The moment that blood-curdling scream tore free from Subaru's throat—
—the instant he spat that name—
It took every shred of restraint in his body not to rush forward and tear her apart.
He didn't know how strong Rui Arneb was. Not really.
But he had a comparison.
Lye Batenkaitos.
The gluttonous monster Reid Astrea had taken over during the battle at the Pleiades Watchtower.
If Rui's power was even close to that—
He'd likely have a little trouble if it came down to a fight.
But he'd win.
Though, that wasn't what scared him, because he had no intention of fighting her unless he had to.
Rather, if he killed her… then what?
Would the memories she'd devoured ever come back?
Would the people she'd swallowed whole remain gone forever?
He didn't know, but his gut screamed no.
And if he guessed wrong—
He'd have to throw himself into another death, another reset.
Another roll of fate's cruel game of dice.
The little thing wearing the skin of a golden child tilted her head, hands clasped behind her back.
She looked so gentle in the half-light—
—a doll of sunlight dropped into ruin.
If he hadn't known, he might have tried to save her.
"Long time no see, big brother Subaru~"
Rui chimed, her teeth glinting.
"You damn… rotten little—"
"Ah-ah! That's rude, big bro~ Calling me rotten after killing Elder Brother? So shameful. Truly shameful. Utterly shameful~!"
Subaru's fists tightened until the veins in his forearms screamed.
"I'm not even gonna ask how you slithered out of the white void. Just… why? Why me? Why blame me?"
Rui's head cocked like a bird's. Listening. Pretending.
"I mean sure, I 'technically' killed him—no regrets there. Monsters like him, like any of you archbishops don't deserve regret. But he was finished anyway. If you need to blame someone, try Reid."
For the first time, her grin wavered. Then she shook her head, ribbons of blond swaying.
"Nuh-uh~ nope~ your fault, all your fault, Subaru. If not for you, Elder Brother never would've gone to that tower. If not for your delicious, perfect, irresistible memories… we never would've been interested~"
Subaru blinked.
"That doesn't even—"
"But you did! Isn't that unfair, big bro? We just wanted to be one big family. Why did you get to have that instead of us? Well… doesn't matter now. Elder Brother's dead. Big Brother too."
Her tone dipped into something darker, wetter.
"Satoru Gojo killed Big Brother. Without mercy~"
The words twisted, and her body did too.
A grotesque shimmer ran through her skin—
—and in the next heartbeat, he stood there.
Satoru Gojo.
Or what looked like him.
Subaru froze. Air caught in his throat.
"I'm afraid of being lonely…" she said—his voice.
"But it's also an opportunity… to start over."
"Still… what's the point, without my best friend here?"
She lifted her hand, fingers overlapping in that familiar gesture.
"The Honored One. The Strongest. The most handsomest—Satoru Gojo~!"
Disgust boiled through Subaru's chest, black and hot.
Her face split again, half Gojo's stoic calm, half her own golden mockery.
Hair spilling down like liquid sunlight, eyes shining twin oceans.
"Sad, isn't it~? So sad. So broken. He hid it so well to everybody."
Her voice fractured—
each sentence in a different pitch, different self.
"—Sad."
"—Sometimes happy."
"—Lonely."
The image melted back into the little girl.
"So broken~! So completely broken! Disturbingly broken! Just like us! So broken I can't even use his abilities~ How strange, how strange~!"
Subaru's breath trembled. The cracks in it made Rui's grin grow wider.
"..Give them…"
He muttered.
Her brows rose, intrigued.
"…His memories... give them back... give them back to Gojo-sensei!!"
Rui's grin didn't falter, but it intensified.
Shaking her head, she swiftly responded.
"Haha~ impossible, big brother, we've eaten countless people and not one had ever got them back~ to be honest, not even we know where the memories go when eaten~"
Subaru's breath hitched and his pupils contracted with anger, yet despite that, despite learning that getting back Gojo's memories is likely an impossible task. He still restrained himself.
"Then how… how did you learn Gojo's name?! He'd never tell you. Not him, he's nowhere near dumb enough, especially not when he knows your ability!"
For once, the grin slipped.
