"I told you not to go," Nanami's voice rang in my head as I walked silently along the edge of the school grounds, just far enough to stay hidden in the shadows of the trees.
He had that exact dead-serious face when he said it—brows furrowed, tie perfectly in place, sleeves rolled up like he was about to arrest me for even thinking of following Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara.
"Dia, this is a first-grade level curse. You're not officially assigned. Don't interfere."
"But they're kids," I had argued. "You can't just send them in—"
He sighed. The most dramatic, soul-drained sigh I had ever heard in my life.
"I'm not sending them. Gojo is. And you know how he is." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "The man disappears for five hours and returns with an ice cream and sunglasses shaped like stars. Stars, Dia. He said it was 'for the aesthetic.'"
I wheeze-laughed at that memory while crouching behind a wall now, keeping my aura suppressed. Nanami had been right. Of course, he had been right.
"Promise me," he had said, staring at me like I was a cursed child about to ruin everything. "Promise you won't go near the scene."
I promised.
Sort of.
But then—because of course—Nanami got a call, his expression turning instantly from 'over-it' to 'I need a vacation.'
"What now?" I had asked.
He didn't even answer me directly. Just glared at the phone like it had betrayed him personally and muttered, "Gojo did something again."
"What do you mean something?"
"He swapped his cursed technique signature with a balloon animal to 'confuse the enemy.' Now the Kyoto team is stuck in a warehouse filled with clown dolls and cursed smoke."
"...Seriously?"
Nanami nodded solemnly. "I've never been more tired in my life."
So, just like that, he was off on a cleanup mission—leaving me completely unsupervised.
Bad decision.
And now, here I was. Leaning against a wall near the old detention facility where the energy was thick and choking, like spoiled air and blood mixed with dust.
I hadn't stepped in. Not yet. But from this distance, I could sense it clearly. The cursed aura.
Something ancient. Twisted. Angry.
My eyes moved toward the entrance where they had gone in.
Yuji. Nobara. Megumi.
They were inside.
And I had a very, very bad feeling.
I scanned the surroundings, my fingers twitching slightly with a sealing charm hidden in my sleeve. Just in case.
Somewhere far off, I could still feel Gojo's stupidly bright cursed energy blinking in and out like a disco light.
"I swear," I muttered to myself, "if someone dies because he got distracted by a dessert menu…"
I stopped mid-thought.
A shiver ran down my spine.
Something inside that building just shifted.
And I wasn't sure they were going to come out the same.
I had been standing outside for too long.
Too long.
The cursed energy had begun to thin, but it wasn't the peaceful kind of quiet. It was the kind of silence that comes right after a disaster. The kind that makes your stomach twist because it doesn't feel like an ending—it feels like something's missing.
I paced back and forth near the edge of the building, eyes flicking toward the half-cracked door.
Still no movement.
My fingers twitched, gripping the small sealing scroll hidden in my sleeve, my mind racing. I wasn't supposed to be here. I wasn't supposed to intervene. But something was wrong. I could feel it. Like the air itself was grieving.
"Please be safe," I whispered. "Please let the kids be safe…"
I took a few hesitant steps forward, unable to stand still anymore.
And then—
Inside the facility.
The walls were painted in blood and regret.
Megumi lay unconscious, barely breathing, slumped against the cracked remains of a pillar, his hand curled protectively like he'd still been trying to summon a shikigami until the very last second.
Nobara was motionless, her body flung like a ragdoll near the far wall, a trail of red smeared behind her. Her hammer, broken in half, lay beside her hand.
And in the center of the room—
Yuji.
On his knees.
Trembling.
His hands shook as he cradled something in his arms—something that wasn't there anymore. Just remnants. Of what had happened.
His sobs echoed in the empty air, loud and raw, a sound that tore through the space like broken glass.
"I… I couldn't save them…" he choked, fists clenched. "I wasn't strong enough…"
Blood dripped from his arm. His shirt was torn. But he didn't care. His body had taken a beating, but it was his heart that shattered in that moment.
He screamed.
Loud. Ferocious. The kind of scream that made the cursed residue in the air vibrate.
Sukuna's laughter echoed faintly in his mind, cruel and satisfied.
Outside, I felt it.
The scream.
My breath caught.
"What's going on in there?" I whispered. My heart slammed against my ribs.
I couldn't see it…
…but I knew.
Something terrible had just happened.
And I had no idea what I would be walking into.
I couldn't take it anymore.
I stepped inside.
And the moment I did… the air hit me like a wall.
The stench of blood. The thick, choking presence of cursed energy—so twisted, so overwhelming, it felt like the walls themselves were vibrating. My throat tightened. My lungs refused to breathe.
This wasn't what I expected.
This wasn't just a battle aftermath.It was a massacre.
I froze.
My eyes scanned the room—and my knees almost buckled.Megumi.He was collapsed near the shattered edge of the wall, barely conscious, his chest rising faintly. His usual calm aura was gone—he looked broken. Like someone had tried to snap his soul in half.
I took a shaky step forward.
My heart was racing, a scream sitting at the back of my throat.
And then…
He turned.
Sukuna.
No… Yuji.
But not Yuji.
He stood tall—too tall, too confident—with blood still fresh on his fingers. The cursed energy around him didn't crawl anymore. It danced. Like it was alive. Like it was enjoying this.
He had just pulled his own finger out of the cursed corpse, and the entire creature had dissolved into nothing. He hadn't just defeated the curse. He had humiliated it.
Our eyes met.
And before I could react, I felt it.
That grin. That spark in the air. That undeniable, spine-chilling joy.
He already knew I was there.
Of course he did.
He had been waiting for me to walk in.
I could sense it in the sudden spike in his cursed energy—like it got excited just from sensing me. Like a child handed a brand-new toy.
"Where's Yuji?" I whispered, my voice trembling. "Yuji can control this... right?"
But even as I said it…
I knew.
This wasn't Yuji anymore.
Not right now.
This was Sukuna, and he was completely in control.