Shibuya's aftermath
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Preface
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His muscles vibrate exhausted, overworked, his forehead glistens soaked with sweat. His fingers stained with blood that doesn't dissolve, that stinks and sticks under his fingernails. He walks with his face obscured. He walks while every muscle pulls inside, shivering. His shoulders droop, as do the corners of his lips. His expression completely absent.
Gojou walks among the bodies of his enemies to the corpse of his student, who died sacrificing himself to end the threat that lived inside his body; Ryomen Sukuna.
He looks at his closed eyes, youthful face marked with large scars and something wells up inside his throat. His retinas fill with tears and for the first time in his life he lets them see him cry. A tear slides down his ash-stained, blood-splattered cheek.
Megumi makes no attempt to approach, sees from afar the inert body of his great friend and pauses to contemplate his loss in solitude.
A strange calm prevails in the desolate city where he was released. Despite the devastation and the black smoke that rises staining the sky and its white clouds. No noise is heard other than the sound of his footsteps and light flames still burning.
Gojou turns to a girl with a cold and empty look and a shiver runs through him after recognizing her. He's been fighting beside her, but everything unfolded so quickly that he hadn't even realized she was there.
"Idiot..." she tells him, completely expressionless, as if she were dead inside.
Satoru's body freezes as he acknowledges Toji Zen'in's presence, remembering what it feels like to be on the brink of death. His six eyes do not lie to him, Toji is there in some dark corner inside Maki Zen'in. His essence reincarnated inside her pupil.
"Maki?" he asks, seeing the burns that wrinkle and darken a good part of her body. He recognizes her voice, recognizes a vestige of her in her dark gaze, but this more powerful woman is very different from the one he saw last time, too different from the smug and unfriendly girl he knew.
Much has happened in his absence.
He lowers his gaze, returning to Yuuji's corpse. He takes him in his arms; this time he will not make the same mistake he made with Suguru. This time he will leave no trace of this body to be used against him again.
Someone cries inconsolably, Gojou sees him in the distance, but he is not a human and is surprised to recognize the one with whom he fought at Shibuya station, on the railroad tracks. He cries and screams for his brother, says the word over and over again; "brother, little brother", covering his face and crying without caring about the presence of the rest there. Gojou recognizes the latent pain tearing at his throat and says absolutely nothing.
His eyes tell him it's a curse on a human's body, his soul tells him it's more human than curse. But, since he no longer seems to be a threat, he ignores him.
He stops for the last time to look at the marks on Yuuji Itadori's face that has already begun to pale, to lose the glow it had the last time he saw him. This is the second time he sees his corpse, but at that time he had no way to allow himself to feel this extraordinary pain. That time he was more disconnected from himself than he is now, after having spent so much time inside a cube with nothing but himself and his memories.
At that time, he could only feel the discomfort, the irritation that came from the manipulation of the higher-ups. More so it was difficult for him to truly experience the loss of his student, the loss of this boy who endeared himself so easily.
Yuuji's body melts into a flame rising from Gojou's palms and a tear flies from his eyelashes to evaporate into the air.
From the first moment he knew that Yuuji was destined to die in a sacrifice, but he never thought it would weigh so heavily on him. That it would be so painful to see him die without being able to do anything about it, knowing also that it is the right thing to do, that it is the only viable option to finally stop Sukuna.
There is nothing but silence around him and a beeping sound echoing inside him, his eardrums bursting from the explosions and collapsing buildings. Satoru lifts his chin to the dawn, exhausted, furious, searching with his eyes for faces that are not there, fearing the reason for their absence.
He puts both hands in his pockets, puts the blindfold over his eyes and walks over to Okkotsu, who cries as if his soul is shattered, his face sunk between both hands. He's always been a sensitive boy...
He places a hand on his shoulder and makes a smile that is surprisingly harder to make than usual. Even when caught by his enemies he managed to smile.
"You did a good job."
"Gojou-sensei..." he utters, his voice hanging by a thread, "I'm sorry that I didn't... I couldn't free you earlier."
"I'm sorry I let myself get caught."
He says the latter with great regret. If he had been more cautious, less arrogant... Perhaps they would all still be there.
When the battle ends and there is nothing left but bodies, ash and blood scattered everywhere, Gojou realizes that he doesn't know where to direct his steps. At this point, Gojou doesn't know where exactly he should go back to. He doesn't know how much time has passed or what has happened. The only thing he knew the moment he was released was that he had to fight and he did so until his body stopped responding to him.