Her eyes drifted down, voice quiet.
"Good question~ yes, very good… an unpleasant question to be asked…"
She drew an invisible line across her forehead with her index finger, before speaking.
"It's because of him. The one who wasn't human. Looked it, sounded it, acted it—but couldn't of been, because he was with her. He gave me the name Satoru Gojo."
Silence.
The storm in Subaru's head slowed. Just a little.
Someone else had done this. Someone who wanted Gojo's memories gone.
A plan—deeper, crueler than he'd ever think possible.
Rui's smile returned like a knife re-unsheathed.
"Anyway~ we've never eaten the same person twice before, Subaru. But I think this time it'll work~ A new flavor. A completely new story~! And we want that ability~ defying fate, defying law, defying logic and all!"
Subaru's eyes widened.
Her words wouldn't have made sense to anyone else.
But to him—they made perfect sense.
Return by Death.
Gojo knew.
And she… she had eaten Gojo's memories.
Then—why?
Why didn't the Witch appear?
Why didn't the Witch crush his heart, drag him back, make him redo?
Questions churned—but he already had a plan.
A reckless, absurd, suicidal plan.
The kind only Natsuki Subaru could think up.
"…You want my name, Rui Arneb?"
His voice was calm. Too calm.
He took one step forward.
Then another.
The air between them shrank to a few meters.
Her golden hair gleamed in the dark like mock sunlight.
"Mhm~ we do, we do, we want all of them~ we want you gone~ we want you to not exist~ we want every impossible feat, every friend you've made to disappear, tsu~!"
"—Natsuki Subaru."
The moment he said it, her eyes dilated, shining with manic hunger.
That little body moved—no, it vanished—leaping past Subaru who didn't even try to evade or dodge in a blur of motion.
Her left hand brushed his chest. Just a touch, but that was all that she needed.
Ah. So that's how it works... she needs physical contact...
She stood behind him now, hand raised to her lips.
"Ahhh~ thank you, thank you thank you—"
Her tongue slid across her palm.
"—For this meal~!"
And then—
CRACK.
Something broke.
Not a bone.
Not even a sound.
But something inside.
And then she died.
Or she didn't?
She couldn't tell what happened.
Other than—
—Death.
A mabeast cursed her and she died alone.
A white field swallowed her whole and shattered her body—frozen solid by a beast of snow.
A red-haired knight cleaved her in two.
Again. Again. Again. Again.
She died.
She died.
She died.
She couldn't stop dying.
Every death. Every agony.
Every restart.
It flooded her mind like molten lead.
She wanted to scream.
She wanted it to stop.
She wanted it gone.
She didn't want it. She didn't want it. She didn't want it. She didn't want it. She didn't want it. She didn't want it. She didn't want it. She didn't want it. She didn't want it. She didn't want it. She didn't want it. She didn't want it. She didn't want it. She didn't want it. She didn't want it. She didn't want it. She didn't want it. She didn't want it.
The memories weren't hers.
But the pain—
The pain was.
A thousand lifetimes of despair poured into the vessel of a single mind.
No mortal could bear something like that.
No monster could, either, for that matter.
Despite that, it were only a small portion of what he had to overcome.
—Natsuki Subaru. The man with the unbreakable mind.
So—rather quickly, something cracked.
Her.
The Sin Archbishop of Gluttony had eaten what could never be digested.
And her mind, her soul, her everything—
Shattered.
———————————————————
Just moments ago, she'd stood upright, arrogance dripping from her grin—
but now…
She fell.
Her body collapsed backward into her own golden hair, the strands spreading like a halo around her as tears burst free.
She screamed. She cried. Her voice cracked until it no longer sounded human—only a child's broken wailing remained.
With trembling fingers, she pointed at him.
"M-M-monster…! You—you're a monster!!"
Subaru didn't answer.
He didn't move. He didn't even blink.
Rui tried to crawl away, but her limbs wouldn't obey. Her body shook so violently she could only kick weakly against the ruined stone, inching herself backward in pathetic jerks.
That man!
No—that thing!!
No one human could endure what he carried.
No one could die that many times and keep standing.
