Nightmare

After settling Yuuji down, Shoko, Gojo, and I exited the morgue and returned to the surface. I trailed a small distance behind the two adults as they discussed about Yuuji's situation.

"Ugh, I'll have to revise the reports," Shoko informed.

"No, leave them as is," Gojo ordered. "I need some time to give him the basic training necessary before he's targeted again. Sorry, Shoko-san, but could you leave Yuji listed as dead on the records?"

"So you plan to keep Itadori hidden away forever?"

"No, I'll have him ready in time for the Exchange Event," Gojo decided.

"Why?" Shoko asked.

"The reason is simple." Gojo smiled. "Nothing should keep this kid from living the best years of his life."

"I bet everyone will be surprised," Shoko commented.

"Not just him but everyone," Gojo promised.

Shoko gave a nod in understanding of what Gojo wanted her to do and bid us goodbye. After Shoko rounded the corner, Gojo turned around and squatted down eye-level to me.

"Come here, Rey." Gojo beckoned with his hand. I shuffled over, and the man pulled up a corner of his blindfold.

After Yuuji's miraculous revival, Gojo realized that his comprehension of just what sort of being was standing in front of him right now was by far way too little. Gojo's gaze was unreadable as he looked Rey in the eye. "Yuuji coming back to life, was that your doing?"

"I wasn't even near Yuuji." I scratched my head innocently. "I didn't revive him."

"But you were part of it, no?" Gojo questioned. "That's why you told Shoko to wait. You knew this would happen."

I held Gojo's gaze steadily as I gave him a very small nod.

"I pledged that I would protect your students, Gojo-sensei, so I did what I should have done within my power," I answered. "The rest was up to fate." I tilted my head a little. "But is that important, Gojo-sensei? The important thing is that Yuuji is alive."

"I guess you're right." Gojo nodded and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Thank you, Rey."

"You don't need to thank me, Gojo-sensei. Understand this, the greater your ambition, the greater your desire, the greater my power," I said. "As long it is within the contract, and you give me the order, there are very little things I cannot do."

"Contract or not," Gojo said. "I still want to thank you, little curse. I mean it."

"I've always been a nice guy who looks out for his students," I smiled, copying Gojo's words. Gojo chuckled lightly and scooped me up from the floor.

"There's a new ice cream place that opened up in Tokyo. Do you want to try?"

No!

I gasped, heart pounding as I sat up and tried to catch my breath. The periodic tick of the clock grounded me. I closed my eyes and tightly clutched the bedsheets under my hands. I haven't had one so bad for a long time. I held out my hand in front of me and closed it. It felt so real...

I stumbled to my feet and headed for the door. I flicked on the light, trying not to wince when the light hit my eyes. I leaned back against the door and slid to the ground. Running a hand through my hair, I found that some of it was damp and sticky. My shirt clung to my chest, soaked completely through with sweat.

Yuuji's death and my conversation with Sukuna must have gotten to me. Have I gone soft?

I shook my head and got to my feet. I finally noticed the state of my room. One of my pillows was on the floor, and my blankets were hanging off the bed. My phone and alarm clock had been knocked off of the night stand. I rubbed my temples as I picked up the phone and alarm clock and put them back to their proper places.

Get ahold of yourself. It was just a nightmare. Nothing unusual.

I stripped myself of the wet shirt and hung it on the side of my bed. Pulling out a black t-shirt from my drawer, I put it on and walked into the bathroom. I took a deep breath and turned the faucet on. The running water calmed me down a bit, and I splashed some water on my face. The cold water droplets streaming down my cheeks slowly brought me closer and closer back to reality.

My dark circles aren't getting any better. I touched the dark hues underneath my eyes and sighed. I might need to wear sunglasses to cover these up. I reached for a towel and dried my face off. I ran my fingers through my sweat-drenched bangs and smoothed out the tangles.

Returning to my messy room, I looked around and lightly shook my head. There was no way I was going to go back to sleep after this incident. I closed the light and opened the door to my balcony. The dim moonlight welcomed me as my bare feet stepped onto the cold metal. I found my way up onto the roof where I perched myself delicately between two tiles to enjoy the peace. The cool night wind whisked past me, my bangs fluttering gently in the air.

