The **infirmary** lights were cold, and the air felt heavy.
**Shoko** drew the suture through **Nanami's** wound; the thread made a soft whispering sound with every tug. Head lowered, lips pressed into a hard line, Nanami sat rigid, as though bracing for something deep inside him to collapse.
**Riley** stood in the corner, silent. She watched the boy who used to gripe about **Satoru's** noise and grumble over training. Now, he stared at Shoko's hands with eyes as lifeless as still water.
"**Haibara**... told me not to look back," Nanami rasped, his voice so hoarse it sounded like a stranger's. "So I... I really didn't look back."
Riley walked over and knelt before him. "You did nothing wrong," she said, her voice gentle but firm.
Nanami lifted his gaze, regret flickering in his eyes—the haunting question of whether there had been another choice still clinging to him.
"I never taught you how cruel this world can be," Riley murmured. "We're neither gods nor saviors."
She didn't say "you did well"; she knew those words would only hurt him more. She simply sat beside him, her steady presence guarding the last of his sanity.
Footsteps sounded outside the door. Satoru walked in, looking no different than usual. He waved at Shoko. "All stitched up?"
Shoko didn't answer; she merely nodded and stepped away. Satoru moved closer and gave Nanami's shoulder a light pat. "Pull yourself together. You came back alive—that means you did it right."
Nanami gave no reply, his body rigid, his head slowly dropping. This mission had been with Haibara. Yet only Nanami had walked back into the infirmary.
Riley rose and looked at Satoru, her gaze steady. "What brings you here?"
"Heard you were all here." Satoru grinned, his tone as light as ever. "Walk in and the place feels grimmer than a graveyard~"
Riley offered no comeback. Satoru didn't need one; he lowered his eyes to Nanami.
"Nanami."
Nanami slowly raised his head.
"Do you still want to be a Jujutsu Sorcerer?"
The question froze him. Satoru's smile vanished, his voice turning ice-cold. "Haibara's dead. He chose not to look back, and in this world, no one could save him. This is the world of Jujutsu Sorcerers, not some fairytale about justice. If you want out, I won't stop you."
Nanami clenched his teeth, his eyes finally trembling. "...What about you, Gojo-senpai? Do *you* still want to be a Jujutsu Sorcerer?"
The room fell silent for two full seconds. Then Satoru smiled—a smile with no warmth at all.
"I don't 'want' to. I 'must'."
Riley's heart gave a sudden, painful twist. This wasn't the Satoru Gojo she knew. Since the **Star Plasma Vessel** mission, since **Toji Fushiguro's** ambush, since **Riko Amanai's** death, and now Haibara's—he had peeled away layer after layer of emotion, forging himself into an unshakable, solitary peak.
But she knew. It wasn't that he didn't hurt—he had simply forbidden himself from feeling it.
---
That night, Riley sat alone on the school rooftop. The night wind cut like a blade, the sound of cicadas threading through the chill. Then, she heard **Suguru Geto's** footsteps.
She didn't turn around. "Here to catch your breath, too?"
Suguru walked over and stood beside her, wordless. After a long pause, he spoke. "I feel... I'm starting to lose my understanding of this world. I'm stronger than ever, yet I couldn't save them..." His voice was lower than the wind. "If sorcerers exist only to protect ordinary people who will never even know what a Cursed Spirit is... why must we die while they change nothing?"
Riley was quiet for a moment. "I don't know. But I do know the 'Strongest' wasn't meant to shoulder every single choice. Wasn't that what you once said?"
Suguru tilted his head slightly. She sighed and finally turned to face him. "If you're near your breaking point, go talk to Satoru. Make things clear. The two of you shouldn't keep trying to prove your existence only through battle."
With that, she rose and left. Suguru remained alone in the wind, gazing at the ink-black outline of the city.
---
When the first signs of Suguru's departure surfaced, Riley was among the few who sensed the shift. He spoke rarely now; his methods on missions changed. He grew impatient, harsher—he was no longer the Suguru Geto of before.
Riley couldn't help but warn Satoru: "Satoru, you'd better have a proper talk with your partner soon."
Satoru merely shrugged. "What, did Suguru get dumped and not tell me?"
She didn't laugh. Her eyes remained fixed on him, her voice grave. "I'm serious."
Perhaps her tone finally got through. He dropped the jokes, canceled his missions for the day, and asked Suguru out to dinner. But in the end, those hints, those efforts, those outstretched hands... changed nothing.
When exactly had they started to lose him?
---
On a three-person mission, Satoru exhausted himself and fell asleep the moment it was over. Riley and Suguru sat side by side on a rooftop under the night sky. Suddenly, Suguru spoke. "...Senpai, may I ask you something?"
She turned; he was looking at the stars, his dark eyes deep with bewilderment and pain. "No matter how strong I become... I still can't stop my comrades from dying for the sake of 'saving' others. What should I do when I can't find meaning in being a sorcerer anymore?"
She blinked, caught off-guard. Hadn't she once said that saving the world isn't the duty of the strongest? She had thought he'd found his answer: to stand beside Satoru, grow stronger, and save more people. She didn't know what had planted this new seed of doubt, but she answered honestly.
"Even so, my goal is to keep growing until I can match the 'Strongest'—then I can share the load. I can bear more, so others have to bear less."
She knew the words wouldn't save Suguru Geto. As expected, he gave no reply. He merely smiled faintly and murmured, "...I see." After a pause, he added gently, "When I'm not around... if Satoru gets into trouble, you'll help him, won't you, Senpai?"
Riley nodded without hesitation. "Unless he's the one causing it."
Only later did she realize this was the moment their paths split.
Suguru Geto wanted to "save everyone"; he dreamed of a future where no sorcerer had to suffer. Satoru Gojo figured, "As long as the two of us are the strongest, it's fine"; he cared little for the rest of the world.
In other words: Suguru walked into the darkness because he loved humanity and the world too much to see them stained. He would rather destroy the source of that filth entirely. Conversely, Satoru stayed in the light because he already believed the world and humans were rotten; if he spotted even a flicker of human goodness, he felt hope and wanted to save it.
Later, when Riley read the news—**"Suguru Geto Defects"**—she realized with a heavy heart: his question that day had been the first crack heralding the collapse of everything.
---
THROW SOME POWERSTONE !!!!!!