No one could smile, laugh, live with that curse.
She didn't want it. She didn't want any of it.
Curling in on herself, Rui pressed her palms against her head and pleaded.
"Hrk—hrrkk… I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry—n-not that… anything but that… please…!"
"...."
Her sobs thinned into hiccups.
Then eventual silence.
Her body went limp—consciousness seemingly gone, mind shattered.
Whether she'd ever wake again as something resembling a person was… uncertain.
Subaru's right fist ignited with cursed energy.
He stepped forward, shadow cast over her broken form, ready to end it in one clean strike.
Because this was mercy.
Despite how she deserved none.
But before his hand could fall, the world darkened.
The last traces of sunlight vanished, consumed by a black sphere expanding outward until it sealed the plaza Subaru stood in completely.
A curtain. A barrier that blocked out what was left of the sun's rays against the horizon.
"—And purify that which is impure."
A voice echoed through the dark.
Subaru's head snapped toward it.
Out of the shadow stepped a man—tall, slim, the kind of beauty that hides something fatal. Long black hair, half tied back, the rest flowing down his back which led into thin purple eyes that glimmered beneath bangs which framed a stitched scar across his forehead. He wore a dark uniform, simple sandals, and an expression too calm to trust.
Subaru's breath hitched.
That energy—that presence of both the man and the barrier—
"—Cursed energy…?!"
It wasn't Satoru's, which he had grown so familiar to, so used to feeling all the time, it was foreign to him.
The man smiled faintly, placing a hand over his chest in mock politeness.
"I've been wanting to see you for a very long time, Natsuki Subaru."
"…Who…?"
"Hmm, well, I suppose you may call me Suguru Geto. Or just Suguru, if you prefer."
The name struck a familiar chord.
"Wait—you're Gojo-sensei's best friend? The one he always talked about?!"
Geto chuckled softly.
"Hmm. I suppose that's one way to put it."
Relief tugged at Subaru's chest—only for his instincts to scream danger.
Every inch of his body went on edge.
Because nothing about this man felt right.
"Then what's with the.... barrier?"
Subaru asked.
Geto's lips curved.
"Ah. To ensure that no non-sorcerers interfere, of course."
Subaru froze.
"…What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing hostile, don't worry. I cannot kill you because she does not want me to—and besides, doing so would undo quite a lot of work. However…"
He raised his hand, the air humming with cursed energy.
"I can still send you elsewhere. Somewhere distant. Somewhere necessary for now."
"W-what are you—"
Geto's tone softened, as if speaking to a child.
"You wouldn't understand yet. That missing piece inside you—it's killing you, Natsuki Subaru. Slowly, quietly. And it's killing him too. That reality-controlling woman won't allow it and I'd rather not make her my enemy in the end, so—think of this as an act of preservation, for us both."
Subaru grit his teeth.
"You're talking nonsense!"
"Am I?"
Geto sighed.
"…Let me explain, then. Pride exists only because of you—a fragment carved out by the that monster to 'save you'. When she exiled the Sword Saint, we retrieved what she left behind. A sliver of your soul, the witch factor, given life. Her motives? Unknown even to me, tight-lipped she is. But she insists you be reunited. 'To save her beloved,' as she put it."
Subaru's pupils contracted.
"So… all of that… was you?!"
Geto tilted his head, smiling lightly.
"Partially, I suppose. Though I wouldn't have chosen it, honestly—it's been such a headache to deal with."
He shrugged, voice dropping to a near whisper.
"Still, it's fascinating, isn't it? Not exactly two of the same Witch Factors existing at the same time, yet your separation may explain the 'side-effects' in your Authority. An anomaly worth studying."
"… What are you.."
Then, Geto turned. His gaze shifted toward the edge of the curtain, and a faint smile curved his lips.
"It seems…" he murmured.
"…He's finally arrived."
———————————————————
Sprinting through the fractured city with a grin plastered across his face, Gojo looked like a child on the best day of his life. The little girl clung to his back in sheer terror—pretty pointless, considering Infinity kept her perfectly in place and literally unable to fall.
Still, he wasn't about to ruin the illusion for her, not to mention it was really funny to watch.
