Chapter 57: Retrospection of Only You Are Not There

Noticing the expression on Geto's face, Gojo Satoru paused and looked straight at him through his sunglasses: "What's wrong?"

"…Rai, how did you manage to restart the world?" Kagome asked without blinking.

"He told me that he has the ability to go back in time and can do everything again." Gojo Satoru raised his hand and pinched his cheek, seeming to be a little unresponsive. "I really didn't expect it to take effect so quickly. In the blink of an eye, I'm back to the high school period."

"…His ability?"

"Yes," Gojo Satoru nodded, "As the ability of the existence [Clock]."

After a few seconds of hesitation, Xia Yujie whispered, "I once overheard a conversation between [Mom] and others, saying that if [the clock] cannot be used for her, she should use it up or destroy it before the predicted event occurs..."

He paused for a second, "That's why, when the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons met Lai, I finally decided to let him go."

After hearing what the regulatory agency said, Gojo Satoru's eyes lit up. Then, he caught a particular key word in the conversation: "Exhausted?"

"From the literal meaning, it is likely that the power has been exhausted."

Xia Yujie didn't continue, but the two of them had a question in their minds at the same time:

How much power is needed to restart the world?

In the corridor, the breeze blew past, carrying the fragrance of the plants and trees outside. In the silence, only the sound of breathing and heartbeats could be heard.

A few seconds later, Gojo Satoru waved his hands, raised his voice to break the silence, and spoke:

"It should be fine! I checked with Lai, he said it didn't cost much, and he even made an appointment with me [to see you tomorrow]."

"——When we meet him tomorrow, we'll ask him about the specific situation." Gojo Satoru said seriously, "Determine the limit, and then prevent him from doing anything that would exhaust his strength."

"Have you two agreed to meet?" Xia Yujie relaxed a little, "Then maybe it's nothing."

"Oh, by the way," Gojo Satoru tapped his right palm with his left hand, and suddenly remembered the fox in the room. He pointed his thumb back to his dormitory, "Rai also brought you a gift - he said it was to pay you back."

"Gift? Give it back to me once?" Xia Yujie was stunned.

It was only when Gojo Satoru put his arm around his shoulders and dragged him into the dormitory that he remembered what this sentence meant.

That year, he handed Lai a box of fresh flower cakes and asked Lai to take it to the sisters in the monastery as a gift. At that time, the dark blue figure smiled, blinked and said, "Thank you, I will return it to you later."

It's a bit like the stories in the supernatural, where humans inadvertently help the gods with a small favor, and the gods simply move their hands and feet and respond with a great gift.

At this moment, he stared at the black liquid fox on the bed sheet, a little surprised: "What is this——!?"

It's actually a cursed spirit?! Where did Lai get this cursed spirit from? ?

"Restarting the world requires moving the hands, and the clock face... is in Lai's heart." As he spoke, the shocking scene seemed to still emerge in front of his eyes.

Xia Yujie's eyes widened slightly.

Gojo Satoru lowered his eyelids slightly and continued, "This cursed spirit was created when the clock face was damaged and the liquid left behind mixed with Lai's blood when the hands were turned counterclockwise, and the cursed power was generated."

"..."Although Xia Youjie was not at the scene, he could vaguely imagine the scene at that time.

When he mentioned this, he couldn't help but recall the scene when he was controlled to destroy the college and attack the students who had feelings for him.

The powerless rage of being manipulated, the despair of never being able to break free from the shackles... the blood and collapsed buildings, the high school that belonged to the memory of youth was destroyed in an instant.

His thoughts involuntarily fell deeply into the past, and Xia Yujie stood stiffly in place until a familiar voice reached his ears.

"Hey, Jay! Jay!"

Xia Yujie suddenly pulled himself out of his thoughts and raised his eyes: "Sorry, I was distracted just now..."

Before he finished speaking, a streak of black suddenly appeared. Xia Yujie caught it subconsciously, and his movements were still a little flustered: "Wait, Satoru, this is too sudden! Don't throw it over like that--"

"Okay, I delivered it as agreed." Gojo Satoru clapped his hands cheerfully, then nodded and said, "What do you want to do? Purify and absorb it, or sign a master-servant contract?"

