Shewasverynice

Sarah slashed frantically at the threads, but there were far too many to stop. The electric shock tore through as soon as they barely brushed her skin and forced all the wind out of her lungs. The threads wrapped around her arms, legs and middle, lifting her up and away from the others. Utahime started to perform her technique, readying Tsukumo for a chance to grab her before it was too late.

The Filament rose up high into the air on its threads, keeping Sarah close to it. Tsukumo leapt to reach her, catching a hold of her ankle before Lazarus moved in to intervene. Tsukumo dropped her other elbow onto him hard, but it wasn't enough to even rattle him even enhanced by Utahime. Kenjaku was close behind and she had no choice but to let go and get back, protecting Utahime and Ieiri.

You want an ending? I'll give you a fucking ending.

The Filament raised its hand, holding its palm upward before closing her fingers into a fist. In a flash, the Elysium field tore open at the seams. The entire world abruptly changed, becoming the school grounds. New voices joined in just before that landscape tore just like the first. Then a castle. Then a field of green grass. A lab. A home. A basement. A stone walled chamber. Then darkness.

A dim light blinked into existence like a light switch flipped on. A dark void of nothingness was beneath countless thin, jet-dark threads stretching through the air. Periodically they shimmered purple, reflecting off of the dim light of the white filament that appeared when the lights did. Like spiderwebs, they connected together in every direction at multiple angles and mingled with the black wires. Some were untouched by the white, some were wrapped in them in spirals. Some where entirely made of white.

Thin white filament sent shocks of light through the webs, reinforcing and altering their shapes. Some threads were held by only one or two white filament. Some where wholly supported by it. All of the filament led back to one central point: the beings true form.

It was gigantic, feminine in shape, and made entirely of white thread. She lay on her stomach with one hand pressed against her cheek, her feet kicking lazily in the air behind her. Her other arm rested on its elbow, stretched out toward the webbing below. One finger twisted through the strands, stirring them into a massive tangle at the center of it all.

Embedded in the tangle were three bodies. Near the top was a pale body, its chest, face and pelvis crushed by threads wound around them too tight. Beneath it was a second, this one female. Her mouth was split by threads, her body wound so tight she couldn't move if she tried. At the bottom, a body writhed angrily and tore at the threads to free his other two arms. Cursed energy flashed and he started to pull away, only for the white threads to push him back and bury him in more of the black wire.

Above, the tree-like Resonates began tumbling down along the wires. Their weight dragged the strands lower and lower as cries rang out from every direction. The bright colors of their robes caught the light of the filament, flashing in the darkness as the creatures scurried desperately for any living thing they could find.

Sarah shook her head. This was impossible. None of this was true, it couldn't be. That thing — the Filament — it couldn't be real. Her throat felt dry, her eyes were shaking. Staring at it was starting to hurt, but her body couldn't move. Around her, the others were standing on the black wires, trying to keep their balance or giving up and just hanging on.

There you are

The Filament's voice was loud enough to rattle her eardrums. She flinched and not even a half second later the wind was forced out of her body. Stars sparked in her eyes and she struggled against the Filament's fingers as they wrapped around her body. There was no time to be shocked. There was no time to be afraid. She kept repeating the words to herself over and over, forcing herself to breath. Every inch closer to the Filament was an inch closer to death. Real death. She was sure she'd sensed him when the world was flashing. He was her only chance.

"Satoru!"

A force crashed into the fingers and she took a huge gasp for air. Strong arms wrapped around her body and then took off in jerk — Gojo really was there! The relief felt incredible. After another heavy breath, her eye were able to focus again and... Whoever it was wasn't Gojo. Or… was it?

It was unbearable to look at — they were beautiful in a terribly sickening way. The cracks in their skin were leaking light like whole being might explode soon. The wires parted for them as they passed through the air at incredible speed. It dropped her off in the safety of a surprising number of Geto's curses. The being paused, staring right at her as it hovered in front of her like it was studying her.

Their eyes were colored rose and silver like inverted blue. Black scleras under long white eyelashes. She could see him in there, but she could see herself too. Bile rose at the back of her throat and the hairs on her body rose — every second looking at it was making her feel worse.

"S-satoru?" Her heart was beating too fast. Above her, the being moved to block another swat of the Filament's hand with an easy flick of their wrist.

Sarah forced herself to swallow, trying to gather the situation going on around her while she had the chance. The wires were in every direction, but the gravity seemed consistent enough. Her eyes flicked around to the energy close by. Utahime was above her on a wire swinging a knife at a resonate with a curse at her side. The curse had to be one of Geto's, but it didn't look strong enough to hold out for long.

That was enough of a start for Sarah. Her hand shot to her hip for the box cutter, only to find empty space. No time to curse. She sprinted toward Utahime, aligning herself beneath resonate. Baring her teeth, she raked them hard across the knuckles of both hands until blood welled up. Positive energy flared around her fists in a bright glow as she grabbed the taut wire and began forcing it into rhythmic bounces beneath her feet, building momentum with each recoil until the line launched her upward.

Her fists crashed into the resonate and it flipped over, rolling off the wire hopefully into the void. Sarah managed to clamber up onto the wire hurrying to heal Utahime's wounds with the remaining blood.

"What the hell is going on?!" Sarah gasped, steadying herself on Utahime's shoulder.

Utahime only nodded in response. Something below had caught her eye. She was looking near the bottom of the big tangle — hanging on a wire down there was someone trying pull themselves up onto a wire. The body at the bottom, the one that could only be Sukuna, had become more desperate than when she'd first noticed him.

"It's Shoko!" Utahime shouted just as Sarah realized what she was looking at too. "She's down there! You see it, right?!"

Sarah gasped. It was Ieiri — right in front of where Sukuna was reaching! If he got her—

"Lets go!" Utahime grabbed her arm, dragging Sarah with her. "We need to find someone— anyone who can fight him! Just until—"

Utahime was practically sobbing, her words catching on her heavy breaths. She wasn't taking the shock well, but she was right, they had to hurry. There was no time to wait for Gojo to come fix it. The curse awkwardly followed them, giving Sarah and idea.

"Let's find Suguru!" Sarah suggested. The sound in the space was muffled and yet somehow echoed. She could hear everyone's voices calling out around her, but it was like her ears were full of cotton.

