64

.

Shiki opens her eyes, and looks forward.

The darkness of the strange space that she'd been transported to has disappeared entirely, vanishing completely without a trace. As if it had never existed in the first place, even. But none of what happened can be dismissed as an illusion.

Even if the rusted sword resting in Shiki's hands is all that remains of the experience.

"What have you done, Gojo Shiki?"

… Araya Souren.

Shiki lifts her gaze at the sound of the sorcerer's voice.

The man has yet to lose his composure. But there's a hint of a note in his voice that suggests at something… unsettled. Or surprised, perhaps. It's clear that he didn't expect Shiki to be able to escape from the barrier he'd thrown her into, to break out from within the boundaries of this physical domain that he'd laid down.

Araya's palms glisten red, and there's blood staining his lips.

Good.

"Knew you wouldn't go down easily, Shiki."

Kinji is injured. He looks even more roughed up than Shiki recalls, and there's no doubt as to why that is the case. Right now, Araya still has a tight grip on Kirara, even. Clearly, the man had no intention of releasing any of her classmates.

… But that's not a surprise.

There's a pained expression on Kirara's face. But… even despite the obvious pain, there's also a hint of something determined in the set of his jaw, to the distinct narrowing of his eyes. One of his hands leaps up, gripping at Araya's arm from where he's being held against his will–

A flicker of cursed energy.

Kirara flies backwards from the sorcerer, as if catapulted by an invisible force. Luckily for Kirara, Kinji immediately moves to catch him before he can slam into the surrounding rubble. Although, it's not as if that would've mattered, not with White still activated on Kirara's person and preventing him from incurring any further injuries or worsening his current state…

Araya slowly flexes his fingers, and lowers his now-empty hand. He does not attempt to go after Kirara or Kinji again, and instead the direction of his gaze falls towards Shiki.

"… Reverse cursed technique," his eyes briefly linger upon her uninjured shoulder. "You think this will be enough against me?"

It's clear what the older sorcerer is implying here: Reverse cursed technique is taxing in terms of the cursed energy that is required for its operation, and Shiki does not exactly possess an excess of cursed energy at the moment. Even though the reserves of her cursed energy are nothing to scoff at, and even though Shiki has been tirelessly working on improving her control these years–

Shiki's grasp over her cursed energy isn't nearly as precise and exacting as her cousin's.

Part of it's just due to not being as practiced or experienced as Satoru-niichan, but a larger part of the reason is also simply because she does not possess the Six Eyes as he does. Which results in her not being as efficient.

When both of them enhance a punch with cursed energy, Shiki expends more cursed energy than Satoru-niichan does. Her cousin's efficiency with his cursed technique is such that his expenditure appears negligible –to the point where it creates the misconception that Gojo Satoru is an infinite wellspring of cursed energy, because in practice, it may as well be the truth.

Shiki does not possess the same advantage with her cursed energy as her cousin does. Consistently maintaining White for extended periods of time places a noticeable strain on her cursed energy, and there's absolutely no way that Shiki can envision herself perpetually holding the technique active the way Satoru-niichan is able to for the barrier that renders him untouchable. Then again, the techniques cannot be compared to each other; not only are they completely different cursed techniques to begin with, White is a lapse technique while Satoru-niichan's barrier is merely the operation of Limitless in its base state–

The point being: Unlike Satoru-niichan, Shiki's techniques drain her.

Maintaining White for as long as she has already… Shiki isn't at her limit yet, but she can feel herself rapidly approaching it. It irritates her that Araya is able to estimate her limits like this–

You are only an artificial personality that was specifically developed for the purpose of cultivating the abilities in this body.

–but perhaps that shouldn't come as such a surprise at all.

Shiki doesn't know whether or not Araya has been lying to her; it's not as if there's any trust that exists between them to speak of in the first place. But she knows for a fact that the man has been watching her from birth, and if he was intending to use her as his vessel, then…

No, it's not so surprising.

But it doesn't matter if Shiki is on the verge of running out of cursed energy. Araya himself isn't doing so well, either. Their previous altercations were not without consequences, and moreover–

The barrier that Shiki had cut through in order to return here was an intricate setup, seamlessly integrated with the building itself. What was it that Araya had called this building, earlier? 'An extension of his own body,' or something like that? His domain, even?

There is still blood trickling from his mouth, indicating that he is not as unaffected by Shiki breaking out from that barrier of his as he would like her to believe.

