"What?" I ask devastated. I fall to my knees and begin to tremble. Not Megumi. Not him. Our sweet boy. The little boy Satoru and I raised. Not him.
Shoko comes out from the house and rushes over to us worried.
"What's happened?!" She asks.
"Sukuna swapped bodies with Megumi. Megumi is his vessel now and can use his ten shadows technique." Maki explains.
"No, that's impossible." Shoko says.
"And not just him," Itadori says taking a breath, "his sister is a vessel too. They took her too!" He says sobbing.
"No.." I say shakily.
"I'm sorry Sensei. I tried to stop him. I tried. But he took him!" Itadori says falling to his knees in front of me. "I hate him!" He yells punching the ground, "It should have been me! Just let me die already! Take me instead!" He screams.
I look at him sobbing sadly as he hunches over. I sit next to him and pull him in my lap, rubbing his back as I cry with him.
"It isn't your fault. It's Sukuna. He's the one to blame." I tell him.
"No, I should have chosen to be executed when I ate that finger. I should have died so you guys could live! This is all because of me! Megumi and Tsumiki are gone because of me!" He yells.
We huddle together crying in sadness but also in rage. My fists ball up and I grit my teeth.
"He will die for this. Sukuna's reign has come to an end." I say pulling Itadori up to look me in the eyes, "we will end him. Together. Yeah?" I say.
He takes a deep breath and wipes away his tears.
"Yeah."
"From now on our objective is to supress Sukuna and get Megumi back. No matter what, Sukuna dies." I say looking to everyone.
They all nod in agreeance.
"We start by getting Satoru out. Without him we don't stand a chance against him." I say looking at Hana.
She nods, "yes, my failure against him today makes me realize we'll need the help. Whatever you need me to do, i'll do it if it means the end of him." Angel says.
I nod, "good. Let's have us a prison break."
———
It sits in front of me. The back of the prison realm. The door to Satoru is right in front of me. Everything I've worked for since Shibuya sits on the table in front of me. Everyone is talking about how to go about this in the living room. But I don't hear anything. I just stare at it, as if my eyes alone will open it. Satoru is right here.
Niko coos in my arms and I smile with a tear in my eye. He grabs at my shirt and I put my finger in his hand and he squeezes it tightly. His white hair all crazy, just like his dad's used to be years ago. I try my best to comb it down, but his cow licks are so strong. It all goes where it wants. His bright blue eyes pierce mine with wonder. He's absolutely beautiful. The most beautiful thing i've ever seen. He's the single most valuable thing to me. My life is for him. I work hard so his life will be better. He will have a better life.
But he needs his father in it. His dad is a great man. He is going to do so well. I'm so excited to show Satoru his son. Only moments away. Moments away from getting the love of my life back.
"Naomi?" I hear Shoko say.
"Yeah?" I say breaking out of my thoughts.
"What do you think? Should we unseal him outside?" She asks.
"Why?" I ask.
"Well we're just worried." Shoko says.
"About his mental state. We can't be sure what the prison realm, specifically the time inside, will do to people. Might be safer outside." Angel says.
I sigh and nod, "maybe you're right. He may be coming out thinking he needs to fight Kenjaku still." I say.
We take the back of the prison realm into the field out front and hide behind a few hay bales. Itadori is next to me as I hold Niko, ready to see Satoru again. My body is vibrating with excitement. Honestly, there was a point after Shibuya where I thought i'd never see him again. It was the lowest i've ever been.
Hana flies up and waits for our signal. Takaba ran out and placed the back of the prison realm in the middle a good ways away. Itadori is giving the signal.
"Now!" Itadori yells.
Hana pierces through the sky and lands a blow with jacobs latter on the cube. Dust and hay flies up everywhere and Niko is uneasy with all the commotion.
"It's okay little man. Daddy's coming home. You're going to meet your daddy." I say happily as I anxiously wait for the dust to clear.
I run up to where the cube was and wave my hand in front of my face clearing everything away so I can see. But my heart sinks. The cube is gone, and so is Satoru. He is nowhere to be found.
"Satoru?" I say with a broken heart, "he's not here. Where is he? Where the fuck is he?!" I scream through tears.
"I don't understand. It didn't work?" Itadori says.
"I'm not sure. He should be right here." Shoko says.
My body gives as Itadori catches me. Shoko rushes to my side and grabs Niko from me. Tears stream down my face as I hear everyone argue about what happened. All the hope I had was gone. My Satoru is gone. My world, my everything is gone. Niko will never meet his father.
"Hey, it's okay. Maybe he appeared somewhere else?" Shoko says rubbing my arm.
"No Shoko! He's gone! If this worked then he'd be here! I should have know this was a trick!" I yell in agony.
Niko cries and Shoko tries to comfort him.
"Take her inside. We need to figure this out. Being out here does her no good." Shoko tells Itadori.
He grabs me by the shoulders and lifts me up. He helps me walk inside and eventually carries me to my room. I cry in his shoulder the whole way and he looks so guilty.
"I'm so sorry Sensei." He says sadly.
He places me on my bed and I lay there, looking at the wall with a blank stare. I have nothing left in me. No anger or rage, no happiness or excitement, no sadness. My heart was ripped out once in Shibuya, and what was left was ripped out again just now. Fooled again by a cruel trick.
