I have SUCH a headache @milkysea-02 - Tumblr Blog

Found Footage

F. Toji x (fem) reader

Synopsis: Toji disappeared without a trace. With nothing but his last message and an abandoned underground mall to guide you, you set out to find him yourself. Beyond its walls lies an endless world that twists reality, imitates the people you love, and refuses to let anyone leave unchanged.

Cw: Backrooms au, found footage, modern au, characters are in their early 20's which is why they're making dumb decisions, liminal space horror, unsettling atmosphere, horror elements

Note: This is part 2 of my Lost Footage fanfic (following Sukuna's gf perspective), so for this to make more sense, I'd recommend reading that first.

The screen loaded as you clicked on the messages app, but every time the conversation opened there was still no response from your boyfriend. It had been three days. Three days since Toji had last texted you. His final message had simply read, “Okay, got to go now. Love ya!” accompanied by a picture of a dirty wall inside the abandoned mall he had been exploring.

Your boyfriend had always been fascinated by abandoned buildings, and while you never liked the idea of Toji barging into some old, forgotten place to explore, you also weren't going to take that hobby away from him; besides, he had built an entire YouTube channel around urban exploration, and surprisingly, it made him decent money. Three years ago, he had dropped out of college because he “wasn't feeling it anymore,” and with no job, his channel had become his only source of income. Although you wished he'd find something more stable, it was still better than him having nothing at all. But now he wasn't answering your messages, and that scared you more than anything.

The thought of filing a missing person's report had crossed your mind more than once, but honestly, what was the police going to do? Put out an announcement asking civilians for help, search a few places, then quietly move on when nothing turned up? Toji's name would become just another file tucked away inside a dusty cabinet alongside hundreds of others. No, you couldn't abandon him like that. You had to try. Figure out what had happened, why he wasn't responding to your messages.

After throwing together a saddle bag with a flashlight, lighter, cigarettes, compass, and the rest of your essentials, you hurried out of the apartment. Climbing into your car, you headed towards Toji's last known location—the abandoned underground mall. One foot remained pressed against the accelerator while anxious hands tightened around the steering wheel, your eyes constantly drifting between the road and the GPS guiding the way.

The cool night breeze brushed against your face through the slightly opened window as the car sped down the empty highway at nearly eighty miles per hour. Behind you, the city lights slowly faded into the distance, replaced by endless darkness and a sky scattered with bright stars overhead. On the GPS screen, the small blue dot steadily crept closer to its destination.

After an hour of driving, you arrived at the place. Stepping out of the car, you noticed something seemed off right away. Nothing was present; no way in, no doorway collapsed, the fence was intact. The only thing left behind was an abandoned parking lot flanked by lighting that had long since ceased operating.

“Fuck…” you whispered, running a hand through your hair while double-checking the GPS. According to it, you were exactly where you were supposed to be, yet there wasn't a single way underground. A frustrated sigh escaped your lips before you climbed back into the driver's seat, resting your arms against the steering wheel as you thought it through. The mall was here. Every official entrance had been sealed off years ago... yet somehow Toji had managed to get inside. The question was how?

Your thoughts continued racing until one small detail suddenly stood out. His truck wasn't here. “That's strange…” you muttered, starting the engine again. If his truck wasn't in the parking lot, then where the hell was it?

The car slowly pulled away from the empty lot. If this had truly been his last known location, then there had to be some clue nearby. Toji had found a way inside somehow, which meant that if you searched hard enough, you could find it too.

The steering wheel shifted beneath your hands as you carefully circled the perimeter, keeping your eyes peeled for anything unusual. Your headlights cut through the darkness while the stars overhead illuminated the outlines of distant buildings. Nearly thirty minutes passed before you finally spotted a lone warehouse with its large metal doors standing wide open, the broken lock discarded on the ground. Bringing the car to a stop outside, your gaze lingered on the dark interior. Had it not been for the headlights shining inside, the narrow tunnel stretching underground would've gone completely unnoticed.

You facepalmed. “Toji... how could you be so dumb and enter a place like this?”

Pressing down on the accelerator, you carefully drove into the warehouse, following the ominous tunnel beneath Earth’s surface. The uneven pavement made the car jolt every few seconds, each bump making your stomach twist tighter. You continued driving; in the distance, you could see another familiar vehicle, Toji's truck, lit by your car's headlights.

A shaky breath escaped before you even realized you'd been holding it. “He is here…” you muttered.

Stepping out of the car, you slowly approached his truck, carefully inspecting it. Relief briefly settled in your chest knowing he hadn't left, but it was quickly replaced by another thought. If he was still here… Why hadn't he answered your texts?

Your imagination immediately spiraled. Maybe he'd fallen unconscious. Maybe he'd slipped into that stagnant water he'd complained about. Maybe there simply wasn't any signal underground. Then another thought surfaced: what if he'd been killed? Your fingers instinctively tightened around the fabric of your shirt as you silently whispered a prayer that it wasn't true.

The hidden entrance to the mall stood eerily still. You hesitated for only a moment before stepping inside. A handful of lights had been switched on—most likely by Toji—which thankfully kept the darkness from swallowing the corridors whole.

“I hope you're in here.”

The moment you stepped inside, the smell hit you. It was putrid. A nauseating mixture of mold, rusting metal, dust, mildew, stagnant air, trapped moisture, and years of decay assaulted your senses all at once. Instinctively stumbling backwards, your shirt was pulled over your nose as you nearly gagged. After taking several deep breaths to compose yourself, you cautiously stepped inside again.

Slow footsteps echoed through the abandoned corridors as forgotten storefronts stretched endlessly along both sides of the mall. Leaning over the railings revealed nearly the entire structure beneath you. The highest floor remained dry, while the very bottom was completely submerged beneath filthy, murky water.

Continuing your search, you came across a partially illuminated storefront. A tent sat inside. Unlike everything else around it, it looked new. The colors hadn't faded with time, standing out sharply against the decay surrounding it. Cookie wrappers littered the floor—the same brand Toji always bought.

Your breath caught. Quickly making your way inside, you knelt besides the tent and searched through its contents: a half-empty water bottle, a blanket and a laptop. Carefully lifting it from the floor, you flipped open the screen. The bright wallpaper immediately shone on your face, a stark contrast against the darkness around. It was a picture of you and Toji taken almost two years ago during the beach date he'd surprised you with.

Your throat tightened. Without hesitation, you typed in his password—his birthday—and opened the folder containing all of his recordings, desperately searching for anything that could explain what had happened. The most recent upload had been recorded exactly three days and two hours earlier, almost perfectly matching the time of his final message.

You clicked on the video. The recording began with Toji smiling into the camera. “Okay guys, welcome back to part 3 of my exploring abandoned buildings series, and as you can see we're still at the underground mall where we last left off. Unfortunately, there isn't much in this Sears store, just the ceiling tiles that have fallen off over time and cracks on the floor. There's also those mannequin stands that were left behind still wearing clothes.”

So he'd started in Sears. That was your first clue.

Increasing the playback speed to 2x, you skipped ahead every few seconds. Watching the entire twenty-minute recording wasn't necessary—only the moments that might reveal where he'd gone. Partway through, he wandered into a Claire's and stopped near the entrance, pointing the camera toward one of the display racks.

“Guys, look at this.” the camera zoomed in. Hanging from one of the hooks was a small TY plushie keychain. Dust covered its fur, but otherwise it looked perfectly intact.

“Maybe I'll get this for my girlfriend.”

Your chest tightened. Even in a place like this, he'd still been thinking about you.

Swallowing the lump forming in your throat, you skipped almost to the very end. The final minutes showed him standing near the center of the mall where the stairwell connected each floor. That was exactly where you needed to go next.

Taking one last glance around the small storefront that had served as his campsite, you quietly closed the laptop before continuing to the stairs Toji had walked down only three days earlier.

A hand rested on the railing while the other held your phone, your thumb slowly scrolling through the messages. You had finally made it to his last known location, but now what? The conversation remained exactly as you remembered it. Shortly before he stopped responding, he'd sent you a picture of a dirty wall with nothing more than the caption, “weird.” Judging from the lighting in the photograph, it had to be one of the corridors on this floor. Unfortunately, it was also the only hallway where the lights no longer worked.

A slow breath escaped your lips. “Toji... when I find you, I'm going to kill you.”

Your grip tightened around the phone as you stared at the conversation one last time before locking the screen and slipping it back into your pocket. The corridor swallowed everything silently. Each careful step echoed softly against the cracked tiles as dust floated lazily through the stale air. Empty storefronts stretched on either side, their shattered windows and rusted shutters long abandoned. Every few seconds your eyes darted around, searching for anything out of place, but nothing came, just another forgotten hallway, another forgotten store, more darkness. You continued walking when something caught your eye. A thin line of brilliant white light seeped through the wall ahead. Your footsteps slowed. “...What?”

Carefully moving closer, you leaned forward to inspect it. It wasn't a reflection. It was coming from inside the wall. A narrow crack split the concrete just enough for an impossibly bright fluorescent light to spill through.

Your heart skipped. Almost instinctively, your phone was pulled back out. The messages app opened. Scrolling upwards, you found the photograph he'd sent only three days earlier, then you looked back at the wall, back at the phone and at the wall again.

