𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑫𝑶𝑴 𝑶𝑭 𝑴𝑨𝑳𝑰𝑪𝑬 ⇢ Gojo Satoru

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐕 - 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

IT WASN'T A QUESTION. Never was.

She could tell he had, ever since she first laid eyes on him inside of that chapel, the body of her twin spread out in front of them as they stood on opposite sides of the room. It was almost like she could still see the blood coating his hands, the sins Satoru committed fully displayed for her to see, the ghost of the man he'd murdered accompanying him wherever he went.

Because Gojo Satoru killed his best friend. He killed her best friend.

The lines were blurred, and for a moment, Mikazuki wished there were no lines. At least then she could justify the way she was feeling, the hollow sensations currently settling at the bottom of her stomach. Satoru didn't answer, too stunned by the accusation to defend himself. Not that he could have. There was very little he could do to deny the truth, none of which would ever work on someone like Kinzoku Mikazuki.

Besides, he was tired of lying.

Mikazuki chuckled at his blank stare, pulling the hair out of her face before glaring at him once again,

"Did you even try to save him? Did you even attempt–"

Satoru's face hardened, and just like that, he was reminded of who exactly the woman in front of him was. Mikazuki wasn't an innocent bystander. She wasn't blameless, and her hands had far more blood on them than his possibly ever could. She was the murderer, the killer. Not him.

"No, you don't get to blame me for this." Satoru quickly asserted, his eyes turning cold as he surveyed the sorceress, the fury in his gaze so frightening she was tempted to take step back.

But she couldn't, because he had killed Suguru.

"He was my friend, he was my–" Mikazuki cut herself off, words falling short as the secrets she kept pulled at her seams, begging to be spilled. "You could have fought The Magistrate. You could have refused, you could have–"

She was spewing nonsense now, and they both knew it. There was no refusing The Magistrate, the vow they'd made as literal children holding them in chains spelled with lies and deceit pulled so tight they cut to the bone. Mikazuki was free because she was exiled, but Satoru was still bound by the same rules as everyone else.

He might have been The Strongest, but when it came to the power of The Council of Magistrates, he was just another sorcerer, bound by the unshakable chains of a magical vow he would never be able to escape.

"No." Satoru cut in, his tone strained as he fought the urge to grasp her by the shoulders and shake her. "You weren't here." His eyes hollowed at the words. "Mikazuki, you were not here."

When the accusation finally registered, the sorceress halted, her own missing heart skipping a beat as the reality of what had just left his mouth set in.

You were not here.

Was he really going to pull that card? Like he hadn't just stood by as she was dragged away in chains, her powers stripped from her body, banished into a life of exile that was sure to condemn her to death? Mikazuki did not regret what she did that day – nor any of what came afterwards, and yet that single accusation was enough to set her entire world aflame.

"I wasn't here?" She repeated, the high-pitched sound of her voice shocking her as much as it did him "Whose fault do you think that is? You're the one who let them take me away!"

Mikazuki launched forward, the ten steps soon turning into five and then none as she pushed the man to the ground, her Cursed Energy melting into the blow and shoving Satoru back a couple of meters, the barrier of his Infinity quickly absorbing the blow as her Eternity sizzled.

Gojo landed softly on the grass, chest burning as the remnants of Mikazuki's Cursed Energy singed against his skin. He wasn't expecting her to come at him directly, let alone considering a single touch was enough to create a hole in the fabric of reality. But he'd underestimated her anger, which was still burning bright behind her golden irises.

"I wouldn't have let him die." Mikazuki finally announced, rubbing her palms as she watched Satoru stand back up.

Gojo chuckled, the sound lacking the appropriate joyful tone while he brushed the dust from his pants. The hit, despite being direct, hadn't done much damage. Satoru's Infinity had done most of the job, yet his outfit had still suffered most of it, with a large hole appearing at the front of his midsection, right where Mikazuki's palms had come in contact with the fabric.

The sorceress sighed, putting her hands down, the gold in her blood settling momentarily before turning sharp again as soon as Satoru's eyes landed on her. He'd let her hit him, partly because engaging in combat with someone he could not touch was foolish but mostly, because she was right. He should have fought harder, but he didn't, and now Geto Suguru was dead. Still, Gojo would not let himself be swayed by Mikazuki's hypocritical stance. She was no hero, no saviour, and the truth is, if faced with the same situation, chances are she would have done exactly the same.

Satoru knew this like he knew many other things about the girl.

"You would have killed him without a second thought, because that's who you are." The sorcerer accused, the truth in those words hitting Mikazuki harder than any physical blow could. "Do you think I forgot about the Kansai Massacre, the thirty-seven sorcerers you murdered?

He hadn't believed it for the longest time, even with Madame Dubois pushing the narrative. But it wasn't a narrative, it was the truth, and for the first time in ten years, Satoru was willing to believe it. Mikazuki's face quickly changed, skin turning pale as she stammered to explain herself.

"No, that's not–" She tried, words failing her once again as the truth thinned. "That was The Magistrate's fault, I didn't–"

I didn't... what, kill thirty-seven people?

But I did.

"Stop blaming The Magistrate for your failures." Satoru countered, unwilling to listen to any more lies or delusions crafted by her sick mind. "Stop looking for monsters under the bed when we both know the only monster in this story is you. You are the monster!"

Ah. Well, she couldn't quite refute that argument, could she? After all... Satoru was right. Kinzoku Mikazuki was the monster. The sorceress chuckled, looking down before taking a deep breath. By the time she looked back up, her golden eyes were devoid of life, just like her dull grey hair and her missing heart.

"Fine. Make me your villain. I never was good at playing the hero, anyway."