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"Suguru!," I called out desperately as soon as I had my sight on him, but rather than turning to me, he kept his full attention on someone else– Satoru.
"Are you the strongest because you're Gojo Satoru or are you Gojo Satoru because you're the strongest?"
Suguru's eyes– they looked painfully empty and emotionless, but the depth of my understanding of that look would not fool me twice. He looked just the same when he asked me to make him forget about Amanai.
"Kill me if you want, there's a meaning to that," he mumbled before turning his back on us.
The Suguru I know would only either walk towards Satoru or by his side. But now, he was walking away. It was an image I knew I'd regret if I didn't do anything to stop. I pleadingly held back Satoru's readied attack despite knowing he would never curse his best friend.
Focusing all my cursed energy on my speech and setting Suguru as its only and direct target, I uttered, "Stop."
He did.
His feet froze on the spot, as well as his whole body. I ran to him, disregarding the backfire on my still unrecovered throat. I could not fathom what led to this and I refused to believe that after Yume, I'd lose yet another friend with no explanation why.
My hands rested heavily on his shoulders as I tried getting him to look at me. He wouldn't. His hands were balled into fists, seemingly filled with so much anger.
"I don't want to see you right now."
What...?
"Suguru, I'm sorry for using cursed speech on you, but please. Let's talk properly." My heart rammed against my chest as I tried thinking of anything that I possibly could have done to earn such hostility. His eyes was filled with so much distaste that it pained me to keep in contact with them. They were not devoid of emotion anymore, but full of loathing.
He inched closer to me as his voice stooped dangerously low. "I shouldn't have believed you. She shouldn't have, too."
She? Is he talking about Yume?
"Whatever she told you, they're not true. Suguru, you need to believe me in this one. Before I was cornered, an arrow from her-"
"Stop living inside your own bubble," Suguru muttered bitterly. He walked past me, letting our shoulders touch one last time before disappearing the moment I turned around.
I couldn't move.
There was no way Suguru would do that.
"Let's...go back first," an equally shaken Satoru took me by the wrist. His grip tightened when I pulled back. I didn't have any intention of going home without Suguru. I couldn't leave him to himself. If Yume was around him, who knows what she would tell him again. It would be too late to bring him back by then.