“No way...”

It was identical. The same crack. The same stains. The same chipped concrete.

Your stomach twisted. Had Toji… actually disappeared through a wall? No, that wasn't possible ...was it?

A nearby bench creaked softly as you sat down, trying to make sense of what you were seeing. There was no logical explanation. People couldn't simply phase through concrete. Unexpectedly, your thoughts drifted back to Mr. Gakuganji's physics lectures, to atoms. Most of an atom was empty space. Under a microscope, the nucleus was unimaginably tiny while electrons occupied a cloud surrounding it. The idea had always sounded ridiculous when he explained it in class, but… theoretically… if matter somehow stopped interacting the way it normally did… could something pass through a solid object?

“...No.” you shook your head almost immediately. “There is absolutely no way.”

Electrons naturally repelled one another. That alone should make something like this impossible. It should. But…

Your voice barely rose above a whisper. “What if…”

Slowly, almost against your own better judgment, your feet carried you back towards the wall. One trembling hand lifted cautiously into the air. What if this was that impossible one-in-a-billion exception? The tiny fraction of reality that refused to obey every law humanity had spent centuries discovering.

“...Okay…” your heart pounded painfully. “This is insane.”

With one hesitant push your hand disappeared into solid concrete. The cold sensation traveled all the way up your arm. You immediately jerked backwards. “What the hell?!” Eyes widened in disbelief as you stared at your own hand before looking back at the wall. It hadn't hurt; there hadn't been any resistance. Your hand had simply gone through it.

A disbelieving laugh escaped your lips. “...That's actually kind of cool.”

For a minute, your mind wandered to Mr. Gakuganji. If—when—you found Toji, you couldn't wait to tell him about this. Watching your old physics professor completely lose his mind trying to explain something that shouldn't exist almost made you smile, almost—the smile faded as quickly as it had appeared.

Standing there in silence, your gaze returned to the crack. What lay beyond it wasn't just impossible. It completely shattered everything you thought you understood about the world. And somehow your idiot boyfriend had found something capable of rewriting physics itself.. and his very first thought had been to walk straight through it; not call you, ot call the police, not tell anyone, just walk through.

You scoffed, rubbing your temples. “This is exactly why you got F's in half your classes and ended up dropping out.”

Even Jinichi probably would've had enough common sense not to do something so stupid… probably…

A tired sigh escaped you. “I seriously hope whatever made you think this was a good idea was worth it, Toji Zenin.”

Steeling yourself, you took one final breath before doing the exact same stupid thing. The moment your body crossed the threshold, every sense became confused. Half of you felt warm. The other half was freezing. It was like your body was being pulled upwards and downwards at the same time, every muscle struggling to understand which direction gravity actually existed. The sensation lasted only a second before it was over.

Your eyes slowly opened. A yellow room stretched endlessly before you, illuminated by rows of fluorescent lights humming overhead. Nearby sat a tangled pile of discarded electronics, wires, monitors, keyboards, and cables bundled together like some forgotten graveyard of technology.

“...What the hell is this?” the words escaped almost automatically as you stepped farther into the room, slowly turning in place while trying to take everything in; then you remembered something, the compass. Your hand reached into the saddle bag and pulled it free. Immediately something was wrong. The needle wasn't pointing north. It wasn't pointing anywhere. Instead it spun violently, circling in every direction without ever settling. Your eyebrows furrowed. Normally, a compass aligned itself with Earth's magnetic field, always guiding travelers north. In here it was as though the magnetic field existed everywhere at once.

Your gaze drifted back towards the enormous pile of electronics resting against the wall. Without really thinking about it, your feet carried you towards it. Slowly, the compass was lowered until the metal casing brushed against the tangled mass of wires. The needle stopped instantly. There was no more spinning. It settled into one steady direction. Southwest.

“...Huh.” the compass was turned over in your hand a few times, watching the needle stubbornly refuse to move. It was weird, but honestly you had far bigger problems than a compass deciding north no longer existed.

Sliding it back into your bag, you continued farther into the strange yellow room before following the hallway beyond. At the end stood a faded sign.

AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.

You frowned. “Authorized personnel? Who the hell would even work in a place like this?”

Stepping past the sign, you continued deeper into the endless corridors, moving quietly while doing your best to memorize every turn. With each passing hallway, the entrance disappeared farther behind, replaced only by the endless buzzing of fluorescent lamps and the growing feeling that this place had no end at all.

Your thoughts wandered just as aimlessly as your footsteps. Every room seemed to leave behind another question with no answer. What was this place? Where had Toji gone? Why was everything... wrong?

Furniture appeared here and there, but none of it looked finished. Tables were missing legs, chairs had been left without seats, lamps pierced straight through walls, while others hung halfway out of the ceiling. Every now and then there'd be another strange opening in either the floor or ceiling leading somewhere else entirely. There were arrows scribbled across certain walls, crude drawings scattered between them, though none of it made any sense.

Your hand reached back into the saddle bag, pulling out the compass once more. With nowhere else to go, it was the closest thing you had to a guide. The needle remained fixed towards the southwest, unmoving ever since it had touched that strange pile of electronics.

“Guess I'm trusting you…”

Quietly, you followed it.

One hallway blended into another. Some rooms were larger than others, some almost looked furnished while others were completely empty. Certain corridors had working lights, while others disappeared into darkness, forcing the glow from neighboring rooms to spill weakly across the floor. Every turn looked almost identical to the last.

Before long you'd completely lost track of where you had came from.

At this point there was no point trying to memorize the route anymore. The compass and pure luck were about the only things keeping you moving.

You continued exploring, lingering in each room for a few extra seconds before cautiously moving on to the next. Every instinct screamed that this wasn't safe. Turn back. Leave while you still could. Maybe this had all been a mistake. Maybe Toji had never made it this far, and you'd been foolish enough to believe he had. But another, quieter part of you refused to let go of that hope. If there was anyone reckless enough to wander into a place like this without backup, it was Toji... and, apparently, you too.

The yellow wallpaper stretched on without end, each hallway blending into the next until it became impossible to tell them apart. With the compass in hand, you followed its steady direction, accompanied only by the soft fluorescent buzz overhead.

Suddenly the sound of footsteps running. They grew louder and louder each time.

Your body immediately stiffened, as if staying still could protect you from whatever it was.

They echoed somewhere ahead, faint enough that you couldn't tell exactly where they were coming from. Pressing yourself against the nearest wall, you slowly peeked around the dark corner, holding your breath.

“You sure this is the right way?” someone asked.

“No... but what other choice do we have?” another voice answered.

The silhouettes slowly grew larger as they approached. One had blonde hair, the other black.

Your eyes widened in recognition. Stepping out from behind the wall, you cautiously called their names. “Yuki? Suguru?”

The two froze.

Yuki stared as if she'd seen a ghost. Suguru looked equally shocked, though his expression quickly shifted into suspicion.

“...This isn't real, is it?” he muttered. “Just more of those things.”

Only then did you notice the state they were in. Both were covered in black dust. Sweat clung to their faces, their clothes were filthy, and dried blood stained the front of Suguru's shirt.

Without thinking, you ran over and hugged them both. “What are you guys doing here?!”

“We came with Toji.”

The words made your stomach drop.

“...Toji?” your voice caught. “He... he brought you two here?”

Yuki gave a small nod.

“He told us there was something he wanted to show us. Well…” she sniffled. “Choso, Suguru, Satoru and Sukuna. You know... their boys' only group. I only came because Choso asked me to.”

A hand instinctively pressed against your chest. “Where is he? Where is Toji?” you asked quietly.

Yuki and Suguru exchanged a glance. Neither of them answered immediately.

“...We got separated,” Suguru admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “We don't know where the others are.”

Before another word could be said, Yuki suddenly dropped onto her knees.

“This is all my fault! If I'd just listened to Choso none of this would've happened!” she sobbed.

Suguru immediately knelt besides her, rubbing slow circles against her back. “Hey… it isn't your fault. We all chose to come.”

Yuki cried, shaking her head. “But if I'd listened to him… we would've stayed together! We don't even know if everyone else is alive... I don't even know if…”

Suguru stayed quiet, gently brushing a hand through her tangled hair while letting her cry.

After consoling her, he finally looked over at you.

“...How did you even find us?”

You pulled your phone from your pocket and opened the conversation with Toji.

“He stopped replying three days ago. I got worried and came looking for him. I found his laptop in one of the abandoned stores…” you scrolled up to the picture he'd sent. “...then I used this to find the wall.”

Yuki's eyes widened. “...Three days?”

The fluorescent lights flickered. The buzzing grew noticeably louder before settling again.

Suguru's expression immediately hardened.

“Yuki,” he whispered. “Keep your voice down. We can't let that thing find us again.”

You frowned. “...What thing?”

Neither answered. They exchanged glances before Suguru spoke again.

“...We're not alone.” he swallowed. “There's this thing... really tall. Its body almost looks like vines... or slime. Long arms. Long legs… It almost looks human.”

His eyes briefly lifted to the ceiling.

“Whenever it gets close, the lights start flickering, and the buzzing gets louder.”