If he was going to attempt to downplay the advantage she'd gained through her reverse cursed technique and intimidate her through asking if she thought her current state was enough to fight against him–

"Enough to kill you," Shiki answers serenely, lifting her… rusted sword…

… right, the sword that she was holding right now was the one that she'd received from Not-Jihei. Where had she dropped Kuji–?

"Yeah, so I have no idea where you picked up that sword you're holding, but it's great that you did!" Kinji shoots her a thumbs-up with the hand that's not wrapped around Kirara. "Because, well, the crazy sorcerer over there kinda… stepped on Kuji Kanesada and… broke it…"

Shiki sees it. A broken sword, scattered on the ground in two separate halves.

… Kuji Kanesada had been gifted to her as a present from Jihei-san for her tenth birthday. Shiki had been too young at the time to use it immediately, as she'd lacked the reach and stature to wield it in combat. But she'd still taken care of it properly, cleaning and oiling the blade as generations of swordsmen have done so before her. As Jihei-san himself no doubt had done so as well, and–

Part of Shiki recognizes that she should be furious that Kuji Kanesada has been broken like this. Stepped on and thoughtlessly crushed underfoot. At the same time, however… it's her fault for letting go of the blade at all, involuntary as it may have been on her part. Kiyohira-sensei would be incensed with her, if he learned about this.

Would Jihei-san be upset, too, if he learned that this was the result of the heirloom that he'd bequeathed to her?

Shiki doesn't know the answer.

But what she does know, is that neither of them wish for her death.

…

Someday, Shiki will die –but that day is not today. Not here, not now, and most certainly not at the hands of Araya Souren.

Even if the sword that she holds in her hands is not Kuji Kanesada… one way or another, Shiki is putting an end to all of this.

She tightens her grip on Not-Jihei's rusted sword.

"Shuku!" Araya is the first to act, raising his hand towards her, and clenching it down in a fist. The command is accompanied by the presence of a sudden, crushing force that presses down upon Shiki from all sides, threatening to flatten her into the ground.

But Shiki stubbornly stays upright, refusing to bend. She turns the edge of the sword in her hands–

Then, wrenches upwards.

A long, sweeping slash tears directly through the swirl of black-red lines clustered before her. Shiki can see them now, can clearly identify the lines indicative of the other sorcerer's active technique. The invisible pressure weighing down upon her instantly dissipates–

And Shiki races forward.

Perhaps it's because her eyes have already adjusted to the oddity of Araya's lines, or perhaps it's related to her experience in the strange barrier that he'd attempted to trap her in. But the lines are far clearer to her sight now, and Shiki rips through it all –the white-black ropes of light, glowing sigils, anything and everything that Araya throws in her direction. A lucky strike breaks something in her side, but she doesn't allow it to slow her down. Instead, Shiki simply forces her body to fix itself. Her will triumphs over the exhaustion of her physical body, even as her cursed energy dwindles further.

It's good, then, that Shiki has never needed cursed energy in order to kill.

Araya punches at her as she breaks through the last of his defensive barriers, and Shiki removes the offending limb in a single smooth swing of her sword. She slices through it again for good measure, remembering how Araya had proven himself capable of controlling his dismembered limbs. It would be foolish to allow him any further opportunities in this respect–

A heavy kick slams into her while she is momentarily preoccupied; Shiki barely manages to raise her other arm to defend herself. The bone in her forearm snaps with little resistance, as the cursed energy reinforcing her body falters. Fiery pain accompanies the motion of her now-deformed left arm dropping down to hang uselessly by her side.

Shiki doesn't heal it. Unlike the potential danger of a broken rib possibly puncturing her lungs if left on its own, a broken left forearm is nothing in comparison.

Araya is most likely expecting her to heal it –to continue expending her cursed energy as he whittles her down. The complete lack of pause in Shiki's movements as she forgoes using reverse cursed technique to heal herself, however, ensures that Araya does not have an opportunity to disengage from her. Shiki's sword bites deep into his side as she cuts–

"It matters not how many of my bodies you destroy," the man's sole remaining hand clasps down over the rusted blade; Shiki withdraws the blade before he can shatter the fragile weapon. "You should know this by now, already."

What he says is not untrue. Shiki has sliced apart several of Araya Souren's bodies by this point, only for the man to come back again each time.