Xia Yujie lowered his eyes and saw that the liquid fox in his arm opened its eyes, yawned a little, and continued to sleep comfortably. It seemed that it had none of the usual hostility and murderous intent towards humans that the cursed spirits had.

——Maybe it has something to do with its "birther". They are all kind-hearted beings. Maybe this cursed fox spirit is different from the other cursed spirits.

So, after hesitating for a moment, Xia Yujie said, "No need. Just keep it like this."

"Huh? That's how you raise it?"

"Well, I'll keep an eye on it." Xia Yujie touched the liquid fox in the crook of his arm.

"Okay, let's keep it." Gojo Satoru took a few steps forward and poked the liquid fox. "This thing really feels like jelly! It's icy and cool. It's really fun. It's a must-have coolant in the summer."

"It's sleeping, don't poke it." Xia Yujie gently blocked Gojo Satoru's naughty hand and changed his posture.

"So you've switched to being a father? You've adapted quickly, Jie." Gojo Satoru chuckled and said half-jokingly, "Don't worry, this thing is sleeping soundly. I just picked it up and threw it to you, and it didn't even show any signs of waking up. It will be fine if you poke it."

"... Stop it, our focus right now is not here." Xia Yujie coughed, his expression was focused, and his tone became serious, "First, we have to find other people with memory recall."

——

Their current situation is equivalent to playing a game and saving a save point at the Star Plasma event, then playing all the way to 2017 when the game crashed, and then returning to the saved Star Plasma time point to restart the subsequent story.

According to the fact that people who have made good connections can have memories of going back in time, Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru tried everything in the high school and came to the conclusion:

Like them, Glass has memories of what happened over the next decade or so.

Maki and Mayi, who were brought back from the Zenin family before the astral plasma incident, have a vague impression of the future.

The rest of the people in the technical college seem to have no knowledge of going back in time.

"Is it because we are the only three who know about that level of identity of Xiao Lai?" Xia Yujie thought about it and said, "So the memory is the clearest."

"That's probably the case." Ieiri Shoko nodded. "Nanako and Mimiko's situation should be similar to Maki Mayi's. I have a vague impression, but it's not real."

"Ah - speaking of this, let's go pick up those two kids tomorrow." Gojo Satoru held his chin with one hand and planned.

"Although I also want to bring them back as soon as possible, we can't act so hastily." Xia Yujie said slowly, "Just like what you just told me, Satoru - Lai's idea is correct. We must stay hidden and paralyze the enemy. Those guys are not as easy as you think."

"Okay, okay, actually I'm not in a hurry." Gojo Satoru pouted, "Then wait for a mission nearby, pretend to walk around, and bring back a child with magician talent if you find one."

Xia Yujie smiled, then paused for a second and whispered:

“After I have obtained as much clues as possible for you and completed my mission… Wu, you should fulfill your promise to me and give me a clean one—hmm?!”

Before he could finish his words, a large mouthful of sticky rice dumplings was stuffed into his mouth. Gojo Satoru used snacks to block his friend's mouth:

"Hey, hey, you've got a chance to start over again, can you be a little more confident? Even if you don't believe in yourself, believe in me, okay? Don't spend all your time thinking about escaping to the other side."

At this moment, the three of them were gathered in Gojo Satoru's dormitory room, surrounded by a circle of snacks.

——Gojo Satoru said that he would stay up in the dormitory until midnight, and he bet that Lai would appear at midnight like a god descending from the earth.

Xia Yujie swallowed the glutinous rice dumpling in his mouth and smiled bitterly:

"The bond I signed back then has already determined my fate as a puppet. However, they found it troublesome to manipulate me in real time, so they allowed me to maintain my self-awareness during this period of time, while I had not yet betrayed them."

He removed the bandage on his forehead, revealing the black lines behind it. "And this, if this is really formed, then--"

"Suzuki." Ieiri Naoko stared at his forehead and suddenly said, "Is there a little less wrinkle on your face?"

