Chapter Text
When Gojo arrived at the dormitory Zenin had always stayed at, the sky, which was dark and overcast as though night had already arrived; and the thick, dense layer of clouds that hung extremely low in the sky; was split apart with a sudden stroke of lightning. Without averting his gaze, he used the backup key with no keychain attached to unlock the room in front of him. The moment he stepped into the dimly lit room, a violent storm descended from the sky.
When the switch on his right was turned on, the dark dormitory room was at least a little brighter, but unfortunately the ceiling light flickered again and again, as though it had seen a ghost, and then abruptly went out.
Gojo furrowed his brow and flicked it a good number of times, and the light finally unwillingly showed him the slightest bit of respect, and lit up.
There were very few things in the place where Zenin had lived. How it looked like when he’d moved in, was how it remained to this day. If there weren’t a few personal items in the room, it wouldn’t have been easy to tell that someone had lived here.
One week ago, Zenin had received the mission that Gojo had given him, to retrieve a Special Grade cursed item from an instrument shelter in Miyagi’s Sugisawa Third Municipal High School. Unexpectedly, after Zenin had arrived, not only had the instrument shelter showed signs of having been opened before, the Special Grade cursed object, Ryoumen Sukuna’s finger, was also nowhere to be seen. But Zenin hadn’t reported this to Gojo, and instead had followed the traces of the cursed object to Sugisawa High’s football court by himself, and found that the traces of the cursed object led to a high school student named Itadori Yuuji, who had lost at shot-put against a P.E. teacher. Zenin had tried to negotiate with him, but hadn’t expected that only the traces of the cursed object were on Itadori Yuuji, while the object itself had already been handed over to the other two members of the Occult Research Club, and that night, the seal on Ryoumen Sukuna’s finger was removed.
Zenin traced and found the location of Ryoumen Sukuna’s unsealed finger, but there had been a large number of curses attracted to it, one of which was even Grade One. In the heat of the battle, Itadori Yuuji, who had for some reason rushed there, swallowed the finger, but couldn’t control it, and lost possession of his body.
Ryoumen Sukuna, after reviving, killed Zenin Megumi.
On the same day, Gojo’s colleague and good friend Getou Suguru, who was a teacher at Jujutsu High, went missing. A large number of confidential materials in Tokyo Jujutsu High were stolen, and Getou Suguru was the main suspect.
The lifespan of a human was very short, and so it was very rare that one would encounter extreme situations. As a jujutsu sorcerer, Gojo saw the deaths of his comrades often, but in a short few days, he had suffered a betrayal by his good friend, and Zenin Megumi, whom he had raised since young, was also dead.
While Zenin Megumi had been a Grade One sorcerer, as the inheritor of the Ten Shadows technique of the Zenin family, he was very outstanding, but for some reason, Gojo had always felt a strange feeling towards him.
He kept feeling as though he’d met him before.
He left the handling of Zenin Megumi’s corpse to Ieiri Shoko, to prevent any further complications, while Gojo himself came to pick up the things Zenin Megumi had left behind.
At this moment, the weather outside was horrible, just like how Gojo was feeling now.
In this one week, he’d had to accept the death of Zenin Megumi, the betrayal of Getou Suguru, and the changes in the jujutsu world. Even if his emotions were like the tides of an ocean, on the surface, he seemed to be as calm as ever.
Zenin Megumi had been left to him by the Zenin family when he was ten. Gojo felt he didn’t live up to his role as a teacher, he was rather negligent at his job, and his personality was terrible, but for no reason in particular, he was rather dedicated to the kid, and as the other was extremely talented in manipulating his cursed energy, and Gojo unexpectedly rather liked him.
Outside, the storm and the howling winds kept blowing, and the window kept rattling noisily. Gojo looked over the things that Zenin Megumi had owned. Besides some everyday items and some clothes, it seemed that he’d only properly kept the trinkets that came with the souvenirs that Gojo had bought, which Gojo had thrown at him carelessly – he’d put them in a box, neatly arranged.
Zenin Megumi seemed to think of these not-particularly-expensive items very highly, otherwise he wouldn’t have preserved them so well.
In addition, Gojo found a diary in the cupboard of the study desk, along with a fountain pen, whose ink was all dried-up.
Normally, it wouldn’t be very morally correct to look at someone else’s diary, but Zenin Megumi had already passed away, and in Gojo’s mind, he had always been rather stoic, a person of few words, yet strangely mature. Out of curiosity, Gojo opened the diary.
Although it was a diary, only a few pages had been written on, the words clean and tidy, without even the trace of a smudge. The contents were not Zenin Megumi’s daily life, and clearly not his will either, but instead a letter to Gojo.