"I guess we have to go..." Megumi comments, standing next to him. Gojou has been standing still in the same spot where he disposed Itadori Yuuji's body for several minutes now.
Satoru nods and follows his steps without knowing where.
"Does the school still exist?" he asks, walking along with the boys towards an unknown direction.
"Mhm," Megumi answers and Gojou stops to see how much he looks like his father. It's both extraordinary and creepy at the same time. Not like the first time he saw him, the resemblance has become more obvious with the scar on his lip. He has grown at least ten centimeters and gained a little muscle. "I'm a sensei now... I have a few students."
"You're a sensei? Wow... how long has it been? And why is he coming with us?" he asks, turning his gaze to the one who was crying for Yuuji.
"It's Choso... I'll tell you all about it at school..."
"We have time..." he answers and takes a second to breathe the fresh air, among collapsed buildings and open streets, broken pipes and vegetation growing among the devastated landscape.
He's surprised to realize that he is still in Tokyo, that this chaotic scenery is what is left of the city. But strangely, he finds no words to fill the silence that accompanies them to what is left of the Metropolitan Technical College of Sorcery. Half of the infrastructure, of the temples, has collapsed. It seems to have survived a natural disaster, but Gojou is certain that it was an attack. At least it is still standing.
A small group of boys waits attentively for his return, they look out of the windows and from inside he hears the excited voices.
Fushiguro-sensei, he hears over and over again and sees a small smile escape Megumi's lips, one so imperceptible that it's erased almost as quickly as he draws it out. A few assistants he met are still there, a handful of them at most.
Tengen's presence is still around, Satoru feels it as he sets foot inside the school and a slight calm comes over him as he sees Shoko's tired face, smoking a cigarette outside the temple. He looks in her direction and she smiles at him, smokes and throws the consumed cigarette to the ground.
"It was about time," she says to him, as he leaves the group of new students and joins her.
"Haven't you quit yet? Utahime must be furious," he comments and then fears that she is part of the ranks of the dead, but Shoko doesn't seem to grow dark after his comment.
"I found better reasons to keep smoking," she replies, looking at him with some longing and then avoiding his gaze. "You look bad... We still have your things, if you want to change and take a bath. You look like you could use one, you smell terrible."
Satoru smirks, he's spent so much time smelling the rotting flesh of the curses in the prison realm that he feels he's lost a bit of his sense of smell.
He unabashedly looks at his old friend's face; Shoko has a couple of wrinkles next to her eyes. He can count five gray hairs, but she is still beautiful, as beautiful as he remembered her.
He nods, looks one last time at the boys accompanying Megumi, Maki and Okkotsu into the school as Choso walks heavily a few feet away.
The calm doesn't feel deserved, it feels strange, alien. As if his brain can't comprehend that it's all over. He walks with Shoko to his own bedroom and says goodbye to her at the door. Once alone, it doesn't take him long to find some clean clothes and go into the bathroom. He takes a shower in what used to be his bedroom, which feels so cold and barren that it doesn't feel like his own, abandoned over the years. He checks the pockets of his clothes and finds his cell phone, the screen has a few scratches, it doesn't turn on and he doesn't know if it has been rendered unusable or if it has no battery. He puts on a clean uniform and sits on the edge of his bed. At that instant he realizes that his hands are still shaking. He looks at them, completely devoid of expression, but there is no longer black blood under his fingernails or ash darkening his palms. He wonders what is left of Japan if Tokyo is nothing but a wasteland of desolation.
It's strange that having so many questions he can't find the words to ask any of them. His stomach growls, though he doesn't feel hungry. He doesn't even have the appetite to try something sweet, though he thinks that's exactly what he needs to get his brain going again and get out of the state he's in. He's dazed, still alert. He feels sparks flying from his fingertips, as if he is still ready for the next attack. It is strange that he feels the need to activate his infinity technique again, as if the fear of being stabbed in the back still lingers in him.
"How long has it been...?" he asks himself just before he hears someone knocking on the door.
"Gojou-sensei..." Megumi's voice carries with it a hint of doubt. "Are you there?"
"Come in, Megumi..."
The door opens, Megumi looks at him for a moment and looks down. He scratches the back of his head; some things just never die. Satoru smiles again in his direction, among so many doubts it's still good to see him standing, turned into a man.