"Want me to stay with you?" He asks.
I shake my head no and he sighs, "I'm so sorry Sensei. If you need me, i'll be here." He says.
I lay here and cry for hours. I feel absolutely nothing but sorrow. Not only for me, but for what's been robbed from Niko. This was the only chance we had. And we lost it. We lost Satoru. I'll never see him again.
"I love you." I say through tear weeping, "I love you, I love you, I love you Satoru. Please, please come back to me. Please." I say.
But that request will never be heard. My tears will never be seen. Not by those beautifule blue eyes of his. His gorgeous hair. The way he talks, the way he laughs, the way he shows me he loves me. I'll never get to see any of it ever again. It makes me regret all the time I lost with him all those years. I should have told him I loved him when we were younger. So much missed time. I regret it.
"I will always love you. You are the most perfect man I will ever have in my life. You saw me for who I am, not the monster everyone else saw. You made me laugh. You showed me new things all the time. You were so creative and loving. So patient. Kinda." I say scoffing, "I remember when you bought me that skateboard I liked. How it's the most precious gift I had ever received. I knew I loved you before then. But the attention to the things I liked, how to make me laugh, getting me my favorite foods, everything about you made me fall for you. But the skateboard was the first gift I had ever received in my life."
———
2005: Four months at Jujutsu High
"Close your eyes." Satoru says.
He sits on my couch in my room. It's only my fourth month at Jujutsu high and we've gotten really close recently. He's looked at me differently since I got that dress a week ago. But maybe it's because I looked so dorky. He's probably thinking of ways to make fun of me.
"Do it dork." He says chuckling covering my eyes with his.
"Okay okay." I say.
I move his soft hands off my eyes and cover them. His blue eyes eagerly waiting for me to cover mine is the last thing I see.
"No peeking!" He says.
"I'm not nerd." I say jokingly.
I hear him shuffling at the door and run back over setting something heavy in my lap.
"Okay, open them." He says.
I take my hands off my eyes and look down. It's the skateboard I wanted in the store a week ago. The classic black, white, and red Element deck with red independent trucks and black spitfire wheels. My jaw drops at the beautiful skateboard.
"Happy birthday." He says smirking.
"Satoru..." I say.
"I know I know, I'm the best you don't have to keep telling me." He says.
I chuckle and shove him in his shoulder.
"You dork, why'd you get this?" I ask.
"Because you wanted it." He says thoughtfully, "and I knew it was your birthday. I wanted to get you something nice that you wanted." He says. "You like it?" He asks.
"Like it? Satoru this is exactly what I wanted! You didn't have to do this." I say smiling.
"I wanted to. Only the best for the coolest most beautiful girl in school." He says.
"Oh please, stop messing with me. It isn't nice." I say.
Satoru chuckles, "you think i'm messing with you? Man, your world must be upside down."
I roll my eyes and look back down at the board.
"Well c'mon, show me some moves." He says.
I smile and look at him, noticing his bright beautiful eyes behind those purple glasses. How they look at me. Not teasingly, but almost... caring. Butterflies flutter in my chest and my cheeks grow warm.
"Okay."
———
"I've always loved you Satoru, and I'm sorry I'm so stubborn I couldn't admit it. I miss you my love. Please, come home." I say to myself in the dark.
Hands creep gently across my back in a familiar way. The bed dips down and I expect Shoko to say something. Try to cheer me up. But nothing will. I am nothing without him.
"I've always loved you too. From the day I saw you, I fell in love with you." I hear a familiar low tone say. A voice belonging to only one man. But it isn't him. His touch is the touch of a ghost. A mind trick i'm playing on myself to get me to calm down. To make anything make sense in this world. I'm trying to trick myself into thinking he came back, but the reality is that he didn't come back. And he won't. I'm stupid for thinking he would have.
"You're not real. You're just a trick i'm playing on myself. You aren't really here." I say with a monotone.
Strong hands wrap around me and pick me up from the bed. They turn me around and I'm met with the familiar blue eyes and white hair of my Satoru Gojo.
"Satoru?" I say.
"Hello my love." He says softly.
I bring my hand up to his face. I need to know for myself. Is he real.
His face is soft against my hand. He smiles and I run my hand down his face and to his strong chest. I run them over his arms and to his hands. Everything familiar. Everything real.
"It's really you." I say smiling.
"It's me." He says taking my face in his hand and bringing his lips to mine. His lips are soft, and warm, and inviting. Inviting me to take more. We kiss softly for a moment, and before things get too heated, he pulls away out of breath and puts his forehead to mine.
"I love you so so much Naomi Gojo. I promise i'll never leave you again."
———
A/N:
Finally the chapter I've been patiently waiting to write. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I've changed small details along the way so hopefully it's turning out okay. I'm trying to stick to the main points mostly. We're getting close to modern day Manga so if you've made it this far, thank you so so much for reading. It really means a lot to me. I'm contemplating changing the Manga and finishing the story my way. I know the story isn't officially over but this is kinda a cope fic lol. I may stick with the Manga, or I may change it a bit and finish it off. I'm not quite sure yet but let me know what you guys think! I'd love to hear your feedback!
Thanks again for reading and I hope you enjoy what I have left to tell. And who knows, maybe there's a sequel in the future? We'll see. Lol. Thanks again!
- The Sentinel.