Ataraxia 平静 | Gojo Satoru

-'๑'-𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓𝟑-'๑'-

Suguru's POV:

"Wake up, Pebble!" My voice cracked as I shook her shoulders, harder this time. Still, no answer came.

Another hiss of blood sounded to my right. I ducked instinctively. Blood sprayed, hot across my cheek. Too close.

And too long. She's been out for too long.

"Damn it, Pebble!" I hissed tightly. "Now's not the time—" The whistle of a broad axe snapped me to the present, and I dove just in time. The man wielding it gasped as Maki Zen'in's steel thrust clean through his back.

"What happened?" She demanded, her voice cold, clipped. She barely spared us a glance, her attention fixed on the tide of low-grade curses swarming the school grounds.

"I've got no clue," I growled, yanking Yue's limp body onto my back. "Gakuganji?"

The girl hissed as gore splashed across her face. She wiped at her skin in frustration, smearing the mess.

"The Principal's inside," she said shortly. Her glasses were stained. "Utahime-senpai's students are with him, but I don't trust them to hold if it comes to a fight."

A dull explosion drew our eyes towards the backyard, dust pluming into the sky. I heard the screams before anything else.

The creature stalked out of the smoke, limbs shifting and twisting unnaturally, as if it couldn't decide what it wanted to be. Its skin rippled, a patchwork of features that didn't fit. And then it smiled, wide and vicious. A sharp, childlike laugh spilled from its lips, slicing through the chaos like a knife.

My stomach turned, a cold knot forming deep inside me. Instinct screamed a name before my mind caught up.

Mahito.

His mismatched eyes found me across the carnage, locking on with unsettling precision. Blood dripped from his fingertips, pooling lazily at his feet as he stepped closer.

"Ah, what a heartwarming sight." His voice carried, smooth and taunting. "The knight and his broken little damsel. . ."

"Maki!" I snapped, yanking her out of her stunned stillness. "Get to Gakuganji. Now. Protect him and the others."

"But—" she started, her grip tightening on her weapon.

"Now!" I barked.

For a moment, her jaw clenched, but she nodded, pivoting and sprinting towards the school. Her figure disappeared into the swarm of curses, her blade flashing as she carved a path.

Mahito watched her leave with mild curiosity, as if she were an insect crawling away from his reach. "Sending her off to play hero? That's not very fun."

I shifted Yue's body higher on my back, the weight of her unconsciousness grounding me. I couldn't afford to lose focus. Not now. Not with him here.

"You don't belong here, patch-face," I said evenly, letting my cursed energy rise to the surface.

"Oh, but I do." He spread his arms wide like a gracious host. "Slaughter is my home. My canvas."

I didn't wait for him to finish. With a sharp kick, I launched myself backward, away from the cursed spirit. One of my highest-grade curses slithered from my palm. A ruse, at best.

I wasn't here to fight him. Not yet.

I darted away with a hiss, landing on the sloped tiles of the school's main building. Yue jostled against me at the landing, her limp form stirring bile in my throat.