Ms. Gojo thought she was dating an ordinary person's boyfriend.

That was a long, long time ago.

When she first became a "mission worker", Sumi Kichikawa didn't actually find the job particularly painful.

Traveling through different worlds and witnessing vastly different civilizations and stories—for Sumi Kichikawa, who had just become a mission taker, it was a novel experience.

At first, he approached each task with the mindset of "tourism" and accepted them with great enthusiasm.

He served as a strategist in ancient dynasties, a mercenary in post-apocalyptic wastelands, and a healer in magical worlds.

Every world has its unique scenery, and every journey makes him feel fulfilled and meaningful.

He is like a traveler who is always on the road. Every time he arrives in a new world, he can't help but feel, integrate, and connect with the people there.

He made many friends as a result.

There are forthright warriors, wise scholars, gentle young women, and adorable children...

They met Sumi Kichikawa for various reasons, and in their brief time together, they became a bright spot in each other's lives.

However, once the novelty wears off and time is stretched out indefinitely, the most fatal and powerless punishment for those on the mission becomes apparent.

That is to watch helplessly as the gears of fate crush everything.

That's a dimension based on the script; every step has been written.

His encounters with most of his friends were due to "mission requirements"; and their separations were always sudden and unexpected.

Often, before the world can finally achieve stability, he is forced to leave, without even having time to say a proper "goodbye."

What's even more frightening is that this so-called "script" is irreversible.

As a "mission taker," his duty is to stabilize the world line and ensure the occurrence of key plot points.

The system granted him only "assistance" and "correction" permissions, not "change".

In other words, if someone is destined to die in the story, then no matter how hard Sumi Kiseki tries, that person will eventually die.

He had tried to struggle.

In one world, he desperately tries to save a boy who is about to be executed; in another world, he defies the system's warnings in an attempt to prevent an inevitable war.

But each time, he failed.

Once the gears of fate are set in motion, they will never stop because of the struggles of an outsider.

And those friends, those he had finally made and those who treated him sincerely, all eventually followed the course of fate and died before his eyes.

For the first time, Sumi Kichikawa realized that as a mission taker, his greatest powerlessness was watching the plot unfold helplessly, knowing the ending but unable to change it.

He began to fear making connections, yet he couldn't bring himself to be completely indifferent.

He could never be indifferent to the people around him.

So he fell into the same cycle again and again—meeting, getting to know each other, and then watching each other walk toward a predetermined end.

Gradually, Sumi Kichikawa began to wonder what the point of making friends was.

Because often, just as he was beginning to develop a deep bond with someone, that person was about to die.

And he, as an observer who clearly knows the ending, still wears an ignorant smile and accompanies the other party to the end.

He began to have a vague feeling that he was like an executioner.

Knowing their fate, they still watched helplessly as they walked step by step toward destruction, and even personally "propelled" the plot forward.

This sense of powerlessness and guilt, like poison, gradually eroded Sumi Kichikawa's heart.

The intense pain began to affect the progress of the mission, so the system began to suppress the personal emotions of the mission takers.

The initial results were excellent.

He became an excellent mission taker.

He no longer felt pain at the death of his friend; his heart was as still as a stagnant pool in the face of separation and death.

Grief, anger, resentment—all the negative emotions seemed to have been stripped away.

However, the system underestimated the resilience of human nature.

I don't know from which world or which day it started, but those feelings of powerlessness, selfishness, resentment, and intense thirst for desire that were forcibly suppressed in the corners and were almost bursting at the seams finally gave birth to a rebellious monster in a state of oblivious silence.

"Che" was born.

......

"...Xiao Cheng."

A warm hand covered his cheek.

Sumire Kikawa suddenly snapped out of her daze.

Before he knew it, Gojo Satoru had stood up from the shoe-changing bench, slightly bent over, and was looking at him with worried eyes.

Gojo Satoru gently stroked the corner of his eye with his thumb, as if brushing away something invisible.

"You've snapped out of it?" Gojo Satoru's eyes crinkled into a gentle smile.

It was only then that Sumire Kichikawa realized that she had been squatting in the same spot for who knows how long.

My knees are a little numb, and my vision is a little blurry.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found that his throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and he couldn't utter a single word.

Gojo Satoru didn't press him about why he had been distracted earlier.

They didn't press him for an answer about "when exactly Che was born".

He simply bent down, scooped Sumi Kichikawa up from the ground, and then led her back to the sofa in the living room.

He pressed Sumi Kichikawa down onto the sofa, and then sat down himself.

The next second, Gojo Satoru opened his arms and gently, carefully, pulled Sumi Kikawa into his embrace.

His chin rested gently on the top of Kikawa Sumi's head, and one hand patted Kikawa Sumi's back tenderly, as if comforting a frightened child.

"If you don't want to talk about it, then don't." Gojo Satoru's voice was low, with a kind of alluring gentleness. "If our Sumi doesn't like something, we won't do it."

Sumi Kichikawa's body stiffened for a moment.

He could clearly feel the heartbeat emanating from Gojo Satoru's chest, steady and powerful, like a harbor that could embrace all storms.

Those fragments of memory that he had buried deep in his soul and thought would never hurt again, now surged out uncontrollably from the cracks because of Gojo Satoru's simple hug.

Sumi Kichikawa closed her eyes.

He buried his face in Gojo Satoru's neck, his voice muffled, with a rare tremor that even he himself didn't realize:

"Enlightenment..."

"sorry."

"I might... not be a normal person."

I have two personalities, an inexplicable past, and a power that I cannot even understand myself. Even the seemingly peaceful life I have now is built on countless lies.

I am not a normal lover.

I'm not even a normal human being.

Gojo paused for a moment, then remained silent.

He simply held him tighter, so tight that Sumire Kichikawa could almost hear every beat of his heart in his chest.

After a long while, he lowered his head and placed a devout, vow-like kiss on the top of Kikawa Sumi's head.

"No matter who you are, no matter what you carry, no matter how many secrets you have..."

Gojo Satoru tightened his arms, pulling Sumi Kikawa even closer into his embrace, and whispered a promise in his ear:

I will always love you.

"To remain faithful to one's husband until the end."