Chapter 124: The Youth That Can Never Return
Late at night, in the faculty dormitory of Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Moonlight spilled through the window and stretched across the wooden floor, coating the quiet room in a thin layer of cold silver.
Yami had just finished a full day of training. He was about to wash up and rest when someone knocked on the door.
Knock, knock.
The sound was light, but there was something firm behind it, a rhythm that did not allow refusal.
Yami opened the door.
For a moment, he paused.
Satoru Gojo stood outside.
He was not wearing his usual careless grin. The round sunglasses he normally kept on were gone too. He wore his black Jujutsu High uniform, and his blue Six Eyes were fully exposed beneath the dim hallway light.
Those eyes stared straight at Yami.
The air between them grew heavy.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Gojo asked quietly. "Instructor Yami."
His voice was calm. Too calm. None of his usual joking tone remained, and because of that, the pressure around him felt sharper.
Yami stepped aside.
Gojo walked in, but he did not sit. He went straight to the window and looked out at Jujutsu High under the night sky.
"Even though you're trying to hide it," Gojo said, "my Six Eyes can still see things ordinary people can't."
He turned around.
Those bright blue eyes seemed to pierce through flesh, bone, and soul.
"Who exactly are you?"
Yami did not answer immediately.
Gojo continued, his tone still steady.
"I've never believed someone like you could just appear out of nowhere. No Cursed Energy at all, but you can crush Grade 1 Cursed Spirits with pure physical ability and that strange breathing method. Your movements, your judgment, your battle experience. They don't belong to someone your age."
His gaze sharpened.
"Even old sorcerers who've spent half their lives crawling along the edge of death don't move like you."
Gojo took a step forward.
"And the way you look at me and Suguru…"
His voice lowered slightly.
"Sometimes you don't look like a new instructor. You look like someone who has known us for a long time. Someone who already knows what will happen to us."
The distance between them closed.
"You came to Jujutsu High and approached us. What are you after?"
Faced with Gojo's questions, Yami did not panic or look away.
A faint golden light passed through his deep red eyes.
Transparent World, activate.
In that state, he could clearly see the flow of Cursed Energy inside Gojo's body. It was vast, precise, and violently alert, like a galaxy held under tension.
Yami knew one thing very clearly.
If his answer failed to satisfy Gojo, the next thing waiting for him might be a point-blank Blue.
"My purpose?"
Yami smiled faintly.
There was no hostility in it. Only the calm of someone who had already crossed too many storms to be shaken by suspicion.
"If I said I crossed a vast stretch of time just to help you this summer and stop you from repeating the same regrets…"
He looked straight into Gojo's eyes.
"Would you believe me?"
Gojo frowned.
The Six Eyes worked at terrifying speed, reading Yami's micro-expressions, heartbeat, blood flow, muscle tension, and breathing.
But he found nothing.
Yami was like a still pool. Clear. Quiet. Without a ripple of deception.
"Protect?" Gojo scoffed, as if the word itself sounded absurd. "I'm the strongest. You think I need you to protect me?"
"Yes," Yami said calmly. "You are the strongest."
He did not avoid Gojo's gaze.
"But even the strongest can feel lonely."
Gojo's pupils tightened.
Yami's voice grew softer.
"And even the strongest can lose important people."
The room fell silent.
The atmosphere tightened until it felt one breath away from snapping.
Then a voice cut through it from outside the door.
"Yo. It's late at night. What are two grown men doing staring into each other's eyes so seriously in a dorm room?"
The mood died on the spot.
Suguru Geto walked in as if he owned the place, carrying a large steaming plastic bag.
Behind him came Shoko Ieiri, yawning with a cigarette between her lips, and Utahime Iori, whose face clearly said she had been dragged here against her will.
Gojo's expression collapsed instantly.
"Smells good." His nose twitched. "Suguru, what did you buy?"
"Oden. Fried skewers too."
Suguru placed the bag on the small table in Yami's room with practiced ease. From another bag, he took out several cans of beer and bottles of soda.
"I ran into Shoko and Utahime near the gate, so I brought them along. Instructor Yami, you don't mind if we borrow your room for a midnight snack, right?"
Just like that, the heavy interrogation vanished under the smell of broth and fried food.
Gojo sat down on the floor without the slightest hesitation, grabbed a skewer of meatballs, and shoved it into his mouth.
"Hot, hot, hot! Suguru, where'd you buy this? It's good."
"Satoru Gojo! That was mine! Put it down!"
Utahime lunged for the skewer.
"Finders keepers."
Gojo leaned away and stuck out his tongue while chewing.
"You childish little…"
Shoko opened a can of beer with a soft hiss and leaned against the wall, watching the chaos with an amused look.
"Good to be young."
Suguru smiled helplessly and handed Yami a can of soda.
"Instructor Yami, don't mind them. They're always like this."
Yami took the soda and looked at the four people gathered around his small table.
Gojo was stealing food from Utahime with shameless confidence. Utahime was trying to kill him with her eyes. Suguru smiled as he half-heartedly mediated. Shoko watched from the side, smoke curling lazily around her.
The warm yellow light fell over their young faces.
For a second, Yami's vision blurred.
He seemed to see that old photograph called youth.
In that photo were Satoru Gojo, arrogant and fearless. Suguru Geto, gentle and composed. Shoko Ieiri, cigarette in mouth, looking as if nothing in the world could surprise her.
It was their happiest time.
Their most reckless time.
And also the youth that could never return.
Because after this summer, the Star Plasma Vessel incident would tear everything apart.
Gojo would awaken alone and become something closer to a god.
Suguru would sink into darkness and eventually walk away from them.
Shoko would remain behind, left to handle the bodies and the silence.
That photo would become a handful of broken glass scattered across memory.
"Hey, Yami."
At some point, Gojo had stopped bickering with Utahime.
He held a can of soda and leaned closer, studying Yami's face.
Maybe he had noticed Yami's distant expression. Maybe he had simply followed his instinct.
For once, his smile was not mocking.
"No matter who you are, or where you came from…"
Gojo raised his soda can slightly.
"Since you drank with us, even if it's just soda, and since you dared to talk big about protecting us…"
He hooked an arm around Yami's shoulders, looking every bit like an arrogant older brother declaring ownership over a troublesome younger one.
"From today on, you're the weakling we're protecting."
Yami blinked.
Gojo grinned.
"Your physical techniques are pretty strong, I'll admit that. But in the world of jujutsu, I'm the invincible one. If you run into trouble you can't handle, just use my name."
Suguru raised his own drink with a smile.
"Satoru is right. We're a team now."
Utahime looked away, still annoyed, but muttered under her breath, "Even if you don't have Cursed Energy, we won't let the Higher-Ups bully you."
Shoko lifted her beer can from across the room.
"Try not to die before I figure out how your body works."
"Shoko!"
"What? That was encouragement."
Yami looked at them.
These four reckless teenagers had accepted him far too easily.
Too honestly.
Too warmly.
His grip tightened around the soda can.
His eyes felt faintly hot.
Then he smiled.
It was bright, quiet, and firm.
"Alright."
Yami tilted his head back and emptied the can.
In his heart, he made a promise.
This time, it's my turn to protect your youth.
Even if I have to make an enemy of the karma of this entire world.
Even if I have to face the terrifying man known as the Sorcerer Killer.
I will not let that summer of regrets happen again.
.....
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