The image alone was enough to make your heart stop. Not at the disturbing image of it, but at the idea of Toji being alone in this place with this creature. Silently, you prayed that whatever that thing was… it hadn't found Toji.

After a long pause, Suguru stood back up.

“...We should keep moving.” he helped Yuki back onto her feet before glancing at the compass still in your hand. “That thing actually works?”

“So far.” you nodded. “It's been pointing southwest this whole time.”

Suguru let out a tired chuckle. “...Well, it led you to us, maybe it'll lead us somewhere else.”

You stepped to the front of the group, tightening your grip around the compass. Suguru draped an arm over Yuki's shoulder as the three of you continued forward. The only sounds came from the constant hum of the fluorescent lights and the occasional grunt escaping Suguru whenever one of his injuries flared up.

After a while, the pace naturally slowed.

Yuki was emotionally drained. Suguru looked exhausted from blood loss alone. Finding a place to stop for a few minutes seemed like the only sensible option before continuing farther into this maze.

You finished crossing one of the longer hallways before it opened into a much wider room. Several entrances branched off in different directions, each one disappearing into another maze of yellow walls and fluorescent lights.

You stopped in the middle of the room. “...Great.” The compass remained steady in your hand, its needle still pointing southwest. “Sooo… besides the obvious... how are you guys?” you broke the silence.

Suguru let out a dry cough, his voice sounding rough. “Very hungry ...and thirsty.”

Your expression softened.

“Oh…” your eyes instinctively drifted to the saddle bag hanging at your side. “I'm sorry... I didn't bring anything.” you quietly cursed yourself. In all the panic of searching for Toji, packing food and water had never crossed your mind. A couple of granola bars. A water bottle. Anything would've been better than showing up empty-handed.

Suguru offered a weak smile despite his cracked lips. “It's alright…”

Silence settled over the group again. The only sounds came from the steady hum of fluorescent lights.

You glanced around the room. Several old office desks had been pushed together near one wall, almost like someone had tried building a barricade before abandoning it. Plastic chairs were scattered around them, one resting upside down atop another. A faded red arrow had been spray-painted across the wallpaper, pointing towards one hallway, while a newer blue arrow pointed in the opposite direction.

“...Someone else has been here,” you murmured.

Suguru followed your gaze. “Looks like it. But whether they made it out…” he didn't finish the sentence.

Nobody wanted him to.

Keeping the compass pointed ahead, the three of you chose another corridor. One room blended into the next. The wallpaper never changed. Neither did the lights. Every now and then the layout shifted just enough to make you think you'd found somewhere different. One room was filled with support columns stretching in neat rows until they disappeared from view. Another contained nothing but half-installed cubicle walls that led nowhere. Ceiling tiles hung loose above your heads, exposing endless pipes and tangled wiring that vanished into the darkness overhead.

The farther you walked, the more impossible it became to imagine this place ever ending. Then something caught your eye. Lying near the corner of the next room was a camera. You hurried over before kneeling besides it.

Dust coated the lens, but the body itself looked surprisingly intact.

“Is that...?” Yuki asked quietly.

Turning it over in your hands, your thumb brushed against a familiar sticker. A tiny cat. Big round eyes. Pink little ears. You'd been the one to stick it there the day Toji bought the camera.

“It's Toji's.”

Your heart immediately began racing. Pressing the power button, the small screen flickered to life. Battery: 4%

“Damn…”

There wasn't enough charge to watch everything. You skipped ahead through most of the footage, searching for the final recording. The timestamp matched almost perfectly with the day he'd disappeared.

The video began playing.

Toji walked through another series of yellow rooms, joking to the camera exactly the way he always did. Every now and then he'd stop to point something out—a strange stain on the wall, another endless hallway, a room that somehow looped back into itself.

Almost at five minutes before the recording stopped the camera suddenly jerked. At the far end of one long room, a person walked across the hallway before disappearing around a corner.

“Wait!”

Toji immediately took off after them. The footage became shaky as he ran. His breathing grew heavier. The fluorescent lights flickered, and the buzzing became noticeably louder.

Toji suddenly stopped running. He turned. The camera swung towards another corridor. Standing at the opposite end was something else. Long limbs. A body that looked less like flesh and more like tangled vines stretched into the shape of a person—same as the thing Suguru had described earlier. It didn't move. For a single second, it simply stood there. Watching. Then it lunged. The recording lurched violently as Toji spun around and sprinted in the opposite direction. The camera slipped from his hands, crashing against the floor. The image tilted sideways. Heavy footsteps echoed away. The recording then stopped.

Everyone went quiet.

“...Toji…” Yuki whispered, a hand slowly rising to cover her mouth.

Your eyes remained fixed on the screen.

“He…” your voice caught in your throat. “He's alive... right?” you looked between Suguru and Yuki, searching desperately for someone to confirm it. “H-he got away... he found somewhere to hide…”

Neither of them answered.

“Suguru saw that thing,” you continued quickly, almost as if saying it aloud would make it true. “And he's here. Maybe Toji had the same luck.”

Suguru lowered his gaze. “I only got away because I managed to hit it with a chair and hid behind one of the columns until it left.” he hesitated. “I'm not sure if Toji—”

“Don't say that!” your voice echoed through the room before you could stop it. Immediately, the fluorescent lights overhead flickered. The now familiar buzzing grew louder.

Yuki's eyes widened. She hurried closer, lowering her voice. “Please keep it down...”

Your breathing became uneven. “Just... don't say he's dead.” your fingers tightened around the camera until your knuckles turned white. “He's not. I know he's not.” The words sounded less convincing each time you repeated them.

You swallowed hard. “He just can't be…” The sentence refused to leave your mouth.

For the first time since arriving, the possibility settled into your chest like a weight. Three days. Three days without a message. Three days without anyone seeing him. Three days trapped in a place where things no longer followed the rules of the world outside.

“No. He always finds a way.” It sounded more like you were trying to convince yourself than anyone else.

Suguru quietly stepped closer. A hand rested gently against your shoulder. “I'm sorry…”

That was all it took. The camera slipped from your hands onto the carpeted floor with a soft thud as you buried your face against his shirt. The tears came silently, your shoulders trembling while every desperate thought you'd been pushing aside finally caught up with you.

Behind you, hesitant footsteps approached, then another pair of arms wrapped around both of you. Yuki.

The three of you remained there without saying anything. Time seemed to stop. Only the occasional sniffle and quiet hiccup escaped between shaky breaths.

Eventually, Yuki slowly loosened her embrace and took a small step backwards, giving you room to breathe.

“We should keep going.”

You slowly looked up at her, your cheeks flushed and eyes swollen from crying. “...To where?” your voice sounded hollow. “The only reason I came here was for him…" your throat tightened again.

Yuki's own eyes began watering again. “I know.” she wiped at them with the sleeve of her jacket before forcing herself to continue. “I know exactly how you feel. I lost Choso too…” a shaky breath escaped her. “Because I was too stubborn to listen.” she closed her eyes for a moment. “But… we can't stay here. If we do, none of us are getting out.”

She looked toward the compass ying next to the dropped camera. “Wherever that's taking us… .it's the only direction we have.”

Suguru nodded in agreement.

“She's right.” he leaned down, picking up Toji's camera before handing it back to you. “I lost Satoru too and as much as I want to go looking for him… we can't help anyone if we end up dying here.”

A quiet sigh escaped him.

“If we survive we come back. Better prepared. And we look for all of them.”

The words hung heavily between the three of you. You looked down at the camera resting in your hands before carefully slipping it into the saddle bag. Another reminder. Another promise.

“...Okay.” your voice was quiet, but steadier than before.

The compass was pulled out once again. Its needle still pointed southwest. Without another word, you stepped to the front of the group. Suguru and Yuki silently followed.

The room gradually disappeared behind as another corridor swallowed the three of you. The buzzing of the fluorescent lights became the only constant companion once more. Every now and then, another room opened to the side, some filled with overturned office furniture, others completely empty except for the occasional support column or abandoned filing cabinet. One hallway had dozens of arrows painted over one another, pointing in nearly every direction, as if countless people had disagreed on which path led somewhere safe.

No one said a word. The only interruptions came from Suguru's occasional grunt or the quiet scrape of shoes dragging across the worn carpet.

The farther you walked the more it felt like the building had no end. Another hallway. Then another. The compass never wavered, its needle remaining fixed to southwest no matter how many turns the three of you made. Rooms came and went, blending together until they became impossible to distinguish. Some contained nothing more than yellow walls and stained carpet. Others were cluttered with abandoned furniture. Several walls had words scribbled across them. DON'T FOLLOW THE LIGHTS. Another read: IT HEARS YOU. Farther ahead, the message had been scratched over so many times that only fragments remained.

“People have been here before us,” Yuki murmured.

Suguru nodded. “Looks that way...”

None of you stopped long enough to inspect them. The farther you traveled, the more the rooms changed. The wallpaper gave way to bare concrete in places. Exposed pipes stretched across the ceiling before disappearing behind loose tiles. Water dripped somewhere overhead, each drop echoing through the empty corridors despite there being no visible leak.

Nobody spoke. Everyone was too exhausted.

Suddenly from one hallway there was movement. Someone was walking.