"It tried to warn me! The Filament!" Utahime wasn't listening and reached out to take Sarah's hand just before the two of them took a leap down to another wire below. It bowed beneath their weight and voices from there cried out sharply in alarm, but neither woman stopped.

Sarah squinted in the darkness trying to get a look at anyone. If Utahime wasn't going to wait, then anyone would have to do. A black flash collided with something heavily from her right and her attention snapped that direction. Nanami! She could see Nanami! Something about him looked odd — she'd never seen him wear suit like that and he looked… older? Beside him was a boy she didn't recognize, but his eyes reminded her of Rokuro — a flash of light caught a glint of purple in his eyes that was unmistakable.

"Cursed speech!" Sarah cried, tugging Utahime that direction. "That boy! He might have cursed speech!"

"Yes! Right!" Utahime was called back automatically. She didn't seem to be thinking clearly in the panic, but suddenly she got a look at the kid. "Inumaki! Yes— yes!! He's got cursed speech!"

Leaping from wire to wire, they moved down and across webs towards the two. Utahime knew that kid from another life, she must have. She'd never sounded so certain about anything. Nanami was sticking close to the boy, fending off frozen mob of resonates. Inumaki was shouting in cursed speech at intervals, keeping up with Nanami's timing.

"Nanami!" Sarah called attention to herself before crashing her fists into a resonate and vaulting over it's body to reach where the two men were defending. Without hesitation she dragged a smear of her blood up the boy's throat, healing the damaged from his cursed speech. He blinked in surprise, but seemed thankful.

"We have a real problem down below," Sarah panted, stepping away to help guard Nanami's flank.

"What is it?" Nanami's shoulders visibly relaxed when her blood dragged up his bicep and rushed through his veins. This close, she confirmed it — he was definitely older. Bigger too. But why? It was just like how Utahime had changed when she touched the Filament.

"Sukuna is below and he's trying to get Shoko!" Sarah shouted, pausing to brace herself through one of Inumaki's shouts until she could shake it off. The boy was way stronger than she expected. "I— I wanted to take this kid down to stop Sukuna," she managed, shaking off the command to "stay".

She looked at the boy, "Inumaki right? Can you do it? Do you think you could stop him for even just a second?"

"salmon" The kid said and nodded.

"… what?"

"He's agreeing!" Nanami grit, grabbing her shoulder and giving her a shove. "Just take him and go!"

"You come to!" Sarah called back, not wasting time.

"I can't! I need to find Rin!" He glanced over his shoulder at her and his eye met hers, "As soon as I find her, I'll find you. Okay?"

Sarah nodded. "Okay!"

Nanami gave Inumaki's shoulder a hard slap, then dashed off in the opposite direction. Sarah looked up, searching for where Utahime had gone. She spotted a flash of red and white cloth and a moment later the web bowed under the weight. Utahime landed right in front of her and behind her she had another man Sarah didn't recognize. Tall with dark eyes and dark slicked back hair and a distinctive nose. He looked tired, but like a deep tired. He was wearing a suit, like a lawyer.

"This is Higuruma," Utahime explained quickly. "He's got the perfect technique— we just need to keep him alive until we get down there."

"I only need to get him in my domain," Higuruma said, the four of them leaping down further together.

"So we just need to—" The wind was knocked out of her mid sentence. A body plowed into hers, knocking her off balance and sent her sailing off the wire. Her hands flailed desperately, catching onto a mess of thin wires just as she was managing to gather herself and find who'd done it.

"You, don't need to do anything Sarah." Kenjaku sneered down at her from above, stepping down the wires easily as if they were nothing more than stairs. "In fact, why don't I just make sure you don't interfere in this ending too?"

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Utahime tried to react, but it was too late. Sarah was gone as soon as Kenjaku barreled into her. She jumped down another wire where Higuruma helped steady her. The kid had shouted just when Sarah dissapeared, but resonates were twitching again, cracking and creaking closer as Inumaki's technique was wearing off.

Then, in a burst of red light flashed and the resonates were obliterated in a wave.

"These things are endless," a woman scoffed. She was tall and haughty looking in an old-style kimono. She was clearly some kind of Gojo that Utahime had never heard of. She looked just like that asshole, but more importantly also appeared to be a six-eyes.

"Hurry!" Utahime shouted, "We need to get down there now!"

Her glowing blue eyes flicked down to Sukuna, then back up to Utahime. "Who is she?" she asked, jutting her chin towards Ieiri.

"She's a healer!" Utahime didn't bother to wait for the woman to figured it out, following Inumaki.

The Gojo woman seemed to understand, launching herself to the front to clear a path. The further down they went, the more tangled everything was getting. The webs were thicker and knotted, the ones they were connected felt older and more established at the base. What she'd thought was a void from appeared to be something swirling and black below, like ink. Staring into the darkness too long made the world begin to twist and Utahime swallowed hard, pushing that fear down.

The Gojo woman was gone suddenly. Utahime hadn't realized it when it happened. Sukuna was tense against the webs, his teeth gritted and all four eyes of his eyes were locked onto Ieiri. Every attempt to reach was pulled back by the webs, white and black mixing together and weaving forcefully to hold him in place. Still, his arm managed to pulled free with sheer force, and reached out his hand to grasp at her dangling leg.

In her panic she screamed, rushing down towards Ieiri full speed. Her body was moving without her input, grasping at threads to swing downward or leaping to further ones to climb deeper and deeper until she was right above Ieiri. Someone landed on the wire behind her, but she wasn't waiting and already pulling to help Ieiri climb up the wire.

"Got you!" Sukuna shouted gleefully.

Ieiri screamed as Sukuna's fingers dug into her calf. Utahime felt her grip on Ieiri's arm start to slip, but then—

S̸͉̙̞̬͈̖̞̝̭̥̘̞̹̭̙̐̊̈͝͝ ̵͎̗̥͔̯͑̾̓͗Ṫ̶̡̡͎͇͈̅̂̕ ̴̢̹̥̬̖͔͙̮̱͑̒̓̆̅̓̅̌͆̂͜͜͝O̵̡̢̡͈̣̯̪͖͖̤̯̬̖̖͚̟̊̉͂̇͗̅̌̓̽͘̕͘̕ͅ ̵̢̟̦͍̖̦́̍́̒̿̀͌̆͒̋̀̿̕P̴̡͓̝̰̻̱͔̹̲̳̗͚͓͇͔͚͋̈́̂̋̊͌͘͝͝ͅ

Inumaki's shout held for only a half a second, but it was enough for Higuruma to attempt to deploy his domain. It pulsed into reality only to blip out almost immediately in the second half of that same second.