"Hold on tight~!"
"Kyaaaa—!!"
"BAHAHAHAHAHA—!!"
His laughter echoed through the shattered streets, loud enough to make even the spirits flee.
Meili's screaming only made him laugh harder as the curtain ahead grew larger—a massive, black dome devouring the skyline.
"Alright, we're here."
"—Wh-what are yo~u talking about!?"
"Ah, right, don't worry about it."
Cackling, he bent his knees and vaulted through the veil.
The light vanished. The world turned to night.
Sliding to a halt, Gojo straightened up, eyes scanning the darkness.
A curtain with no cursed spirits inside—a strange sight to see for sure.
Then—
"—!?"
Every sense in his body screamed.
Not danger, exactly—something heavier.
Something vast.
His gaze flicked toward a black-haired man standing at the center of the darkness.
In that instant, Gojo's pupils contracted sharply.
Cursed energy.
But not just any cursed energy—this was impossible.
It hit him like gravity, endless and suffocating.
Not Suguru. Not himself. Not all of Jujutsu High combined could ever match that—
His jaw dropped.
Then he laughed.
"Hahaha… hahahahah—AHAHAHAHAHA!!"
Excitement crackled through his voice as he plopped Meili down without a word, not even noticing the look of growing confusion and fear as Gojo began to laugh like a madman.
His palms came together in a sharp clap.
"Gojo—!"
The man flinched as space warped before his eyes.
Gojo vanished and reappeared right in front of him.
"—Sensei!?"
"Hey, hey… ahaha… that's real funny!" Gojo muttered, leaning close, eyes scanning every inch of Subaru's form.
"Some sorta unregistered special-grade, huh? But what's weirder is—"
His six eyes flickered.
"—That fluctuation…"
Cursed energy pulsed through Subaru in uneven waves—surging, shrinking, like a heartbeat out of rhythm.
"That shouldn't happen~ but it is, right in front of me. Sometimes you've got more cursed energy, sometimes less. Huh. Interesting."
"Wh-what're you—"
"What's your name, dude? I say we get the hell outta here, yeah? We can figure it out later!"
Gojo grinned wide enough to hurt.
"S-Subaru, but—"
"Ah, Subaru~!"
"—There's a bigger problem, you dumbass!!"
Subaru's yell hit him like a slap. Gojo leaned back, blinking, a fleck of spit hanging uselessly against Infinity.
Only then did he sense it—
the second presence.
Turning around, Gojo froze.
And smiled.
A trembling, uneven smile.
"—Suguru! You.. you are here?!"
It was everything he'd wanted to see. His best friend—here, in this bizarre new world. He wasn't alone.
It was all Gojo had been hoping for, and the world had even threw in an extra bonus—hell, they could definitely become something back in Japan! Some more training for the angry-eyed guy, and they could be 'the strongest trio'!
"Long time no see, Satoru."
"Ahahaha… oh man, that's…"
The laughter died. His smile faltered.
"…That's…"
Subaru frowned at Satoru's sudden silence.
"Gojo-sensei…?"
It wasn't something he wanted to believe. But then why, why did he feel this way when looking at the man he considers to be his best friend? His only equal? Why does it... not feel familiar.
"…Who… who are you!?"
The shift was instantaneous—Gojo's voice cracked with something raw, jagged.
His six eyes flared, the air distorting.
"Although these eyes see nothing wrong, nothing different—my soul.. my very being refuses to believe it! You are not Suguru Geto… What did you do to him!?"
Silence.
Then, a sigh.
"—Satoru Gojo. The heir of the Gojo Clan. Born with both Limitless and the Six Eyes, the first to have both for several centuries. I suppose it's not surprising you'd see through it, though a glance was just unexpected."
"—TELL ME!!"
The sheer fury in Gojo's voice made Subaru stumble backward with shock.
He'd never heard anything like it before—like grief sharpened into rage.
The fake-Geto smiled faintly.
"Very well, then."
"Suguru Geto… your dear friend. I shall explain."
His tone was soft, almost fond.
