Like a thick, firm blindfold, the darkness rushes over your eyes more intensely than before. It doesn't just cover your eyes; it weighs down on your entire being, crushingly heavy. It is exhausting to resist. And you know it would be much easier to surrender, to let the darkness drag you down to a place without pain, weariness, worry, or fear.
If it were only about you, you wouldn't last long. Because, sometimes it feels like you're just an average human, with no more strength than that, trying to keep up with monsters and gods and prodigies.
But this isn't just about you.
If you give in now and let the darkness erase everything, you'll only be hurting them.
Gojo's depending on you. Shoko. Megumi Tsumiki Maki Toge Panda.
Yuta.
Well. It's true that anger and hurt still simmers deep within your gut — he's leaving for Africa, really? — but there's warmth there, too, the soft pink sweetness of a first love. You hold on tight to that warm memory, fighting the blackness all the harder.
At the very least, you're not dying until you've had words with that boy.
And then, you wake up.
You can't see anything. Something dark and warm is clouding your eyes, and it frightens you. But then, a searing hot pain rips through your broken body, overshadowing everything else. And you almost wish that you'd sank into the blackness while you'd still had the chance. The burning grows — rises and peaks and rises again until it surpasses anything you've ever felt. You want to raise your arms and claw open your body, letting the blood and the heat flow out from your open veins. Anything to make the burning stop. But you can't even move a finger.
You can't even scream.
It's fitting, really, when Mikina's voice drifts into earshot, like a devil whispering poison in your ear. You can hear her just fine, and it sounds as though her fury is barely contained. "I wouldn't recommend moving. Not unless you want the poison to spread."
Poison?
A dull flash of panic goes through you then. You've never been exposed to toxins, but you can heal this, surely . . . Deep within the recesses of your fragmented mind, you try to focus, willing that familiar chill to wash over your limbs. But the fire within your body only blazes all the hotter, and you can't even peel your lips apart to scream.
"You were surprisingly resistant to bullets, so I had to resort to using my Cursed Technique: Serpent Venom Sorcery." The edge in her voice is suddenly sharp as a razor blade. "I can summon and control venomous snakes. And apparently . . . You don't do too well against poison. Interesting."
Yeah, interesting for her, maybe. You don't have the luxury of saying the same when it feels like you're currently being roasted alive.
Her voice softens, takes on the slow, neutral cadence of a bedtime book. But her next words hardly make you feel sleepy. "I'll give you the antidote if you come back with me."
"Yeah . . . No." You manage to croak out, your voice thick and sluggish.
You can't see if she uses her hand or foot, your vision is still obscured. All you feel is the crushing blow striking your chest — you feel yourself flying backwards, and then hear the sickening crack as your head smashes into the ground. You hear a piercing shriek. With a shock, you realize that it's yours. Looks like you've managed to find your voice after all.
The razor blade slides back into her voice. "Five minutes left, [ NAME ]. Tick, tock."
"No." Somehow, you manage to muster enough strength to speak. "Just kill me now . . . So . . . I can curse the shit out of you with my dying breath . . ."
You think that there's a sharp intake of breath from Mikina; it's a bit hard to tell over the ringing in your ears. You're dizzy and nauseous now, the fire burning hotter in your veins, but her reaction gives you a final, sudden shred of hope. Maybe she didn't think that you would go so far, or maybe she didn't think that you would have the nerve — but you're at the end of your rope now, and you've got nothing to lose and everything to gain.
". . . I'll curse you. No fucking grave or seal will stop me, I'll just crawl out of the earth and find you again. I swear to make your life so miserable that you'll wish for death, and when you join me in hell, I'll curse you again and again and again."
The venom sears through your veins in an intense rush, robbing the little breath from your lungs. You don't think that you'll be able to say anything else, and you can't see her expression to know if she's taking your threat seriously. You can feel yourself slipping away again, back into that blackness of nonexistence.
As if from underwater, you hear the strangest sound — almost like the sound of glass shattering and splintering, quickly overshadowed by a wild, deep roar. It's a familiar sound, maybe an illusion conjured up by your shattered mind to give you a final sense of comfort — Rika's beautiful, uplifting, ghastly roar.
And then —
"I'll fucking kill you."
