.
06: summer of my life
it's always and ever only you
.
Satoru would often remember that night in Okinawa before everything went wrong, the moment he renounced all claims to his body, heart and soul. Surrendering himself to the bittersweet destiny that bound them together. History repeating itself by the will of divine providence, the proffered hand of serendipitous intervention. Their paths had been foreordained to meet long before they had even been born. He had always known since the moment he laid eyes on her, felt her within the forgotten memories lost to time and the footsteps of those who came before.
In another age, another place somewhere, he had met and loved her the same way he did so now. Her face and her smile, the warmth of her hands and the way she fitted so perfectly in his arms were all known to him. As if he was revisiting an old home from his childhood days, as if reuniting with a long-lost friend. It was all too familiar, well recognised by the quintessence of his soul. Always her.
His grandfather had used to tell him tales of their ancestors, the infamous Golden Age of Sorcerers and the fall of the most powerful clan that walked the earth. It had been written in the annals of their lineage that a Gojo with both the Limitless and Six Eyes had defeated the King of Curses a thousand years ago. But it seemed that only their clan knew about her, the one who had stood beside Gojo Toshiro on the mythical battlefield of legends. Slipping through the cracks of everyone's recollections but theirs.
He could still remember his grandfather's voice, filled with generational remorse and sorrow as he would recount the stories. Of how one woman gave birth to a myriad of curses and blessings in a single breath of omnipotence, goddess incarnate who opened both gates of heaven and hell upon the world. Unlike the Zenin clan whom they held with utter contempt, the enmity with the Kurosawas was one born out of everlasting grief.
"Remember, Satoru..." he was once told. "If a Kurosawa comes asking for your life, you are obliged to give it to them. I pray that it will be swift and easy, for the alternative will be much worse."
Satoru had never understood such a ludicrous proclamation, never believed the warnings that had been imparted to him. He who held the universe in the palm of his hand, who could look upon the ground from the heavens above. The thought of conceding his life without any rhyme or reason was pure madness. That was until the day he met her, beholding the sacred vows scarred onto her body with his very own eyes. Within every inch of her divine flesh and breath of benevolence from her chest. Flowing through their veins and the interwoven atoms between them. Suddenly, everything started to make sense.
He closed his eyes to the sound of the ocean waves breaking against the shore outside, the static silence of the stars as they bore witness to their tragic mortality. Sayuri stirred in his lap, eyes of autumn reds opening to gaze up at him endearingly. She was beauty and radiance, and everything good within his heart. "Sorry, I said I wouldn't doze off," she whispered.
His fingers brushed the stray strands of hair from her face. "Go back to sleep," he told her but she pulled herself up and stretched her shoulders instead. "It's no good for both of us to be tired in the morning."
"It's fine, we have Suguru and I can take a nap on the plane," she said, turning to him with a captivating smile. "After all, we're still in Okinawa."
She stood up to brew coffee for the both of them and they stood on the balcony to admire the glistening sea under the silver luminescence. He could smell the fragrance of the new perfume that Riko had picked for her; vanilla, honeysuckle and ambergris. Sweet and summery notes that suited the gentle vibrancy of her disposition. It was the small things, like the wistful look in her eyes as she gazed out at the glassy waters that made him fall in love with her over and over again.
"I'm glad we stayed one more day," she said quietly. "I wanted to be her friend for just a little while longer."
His expression softened, remembering the bliss on Riko's face as she leapt into the ocean and danced under the shining sun. Behind the girl's resolve, there was loneliness and woe tucked into every crease of her assured grin. Deep inside, he truly felt pity for her even though that was the last thing she needed. He knew that Sayuri and Suguru felt the same. Throughout the entirety of their mission, it had always been a weight over their shoulders.
"Why don't we... all run away together?" he mused deliberately. "We can say that we decided to elope. Suguru will be my best man and Riko can be your bridesmaid. Ieiri can get on the next plane to meet us. Do you want to invite the others too?"
Her laughter rang clear like chiming bells beneath the twilight sky, eyes glimmering with stolen pearls from the sea. She turned to him with a smile as bright as the beaming moon that hung above. "That sounds nice, but where will we go?"
