Even after Toji Fushiguro withdrew, the heavy air in the Tombs of the Star Corridor refused to settle for some time.
The scars left throughout the corridor told the story. Cracked floors, shallow gouges in the stone walls, the lingering resonance of space where Gojo Satoru's Limitless had pushed back, and the traces of red blood scattered by Itadori Yuji.
The battle was over, but the reality that this place had been within a hair's breadth of death just moments ago was not easily erased.
Geto Suguru remained silent as he brought Riko and Kuroi back to the group.
Gojo, too, was uncharacteristically quiet.
He was a man who usually laughed, treated everything lightly, and brushed off heavy burdens as if they were jokes, but this time, he did not open his mouth recklessly.
It was understandable.
The battle just now had been brief, but it was far from light.
Toji had clearly targeted the Star Plasma Vessel, and simultaneously, he had chosen Yuji as the primary threat to be eliminated first.
And Yuji, in turn, had chosen not to kill even though he clearly could have. Both Gojo and Geto could not entirely pretend to ignore the reasoning behind that judgment.
Amanai Riko said nothing.
She walked close to Kuroi Misato, but the rhythm of her footsteps was different from before.
Until the battle, Riko was a girl who spoke loudly to hide her fear, maintained a haughty face, and grounded herself within the 'Wara-wa' princess persona.
But that was no longer the case. She had finally truly understood.
That there were beings who would come to kill her.
The kind of beings she couldn't feel safe from, even with Gojo and Geto present.
And—that someone could actually die just to protect her.
The air grew colder the deeper they ventured into the Tombs of the Star Corridor.
Despite being summer, it was chilly. The outside heat had long since been cut off high above their heads; all that remained were ancient stones, barriers, and a heavy silence that felt like Master Tengen's own breath.
They descended the stairs in silence.
Then, in front of the final section leading to the main hall, Geto stopped.
"I sense presences."
At those words, everyone stopped simultaneously.
Gojo's eyes sank coldly. Yuji also raised his head. This didn't feel like the void-like sensation Toji emitted.
It was much lighter and far more clumsy. They were presences that didn't know how to hide properly, their balance crumbling under the pressure within the barrier. It was the scent of cowards desperately clinging to their killing intent.
Remnants.
Whether they were from the curse user group 'Q' or the dregs of the religious faction that considered the Star Plasma Vessel a blasphemy didn't matter right now.
The only thing that mattered was the fact that they hadn't given up yet.
"Get back."
Geto shielded Kuroi and Riko. Gojo, without a smile, took a step forward.
"Ah, how annoying. They're still here?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, three figures leaped from the shadows on both sides of the corridor.
Two focused on a frontal breakthrough, and one provided technique support.
If they had wanted to survive, they wouldn't have chased the group this far.
It meant they had already failed to read the situation correctly. Yuji didn't even lift his head, merely snapping his fingers.
"Dismantle."
A single, short word.
A black line sliced through the air. The two charging forward stopped dead in their tracks.
In the next moment, the Cursed Tools they held were split perfectly in half and clattered to the floor. Only their collars and the tips of their hair were grazed by a shallow cut.
The humans themselves were unharmed.
The last one, who had been trying to weave a Cursed Technique, turned pale as they realized the flow of cursed energy from their fingertips had already been severed.
The technique dissipated before it could even activate.
Gojo raised an eyebrow.
"You're going way too easy on them again."
"There's no need to kill them," Yuji replied calmly. Before the sentence even ended, Gojo walked forward and kicked aside the remains of the fallen Cursed Tools.
"Beat it. Consider yourselves lucky for today."
Those who had lost their killing intent couldn't utter a word and retreated. The sound of their fleeing footsteps quickly grew distant. Only after that brief commotion ended did silence descend once more upon the Tombs.
Geto let out a breath.
"This is truly the end of it."
Kuroi nodded slightly.
Riko remained silent.
Until a moment ago, the tension of battle had remained, and her mind had been occupied by dealing with the remaining pests.
But now, there was truly only one thing left before her eyes.
The merger with Master Tengen.
Even though no one spoke the words aloud, she could feel that everyone was thinking the same thing.
The final door leading to the inner sanctuary was tall and heavy.
An ancient door layered with stone and timber. Beyond it lay Master Tengen, and the end of the road Amanai Riko, the Star Plasma Vessel, had to walk.
