Chapter Text
“Gojo Satoru.”
His eyes snap open. He is floating. He cannot register anything past the empty, white space of nothingness, barring the few people who stand in the void with him.
Satoru recognizes most of all of the fact that he cannot see. Not like his usual seeing, that is. He cannot read these people’s cursed energies, or see the atoms in the air.
Beginning to feel himself panic, he searches his brain to remember so desperately what happened—
He was fighting Sukuna. He sent what he believed to be the final blow, and then—
Oh.
Shit.
He’s dead, isn’t he?
I’m sorry, Megumi.
He shoves away the thought, deciding to figure out the twist of his stomach later. Suddenly, the space around him makes sense. “Is this a black hole?” he asks the people around him rhetorically. He knows it’s not.
“No,” a deep voice says. Satoru turns to see a short old man, hair the shade of smoke and eyes as blue as his, yet lacking any brightness. He has seen age to the end of time, wrinkles littering his face and eyes worn with tiredness. Satoru notes that he is missing an arm. “It’s a white hole.”
For a second, Satoru thinks he is joking. “Not possible. White holes eject matter, not absorb it.”
This time, a feminine voice is the one to explain. “Yet, here we are. Able to manipulate gravity, space, and time, all in itself, just as we please.” She is notably younger than the previous speaker, her white hair flowing past her shoulders and eyes still holding a twinkle. Her kimono is an evident attempt to match the shade of her eyes, but no shade of blue can perfect the color of the Six Eyes.
These people are like him, users of both the Six Eyes and Limitless. Satoru doesn’t know why it took him so long to figure it out. Bewildered, he turns his head into multiple directions, mainly seeing shades of white, with a few exceptions.
“Woah, you’re so tall!” a childish voice exclaims, and Satoru feels his chest weigh heavily as he turns to the kid, who is smiling brightly and looking at him with admiration.
Satoru floats down next to the kid to ruffle his hair. “How old are you, kid? Why are you here?” he can’t help but question.
“We’re all the same age as we died,” another person says. Their appearance is more toned down, with their brown hair just below the ears and cheekbones shallow. “We’ve been waiting for you, you know?”
Resisting the urge to frown as he looks back at the kid and as he removes his hand, Satoru furrows his eyebrows. “Why me?”
“You’ve had a long journey, Satoru.” He whips himself to see where the soft voice arrived from. A boy who couldn’t be older than 20, eyes gentle with a smile that was genuine. “Although, you deserve to rest.”
A sigh escapes his mouth. “Is this the part where you tell me I have the chance to go back in time and fix everything?” Despite the annoyance arriving from his voice, Satoru feels his dead heart urging to start beating again. A chance to redo everything…?
Satoru knew exactly what to do, halt all his mistakes and everyone’s mistakes. He’d prevent it.
Laughter echoed in the void from a girl, presumably younger than him. “Idiot. What kind of books have you been reading lately?” she says, tone familiar with brattiness. Satoru smiles at her attitude, finding it amusing.
“Now now, Seika, no need to be rude,” the lady with the long white hair from earlier spoke once again. Seika relents, despite her grin not faltering. “Satoru, this is a void, a white hole we created to live between life and death. You have a choice. It is not time travel, however.”
Satoru shuts his eyes for a brief moment, feeling his hope deflating. Whatever it was, he certainly did not want to do it now.
“As Limitless and Six Eyes users, our duties do not end after death. I found out that this void allows for us to continue living, although in a certain way,” Long-haired lady continues. “We have a choice to continue saving worlds, despite them not being ours.
“You’re suggesting interdimensional travel,” Satoru states, raising an eyebrow.
This time, a man around his age, voice authoritative and firm, similar to the muscles lining his skin spoke up. His hair is dark and curly, his skin holding a shade of tan. “There’s a world out there, one where you have never been born. This is not normally a problem, but in the world, Sukuna has once again been reintroduced to the world through a vessel, Itadori Yuji.”
A world without him, one where he had never been born? “What am I supposed to do about this?”
“Well, to restore balance in the world, we need you to exist,” the man continues to explain.