"Rey-kun?"

My knuckles turned stark white at the voice as I opened my eyes. Who's awake at this time? My gaze drifted downwards as I blinked. "Gojo-sensei?"

"Why are you awake?" Gojo climbed the railing from his balcony and sat down next to me. "Something bothering you, little curse?"

I shifted my weight for the tall sorcerer and crossed my arms. The corners of my lips gave the slightest twitch at the nickname. "I couldn't sleep."

Gojo hummed at my answer as he removed his jacket and put it around my shoulders. "What a coincidence. I couldn't either."

The remaining tension in my body continued to linger. I could feel Gojo's gaze on me, but I couldn't mind the slightest. I savored the silence as I idly picked at the paint peeling off of a tile.

"Something on your mind?" Gojo asked again.

I scratched the back of my neck and muttered, "It's nothing."

Gojo crossed his arms and gave me his questioning expression, though it was hard to tell with his blindfold on. He leaned in close to me, and I felt the warm air of his exhale touch my face. "Really?"

I cringed. "It's the nightmares again. They never end."

Gojo paused. He wasn't surprised by the answer necessarily. What unnerved him was the indifference and resignation in Rey's tone.

"How long have it been since you've started having them?"

"As long as I can remember," the boy replied. "Some nights are better than the others, but they never go away. You would think I would have gotten used to them by now." He laughed bitterly.

Gojo watched the boy quietly as Rey looked down at his hands. There wasn't anything Gojo could do about the nightmares, but he could do this. Gojo dropped a piece of candy into Rey's lap. Rey's eyes widened at the gesture.

"This should help you sleep."

I picked up the candy. "What is this?"

"Chamomile tea flavored candy." Gojo popped one into his mouth. "When I was young, my Six Eyes always made it hard for me to sleep. The candy is not exactly as strong as the real thing, but it helps."

"Thank you, Gojo-sensei." I copied the man and put the candy in my mouth. The sweetness made my shoulders relax just a bit.

"I'm not going to tell you that the nightmares are going to go away because they won't," Gojo said. "And I know that you don't need to hear that. But I need you to know something."

"I know I shouldn't be bothered because it was just a nightmare-" I stopped as Gojo held up his hand.

"No, it's okay to be bothered by them. You've seem more than most of us here. In fact, you've seem more than what we will see in our entire lifetimes. You'll probably have nightmares that are so realistic that you'll wonder if they actually happened. It's perfectly natural not to be okay after, and you don't need to beat yourself up for that."

"So you have them too, Gojo-sensei?" I returned the question. Gojo nodded without any hesitation. I bit my lip and looked down at the wrapper in my hand.

"I've heard that talking to someone about it helps. You can speak to me if you like though I am aware that I won't be able to understand everything about your situation. If you think that you need a break from here, I can always arrange for us to get away," Gojo offered. "If you want to take off that thing around your neck and let loose for once, I can do that too."

Rey still didn't say anything. For a moment, Gojo wondered if the boy had heard even a single word he said. Gojo reached over with his hand when suddenly, the boy spoke.

"You're gone."

Gojo's smile wavered at the words.

"What-"

"You were dead. Everyone, Megumi, Yuuji, Nobara, the principal, everyone was watching. And..." I caught my breath and brought up my hands to the moonlight. "And I was the one who killed you. My hands were drenched in your blood, and they were all watching as I did it." I buried my face into my hands. My voice came out muffled and small. "It's confusing. You would think I would feel something, but I didn't. I felt nothing at all. No sadness, guilt, or pain. That lack of emotion, it confuses me so much."

Gojo leaned forward and wrapped his long arms around the shaking boy. "I'm still here, little curse, and I'm not going anywhere. You would never kill me. I know it."

"Don't beat yourself up over a nightmare, Rey." I felt Gojo's hands on my head. "Trust my eye for people. That will never happen."

"But it's happened before!" I winced as I realized how loud I've gotten. "Sorry. I know it's not the same thing, but I just don't want it to happen to you."