But…

It feels a bit like tunnel vision, except Shiki is also aware in a way that's difficult to describe. His lines… right now, the lines on Araya's body… are no longer dull and faded. Rather, they almost seem to be glowing.

And Shiki finds herself struck by the incessant urge to just cut it all apart.

The tip of her sword finally grazes one of the glowing red lines. This time, Araya reacts differently –there's a distinct shudder that runs down the length of his body, and he–

A sudden scream rips through the air, off to the side.

… Aikawa-senpai.

Tch. Still up to the same tricks, is he? It's clear that he's still trying to make her–

"DON'T MIND US, WE AREN'T GONNA DIE, JUST FUCKING KILL THE GUY ALREADY!" Kinji roars from across the hallway, wildly waving the broken halves of Kuji Kanesada that he'd picked up at some point. If he's capable of that sort of volume… at least that's one classmate who Shiki doesn't need to worry about. Probably.

From the corner of her eye, however, Shiki catches sight of… what seems to be a set of shutter doors, oddly enough? The sheer incongruity of it all is enough to give her pause for a single moment as the set of open doors materialize out of nowhere –then proceed to slam down over a coil of shimmering white-black light stabbing through Aikawa-senpai. The girl drops to the ground with a pained sound.

Shiki's momentary surprise at the unexpected sight –those doors, were they part of Kinji's cursed technique?– lasts only a brief second in total.

But it's still a single second too long.

Because between one moment and the next, Araya disappears from the other end of her sword –vanishes entirely, as if he'd never even been present to begin with.

"… Are you fucking kidding me," Kinji stares disbelievingly towards her, as if seeking confirmation. "Did he just run away?"

That appears to be the case, yes.

But, "It's alright. I won't let him escape."

Araya can run all he wants, but he can't hide.

Suddenly, numerous cracks begin appearing in the walls of the building around them, in spite of the enemy sorcerer's disappearance. Or perhaps, precisely because of it. The very structure itself trembles underfoot, unsteady and unstable as it shakes, threatening to collapse and fall atop Shiki and her classmates to bury them alive.

It's a good sign.

"Excuse me, 'a good sign?'" Ichinose-san gapes at her incredulously. "I'm sorry, but what part of this situation right now seems good to you at all?"

It's good because the building is linked with Araya, and… what was the phrasing that the man had used, earlier? He'd called it an 'extension' of himself, or something along those lines. So, if he's resorting to fully destroying this building that he's so closely connected to in order to subdue her, instead of continuing to fight her himself, then–

It means that Shiki is right. And it indicates that Araya, too, had sensed the danger of imminent death just now, when she'd been about to cut those shining red lines.

Whether Araya has ten or ten thousand puppet bodies as backup for himself is no longer relevant, because–

Shiki is fully capable of killing Araya Souren.

The lines… are beckoning her.

Her body aches as she forces it to continue moving, approaching the broken windowsill. Shards of jagged glass still clinging to the metal frames cut into her skin, causing blood to well up in wet, red trails. But the pain only registers as a distant echo to her mind, in this moment. Even the pain of her broken forearm is almost negligible, as Shiki ignores her physical state and looks out the window–

Swirling darkness. Falling rubble.

Even though they should've been close to one of the ground floors, right now it appears that they're somewhere right in the middle levels of the building. High enough that directly jumping from this height would come with a very real risk of traumatic injury or potential death, but low enough that there would be no chance of reaching the topmost floor before they were crushed to death by the crumbling building. Araya's handiwork involving some sort of spatial manipulation within the building, no doubt.

But it doesn't matter.

"… Wait, why are you climbing out the window?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Beneath her, the building rumbles dangerously. "You should hurry up, too."

Ichinose-san blanches and swears under his breath. However, to the boy's credit, he doesn't argue with her. He immediately gathers Aikawa-senpai into his arms, stumbling when the floor nearly gives away beneath him–

Kinji pokes his head out the window beside Shiki. "Nice, I've always wanted to try skydiving."

"Yeah, I know," Kirara wheezes with a small laugh, something that's just a slight touch hysterical. "Who needs parachutes, anyways?"

"Exactly!"

"You guys are all insane," Ichinose-san says flatly. "Absolutely insane."

They'll be fine. Sorcerers are capable of enhancing their own physical constitution with cursed energy, and… even though a fall from this height is potentially fatal, there's still a better chance of survival than just waiting to be crushed within the collapsing building. If they're careful about it, and use Kirara who still wears White as a shield… it will be rough, but they should still be fine.

