Chapter 143: Despair in the Tomb Chamber
Beneath Tokyo Jujutsu High, on the path toward the Tomb of the Star Corridor, heavy footsteps echoed through the underground passage.
Suguru Geto's face was pale as he gripped Riko Amanai's hand and ran through the dim corridor.
Misato Kuroi followed close behind them, her own face drained of color. Even so, she clenched her teeth and forced herself to keep moving, refusing to slow Riko down.
Faster.
Just a little faster.
Geto's heart hammered against his ribs.
The image of Satoru Gojo's chest being pierced kept flashing through his mind. Blood spraying. Gojo dropping to one knee. That white-haired idiot, who always carried himself like the whole world was beneath him, had been forced to the edge of life and death in a matter of seconds.
By a man with no Cursed Energy.
How was that possible?
What kind of monster was Toji Fushiguro?
"Geto…"
Riko stumbled as he pulled her forward.
When she saw the faint tremor in Geto's shoulders, the tears she had been holding back finally spilled over.
"Gojo… will Gojo be okay?"
Her voice shook.
"That man was after me, wasn't he?"
Geto stopped.
He turned around and placed both hands firmly on Riko's shoulders. His usually gentle eyes were bloodshot.
"Riko, listen to me."
His voice was steady, almost forcefully so.
"Gojo is the strongest. He won't die in a place like this."
Riko stared at him, tears clinging to her lashes.
"What we need to do now is reach Master Tengen," Geto continued. "Once the assimilation is complete, that killer won't be able to harm you anymore."
His voice trembled at the end.
Geto turned his head away, unable to keep looking into Riko's frightened eyes.
Because he knew how hypocritical those words were.
Assimilation.
Once the assimilation was complete, Riko Amanai would disappear from this world. Her body and soul would be absorbed into Master Tengen, becoming part of the foundation that maintained the barriers protecting the Jujutsu World.
How was that any different from being killed by an assassin?
Had they fought this hard, even risked Gojo's life, only to deliver this girl to another kind of death?
"Let's go."
Geto gritted his teeth and took Riko's hand again.
After what felt like an endless stretch of oppressive darkness, they finally reached the end of the underground corridor.
A massive stone door stood before them.
Ancient cursed scripts were carved across its surface, and a vast barrier presence radiated from beyond it.
The main hall of the Tomb of the Star Corridor.
Master Tengen's resting place.
"We're here."
Geto let out a long breath.
His taut nerves loosened by the smallest amount.
As long as they passed through this door, the escort mission for the Star Plasma Vessel would officially be complete.
"Young Miss Kuroi."
Geto turned to the woman who had accompanied Riko all this way.
"You can only go this far."
Kuroi's eyes were red.
She stepped forward and hugged Riko tightly.
"Young Miss Riko…"
Her voice broke, and her tears quickly soaked into Riko's shoulder.
"You must be okay. Please…"
Riko said nothing.
She only hugged Kuroi back with all her strength, as if trying to pass every bit of warmth she had left to the woman who had always cared for her.
After a long moment, Riko gently let go.
She turned toward the massive stone door.
Her body trembled, but her eyes held a heartbreaking resolve.
"Geto."
Her voice was so soft it nearly disappeared into the silence.
"Thank you."
Geto looked at her.
"Thank you, Geto. Thank you, Gojo. And thank you, Big Brother Yami."
Riko smiled faintly, even as her eyes filled with tears again.
"These past few days were the happiest days of my life."
Geto's chest tightened as if an invisible hand had seized his heart.
He remembered Riko laughing on the beach in Okinawa, bright and ordinary beneath the summer sun.
He remembered the way Yami had looked at them before they left, calm on the surface, but carrying something far heavier in his eyes.
Yami had said that if this was Riko's final wish, then even if they had to become enemies of the entire Jujutsu World, they would help her fulfill it.
But now…
Now Geto was the one about to push this girl toward death.
"Riko!"
Just as Riko was about to take that final step across the threshold, Geto shouted.
His hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.
Riko froze.
Geto's chest rose and fell violently. His voice echoed through the vast underground space, carrying a resolve that defied everything the Jujutsu World had taught him.
"If you don't want to be assimilated…"
His fingers tightened around her wrist.
"If you still want to live with Young Miss Kuroi…"
Riko's eyes widened.
"If you still want to eat desserts, see places you've never seen, and live like an ordinary girl…"
Geto looked straight into her eyes.
"Then we'll take you back."
Silence fell.
"This is my decision," Geto said clearly. "And Satoru's."
His voice grew firmer.
"It's Yami's decision too."
Riko stared at him, unable to speak.
"We are the strongest."
Geto's eyes burned with a stubborn light.
"Even if Master Tengen is furious, even if the higher-ups order us hunted down, we'll protect you."
Riko stood there in a daze.
Since she was a child, she had been taught that she was Master Tengen's vessel. Her fate had been decided before she was old enough to understand it. She had believed that all she could do was smile and accept death.
But now, in the deepest, darkest place beneath Jujutsu High, at the moment she had finally prepared herself to vanish, someone reached out and told her she could live.
"I…"
Her tears burst free.
This time, they were not born from fear.
They came from the desire to live, buried for fourteen years and finally tearing its way into the light.
"I want to live."
Riko cried, but the smile that appeared on her face was brighter than anything Geto had ever seen from her.
"I want to keep seeing this world with everyone."
Geto's expression softened with relief.
He reached out, ready to take her hand and lead her away from this damned place.
Riko turned from the door without hesitation and reached toward him.
Their fingertips were about to touch.
Bang!
A gunshot shattered the silence of the Tomb of the Star Corridor.
Time seemed to stretch.
Geto watched helplessly as a brass-colored bullet cut through the air, carrying death in a straight line toward Riko's temple.
Behind her, in the dark passage, a burly man stood silently as if he had always been there.
Toji Fushiguro.
Smoke curled from the muzzle of the handgun in his hand.
The scar at the corner of his mouth lifted into a cold, cruel smile.
"What a touching farewell."
His voice was flat.
"Too bad. I'm taking the Star Plasma Vessel's life."
The bullet flew closer.
Geto's pupils shrank.
He forced Cursed Energy through his body, trying to summon a Cursed Spirit, trying to place anything between Riko and that bullet.
But it was too late.
The bullet was less than ten centimeters from Riko's brow.
Was tragedy truly going to repeat itself here?
Was the girl who had finally found the courage to live about to have that future ripped away the moment she reached for it?
Despair swallowed the Tomb of the Star Corridor.
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