ryujin spoke, Suiryu swore his voice was getting closer to him. Yet there was no spiritual or physical body of said dragon.

"Ryujin, what is going on?" Suiryu demanded once more. "Why are you hiding? What are you hiding?"

He felt his breath at the back of his neck. "It's time," he whispered. "I have left a little of my own soul within Itadori for later, it will be needed, yet as of now. My body is no more. My soul is about to disburse, but at the same time… it cannot."

He paused to the decree. "You really are dying, aren't you? You won't be reincarnated this time?"

"My soul has gone through enough of that, I don't wish to reincarnate anymore. However, it cannot fall into the wrong hands."

"How can it when you are going to move on?" Suiryu muttered.

Ryujin only snickered. "You know many things, but not the dragon's way."

Before he could speak, Suiryu felt as of someone had grasped his heart in his chest. "Gah!" he gasped for air suddenly. "What… what… is happening…"

JOLT

SMASH!

Suiryu crashed his head face first into the floor. He was quick to recover but was sweating and gasping for air.

Satoru froze as he stared at him oddly. "You good?"

He merely nodded for the moment. "Ryujin… really is dying… but it sounds like he has already made his plan to leave Yuuji… but… the tone he spoke… it's not sitting well with me."

Gojo was all ears. He leaned down and took a seat on the floor. "I'm listening,"

He tried to make sense of the conversation. "It sounds like he was leaving Yuuji, his soul won't reincarnate, and it was trying to die actually. But then, he said something that his soul refuses to, yet at the same time, someone could still obtain his soul… how can they when it's dying?"

"Energy," Satoru explained. "It's the energy IN the soul that many would want, after all it has to go somewhere, usually it's disburse throughout the world right? For a dragon, that must be some high ended shit they let out on their deathbeds."

"Soul energy?" Suiryu muttered. "Yet if that's the case, then why…" he shook his head, it was making less and less sense to him the more he tried to think it through.

That or it's Ryujin's will. He is using what remains of his power to heal Yuuji. If that's the case, he could only be grateful for Ryujin's sacrifice. "Let's leave him to rest Satoru… perhaps in the mean time we should prepare what is to come. If Ryujin is indeed gone… then that means brother will become an open vessel once more."