𝑯𝑶𝑼𝑺𝑬 𝑶𝑭 𝑺𝑶𝑹𝑹𝑶𝑾⇢ Gojo Satoru

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐋 - 𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐃

KINZOKU MIKAZUKI DIDN'T ANSWER, the smile on her face untouched even as the light disappeared from her sunset eyes. Nothing changed about her appearance or about the way she stood, but it was clear the betrayal hurt her nonetheless. Maybe she'd expected too much from them. Shoko promised she would find her, but the sorceress never did – she never tried, which was somehow worse. Mikazuki waited for a while, but after the first two years there wasn't much of a point.

None of them really did have a choice. Not Keisuke, who was bound by their father. Not Shoko, whose family hung from a thread from The Magistrate and not Suguru, whose entire clan was being held against his will. The only one who could have helped was Gojo Satoru – but he didn't. Even today, ten years and a whole lot of resentment later, it still stung. Mikazuki drew her knees closer, resting her chin over them while she looked down again, thoughts swirling in her head.

"Sometimes I wonder how things would have gone if I never went there." She began, weary yet somewhat invigorated by the thought. "What would my life look like if I had declined the mission, you know? If I didn't show up."

If I didn't fight back.

She'd spent so much time wondering over that particular fantasy, lost in the 'what if's' of the past, dreaming about choices she never made and people she didn't meet. The world was cruel, but not as much as her own mind. Mikazuki spent years obsessing over every single detail, wondering about the choices she made. But she was still here, trapped in the same situation, imprisoned by the same people. Some things never change.

But I changed. Or did I?

"I never really had a choice. I don't think none of us ever do; you know how The Magistrate is, but I..." She trailed off, lightly shaking her head "I still wonder, sometimes."

For a moment, Mikazuki lingered on that thought. It would have been easier to die, she'd known this the moment she was dragged into that room to be judged. But dying would have been too satisfying; for Léa, for her father. So, she lived. The power of spite got her through the days while cheap alcohol and faceless men got her through her nights.

It became an awful cycle and by the fifth year she was more than done with it. After that, life got quiet. So so quiet. Mikazuki was left alone with her thoughts for the better part of the last five years of her exile and, in that time, revenge forged itself a path in her mind. Why be sad and depressed when she could just be... angry?

Anger looked good on her. It was also the only emotion she knew how to wear, too.

Satoru let out a sigh, his expression softening as he watched Mikazuki with rapt attention. The man wilted slightly upon witnessing her sad eyes. He became restless whenever he saw that face, unable to deal with his own emotions because he saw her mirrored on her beautiful sunset gaze.

"I don't think it does us any good to wallow in the past." He let out meekly, surprised by the weakness that marred his words. "I think we've already spent too much time worrying about 'what if's' and hundreds of possibilities."

He hadn't. Of the ten years Kinzoku Mikazuki spent in exile, Satoru hadn't spared her a single thought. The idea of her was so far removed from his existence, the sorcerer even forgot Keisuke once had a twin. And then, Kei died, and every thought Satoru had been repressing into the depths of his soul spilled open, breaking through the damn of indifference he built to keep himself safe.

And then, Mikazuki came back and suddenly... he was whole again.

They were never each other's halves. Keisuke was Mikazuki's and Satoru was Suguru's. They were someone else's halves, but when those people left... together, they just fit. Like two pieces of two different puzzles that found themselves together, clicking in the oddest possible way and with mismatched images in either sides.