Your grip instinctively tightened around the compass.

Far across the room, beyond a row of support columns, a lone figure casually crossed from one hallway to another.

“...Did you guys see that?” you whispered.

Suguru immediately raised an arm, silently stopping both of you.

The three of you watched, and a few seconds later the figure appeared again. Not running or hiding, it was just walking.

“That's a person...” Yuki whispered.

Slowly, the group began moving closer. As the distance between you shortened, another figure came into view besides the first. They were holding hands. The woman turned slightly as she laughed at something she'd whispered, the sound carrying faintly through the empty room.

Recognition hit almost instantly.

“...Isn't that…” Yuki squinted. “Sukuna's girlfriend?”

The closer she came, the easier it became to recognize her. She looked completely unharmed. Not a scratch, not a speck of dust, almost as if she'd been out on an ordinary walk.

Your shoulders relaxed ever so slightly.

“Guys!” she called, finally noticing all three of you. Her entire face brightened. “I finally found you!”

She happily skipped the last few steps towards the room you were all in.

Only then did everyone's attention shift to the person still standing behind her. The relief vanished instantly.

“Heyyy…” Suguru said her name. “Are you okay?” he asked.

The woman nodded.

Everyone’s attention focused on the figure standing behind her. She seemed completely unaware of the awkward tension that lingered in the group.

Carefully, unable to take his eyes off it. Suguru questioned it. “Sooo… who is that?”

She blinked, confused at the statement. Turning around, she looked at the figure next to her before looking back at everyone else with complete confusion.

“What do you mean? It's Sukuna. Don’t you remember him?”

The figure remained perfectly still. It didn't acknowledge the group. Didn't blink. Didn't smile. It simply stood there, one hand loosely intertwined with hers.

At first glance it resembled Sukuna. He was taller than he should've been. A second pair of arms rested motionless along his sides. Another face protruded from the side of his own, its larger eyes staring somewhere past everyone in the room without ever focusing on anything. It looked less like another person and more like a blurry photograph taken while someone was still moving, the image stretched and distorted before being carelessly stitched back together.

“I see...” you stared at the creature and called her name. “Has Sukuna seen Toji..?”

She looked up at the creature. “Babe? Have you seen Toji?”

The figure didn't answer. It didn't even look at her. It simply remained standing.

She shrugged. “Guess that's a no.” turning back at the group, she smiled apologetically. “Nope. Sorry. Haven't seen him.”

No one said anything, nobody even knew what to say. The fluorescent lights buzzed softly. Somewhere deeper within the endless corridors something metallic clanged once.

Debating wether this was a terrible decision or not, Suguru slowly raised both hands, careful not to make any sudden movements.

“Hey...” his voice remained calm. “It's okay. You can come with us.”

She frowned. “...Come with you?”

He nodded. “Yeah. We'll get you out of here.”

She glanced around the room before looking back at him. “...Out of where?”

“The mall. We’re going home.” Yuki answered softly.

For a moment, she simply stared, then she laughed. “You guys are acting weird. We're just walking around.” she gave Sukuna's hand a small squeeze before looking up at him with a loving smile. “Aren't they acting weird?”

The figure remained completely motionless. Not even a nod. Not a blink. Nothing.

“...See?” she chuckled. “Even he thinks you guys are being dramatic.”

Suguru swallowed hard. His eyes never left the creature. “...Can you do me a favor?”

“Sure.”

“...Let go of his hand.”

The smile immediately disappeared from her face.

“...Why?”

“So you can come with us.”

She didn’t respond. Her grip around Sukuna's hand tightened instead. “...No.”

Yuki cautiously stepped forward. “...Please…” she said her name. “That's not Sukuna."

“He is.”

“No…” Yuki gently shook her head. “It only looks like him.”

“It is him.” her voice sharpened. “You were all with him before. How can you suddenly not recognize your own friend?”

Suguru and Yuki didn't answer.

“You guys are scaring me.”

The lights buzzed louder. One flickered, then another.

Suguru slowly took another careful step. “We're not trying to scare you. We're trying to help you.”

“Then stop talking that way about my boyfriend.” her voice trembled. She looked back at the figure standing near her. “...He's been with me this whole time. He hasn't left me. He talks to me. He holds my hand… so stop acting like he's some… unknown entity.”

The creature never reacted. Its oversized eyes stared somewhere beyond the room, unfocused and distant. The only movement came from its chest rising and falling in slow, perfectly even breaths.

You felt your stomach twist. She wasn't pretending. She genuinely believed this was Sukuna.

The buzzing suddenly grew louder, almost vibrating through the ceiling.

Yuki's eyes darted upwards. “Guys...”

No one moved. Another fluorescent light blinked out then came back on. Somewhere in the distance a heavy metallic bang echoed through the endless halls.

Everyone froze.

Suguru's expression changed instantly. His voice dropped to barely above a whisper. “We have to end this conversation. Now.”

Yuki looked between her friend and the creature with her.

“...Please, just come with us. You don't have to leave him. You can just…” her voice faltered. “...Walk besides us.”

Sukuna's girlfriend slowly shook her head.

“No.” she took a single step backwards. “If you guys are going to keep talking about him like that… then we'd rather go our own way.”

The lights flickered again. Longer this time.

Your heart pounded. Immediately, you stepped between everyone before another argument could start.

“You're right.”

All three of them looked at you.

“That's Sukuna.” you forced a small, nervous smile. “We'll... uh… We'll take this route.” you pointed to another hallway. “You two can keep going. We won't bother you.”

A long pause followed. She continued staring at the group as if deciding whether to believe you or not. After a minute she finally spoke.

“Good.” turning around, she gently tugged on Sukuna's hand. “Come on, babe.”

The creature obeyed instantly, as if it had been waiting for her to move first. It turned with the exact same pace, the exact same posture, never once looking back. Together, they disappeared into another corridor until only the sound of their footsteps echoed faintly.

The group stood in shock for several seconds.

“Are we really just leaving her?” Yuki asked.

Suguru closed his eyes. “I don't want to, but she won't come willingly, and I don't trust…” he hesitated. “...Whatever was standing next to her.”

“What if it attacks? We can’t abandon her.” Yuki looked down at the floor.

“I know,” Suguru sighed. “But if we force her we’ll just make more noise.” his eyes briefly lifted to the flickering lights. “And if that thing she was holding isn't the only one wandering around…”

Yuki remained staring into the empty hallway. “...Please hold on just a little longer. We'll come back for you.”

You tightened your grip on the compass.

“Let's go.”

Without another word, the group turned and continued following the needle southwest, leaving the empty hallways behind.

Yuki and Suguru continued walking behind you in silence, the events from earlier refusing to leave your mind. You had just left Sukuna with his girlfriend, promising that you'd come back for them, but what if you never did? What if by the time you found a way out it was already too late? Would their deaths fall on your hands simply because you had walked away? Then another thought quietly surfaced. What if you didn't make it out either? What if this place became your grave? Your grip instinctively tightened around the compass as another image forced its way into your thoughts. Sukuna. Was that even him anymore? It had looked like him... but not completely. He'd been taller, another face resting against his own, two extra arms hanging from his sides, two sets of eyes staring in different directions. Everything about him had been familiar, yet every feature had felt wrong, like someone had tried rebuilding him from memory and failed.

The compass continued pointing in the same direction as the three of you wandered farther into the endless maze. Every hallway seemed to lead into another nearly identical one, the yellow wallpaper stretching on without end beneath the constant hum of fluorescent lights. Every so often something different broke the pattern. A row of unfinished office cubicles blocked part of a room before abruptly ending. Several arrows had been spray-painted across one wall, each pointing in a more directions, making it impossible to tell which path, if any, had once been the right one. Nobody stopped to inspect them.

“Which way do you think those arrows were supposed to lead?” Yuki asked quietly, slowing besides one of the walls.

Suguru barely glanced at them before looking back at the compass. “Doesn't matter. Whoever painted them was as lost as we are.”

You silently agreed and continued forward, trusting the compass more than the faded paint. There were no windows, no clocks, nothing to tell how much time had passed since entering this place. It felt as though the rooms simply went on forever.

As you rounded another corner, something immediately caught your attention.

You stopped walking. Not far ahead, someone was crouched on the floor with their back turned to the group. They hadn't moved. They hadn't even reacted to the sound of your footsteps.

Suguru narrowed his eyes. “...Is that...?”

Yuki leaned forward, trying to get a better look. For a few seconds the room remained completely still, everyone silently staring at the figure. Then she suddenly gasped. “Choso!”

Before either of you could stop her, she took off running.

“Yuki!” Suguru called after her, but she was already kneeling besides him.

“Choso!” her voice cracked with relief as she threw her arms around him. “I missed you so much!”

Choso didn't respond. He didn't hug her back. He didn't move.

“...Choso? What's wrong?” Yuki whispered, slowly pulling away.

Her hand carefully reached beneath his chin, gently lifting his head. The moment his face came into view, she screamed. The sound echoed through the room as the fluorescent lights flickered again with the same aggression as it had back when Sukuna’s girlfriend lashed out.

