《前塵卷》<the scroll of the previous lives>

「unforgettable sights, unreachable landscape
unstoppable thinking, unrestable mind」

You're almost immediately sent back to Japan.

You did get a long scolding from many people, namely Gojo. He had scolded you through the phone and physically once you had arrived back in Japan, but you didn't feel any frustration from the constant scoldings. Instead, you were happy.

When you were back in your room, you laid on your bed, staring at the ceiling. The sun had long set, leaving the only source of light to be from the lamp by your bedside. You reminisce the past six months, the happy memories you could experience with Shuichi.

Your humanity makes you grateful.

Without this humanity, could you really have experienced such joy and gratefulness? Such gratitude and empathy? Could you have truly learnt the full extent of your abilities, and the importance it held?

No. You could do all of that only because of your humanity, and you are grateful. You decide that you will introduce Satoru to your town of Picturesque.

When the next morning arrives, you are up early.

Satoru is up as usual, and he is as cheery as ever. You both enjoy breakfast together, and you bring up the question.

"Satoru-nii, remember when I disappeared for a few days when I was 10?" You ask nonchalantly, sticking the chopsticks holding rice and fish into your mouth and chewing quietly.

"Yeah, why?" He cocks his head to the side.

"I want to bring you there." You say after you swallow, staring at him with a resolute expression. He ponders the thought for a few seconds, and the grin that forms on his face tells you all you need to know.

The painting is ever moving, and Gojo has to admit he has never seen such a thing in his life.

You touch it and it ripples in reply, and you step in, awaiting his arrival to the other side. He comes in barely a second after, and he is mesmerised by the world that awaits him.

You are on the docks, as if you had just gotten off a boat. The bustling town is loud and like any other, the soothing sound of the calm ocean behind flooding your ears. Birds chirp and fly above, and the mountains surrounding the town are vast and majestic.

"Welcome to the town of Picturesque." You turn to him with a smile, and he can't help the soft smile that makes its way onto his face. Just as you are about to say another word, two familiar voices interrupt.

"Lady (Y/N)! Welcome back!" Misty and Mirrog say in unison, stopping in front of you. They then turn to him, and they bow politely. "Welcome to the town of Picturesque, Master Gojo."

You say a greeting to the pair and pat them both on their heads before bidding them bye and allowed them to go on their own ways. His legs move toward the town almost instinctively, but with the way you immediately followed behind, he concludes that this was an appropriate reaction.

You bring him around the town, introducing him to the various sights and people. You even show him to his own art studio where he could create his own world, and although his lack of artistic skills make you inwardly cringe just the slightest bit, you are pleased that he is enjoying himself.

Despite his enjoyment of his own little world, he decides to emerge from it to learn more of your world, and you gladly tell him about it.

"That's the mountain I painted while I was in Hebei," you point to distant mountain with a large forest, the faded orange of the rocks being a unique feature of it amongst the grey and green of the other mountains. "Oh, speaking of Hebei, I wanted to tell you about what happened."

You both sit in a cafe and order a cup of tea each, but you don't tell him it tastes like ink. The look on his face after he realises and spits it out is priceless and completely worth it, and so is the look of betrayal he gives you after.

"They gave me a mission to exorcise a special grade curse that had been wreaking havoc in that village," you started, both hands cupping the stone cup, watching steam rise from the surface of the tea. "When I got there, the whole place was deserted, and the stench of death reeked. Every house had residuals of cursed energy, but one house was overflowing with it. I thought that it would be a malicious curse as most are, but it turned out to be the soul of a man who could not move on due to sorrow.

Through his paintings, I learned about his life. I learned that his mother had died when he was a child because the villagers thought her to be using witchcraft, I saw the passing of his young daughter Chika due to an illness as well as the passing of his wife at nearly the same time. I saw how he lived his last moments in loneliness and regret, as well as sorrow and despair.

I... my heart hurt. I wanted to help him, and so I did the only way I knew how: bring him into the paintings, and make the course of his life go in the right direction by playing the roles of his mother, wife and daughter. And it worked - but not for long. He started to see visions of reality, and it wasn't long before he felt himself going insane. I couldn't understand; why did he want to remember those painful memories?

I cut the dreamworlds short and gave him back to reality, and I saw him attempt to piece back together a painting of his daughter if she were able to grow up. Deciding to give it one last chance, I pieced it back together and played those same roles again. Except this time, he knew that it was all an illusion. He accepted it wholeheartedly, and at the end where we had to say goodbye, he thanked me for saving him. However, I believe that I should be thanking him, for he is the reason why I could learn more about the deep emotions of people and have more power to be able to help more people."

You looked back up at him and you see he pulled down his bandages, eyes closed and hand on his chin.

"I see," he mutters after a short time and opens his eyes. The electrifying blue of his eyes never fail to make you feel both at ease and wary, but this time, all you can see is the warmth swirling in them. "I'm proud of you."

"Huh?" You blinked, mouth gaping open.

"More power, you said? We'll start training once we leave, and hone those powers to the absolute maximum. Perhaps you can learn domain expansion and become a special grade sorcerer while you're at it, but who knows?" His signature mischievous smile is back on his face, and you feel whole.

"I will!" You nod determinedly. To save those in need, you will forever continue to hone them until you can be sure that you have helped as many people as you can.

"But let's enjoy the moment for now." he shifts to rest his cheek on his palm, and you move to sit next to him to lay your head on his shoulder. Together, as found family, you feel like you can take on the world.

You both stay like that for a little while longer, until his curiosity gets the best of him and you're both off to explore more of the town.

(You're in there two weeks in real time, but a day has barely passed in the town. Least to say, Yaga and the higher ups are not happy, but that doesn't matter when the both of you are.)