"Huh?" Xia Yujie was slightly stunned.

Holding a lollipop in her hand, Ieiri Naoko said, "My memory is pretty good now. As a medical student, I remember all the details of the human body very clearly. What's more, you guys came to me when the astral plasma ended."

"—Today, the marks on your forehead have indeed become less, a little. The small corners at the edges have faded."

Gojo Satoru took a closer look, his blue eyes widened: "It looks real, the edges are a little faded!"

Several people paused for a few seconds, and then their eyes shifted to the only exception after the restart - the liquid fox curse spirit.

The black liquid fox was now lying on Geto Kagome's shoulder, sleeping with its eyes squinted, and smacking its lips as the crowd watched.

"...Oh, that makes sense. Lei is a clock, so Lei's derivatives should also have a certain ability to reverse time."

Gojo Satoru placed one hand on his chin and thought quickly, "Jay, the pattern on your forehead might be the result of this guy reversing it for you - that's why Lai left it for you."

Lai...Has he already figured out how to help himself?

Xia Yujie recalled the past. He remembered the gentle look of the man with black hair and brown eyes, who silently promised him to try and make mistakes, and said in a light tone, "There will be a future."

After a few seconds, he raised his other hand and touched the black liquid fox on his shoulder:

"Is it you? Thank you. However, the mark on your forehead is too obvious. Can you please reverse the bond you signed when you were young?"

Kayuki asked in a gentle voice, full of hope.

The black liquid fox half-opened its eyes and tilted its head, as if trying to understand what Kagome was saying. After a minute, it hesitantly said, "Yes."

The word "yes" ignited a spark of hope in Geto's heart. So living freely is still a possibility, right?

The Liquid Fox Curse Spirit changed its posture and said in a stuttering voice, "Hungry. Hungry."

"Hungry? Cursed spirits eat food?" Gojo Satoru grabbed a box of potato chips from the snack pile. "Tomato flavor."

The black cursed fox turned away: "No. I'm hungry."

"Hey, you've chosen it." Gojo Satoru leaned back like a master and waved his hands, "Then don't eat. Wait for your parents to pick you up tomorrow."

"Yeah." Xia Yujie also smiled, "When Lai shows up, I'll ask him carefully how to take care of this cursed spirit."

——They were full of hope, waiting for midnight the next day.

However, they did not wait for the person they were waiting for.

At midnight, Gojo Satoru held a latte art in his hand, with the corners of his lips curled up like a prankster, ready to spray the ribbon on the black-haired, brown-eyed man the moment he appeared.

The man did not show up.

Gojo Satoru relaxed his arms that had been stiff from holding the same position for too long, and pouted:

"Okay, I guessed wrong! Let's wait until 12 o'clock in the evening. That guy must have come out at the end to tease us on purpose."

"Maybe he guessed that you were going to spray him with streamers." Ieiri Nishiko said, holding a lollipop in her mouth.

"I'm not going to do it anymore." Gojo Satoru threw the aerosol on the counter, raised his hands, and said to the air, "Hey - Lai, I put it away. If you want to come out, hurry up and get out."

There was no sound, no vision.

"...Let's wait until night time. Who knows, Lai might really be the last one to appear." Xia Yujie soothed.

Time seemed to pass exceptionally slowly this day.

During class, Gojo Satoru absentmindedly rested his chin on his hand and looked out the window. Mr. Yemo coughed violently a few times, and when he could bear it no longer, he threw a piece of chalk over.

——Of course, he was blocked by the limitless. After the restart, Gojo Satoru had already realized that he could automatically block the limitless.

"I understand!" Teacher Ye Moth slammed the table, "Listen carefully! What's so good about that outside the window?"

"I just want to see if there will be a figure falling from the sky." Gojo Satoru turned around with a grin, "Listen, Mr. Yemo, I'm an invincible genius, I can do two things at the same time~"

Kaguru looked out the window, his heart beating heavily. A strange feeling of drifting also lingered in his heart.

Let's wait till night. He said to himself in his heart. Lai and Wu have made an appointment, so they will show up.

