pomegranate ink | y. okkotsu

xxxi

a/n: man idek at this point

"You're sure you have to do this?" you said, holding onto the end of Gojo's shirt and walking alongside him, following him to the door. He had already said farewell to the others; you were the only one left, the only one who refused to let go. It was typically like that, though — you were closer to him than the others were by virtue of knowing him throughout your childhood, even before coming to the school.

"The only other option is to allow Sukuna to keep Megumi," Gojo said. "And to terrorize society at his leisure. We both know that that's not something we can live with. I do have to do this, whether or not you want me to."

"Speaking of which, do you think Megumi can still be saved?" you said. "Or is it too late? Must we let go of him already?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I will...I will try my best to bring him back, but in the process of defeating Sukuna, I might have to harm him a bit, so I can't guarantee it. It's an impossible position we're in, since Sukuna and Megumi are one and the same, but we want to save one as much as we want to kill the other."

"That's what I'm here for, though," you said grimly. "You can beat him up as much as you need to. I'll heal him up and he'll be back to his normal self with no issues. By this time next week, he'll be sighing all passive-aggressively all over the place, and it'll be like he never left."

"It makes me feel better to know that's the case," he said. "Relying on you leaves less of a bitter taste in my mouth than relying on others. And while we're on the subject, you have what I gave you yesterday, right?"

"Yes, of course, but like you said, I don't think they'll come in much handy for me anymore," you said. He shrugged.

"You never know. Maybe you'll decide you want them, for some reason," he said. "Just keep them safe. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how precious they are."

"I already promised I would! Besides, even if they weren't like that, I would've taken care of them all the same. Anything from you is precious to me," you said. He mimed gagging.

"That was horribly cheesy, by the way," he said, ruffling your hair as he often did when his hands were free and his mind was busy but he wanted to show his affection for you in some way. "But I appreciate the sentiment, I guess."

"I know you feel the same, you dumb egret, so there's no need for the tough act," you said.

"Egret? Calling me that is a little far out of the realm of plausibility," he said. "I don't look anything like one."

"Hm, I don't know. I think it's perfectly apt as a description," you said. He considered this before shrugging.

"We can discuss the semantics later. For now, come here," he said, opening his arms. You embraced him in the way you always did, and it felt the way it always did, too, warm and comfortable and solid despite how cold his extremities were and how lean his body was.

"You never used to hug me so much," you said, trying to pretend like nothing was wrong or happening, that this was just an ordinary farewell, as if you were only going back home for the weekend or something. "This is a recent development. What gives?"

"Blame it on old age," he said.

"You aren't even thirty yet," you said. "That's hardly considered 'old age' in any sense of the concept."

"It's older than you are," he shot back. "But fine. For luck, then?"

"For luck," you agreed. "I'll see you later, Gojo."

"Goodbye, Y/N," he said, and then you were alone in the doorway, gazing at the empty space where he had once been and wishing for only the briefest moment that he was not so selfless, that he had instead chosen to abandon the world and everyone to stay with you and be your teacher forever.