You and Suguru immediately rushed over, but the closer you got, the easier it became to understand why. Sitting against the wall was Choso, or at least... something that looked like him. His face had been split apart and pieced back together incorrectly, the two halves failing to line up with one another. One eye sat noticeably higher than the other while a thick black substance slowly seeped from the jagged seam running across his nose, disappearing in the collar of his shirt.

You instinctively covered your mouth, trying to suppress the urge to gag. “...What is that?”

Suguru stared at him in complete disbelief, unable to tear his eyes away. “I don't know...”

Was this thing even alive? Was it really Choso? Or was this the same thing that had been walking besides Sukuna's girlfriend?

“Choso!” Yuki cried again, tears streaming freely down her face. “Please... talk to me… What's wrong?!”

The creature barely reacted. Its head slowly lifted, not to Yuki but somewhere past her shoulder, its mismatched eyes lingering on nothing in particular before lazily lowering back to the floor.

The fluorescent lights flickered.

Suguru immediately looked at the ceiling. “Yuki, please keep it down.”

You slowly knelt next to her, resting a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Yuki… I'm sorry.”

“I don't understand.” fresh tears continued rolling down Yuki's face as she looked at Choso, desperately searching for any sign that he was still there. She reached for his hand, carefully intertwining her fingers with his. It was cold. Not lifeless, but colder than it should have been. “Choso... please look at me.” her voice cracked beneath another sob. “Please, talk to me...”

The creature remained motionless.

Suguru stood frozen, his expression twisted between disbelief and disgust. Whatever sat before them wore Choso's face, his clothes, even his hairstyle... but there was something fundamentally wrong about it. It wasn't simply injured. It looked as though someone had taken Choso apart and carelessly stitched him back together, leaving pieces slightly out of place.

Your stomach churned. You had hoped Sukuna had been an exception. A horrible coincidence. But now this made two, maybe even more.

Suguru finally forced himself to speak. “Yuki, we can't stay here.”

Yuki didn't answer. She simply rested her forehead against Choso's forehead as she held onto him a little tighter. “I'm sorry… I'm sorry for arguing with you. You were right... we should've turned around. We should've never come in here.” tears slipped down her cheeks.

Still Choso said nothing. No comforting embrace. No reassuring words. Not even the slightest acknowledgment that she was there. The creature continued staring at the floor as though it had never heard her voice.

“Yuki…”

She didn't look up. “I know…”

“We have to keep moving. If Toji's still out there…” your own voice faltered for a moment before you forced yourself to continue. “...then we still have to find him.”

Yuki wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket before giving a small nod. It clearly hurt her to let go, but after one final squeeze of Choso's hand, she slowly stood. Her eyes glue on him for another moment before she reluctantly took a step away.

Suguru quietly exhaled, giving Choso one last look before turning toward the next corridor.

“Let's go.” he turned around and barely taken two steps when he stopped. His entire body stiffened.

“Suguru?” you asked quietly.

He didn't answer. Instead, his eyes remained fixed on something standing just beyond the doorway ahead.

He whispered a single name. “Satoru..?”

Yuki immediately turned around, quickly wiping the tears from her face. You followed Suguru's gaze at the doorway ahead. Someone was standing there. Perfectly still. His back rested against the wall as if he had been waiting there the entire time. The flickering lights cast long shadows across his body, making it difficult to distinguish his features from a distance.

For a brief moment, hope returned.

“Satoru?” Yuki repeated, confused at what was happening.

The figure slowly lifted his head. Suguru took an instinctive step forward.

“It really is you.”

Relief washed over Suguru’s face, if only for a second until he noticed something wrong with him too.

You couldn't tell where to look first.

Six eyes stared back at him, arranged in two uneven rows of three. The upper row curved unnaturally across his forehead, the skin stretched tightly around them as though they had always belonged there. None of them blinked together. One pair remained fixed on Suguru while another wandered around the room before settling back on him.

Your heart sank. It was happening again.

Suguru's expression slowly fell, the relief draining from his face as disbelief took its place. “...Satoru…” he stepped closer anyway. “I don't understand…” his hand cautiously reached towards Satoru's cheek, stopping only inches away before finally making contact. The creature didn't recoil. It didn't lean into the touch either. It simply stood there, its blank expression never changing as Suguru gently cupped the side of its face.

“...What happened to you?”

No answer. The six eyes continued staring at him without recognition. It was as though whatever memories had once existed behind them had been hollowed out, leaving nothing behind except an empty shell wearing Satoru's skin.

Behind you, Yuki let out another broken sob before collapsing next to Choso once more.

“Oh, Choso…” she whispered, wrapping her arms around him from behind. “I'm so sorry... I am so, so sorry. Please forgive me for arguing with you. You were right... we should've turned around. We should've left when we still had the chance.” her voice trembled between every word. Her forehead rested against his shoulder as tears soaked into the fabric of his shirt. “I should've listened to you…”

The lights overhead buzzed louder than before. One blinked out completely. Another flickered violently before returning. The room seemed to pulse with each flash, bathing everyone in alternating light and darkness.

Suguru's breathing grew uneven. “Satoru…” his hand tightened slightly against the creature's cheek. “What happened to you?”

The buzzing became almost deafening. A low metallic groan echoed somewhere far beyond the room.

You slowly took a step backwards, your eyes lifting to look at the ceiling. “...Guys.”

Neither Yuki nor Suguru responded. They were too consumed by the people they'd lost.

Another flicker. Longer this time. The room plunged into complete darkness for nearly two seconds before the lights returned.

Your pulse quickened.

“We have to go!” you half yelled hald whispered, tightening your grip around the compass.

A growl echoed through the maze. This time it was unmistakably closer.

You looked to the dark hallway, your pulse quickening as the lights began flickering faster, the room alternating between harsh white light and complete darkness.

Suguru and Yuki ignored you. Suguru remained standing in front of Satoru, his hand still resting against his friend's face, desperately searching for some sign that he was still there. Behind you, Yuki had buried her face against Choso's, quietly apologizing between sobs as though he could still hear every word she said.

The growl came again, much louder this time. It vibrated through the floor beneath your feet. Your stomach dropped.

“Guys!”

Still nothing from them.

Your breathing grew shallow. You looked down the hallway. The darkness seemed to move. Whatever had been making those noises was getting closer each second.

Something inside you finally snapped. “Oh, for fuck's sake!” you stormed towards Suguru first, grabbing him roughly by the wrist before yanking him away from Satoru.

“What are you doing?!” he protested, trying to pull free.

“Look around you!” you shouted, your voice cracking. “He's gone!”

Suguru stumbled backwards, his eyes widening as you physically shoved him away from the creature.

Before he could argue again, you spun towards Yuki. She still refused to let go of Choso.

“No! Please... just give me one more—” she cried.

“No!” you yelled, grabbing both of her forearms. “We don't have one more minute!”

She resisted. You pulled harder.

“Yuki!”

Tears streamed down her face. “I can't leave him! Not again!”

“Yuki, that’s not Choso! If you stay here you will die!” your voice echoed through the room.

Another guttural roar exploded through the corridor. This one was so close it rattled the loose ceiling panels overhead. The lights suddenly blinked out. Complete darkness followed for one agonizing minute, then the lights flashed back on.

Far down the hallway something moved. A mass of twisted limbs briefly crossed the corridor before disappearing behind another wall.

Your heart nearly stopped.

“NOW!”

You practically ripped Yuki away from Choso, refusing to let her fight you anymore. She stumbled into your arms, still reaching for him as tears blurred her vision.

Suguru finally looked at the hallway. The color immediately drained from his face.

“Run!”

No one hesitated. You grabbed Yuki's hand while Suguru fell in to your side, and the three broke into a sprint just as another guttural growl bounced on the walls.

Nobody looked back. None of you wanted to see what had answered your cries.

Yuki stumbled forward as you refused to let go of her hand. Suguru stayed close, casting one final glance over his shoulder before forcing himself to look away. The group hurried through one corridor after another, no longer paying attention to what each room looked like. The buzzing followed, growing quieter with every hallway you put between yourselves and Choso, Satoru and whatever monster awaited, but none of you slowed down. The memory of those distorted faces remained fresh in your minds, along with the terrifying realization that whatever had happened to them could just as easily happen to any of you.

Only when the growling could no longer be heard did your pace finally begin to slow.

Your lungs burned. Every breath came out ragged as you bent forward, resting your hands against your knees while trying to steady yourself. Yuki wiped at her face with trembling hands, though fresh tears immediately replaced the ones she'd brushed away. Suguru leaned on the wall, his chest rising and falling heavily as he stared blankly at the carpet.

You looked down at the compass. The needle still pointed southwest.

“It's still working,” you muttered, more to yourself than anyone else.

Suguru nodded tiredly. “Then we keep following it.”

No one argued. The group quickly picked themselves back up and continued walking, running footsteps becoming the only sound apart from the hum of the lights.

The farther the compass led you, the more the familiar rooms began changing. The faded yellow wallpaper that had followed you for what felt like hours slowly disappeared, giving way to rough concrete walls streaked with moisture. Ceiling tiles became fewer and farther between until they vanished altogether, exposing rusted pipes and thick ventilation ducts that crisscrossed overhead. The annoying lights remained, though many hung crooked from loose wiring, swaying ever so slightly despite there being no breeze. Sections of carpet slowly gave way to unfinished concrete floors littered with dust, broken ceiling panels and abandoned construction materials, making it difficult to tell whether this place had once been built... or had never been finished at all. The place now looked more like an abandoned construction site or an empty parking garage rather than the usual abandoned office rooms.