He'd lost a domain battle — Utahime realized it just as soon everyone else around her did. Someone else somewhere already had one open and none of them even realized. Sukuna yanked on Ieiri's calf again, bending the wire with her and pulling all four of them closer.

"Come here!" Sukuna cackled. "You're exactly what I need!"

Everything in Utahime's mind suddenly stopped. She completely froze, staring at Ieiri. What the hell was she doing!? What the hell was she going to do? If she wanted to save Ieiri, what the hell was she going to do?!

Something inside her woke up…

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Geto's eyes were closed, but he felt the wind shift when one of Boe's knives sailed past his cheek. It was close, each incident was getting closer. The resonates were coming down endlessly like tumbling beetles and climbing spiders, using any means to reach the sorcerers. Geto was focused on keeping every curse in his arsenal busy and Boe was determined to keep him safe, but she had her limits. Blood manipulation required blood, and she only had so much of that to use. Not only that, she wasn't a close range fighter. This was too much for her.

"Boe, we need to—" "Shut up and concentrate!" She snarled, whipping another fan of blood knives at the resonate in front of him. It scrambled back, shaking the wire beneath them, but not falling as either of them hoped.

His curses were everywhere. Unlike Mei-Mei he couldn't utilize their senses, but Kenjaku was unfortunately very good at explaining other methods. Yaga was a good teacher for physical combat, but Kenjaku had been using Geto's technique for hundreds of years. He'd played with it, experimented and learned things Geto hadn't thought of trying — unbelievable things his curses could accomplish if only he'd thought to tell them to do it.

"Just have someone else with you," Kenjaku had said so casually back then, "or don't attack from anywhere they can find you. You don't actually need to lift a finger!"

It was a lovely sentiment, but unhelpful at that moment. Especially when Boe was pushing herself too hard. Others had passed the two of them by, looking for loved ones or comrades. With everyone he saw, he released more and more curses. The resonates wanted them torn to shreds and there was no end in sight, but he wasn't letting up.

Some kind of domain battle started and broke below, catching his attention. Someone had attempted to deploy a domain without feeling the hold of the one they were already inside.

"Boe, who's down by Sukuna?" Geto asked, keeping still as she used his shoulders to leap over to the other side of the wire and launch more of her blades.

Boe panted and the vibrations in the wire beneath them held still — must have been clear for a moment. "Ieiri, Utahime, a lawyer and some kid," she answered in a huff, catching her breath while she had the opportunity. "I think they're trying to fight Sukuna?"

Geto opened his eyes. The air changed in an instant as a domain managed to overcome everything around it. A chime, like the ringing of ritual bells, seemed to freeze everything around. The darkness parted for the red light of a huge bonfire. Curses, sorcerers, resonates. Everyone was there now, staring at the center as if expecting a show. The chimes rang again and a single drum strike shook through the air. A spotlight appeared, shining down on Utahime who stood alone in front of the crowd. Her foot extended out, her toes pointed then she took a heavy step down as the drums began. A soon as she danced, cursed energy rushed to Geto's head. His eyes widened. The battle was picking up again, but this time on even ground and with sorcerers — or more specifically cursed energy — enhanced.

Geto didn't waste his chance. All the curses under his control felt enormously more powerful. His eyes felt like they were burning, but he didn't dare blink. The curses were dominating, tearing apart every resonate in sight. Sorcerers finally had a moment to breathe, which was more than he'd hoped for. With a flick of his wrist, heavyweight curses circled him and Boe.

Boe's back pressed against his, damp with sweat. She was breathing hard, but he could feel the tension in her muscles. At least she was taking the break, but her body wouldn't be able to handle Utahime's technique. If her cursed energy was increased, that would use more blood than she would expect.

"Stop," he said softly, just as she was about to push off. "Stay still."

"Suguru, I need to find a healer," Boe grunted, relaxing against him again anyway. She was trying to hide her trembling, but he could hear it in her voice.

"You need to stay still," he said, reaching his hand back to find hers. "Rest as long as you can. Don't fight in this domain. I've got it under control."

"If I don't find Shoko or—" "Boe!" Geto squeezed her hand. His lips parted, but he hesitated. Even now it was too hard to say what he should have said to her so long ago. In the back of his mind, he knew it might've even been his very last chance to tell her the truth — to tell her how he really felt. He inhaled, but only said, "Boe, I… I don't want to miss you."

Boe said nothing. That wasn't what she wanted to hear and he knew that, but it was the best he could offer in that moment. Her hand was still in his and after another beat, she turned her wrist to slide her palm against his and link their fingers. Her head tipped back, her cheek pressing at the base of his neck. She was so warm. It made his chest hurt and his eyes sting, but still… still he just couldn't do it.

"I love you too, Suguru," she said softly.

He swallowed hard. His throat felt dry and his hand was squeezing hers too hard.

The domain shattered. The world blinked back into the darkness of the webs. Geto turned, quickly pressing Boe to his side — they needed to find more back up and ideally a healer. He landed on a wire, already moving forward with his eyes scanning the area around him.

"I see Haibara!" Boe shouted, tugging the sleeve on his right arm, "That way! He's got— he's with Morishita!"

From behind him and down at the base of the tangle he caught a glint of gold. "Sarah is down there!" he called, suddenly changing directions.

"Why isn't she with Gojo?!" Boe asked, climbing around to grasp onto his back. "We can't go down there! That's—"

"Kenjaku is after her!"

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Morishita's hair spread in long tendrils out in a burst and wrapping around as many people near her as possible. The domain was shattering, but she managed to catch Haibara, Ieiri, Utahime, Suzu, Rokuro, and a few others she didn't recognize before the world returned to the hellish webbed landscape. There was something big going on that she didn't understand quite yet. Once everyone was together in Utahime's domain, she'd realized it. Some people had dark threads, some had dark threads mixed with white, but some had only pure white. There was a pattern emerging that she that she instinctively knew was going to matter.

