Chapter 8

"Tezuka!" Yuji's voice echoed in her head. She opened her eyes but nothing was in front of her. A plane of overwhelming darkness surrounded her. No matter how far she stretched her arm out, nothing was met by her touch. No matter which direction she turned, the darkness followed.

"Come on Tezuka its time to go," She heard a soft melodic voice echo through the vast space around her.

"Mom?" Tezuka snapped her head behind her, looking for the owner of the voice. Her heart raced against her chest as the joyful hope of her mom being within her grasp once again shoved its way up her throat. "Mom?!" Tezuka's voice cracked. She didn't know where she was going but she started running, she had to find where her mother was. However no matter how far or how fast she ran the darkness followed her.

"Tezuka!" The small shrill cry of her brother laughed though he sounded much younger.

"Zakai!" She screamed into the darkness. "Where are you?!"

Panic was making its home inside of her as angry confused tears spilled out. "Mommy!"

"Don't worry Tezuka," This time it was her dad. His strong and comforting voice sounded its usual calm and steady. Though it came from a completely different direction.

"Daddy!" she cried sinking to the floor in exhaustion. Where were they? Where was her family? Why was she all alone? "Where are you?" she attempted to cry out again though she could barely get the words out between her desperate cries. Cold goose bumps surrounded her body as she collapsed into herself struggling to find some kind of comforting warmth.

"It's all going to be okay sweetheart," Her father's voice spoke. His voice sounded so much closer, as if he was standing over her, yet no one was there. Just darkness.

"I want to go home!" she cried grabbing her chest. The darkness felt as if it were creeping into her very heart attempting to overcome it. "I want to go home!"

Her own voice echoed around her then silence. No more voices, just the sound of her own pitiful cries. Until... a door. Tezuka sat up confused. She heard the slow creaking of a door being pushed open just in front of her. She could see it! In the darkness a glowing red light poured out through the sides of a black door, the light growing more and more as the door opened pushing the darkness away.

"Tezuka!" she heard Zakai's voice coming from the door.

Immediately she jumped up and ran as fast as she could to the door, throwing it open when she reached it. However, Zakai was no where to be seen. Instead what she saw made her sick to her very core. In front of her through this door was a room of bodies, human and non human, bones sticking out of every angle from the floor, dead faces staring at her. In the middle of the room more and more bodies piled high, blood dripping down from rotten flesh collecting on the floor.

What the hell was this?!

She turned to run out the door to find it had disappeared and behind her, lay more bodies on the floor of people and creatures she didn't recognize. She looked down at her feet to see her shoes were soaked in blood. Again, her heart began to race. Was this hell? Had she died and gone to hell?!

"No," a deep voice chuckled from atop the mountain of rotten flesh. "You're not dead... Not yet anyway," Atop the mound sat a man in a white robe. The flash of his pink hair made Tezuka's heart drop to her stomach.

"Yuji?" She asked confused wiping the tears from her eyes. What was he doing here? Why was he sitting on bodies? What were the markings on his face? Why was the seductive smirk on his face absolutely terrifying?

"Wrong again," the person chuckled in a laugh that made her uncomfortable to her very core. Over his shoulder she could see the glow of a movie screen and hear the laughter of children. Not just any children, it was a memory of her and Zakai. They were at the playground in their local neighborhood. Tezuka was trying to convince Zakai to play with her but he didn't want to and she was upset. Their father was trying to calm her down while their mother loaded them into the car.

"What's going on?" she demanded.

"Your friend can be quite annoying." The man said. "Always wanting to save people and all," Suddenly it clicked. This must be Sukuna, the cursed spirit everyone wanted to kill Yuji over.

"I'm sure he finds you just as annoying," she remarked a sudden anger igniting her bones.

"Maybe," the man said slyly. "But he did ask me to save your life."

Save her life? What was he talking about? The image behind the mound changed and she heard Yuji screaming her name. She ran around the mound to see the screen, on it she saw Yuji from her perspective as she fell out the window. That's right, she was dying if not dead already. Then the image changed. This time she saw both herself and Yuji. Blood was spilling out of his hands and his back as if he had been stabbed multiple times. Cuts and bruises lined his cheek, tears covered them with a wet glimmer.

"Sukuna!" She watched Yuji scream holding her own broken and mangled body, her own eyes staring out at the sky, cold and lifeless. Blood pooled out of her mouth down her neck and her hair was strewn out across her broken neck. She had to look away feeling like she was going to vomit seeing her own body like this. "You can bring her back! Bring her back like when you restored my heart!" Yuji cried out but no one answered, instead the screen went black.

A sharp pain gripped her heart. Why did Yuji care so much?