Satoru connects the dots before they are even presented to him. “Hold on. You want me to travel to this other dimension to defeat Sukuna who I just died to, failing to kill him?”
Long-haired lady smiles gently at him. “You may have died, Satoru, but you didn’t lose. You died alongside Sukuna, removing him from Megumi’s soul.”
The hope in him shoots up, feeling it raise the goosebumps on his skin. “Megumi lived?” Satoru asks to double-check, feeling his throat constrict in hope.
At her slow nod, Satoru feels his knees waver at the relief that coursed through his body, the crushing weight that previously remained on him falling off. Megumi is okay. He did it, he saved Megumi, his blessing, his ward who is more his son than anything.
Sukuna is dead. Presuming they killed Kenjaku, his world now can move on peacefully. He feels a sudden guilt at not being able to be the one to put Suguru’s body to rest, but he pulls the feeling together and shoves it away.
He looks around once again and realizes everyone who is there has spoken. Not too many people, then, were here with him. “Is this all of us?”
“No,” Long-haired lady continues to explain. “Most have chosen to move on. I, Gojo Shiori, was the first to stay to save other worlds. You have that choice, too, Satoru. You don’t have to do this.”
At her name, the others pop in to introduce themselves. “I’m Gojo Shion!” the kid says brightly, grin showing all of his small teeth.
“Gojo Shuhei,” the oldest man in the room introduces.
The man similar in age to Satoru gives him a nod. “Shingen.”
“Seika,” the teenage girl who insulted Satoru earlier spoke.
The younger boy with a soft spoken voice smiles at him. “Gojo Sakuto.”
“Huh,” the person with the short brown-hair says. “Why do your names all start similarly? I go by Akira, but maybe I should’ve chosen a different name.”
Satoru smiles at them. “Nah, I like that one. I didn’t even know they had a tradition of giving us similar names.”
“You should move on,” Sakuto says. At that, Seika groans. “You of all people deserve to rest. You just defeated the King of the Curses, and you shouldn’t have to possibly kill another student.”
Satoru furrows his eyebrows. “But if I managed to remove Sukuna from Megumi’s soul, why wouldn’t I be able to do the same for Yuji?”
“Don’t listen to his bullshit,” Seika snaps, glaring. “He’s been against our agenda since day one. Like why bother to stay, then? Anyway, you’re right, you could do it, but it would be a much more complicated process since Yuji’s and Sukuna’s souls are intertwining. Kind of how you once said that Sukuna’s techniques will eventually be ingrained into Yuji, even if he loses possession.”
Satoru hums, understanding. “I see. Another question, how come you guys stayed? I mean, I’m sure many of you guys have been here for so long. Did you not want to move on?”
“I didn’t have any friends,” Shion’s small voice says. “I wanted to be able to talk to other people like me. It’s so much more fun than talking with family.”
“As you know, I was the first to stay to save another world,” Shiori explains. “I was told that this white hole was a little area between life and death. Like I said before, as Six Eyes and Limitless users, our missions don’t necessarily end once our life in this world does.”
She moves over to an area where a black circle stands. “A black hole, taking you to rest. The pull of the black hole contradicts the push of the white hole, hence why we’re able to stand as we are. Well, and simply just because we can. After all, gravity manipulation is nothing new to us.” She gives him a small smile. “I suppose I am losing track of my words. I was the first to stay, yes, but I was not the first to arrive. The previous Six Eyes and Limitless user before me waited for me to explain the purpose of this area. That gray hole over there—“ She points to the area above them. “—will take us to a world that needs our help. No sorcerer preceding me has chosen to do so.”
“I went to a world with no curses!” Shion says excitedly. “It was so nice! Well, until the war broke out.”
Satoru feels his stomach drop. “You’re trying to stop me from going, but let him do that? That’s a kid,” he says to Sakuto.
Sakuto sighs. “He came before me. Trust me, I keep trying to get him to leave.”
“You even tried pushing him into the black hole once!” Sieka exclaims. “You’re crazy.”