"Shh..., don't apologize, little curse." Gojo pulled me closer. "I know what you're afraid of, and it's not going to happen. Remember? I'm the strongest."

I let out a small chuckle. "Of course, you will never let me forget that, right?" Gojo's fingers lightly caressed my hair as I pulled his jacket closer around me. His warmth was calming.

"Your previous master must not have been very strong, was he? To be killed by the Servant, that's shameful," Gojo joked. "I must have been a massive upgrade when you got me as your Master."

Gojo felt the boy's head move up and down in his embrace. "You set the standards really high, Gojo-sensei. It's impossible for someone to beat you." Rey laughed softly, and Gojo felt the boy shift around in his arms.

"What's wrong?" Gojo asked. Rey blinked innocently and asked, "You're not secretly a sadistic child abuser, right?"

"I-what?" Gojo sputtered.

"Well, I found out that one of my previous masters was one, so I kinda had to give him a one-way trip to the underworld," I explained with a straight face.

"Seriously?" Gojo asked.

"No," I smiled. "I was joking. Did you fall for it?"

"Are you okay?" Gojo put a hand on my forehead. "Are you heating up? Are you delusional? My Rey-kun never tells jokes."

I swatted his hand away. "I thought we were in a joking moment. I thought it would be appropriate."

"My god, I didn't think I would live to see this day," Gojo exclaimed in fake astonishment. "My little curse is finally opening up to me. I can finally rest in peace."

"Not funny, Gojo-sensei." Gojo quickly shut his mouth as he realized his last sentence had stepped over the line. "My bad."

"It's fine." I rolled the candy around my mouth as I pondered something. Touching the silky fabric of Gojo's jacket, I turned my body to face the man. "Gojo-sensei? Who do you talk to?"

Gojo blinked and tilted his head. My grip on the jacket slackened. "You said that it would help to talk about your nightmares with someone. You're the strongest sorcerer in the world, you get sent out to missions all over the globe, you're a teacher, you try to keep me and Yuuji safe, and you do so much more that I don't know about. But you're still human. Do you have someone you can talk to? Do you even have the time?"

Gojo's jaw stiffened as I observed him carefully. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me. I don't want to pry."

"I know there isn't a lot I can do for you, but I can do this." I took off the jacket and placed it over Gojo's hands. "I may not be a human, but I do have a heart. I know how to be grateful for everything you've done for me, and I'm sure all your students are grateful for what you've done for them both as their teacher and their friend. You're always looking out for us, but it's okay when you sometimes can't be there. Even Yuuji, I'm sure he never blamed you once."

I found my way in front of Gojo, and I tried my best to find his eyes through his blindfold. "I know I don't look it, but I am actually much older than you, Gojo-sensei. If you don't want to put too much pressure on those children, you can always give me some of your responsibilities. I'm strong too. If you need to get away and spend some time to rest, I'd be more than happy to take up the weight on your shoulders for you. You just have to say the word."

Gojo ran his fingers over the jacket and put it on. "Look at me, getting lectured by a ten year old."

"A ten year old that houses an ancient soul, yes," I replied. "I understand how lonely it gets on the top, much more than you think I do. So, please, take what I said to heart, I really mean it."

Gojo gave a small mutter in reply, his head raised up at the night sky. In that split second of vulnerability, I realized who Gojo Satoru really was. He was a little bit messy, a little bit ruined. He was a beautiful disaster. And he was just like me. For the second time in a long time, I felt something stir within me.

I hopped down onto the balcony and looked up. "Let's go in, Gojo-sensei." I don't mind the chilliness, but I don't want him to catch a cold. He may be the strongest sorcerer, but he's still human.

"Sure." Gojo followed me inside.

I stopped by my door and paused, "Hey, Gojo-sensei?"

"Mm?" Gojo tossed his candy wrapper into the trash can.

"If you ever need someone to talk to, you can always come by," I said seriously. "Out of all the things you do for me, this may be the one thing that I can do for you."

"Thank you, Rey. I'll keep that in mind." Gojo smiled. "And, I'll extend the same offer back to you. I'm always here too."