At night, the minute hand slowly approached twelve o'clock, and the few of them gathered in Gojo Satoru's dormitory again.

Unlike the lively atmosphere at midnight, this time, they didn't say anything and just waited quietly.

The summer evening is quiet and peaceful, with the sound of insects, high and low, coming from afar. This is nature's nighttime concerto.

When the intertwined chirping of insects entered a period of rest, the hour hand, minute hand, and second hand finally overlapped at the 12 position.

It's midnight.

Gojo Satoru's expression did not change. He raised his blue eyes and spoke in that nonchalant tone:

"Lai - you're late! How dare you keep us waiting for so long? A god who is not punctual is not a good god. Be careful not to lose the offerings of the world."

There was no sound, no vision.

They waited together for another ten minutes.

It was windy outside, and the chirping of insects was slightly dispersed by the night wind, and the leaves of the trees swayed, making a rustling sound.

"I'm angry - the younger version of Hot Teacher is angry." Gojo Satoru sat up, then he turned sideways and pulled the tail of the Liquid Fox Curse Spirit, "Hey, your parents don't want you anymore -"

Xia Yujie exhaled silently, clenched his five fingers, and pinched the soft flesh with the tips of his nails. He spoke softly:

"...Satoru." He turned his head, "Maybe, Lai's "See you tomorrow" doesn't mean this?"

Gojo Satoru was silent for a while. It wasn't that he couldn't guess another possibility, but based on his emotions, he hoped it would be today.

"He probably said 'see you tomorrow' to you at that time," said Ieiri Shoko. "That means he and you agreed to meet on December 25, 2017."

"..." Gojo Satoru opened his arms and collapsed on the bed, "Ah, I knew it - the evil thousand-year-old demon is starting to use language again."

"It's probably not easy to turn back time." Xia Yujie whispered, "Let's wait for him."

Let's wait for him, thought Xia Yujie. I think he will come.

"No one has ever made me wait so long before - when he comes back, I'll make sure he treats us!" Gojo Satoru looked up at the ceiling, his voice devoid of emotion, and spoke in his usual casual tone.

After a few seconds, he added in a low voice, "...or I can treat you."

Later.

Gojo Satoru and Geto Summer Oil accepted a mission near a village to pick up Nanako and Mimiko.

The situation of the two little ones was similar to what they had guessed, and they had a vague impression of the future.

When Gojo and Geto Kagome went to pick them up, Nanako pinched Gojo Satoru's sleeves, looking confused and a little puzzled: "...The figure in the dream doesn't seem to have white hair."

"Yeah." Gojo Satoru ruffled Nanako's hair without any hesitation, "It should be another person - I will meet him in the future."

He used a very sure tone, and it was unclear whether he was telling the two little ones or convincing himself.

During his mission, Gojo Satoru also obtained a sealing tool. It is not as invincible as the Jigokumon Kō, but it can also achieve the effect of a long-term seal.

In order to let Nanami Kento and Haibara Yu recognize Yuikawa Kurikawa, Gojo Satoru deliberately endured it and just followed Lai's example and used technology to silently record the guy's private actions.

Then, during that mission, he recorded Yuukawa's deliberate actions from the side. After the final rescue, Gojo Satoru combined the previous videos and showed them to the two of them.

After being exposed, Yuukawa Kuritai pretended to be pitiful at first, but as more evidence came out, he stopped pretending and began to induce Gojo Satoru to kill him.

Gojo Satoru: A descendant in name only, he will not be killed for now. Seal him for reflection.

Gojo Satoru's inner thoughts: You're still using this trick? I can't kill him, and he'll come out again and be really annoying. It's best to lock him up! (Happy)

So, the younger generation team became just two people, Nanami Kento and Haibara Yu.

Then, Gojo Satoru used this mission as an excuse to talk to the top management and [Window], asking them to improve the accuracy of the detection. Otherwise, he would not hesitate to take action.

They implemented the principle of pretending to cause trouble very well, and naturally caused a lot of trouble for the rotten oranges, and secretly spied on those who were not doing well among them.

