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:
“是你麽？謝謝。不過，額頭的痕跡消除太過于明顯。能不能麻煩先逆轉幼時簽訂的那個束縛？”
夏油傑聲音和緩，懷抱着希冀問出。
黑色液體狐貍半睜開眼睛，它歪頭、像是在理解夏油傑的話語。隔了一分鐘後，它吞吐道：“能。”
那句“能”，讓夏油傑心底燃起希望的火苗。所以自由地活着，其實也還是一種可能，對嗎？
液體狐貍咒靈換了個姿勢，聲音卡頓地說：“餓。飯。餓。”
“餓？咒靈還吃東西？”五條悟随手從零食堆裏抓了盒薯片，“番茄味的。”
黑色咒靈狐貍別開臉：“不吃。餓。飯。”
“嘿、你還挑上了。”五條悟姿态頗為大爺地往後一靠，擺擺手，“那就別吃了，等你家長明天來接你。”
“嗯。”夏油傑臉上也揚起微笑，“等萊出現了，我再仔細問問他，如何照顧這只咒靈。”
——他們滿懷希望，等待着第二天的零點。
然而，他們沒有等到要等的人。
零點的時刻。五條悟手中握着個拉花，唇角勾起玩惡作劇時的姿态，準備在黑發棕眸之人登場的時刻，将彩帶噴在他身上。
那人沒有出現。
五條悟松懈下維持一個動作太久後僵硬的胳膊，撇嘴道：
“好吧、我竟然猜錯了！那就等晚上12點吧，那家夥肯定想故意逗我們，才在末尾出場。”
“說不準是猜到了你要噴他一身拉花彩帶呢。”家入硝子含着根棒棒糖。
“我不搞了嘛。”五條悟将噴氣拉花随手扔在櫃子上，雙手舉起，對半空說，“喂——萊，我收起來了，要出來就趕緊出來啊。”
沒有聲響，沒有任何異象。
“……等晚上吧，說不準萊真的是最末尾才登場。”夏油傑安撫道。
這一天時間似乎過得格外慢。
上課的時候，五條悟心不在焉地托腮看着窗外，夜蛾老師使勁咳嗽了幾聲，忍無可忍後丢了個粉筆頭過去。
——當然，被無下限擋住了。重啓後的五條悟，早已領悟自動擋無下限。
“悟！”夜蛾老師用力拍桌，“給我認真聽講！窗外有什麽好看的？”
“我這不是想看看天空裏會不會掉下個人影嘛。”五條悟嘻嘻笑着回頭，“在聽啦夜蛾老師，我可是無敵天才，一心二用也可以~”
夏油傑側頭看向窗外，他的心沉沉跳動着。某種莫名的飄忽感同樣萦繞在心底。
等晚上吧。他在心底自言自語。萊和悟約好了的，會出現的。
夜晚。分針向着十二點緩緩靠近，幾人再度聚集在五條悟的宿舍中。
不像是零點時那樣熱鬧的氣氛，這次，他們都沒說話，只是安靜等待着。
夏日晚景寂靜祥和，遙遙傳來高高低低的蟲鳴，這是大自然的夜間協奏曲。
在交織的蟲鳴進入一個片段的歇息時，時針、分針、秒針終于重合在了12的位置——
午夜十二點到了。
五條悟表情未變，他藍眸擡起，聲音還是那副吊兒郎當的腔調：
“萊——遲到了！竟然敢讓我們等這麽久，不守時的神明可不是好神明，小心失去人間供奉啊喂。”
沒有聲響，沒有任何異象。
他們又一起等了十分鐘。
外面起風了，高低蟲鳴被夜風吹散了些許，樹葉搖晃發出沙沙的聲響。
“我生氣啦——麻辣教師年輕版生氣了啊。”五條悟坐穩身軀，他接着側身，扯了扯那只液體狐貍咒靈的尾巴，“喂，你家長不要你了——”
夏油傑無聲地呼出一口氣，他五指收攏，指甲尖掐在軟肉中。他低低地開口：
“……悟。”他轉過臉，“也許，萊的[明天見]，并不是這個意思？”
五條悟沉默半晌。他其實并非不能猜到另一種可能，只是從感性出發，他希望是今天。
“他應該是在當時那個場景下和你說的[明天見]。”家入硝子說，“也就是說，他和你約定的時間，是2017年12月25見。”
“……”五條悟張開雙臂，癱倒在床上，“啊、我就知道——萬惡的千年老妖又開始玩語言話術了。”
“時間倒流，大概不是件輕松的事情。”夏油傑低聲說，“讓我們等他吧。”
等他吧。夏油傑心中想。會等到的吧。
“那從來沒有人讓我等這麽久——屆時他回來，一定要讓他請客！”五條悟仰望着天花板，聲線聽不出內在情感，一如既往用随意的語氣說。