Curses appeared around her and formed a defensive ring around the sorcerers. Morishita hadn't even seen Geto, but she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. A boy with purple eyes was there wheezing, he looked like he'd taken a bad hit. A few other teenagers were supporting him and some older sorcerers, none of whom she knew, were all talking about what to do. Her eyes flicked over each of the threads extended from their bodies, checking the colors.

The purple eyed boy — dark thread. Suzu — completely white. Utahime — dark mixed with white. Rokuro — completely white. Haibara — dark mixed with white.

"What the fuck," Morishita mumbled, looking up just as Ieiri reached her. Her thread — very dark mixed with equal amount of white.

"Are you hurt?" Ieiri asked in a breathless huff. She looked terrified, but was already starting to use her technique before getting an answer.

"Not badly," Morishita answered, shaking her head. "H-have you seen Kento? I haven't even felt his energy."

"No, I was down at the bottom," Ieiri answered, her voice trembling. "Sukuna wanted to eat me. Can you believe it?" She tried to make that statement a joke, but it was obvious she was shaken.

Morishita knelt down, using her hair to spread out over the webs and created a more stable platform for everyone in her area. "It's alright," she said softly. "I'll stay here with you. We'll stay right here and figure this out."

Ieiri nodded, taking a step back as Morishita let her hair fan out a little further. Once she was satisfied with the area, she pulled a knife from her pocket and sliced through her hair and free her head from that bunch. It cost a lost of cursed energy to regrow from so short, but that was where she was needed and that where she was going to stay until she spotted Nanami.

Once Morishita's wounds were healed, Ieiri hurried back over to the teenagers. It was clear she knew them too, she could see it in the relief in all their eyes when they saw her approaching. The pattern was there — the ones with the black threads all knew each other and had visibly changed once the world pulled apart. Her own threads were pure white. Only the purely white threads were excluded from the change…

Morishita turned just as a voice called out her name. It was Boe, climbing up from a lower wire and she quickly held out her hand, pulling her up. She couldn't help but look — another pure white.

"Suguru is at the bottom," Boe panted, taking a seat on the platform. "I had to get out of there. He's fighting Kenjaku."

"I'm sorry, but do you see these threads on everyone?" Morishita asked, reaching out to tap her fingers on one connected through Boe's spine. It wasn't completely solid, but it wasn't completely false either. It felt almost like running water against her skin.

"Yeah? Have you figured out what this stuff is?" Boe asked, glancing over at the group of sorcerers nearby.

"Not yet. Do you know any of them? The ones with the black threads?" Morishita asked.

Boe stood up, slicking back her bangs with one hand. "Utahime, Ieiri, Haibara." She shook her head, "None of the rest. Do you?"

"The ones you know, they look different, don't they?" Morishita asked, "Why didn't we change too? When the world tore, they all changed…"

Boe's eyes narrowed. "So what makes them different from us?" she asked, reaching up to flick a white thread.

Morishita's brows shot up. "I think they're the canon characters."

"Rin! Rin I see Nanami!" Utahime suddenly shouted.

Morishita rushed her direction before even realizing she was running. She squeezed up by the curses, looking through to where Utahime was pointing.

Morishita spotted a flash of energy and— Yes! There he was! Nanami's back was pressed against Kuskabe's. Her breath caught and she narrowed her eyes, trying to see the threads on them. Nanami — black mixed with white. Kusakabe — Black with white.

She swallowed hard, a sickening feeling sinking into her gut. It made so much sense didn't it? They were the real characters from the real story. The white threads were tied and tangled and wrapped around, they weren't attached at all were they. It was all knotted and tied together and connected to the giant white Filament. That might've meant that she wasn't real and if they destroyed the Filament—

"I'm going out there," she said aloud, refusing to entertain that thought.

Utahime took a glance back at the others before putting her hand on Morishita's shoulder. "Let's go, I'm with you," she said, "We can use this spot as a rally point. We have a plan that we can still go through with, but I just need you to help me get us all together."

Morishita turned to her. "Are you sure? It's going to be bad out there. I can't guarantee I can protect you."

"I can't stay on the sidelines any more," Utahime said firmly.

Morishita smiled, then began to push past the curses guarding the rim of her platform. "Then let's go."

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Stop it!

"Brace yourself!" Nanami shouted, ducking down to grip the wire at his feet with one hand and loop around Kusakabe's calf with his other arm. The Filament creature shook her head again, her free hand moving to guard her face from Gojo's barrage. Kusakabe's forehead hit his shoulder, but he was down just in time for when the wires began to shake.

Gojo had managed to keep the Filament from reaching for something near the bottom of the main tangle of wires — Nanami was sure it was Sarah. However, in doing so the Filament was becoming more and more desperate. The hand she'd tangled into the webs was gripping tight, almost like a child carrying a precious treat. Every time the Filament swatted at Gojo, the entire system of wires shook.

As if the entire world tearing apart wasn't enough, Nanami was also grappling something unexplainable. As soon as the world blinked on, he'd been hit with everything, and by everything it was literally everything. All of those loops, all of those lives, all those choices. Geto had attempted to explain it, Gojo was experiencing it when he merged with Sarah and Nanami had seen it himself the moment his feet touched the wires.

It was indescribable. His role was so specific and so cruel. Made to be the jaded mentor. Made to be depressed and overworked. Made to die to encourage a main character. His entire life was sculpted for that singular purpose and he'd done that many times over and over and over. The same choices, the same paths, the same results. When Nanami had asked Geto who he was in his last life, he understood why Geto told him it was better if he didn't know.

Ahead of him he could see Tsukumo sprinting across the wires, holding a young girl under her arm. Itadori was crashing through a resonate behind her with Todo beside him. Something was going on because a moment later he saw Todo dissapear then reappear with Ijichi. They were gathering for something, he realized.

"Follow them," Nanami called to Kusakabe, elbowing him to get his attention.

"This way!" Tsukumo shouted to them, noticing them at around the same moment. As soon as all of them gathered she panted, "Morishita made a platform. Meeting there."

"Do we have a plan?" Kusakabe asked.