He hummed loudly in thought. "Maybe Indonesia... Bali?"
"A beach wedding? I'd love that," she crooned.
"I know." He looked at her with all the tenderness of his besotted heart, taking her hand and interlacing their fingers together. Across their skin, he had traced every intimate detail inscribed from their previous lives and committed them to his memory. She was the one and only for him, that much was indisputable. "One day, maybe a few years from now... Kurosawa Sayuri, would you marry me then?"
There was a flicker of surprise on her face, lips parting slightly as she gaped at him with eyes filled with wonder. A million thoughts ran through their minds in an infinitesimal second, visions of a future that they had dared not dreamt of before. Maybe, just maybe, he could unwrite all the sins of his past self. Then finally they could live the life that was always meant for them. With a breathless chuckle, she asked, "In which reality, would I say no?"
He gave a gratified grin as he said, "Then it's a promise." Leaning in close, he noticed the glowing blush across her cheeks and slight shiver in her shoulders. To him, she was perfection. His lips met hers in an unbreakable oath, sealing their destinies in the summer paradise of the night.
Satoru had known all along of the pain and suffering between their clans, the true reason for her being there. If she had asked it of him, he would have gladly given his life to her the day they had met. He gave a silent thanks to whichever divinity there was out there that had blessed them with this second chance, even if the alternative was fraught with trials and tribulations. Be it vengeful spirits or endless curses, dragons or monsters, he would face them all.
This time, he would make it right for them.
.
.
Satoru could hear the crashing waves against the white shores, taste the brine from the seafoam on the air. Hands buried within the granular sand, his throbbing heart sunk into the eddying waters of despair. All the memories and secret wishes that he had whispered to the traitorous gods, the touch of her caress and curve of her lips. It felt like they were all slipping between his fingertips and he clenched them tightly into his palm leaving a trail of crescent marks upon his skin.
If fate was so insistent on tearing her away from him, then he would upturn the very heavens to retrieve her. Satoru would shred the fabric of time and space to have her in his arms once more. He had made a vow to himself long ago that he would never let her go, not even if Enma-o ripped him limb from limb in the bowels of hell. In every life, every world and every incarnation, he would go into the depths of the underworld to steal her back from death's own embrace.
Pushing himself to his feet, he glanced around the unfamiliar and empty beach. She had closed all the gates, leaving him stranded on foreign lands. From the signage on the nearby path, he deduced that he was somewhere in China. There was a towering statue of the beloved Guanyin in the distance, hands clasped at her breasts offering silent solace. At the back of his mind, he wondered what Sayuri had been doing in a place like this. What could possibly be out there that she was looking for?
Taking a calming breath, he pulled out his phone and called Ieiri to activate his talismans. "Huh? All of them?" she questioned incredulously. It was the first time he had heard her sound so concerned but he needed a transit point in Japan to get out of his predicament.
"All of them," he responded. In theory, he had crafted the talismans to imitate the residual flow of energy from her gates. It acted as a rudimentary beacon for him to locate her, a navigational device for him to find his north star. Hopefully, Sayuri had kept her phone with her. In his other hand, the talisman he kept started to burn a vivid blue. Focusing his cursed energy, he exhaled slowly and allowed himself to be taken by the current of the converging infinity.
He stood in front of the familiar low table where Sayuri would lay her head on, hair sprawled across the surface and spilling over the corners. Cheeks aglow within the half-light and the taste of plum sake on her rose-stained lips. He would always wait till the dead of night for her invitation with a hollowness that could only be filled by her tender kisses. The phantom of his longing faded away and she was still nowhere to be found.
Satoru tore the sliding door open, squinting his eyes at the intrusion of pale autumn light. The courtyard was empty, the bamboo fountain cracking against the rocks at regular intervals. He ran down the wooden verandas, feet treading heavily across the traditional houses. Faces peered from between the lattices and white paper as he attracted their attention. Finally glimpsing the main hall with its ornate statues and immaculate stone gardens, he halted in front of the open archway of the entrance.
"Kurosawa Homura!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "Get the fuck out here, you bastard!"