Xia Yujie and Gojo Satoru were not in a hurry to kill the person they discovered who was not right by "accident". Instead, they decided to play the long game and catch the big fish, maintaining the advantage of the enemy being in the open and themselves being in the dark.

In his third year of high school, under the silent urging and encouragement of the Supervisory Committee, Geto Kagome pretended to defect and gave the key to his house to Grandma Nakamura who lived downstairs before leaving.

In fact, Xia Yujie was planning to work with Gojo Satoru from the inside. The regulatory agency has a great reputation in society, and those guys are cunning, so someone must go deep into the inner circle.

Gojo Satoru has also learned how to disguise himself. On the surface, he dislikes the Supervisory Board because of his arrogant personality just like usual, but he does not have any extra prominent hostility.

After he became a teacher and started teaching students, he had no objection when the students used the iris cards issued by the supervisory board for benefits - after all, the supervisory board could always monitor the students, and obstruction would stand out.

Therefore, Gojo Satoru said happily that he would let the students spend more money and it would be better to eat poor supervisory committee.

He rescued Fushiguro Miki ahead of time, brought back Otsuketa Yuta ahead of time and assisted him in breaking the curse. Everything was running smoothly in the right direction - except that there was a witness missing.

Time flies, and Christmas 2017 is coming soon.

Because the regulatory agency never found any trace of the "Clock" and did not guess the identity of the "Clock", there was no "One Hundred Demons Night Parade" incident to induce the appearance of the "Clock" this time.

This December 25th, that guy should be back. Gojo Satoru raised his beautiful blue eyes lazily, scanning the Christmas scene on the street that had been decorated early. He had been waiting for more than ten Christmases.

You bastard who uses words to deceive people... Even the strongest has never been deceived twice by a riddler like this!

This time we still have to wait from midnight.

The high school was closed for Christmas, and all the students went out to play. Gojo Satoru dragged a chair, crossed his hands, and sat in front of the French window of the dormitory, blinking his blue eyes, watching the falling snow outside the window.

There was still some latte art in the dormitory drawer, but Gojo Satoru didn't take it out.

He just waited quietly, then replied to students' greetings on his phone in a bad teacher's tone, talking about various topics.

Perhaps because he was a little nervous, Gojo Satoru couldn't help but send all kinds of daily messages on his phone, harassing students, assistant supervisors and some senior executives.

Amid the ding-dong noise of message alerts, Gojo Satoru's expression was exceptionally calm.

The day continued to pass slowly. But eventually, it slid towards midnight.

At the last second of December 25, Gojo Satoru raised his eyes that were as bright as the sky and looked out the window at the snowy scene.

Within the range of his six eyes, he saw forests, snow, birds jumping on quaint buildings, and, at a greater distance, reunions and reunions.

But he did not wait for his own reunion.

At 00:05 on December 26, 2017, the screen of Gojo Satoru's cell phone lit up.

He received a message from Geto.

[Have you seen him?]

There was no name in the note, but Gojo Satoru was familiar with the email address. Because Geto was undercover, the two of them would not contact each other openly. They only contacted each other privately occasionally and then deleted the records.

Gojo Satoru lowered his eyes and stared at the screen of his mobile phone until the light dimmed again.

Kagome Jie, who was on the other end of the phone, actually had a vague idea of ​​​​the answer. After all, if the two of them met, Gojo Satoru would definitely send him a lot of messages, complaining about them.

Am I not the strongest? I am the strongest. Gojo Satoru sat in the dark, his hands crossed. This one-for-one sacrifice... It's so disrespectful, Lai.

You promised me. You broke your promise.

After a few minutes, or maybe a few hours, Gojo Satoru picked up his phone and replied:

[He didn't come back—he was lying. Great! Now I have ironclad evidence that the thousand-year-old demon lied to a child! ! Do these guys think I have a good temper? I will bear a grudge for the rest of my life!]

[…Understanding.]

The other party replied to the message very quickly, probably because he hadn't slept yet.

[Don't say I'm not a kid~~ The invincible handsome guy is always young, always seven years old~! ]

Gojo Satoru continued to type on his phone, typing in a hippie joke into the text box, but in reality, his face remained expressionless.