It was like a letter that only Gojo would see, a letter for him.
Gojo-sensei, as you can see, this is the 278th scenario I have experienced. To explain a little more, I have already experienced 243 simulated deaths, and the scenario has collapsed prematurely 34 times.
34 times, Gojo-sensei felt that “something wasn’t right”, leading to the scenario collapsing, and I was sent to the next scenario.
This isn’t my will, nor my final words. This is the first letter I have written since coming to this scenario, a habit I developed after 58 scenarios. Due to some reasons, there are some things I cannot say out loud, so I can only pen them down onto this paper, and hope that one day you will see them.
Of course, even if Gojo-sensei can really read this letter, once you finish reading, you’ll forget all of it in the next scenario anyway.
So, what comes next depends on Gojo-sensei’s decision.
If you will continue reading, or not.
The following words might be a bit difficult for Gojo-sensei to understand, but I’ll do my best to simplify.
Gojo-sensei doesn’t need to worry about what comes next. The direction the jujutsu world is heading in, the deaths or betrayals of friends and students. Because when you see this letter, or not long after, your “memory” will be wiped, and you will enter the next scenario.
The “scenarios” you are in, are your “mixed-up memories”. Ieiri-san said that these were Gojo-sensei’s “cycles”, but I don’t like that saying, so I’m changing it to “scenarios”.
In reality, after the Shibuya Incident, Gojo-sensei was sealed in the “Prison Realm” by a curse in the body of Getou Suguru.
This is the third year Gojo-sensei has been sealed inside the “Prison Realm”, the curse in Getou Suguru’s body has been exorcized, Ryoumen Sukuna has been sealed, and the jujutsu world has achieved a temporary victory, although with devastating casualties.
Also, I’m very sorry, but we weren’t able to retrieve Getou-san’s body. When the curse occupying Getou-san’s body gave up on the physical body, it was burnt.
After Jujutsu High took back the Prison Realm, we found that the seal had been loosened a little, and wanted to unseal it and let Gojo-sensei out.
But during the unsealing process, there was a small problem.
Gojo-sensei, you hadn’t truly woken up, and had started to fuse with the Prison Realm. And in order to get out of the Prison Realm, you gave it too much information. In those three years, by rough calculation, Gojo-sensei fed the Prison Realm approximately a few million years of information. But you fed it too much, and your memories also started showing some deviation.
But Gojo-sensei apparently didn’t stop, and kept giving it information, resulting in the current situation. You keep “cycling” through your “mixed-up memories”, all of your memories are mostly “present”, but just a little different, resulting in different outcomes for different people in different scenarios.
There are some outcomes that Gojo-sensei would find desirable, but there are also ones that Gojo-sensei would not.
I think Gojo-sensei understands, when you gain something, you lose something else. The world has always been made out of gaining and losing, meetings and separation, life and death. If Gojo-sensei is unwilling to wake up from your “mixed-up memories” and correct your true memories, you will end up fused with the Prison Realm.
Maybe Gojo-sensei will continue to have beautiful dreams, one after another.
But I will lose you.
Actually leaving this letter probably won’t be of much help to Gojo-sensei, since once you enter the next “scenario”, Gojo-sensei won’t remember the contents of this letter.
But for some reason, I still wrote it.
If, luckily, Gojo-sensei has read until this point, and the scenario hasn’t collapsed yet, allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Fushiguro Megumi, not Zenin Megumi. When I was six, you saved me from becoming the target of people with unsavory intentions, and became my guardian.
If we were to calculate it strictly, I still owe you about one billion, this is the principal amount, not including interest; I don't know how to return it, so right now I’m just doing everything I can.
I do have Zenin blood in me, my cursed technique has always been the Ten Shadows technique. The reason my surname is Fushiguro, is because after my father Zenin Toji married, he changed his name to Fushiguro.
In Gojo-sensei’s true memories, Fushiguro Toji died at your hands, it happened eleven years before the Shibuya Incident.
By this account, I guess Gojo-sensei counts as the enemy who killed my father.
However, Gojo-sensei is also the person who took me away from the darkness, and I’m not actually too bothered that you killed my father. Although he was important to me too, everyone has their own fate, and the person who truly brought meaning into my life is you, Gojo-sensei.
The Zenins were after the Ten Shadows technique, and if I went to the Zenin family, Tsumiki would never be happy, so Gojo-sensei is my benefactor, my guardian, and the teacher I will hold in high regard for the rest of my life.