隔了幾秒，他又低聲補了句，“……或者我請也行。”
之後。
五條悟和夏油傑接了個村莊附近的任務，去将菜菜子和美美子接了回來。
兩小只的情況和他們猜測的相似，他們隐隐約約有着未來的印象。
在五條和夏油傑去接她倆的時候，菜菜子捏住五條悟的袖口，神情懵懂帶着點疑惑：“……夢裏的身影，好像不是白發。”
“是啊。”五條悟毫不客氣地揉了揉菜菜子的頭發，“應該是另一個人——在未來，會見到的。”
他用無比肯定的語氣，不知是在告知兩小只，還是在說服自己。
五條悟在出任務期間還獲得了一個封印咒具，不像獄門疆那麽無敵，但也能夠很好地達成長久封印的效果。
為了讓七海建人和灰原雄認清結川栗芥，五條悟特意忍耐了，只是學着萊，用科技默默記錄這家夥私下裏的行徑。
然後在那次任務的時候，從旁側記錄下結川故意的操作。最終救場後，五條悟結合之前的錄像，一并放給他倆看。
被揭穿的結川栗芥一開始還裝可憐，後來随着證據的增多，也不裝了，開始誘導五條悟殺死自己。
五條悟表面：名義上的後輩，暫且不殺。封印反省。
五條悟內心：還來這套？殺又殺不死，屆時又跑出來好煩人的，關起來最妙！（愉快）
于是，後輩組又變成了七海建人和灰原雄兩個人。
接着，五條悟還以這次任務為由頭，狠狠地去和高層及[窗]拍板，讓他們加強檢測準确度。不然他可就下手不客氣了。
他們幾個很好地貫徹了僞裝演戲搞事原則，給爛橘子們順理成章地搞了一堆麻煩，又在這其中暗中窺探出不對勁的那幾個人。
夏油傑和五條悟沒急着将發掘出的不對勁之人以“意外”幹掉，反而決定放長線釣大魚，保持敵明我暗優勢。
高專三年級時，在監管會一遍遍默默催促鼓動下，夏油傑假裝叛逃，離開前将家門鑰匙給了樓下的中村婆婆。
實際上，夏油傑是打算和五條悟裏應外合的。監管會在社會上名頭很盛，那些家夥又狡猾，因此，必須要有一個人深入內部。
五條悟也學會了僞裝，他表面上和日常一樣因為性格傲慢所以不喜監管會，但沒有額外的突出敵對。
等到成為老師，開始帶學生後，學生用監管會發的鳶尾花卡片福利，他也沒意見——畢竟監管會總能監視到學生，而阻攔反而顯得突出。
因此，五條悟樂呵呵表示，讓學生別客氣表示多花點，最好吃窮監管會。
他提前救下了伏黑津美紀、提前接回乙骨憂太并輔助他解咒，一切都平穩地向着好的那個方向運行——只是，少了個見證者。
光陰似箭，日月如梭。轉眼間又快要到2017年的聖誕節。
因為監管會始終沒有發現[時鐘]的蹤跡、也沒猜到[時鐘]的身份，所以這次并沒有百鬼夜行事件，來誘導[時鐘]的出現。
這次的12月25日，那家夥總該回來了吧。五條悟漂亮的藍眸慵懶擡起，掃過街道上早早裝飾好的聖誕景色。他可是已經等了十多個聖誕節了。
用話術騙人的混蛋……最強可從沒被誰這樣謎語人騙過兩次啊喂！
這次依然是從零點開始等。
聖誕節高專放了假，學生們都出去玩了。五條悟拖了個椅子，他雙手交叉，坐在宿舍的落地窗前，藍眸眨動，注視着窗外一幀幀落下的雪景。
宿舍抽屜裏還有着拉花噴絲，但五條悟沒将其拿出來。
他只是安靜等候，然後在手機上用不良老師的語氣回一回學生們的問候，東拉西扯着各種話題。
也許是心中隐約有些緊張，五條悟忍不住在手機裏發各種嘻嘻哈哈的日常消息，騷擾學生、輔助監督和部分高層。
在叮咚叮咚的消息提示雜音中，五條悟臉上的表情格外平靜。
這天時間依然過得很慢。但最終，它還是滑向了午夜。
在12月25日的最後一秒，五條悟擡起那雙時間璀璨的蒼天之瞳，遙望向窗外飄飄雪景——
在六眼的視域範圍內，他看見了樹林、看見了積雪、看見了古色古香建築上跳腳的小鳥，還有更遠一些距離的，那些相逢和團聚。
但是他沒有等來屬于自己的重逢。
2017年12月26日，零點零五分的時候，五條悟的手機屏幕盈盈亮起。
他收到了來自夏油傑的信息。
[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."