Tamayori never knew that life would suddenly turn this way.

The woman sighed weakly. The sound of the chains that held captive made her tear up.

How long has it been? The woman thought to herself. She couldn't remember when was the last time she had seen the students, the last time she had seen him.

Tamayori looked up at the ceiling. She was tired, hungry, and almost giving up on life itself. After what had happened in Shibuya, there was no way the higher-ups would let her off easily. She was Satoru's closest ally afterall and she did go rampage.

Her grandfather had been executed for trying to defend Satoru Gojo and his granddaughter. Her former teacher? Gone as well. She was definitely next. She wasn't sure when would be the last time she would take her last breath, but she knew it was soon.

They had kept her enclosed in a small cell, binded with chains that prevented her from moving. She had been tortured for the past few days, simply for the entertainment of the higher-ups who had despised her whole clan, especially her righteous grandfather.

Tamayori's ears perked up at the sound of someone coming down the basement stairs. It has been days, –weeks even–, since she had seen anyone. Yuta was the last person she ever saw before her imprisonment. Not even Shoko was allowed to visit her since she didn't want her friend to be caught as a traitor too.

"Tamayori."

Tears blurred her eyes as she heard the voice that she desperately wanted to hear since the moment she had been chained up and put in the small cellar by the higher-ups. The voice that she loved so much, who had whispered sweet nothings in her ear during the night, who had been her rock, her home, the one sound that she thought had been sealed away by Kenjaku.

The woman tried moving as quickly as she could, but it was impossible as she felt the chains tighten around her.

Please don't let this be a dream. She pleaded to anyone who could hear her prayers. And as she had wished, she saw the one person whom she had always loved stand before her.

The man easily broke the chain holding her captive, as well as the small cell and the woman wasted no time in standing up– a bit disoriented– and throwing herself at him. The man easily caught her, noticing that the woman had become weaker than ever.

Her fair skin was painted with dust, her bright green eyes that once held so much life were now dull and almost lifeless, her face that was once full were now sunken. She had lost so much weight that it felt that a single movement would break her. The bruises on her body told him the hell that she had been through without him.

He gently embraced the woman, scared that she would get hurt as she cried onto his shoulder. The man gently picked her trembling legs up, carrying her bridal-style.

"You're back," Tamayori whispered as she placed her hands on both his cheeks, as if making sure that she wasn't delirious, tears streamed down her face from both exhaustion and relief, "you're really back."

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting for so long, Tamayori."

"I'm the one who should be sorry. I couldn't protect them like I promised."

"It doesn't matter," Satoru softly pressed his lips against her dirty forehead, "I know you did your best. And I'm here now."

"I am so glad you are back, Satoru. So, so glad." She whispered with a smile that he loved so much, before leaning on his chest, taking a long breath, and letting herself meet darkness itself.