Chapter 29

Takizawa Sho’s expression froze, his mind going blank.

An imaginary vengeful spirit? Rika? He is Rika? Then who are Gojo, who is Yuta?

What are they doing now? What are Gojo and Geto doing? Everything they have shown him—was it to fulfill his regrets? Was it to exorcise him?

Takizawa Sho was deeply shocked, so shocked he was struck dumb. This realization overturned most of what he had thought and felt since returning; the bizarre reactions of his old friends were all recontextualized, taking on a different, profound, and hidden meaning.

Is this reasonable? Is this even sane?!

Takizawa Sho pointed at himself, incredulous and probing, "An imaginary vengeful spirit? Me? Are you talking about me?"

The young man before him did not seem to expect this question, or perhaps he was simply avoiding his gaze; he hurriedly lowered his snow-white eyelashes, casting his eyes elsewhere.

"I had intended for you to forget the experience after the curse erupted... because you were in so much pain, Sho. You were in so much pain."

You were lifeless, your vibrant vitality consumed by the curse. In the final moments of his memory... that Takizawa Sho, who had been full of spirit on a snowy day, who had pointed to his chest with a bright smile and declared he would be the one the Six-Eyes child trusted most—he had withered away, second by second.

Just thinking about it...

Once that realization hit him...

Gojo Satoru felt as though he, too, had stopped breathing.

It was as if the one who had died that winter was Takizawa Sho, and the one killed by the curse was Gojo Satoru.

***

How could Takizawa Sho fail to read Gojo Satoru’s expression?

No matter how hard he tried to hide his thoughts, Takizawa Sho could swear to anyone that he was the person who understood Gojo best.

He suddenly felt a heavy weight in his heart.

"It seems there are quite a few misunderstandings between us..." Takizawa Sho whispered. The training he had been forced to undergo while serving as a tool prevented him from easily speaking of the Transmigration Bureau’s existence, but clearly, they needed to be more honest with each other now than ever before. This wasn't about the ethereal communication of 'I understand you' or 'I know you understand me'; they needed a concrete connection. Takizawa stammered, "Gojo, I can say with certainty that I have no discomfort, physically or mentally. I am absolutely not in a state like Rika’s. No matter how you look at it, I don't look like a vengeful spirit, do I!"

He took a step forward, his expression earnest. "Shoko said I seem like a combination of a human and a curse, which is why it’s more likely I was summoned back using some secret art—"

"If it wasn't because of my curse, but rather a soul inhabiting a body—"

"Why were you summoned back? Who summoned you? How? What were the prerequisites? What is the purpose? Who is most affected by your return—" Gojo Satoru rattled off countless information points in an instant. He was thinking and caring far more deeply and further than Takizawa Sho. "Sho, the person who disturbed your rest... I will never forgive them."

The emotion in his eyes was like cold ice.

Takizawa Sho suddenly realized that Gojo Satoru really had changed.

It was... he couldn't easily accept it. He couldn't simply accept this. This wasn't an effortless resurrection in a game; this was a desecration of the person he loved.

He had walked through the years without Takizawa Sho alone, bearing how much pressure and malice? And before that—he had already been forced to the brink of total collapse.

The price of his growth was the loss of his most beloved person.

So he endured a future without Takizawa Sho, endured the name on his phone that would never send a reply, endured the courtyard where he grew up, now locked away from the noisy childhood accompanied by the boy. Every corner of the training grounds where no one else stepped held the shadows of their races. The clan, with its twisted ideologies, no longer dared to look down upon or insult the so-called 'servants.' He endured opening his eyes each day to find Takizawa Sho nowhere in sight.

And after enduring for countless moments, enduring until Gojo Satoru thought... I have become accustomed to days without you.

I can finally pretend to be at peace as I miss you, mentioning your name with a lighthearted attitude in front of teachers, friends, and juniors, using the same boastful tone as always in front of my students to talk about the past when you were there, showing them—how much someone once loved me.

He could bury all his pain into the deepest parts of his memory. He was the embodiment of peace in this world, the strongest who must never fall.

But such a facade shattered with a single touch...

The moment he saw Takizawa Sho return.

Gojo Satoru was suddenly grateful that he had a pair of unique eyes that needed to be covered.

Because no one could see exactly what kind of emotions he was revealing, not even Takizawa Sho could easily detect them.

That was why his pretense of letting go was all a struggle. That was why he couldn't stand it—letting Takizawa Sho return from the dead with this body, burdened by twisted obsessions and calculated motives, violating his own will and beyond his own control.

Thinking of this, Takizawa Sho’s breathing quickened. He suddenly grabbed Gojo Satoru by the collar and growled,

"What are you thinking?! Don't you dare feel sad for me on your own! Do you know how happy I am to be back? Even if I've turned into something strange, I feel like it’s the greatest stroke of luck! But you—are you acting like every meeting with me is our last, making me, who felt happy, look like a huge fool?"

Bright, crystalline tears flashed in his emerald eyes because he realized so clearly how much pain his departure had caused Gojo.

