A Dead Man's Return

XVI. Ruins

Okay, so this chapter is pretty dark, just a little warning. Nonetheless, enjoy!

-

-

-

Nobody's POV:

First Day of the Goodwill Event - Monday

...

1:20 PM

As quickly as it came, it vanished into thin air.

The teacher-student duo of Gojo and Itadori touched down on earth, where the bright sky and nature's scenery welcomed them. It really was a beautiful day out today, yet that was tainted with the incident that took place. The relief that had clouded Yuji's heart after seeing his sensei was all but temporary– everything catching up to him at once as soon as his feet hit the ground.

What a mess this event was.

"That should just about do it. I used Unlimited Void for about four seconds, so that special grade should be out of commission for at least the next hour." Gojo squinted forward and scratched his chin, Hanami completely frozen in place a few dozen feet in front of them. The blue eyed sorcerer turned his head, gazing at his young student with a serene smile, "You did good Yuji."

"No, I didn't," Itadori said quietly, his eyes deadened and his demeanor slowly shrouding in gloom once more as everything continued to pile onto his brain. Satoru let out a huff of air, then rested his hand on Yuji's head.

"You saved lives today, Yuji. The lives of your friends. They live on because of you."

The vessel's eyes didn't move, his eyelids lowering as the day finally caught up to him and this pit of emptiness lodged itself into his body. Itadori brought his hand up to his face, then used his fingers to rub his eyes as he sighed deeply and turned his head. "How did you... y'know, get here?"

"Well, we were all in a room full of projectors watching you kids, but something happened and me and Utahime stepped out. We had a long conversation, but after about twenty minutes, Principal Yaga came running out yelling about an attack on our school." Gojo's eyes lowered as he now stared at the ground with a regretful look in his eye. "He told me that someone had stabbed Nobara. Just as we were about to rush out and try to get to you kids, Kusakabe yelled out that there was a special grade that had made contact with Panda, Toge, and Megumi. Noritoshi from the Kyoto school was with them too."

"Hanami..." Yuji whispered as he narrowed his eyes at the frozen cursed spirit.

"I arrived to the curtain with Utahime while the others dispersed and headed to different points of the forest in search of the other enemies," Satoru said as he motioned with his hands and reenacted the situation that had happened before. "The one who did the curtain's incantation must've created it to keep only me outside, since it would repel my body whenever I touched it."

Yuji's brown eyes still wouldn't break their gaze away from the special grade, his mouth opening as a whisper escaped his lips, "Yeah, Hanami mentioned that– I figured you wouldn't be coming to save the day."

"I tried. It took me a while to break it open, but I was able to do so after concentrating a huge amount of my cursed energy into one tiny attack." Gojo pointed his finger at nothing in particular as he acted out the hand sign he used for such an attack, then continued, "Once in, I quickly teleported to as many of the invaders as I could find and dispatched them one by one. Then I felt this presence, which I guess was Hanami's domain. Before I could teleport there, I suddenly appeared inside at your side; it's safe to assume Todo had used his technique to switch our places once he sensed me," Gojo said in a quiet manner, letting out a deep breath of air and turning his head to face his student. "I killed a lot of people today. I couldn't forgive them, so I guess that makes me..."