"He took on a mission with the Star Plasma Vessel—to merge with Tengen, despite your 'disappearance' not happening long before that, rather commendable, I must say. It was simple, at first. Dozens of curse users went after the vessel. He defended her well. Until the climax of it all at least."
Gojo's expression twisted, but the man continued speaking regardless.
"Toji Zenin. Or perhaps, Toji Fushiguro—the Sorcerer Killer. A man with no cursed energy, his body forged by the Heavenly Restriction to push it beyond human limits. He killed the Vessel… and nearly killed Suguru as well. And that was when I saw opportunity."
The smile that followed didn't belong to anything human. He tilted his head back, gagged, and vomited into his own hand. From the bile rose a tiny curse, squirming and expanding rapidly, coiling over his shoulder like a pet snake.
"…Mmm." He wiped his mouth.
"A strange feeling, I must acknowledge the Sorcerer Killer to do that repeatedly."
"Anyway, afterward, I killed Toji Zenin. Not easily by any means, but inevitably. He was after all, a man who thrived on preparation—so he never had a chance."
His hand stroked the curse resting on his shoulder.
"And thus… I killed Suguru Geto. The curses that were unleashed were somewhat annoying to recollect after gaining his body but alas…"
"——"
Subaru's eyes widened, and he instantly reached out toward his friend.
"Gojo-sensei, wai—!!"
FWOOM—!
A concussion of cursed energy slammed out and the world turned to white for a heartbeat. Subaru and the broken little golden-haired girl skidded, rolled, were spat across the ruined plaza like ragdolls. Gravel bit at their skin. Air tasted of ozone and iron.
Subaru dragged himself up. Blinked. Looked.
Gojo was already gone.
He'd launched himself forward like a comet, teeth gritted in anger unlike anything he'd felt before. Fists, elbows, a dance of light and motion—an unending torrent aimed straight at the man in the dark.
Kenjaku met him like how a cliff meets the ocean. He raised a hand, slapped aside a punch as if redirecting a fly before he suddenly leaned back—the next roundhouse kick of Gojo's heel blasting past his jaw—slicing, but not landing the way Gojo intended.
Gojo did not stop, he wouldn't, not after what he'd just heard.
He exploded forward—attack after attack, palms painting the air with cursed energy. It should have been unstoppable.
And yet—none of it stuck.
Kenjaku drifted through the onslaught like a shadow through smoke. Each strike missed no more than a few inches. Once—Gojo's fist scraped his cheek and a thin line of blood painted the dark man's skin. Kenjaku's head tilted amidst the bombardment.
Something inside the thing on his shoulder unlatched its round maw. A dagger blinked from the void—slender, obscene—and spun into Kenjaku's waiting hand instantly.
Subaru froze as he watched the battle before him to the best of his abilities, there was something familiar about that weapon the man held.
That dagger is—!?
"—!!"
Time hiccupped for Satoru Gojo.
He flinched as the blade came his way, as if his instincts told him to move, to dodge, to evade.
He tried to twist—tried to pull away—but the metal found skin. It tore along his arm with a hot, precise bite. Infinity deactivated the moment impact was made.
For no longer than a heartbeat, Gojo's cursed technique simply stopped working.
Air rushed in. Blood beaded down pale skin—red, shocking against his calm.
His Infinity breathed back to life a heartbeat later, folding around the wound like an invisible bandage, hugging the cut until it sealed and the drip stilled. But the moment had been taken. The moment mattered.
"The Inverted Spear of Heaven—"
Kenjaku slid forward, dagger controllably spinning in his hand before he smiled and spoke yet again.
"A special-grade cursed tool. The technique woven into it forces the cancellation of any—any—active cursed technique. Getting it back from the Astrea Estate was surprisingly easy all things considered, it's practically empty after all."
He flicked blood from the blade in one swift arc through the air, and shifted his hold on the blade into a reverse grip.
"Simply put—" he continued, smile flat and terrible.
"It's perfect for weakening you."
Gojo's lips peeled back. Rage came—not the bright mockery he usually wore, but something more intense, sharper. It burned, and it looked ugly on him.
"—I'LL KILL YOU, YOU DAMN BASTARD!!"