Gojo-sensei always says that you are the strongest. The jujutsu world has foisted too many expectations upon you, and these expectations have become curses. Your inner heart may be cold, after you were pushed to take on the role of a “god”, everyone desires to be saved by you.
But before becoming a “god”, you should be a “person”.
To me, Gojo-sensei is just a normal person with cursed energy, or maybe more like a “lighthouse” who shows me the way. And I have the honor of being protected by this lighthouse for many years, giving me a home to go back to.
To be honest, Gojo-sensei is someone with a terrible personality. Although I got used to it a long time ago, since we’ve stayed in the same home for nine whole years, but I understand, I know that Gojo-sensei always hides your pain under jokes and laughter, it's already become an incurable disease, otherwise I wouldn't be ceaselessly going through the previous 277 scenarios, and still have no idea how to correct your memories.
Gojo-sensei is indeed the strongest, even after going through so many scenarios, I still have no clue where to start.
Ieiri-san says that entering the Prison Realm is very dangerous, but I still came here.
Tsumiki is already dead. Although I’ve been through all sorts of highs and lows with Itadori and Kugisaki, when it comes to people who are “dear” to me, then Gojo-sensei would be the only person on this planet who is dear to me. If Gojo-sensei also dies, there isn't much meaning for me to keep on living on this planet.
That’s why I came.
In so many scenarios, I’ve played various roles. I’ve been your companion, your student, I’ve assassinated you, and I’ve also been a normal person without cursed energy, I’ve even taken advantage of you, and become your teacher.
I’ve even played the role of the Principal of Jujutsu High.
Even though I’m not good at acting.
If one day I die, I might become the person who was the closest to a “god”.
Put like that, in these countless “scenarios” and “mixed-up memories”, it’s almost as if I am continuously playing a role-playing game, and I’ll never know who I’ll be playing as in the next scenario, or what methods I should use to correct and awaken your true memories.
The amount of time I spend in each scenario is also never the same, from as short as a few days, to as long as nine years. Now that I think about it, I don’t think it has ever crossed the boundary of nine years. I wonder if it will break this rule in the future, and exceed nine years. After all, if nine years really is some sort of constraint or restriction, then I must keep thinking along those lines to find another method to correct your memories.
I wonder how many times I have to repeat this, in order to correct Gojo-sensei’s memories, and help you separate from the Prison Realm completely, so you can wake up. But when that day comes, Gojo-sensei won’t remember these mixed-up memories either.
When the true memories return to you, you must remember to thank me, after all I am the person who saved the strongest jujutsu sorcerer of our age, Gojo Satoru.
Although I don’t know whether after Gojo-sensei gets out, if you will still be the strongest jujutsu sorcerer, but I hope it will still be you.
In addition, taking advantage of the fact that Gojo-sensei will lose your memories immediately, let me say something.
Gojo-sensei, no matter how many times I die, I will make you come back.
You must come back to my side.
After finishing the letter addressed to him, Gojo-sensei realized for the first time that even the stoic Zenin Megumi who never spoke much could be so talkative, and immediately felt something was slightly off, and when he flipped it over to look at it again and saw “Fushiguro Megumi”, the notes on the diary started to fly away, floating away from the paper, floating away from the diary, they spread out everywhere, and turned into flying flowers all surrounding Gojo. It was at this moment that Gojo realized that he had gotten it all wrong.
Zenin Megumi, or Fushiguro Megumi, was a stoic person of few words. His stoicism and silence came from his inability to express himself well. He would rarely use such a dominant, possessive tone when talking to someone, even less so towards Gojo, whom he had said was the person he held in high regard.
A person so good at observing others like Gojo, couldn’t miss this feeling.
It was, lo–
Gojo extended his hand, and the moment he touched the flying words, it was as though he was in the middle of a tornado, and the words all flew into his body in a spiral.
Outside the window was another solemn stroke of lightning, directly aimed at Zenin Megumi’s dormitory room window. The glass was instantly shattered, the countless shards becoming weapons, and attacking Gojo. Those glass shards should have been blocked by his Limitless technique, but they passed through Limitless’ barrier, and even passed through his body–
The thick diary turned into dust in his hands, and the ground under his feet broke up into countless pieces and started to collapse, and thus he started to fly. When he realized that what the man who called himself “Fushiguro Megumi” had said was all true, the ceiling above his head suddenly came pressing down.
The room which Zenin Megumi stayed in ignored the Limitless technique, and wrapped around him like a cocoon in an instant.
And then it bound together, dissipated, and converged into a gleaming, unmoving shard of tears.
After the shard stayed where it was for a few seconds, it suddenly disintegrated.