𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 (𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐥). | 𝙎. 𝙂𝙤𝙟𝙤

4. interrogation

"According to our reports, you were supposed to deliver the Star Plasma Vessel to Master Tengen on the night of the Merger, but you failed due to Fushiguro Toji's interference. Correct?"

In the pitch darkness of the room, I stare at the plain white byōbu in front of me. Satoru and I stand in the middle of the room, surrounded by multiple byōbus in an incomplete circle as I await my interrogation; a more formal way of holding us accountable for our enormous failure.

I could feel my skin needling under the scrutiny of eyes that I can't see. Dread pools in my stomach, and I try my best not to show it.

This is just a formality, Yaga said. Nothing more.

Endure it.

I spent the entirety of Satoru's interrogation waiting outside with Suguru and Shoko, but once it was my turn and I entered the room, Satoru made no move to leave. A part of me was comforted by his presence, and a part of me wished that he had left.

It is a different kind of pressure altogether to have him in the room right now, having to balance my behaviour and his own all at the same time.

I finally find my voice, "Yes."

A different voice from behind me speaks. "And how did he find you?"

Next to me, Satoru imperceptibly stills, and my eyes look away for a moment. The Higher Ups await my answer, looming over me, their presence growing bigger with each passing second.

This room is suffocating me.

One of the many empty replies leaves my mouth. "He followed our scent and footsteps until we reached Jujutsu High, I believe."

He ambushed us. Waited for Satoru to be completely worn out to the point he was unable to fight. He waited for us to put our guard down. He sneaked behind his back and stabbed him right in front of me. He wanted to kill us all, he-

My heart quickens at the memory, and I swallow. "He attacked once we entered the barrier. And then..."

There's a shift of the movement next to me, but I'm too engrossed in the traumatic memory of what happened as I let the silence hang. I just wish that Satoru wasn't in the room, because I'm so keenly aware of his every little movement - or lack thereof - next to me. He's just standing there, completely still, hands in the pockets of his black bomber jacket, like a bomb ready to explode the moment someone ticks him off.

"Continue."

In the darkness of the room, the voices prob and prod, and I feel nauseous. I don't want Satoru to relive what happened back there either - I don't want him to deal with the inevitable powerlessness that follows. We messed up and payed the price. There was no point in dwelling on it, and yet, that was the only thing I constantly thought about.

"...And then he followed me as I fled with the Vessel. But before we could reach Master Tengen, he killed her, and then me."

I had known her as Amanai Riko. And in the moment those words leave my mouth, self loathing pierces through me as I hate myself with such viciousness for thinking of her as anything other than a cheerful child that she has been.

At first, the Higher Ups don't say a thing, but then the room erupts into murmurs, and out of the corner of my eye, Satoru's hand flexes around nothing. The distant expression on his face, however, doesn't give away anything.

"We want you to give us more details. After all, you were the one that reached the Tomb with the Vessel," a voice protests, clearly irriated by my intentionally useless answers. "Who hired him? How did he enter the barrier? How did he successfully take down three First Grade Shamans all by himself?"