"No idea, I'm trying to find everyone," Tsukumo huffed, turning to keep moving. "The resonates aren't slowing down. Geto's curses are getting thin."

A clap echoed at his right, and Nanami turned to see Todo. The man was clearly fully grown now, taller than even Gojo and wider than he'd seen a man get in real life. Nanami had noticed it when his lost eye was restored and seeing the others had the answer to that question at least: he wasn't alone in his physical change. Everyone he'd seen so far had been different — even the Sarah who wasn't merged with Gojo. Everyone had been given the revelation and shown the truth about their many lives.

"Ieiri is on the platform," Todo reported. "Morishita and Utahime are coming out this way."

Nanami shook his head and surged forward. Morishita could hold her own, but not while guarding Utahime. He vaulted over a resonate, his blade carving clean through another in a single strike. Their numbers had thinned considerably, but that only meant the remaining ones had fused into larger, deadlier bodies.

He dropped down a wire and sprinted across it, tearing through resonates as flashes of cursed energy exploded around him. He ducked, pressed forward, relentless. She was close. He heard her voice first — calling desperately for Utahime.

Everything else blurred away the moment she slammed into his chest. His arm locked instinctively around her waist, holding her tight. Warm tears soaked into his shoulder, and somehow, in the middle of all the chaos, nothing had ever felt sweeter. Her hands clutched at his shoulders, her legs wrapping around his waist and holding herself up.

"Kento," she sobbed, then cleared her throat. "Utahime says they have a plan!"

Nanami sighed, holding her close for a moment longer. He closed his eyes, breathing in the smell of her hair and the fresh sweat on her skin. For just one moment longer he held her tight and dreamed of one more quiet day alone with her. One more day where they could sit in the grass together and not think about the state of the world and the stake they had in fixing it. If he wanted that day to come, he had work to do.

"What do you intend to do?" He let her pull back, studying her as much as she was staring back at him.

Why hadn't she changed? He knew he had, but why didn't she? The confusion and a sadness he didn't expect darkened her expression even when she tried to hide it with her answer.

"I don't know what they intend to do, but Utahime says it'll solve the problem," she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "The group we left behind all know what to do, so I'm putting my faith in them and gathering as many sorcerers as I can."

"Then I'll go with you," Nanami said, setting her back down and helping her steady on the wire.

"Save as many sorcerers as you can," Tsukumo grunted, pushing past both of them. "I don't know if we need everyone still, but it's better if we have as many as possible before we set off the nuke."

"Is this your plan?" Nanami asked Tsukumo.

She paused, glancing back at him over her shoulder. "It is. Are you going to trust me?"

Nanami held his eyes on her. He never didn't trust her, not at all. She was selfish and self-centered and likely had other intentions she'd never divulge to anyone. And yet faced with a situation he barely understood, the only thing he could say was,

"I guess so."

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"When I get out of here I'll devour you broiled," Sukuna growled.

He cackled while he tore and ripped at the endless threads that were failing to keep him down. With every clump he threw away, another thick bundle grew over the empty space. All four of his hands ripped and his body writhed and jerked against his restraints like a monster trapped in a fishing net. Sarah's trembling hadn't stopped, but she didn't dare move from the concentrated barrier that surrounded her. Tengen had awoken, throwing up that barrier just in time to save the girl's life and now Yaga needed to figure out what to do next.

After the domain had collapsed, Yaga spotted Sarah near the base of the tangle. Barely a blink later, Lazarus scrambled after her on all fours like he'd gone completely mad. Alone he didn't have much to work with, but there was at least one doll he knew would come if he called and Panda was already on the way down to help. Unfortunately Sarah didn't have the time to wait and so Yaga found himself between a special grade cannibal and his prey.

"Yaga run," Sarah pleaded, "just get out of here before he gets out."

"You'll never survive," Yaga grit.

"I'll come back, you won't!" Sarah cried. "Its fine! Just run!"

"Panda is coming."

"Panda can't do this either Yaga!"

Yaga ignored her. His technique wasn't designed for emergencies. Without his dolls he was only a basic level sorcerer and it was true, Panda couldn't stand up to Sukuna alone. But there was still a way out, she just hadn't realized it yet.

Sukuna's hand planted against the barrier and Tengen's muffled mouth attempted to cry out. Sarah flinched away from Sukuna, her hands starting to glow as she took up a defensive position. Yaga hadn't been impressed with her reaction time for offensive combat, but she'd always been excellent with her defense. There was still no chance of her surviving without help.

Panda landed beside him, already transformed. The white parts of his coat on his back were stained with bloody hand prints. The residuals felt like a Kamo — that boy from the Kyoto branch. Yaga's eyes flicked upward and there the boy was, perched overhead with his bow drawn back and a bleeding arrow in his fingers.

"Hey kid," Yaga boomed, facing Sukuna again and cracking his neck. "These wires are made out of cursed energy."

The kid nodded, bouncing his elbow to roll his sleeve up enough to reveal a thin, fresh wound. He must have figured it out already — kid was smart, unlike any of his students apparently. The wires were pure cursed energy and ripe for refueling. No sorcerer in the entire area would run out if they only knew where to look for more.

Tengen's barrier wavered with another of Sukuna's strikes and Yaga rolled up his own sleeves, wreathing his body in cursed energy. Panda growled low, his muscles tense. Kamo's energy was steady above him. Everyone was holding, ready for the moment the barrier broke.

The shimmer of an attempted domain flashed and they all moved at once. Tengen's barrier didn't have time to redeploy and Sukuna got one arm on Sarah's thigh before she could fully react. Panda leapt forward, his claws extended and reaching for Sukuna and Kamo let his arrow fly. Yaga held for that moment, then took his opportunity to strike at Sukuna's wrist with every ounce of cursed energy he could muster.

The arrow struck and Panda landed, yanking Sukuna's arm away. Sarah took her chance to scramble away, the wounds left from Sukuna's fingernails already healing themselves. Sukuna roared in frustration as the wires overtook him again and Yaga hurried after Sarah with Panda beside him.

"Yaga!" She shouted, not slowing her sprint. "I need to get to the Filament!"

"What?! Are you crazy?!" Panda shouted as he caught up with her, lifting her up onto his back with one massive paw. "That thing will kill you!"