Minutes passed or maybe hours, it had become impossible to tell. The compass remained steady in your hand, faithfully leading the group through another intersection before pointing to another grey hallway.

Just as the group walked down the corridor on the other side yet another figure was walking ahead of the group. The figure's back was turned, moving at an unhurried pace as though completely unaware that anyone else was there. Broad shoulders. A tall, muscular frame. A fitted black shirt almost ripped apart stretched across his back.

Your heart stopped.

Was that who you think it was? For a terrifying moment, you couldn't bring yourself to call his name. After everything you'd seen—Sukuna, Choso, Satoru—your mind refused to believe this could be any different. Instead, dread settled heavily in your chest as you found yourself searching for what would be wrong this time. Would he have another face? Extra limbs? Eyes where they shouldn't be? Your heart clenched at the thought. You weren't ready to watch Toji become another empty shell wandering these halls.

Taking a deep breath you decided to face your fears. He was the only reason why you had come to this place in the first place, so refusing to face him now, even if it wasn’t really him felt as if all of this would’ve been for nothing.

“Toji..?” the words barely escaped your lips above a whisper.

The figure froze. Slowly, he turned around, and dark green eyes met yours. Your heart pounded as your gaze instinctively swept over him, bracing yourself for another nightmare—for another face, another set of eyes, another body carelessly stitched back together. Instead, you found nothing. His face was whole. His body was untouched. Every feature was exactly as you remembered it, expect for the dried blood on his cheek. The person standing before you looked completely normal.

Confusion spread across his face before quickly giving way to disbelief. He quietly spoke your name. “...Is that really you?”

Everything else disappeared. The maze. The buzzing. The fear.

Without thinking, you broke into a run.

“Toji!”

Tears blurred your vision as you threw yourself into his arms. He barely had enough time to react before instinct took over, catching you against his chest. He stood there, holding you as though trying to convince himself you were actually real.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, equal parts shocked and horrified. His hands tightened around you before he glanced over your shoulder to Suguru and Yuki. “How... how did you even find this place?”

“I came looking for you,” you managed between shaky breaths, burying your face against his chest. “You've been missing for three days. I—I couldn't just sit there wondering what happened to you. You sent me your location... and that picture of the wall. I found the mall... then I found the wall.” you looked up at him, tears still falling freely.

You didn't have to say anything else. Toji understood immediately. He placed a gentle kiss against your forehead before resting his forehead against yours for a brief moment. “I'm so glad you're okay,” he whispered, relief evident in his voice. “But you shouldn't have come. Now because of me I dragged you into this mess and—”

You placed a hand over his lips before he could finish. “No. It was my decision. I decided to come. I decided to track you down, and I'm glad I did.” your fingers slowly slipped from his face, though you never stepped away from him.

Toji let out a quiet sigh, the corner of his mouth lifting into the faintest smile. “You foolish girl.”

For the first time since entering this place, the knot that had settled inside your chest loosened ever so slightly.

Yuki and Suguru stood several feet away, watching the two of you. Neither spoke. Neither smiled. Their shoulders hung low, their expressions hollow after everything they had just witnessed. Only minutes earlier they had been forced to leave behind the people they loved, and now they found themselves watching someone else receive the reunion they had desperately hoped for themselves.

Toji was the first to notice. His smile slowly faded as he looked at them. “You guys are okay.”

Neither of them responded. Instead, Toji glanced behind them, expecting to see the others eventually catching up.

“Where is everyone else? Sukuna and his girl, Choso, Satoru?”

Yuki lowered her head.

Suguru let out a bitter laugh, though there wasn't any humor behind it. “Where do you think?” he looked away. “Either they're lost... dead... or whatever the fuck those things are.”

Toji's eyebrows slowly furrowed. “You guys saw them too?”

Yuki gave a small nod, her eyes still red from crying. “Satoru and Choso.” she swallowed. “Sukuna too but his girlfriend…”

Toji looked between the two of them. “His girlfriend?”

“She was fine.” Yuki hesitated before correcting herself. “Well... as fine as someone can be while holding hands with…”

“...Whatever Sukuna became,” Suguru quietly finished for her.

Toji's expression hardened. “You left her alone?”

You gently cupped his cheek, turning his attention back towards you. “She wouldn't come with us. She became defensive the moment we tried convincing her that wasn't really Sukuna. We don't know what those things are or if they're dangerous. She wasn't thinking clearly. It's better if we find a way out first... then come back with help.” you explained to him.

Toji remained silent before giving a reluctant nod. “...You're probably right.”

The corridor fell quiet. Only now did you have a chance to truly look around. The faded yellow wallpaper had disappeared entirely, replaced by cold concrete walls stained with moisture and lined with exposed electrical conduit. Thick pipes stretched beside rusted ventilation ducts that disappeared into the darkness beyond the fluorescent lights. Maintenance carts sat abandoned besides stacks of wooden pallets wrapped in yellowing plastic, while metal shelving overflowed with dusty electrical parts and forgotten tools. Every few feet, shallow puddles reflected the lights above, rippling each time another drop of water echoed from somewhere deeper within the corridor.

“I've never seen this part before,” Suguru admitted.

"I don’t even know how I ended up here.” Toji replied.

“So we're somewhere else?” you asked.

“I think so, I stopped trying to make sense of this place.” Toji shrugged. “...Where do we go now?”

Instinctively, you looked down at the compass still in your hand. The needle remained perfectly still, pointing at Toji, then it shuddered. The needle spun once and began rotating wildly in endless circles.

Your eyes widened in horror. “No…”

“What's wrong?” Toji asked.

You stared at the compass, unable to tear your eyes away. “It was working… It was working this whole time.”

The needle refused to settle. Round and round it spun, just as it had the moment you first crossed through the wall.

The lights flickered. Everyone instinctively looked up. Another light farther down buzzed violently before dimming, bathing the concrete hallway in an uneven glow. The puddles scattered across the floor rippled as another drop of water echoed from somewhere within the maze. Drip. Drip.

The compass continued spinning. The buzzing steadily grew louder.

“...Do the lights always do that?” Toji looked up at them.

“No…” Suguru’s voice had become noticeably quieter. “They only start acting like this when…”

Before he could finish, another section of lights blinked out farther down the maintenance corridor.

Yuki instinctively stepped closer to Suguru. “...I don't like this.”

Your stomach twisted into knots.

The compass still refused to settle.

A low groan echoed somewhere beyond the concrete walls. It was deep, almost mechanical, as though something were dragging itself through the service tunnels.

Everyone froze.

Toji's expression immediately changed. His shoulders stiffened.

“Crap.” he slowly looked towards the darkened end of the corridor. “I know that sound.”

His hand instinctively found yours, gently pulling you a step behind him.

“It's that thing again.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than another guttural growl rolled through the corridor, much closer than before. The fluorescent lights erupted into another violent fit of flickering. On. Off. On. Off.

At the far end of the hallway something moved. Not quickly but slow and deliberately. A long, twisted limb emerged from the darkness, planting itself on the concrete floor before another followed behind it.

The creature slowly stepped into the light. It towered over the corridor, its body impossibly thin and tangled together by vine-like limbs that bent at unnatural angles. There was no face you could recognize, no features that resembled anything human, only a shifting mass of flesh and elongated appendages that seemed to constantly rearrange themselves as it moved. Every step was accompanied by a deep, guttural growl that reverberated through the pipes overhead.

Toji's grip tightened around your hand. “Everyone run!”

No one needed to be told twice. The moment the words left Toji's mouth, the group bolted.

Your fingers tightened around his hand as he pulled you after him, his pace forcing everyone into a sprint. Suguru grabbed Yuki's wrist before she could fall behind, the four of you weaving through one maintenance corridor after another. Concrete walls rushed past in a blur while the lights flickered violently, plunging entire sections of the hallway into darkness before abruptly coming back to life.

Behind you, the creature let out another growl. It wasn't running. It didn't need to. Each impossibly long stride carried it farther than any human should have been able to move, its twisted limbs scraping against the concrete as they bent and unfolded with sickening cracks. Every time it entered another corridor, the lights there immediately erupted into a frenzy, buzzing so loudly they almost drowned out your own footsteps.

“Left!” Toji shouted.

Without hesitation everyone followed, darting into another passage lined with rusted electrical panels and thick utility pipes. Water splashed beneath your shoes as you cut through a shallow puddle stretching across the floor, the cold droplets soaking the bottoms of your pants. Somewhere overhead, an old ventilation fan screeched to life before suddenly grinding to a halt.

Another growl, closer, much close than before.

You instinctively looked over your shoulder.

“Don't look back!” Toji barked.

Immediately you snapped your head forward again, your heart hammering against your ribs.

The corridor suddenly opened into a large storage room. Rows of industrial shelving stood abandoned, each shelf overflowing with dusty crates, coils of electrical wire, rusted toolboxes and broken machinery. Wooden pallets leaned on the far wall while yellow caution barriers had toppled across the concrete floor, forcing everyone to weave around them without slowing down.