"I take it your not going to listen, I'm still here." Tezuka said turning to face Sukuna, darkness washing over his body, glowing red eyes stared at her.

"Why should I listen to what that brat says?" he asked.

"Figures," Tezuka scoffed. "All you curses are the same, too much pride not enough power."

"Please," Sukuna chuckled. "I have plenty of power, I could bring you back with just the snap of my fingers..." He trailed of.

"Then why are you even talking to me?" she asked crossing her fingers over her chest.

"You see this child has a gushy fondness for you that's quite disgusting. However," he smirked slyly making Tezuka's skin crawl. "I can use that to my advantage eventually, its all about playing the cards just right." he paused and sat up letting the light expose Yuji's sharp features. The robe he wore came lose around his neck and she could see the cut lines of his chest. "More importantly... you intrigue me."

"Me...? Intrigue you...?" she asked curiously.

"You're not from here I can tell," he said grabbing his chin, Yuji's long thin fingers had been accessorized with sharp dead black nails. "You don't know the power you possess..."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Your cursed energy...." He spoke. "You're not from this dimension."

"Dimension? What the hell are you talking about?" she asked.

Sukuna began to chuckle like a low rumble it grew louder and louder until his laughter was shaking bones off the walls. The blood on the floor danced in angry waves and the darkness crept in again. It stretched across the floor and coated the walls until the only thing in front of her was Sukuna's glowing red eyes.

"Until we meet again Tezuka," he chuckled. And with that darkness consumed her again.

Every part of Tezuka's body ached. The cold air didn't help. She couldn't help the groan that escaped her lips as she sat up grabbing her neck. Her eyes felt dry like sandpaper and the light burned them as she opened her eyes. Tezuka looked down at her body. She was laying on some kind of bed in what looked to be the back of a car. A blanket was laid over her which she quickly removed to examine her limbs. It was no longer broken and mangled, but put back into place as if nothing happened. Her clothes were still torn and blood stained but she was alive! Had she dreamed everything or did Sukuna really bring her back? Why had he done it?

"Until we meet again," his words resonated in her head. What did he mean by that? What did he mean she wasn't from this dimension?

"What the hell!" She heard a female scream and the car jerked to the side sending Tezuka flying to the floor of the car.

"Ow!" Tezuka grabbed her back as a sharp pain shot through her spain. Okay maybe she wasn't back to normal... Tezuka sat up to see a younger girl maybe her age, sitting in the drivers seat, a window between the two. The girl was staring at her like she had seen a ghost.

"Watch out!" Tezuka exclaimed seeing through the windshield the girl was going to run into another car.

"I don't get paid enough for this!" The girl screamed and pulled the car over parking it. She jumped out of the vehicle and approached the back double doors. "You're supposed to be dead!" she yelled as she opened the doors. Tezuka climbed out and looked at her more clearly. She was a small petite girl, very ordinary looking with curly brown hair.

"Well I don't know what to tell you," Tezuka responded stretching out her aching body.

"I'm calling Gojo," The girl grumbled then walked off towards the front of the car. They were in a residential area, houses lined the streets and she was now standing on the sidewalk next to a hearse. She really had died and been brought back. By Sukuna? But why?

A couple minutes later, the girl came trudging back. "Get in, they're going to meet us at the morgue."

Tezuka nodded and got in the passenger seat of the car. As the girl got in, she eyed Tezuka almost terrified of her. She did just come back from the dead, so Tezuka could understand how frightening it was, hell it was frightening to Tezuka herself. She didn't understand how it was possible? Was there a way to bring her parents back?

The ride to the morgue was silent, and when they pulled up Tezuka recognized Ijichi's car. Tezuka got out of the car and made her way to the front door, her body still sore a pain in her hip was causing her to limp. It was an interesting morgue, she assumed it was one that dealt specifically with cursed spirits, The door was a large metal piece with green windows on either side. It stuck out of a mountain which was at the end of a road you probably wouldn't even know existed unless you knew it existed. The girl slid a key card into a slot on the side of the door and it chimed. The door clicked and the two walked inside. Once inside, rocks stuck out of the wall in smooth yet odd angles. A sitting room was at the front, it was decorated with a modern desk and chairs. A door cutout sat in the wall which she assumed lead to a viewing room. However, in this sitting room stood Nanami and Yuji.

"Tezuka!" Yuji exclaimed rushing to her. He threw his arms around her shoulders so tightly she could hardly breathe. "You're alive!" he exclaimed.

"You're hurting me," she choked out.

"Oh," he said loosening his grip though still hugging her. He dropped his voice to a whisper and spoke in her ear. "You have no idea how glad I am that you're not dead."