As for her…

Shiki lets go of the broken window frame, stepping out into the open air, and falls.

Wind whistles past her body, gravity pulling her down with building momentum. Araya isn't far; she can tell by the vestigial traces of his cursed energy residuals that still linger, and so she follows it–

There.

Perhaps it is a limitation of his barriers, that he must remain within the building's vicinity. But Shiki sees him, sees the sorcerer falling through the air just as she is, scattered pieces of sharp-edged rubble raining down relentlessly around them both.

The rusted sword in her hands finds its mark directly in Araya's chest.

There's the satisfying sensation of finally being able to cut into the man, even as blood pours out messily from the wound that she gouges into his torso. But Shiki is beyond caring about cleanliness at this point. Her attention is solely directed towards the enemy before, towards the red lines that still glow, and–

A harsh cough rattles in the man's chest, passing through gritted teeth. Blood splatters onto Shiki's face, but she does not turn away. Instead, she drives the sword in deeper, cutting with a single-minded focus.

"Gojo… Shiki!"

Through the guttural growl, Araya's sole remaining hand reaches up and grasps at the rusted blade… to no avail. Shiki ends up cutting through a few of his fingers for good measure as they struggle in uncontrolled freefall, tumbling wildly through the air as there is a shattering sound that echoes around them–

Araya grabs Shiki by her broken arm to throw her away from him; Shiki drags her sword through another glowing red line–

The rusted sword snaps. Shiki rams the broken hilt into the man's throat and grabs the remaining length of the blade with her bare hands without hesitation–

Impact.

…

It's harsh, and jarring. The strength of the forceful collision from hitting the ground is stronger than she'd expected, to the point where the entire world turns black for a moment. There are several long seconds in which Shiki almost feels as if she's floating, as if she's disconnected from her senses–

Shiki's eyes snap open.

… She's lying on the ground. Everything hurts, and even the slightest twitch of her body sends sharp tendrils of pain shooting through her left arm… which is deformed to the point where it resembles a wet noodle more than it does an actual human arm, now that she takes a good look at it.

Ah. This kind of injury would definitely warrant the use of her newly-discovered reverse cursed technique. But unfortunately, Shiki doesn't think that she still possesses enough cursed energy to–

She's not maintaining White anymore.

With a small start, Shiki jolts upright at the abrupt, alarming realization. Which is a bad decision, with how much her body screams in protest against the sudden movement aggravating her injuries, but Shiki can't quite find it in herself to care about that at the moment.

She forces herself to her feet, staggering. There's another dull throb of pain from her right hand, and she glances down. Her fingers are still tightly clenched over the broken blade, dark with rust and wet with blood.

Unimportant.

Shiki looks over her surroundings. The scene of destruction from the massive pile of rubble scattered around her, accompanied by thick clouds of dust that still have yet to settle, while above her the broken Curtain continues to crumble–

Wait, the broken Curtain?

When she'd been struggling with Araya during their freefall… there had been the sound of something shattering, although with the rumbling of the building collapsing around them, Shiki hadn't paid any attention to it. Now that she looks up at the dissipating Curtain, however, she can find the distinct trace of outer interference.

Someone had broken through the Curtain. Reinforcements, at long last. Was it Satoru-niichan? Shiki doesn't know what could've delayed her cousin for so long, but–

"… So what were you really after, all this time?"

Shiki whirls towards the voice.

It's a familiar voice –and a truly unexpected one. The words are gentle, soft. Calm.

Long dark hair sweeps down over equally dark robes, the only splotch of color belonging to a green and yellow-patterned kasaya garment.

Geto Suguru stands before a small crater in the ground, at the epicenter of which lies Araya Souren. The man's body is near-unrecognizable by this point, what with how Shiki had cut away at his very being during their fall–

Geto-san. Geto Suguru.

… What in the world is he doing here? No, why is he here at all?!

Had Geto-san been part of Araya's plots, too?

"Was this really worth it?" Geto-san asks the downed sorcerer. "To the point of targeting Shiki like this, of making enemies of the entire jujutsu world… surely you must've known exactly what you were doing."

"… Humans are hopeless." Araya coughs wetly, blood dribbling profusely from the corner of his mouth.

"I agree," Geto-san nods.