Perhaps he should have been more selfish at the end, not leaving while his body was ruined just for the sake of a mission, not letting Gojo Satoru see his final moments. They should have said a proper goodbye. He should have held on longer; perhaps he could have lasted until the day Gojo Satoru found a way to break the curse.

Gojo Satoru was slightly stunned. The force with which Takizawa had closed the distance was reckless, almost making their faces press together.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Gojo."

Takizawa Sho’s voice was choked with sobs. "I said I would never give up the possibility of living... but I gave up."

He only realized this just now.

While Gojo Satoru was running around, desperately trying to find a way to save him, while Gojo Satoru was suppressing the terror that every meeting might be their last, Takizawa Sho had voluntarily discarded those chances.

He had heard from the system that he couldn't leave a corpse behind, as it would become a dagger aimed at Gojo Satoru.

But he had forgotten that before death, he had other choices. He should have avoided the worst outcome instead of actively walking toward destruction.

"It's okay..." Gojo Satoru said softly, "because you were in so much pain back then... you were in so much pain that it seemed like you didn't even want to be alive."

Takizawa Sho paused.

His memories were blurry; he truly didn't remember his reaction after being cursed.

"Sho is always like this... you forget things that would be unfortunate enough to ruin a person's life if they happened to someone else. But you don't care, and I will remember it all for you." Gojo Satoru touched Takizawa’s hand, his fingers expertly interlacing with his, his tone rising slightly at the end. "Don't cry; wouldn't that make it seem like I'm the one being even more excessive?"

Takizawa Sho wiped his eyes. "I'm not crying. Not even a single tear fell."

Gojo Satoru’s fingers trembled.

It was a tiny tremor, yet Takizawa Sho, whose skin was pressed tightly against his, felt it.

This meant... he might not be in a state of total relaxation. He was tensing up, suppressing himself; even the act of holding hands required conscious control to appear natural.

Takizawa Sho asked, "What's wrong?"

With red-rimmed eyes, he suggestively slid his fingertips across the back of Gojo Satoru’s hand.

Gojo Satoru’s body temperature was not low, but Takizawa Sho was the type of person who naturally ran hot.

It was somewhat ironic that this physical trait had been a plus for his role as a companion-type tool. The supervisor had once joked that he was well-suited for holding hands and hugging because he was so warm.

"...So you..." Gojo Satoru’s voice was somewhat flat. "...Do you have any other regrets?"

Takizawa Sho: "..."

Takizawa Sho: "...Huh?"

He was incredulous. "I said so much, did you not hear any of it?"

Is this brat still thinking about exorcising him?!

"Of course I heard it," Gojo Satoru said in a low voice. "But that doesn't change your current situation. Sho, why did you wake up?"

Gojo Satoru’s expression was one of pure confusion. "The technique that Geto and I performed together—I can guarantee there were no loopholes. If the target breaks free from the technique... it’s like a collision between domains. We must have accidentally lost."

"Whatever can contend with us must be at least Special Grade."

Takizawa Sho’s lips stiffened.

He realized Gojo Satoru was still trapped in the loop of believing he had cursed him.

Admittedly, this was a phenomenon hard to explain.

"There is no reason," Takizawa Sho said. "I don't want to be exorcised."

He enunciated each word clearly. "I don't want to leave. From the time I was a child until now, I would agree to anything you asked, but not this time. You want to say goodbye to me? Not a chance!"

"...That's not it." Gojo Satoru pursed his lips, suddenly regaining a touch of his youthful petulance. "It's not 'anything'."

Takizawa Sho widened his eyes in confusion and loudly protested, "What else is there? Tell me, what else is there?!"

Gojo Satoru looked up at him.

"There are some things... that you have completely turned a blind eye to."

"...???"

Takizawa Sho was bewildered and felt a subtle sense of grievance.

"Have I turned a blind eye to you?" he retorted. "How could I have?"

"If you haven't..." The white-haired young man slowly let his expression fade.

His eyes looked hollow. The surroundings remained pitch black, and they were the only ones possessing a source of light. Within that glow, set against the countless cold hues... Gojo Satoru looked as if he had cruelly stripped away his own emotions, subtly resembling the moment he first awakened as the strongest.

But Takizawa Sho felt like he was crying.

Gojo Satoru said, "Sho, can you please let yourself go?"

"...You don't have to stay because of the vow to keep me company."

"I would rather you be free."

"..."

Takizawa Sho slapped Gojo Satoru’s hand away and once again grabbed him firmly by the collar. His emerald eyes appeared even clearer and brighter due to his agitated emotions. He was exasperated.

"Look at me properly! I am back! It doesn't matter what I look like in your eyes—whether I'm a curse, a demon god, or a human! Am I dead? Am I in pain? Do I hold hatred toward you? Is there anything in my behavior that violates who I am?"

"You trust your eyes, but does your soul believe in all of this—?!"

"Look at me. Do you really think I'm a curse, or am I Takizawa Sho—?!"