"Yeah me too," she let out a laugh hugging him back. She remembered the image Sukuna showed her. The tears he shed for her, the way he held her broken body. In this moment she let herself conform to his embrace taking comfort in the heart beat she heard beating against his chest.

"You told me I was picking up a dead person!" The girl yelled at Nanami.

"We thought she was dead." Nanami answered. "How is this even possible?" Nanami asked puzzled as the two pulled apart. The girl stormed off into the viewing room.

"Sukuna," she said looking into Yuji's eyes. "I don't know if I was dreaming or what, but I think it had to do with Sukuna."

"You talked to him?" Nanami asked.

Tezuka nodded. "He said I was interesting to him. He said I wasn't from this dimension." She examined Nanami's face as she told him this in hopes that he would have some kind of idea to what Sukuna had been talking about. However she was met with disappointment and a confusion knit brow.

"This is puzzling," Nanami said grabbing his chin.

"I don't understand," Yuji said. "I begged Sukuna to save her and Junpei. Why wouldn't he do it before the fight?"

"I don't know," Nanami answered, his stern expression made Tezuka feel like she was in the principal's office. "We will figure this out but for the time being you two need to rest. It's been a long day."

"You can say that again," she muttered. Nanami walked out and the two followed. They walked to the car and got in the back seat as Nanami drove them to Gojo's house. When they arrived, no one talked much. Without a word they made their way upstairs. Tezuka took a long hot shower letting it soothe her muscles. When she was finished, she changed into a baggy pair of sweats and an oversized t-shirt. She tried laying in bed, tried relaxing but she couldn't get the image of Sukuna out of her head. All those bodies he had been sitting on... were those his victims?

Frustrated, Tezuka sat up and walked down to the TV room. Maybe she could relax if she watched a movie. When she walked into the room the TV was already on. She blinked her eyes, letting them adjust to find Yuji sitting on the couch. Guess he couldn't sleep either.

"Couldn't sleep?" she asked walking to the other side of the couch.

Yuji shook his head. "I just can't stop thinking about today."

"Yeah," she scoffed as she sat down. "I know what you mean." she faced him on the couch and brought her knees up to her chest, hugging them closely. "I can't stop seeing his face..."

Yuji nodded. "You probably don't want to look at me anymore, huh,"

"It was a shock at first, but..." she trailed off noticing the look of anguish on his face. His jaw was pulled taught, his brow low and heavy, eyes barely even open. "You're not him Yuji."

"Sometimes its hard to remember that." he said. "Everyone wants me dead because of him."

"Not everyone," she said. "I think you're pretty cool,"

He side eyed her and let a smile slip to his lips. "Thanks,"

"You're not him," she repeated. "He's scary, and terrifying... You're... Yuji."

"That doesn't stand for much," he responded. "If it wasn't for me, Junpei would still be alive. You wouldn't have been thrown out the window. Junpei's mom..."

"None of that is your fault," Tezuka interrupted. "Someone planted that finger there, how could you have known that was going to happen? Junpei was the one who made his bed. You did everything you could for him."

"And you?" he asked. "I couldn't save you,"

"That's not your fault, that guy was restraining you." she said.

"If I had been stronger I could've fought back." he spoke.

"You have to stop thinking like that," Tezuka said sternly. Yuji turned his head to face her. "There's a lot of things I could've done to change the past. If I had been stronger I could've fought back myself. If I had been quicker maybe I could've pulled Junpei away and saved his life. I could've begged my parents to stay home the night they died. I could've chosen a better friend and a better boyfriend who weren't going to stab my back. I could've done something that would've kept me at home, not here." Tezuka paused taking a deep breath as her father's voice played in her head. "It doesn't matter what happened or what we did, what matters is what we do moving forward."

Yuji didn't respond, only looked down at his hands, the glow of the TV casting shadows across his sharp features. Silence passed and panic set in. Had he not liked what she said?

Then he let out a scoff. "I didn't even ask if you had someone waiting for you at home other than your brother."

Tezuka shook her head. "Not anymore,"

"But you just said-" he began.

"Its in the past, he cheated on me with my best friend." She spoke.

"What a dirtbag," Yuji scoffed and Tezuka shrugged.

"The next morning I woke up here so I guess something good happened out of it." she said.

"I'll get stronger," Yuji said. "I'll get stronger so I can protect you and everyone else I care about." She couldn't tell what it was in his eye that made her want to believe in him, but she did. Maybe it was the way he looked at her without blinking, so confident in his promise as he looked into her soul. Maybe it was the way he put a reassuring hand on her leg as he scooted closer to her. He was a great guy, and he was going to do great things. Maybe waking up here wasn't such a bad thing after all.