"Lazarus and Kenjaku want me to stay away from her," Sarah said, glancing back at Yaga then ahead. "That has to mean something right?"

"Not necessarily!" Yaga ducked back behind Panda, letting him take the lead and hear Sarah better. "Gojo is keeping it away from you. He knows something."

"I don't think he knows what she's doing, but I do!" Sarah said. "She's going to pull all the white threads out and start everything over!"

"How do you know?" Yaga asked, glancing up. The Kamo kid was trying to follow them, but was stopped suddenly by Todo appearing. A moment later, they were gone.

"I… I don't know," Sarah answered. "I just— I just know that's what she's going to do!"

She was lying, he wasn't a fool. She knew exactly why that thing was doing what it was doing. It no longer mattered what she wanted to hide anyway and so he chose to ignore that lie. Sarah's lies often tried to spare feelings or keep things from escalation — she didn't want him to know because she was afraid of how he'd take it.

"Fine," Yaga grit. "Panda and I will get you there."

"I'm so sorry Yaga," she said suddenly, turning back to look at him. "I'm so sorry about—"

"No apologies yet," Yaga cut her off, "not until we finish this. Then you can apologize."

Sarah started to say something, then shook her head and faced forward. That was for the best.

Yaga followed behind Panda and Sarah through the wires, keeping up amid the mess. Ahead, Gojo was keeping the Filament busy and even more unfortunately Geto was dealing with Kenjaku. The curses in that area were beyond what he could hope to survive. He had no reverse cursed technique to push. All he had was Panda. She didn't want him there and he shouldn't have been there, but leaving her alone was out of the question.

"It's going to be alright," he said.

Sarah turned back to face him, her face going red. She cleared her throat, trying to put on a smile and managed to say, "I'll make sure it is."

Yaga had seen that look on her face far too often. So many times he'd watched her walk willingly to her death. He'd been the one to wake her afterwards, help her catch up with the days she'd missed. The guilt weighed heavily on his heart.

"I won't forgive you," he said simply.

She understood what he meant. He could tell.

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"Isn't this fun? It's like rock paper scissors!!"

Kenjaku was laughing, skipping merrily across the wires as his summoned Dagon faced off against Geto's elder Jogo. The entire area was doused in flames or water, the wires seemingly unaffected. Geto was gripping tight, crouched low beneath a curse wrapped around his body like a translucent shield. The curse itself seared his skin, boiling from the inside from the repeated attacks, but that was better than the alternative.

"You know how long I've used this technique," Kenjaku chuckled. One of his hand lifted up, flicking a curse into existence.

Geto identified it as fast as he could, darting out of range before the firey curse exploded. He got his footing, launching another wave of centipede curses before attempting to get in close for the third time. It was the only advantage he had over Kenjaku — the body he was using was decaying. If he engaged physically he wouldn't survive.

Kenjaku wasn't going to let it be easy. He'd planned for this, but why let his body rot instead of jumping ship? That was what Geto hadn't figured out. Kenjaku took risks, but this seemed intentional.

Kenjaku sidestepped, allowing Geto closer only to part a space between them with a wall of water from a giant octopus. Geto expected a wall and forced his way through, sacrificing the curse around him to make it. That wasn't ideal, but Kenjaku was in arms reach. His hand jerked out, gripping onto Kenjaku's sleeve.

Kenjaku smiled at him — Geto's own grayed and sunken face smiled right down at him and almost made him retch. His other hand shot out without slowing, grasping onto Kenjaku's forearm. His fingers sunk in deeper than he expected and a chill rolled down his spine. It was too late to stop it… the arm was coming off.

Geto's hand jerked back, letting it slide out of his grip. The stump leftover at the elbow didn't even bleed and the forearm itself fell uselessly down into the void below. Kenjaku held up his remaining hand, pressing his index finger to his gleeful smile. He said nothing, using Geto's shock to twirl away back to a safe distance.

Geto swallowed down the bile that threatened in his throat. Kenjaku was still slowly gaining on Sarah, but she wasn't in sight. Her energy was moving faster than before, which Geto could only assume meant that she had some help. Gojo was close as well, flying at the Filament's hand like a bee bumping desperately against a window. It was working, but they'd made no progress. Any damage was repairing faster than they could break apart, at least without using any huge techniques.

Kenjaku laughed, catching Geto's attention again. "You're not sure what to do either, right? Isn't this so incredibly overwhelming?"

"It's not great in here, that's true," Geto chuckled.

Kenjaku was gearing up to summon another curse and Geto readied to counter with his own. There was no way for him to tell how many Kenjaku had prepared and the creep wasn't bragging about it like Geto expected. Even worse, another presence caught his attention: Lazarus. Down on the wires, skittering like a roach, Lazarus was rushing in Sarah's direction and Kenjaku reacted by trying to block his view.

"Are you with us or against us?" Geto asked, backing off to summon a wave of wide, heavy set curses just before Kenjaku's own wave curses crashed into Geto's.

Kenjaku laughed, smirking at him and answering only with a half-assed shrug. Geto scowled, leaping over his curses and summoning one that could fly. He passed Kenjaku, keeping his body low and dodging wires. Kenjaku wasn't going to get the fight end until he was ready and Geto wasn't going to waste time.

Gojo was doing their best to deal with the Filament, but their body was collapsing. They were breaking apart faster than Sarah could heal their body. Gojo's reverse cursed technique wouldn't be enough, not from all the collateral damage from being too close to all that positive energy. Every collision was like a meteor hitting a planet and breaking it open into bright glowing stars. Their body was piecing back together, but another hit would spray light and reopen wounds.

At least, that was Geto's guess. Gojo's body was a mystery to even the two of them inside it. They wouldn't let themselves fall apart, but it wasn't looking like they could keep it together alone.

Soon enough he spotted Sarah crouched on Panda's back. A ways behind them was Yaga. That was perfect — Yaga would have some insight. Geto caught up to him, holding out a hand which the older man gratefully took and pulled himself up onto the curse behind Geto.

"Where is she going?" Geto asked.

"She says she knows what to do," Yaga answered, "but Suguru," he paused, putting his hand on his shoulder, "She's planning on sacrificing herself."

"How?!" Geto snapped.

"I'm not sure," Yaga admitted. "I won't let her, but if she gets away from me there isn't anything I can do."

