"YOU!" Sukuna roared, he was standing atop a rooftop of what looked like a school in the less scary form he usually took...no that wasn't right. The attire was different. Was this his vessel? Had he found another foothold into the world? He lunged at a much older, than I remembered, Gojo and gripped the front of his jacket, "where is she?!" He snarled.

"She who?" Gojo pondered in a light unaffected tone not seeming the least bit concerned about Sukuna raging before him.

"RYOKO!" Sukuna raged.

Gojo faltered, "Ryoko Fuko?"

"Yes, the medium, where the hell is she?" Sukuna's crimson eyes were practically ablaze.

"She died over a decade ago." Gojo frowned.

"She's not dead!" Sukuna was livid. His eyes suddenly grew wide, "damnit, what the hell is happening with this punk?" His eyes drooped and the tattoos on his body vanished, his second set of eyes closing and his vessel, a kind looking boy took over. "How'd it go?" he asked warily as he glanced around to make sure Sukuna hadn't hurt anyone.

I didn't know how long I'd been locked in this cell. There were no windows or lights aside from two gently glowing lanterns that never flickered or changed. I had no concept of time in my cell. Whenever I awoke from sleep I'd find food sitting on my desk and occasionally new books and games would appear, things to keep me occupied. There was a small bathroom I usually hid in as it was the only place I didn't feel like I was being watched. I suspected there was some kind of surveillance in my room for them to be able to keep tabs on when I was sleeping to swap things out.

The wardrobe was filled with various kimono in a similar style to the one I'd been wearing upon my arrival in my dorm. They apparently thought it was my preference despite me arriving in the cell in different clothing. They were trying to be kind, they had no idea I was only wearing it because my clothes had been destroyed by the curse when it ripped open my chest and Sukuna had been kind enough to get me something to cover up with.

The higher-ups sent people to visit from time to time seeking my cooperation, but I lashed out at anyone who entered my cell with fire or overwhelmed their senses with memories I'd gathered from the experiences I lived through. When the higher ups returned I maliciously told them the violent ends that awaited them. I'd seen Gojo killing them in the future, I didn't tell them who would be their end, just that it would be violent. This unsettled them and they stopped visiting.

I spent a lot of my time screaming until my throat felt raw and bloody or kicking and hitting the location the door was at though it was impossible to find while closed. I knew it was futile but it gave me some kind of outlet for the rage I felt.

The sound of raised voices in the distance met my ears. I sat up off the bed and looked around in a daze. Who was yelling? The sound of rushing footsteps sounded outside the isolation chamber. I got to my feet and turned toward the door.

Were they tired of my defiance? Were they going to kill me since I wouldn't cooperate? If I died here would my soul still be able to reach Sukuna? I fearfully looked at all the talismans along the walls, floor and ceiling. They could prevent my soul from leaving. I could be trapped here for all eternity. I'd never see Sukuna again.

The door nearly flew off its hinges. I flinched at the onslaught of voices that drifted in and penetrated my mind the moment the door was open. Sukuna's wasn't among them. This made me panic more.

"Ryoko?" A hand gently cupped my face.

I jumped as I realized someone had appeared before me and looked up into a pair of familiar heavenly blue eyes. Gojo. He was in his late twenties now and had grown even taller than before. "Satoru?" Tears welled in my eyes.

He pulled me close, wrapping his arms around me. I burst into tears and clung to him tightly. I'd thought I'd be stuck in this cell for all eternity and no one would ever find me. I had lost hope that I'd ever be saved, and now I was saved.

Gojo gently patted me on the back as I cried. In school he used to bully me for crying so much, but now, he was being calm and comforting.

"Did you find her?" That voice sounded like Mr. Yaga as he ran to catch up.

"Yeah, she's alive." Gojo lifted me into his arms and carried me out of my cell.

I still couldn't hear Sukuna or sense his presence. Where was he? Why couldn't I hear him? Had our connection been severed from being locked in that cell for so long? Without my link to Sukuna I felt scared, like I was in imminent danger.

"Hold on tight." Gojo activated a technique and I felt my stomach lurch as we suddenly appeared at the Tokyo Jujutsu High Campus. I winced as I was blinded by sunlight. It had been so long since I'd seen the sun. I'd forgotten how bright and awful it was.

"Ow." I shielded my eyes.

"You and I need to have a long talk." Gojo looked down at me, his expression still gentle and comforting, it was freaking me out.

"You're never this nice to me." I wiped away the remnants of tears.

"Last time I saw you I could see your heartbeat slowing inside of your open chest. You saved my life and until yesterday I'd thought you died to do so." He pointed with a faint smile. Yesterday? The vision I had, did that happen yesterday? I didn't even know how long ago I'd had that vision. I had no concept of time anymore.

I suspected what it was he wanted to talk about. "Where is Sukuna?"

"How do you know Ryomen Sukuna? Why were you the first thing he asked for when he returned?" Gojo frowned.

"He's my guardian angel...where is he? I cannot sense him." I still couldn't sense Sukuna's presence. Was it possible he was in an isolation chamber? Or perhaps his vessel was. Would that cut him off from me as well? I didn't like this.

"When you disappeared all those years ago..." Gojo began but trailed off.

"I was in Sukuna's domain. He healed me, but time works differently there." I said softly. Not to mention I'd been on the brink of death and it took a lot out of him to heal me.