The lights above began exploding one by one.

Pop.

Glass shattered across the floor.

Pop.

Darkness swallowed half the room. The only light left came from the surviving fixtures farther ahead.

“It's gaining on us!” Suguru shouted.

“I know!” Toji answered without turning around.

He practically dragged you over a fallen pallet before pushing through a heavy steel maintenance door already hanging crooked from its hinges. The corridor beyond was narrower, lined with exposed pipes running floor to ceiling, steam occasionally hissing from loose valves. The air had grown noticeably warmer here, carrying the sharp metallic scent of rust mixed with damp concrete.

The growling echoed again. This time, right behind the door of the room you had just entered. The entire metal frame shuddered violently as something slammed into it from the other side.

BOOM.

Everyone froze.

Another impact.

BOOM.

The hinges groaned.

“Keep moving!” Toji yelled.

Everyone took off, not daring to wait and see whether the door would hold. Every turn looked identical—unfinished concrete, exposed conduit, humming breaker boxes and endless utility tunnels stretching into darkness. It no longer mattered where you were going. Only that you kept moving.

The four of you ran until your lungs burned.

Every corridor bled into another. Concrete walls gave way to narrow maintenance passages before opening into larger utility rooms filled with rusted shelving, abandoned generators. Thick pipes crisscrossed overhead, occasionally dripping cold water onto the floor below, while exposed electrical cables hung low enough that everyone instinctively ducked underneath them.

The creature never stopped following. Each time it entered another corridor, the lights ahead erupted into violent fits of flickering. Some burst entirely, showering the concrete floor with broken glass. Others dimmed until only a faint white glow remained before suddenly surging back to life. The growling echoed through every hallway, making it impossible to tell exactly how close it was anymore.

“This way!” Toji shouted, pulling you sharply around another corner.

You stumbled after him, barely managing to keep your footing as your shoes splashed through another puddle. Behind you, Suguru kept one arm firmly around Yuki's shoulders, practically dragging her forward whenever her exhausted legs threatened to give out.

“We can't keep running forever!” Suguru yelled between breaths.

“I know!”

“So what's the plan?!”

“I'll think of one when I have one!”

Another guttural roar thundered. The entire corridor shook. Loose dust rained from the ceiling. The lights blinked out. For one terrifying second, everything disappeared into darkness. When they returned… the creature had gotten closer. Its impossibly long limbs scraped against the concrete as it rounded the corner, twisting around support beams in ways no living thing should have been capable of. The tangled mass that made up its body seemed to stretch and contract with every step, the awful noises coming from somewhere deep inside it reverberating through the pipes overhead.

“Move!” Toji instructed.

The group burst through another steel doorway and found themselves inside what appeared to be an abandoned loading bay. Metal shelving lined the walls from floor to ceiling, filled with old electrical equipment, empty toolboxes and cracked storage bins. Pallets had collapsed into uneven piles across the floor while yellow caution tape hung from the ceiling in loose strips.

There was only one exit. Straight ahead.

Everyone sprinted towards it. Toji reached the door first. He grabbed the handle and pulled, but nothing happened.

His expression immediately changed. “No...”

He pulled harder. The door refused to budge.

“It's jammed!” he shouted.

Behind him, Suguru looked frantically around the room.

“There has to be another way!”

“There isn't!”

Yuki spun towards the opposite wall. Nothing. More concrete. No windows. No vents large enough to crawl through. No second exit.

The growling grew louder.

The lights began flickering so violently they barely stayed on for more than a heartbeat.

“Fuck!” Toji slammed his fist against the metal door before suddenly turning towards you. His eyes landed on the bag still hanging over your shoulder. “Please tell me you brought something useful.”

Your hands immediately shook as you dropped the bag onto the floor, desperately searching through its contents.

“My flashlight…”

“No.”

“The compass…”

“No!”

Your fingers continued digging.

“...A lighter.”

Toji's eyes widened.

“Give it to me.”

Without another word, he snatched the lighter before quickly pulling his shirt over his head. The muscles across his shoulders flexed as he twisted the fabric tightly around one arm, turning it into a crude torch.

“What are you doing?” you asked.

He didn't answer. Instead, he flicked the lighter. The flame caught immediately. Fire raced across the cotton. Heat filled the room. The creature hesitated. Its growling changed. It took a cautious step backwards.

“It doesn't like fire,” Toji muttered. A grin crossed his face despite the situation. “Good.”

He swung the burning shirt in a wide arc. The creature hissed, its twisted limbs recoiling away from the flames before slowly creeping forward again.

Toji planted himself between the monster and the rest of the group.

“Come on!”

He swung the torch again.

“You want somebody?!”

The creature let out another guttural roar.

“Come get me!”

“No!” you cried, grabbing his arm. “We're leaving together.”

He looked back at you, his expression softened. “Listen to me. I'm buying you time.”

“I'm not leaving you!”

“You don't have a choice.” he gently pried your fingers from his arm. “You already came all this way. I'm not letting it end here.”

The creature was getting closer to the group. The flames forced it to hesitate again.

“Go!” Toji shouted.

Yuki immediately wrapped both arms around your waist before you could run towards him.

“No!” you screamed, struggling against her grip. “Let me go!”

Suguru grabbed your other arm. “We have to move!”

“I don't care!” tears streamed uncontrollably down your face as you fought against both of them. “He's my boyfriend! He's the reason I came here! I'd rather die here with him than leave him behind!”

The creature lunged. Toji met it with another swing of the burning shirt. The flames brushed against one of its elongated limbs. It recoiled with a shrill hiss.

Then out of nowhere a voice echoed from somewhere beyond the concrete wall.

“Movement confirmed!”

Another followed immediately after.

“Target visual!”

All four of you turned, the monster included.

A section of the wall moved. It wasn't a door. It looked as though reality itself had folded open.

Three figures wearing bright yellow hazmat suits rushed through the opening carrying equipment unlike anything you'd ever seen. One immediately raised a metal canister attached to a hose while another positioned himself between the creature and the group.

“Get them inside!” one shouted.

The third pulled a lever mounted on the side of the device. A dense white mist erupted from the nozzle. The creature shrieked. It stumbled backwards, shielding itself from the cloud as the mist rapidly spread through the room.

“In here!” another worker yelled, waving everyone to the opening in the wall.

Toji didn't hesitate.

“Move!”

Suguru practically lifted Yuki through first before turning to help pull you forward.

You looked back one last time. The creature continued thrashing inside the growing cloud of white vapor while the hazmat team steadily advanced, forcing it farther away from the opening.

Toji grabbed your hand. “Ignore it!”

Together, the two of you crossed through the impossible doorway. The instant your feet landed on solid metal flooring, the sounds disappeared.

Bright white lights flooded your vision. Cold air rushed over your skin. The smell of damp concrete was replaced by disinfectant and machine oil.

Blinking against the sudden brightness, you slowly looked up.

Gone were the endless maintenance corridors. Instead, you found yourself standing inside a clean steel chamber surrounded by people in hazmat suits. Observation windows lined the walls above, where several scientists in white lab coats watched the group with quiet curiosity. Near the center of the room stood an elderly man in a navy-blue suit and thin-rimmed glasses, calmly studying each of you as though your arrival had been expected all along.

“Well…” his gaze swept across the exhausted group before settling on you. “What an unexpected surprise.”

You, Toji, Suguru and Yuki sat in cold steel chairs bolted to the floor, a narrow metal table separating you from the two scientists. Your wrists remained secured by thick metal restraints, not tight enough to hurt, but firm enough to remind you that leaving wasn't an option. The room itself was almost empty, surrounded by bare concrete walls with only a single observation window made of dark tinted glass. It was impossible to tell whether anyone was standing on the other side watching.

The scientists didn’t speak.

Yuki stared blankly at the tabletop, her eyes swollen from crying. Suguru leaned back in his chair, exhausted, occasionally glancing to the observation window before lowering his gaze again. To your right, Toji sat with his arms folded across his chest as much as the restraints allowed, his jaw clenched tightly. Every now and then his knee bounced impatiently beneath the table while his eyes remained fixed on the two scientists sitting across from him.

The scientists, meanwhile, paid them little attention. One quietly organized several folders while the other adjusted a small tape recorder resting on the table. Neither seemed particularly interested in acknowledging the group until the recorder clicked to life.

“What's this about?” Toji finally asked, the irritation in his voice cutting through the silence. “You drag us in here, tie us to chairs and don't say a damn word.”

Neither scientist reacted. One continued flipping through a folder while the other scribbled something onto a sheet of paper.

Only after several more seconds did the older of the two finally look up.

“State your names.”

Toji let out a dry laugh. “First name Fuck. Last name You.”

Silence settled over the room. You nervously shifted in your chair, feeling anxious at the tension in the room.

The scientist merely sighed through his nose before placing his pen neatly on top of the folder.

“Mr. Zenin…” his tone remained perfectly even. “We understand you've had an exceptionally difficult day. I assure you this process will move much faster if everyone cooperates.”

His eyes calmly swept across the group. “So… your names?”

