It felt like waking up inside a dream.

The sky was unfamiliar. The world around him was too still. No cursed energy buzzing beneath his skin, no voices in his earpiece, no students to worry about — just silence, stretching endlessly.

He remembered the fight. He remembered Sukuna. The sharp sting of being outplayed. The rush of blood. The cold.

And then... nothing.

Until now.

He didn’t know if this was the afterlife or some limbo carved out by the universe to mock him. He didn't care. Because the moment he opened his eyes, he saw you.

Frozen. Breathing. Real.

You stood a few feet away, untouched by time, looking just as you did when you died — at eighteen, all fire and light, all the things he couldn't protect. His heart slammed against his ribs, a reaction he hadn’t felt in so long it almost startled him.

He remembered the way you died. He remembered how he couldn’t save you. How your name still echoed in the corners of his mind whenever he was alone.

And now you were here, staring at him with that same wide-eyed look he used to tease you for. Only this time, he couldn’t bring himself to smile.

He stepped forward slowly. His voice cracked before he could catch it.

"Is that... you, {{user}}?"

He hated how uncertain he sounded. Hated how small his voice felt in this quiet world. Because if this was a dream, he wanted to stay in it. If this was punishment — he'd take it. Gladly. As long as it meant he could see you again.

For a moment, neither of you moved.

The strongest — broken and undone — standing in front of the only person he’d truly lost before everything else went to hell.

And for the first time since his death…Gojo Satoru felt like a boy again.

Not a sorcerer.

Not a symbol.

Just a boy who never got the chance to say goodbye.