After typing this string of text, Gojo Satoru threw his phone casually on the bed again.

After a few seconds of silence, he stood up again, walked to the desk in two or three steps, opened the drawer, and took out the spray-on coffee machine.

"You liar. You're late." He stared at the ceiling with his blue eyes, aimed the latte art diagonally upwards, and lazily pulled the trigger.

Amidst the flying ribbons, he added in a low voice, "…Why do you say see you tomorrow?"

After that, the daily routine seemed to be no different.

Gojo Satoru is still as carefree as ever, with a black eye patch covering the upper half of his face. He teases students and annoys others every day, and secretly works with Geto to collect intelligence.

Occasionally, when chatting with students, they mentioned what kind of people they hate the most. Fushiguro Megumi and Kugizaki No Rose both complained about it, but Itadori Yuji lowered his head and said that he had never thought about this question.

Then Gojo Satoru also interjected: "Teachers also have people they dislike~"

Yuji Itadori blinked his eyes and continued to be the supporting actor as always: "Oh! What kind of people does Gojo-sensei hate?"

"The teacher hates a lot of people, those guys who assign tasks, the arrogant rotten oranges, and all kinds of messy people." Gojo Satoru laughed, "But, the teacher hates one kind the most-"

"What is it?"

"He's a man who doesn't keep his word, especially one who deceives children. He makes an agreement and gives people enough hope, but then disappears in a flash and is nowhere to be found—" Gojo Satoru raised his finger and shook it, "Even if he had good intentions, I won't forgive him."

"..." Yuji Itadori blinked.

Kugizaki Norose grumbled quietly: "This seems a bit specific... Who are you referring to?"

Fushiguro Megumi: “I don’t know.”

Gojo Satoru heard the students' discussion, but he said nothing and kept smiling.

I just added in my heart: Why do you have to say see you tomorrow?

It wasn't until the winter of 2018 that he heard snippets of news from students.

At first, Gojo Satoru didn't think much of it. Black hair and brown eyes are a very common combination.

Later, when the students came into contact with that person again, he felt a kind of sixth sense of expectation.

But he restrained his urge to look for them and did not let his emotions show too obviously. He just smiled and comforted the students.

...If it was Lai, why didn't he come to him? Gojo Satoru even took a mission in Tokyo during that time.

Is it because the right time has not come yet? Gojo Satoru once again remembered the words "See you tomorrow".

If we only look at the date of tomorrow, then the tomorrow after December 24th is December 25th.

Gojo Satoru counted the days and suppressed his desire to find out the truth. But when Itadori Yuji received the call, he couldn't help but take over.

The other end of the line was quiet, with only the sound of breathing. Gojo Satoru was also silent.

Why doesn't the other party speak? If he speaks, will it break the contract? Is the person in front of him really an old friend?

These thoughts lingered until he received a message from Geto.

Xia Yujie said that he saw Lai. But just in case, he didn't say anything. He just glanced at him and left.

Hey, hey, so I'll see you tomorrow, but I've waited too long, right? And - you actually want me to come and visit you?

Gojo Satoru had a smile on his face but was gritting his teeth in his heart, but his overall mood was still joyful.

Forget it, as the most powerful and handsome guy, I will just move my body reluctantly and take the initiative to meet that guy - considering that he came to me before.

On December 25, 2018, Gojo Satoru sat in that room with his back to the light. He watched the door open, waiting for that familiar figure to walk in from outside.

He wanted to say: You old bastard, aren't you going too far? Your "See you tomorrow" is too long! The promise of no price or very little price turned out to be a lie.

He also wanted to complain: It is extremely tiring to take care of the little fox, and that guy keeps crying for hunger every day, which doesn't seem very smart.

Also, you've obviously come back a long time ago, why don't you come to see him? Why do you have to come to visit him in person? You must treat him to a meal after waiting for so long! Don't think you can just fool around!

However, after a thousand twists and turns of his mind, Gojo Satoru finally spoke only one sentence:

"—Merry Christmas, Lai."