𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑫𝑶𝑴 𝑶𝑭 𝑴𝑨𝑳𝑰𝑪𝑬 ⇢ Gojo Satoru

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐈𝐈 - 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐌𝐄 𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐘𝐎𝐔

MIKAZUKI SCOFFED, stepping back and turning around, putting as much space between them as she could. Satoru paused. For once, he wanted to apologize – felt like he had to, but the ego in him didn't let the words out. The only person who had ever heard him say the words 'I'm sorry' was none other than his grandmother, and even then, they were not sincere most of the time. Satoru was never sorry, he was The Strongest, the Gojo heir, the – he was a fraud, at least that's how he felt in that instance, eyes cast towards the sorceress, that slight limp infuriating him nearly as much as her lies and her cryptic attitude.

Mikazuki picked up the pace, Satoru following closely behind as they made their way across the room and into a smaller hallway. The smell was foul yet neither of them acknowledged it as they continued to explore the place. Mikazuki could barely feel any Cursed energy, which meant either the special-grade wasn't anywhere near or it had the uncanny ability to hide its presence. Either way, it would take them a while to handle the situation.

Mikazuki stepped around another pile of debris, however, when fer feet touched the other side, a loud crack echoed in the room. Satoru inched closer, looking over the sorceress' shoulder and wincing the moment his eyes laid on the floor. Mikazuki crouched down, pushing aside the debris and revealing a shattered rat skeleton. The sorceress turned it over with her foot, noticing a series of larger skeletons scattered across the hallway.

"Ugh, that's disgusting." Mikazuki gagged, quickly averting her eyes. "This place is infested; I don't think I've ever seen this many rat carcasses."

Satoru frowned, tilting his head so he could see the path ahead. Just like Mikazuki had pointed out, the whole hallway was littered with dead rats in varying states of decomposition. Well, at least that explained the smell.

"That's odd." Gojo commented, checking his tablet one more time. "There's no mention of that on the report."

Mikazuki shrugged, stepping away from the gravesite and taking a deep breath.

"Whatever, I've seen worse." The sorceress mumbled while skirting around the pile of dead rats.

The air turned stale, a strange smell settling around them. Satoru paused, trying to place the familiar odour. That's when the rumbling began, the foundation of the building shook uncontrollably, walls crumbling around them. Gojo was quick to grab Mikazuki's wrist, yanking her back just in time as an explosion crashed through the wall.

Both Mikazuki and Satoru got blown backwards into the wall, concrete cracking as their bodies hit the barricade. The sorceress coughed, blinking as the dust settled around her. Satoru Cursed, pulling himself back up rather quickly while Mikazuki continued to stare around, trying to place her surroundings.

"What the hell was that!?" The Kinzoku screamed, scrambling back to her feet before turning to face the sorcerer.

"I have no idea." Satoru answered, pulling his hair back and taking a good look around him, his Six Eyes taking in every single detail. "The special-grade isn't supposed to have this kind of power."

Mikazuki grunted, pulling at the gold inside of her veins. The liquid began pouring out of the cracks in her arms and gathering in the air until it formed into the familiar shape of her nodachi. The weapon materialized in front of the sorceress, the purple hilt fitting neatly in her hand. Satoru didn't hesitate, enlarging the reach of his Infinity before stepping back towards the hallway. The wall had been blow to pieces along with a part of the floor, the basement bellow staring back at them along with at least a hundred rats scrambling out of the light.

Mikazuki hunched over the hole, gaze settling on the rats as they squealed out in fear and ran back to the shadows. The sorceress clicked her tongue, putting the nodachi away so it hung from her shoulder.

"Those aren't rats." Mikazuki realized after observing the scene.

Satoru crouched down next to her, eyes scanning the rats. They were rather large, roughly the size of the cat, their eyes glowing a vibrant red while they left a trail of what looked like clumps of flesh and bones.

"Nope, they're Cursed Younglings." He agreed. "Hundreds of them, by the looks of it."

Mikazuki paused, her expression darkening as she turned to Satoru. Gojo remained still, already knowing what was running through the sorceress' head – he knew her well enough to know, and even if he didn't, her face was easily readable.

"It's a nest." Mikazuki spoke clearly, a hint of hysteria in her words. "It's a fucking nest." She turned back to stare at the hole once again, as if to check one more time despite the fact that there was no mistaking it. "Did The Magistrate just send us into a fucking nest?"

Without back-up. Without warning. Mikazuki chuckled at the thought – she shouldn't have been so surprised, it wasn't as if Léa hadn't done exactly the same thing ten years ago, sending Mikazuki to slaughter with little to no concern for her life. Except, this time, she wasn't alone. Satoru was here too, and he'd just been played by the Magistrate.

For a moment, Mikazuki smiled. Maybe this would finally wake him up, make him realize the organization he so dutifully worked for was nothing but a bunch of murderers parading as sorcerers. But Satoru wasn't an idiot – he already knew what the Magistrate were capable of, he just didn't care.

Gojo sighed, mulling over Mikazuki's confession while his eyes remained glued to the hoard of rats.

"I'm as surprised as you are, there's no mention of this in the report." Even as he said it, there was no anger in his voice, not a single hint of animosity or indignation.

Just acceptance. When did Gojo Satoru become this person? This wasn't the man she fell in love with, the reckless idiot who was always ready to confront and question the higher-ups, the one who always got into trouble just to prove he could get out of it. This man was a ghost, an empty shell of who he used to be.

This man made Mikazuki ashamed of ever loving him.