"Humans," Araya repeats, emphasizing the word, "… Not just non-sorcerers."

"Which is where we'll have to agree to disagree," Geto-san responds mildly. "I still think that it's a pity that our perspectives don't quite align with each other. But I can't help but find myself wondering… taking into account all the extensive modifications that you've made to yourself, are you perhaps more curse than human, now?"

"Irrelevant."

"No, no, I'd actually say that it's very relevant," Geto-san shakes his head. Then, smiles. "From one sorcerer to another… what do you think? Have you finally become enough of a cursed spirit for my cursed technique to apply to you, Araya?"

The broken half that remains of Not-Jihei's sword instantly leaves Shiki's hand, before she's even aware of the movement herself. Geto-san blinks as the spinning blade slices past him, and proceeds to cleave into the body of the dying sorcerer.

"You…"

"Me," Shiki says flatly, limping into the crater and pulling the broken blade out of the ground with her bleeding hand. "I'm ending this here."

Araya opens his mouth–

–but does not get a chance to say anything else, as Shiki proceeds to sever the very last of those fading red lines, and finally kills Araya Souren by cutting him into bloody pieces.

On his own, the man had proven himself hard enough to kill already. Shiki does not want to know what sort of vengeful cursed spirit such a sorcerer would make.

…

It's… over.

At last, it's finally over.

A slight cough, and clearing of the throat. "Are you alright, Shiki?"

… Is Geto-san being serious? Really?

There's a strange expression on the curse user's face as his gaze flicks over her, and takes in her injured state. Briefly, there's something in his eyes that seems almost surprised, shock filtering into concern. When Geto-san looks at Araya again afterwards –the bloody remains of Araya's corpse, that is– it's with a slightly darkened gaze. Cold, heavy.

But then it all clears away swiftly, yielding to a gentle smile as he turns towards her again. He takes a step towards her, arm raising up as if to reach for her–

Shiki lifts the broken blade in her hand warily, staunchly ignoring the way that pain flares anew in her body from the motion.

Geto-san pauses, and amiably drops his arm back down to his side again, a silent message of harmlessness.

"Put down the sword, Shiki," he sighs, as if Shiki is being unnecessarily difficult. "Don't be ridiculous. Are you honestly going to fight me with that? … Really, let go of it before you get tetanus or something–"

"Why are you here?"

The man pauses. "… I received word from a contact that Araya was planning something dangerous. Naturally, I couldn't just let him be now, could I?"

Shiki gives Geto-san an unimpressed, deadpan look. If Araya's plans cause chaos for jujutsu society, then the instability grants more opportunities to Geto-san's radical, genocidal agenda. From this point of view, there's no need for Geto-san to interfere at all –and he hadn't done anything to prevent Araya's plots from coming to fruition, either.

Moreover… Shiki also remembers that Geto-san had expressed interest in recruiting Araya, years ago. And from the short exchange that she'd overheard just now… he was still interested in acquiring Araya as a resource, right up until Shiki had permanently put an end to the man herself.

… Geto-san hadn't stopped her. She's not about to be grateful to him for something like that, though.

"Sharp as always," Geto-san laughs, amused. "Well, I did hear that Araya had some interesting plans in store for Obon this year. Although I thought it was just the ceremony, instead of… well, it doesn't really matter anymore, does it?"

Currently, there are numerous black spots dancing in front of her eyes, and exhaustion batters at her with all the force of a sledgehammer. However, Shiki does not allow herself to relax before the curse user.

"What do you want?" she asks him again.

Geto-san hums noncommittally. "… I initially thought this might be a good time for a chat, but I'd say that you're looking a little tired, Shiki. Would you allow me to assist you?"

"You're not answering the question, Geto-san."

"Yes, mostly because I'm not sure how sound of mind you are right now," the man pauses. "Although… I suppose that you do have a point. I might as well take advantage of the opportunity presented in front of me while you're not about to try and shred me to pieces like Araya here."

Shiki blinks. "Satoru-niichan wants you alive."

"He does." For a moment, there's something in Geto-san's voice that's deeply fond. "But as long as he insists on protecting those monkeys… eventually, he'll have to make his choice one day. And Satoru is far too beholden to his responsibilities to ever allow himself to choose otherwise."

"… Monkeys?" Shiki finds herself at a sudden loss for words. Has the life of a curse user finally caused Geto-san to become completely insane? What in the world was he talking about? Since when did Satoru-niichan protect monkeys?

