𝑯𝑶𝑼𝑺𝑬 𝑶𝑭 𝑺𝑶𝑹𝑹𝑶𝑾⇢ Gojo Satoru

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐕 - 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐈 𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐓

KINZOKU MIKAZUKI FELL TO HER KNEES, sinking into the mud while the rain continued to pour. It was a cold morning, the sky covered in thundering clouds that rolled with the wind while the rain kept on falling. The abandoned light factory was eerily quiet, the large building looming behind her while Mikazuki hid in its shadows. There were bodies littered around her, corpses strewn across the concrete steps while the blood splattered on the pavement was washed away by the rain.

The sorceress sobbed loudly, gripping the gold-plated blade in her hands with such strength it cut through the skin and onto the bone. The special-grade was soaked, both in blood and rain. Her uniform clung to her like a second skin, her skirt torn to pieces while the fabric of her jumper had been pulled at the seams. Mikazuki continued to cry, clinging to Goldslayer like it was her last lifeline – which, considering what she'd just done, might be completely true –.

The Kinzoku heiress was freezing cold, her own body turning numb from all the time she spent sitting on the steps. The sorceress didn't know how long she'd been there. Seconds? Minutes? Hours? She couldn't tell, everything around her moved in slow motion, the edges of her vision blurring, almost as if her psyche was trying to protect her from the truth carved into the still corpses that surrounded her. Thirty-seven bodies. Thirty-seven sorcerers – all of them dead.

"Mikazuki."

A voice called from the distance, forcing the girl to snap back into reality. The Kinzoku was still trembling – from cold, or maybe shock, – when she wiped away the tears, smearing blood and gore all over her face before finally daring to look up from her nodachi. Gojo Satoru didn't say anything, simply taking in the carnage in front of him, mouth dry as he bore witness to the massacre. The seventeen-year-old boy opened his mouth, almost like he was going to speak, yet his voice failed him, words silently dying on his lips.

"Satoru." Mikazuki pleaded, voice hoarse, like she hadn't said a word in months. "Satoru. Satoru. Satoru."

She never said his name. Never. He was always Gojo to her, or senpai if she was feeling confident. Something in him stirred at the sound of his name from her mouth, a strange feeling settling over his soul. He felt heavy, his body filled with lead instead of blood as he stood there, unable to move and unable to look away from the destruction. He stood there, taking it all in, categorizing everything into small bits so he could finally process what had happened. What she'd done.

"Satoru." The girl said again, sounding far more desperate than she did before. "Satoru. Satoru."

Mikazuki got up from her spot on the stairs, katana clattering to the ground as she did so. Satoru flinched away, stepping back until he was far enough she couldn't reach him. The sorceress frowned, trying to cut the distance between the two, but before she could move any further, he cringed away once again.

Mikazuki stopped, searching his face for something to hold on to, for understanding. She didn't find any. They stood there for a while, at a standstill. Neither of them dared to move, and in the stillness of it all, the only thing she could hear was the rhythmic beating of her own heart, hammering wildly against her ribcage.

The Kinzoku took a deep breath, holding the air in her lungs for a brief moment, wondering if it would frighten him as well. There were only a couple of steps between them, yet it felt like an entire universe. An eternity, something grand and intangible that no mortal could ever describe or even begin to understand. It was the Infinity in him, and the Eternity in her. A gap no bridge would ever be able to cross.

"Satoru." Mikazuki tried again.

Golden blood began to pour from the cracks in her arms, pooling on the ground and spilling over the concrete steps like a beautiful waterfall. Satoru hesitated for a moment, gaze desperately flickering between her wound and her face. He too was searching for something, although he wasn't sure what.

"Satoru." The sorceress repeated one more, words slurring as she stumbled.

Satoru went to reach out for her, only stopping himself when he remembered what would happen if he touched her. They couldn't risk The Omen, not when everyone was still wary of the Kinzoku after her disastrous birthday party. Mikazuki looked up at him, desperation written all over her sunset-coloured eyes. The blood continued to pool around her, skin turning pale and dull in front of his eyes.

"Why?" She asked, eyes filled with sorrow while her vision blurred. "Why are you doing this to me? Don't you care about me, don't you love me?"

He furrowed his brow, confusion visible on his face even as he tried to keep calm and watch over her failing heart. Satoru could see it beating wildly inside of her chest, his Six Eyes catching every missed beat and every arrhythmic sound.

"I'm not doing an–" The Gojo heir tried, panic rising in his tone.

"Why are you doing this to me!? Why are you killing me!?" Mikazuki wailed, her energy dwindling with each word as she faded away into the sweet nothingness of death.

She was dying, life being sapped out of her while the blood continued to pour out. Buckets and buckets of it, pooling around her like a twisted halo. Mikazuki crawled, adjusting her position until she was right in front of the sorcerer. The Kinzoku rolled up her sleeves, the blood soaking through the white shirt before it began to pour freely, trailing down her arms and aligning with the cracks on her skin.

"You did this to me! You! Everything that has ever happened to me is your fault!" She shouted, the gold in her eyes turning a bright shed of crimson. "Why do you hate me so much? What have I ever done to you? I love you. I love you. I love you. Why do you hate me? Why do you keep killing me?"

I love you. I love you. I love you.

The blood began flooding the street, gold swallowing half of the sidewalk before it began creeping in through the walls and spreading out like a honeyed coloured ocean. In engulfed everything in its way, like a rabid monster tearing through its victims. The gold began to encircle Satoru, waves and waves of it hitting his legs as he began to claw his way out. The gold was relentless, and with every piece he blasted away, a new wave came crashing on him. And so, the gold ate. And it ate. And it ate.

It ate it all away.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Mikazuki's voice echoed in the darkness, her wail nothing but a distant cry for help. "Why do you hate me? Why are you doing this to me? Why, why, why–"

I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.