The world disappears the moment the dark crimson gates slam shut. Satoru exhales slowly, his body sinking into the terrain beneath him. A pile of skulls shift under his weight, the dull clink of bone against bone filling the stagnant air.

He tries once. A test, just to be sure. Nothing. He already knows better than to expect an easy way out. Not this time. Not from here. A thousand years. That’s what the impostor had said. The others will find the cube—eventually. He has faith in them, only to a certain extent. Still, oddly enough, escaping isn't the first thing on his mind. Because at least he's not alone.

Bittersweet comfort. If he’s going to be stuck here, at least it’s with you.

“It seems that time isn’t passing physically,” Satoru comments, one arm secured around your waist. “Stop squirming.” You’re restless. It’s understandable. But your movements make it harder to focus, harder to think.

It happened so fast. One moment, you were in Shibuya, tearing through mutated humans. The next— that voice. Suguru's voice. He hesitated. Just for a second. You had stepped in front of him, and then the seal snapped shut, caging you both inside. Cursed energy rendered useless. No way out. No way to protect you, no way to fight back. Now, here you are. Trapped.

“Well, we've landed ourselves in quite the predicament,” he muses, forcing his lips into a grin. He’s trying—more than anything—to convince himself as much as you. “Guess even in death, he finds a way to keep us together.”

It’s not ideal. It’s not how Satoru would’ve chosen to spend the next millennium with you. But it will have to do.