"Ah, pardon me. I'm referring to non-sorcerers," Geto-san explains, and something twists in his expression. "Those who possess no aptitude for jujutsu, who are incapable of anything but creating cursed spirits and contributing to the suffering in this world."

A sorcerer's responsibility is to exorcise curses, and protect non-sorcerer civilians. But the way that Geto-san talks about it, the clear note of distaste in his voice…

Shiki doesn't like it. She doesn't like it.

"Araya was an extremist," casually says the man intent on committing mass murder, "But he was not the only one to observe the appalling flaws in this world we live in. There's no reason for cursed spirits to exist. Surely you agree with me on this much, at the very least? Cursed spirits whose only purpose is to spread misery and suffering… this is wrong, Shiki."

"So is genocide."

"It's the only solution that ensures the problem will be pulled out by the roots," Geto-san insists. "The only way that this situation will be resolved at its core. Cursed spirits are created from a cesspool of negativity; when the cursed energy that 'leaks' from monkeys condenses and takes form, that's how cursed spirits are born."

"I am aware." Why is he suddenly talking about this?

… Shiki tightens her grip on the broken sword in her hand. The fresh burst of pain helps her to remain attentive and aware.

"Mhm. Then you would also know that a sorcerer does not create any cursed spirits during their lifetime, because they are able to control their cursed energy. Monkeys… are only an insidious, parasitic blight upon this world." Geto-san pauses, and tilts his head at her. "… But you don't care about any of that, do you?"

His voice drops down into a soft murmur, but the soothing note belies something… contemplative.

"I know that you're loyal to the administration because of Satoru," the older sorcerer says. "Because of Nanami. But, Shiki… you must know that you can't help either of them by remaining obedient to the higher ups. To those who are satisfied with the current state of the world."

Shiki fails to see how eradicating all non-sorcerers would be of any help, either. And it's not as if–

"For the sake of maintaining this meaningless status quo and perpetuating the cycle of endless violence," Geto-san continues, "Sorcerers will die. But why must it be sorcerers who are the only acceptable casualties in this?"

He leans in, earnest.

"You're not someone who's moved by ideals," he says evenly, quietly. "But… surely you understand by now. This entire debacle with Araya…"

Geto-san falls silent for a moment.

"The administration permits the existence of curse users because curse users are still sorcerers capable of exorcising cursed spirits. It's just another facet of the problem that already plagues us," he tells her. "All sorcerers are just disposable to them, in the end. Even Satoru."

Shiki's eyes narrow at the implications.

"I promise you, this isn't a threat." Geto-san's words are… sad, somehow. "For all that he is exalted by others, even Satoru is no different in this respect, ultimately. He's the 'Honored One.' But is it really such an honor to be burdened with walking such an endlessly bloody road, doomed to be hopeless from the start?"

"That's not something for you to decide, Suguru."

There's no hint of laughter in these words, in the sound of this sudden voice that rises unexpectedly from behind them. Nothing playful, nor teasing.

But all the same, there is a small breath of relief that escapes Shiki's lips as she lifts her gaze towards the welcome sight of her cousin.

"… Satoru-niichan?"

.

.

Extra.

.

"Finally here, eh?"

Araya Souren opens his eyes to a cloud of smoke in his face. There is no substance to it –odorless and tasteless. It is almost as if there is an invisible film dividing him from the world around him, a layer of detachment from it all–

"Honestly, I would've expected you to have another backup plan. Or another backup body, at the very least," the familiar voice continues, unconcerned. Brilliant red hair flows through the air as the young woman tosses her head, taking another long drag of the cigarette balanced between her fingers.

Aozaki Touko exhales, and her breath is accompanied by another light puff of smoke.

"It wouldn't have worked." Araya had tried, but towards the end… he had been unable to. What the young girl had finally severed with that rusted sword of hers wasn't something that could be fixed by transferring his consciousness to a new body. Araya had been truly bereft, with the entire world crumbling down around him while death carved itself into his very being.

… Death. To think that he would meet his death, without being able to accomplish what he'd set out to do… it was…

"If you'd let me finish my research and actually be able to create a complete human puppet –a perfect replica of a living human– then maybe you would've had a better base to build off of," Touko drawls. "Might've been able to give your kid a little more trouble before she finally learned to cut past the shell of 'Araya Souren's physical body,' and directly through 'Araya Souren.'"

