The fluorescent lights above the subway staircase flickered, casting long, broken shadows. Dust hung in the still air, and the distant sounds of destruction echoed like fading thunder.
On the cold concrete steps sat Yuji Itadori.
His knuckles were bruised. His head hung low. His fists clenched so tightly, his nails drew blood.
"It's all because of me…"
His voice was hoarse, almost a whisper lost in the silence.
"Gojo-sensei… sealed. Nanami… gone. Maki burned. Nobara…"
He gritted his teeth. His breath trembled.
"I let Sukuna out. I let him kill… so many… I was too weak to stop him."
He slammed his fist into the ground. A crack formed beneath him.
"What the hell am I even doing here? Maybe I should've died instead."
From behind, a voice emerged—soft yet firm.
"You're not the only one who's hurting, you know."
Choso stepped forward from the shadows, his coat swaying gently with each step.
Itadori didn't look up.
"You lost your brothers… because of me."
"I know," Choso replied, calmly. "And yet, I'm still standing here, aren't I?"
Itadori's eyes flicked toward him, hollow and worn.
"You should hate me."
Choso sat beside him.
He didn't answer immediately.
He let the silence speak.
"I did. I really did. But I saw something in you. Something my brothers saw. You didn't want to kill them. You didn't enjoy it. You carry their weight on your shoulders. That's more than most."
Itadori shook his head.
"That doesn't bring them back."
"No. But blaming yourself won't either."
Choso looked upward, to the cracked ceiling.
"We don't get to choose the burdens we carry, Itadori. But we do get to choose what we do with them."
Itadori's hands relaxed, just slightly.
"What can I even do now?"
Choso placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You can save the only man who still has the power to stop Sukuna. Satoru Gojo."
Yuji looked up—eyes not completely healed, but no longer empty.
"He's still… our last hope."
"Then get up," Choso said, rising to his feet. "And let's go find the key."
Itadori slowly stood.
His body was still broken.
But his resolve, once shattered, was beginning to mend.
The two walked deeper into the subway, toward the growing chaos… and the sliver of hope that remained.