Geto scowled. "She's not getting away."

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Choso was rushing after the trail of Tsukumo's cursed energy. She was in a hurry, snatching up every sorcerer she could find and sending them away with Todo. Itadori was working with them, filling in as Todo's target for each swap. He'd called for her to slow down, but she wouldn't. She was running from him — that was like her, but now was not the time to be stubborn.

"Yuki!" He shouted firmer that time, vaulting over the back of a resonate before turning and firing off a shot of blood through its head.

That woman was so stubborn. She was so smart, so beautiful. Everything she did was amazing to him. But right then she was running away from what could be another cycle before she'd find him again. She'd chased after him this time, but there'd been plenty where he'd had to find her. It was getting tiring.

"Yuki stop!" He shouted, reaching out to grip onto her wrist.

Easily she snatched it away, but he only grabbed again. She wasn't going to avoid him, not when this was all going to reset.

"Choso, don't," she grit. "I can't do this right now. We're close. We could finish it."

"And you don't want to see me?" It felt like a valid question, yet she seemed so angry that he dared to ask it.

"Choso, I know you understand why," she hissed, pulling away from his third attempt to pull her close.

"I do," he said, keeping his voice slow. He couldn't force her to let him hold her — her strength was far beyond his — but she still swayed as if he'd managed to get her off balance.

He finally managed to coax her close enough, pressing a hand to the back of her head and winding his arm around her waist. She almost pushed him away, she started to.

"Yuki, I love you," he rushed out.

"Damn it!"

Choso pushed her back, gripping onto her shoulders. "I'm not going to let you be selfish on this one. This one is for me, Yuki. Please, just tell me you love me."

"I don't want to keep saying it for the first time," she said, swatting his hands off her shoulders. "I don't like having to show you how to do this over and over! It's so— it's just unfair!"

"I know," Choso spat. Tsukumo was so surprised she took a step back and oddly that made him feel better in a way. She should know how angry he was.

"If you know then why do you insist on doing this to me?!" She shouted.

"Because I love you! Now say it back!" Choso shouted right back.

Even living all the lives he had, he still didn't quite understand what it meant to be alive. It was difficult to go from nothing to a life with so much risk. Additionally, Tsukumo's affection was demanding and consuming in a way that he wasn't sure he could live without.

"Say it," Choso demanded.

Tsukumo glared at him and she crossed her arms. "Is this really the time for this? We should—"

"Yuki!"

"I love you."

Choso blinked. Without another thought he leaned in, pulling her face to his and kissing her. Itadori groaned, but Choso ignored him. He held the kiss for just a few sweet seconds before letting her go. She stared at him with the apples of her cheeks just barely dusted pink. She so rarely blushed. If this was the last time he'd see her for a while at least he'd seen that.

"Now, are we going with the plan?" Choso asked, glancing at Itadori.

"We're gonna nuke it," Tsukumo said, smoothing back her hair. "Get everyone together. We're going to get all the energy together, find Sarah, then nuke the whole thing inside Amanai's technique."

Choso stared at her. This was the most drastic plan yet and he'd been against it since she first started to tell the others in detail about it. She remembered all the other attempts just like he did. This one was drastic and desperate, but by this point in their repetitive nightmare it might as well happen. If this was another failure, at least Tengen would be able to fill them in and they could give it another shot.

"Fine. Let's do it." Choso turned, looking across the wires ahead of him. There were still plenty of sorcerers left to gather up, but wouldn't take them that long. "Do we have a signal?"

"No, nothing we had time to agree on," Tsukumo said, clearing her throat. "We'll try to get everyone's attention. Just watch the platform."

"Alright. Good luck Yuki." Choso rolled his shoulders, readying to sprint off. Just before he did, Tsukumo whispered one more time.

"Please be careful."

Choso smiled over his shoulder at her. "Don't worry. I can always see you again."

"If… if we mess up this one we might not," Tsukumo said.

"No, I don't think that's true," Choso said with a chuckle, taking off. "I'll see you soon!"

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

Haibara's song cut through the chaos with a boom, shaking the threads with the power of his sound. Nanami kept up behind him, but he hadn't needed him after all. Nanami had insisted, but he didn't get it — Haibara was just stronger now! This loop had been the first time Haibara had made it this far and finally feeling strong might've been going to his head.

Nanami was seeing it as it was happening! The resonates were super susceptible to Haibara's sound. He didn't even have to fully deploy his domain and the things were taking his hits like bullets ricocheting off metal walls. A kid he didn't recognize and some old samurai looking guy were having an equally easy time using their cursed speech. It didn't really make a lot of sense, but he wasn't going to waste his opportunity.

Every shout, every lyric, every hum — the resonates were sent reeling and writhing like they'd been burned. Pushing his technique into their minds made them wail and freak out and physically they were no better than worms. Was he smiling? Probably! Haibara was enjoying himself. There was no reason to feel miserable while he was winning, right?

"Haibara!" Nanami was shouting at him again. Probably to tell him something serious. That dude never learned how to have fun, even after all this time.

"Relax! I got this!" Haibara laughed, but Nanami's hand out his shoulder stopped him. He turned away from the struggling resonate, letting it crawl pathetically away, and glared at Nanami. "We can't stop! We need to keep it going!"

"Your ears are leaking," Nanami said cautiously. "Your nose as well. Your brain is bleeding Haibara. You need to go back and see Ieiri."

"I'll see her in a sec," Haibara scoffed. The swirling in his vision darkened around the edges, but he shook it off again. There wasn't anything to worry about! Even if he passed out, Ieiri could fix it.

"You won't if you die," Nanami said. His voice had gotten harsher with that one — almost like he thought he could actually stop him or something.

"I won't die," Haibara said, rolling his eyes. "This is just a fake scenario anyway."

"This isn't fake, what are you saying?" Nanami asked it, but that didn't seem right. He wouldn't believe in this kind of thing happening, he never did before! Nanami was always the one who knew what was going on, why would he believe in this shared hallucination?

"Relax, we'll wake up back at home soon enough. You'll see," Haibara laughed. "Don't let yourself get all caught up in their lies. This is Sarah's domain or maybe it—"

"Haibara!" Nanami shouted.