Riko stared at that door for a long time.
Her 'Wara-wa' manner of speech and forced dignity from before had worn thin.
Though her chin was held high, it was no longer bravado. It was more akin to a final effort to keep from crumbling.
Yuji was watching her. He knew the fact that Riko was destined to die.
But seeing her like this, standing before the final door she truly had to walk through on her own, was an entirely different matter.
She was trembling.
Not her body, but her breath.
It was so faint that no one else would have noticed, but Yuji saw it.
"Amanai..."
Yuji called out lowly. Riko looked up. Yuji walked toward her.
Gojo, Geto, and Kuroi did not stop him. They all vaguely realized it. Right now, this wasn't a moment for anyone's explanations or anyone's duty, but for Riko's own heart.
Arriving at the door, Yuji blocked Riko's path.
Riko's eyes widened slightly.
"What are you doing?"
Yuji looked down at her for a moment.
He was tall. 192 centimeters.
Riko, who wasn't particularly small, seemed dwarfed standing before him.
Yet there was no sense of oppression. Rather, it was more like he was standing there purposefully so that Riko wouldn't have to face the door alone in this moment.
"Are you really okay with this?"
Riko's pupils shook. That one sentence was too simple. That was why it was so cruel.
Until now, no one had asked her that. Because the merger with Master Tengen was a predetermined, necessary event, and Riko, as the Star Plasma Vessel, already knew that.
Everyone had ultimately moved forward based on that same premise.
But Itadori Yuji was shaking that very premise right now.
"...What do you mean by that?"
Riko's voice wavered slightly.
Yuji didn't back down.
"I'm asking if you're going in because you truly want to."
Silence.
Gojo didn't say a word. Geto was the same. Kuroi just bit her lip and stared at Riko.
At first, Riko couldn't answer.
She had always known. That she was special. That she was the Star Plasma Vessel. That the day would eventually come when she would merge with Tengen.
She was told that for the sake of that day, she had to avoid danger and must not let her emotions run too deep. That if things were meant to be left behind, it would hurt less if she kept them at a distance from the start.
She had believed that.
Truly.
"I..."
Riko's lips trembled.
"Since the moment I was born, I have been told. That I am different from everyone else. That I am special. That being the Star Plasma Vessel means such a thing."
She continued, looking neither at the door nor the floor, her gaze unable to settle anywhere.
"So to me, that 'specialness'... it was just my normal. Everyone said this day would come, and I thought so too. That as long as I avoided danger, didn't have unnecessary greed, and lived quietly, it would be enough."
Riko's voice was beginning to crack.
"Even when my mother and father died, I can no longer remember it well. I am no longer as sad as I was. I thought I wasn't lonely. So... I thought it would be fine, even if I had to leave everyone behind because of the merger."
She grit her teeth.
"I thought that no matter how painful it was, one day it would stop hurting. That I would no longer be sad or lonely—"
Reaching that point, Riko could no longer hold it in.
Her composure shattered.
"...And yet."
The first tear fell.
Riko looked down at the back of her hand as if she couldn't even believe it was happening. In the next moment, everything she had suppressed burst out at once.
"But I still—!"
Her voice was completely choked with emotion.
"I still... want to be with everyone a little longer...!"
It was a sob that burst out like a child's.
"I want to go to more places, I want to see more things... with Kuroi, with the girls at school, and with you guys... just a little more, a little more...!"
Riko sobbed, not even thinking of covering her face.
"I don't want to...! I don't want to yet...! I want to stay longer...!"
In the silence of the Tombs, that crying echoed with strange magnitude.
Gojo remained silent.
He was usually the one to have something to say, but for this one moment, he said nothing at all.
Geto stood still as well. Whether what was in his eyes was pity, relief, or the heavy realization that he had finally heard her true feelings was not easily read.
Kuroi watched the weeping Riko but did not approach easily.
Because she knew better than anyone that this kind of crying was not something that could be stopped just by someone saying it was okay.
At that moment, Yuji slowly took a step forward. Standing before Riko, he silently raised his hand.
And carefully—so very carefully—he placed his palm on top of her head.
Riko's crying momentarily ceased.
Yuji's hand was large.
It wasn't so much that it was warm, but that it had a strangely grounding weight. It was the hand of a strong man, yet it wasn't rough at all. He stroked Riko's head very slowly.