As expected, "You blame me for killing you."

"Like that's any surprise?" Touko snorts inelegantly, and tips her head back to look upwards. "… I'm pissed that I never got to finish my research. Although, I guess that makes two of us now, given that you didn't manage to succeed in your goals, either. Truly, karma at its finest. Is it just Noritoshi left out of the three of us, then?"

"Kenjaku has been around far longer than us," Araya finds himself saying. "Long before he was ever 'Kamo Noritoshi' in the first place… he goes by 'Kaori,' now."

"I know, I know, both of you are centuries-old monsters," the redhead rolls her eyes, waving her cigarette. "So. Do you regret anything?"

Regret?

"… No." But if he were to repeat it all over again, then… perhaps, a different approach was warranted towards the vessel that he'd so carefully cultivated over the expanse of endless years. As it is, he idly wonders if Kenjaku would approach the girl and appropriate her for his own purposes. Or if he would remove her, deeming her unnecessary and a hindrance for his plans.

Gojo Shiki.

This child… she was the culmination of countless years of methodical work. An empty vessel capable of reaching the hollow core of this broken world, and finally usher in the ending that Araya desired.

…

Humanity is hopeless.

Over the long centuries of life that he'd spent walking the earth, Araya had witnessed many things. Despair, inevitable. There had once been a time when, as a young monk, he'd firmly believed that it was his purpose to render succor to those in need, to do his part in exorcising curses and serving the greater balance–

Yet, the world was undeniably, irrevocably broken. There was no balance to speak of –if any ever even existed in the first place.

With his own two eyes, Araya witnessed the throes of chaotic warfare, of endless human suffering that persisted in countless forms no matter the era. It forced him to face the realization that, in the grand scheme of things, Araya's hands… were only those of a single person. Unable to push back the relentless tides, to deny it. And unable to do anything to stop it, as the waves dragged him under with each death that he witnessed.

… Meaningless.

It was all so meaningless. Humanity, and the entire world that they lived in–

"Oh? That's an interesting perspective," Kenjaku had said to him once, a long time ago. "I, on the other hand, find humanity to be quite fascinating… but I suppose I could see where you're coming from. So your goal is to give meaning to a meaningless existence, is it? How do you plan to do that? And how would you be able to apply it to humanity as a whole?"

If the ultimate fate of humanity is destruction… then, at the very least–

At least let there be meaning in death.

… Araya is resolved to become the one who will bear witness to it all, to validate that which is meaningless. And within the hollow core of this senseless world, the nothingness that is both the first origin and the final refuge of everything that exists and has ever existed over the eons–

At long last, a conclusion.

Curtains falling down upon a broken stage; closure, and encore.

…

Shiki.

He had been… close. So, so close.

Araya had carefully observed the child, before this last approach. He'd meticulously noted and tested the limits of her abilities in order to make countermeasures, during his final preparations.

With a discreet shikigami, he'd confirmed the weakness of her cursed technique lapse, when she'd encountered the former Kamo heir. Remote activation on another target rendered her own self defenseless; her kimono sleeve had torn. Interrupting the ceremonies of Obon the way he did also served to strengthen and fully complete the Hounouden Rokujyuyonshou barrier surrounding his workshop. Additionally, it confirmed that she could destroy barriers by cutting them –so if Araya wanted to confine her, then he needed to render her incapable of movement.

He hadn't expected her to figure out reverse cursed technique during the scant few moments of his fleeting victory. Few sorcerers were capable of such a feat, and she'd never shown any signs…

"How does it feel?" Touko asks him. "Having your expectations surpassed like this, that is?"

Disappointment? Frustration? … Something like that, but it's still not quite accurate.

Araya sighs.

"Hmm," the woman hums lightly. "… Araya, what do you seek?"

"True wisdom," he answers succinctly.

"Araya, where do you seek it?"

"Only within myself."

"Then, Araya," Touko takes another long drag of her cigarette, and breathes out a cloud of smoke. "To where are you headed?"

The surrounding mist thickens. Araya glances down, and realizes that his body is steadily dissipating into misty vapor as well, disappearing into the empty void.

Death waits for no one.

But even so, his lips still move to form an answer for his once-friend.

"To the end of the spiral… of this senseless, paradoxical world."

The smoke rises, obscuring everything in full.

Araya closes his eyes, and knows no more.

.

.

…

.