Awkwardly he reached out, his eyes real wide like he was afraid. His hands gently cradled the sides of Haibara's head and he held him still, his eyes roaming all over his face like he was going to find some kind of truth he wasn't able to see himself.

"You're confused," Nanami said carefully, "Or you're high again. Or something else has you impaired, but this place is very real. This isn't anything like a domain, this is happening to us right now and we need to stop it."

"He's right!"

Suzu! Suzu stumbled up, their body half stuck as two different people. Behind them was Hani who wasn't faring much better. His lips were tinted dark from expelling his technique and his body was shaking. He needed to see Ieiri. All that barfing would kill him!

"Haibara!!" Suzu shouted that time, staring at him just as wild looking as Nanami. They slapped his bicep and added, "Are you listening?!"

He hadn't. Had Suzu been talking? He glanced down at his hands, at the golden blood sinking into his skin and changing him at a cellular level. Suzu was talking to Nanami, but he couldn't make out their voice. Hani looked like he might try to heal him, but Nanami's muffled voice told him not to.

"Let me get some water," Haibara mumbled. He wasn't even thirsty.

Haibara's eyes blinked. Or maybe they closed for a while, he wasn't sure. The next time he could hear anything besides a high pitched squeal, it was Ieiri and Utahime standing over him on the platform again.

"The white ones are starting to get more and more confused," Ieiri said. Her hands were so cold on his neck, but it felt good. His vision was clearing.

"I wonder if it has to do with his thread specifically," Utahime suggested.

"If it does, that means that the white threads might get more confused as we go on," Ieiri sighed. "It hasn't affected me yet, but—"

"What do you mean?" Haibara forced the question out, despite the warning in his skull that told him not to ask. Utahime and Ieiri's concerned look didn't help the anxiety churning his stomach.

"Look here," Ieiri started, gesturing to the threads connected to and through his body. "These threads, the black stuff is cursed energy, the white is positive." She carefully lifted one of the threads and it just barely hovered over her fingertips. "Morishita hasn't been able to tell us more, but there is something going on. Some people have all white, some have a mix of black and white in some mix. It's different for everyone. You are—"

Utahime placed her hand onto Ieiri's arm, "We don't have time for all this." She stared at Haibara and plainly said, "The white threads are connected to the big woman made of light. She's dealing with Gojo and that fight is confusing those of you with more white than black and we don't know why yet. We know we need to stop her, but if she breaks all the white might too."

That didn't make any fucking sense. Haibara glanced up, taking in everyone else around him. The wires and threads, those were real? That didn't seem possible. Utahime and Ieiri did have a different mix than him and even each other. They even had a white wire that thinly connected the two of them! His were far more white than black. Suzu was close and theirs was completely white. They seemed… maybe not alright.

Suzu was holding their head, their eyes narrowed in an anger that Haibara had never seen so openly displayed. Suzu liked to keep their feelings under wraps, this was pure unadulterated rage. Whatever that thing made out of light was, Suzu wanted it dead.

"Tell me," Haibara croaked out. He grunted, sitting himself up properly and reached out to weakly bump his hand against Suzu to get their attention. His arms felt too heavy to lift. "Tell me whats going on, Suzu."

Suzu didn't look away from the light thing. "I get it now, why Kenjaku was saying this whole thing is just a big game," they said quietly. "You're real and she's controlling you. She made me up. She made me this way."

"Who did?" Haibara asked.

"Sarah."

Ieiri, Utahime and Haibara all shared a look. Sarah? Haibara wasn't her biggest fan either, but Sarah?

"Sarah made it all. Sarah chose who we were and what has been happening to use," they continued, catching a thumbnail between their teeth and nervously chewing. "She did this to me. She made me this way."

"I don't think she—"

"It makes perfect sense doesn't it?!" Suzu suddenly shouted, cutting Utahime off. "She brought this stuff no one has ever heard of with her into our world. She altered all of you and made up a bunch of others to get everything she wanted! She's using us!"

"But Sarah is—" "The big white light! That is Sarah— Can't you see it?!"

The light was clutching the tangle of wires in one had, swatting at Gojo with the other. It had a defined shape, but it was difficult to make out much more than that. She didn't have features or hair or anything other than threads. And yet… maybe Suzu was onto something? It wasn't clear, and there was every possibility he was only seeing it because Suzu was, but maybe they knew something he didn't. Maybe a conversation they'd shared with Kenjaku made it make more sense. Suzu wouldn't lie about something like that.

"We need to kill her," Suzu said suddenly.

"The… light or Sarah?" Ieiri asked it, already flagging down a few of the others that were lingering on the platform.

"Both of them," Suzu grit.

"Alright, you need to rest," Utahime said, shaking he head. "No one is going to kill anyone but resonates and the light thing okay?"

Suzu caught on even before Haibara needed to warn them. They saw the ones Ieiri called coming closer and took their chance, making an escape off the platform before they could be forced to stay. Hani didn't bother, taking a seat on the ground with his hands up.

"Shit," Utahime hissed. "We should do something about them before they make this worse."

"Let them go," Hani said, shaking his head and carefully pulling his elastic off his dreads and letting them hang free. "They can't do much alone. Sarah won't be in danger." He placed a hand on his forehead, squeezing his eyes shut. "Suzu will die. Gojo would kill them for even trying."

Haibara blinked his eyes hard, trying to push out all this stupid extra crap. None of that mattered, did it? He'd had a horrible headache since he'd been dumped here and no one was making any sense. All he knew was that he could kill those tree things and that's all he wanted to do. Whatever plan everyone was coming up with, he'd follow without question. But Suzu…

"Do you think Suzu is right?" Haibara asked, stepping in front of Hani and crouching down to look into his eyes.

Hani's eyes looked grayed with exhaustion. His technique took at lot out of him, but that wasn't the only thing that was haunting the man. Haibara had seen Hani far more beaten and overwhelmed — this was like accepting a defeat. Hani no longer cared. He was a man waiting for his inevitable death and no longer cared.

"I know Suzu is right," Hani admitted quietly.

Haibara stood up again, glancing at Utahime. "I want to finish off the resonates," he said, "and I'll need you and everyone else's help."

"We can't. They keep putting themselves back together, they're—"

Haibara held up a hand, cutting Utahime off. "Then we'll just have to break them until they can't anymore."