"Megumi, Yaga-sensei died, right?" Gojou asks, as if removing a band-aid. He looks him in the eyes again and he finds a glint of surprise, lowers his gaze shortly after and nods. "I thought so. I guess Nanami... too, isn't he?" he nods again.
"It's been five years since the Shibuya incident," he tells him, and Gojou doesn't seem affected by the news. "We have a lot to talk about."
"How old are you?"
"Huh? Twenty..."
"Oh, then I'm thirty-three. Or am I? I still feel twenty-eight... I guess that's because time doesn't pass inside the prison real."
"I guess..." says Megumi, still standing under the door frame, "We're having dinner, would you like to join us?"
Gojou stands up and stretches his legs. There's something different about stretching his muscles outside the seal, a freedom he didn't have in there. He walks behind him to the dining hall where the small group of students awaits him and sits among them despite feeling like a complete stranger. Maki has left, Okkotsu is nowhere to be seen and the other one, the half-curse, half-human, is not accompanying them either. The only face he knows is Megumi's, and even then he seems completely new to him.
He fails to participate in the conversation. These kids act like any other bunch of students even though the circumstances are completely extraordinary. And, although he thinks this should make him feel some sense of normalcy, it doesn't. Gojou doesn't have time to process everything that has happened while he was locked up and Fushiguro seems to notice. He watches him out of the corner of his eye almost all the time. He watches him eat slowly, converses with his students to whom he introduces, but almost instantly forgets all the names.
It doesn't take Megumi long to notice that Gojou has changed, though he doesn't blame him at all. He seems completely absorbed in his thoughts and hasn't come out with some nonsensical comment since he left the seal, even though it's been almost half a day. He supposes he just needs some time to get used to it, even he needs time to process everything that has happened this day.
Once dinner is finished, the boys gather up the dishes and head off to their dorms. At that moment Gojou, being left alone with Megumi once again, decides to ask one more question.
"What happened to the Kyoto school...?"
"Still standing. Utahime is the principal now."
"Huh... Utahime's still alive, I'm glad... What about... about her students?"
Megumi takes a moment to answer and Gojou's stomach twists inside. He seems to be thinking something grim and the seconds of anticipation do him no favors. He regrets eating, looks at the empty table in front of him and tries to brace himself for the next blow.
"Mai, Maki's sister... was killed by the clan members," he answers after meditating for seconds that for Satoru were torture. "Kamo Nitorishi is now the head of the Kamo clan, Toudou... died."
"The blonde girl? Mechamaru?... What about... Miwa-chan?"
"Mechamaru died before the Shibuya incident. We found out some time later... Miwa and Momo are still alive."
Gojou's lips part and he turns his face in Megumi's direction, as if he can't believe what he just heard. He stares at him for a moment until he finally understands what he has heard. Kasumi is alive.
He finally smiles to himself; the expression is light and he suddenly feels as if a spark of life has seeped into his inner emptiness.
"Where's Miwa?" he asks, in a less cryptic tone.
"Miwa-san? The last time I heard from her she was working for the Kamo clan, she's exorcising curses south of Tokyo..." He looks intrigued at the sudden change in Gojou's expression. "We should talk about the direction of the school now. The position has been vacant since... since Yaga-sama's death. Now that you're back... I think you should take over the position."
"We can talk about that another time, Megumi," he replies, standing up. "I have some unfinished business to attend to, now. I'll be back in a few days. You seem to have everything under control here."
"Heh? Now? But... there's a lot of things to attend to."
"Chill out, Megumi. I know you can handle it."
"Wait! You can't leave just like that!" He yells at him as she sees him start his way to the door.
"Bye Megumi-kun! See you in a few days!"
"Gojou-sensei!"
Fushiguro gets up to go after him, but as he reaches the door, he notices that he has disappeared. He sighs in exhaustion, but then smiles, at least he seems to still be the same person he was when he left.
Hello again! I'm finally with the time and the will to continue telling you this story. As you can see, this is what happens before the second part of the epilogue of Disenchantment. I decided to give it the same name as the prologue because I thought it was the most appropriate, plus I'm really bad at naming my fics. I have no idea how many chapters this fic will have, I don't know how many people are interested in reading it, but it's something I wanted to do, the drama is calling me. I hope you liked it, and if so I hope you can find some time to leave me some words of support. I'm anxious to keep writing, especially because unlike the first part, this one will have little canon and a lot of my imagination. I can't wait to hear what you think! See you in chapter 1!