Beyond the Veil | Yuji

13

┏━°⌜ 呪術廻戦 ⌟°━┓
CHAPTER 13
EXECUTION
┗━°⌜ 呪術廻戦 ⌟°━┛

I'm seated on the cold, hard floor with my head resting against the wall. The silence in the room is thick and suffocating, broken only by the occasional shuffle of Megumi beside me. Gojo has gone to meet with the higher-ups two hours ago, and we haven't heard anything since.

I groan in frustration and move my head slightly, letting it fall back and hit the wall. The dull thud reverberates through my skull, but the physical pain is a welcome distraction from the turmoil inside me. I do it again and again, each impact offering a fleeting release from the mounting anxiety. On the third hit, Megumi grabs my hand, forcing me to turn towards him.

"Stop," he says firmly, his eyes searching mine. The worry etched on his face mirrors my own.

"I'm worried sick, Megumi," I confess, my voice breaking. I just want to hug Yuji and know he's okay.

He squeezes my hand, trying to offer some comfort. "Everything will be fine," he reassures me, though his voice lacks conviction.

I laugh bitterly. "Fine? My best friend is unconscious, and there's a possibility that when he wakes up, the King of Curses will have taken his place. The law states that we have to execute him, Megumi. How can anything be fine?" My voice rises in pitch and volume, the bitterness and fear spilling over.

I move my head to hit the wall again, desperate for any distraction from the gnawing worry, but Megumi shoves my arm, causing me to lose balance and fall against him. He catches me and, in a surprising move, wraps his arms around me in a tight hug. The gesture is so uncharacteristic of him, given his aversion to physical contact, that it shocks me into stillness for a moment.

But then, the dam breaks. I start crying, the tears flowing freely as I grip onto his hoodie like a lifeline. The sobs rack my body, and Megumi holds me, his presence a small comfort amidst the chaos.

"It's going to be okay," he murmurs, his voice a soft reassurance in the stillness. All I can do is cling to him and hope that somehow, someway, Yuji will be saved and it will truly be okay.

I cry so much that eventually, the exhaustion overcomes me. My eyes flutter close, the weight of the day dragging me into a fitful sleep. Between fighting all those curses and the emotional rollercoaster, my body has reached its limit.

In my sleep, the nightmare unfolds vividly—Yuji is standing before the executioner. The image of him, the life draining from his eyes, is so real that it makes my heart feel like it's being ripped apart.

I jerk awake with a gasp, my heart racing. Disoriented, I realize my head is resting on Megumi's leg. Before I can even mutter an apology, I hear the sound of footsteps approaching. I turn and see Gojo striding toward us. I scramble to my feet so quickly that my vision swims, and for a moment, everything goes black.

"What happened?" I demand, my voice raw with worry and fear.

Gojo's face, usually so nonchalant and playful, becomes unnervingly serious. "They want to execute him," he says, his tone flat.

My heart stops. The blood in my veins turns to ice, each shard cutting me from the inside out. I stand there, frozen, unable to breathe.

"But only after he absorbs the whole of Sukuna," Gojo adds, as if that part is supposed to offer some sort of reassurance.

There's nothing to be relieved about. My anger surges, a desperate, burning rage. "He can't handle 19 more fingers!" I exclaim, my voice trembling with both anger and despair.