“It was I who discovered the world without you, Satoru,” Shuhei, the older man, says. “As you can see, I’m riddled with age, and I’m not in perfect shape.” He gestures to his missing arm. “I can still use my techniques and fight, but to win against the King of the Curses?” Shuhei chuckles. “It would have to be my lucky day. I returned to explain the situation to Shiori, who suggested I wait with her for you.”
“I’m guessing you’re waiting to convince me not to do it,” Satoru says, pointing to Sakuto. “And you don’t want to move on, right?” He says to Shion. “Shuhei was the one who saw the situation, so of course he’d want to wait, and Shiori is the first who stayed to constantly go on missions on other worlds, right?” Shiori nods in confirmation. “So why did you three stay?” Satoru asks Seika, Shingen, and Akira.
Shingen’s lips surprisingly turn upward, breaking his composed statue. “I will not lie, I wished to find out if you could truly defeat the King of the Curses. As it turns out you can, I believe I will be parting ways with this void once you leave.”
“Of course I could defeat Sukuna. I’m Gojo Satoru!” Satoru says, shooting Shingen a cheeky smile.
Shingen’s lips drop.
“I’m here to advocate for you doing it, since when I came here, Sakuto was raving on about how you shouldn’t have to do it,” Seika explains, hands waving around. She drops them as she sighs. “I know morals are all bullshit, but you have to. It’s our duty, all that bullshit. Look at this.” She points to the endless space around her. “We’re slaves to our power even after death. So if that’s the case, why not do something about it? Why not make a change?”
Satoru mulls her words. “A change to a world that’s not mine?”
Seika shrugs. “We’ve been saving people whose names we didn’t even know. How is this any different?”
After Satoru gives her a nod—whether in agreement or disagreement, he isn’t completely sure—he turns to Akira.
Their emotions are harder to interpret on their face hidden by their hair, but then they turn to him, eyes as bright as his but holding tints of green, sharp with gentleness. “Satoru, you feel too much for so little.”
Satoru feels taken aback. “Excuse me?” He knows it’s true, that the littlest things tend to be what hurts him the most. Seeing Sukuna’s face on Megumi ticked him off, but to know that Sukuna purposefully killed Tsumiki to break the mind of Megumi only made Satoru think thoughts of red.
“I am here as a speaker for your feelings, to remind you what it means that you are here, what it means for you to move on to either death or a new world,” Akira says, folding their hands in front of them. “You’re dead in your own world, with no way of return, and the other world will most likely end up in your death, too. You’ll evidently come back here once that happens, and decide whether you wish to continue with missions or to rest.”
Satoru nods slowly. “I understand.”
Akira shakes their head. “No, you don’t. The world you are about to head into is eerily similar to your current one. People you are familiar with will be there, albeit different. Don’t get attached. Your visit there is temporary, whether it be by means of death or completing your mission.” By the end of their talk, Akira’s arms are crossed, frown evident not only in their lips but additionally their eyes.
A world very similar to his own? People he is familiar with? It makes sense, in a way. The only difference they had mentioned was him not being born, implying everything else remained mostly the same.
“I can’t stay in the world even after I complete my mission?” Satoru asks.
“Absolutely not. Our birth shifted the world’s balance. If you stay there, you’ll do the same to that world, which is not what it needs. Oh, and, one more thing?” Akira continues. “You won’t remember this when you wake up, not right away, at least. Your last memory will be of you dying.”
He does not feel anything in his body as he sighs at their words, despite registering resignation settling inside him. After all, his body is dead. “So, I have to defeat Sukuna again, but… like you guys said, removing Sukuna from Itadori’s soul will be much more difficult. Are you asking me to kill him?”
Shiori raises her eyebrow. “If you cannot do it, then I suggest you do not bother going. Although I do not think I can defeat the King of the Curses, I will do my best to try—”
“Alright. I accept,” Satoru snaps. He’ll find a way out of having to kill Itadori, just like how he was able to save Megumi. “You guys will be here once I’m done, no matter how long it takes?”