People started to gather around his periphery, family members and servants alike, throwing him dirty glances and irritated scowls. The whispers resounded all around him; the azure eyes, the platinum hair, the unparalleled cursed energy radiating off of him in seismic waves. His chest heaved with heavy, panted breaths as he waited impatiently. Then, the clatter of wooden sandals could be heard approaching him from the corridor.
He had only seen pictures of him on her phone, but the resemblance was uncanny. Sharing the characteristic midnight and starlight hair of someone born with their inherited technique, Homura was a formidable opponent in his own right. He had a smile of contempt on his face as he stared Satoru down with disdain. As if he was nothing more than a mere insect beneath the wooden base of his traditional geta. It was a look that Satoru was unaccustomed to receiving.
Where Sayuri had always held herself with the serene grace of Kanzeon Bosatsu, imparting compassion and mercy to all around her. Even uttering words of prayer and parting to the cursed spirits they exorcised, easing the pain of all those passing onto the other side. Homura was the embodiment of Kagu-tsuchi, a raging inferno who held no qualms burning everything within his path with the temperament of an enraged komainu.
"Gojo Satoru," the eldest son of the Kurosawa clan greeted him with icy malice. "Have you finally come here to die?"
"Where's Sayuri?" Satoru questioned imperatively. "Take me to her or bring her to me, whichever is fastest."
"She's renewing her vows to our ancestors," Homura told him. "None is allowed to enter the shrine while she's holding the ceremony."
"She's planning to exorcise that thing." He clenched his fists by his sides, eyes darting around the area for a hint of the shrine's whereabouts. There was no sign of any reversed cursed energy radiating from their vicinity. It had to be deep underground then. "You know what will happen when she does, right? So where's the entrance? Point it to me and I can see myself there."
Homura was quiet for a brief moment, chin tilting downwards with a faraway glaze in his dark eyes. Unlike Sayuri, he had only inherited half of their family's coveted technique or else he would have naturally been the next clan head instead of her. "So? If that's her decision then no one can stop her."
He started to walk away but Satoru raised his voice, causing him to halt in his steps. "Are you really okay... for her to die like that?" he questioned heatedly. "Alone, in pain and despair. She deserves better than that."
"You don't get to tell me what my sister deserves," Homura snapped over his shoulder with a vicious snarl. "For whom is she doing this for? Do you not know? With your Six Eyes, can you not see?"
"Of course I know," Satoru retorted. "I see it all. And that's exactly why I can't allow her to do this. There are still so many things I want to tell her, to experience with her. In the end, when we're both wrinkled and grey, I want her to leave this world with a smile on her face right by my side."
"You're such an insufferable brat," Homura growled.
The older man strode forwards, storm clouds within his gaze and fangs bared in feral fury. He grabbed Satoru by the collar, each staring the other down in a battle of convictions. From the inner strife on his face, the urge to strike the Gojo head down warred with his inherent regard for his sister's reverence of an idiot like him. But like the good guardian dog that he was, Homura would never permit any harm to befall her even if it was by her own hand. Not when he knew that there was a better alternative, no matter how slim the chance was. His lips stretched to the side in a scornful, manic glower. "Hey... since I don't have the right to kill you, deactivate your technique and let me punch you once. Then I'll take you to her."
The moment Satoru ceased his flow of cursed energy, Homura landed a hard blow against his cheekbone that almost sent him reeling backwards. He rubbed against the bruised skin with a jagged smile, glaring daggers at the Kurosawa asshole. "Now it's your turn."
With a grunt of displeasure, Homura turned back towards the main hall with a flick of his wrist. Satoru followed in his footsteps as he was led towards the tamaya ancestral altar at the end of the room. They slipped behind the gap of the opening doors where there was a set of stairs leading deep into the forbidden abyss of their lands. Lining the stone walls were thickly woven shimenewa enclosing rope for purification and talismans warding off evil spirits. Satoru now knew what Izanagi had felt when he travelled into Yomi-no-Kuni, the dread pooling in his belly and the treacherous chill that permeated the air.
But he alone would achieve that which even the gods had failed to grasp.
.
AUTHOR'S NOTE. hello and thank you for reading this fic so far! i would be really grateful if you could let me know what you think of the story so far, some feedback would be really helpful for future chapters! and thank you again for reading *heart*