You spoke first, your voice came out soft as you gave them your name, not giving Toji the opportunity to press this further. One by one, the others followed.

“Yuki Tsukumo.”

“Suguru Geto.”

Toji remained silent for another few seconds before finally clicking his tongue. “...Toji Zenin.”

The scientist nodded before writing each name down with neat, practiced handwriting.

Without looking up, the younger scientist asked the next question. “Tell us why have you entered this place.”

“We got lost.” Suguru confessed.

The scientist looked up. “Explain.”

Suguru glanced briefly at Toji before continuing. “Toji messaged us saying he'd found something strange while exploring an abandoned underground mall. We went after him.”

The scientist slowly turned another page inside the folder.

“Mr. Zenin… How did you discover the location?”

Toji looked away. “I'm not telling you a damn thing.”

You let out a tired sigh. “...Toji...”

He turned towards you. Your expression was exhausted more than anything else.

“Please. We're already here.”

His shoulders relaxed ever so slightly. After a long silence, he finally answered.

“...I was exploring an abandoned mall. I found a weird light coming from one of the walls. I got curious.” his jaw tightened. “So I touched it.”

The scientist gave a small nod, as though the answer confirmed something he already suspected. Without a word, he reached into the folder and pulled out a folded map. He slid it across the table to Toji. A large red circle had been drawn around the abandoned underground mall.

“Is this the location?”

Toji looked down. “Yeah.”

The scientist made another note before asking without a hint of emotion. “And how did you learn about this location, Mr. Zenin?”

For the first time since entering the room, Toji actually looked slightly embarrassed.

“...I read about it online.”

The scientist finished writing before quietly closing the folder in front of him. Neither he nor his colleague exchanged a word. Instead, the younger scientist reached beneath the table and retrieved another file, noticeably thicker than the first. He carefully opened it, removing several photographs from inside before arranging them side by side across the metal table.

“We're going to show you a series of images,” he said matter-of-factly. “I'd like you to tell us whether you recognize any of the individuals.”

He slid the photographs at the group.

The first showed Sukuna and his girl.

She was walking calmly through one of the endless hallways, her fingers holding the grotesque imitation wearing Sukuna's appearance. Even frozen in a photograph, the thing looked wrong. Two faces. Two sets of eyes. Four arms hanging unnaturally at its sides while she smiled besides it as though nothing were out of the ordinary.

The second photograph showed Satoru.

He stood alone in an empty room, staring directly at the camera. His six eyes reflected the light differently from one another, giving the unsettling impression that each pair was focused on something entirely different.

The last photograph made Yuki's breathing hitch.

Choso remained crouched against the wall exactly where you'd left him, his head lowered to the floor while the dark seam running across his face continued leaking thick black fluid onto the stained carpet below.

Everyone silently processed what they were seeing.

“Yes,” Suguru finally answered. The rest of you silently nodded.

The scientist observed each of your reactions before asking his next question. “These individuals were traveling with you?”

Another nod followed.

Yuki couldn't take her eyes off Choso's photograph. “What's wrong with them..?”

The scientist leaned back in his chair, folding his hands together. “They are not your friends.”

The words hung heavily in the room.

“They're classified as Still Lifes.”

You frowned. “...Still Lifes?”

He nodded. “Autonomous entities native to this enviroment. Their behavior varies, but one characteristic remains consistent.”

He gently tapped the photograph of Satoru with a finger. “They imitate life.”

His finger shifted to Choso. “The process is imperfect.”

Finally, he rested it on Sukuna. “The result is what you encountered.”

“They're... copies?” Suguru asked quietly.

“In the simplest terms.” the scientist spoke without emotion, as though explaining the weather. “They're not human. They're not your friends. They simply resemble them.”

Yuki shook her head. “No…” her eyes remained fixed on Choso. “That was Choso. I know it was.”

The scientist didn't argue. Instead, he corrected her, “It looked like Choso. There is a difference.”

Yuki's voice trembled. “...Is he still alive?”

The scientist picked up his coffee, taking a slow sip before answering. “Unknown.”

She stared at him. “What does that mean?”

“It means exactly what I said.” he returned the cup to its coaster. “We don't know. He may still be inside there. He may have escaped. He may be deceased.”

Yuki lowered her head, blinking rapidly as fresh tears gathered in her eyes.

The scientist watched her quietly before continuing in the same measured tone. “I'm not attempting to frighten you. I'm answering your questions with the information currently available.”

His voice never changed, never softened. Facts were all he offered, and somehow that made the uncertainty even harder to bear.

One of the scientists quietly slid the photographs back into the folder before closing it with practiced precision.

“What's going to happen to us now?” Suguru asked them.

The two scientists exchanged a brief glance. The older one leaned back slightly in his chair before folding his hands together atop the table.

“That depends.”

“On what?” Toji asked sharply.

“On the decisions made in this room.”

Toji frowned. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

The scientist ignored the hostility in his voice.

“As you can probably imagine, the information you've been exposed to is not public knowledge.” he spoke as though reciting from memory. “The existence of this place, its entrances, the entities residing within it, and our ongoing operations are all classified at the highest level. Very few leave that place alive, and even fewer return having witnessed what you have.”

You swallowed. “So what happens to people who make it back?”

The scientist didn't answer immediately. Instead, he opened another folder resting near him. Inside were dozens of photographs. Some showed empty yellow corridors. Others depicted twisted creatures you'd never seen before. Several contained groups of people wearing the same yellow hazmat suits that had rescued you. One photograph briefly caught your attention. A family standing besides a suburban home.

The scientist turned the page before you could look any closer.

“When an individual becomes aware of classified information, protocol requires that appropriate measures be taken to preserve operational security.”

Toji scoffed. “You're talking in circles.”

“I am.” the scientist admitted it without shame. “Fortunately, specificity is unnecessary.”

Everyone went quiet.

Suguru asked the question everyone had been avoiding.

“Do we get to go home?”

Neither scientist answered, not immediately. The younger scientist simply closed the folder and neatly aligned it with the others before looking up.

“There is a path forward.”

Toji narrowed his eyes. “What kind of path?”

“You'll each be offered employment.”

The words caught everyone off guard.

“Employment?” Yuki repeated quietly.

The older scientist nodded once. “Your experience inside the rooms makes you uniquely qualified for work conducted by this facility. You've demonstrated adaptability under extreme psychological stress. You survived prolonged exposure. You successfully navigated multiple environmental shifts. You maintained coherent decision-making.”

He listed each observation as though reading statistics from a report.

“Those qualities are... uncommon.”

Toji let out a dry laugh. “So that's it? You expect us to clock in Monday morning?”

Neither scientist smiled.

“You misunderstand.” the older scientist folded his hands once more. “This is not a recruitment campaign. It is an opportunity.”

His expression never changed.

“If you accept, you'll receive clearance, training, housing if necessary, and access to ongoing expeditions.” he slid the photographs back toward the center of the table. “You'll also gain access to every report, recording, and recovery operation related to the this experiment.”

Your eyes immediately landed on Sukuna's photograph. “Including missing people..?”

The scientist followed your gaze.

“Including them.”

He tapped the picture of Sukuna.

“We're already searching for them.”

His finger moved to Choso.

“If he's alive, we'll know.”

Then Satoru.

“And if your friend still exists in any meaningful capacity…”

He closed the folder.

“Our personnel are the ones most likely to find him.”

Hope flickered painfully inside your chest.

“And if we don't accept?” you asked quietly.

The room became completely still. The older scientist simply held your gaze for several seconds before speaking in the same calm, measured tone he'd used throughout the interview.

“Miss…” he addressed you by your last name. “You've now been exposed to information that cannot leave this facility. I'm confident you're intelligent enough to understand what that means.”

The implication settled over the room like a weight pressing against everyone's chest.

Toji slowly leaned back in his chair. “So we were never really being questioned.”

The scientist tilted his head slightly. “You were. Your answers simply aren't the only thing being evaluated.”

Both scientists stood from their chairs in unison. The younger one gathered the folders while the older scientist calmly buttoned his suit jacket, taking one last look at the four of you.

“I understand this isn't the future any of you envisioned. Unfortunately, reality rarely asks for our permission.” he stepped towards the door before pausing, his hand resting on the handle. “We'll give you one hour.”

The room remained silent. For the first time since the interrogation began, the older scientist allowed the faintest trace of amusement to creep into his expression. It wasn't warm. It wasn't reassuring. It was the tired smile of someone who had watched this exact conversation play out countless times before.

“Think it over. Discuss it. Weigh the pros and cons if it makes you feel better,” he said with a small shrug. “Just don't spend too much time debating a decision that's already been made. I'd hate for you to waste your hour.”

With that, he opened the door. The two scientists disappeared into the corridor beyond before the heavy steel door swung shut behind them.

Your eyes drifted to the observation window. The black glass reflected the four of you back instead. Exhausted. Bruised. Alive. The irony wasn't lost on you. Hours ago, the only thing any of you had wanted was to escape that place, and you did. Yet somehow… it didn't feel like you'd escaped anything at all.

Dividers by: @\somebitchprobably-graphicdump

Note: It's been a while, but I think you asked me to tag you if I ever made a part 2. @nyxisnotok

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

I have SUCH a headache