Unmatched | ᴍᴀʜɪᴛᴏ

Chapter 41

When I looked out of the window, I heard people screaming in fear. Cars were burning, and so were humans and the little sparkling trees along the street. Jogo was doing a good job. Mahito's transfigured humans were chasing people, catching up to them, killing them. I couldn't spot Mahito himself, but I could feel that he was still alive, out there and causing terror.

And then something happened that made me take a step away from the window in shock. A curtain was being created around the club I was in and stretched all the way to the other side of the street, where Hanami was killing two people. I took another step back before turning around and running downstairs.

"Mahito!" I screamed, but the fear of the people around me was louder. "Mahito!"

The city inside the curtain had turned darker; the neon signs all broken, and the trees with the sparkling lights on fire. The fire was the only source of light here, and there was no way for me to find Mahito in this chaos. There were still too many people, but no matter how many I killed on my way, they seemed to come from all directions.

"Mahito!"

I killed a couple that thought they were hiding out of view. They were crouched down on the floor, making themselves as small as possible, and cried. I killed the man first, and when the woman was screaming his name and shaking his shoulders, I killed her, too.

I couldn't even find Jogo or Hanami or Choso. They were probably in the clubs across the street or somewhere where the people were still screaming. For a second, I thought that they could be outside of the curtain, but then I figured that whoever had cast the curtain would certainly want to keep us all inside. That was why it was so big.

Just when I wanted to severely injure a man who dared to walk toward me, something incredibly fast whipped him out of my reach and out of sight. My heart dropped. There was only one person who was fast enough to do this.

"Why are you doing this?"

Itadori's voice made me whip around, and I came face to face with him. God, how I had missed him! I hadn't even realized just how much I had missed him until I saw his face. His uniform. Those eyes that used to shine when they saw me. Those lips that used to smile at me. Those arms that used to hug me. That chest I used to cry into.

"I take it the others are here, too?" I said instead of answering his question.

He nodded, but when I looked around, I couldn't find anyone. I should at least be able to see one of them, but I couldn't. I couldn't find Fushiguro's shikigami. I couldn't find him or Kugisaki or any of the second years. And I couldn't find Mahito. It was only me and Itadori. But then suddenly the curtain closed in on us. The other side of the street vanished behind it, and so did the people there. The circumference of the curtain got smaller and smaller until only a part of the street and the club with the Heroes Night, in front of which we were standing, were visible.

"Why are you doing this?" Itadori asked again, and when his voice broke, my eyes snapped away from the curtain and to him.

I lowered my hands, my body relaxing. This wasn't a threat. This was my friend. And I had told him that I would accept whatever he wanted to do if we ever met again.

"I'm bound to him, Yuji." I said it as if it were an apology. As if it would explain everything and make everything alright. I knew that it didn't.

Itadori's face fell, and I could see his shoulders sag. "Does he..." He stopped himself. "Do you want to stay with him?"

My body tensed again. He might have been my friend, but I could feel that I wasn't his anymore. Everything we had had, every ounce of friendship, was gone the second I walked out my door. I hadn't realized it until now. I hadn't realized that he was my enemy now, and I was his. I now knew that I couldn't have everything. I couldn't have both of them. I couldn't have Itadori AND Mahito. This wasn't a perfect world. I knew that better than most. It was time I accepted this.

"Yes," I said. "I will stay with him forever."

Itadori took his fighting position, and alone from the way he stood, I could tell that he had been training hard since I had left. Cursed energy was streaming through him, palpable in the air around him, making me fuzzy.

He had accepted the fact sooner than I had: that we had to fight now. I felt his fist connecting with my face before I could wrap my head around it. I punched him in the ribs, making him buckle over, his weight pressing me down.

"Where are they?" I shouted at him. "Where is Mahito?"

"They're gone!" Itadori roared back, punching me in the stomach.

I gritted my teeth and attacked him with a shower of punches. I would not let him separate me from Mahito! I would not let any of them kill him! I would do anything to keep Mahito safe, and if that meant having to kill Itadori, then so be it. I slipped out of his grip and stepped behind him. But just when I wanted to use my cursed technique, he rushed out of my reach.

"Did you know that I was always jealous of you for having a cursed technique inside of you?" he asked.

I narrowed my eyes at him, cracking my knuckles. "No. And I don't care."

But Itadori wasn't bothered by my indifference. He kept talking as if he were talking to himself. "Gojo-sensei told me about your technique after you left. It's really impressive."

I let out a laugh. "Yeah? Come closer, and I'll show you just how impressive it is."

His eyes turned sad. "Do you hate me so much that you would drain me of my cursed energy?"

"No," I replied, closing in on him again. "I love him so much that I would drain you of your cursed energy."