Sakuto grunts. “That was way too accepting and fast.” Despite his words, he does not protest any further. “I’ll be here, nothing else to really do. Maybe save a few more worlds.”
“I’ve been here since the beginning, and I’ll stay to see the end,” Shuhei says, voice slightly rough. He nods to Satoru. “I wish you well.”
Seika smirks. “Of course I gotta wait out to see if you make it. We’ve been feeding your ego by believing in you, haven’t we? It’s only right if you fill ours by proving us correct.”
Satoru grins back. “Believe me, I will.” The twinkle in Seika’s eye grows.
“I don’t want to save anymore worlds, and I don’t want to move on,” Shion talks, and Satoru is almost miffed at how everytime the child speaks, the frustration and ache for the loss of this kid’s childhood grows. “But I very much want to see you win! You always do!”
Satoru cannot help himself as he leans down to pinch the kid’s cheeks, who yelps in surprise. “I won’t let you down.”
“After you enter the gray hole, I’ll do myself a favor and go through the black one,” Shingen voices tiredly. “I believe in you, Gojo Satoru. If you defeated Sukuna, who also had the Ten-Shadows Technique, even once, then I have no doubt that you’d be able to do it again.”
Satoru tilts his head forwards as a gesture of appreciation. “All of you deserve to move on and rest. You shouldn’t be doing this just for me.”
Akira clicks their tongue. “It’s not just for you, trust me. It’s for our own self-fulfillment.”
Letting out a laugh, Satoru wills himself to smile. “I thought so. Safe to assume you’ll be here too, then.”
“Don’t fuck up.”
“Language, Akira,” Shiori scolds. “Shion doesn’t know such words.”
Akira rolls their eyes. “It’s about time he learned some.”
“How does time even work here, anyway?” Satoru cannot help but inquire.
“However you wish for it to. Shion has no concept of time due to his age and body, so he does not grow,” Shiori explains. “And once you leave, moments will not pass for us before you return.”
Satoru hums. “Huh. Never would have thought there was some secret Limitless plus Six Eyes group in some void trying to save other worlds. Also confirms the multidimensional and alternate universes theories. Interesting.”
Shiori smiles. “Interesting, indeed. See you once your world is for the better, Satoru.”
“What happens if I don’t want to come back?” Satoru asks in theory.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Shiori says instead of answering. “Like Akira mentioned, you’ll throw off the balance of the world after Sukuna is dealt with.”
Choosing not to comment, Satoru heads over to the gray hole. “See you later!” He says with a wave, and without glancing back, he disappears.
Searing, hot scalding pain is the first thing Satoru registers, starting from his thighs and reaching up to his chest. He groans without meaning to, his head blaring intensely, and his eyes burning.
“Fuck,” he rasps out, trying to breathe through the panic. He cannot focus on anything else, not even attempting to read the energy of the room or figure out who was there with him.
What happened? He was…
He was fighting Sukuna.
Megumi.
His chest constricts, and he can feel his heart pump loudly in his chest. I’m alive.
“Hey, relax. You’re alright, you’re safe,” a voice says, and Satoru distinctly realizes it's Shoko.
“Shoko,” he gasps out. “Megumi—Is Megumi okay?” He forces himself to peel his eyes open and get his Six Eyes into working.
He freezes.
Everything is wrong. He doesn’t need to look at Shoko, whose hair is slightly shorter and same for her eyebags, for more than a split second to know that this isn’t his Shoko.
Hell, it doesn’t even seem to be his world.
“What the fuck,” he practically wheezes, voice rough.
Shoko—No, Not-Shoko furrows her eyebrows. “You need to calm down or you’ll pass out again.”
“Do you remember your name?” another voice chimes.
Satoru would know this voice in his sleep.
He whips his head around to see Suguru, forehead stitches missing, not dressed in monk robes, smile gentle, and eyes looking at Satoru without recognition.
Feeling all the blood drain from his face, Satoru slumps back on the bed, feeling his vision blur. He doesn’t think he’s breathing.
“Is this a fucking joke?” Satoru lets out. He tries to stay alert and awake, but it is barely moments before his vision blacks out.