Bound In Love's Curse [Gojo Satoru x Female Readers]

124 ~ Hundred And Twenty-Four

Disclaimer: This chapter contains references to physical abuse, which may be triggering for some readers. Readers' discretion is advised.

***

[U]tahime, who had been silently processing the information from the sideline, spoke up with a furrowed brow. "Strange," she blurted, her tone thoughtful. "There were enough curses down there for more than twenty people. How could one person generate so many?"

Shoko met her gaze, her expression somber. "The torture began when Y/N was fifteen. She's twenty-five now. That's ten years of relentless abuse."

Nanami looked over at Gojo, who seemed distant and unnervingly intense. "What kind of torture are we talking about?" he asked, his tone tight.

The brunette took a deep breath, her voice steady but heavy as she redirected her gaze to the ceiling. "It started with starvation—depriving her of food and water, leading to severe physical weakness and a deep sense of hopelessness. Then there were beatings, manipulation, and waterboarding—simulated drowning to instill extreme fear. Electrocution and isolation were also part of the mix. The list is endless, more extensive and brutal."

Gojo's face tightened, his usual carefree mask replaced by a dark, brooding expression. "That's enough," he growled, his voice edged with hints of anger.

This was more horrifying than Gojo had initially imagined. The thought of you suffering alone for years, with him unknowingly making things worse, hit him hard. Even as the strongest sorcerer, he found himself struggling to find the right words.

He murmured, mostly to himself, "What about the scars? Or the memories?"

Shoko glanced at him, her eyes tinged with rare sympathy. "That's the next issue. We still don't know what happened after Y/N awakened as a sorcerer and gained the ability to see curses. The memory loss might be deliberate—brainwashing, maybe. They could've altered or erased parts of her mind to stop her from remembering the trauma."

Utahime's reaction was immediate, her disbelief almost palpable. "Brainwashing? Her brother didn't have any special abilities, though."

"He didn't," Shoko confirmed, flipping through her notes. "There's no evidence pointing to him having any innate abilities. But his knowledge of curses and curse techniques was extensive. I came across some of his research... particularly about the blockers Y/N wears. The earrings."

The memory clicked for Gojo, recalling the hospital seizure. Shoko had removed your earrings at his insistence, and it hadn't made sense to her at the time. But now, it did. The earrings were curse tools, blocking out curse energy, keeping your abilities sealed.

"And more importantly," She continued, her tone darkening, "her ability to empathize with and read curses? That's not some innate gift. It's a byproduct of what they did to her. The experiments, the trauma—it's left her hyper-sensitized. Her senses evolved in a way that makes her acutely attuned to curses."

Gojo felt his stomach churn. A bitter taste settled in his mouth. He had seen horrific things throughout his life—evil, cruelty—but this? Whatever they had done to you was on another level. One person shouldn't have had to endure all that.

"So, you're saying her senses are... malfunctioning?" He hated how clinical it sounded, but the truth had no poetry in it.

"Not malfunctioning," Shoko clarified, shaking her head slightly. "She's become razor-sharp. The more trauma she experiences, the more attuned she becomes to cursed energy. It's like her body is adapting, but at a terrible cost."

"Couldn't Reverse Cursed Technique fix that?" Nanami's suggestion was practical, but Shoko's response was immediate, dismissive.

"It's psychological trauma, not something physical you can just heal. Reverse Cursed Technique won't do much, unless you can heal the mind and soul or... reset it. But that's impossible."

Gojo's jaw tightened. He stood abruptly, stretching his long frame before turning his back to them, his hands disappearing into his pockets.

They could feel the tension rolling off him. His voice came out low, controlled, though it was clear how hard he was working to keep it that way.

"Speaking of resets," he muttered, his eyes cast toward the floor. "There's something that doesn't add up. I mentioned before—no scars. If she'd been subjected to these experiments before her awakening, those wounds should still be there. Reverse Cursed Technique can't fix scars. Not unless she somehow used an advanced form of it the moment she woke up."

The room fell into a suffocating silence. The weight of his words, of what they were implying, seemed to settle on everyone at once. Shoko's brows furrowed as she processed this new angle.

"True," she finally said, her tone more cautious now. "Unless... someone else was using Reverse Cursed Technique during the experiments."

Gojo's head snapped toward her, a dark gleam in his eyes. "You're saying someone was there, healing her with Reverse Cursed Technique every time she was hurt? A curse user?"

Shoko met his gaze evenly, nodding. "It's a possibility. It would explain the lack of scars, and why her trauma doesn't match what we'd expect from someone who went through that kind of prolonged abuse."

Utahime frowned, her confusion evident. "I thought only you could use Reverse Cursed Technique on others, Shoko."

Shoko gave a small shrug. "It's rare, but not impossible. There are others who could've learned. And don't forget—Y/N used it on Yuki."

Nanami, who had been silent for most of the conversation, narrowed his eyes as he recalled the incident. "Right. She did use it on her friend. So, she could have used it unconsciously, or someone else did."

Shoko nodded. "It's still just a theory for now. We'll need to dig deeper."

In the thick silence that followed, Utahime seemed to be piecing something together, her eyes narrowing as if she had figured out a part of the puzzle no one else had yet.

"I have a question." All eyes turned to her. "If Y/N absorbs all the cursed energy from the spirits we didn't exorcise in that basement, wouldn't that help her recover her memories? Maybe even give us some clues?"

Good point. You had remembered some things at the hospital when cursed energy had been involved. But this wasn't something Gojo would even consider allowing. He had seen what you went through, and there was no way he'd stand by and let you self-destruct, no matter what anyone said.

The strongest sorcerer in the room stood straighter, his usual easy demeanor replaced by a shadowed intensity. His piercing blue gaze locked onto Utahime first, then swept over the others like a cold blade. "No," Gojo's voice cut through the air, firm and unyielding. "Absolutely not."

The finality of his words was enough to make Utahime pause, her earlier conviction faltering under the weight of his tone.