The motion was not awkward.
Rather, it was natural, like someone who had treated people more carefully than anyone else.
Then Yuji smiled. It was a short, very faint smile. A face he hadn't easily shown anyone since returning to the past.
A smile so brief it could be missed if one wasn't looking, one he hadn't shown in battle, to the Higher-Ups, or even in front of Gojo and Geto.
But Riko saw it.
"You can cry," Yuji said in a low voice.
His voice was calm as usual, but strangely, it wasn't cold.
"If that's how you really feel, don't hide it anymore."
Riko looked up at him with red, teary eyes. Yuji continued naturally while looking at her.
"If there is a path where you don't have to merge, then you can just walk that path."
Gojo and Geto's eyes shifted simultaneously. This time, Yuji looked only at Riko, not at the sanctuary door.
"If you want, I'll open that path for you."
Riko's breath caught.
Yuji's hand was still placed gently on her head.
"So, come with me."
The moment those words were spoken, it felt as though the air in the Tombs of the Star Corridor had frozen for an instant.
Riko stared blankly up at Yuji's face through her tears.
Yuji's expression was too composed.
That was what made it more dangerous.
The speaker meant it as a comfort, but to the listener, the words pierced straight through the center of the chest, leaving no room for escape.
"Let's go see a more beautiful world."
Yuji had simply chosen the words he felt were most necessary to save Riko, without any other intent.
But for Riko, it was different. Her face instantly flushed crimson. Her tear-soaked cheeks grew even hotter, and the tips of her ears turned bright red.
Her lips moved a few times, and finally, Riko shouted almost like a scream.
"W-Wait a minute—!!"
Gojo's eyes widened. Geto lowered his head slightly, pressing his hand to his eyes. Even Kuroi wore a blank expression.
Riko, while still crying, pointed a trembling finger at Yuji with her face completely flushed.
"Are... are you... confessing your love right now!?"
Silence.
This time, it was Yuji who froze.
"...What?"
His face showed nothing but genuine bewilderment. Riko's face grew even redder.
"No, if it's not that, what else could it be?! Suddenly saying to come with you and go see a beautiful world—anyone who heard that would—!"
"No."
Yuji answered with pure sincerity.
"I didn't mean it in that way."
Riko's face turned even redder, if that were possible.
"That's even worse!!"
Gojo finally couldn't take it anymore and burst into laughter.
"Aha-ha-ha-ha—!! Wow, wait, this is seriously too much!"
Even Geto couldn't help but cover his mouth this time. Kuroi rested a hand on her forehead and let out a small sigh, but her eyes were brighter than they had been in a long time.
Riko huffed, her face a mixture of tears, anger, and embarrassment.
"Truly...! You are a truly strange fellow!"
"You blockhead! Sea anemone! Womanizer! Casanova!"
Riko began to hurl insults as she flared up. Yuji still looked like he didn't quite understand her reaction to his words, but he could tell one thing for sure. Riko's face, which had been broken by tears just a moment ago, now had the fire to live burning in it again.
That heat was enough.
Yuji removed his hand from Riko's head and said quietly.
"Good enough."
"What is 'good enough'!?"
"You finally look like you want to live."
At those words, Riko was momentary speechless. The embarrassment, anger, and tears from moments ago all stopped at once.
And very slowly, she clutched at her chest.
It was true.
Until just now, she had just been crying, but now she knew.
She didn't want to go yet. She didn't want it to end yet. No matter what anyone said, she still wanted to remain in this world.
That feeling—this man had forcefully pulled it out of her.
Gojo, finally managing to suppress his laughter, said,
"Alright. Then the answer is clear."
Geto raised his head.
And this time, unlike his previous past, he didn't speak before Yuji did.
He simply added, very quietly,
"The choice has already been made."
Riko slowly looked up.
There were still tears near her eyes, her face was flushed, and her breathing was not entirely steady.
But her gaze was different from before.
It wasn't the bravado of the 'Wara-wa' persona, nor the resignation of the Star Plasma Vessel; it was the eyes of a person who had made the choice for themselves to live.
"...I..."
Riko opened her mouth. And then she spoke quite clearly.
"I do not wish for it to end yet."
Before the door to the sanctuary, the destiny that should have been inevitable began, for the first time, to clearly diverge.