"What happened when you came back?" He asked.

"I was in my dorm, but ten years had already gone by, there were talismans on the door and when I tried to leave I was transported to that cell." I shivered as I cast out my thoughts searching for any trace of Sukuna. "Where is he, Satoru?"

"His vessel is in an isolation chamber, awaiting execution." Gojo said his tone neutral as he watched me closely gauging my reaction.

Killing the vessel wouldn't kill Sukuna, but if he was killed in an isolation chamber would he be able to escape? I thought of the boy I'd seen in my vision, Sukuna's vessel. I cast out my thoughts trying to see what the future had in store for him. I was able to flick through various experiences, just flashes here and there but in none of them did I see him executed.

"He won't be executed." I gently rubbed my temples as my head began to ache.

"What do you mean, he won't be executed?" Gojo asked and headed toward the building Shoko's lab used to be in. After a decade who knew what all changed.

"I didn't see it." I sighed, the ache faded once we were inside, "where are we going?"

"You can't see it?" He teased me.

"Silly me, I thought asking you would be easier." I felt a lightness in my chest at his teasing, things felt normal between us, he was being much kinder but he was still Gojo. The kindness was strange but not unwelcome. He didn't seem freaked out by the fact that I still looked like a teenager. Maybe I was still a teenager, I didn't really know. In Sukuna's domain it didn't feel like time moved at all.

Time was a difficult concept when I'd lived so many lives through curses and the cacophony of voices all around the world that permeated my consciousness whenever I let my guard down.

"There's someone who really needs to see you, then we can talk more about Sukuna." Gojo carried me down a long hallway before coming to a stop outside of a door. The plaque on the wall had Shoko's name on it.

He opened the door without knocking, "Shoko, I have a surprise for you!"

"What now?" A familiar yet slightly older sounding voice asked from the window.

It was Shoko! My cousin was all grown up now. Her brown hair fell past her shoulders now and she was dressed neutrally with a white labcoat overtop. A cigarette was poised between her fingers and she blew a puff of smoke out the window before turning to Gojo.

Her brown eyes fell on me, in Gojo's arms before growing wide. "RYOKO?!" She dropped her cigarette in an ashtray and sprinted toward me. I was wrenched into her surprisingly strong arms and I thought I saw Gojo getting tossed away like he was nothing. He fell with a comical 'wee'.

I was pulled into a bone crushing hug and more tears welled in my eyes. A sob hitched in my throat as I remembered the moment I'd returned from Sukuna's domain, how I'd desperately screamed for my cousin first when I tried to leave my dorm. Then in my cell when I'd desperately cried for all of them to save me fearing I'd never see my classmates again. "Shoko! I was so scared!" I broke down again as I hugged my cousin tight.

Shoko held me close, I could feel her tremble slightly and heard her sniffle a few times. She was crying too. She rarely cried. "I was so worried about you. When Satoru told me about your injuries I was so sure you were dead."

"My guardian angel got to me, just in time, but time works a little differently there." I choked.

"I'll say, you're still a teenager!" Shoko laughed through her tears.

Gojo returned and gently pat me on the head before going to lean against the wall to wait for us to calm down.

"You look pale, fatigued, and thin, are you eating okay? Sleeping okay?" Shoko went into doctor mom mode.

"She was locked in a cell for over a year." Gojo noted.

"What?!" Shoko gasped before realization dawned on her. "The Higher-ups got to her when she got back."

Gojo nodded.

"Wait...did you break her out? When did you find out she was alive and why the hell didn't you tell me?!" Shoko rounded on Gojo angrily.

"I did. I found out yesterday and didn't tell you in case it wasn't true as the source was a little dubious." Gojo replied simply.

"Source?" Shoko frowned.

"Yuji Itadori, or well more accurately it was Ryomen Sukuna taking over Yuji Itadori's body at the time." Gojo smiled mischievously.

"Why would he know anything about Ryoko?" Shoko asked curiously.

I blanched.

Gojo smirked. "The identity of Ryoko's guardian angel is-."

"No." Shoko gasped and turned to me, "Ryoko?"

I groaned and shot a dark look at Gojo, "yes."

"What?!" Shoko held me at an arm's length away and threw me a withering look. "That's not safe."

"On the contrary, it's the safest I will ever be." I looked over at Gojo.

He and Shoko exchanged a look.

I sighed and lowered my mental barrier enough to read their thoughts. Shoko was freaking out but it was all out of love and concern, she was currently running a pro and con list in her head that was mildly amusing and then she went off on a crazy tangent about mutant monster babies with eight arms and I had to duck out and move on to Gojo. Gojo's thoughts were calm, he was calculating things in his head. My connection to Sukuna, the possibility of getting Sukuna under some semblance of control to hold off on Itadori's execution, a slight fear of Sukuna not being able to be controlled and as a result killing me and everyone else in a fit of rage.

I put up my mental barrier, "first off I don't know how a being with four arms and a being with two arms would create monster babies with eight arms, also I don't want children." I shook my head at Shoko before turning to Gojo, "he won't kill me but I also can't control him so you can come up with some other plan."

They both stared at me wide eyed.

"Sorry for the invasion of privacy but it felt like the fastest way to get things moving. Will you take me to Sukuna now?" I sighed.