Mount Justice

July 22nd , 23:59 EDT

I heard a knock at my door, jolting me out from my meditation. I looked through the door to see Megan standing there anxiously, wearing her plainclothes.

I opened the door with Blue and tried to put on my best face, "What is it?" I asked her.

"Oh," her eyes widened suddenly, "Can I come in?"

"I opened the door, didn't I?" I said to her.

She stepped in. I closed the door behind her. She took a deep breath and started speaking, "You need to stop pushing people away, Gojo."

Something about hearing my last name out of her mouth made me feel ill at ease, like I had made a serious mistake.

"What do you mean?" I asked, frowning.

"You obviously felt bad about Batman singling you out," she said, "What I don't understand is why you felt bad about the team standing up for you. What is it about us that makes you feel like we're somehow unworthy?"

"You're not unworthy," I said to her.

"That's not the point," she said. "It's not just me. It's Kid Flash. It's Superboy, whom you condescend to every chance you get. It's Aqualad, whom you don't show any gratitude to for accepting you when all the others wouldn't. Or Robin, who did the same, and still you treat them like they're less than you. Why is that? Because you're the strongest? We know you're strong."

"I don't know what to say," I said through gritted teeth, "I don't know what you want from me."

She walked up to me, "Words are hard. I know that better than most. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. Just… consider letting me in." She reached for my shoulder and felt that it was covered in Infinity.

She gently retracted her hand.

Letting her in? Letting her in?

She wanted to read my mind!

Why was she asking this of me?

Why was she making me have to lump her in with all the other idiots on the team and force me to push her away, too?

I considered going through with exactly that, telling her to buzz off, calling her names, accusing her of awful things.

And as I considered those options, feeling a growing pit in my stomach, I wondered when it was exactly that I started caring so much?!

Everything about the aftermath of this mission was annoying.

Everything.

I growled, "Fine," I released Infinity, "Have a look if you want."

I saw it with my eyes as her telepathic waves started intruding on my mind, having a look around. I could feel how it disrupted my own thoughts, how it caused me to slightly glitch out. It felt like she was rummaging through the shelves of my memory.

She sat next to me on the bed. "You miss your friends, don't you?"

"Talking about it isn't going to help," I said. "So I won't talk about it."

"Letting yourself feel the pain of loss is important, Sa-chan," she said, "Or else, how are you ever going to grow?" Oh, so now I'm Sa-chan. How transactional.

"By fixing it," I said, "Because I can. Because I'm strong and I can fix this if I try hard enough."

"Is that why you haven't slept for over a week?" Megan asked me. "Believe me, Sa-chan, it's hurting you, even if you can't tell. Humans need sleep and rest."

I felt a stab of fear at the prospect of rest. Why fear? Who was I to fear anything?

"Fear is natural," Megan said, "Everyone feels fear. Even Superman."

"…Why am I afraid?" I asked.

"You know the answer. You just have to feel your way to it."

I closed my eyes to hold back some tears and focused. Why was I afraid?

I was afraid to dream.

To see Suguru again. To see something awful happening to him. Or Amanai.

I was afraid to say that I hadn't worked tirelessly to return back to my home world when so many people depended on me.

The moment I went to sleep here was the moment I accepted, truly, that… things might never be the same. That I might truly be stuck here, in the fucking DC universe, fighting Joker and Lex Luthor and giant alien starfish and every other freak that existed in this haphazard universe that made no sense at all.

But if I refused to sleep forever, then I would always remain a creature of this fear.

I resented that far, far, far more than the possibility that I might never return.

And if I might never return to Suguru, then it should be fine if I shed some tears right now. Right?

I'm here for you, I heard Megan's voice in my head. I won't leave you.

And that was all I needed for the tears to stream down.

I wept quietly, staring at the wall, letting the emotions pile up and squeeze tears out of me like I was a sponge.

And Megan never left my side.

At some point, I lied down sideways, still crying. "I think I will sleep now," I whispered, the first sound I had made in several minutes.

Megan stood up and was about to leave when I grabbed her hand with a Blue, and thought, very heavily, please don't leave me. You said you wouldn't leave.

She turned around and climbed on the bed, lying behind me. There, she hugged me. I closed my eyes and finally let the exhaustion of these past few days knock me out in an instant.

000

The court echoed with the bounce of the basketball as I dribbled, feinting left before cutting right, but Suguru was on me. We'd played so many games together he practically knew my moves before I even thought of them. I grinned, pushing forward, but he moved swiftly, arms up, reading me like an open book.

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"Getting a little predictable, Satoru," he smirked.

"Oh, really?" I made to toss the ball with a quick flick of my wrist, letting my hands hang in the air just long enough to fake him out, then pulled it back, stepping back for a fadeaway. It sailed through the air, perfect arc—and hit the rim, clanging off. Weird. I was off my game.

Suguru caught the rebound, laughing. "That's new!"

"Just need a warm-up," I said, jogging backward with a shrug. "Don't think I've missed two in a row in, what, years?"

"Sure," he replied, dribbling with an ease that came from years of practice, his face lit with a calm focus. It was hard not to think of all the times we'd done this back in the day, just the two of us on a court, talking smack, laughing about random stuff, our guards down.

A green figure floated above the court, just entering my peripheral vision. I turned, my grin widening as Megan hovered down, looking curious.

"Oh! Hello!" she called out, smiling. "I was just walking by and heard you two playing. Mind if I watch?"

"Not at all," I said, then gestured to Suguru. "Megan, this is Suguru, my best friend. Suguru, meet Megan the Martian."

Suguru glanced at me with a raised brow, then nodded at her, extending a hand. "Nice to meet you, Megan. I've never met a Martian before in my life."

She took it with a friendly shake, still hovering a few inches off the ground. "Likewise! It's always nice meeting Sa-chan's friends," she said, giving him a curious look. "Not that I've ever done that before, this is the first time, hahah," she laughed awkwardly.

Suguru gave me a smirk. "That's interesting. The Satoru I knew was always a little too good at making friends."

"Is that so?" Megan looked at me with a grin. Then she turned to Suguru, "Why don't you tell me all about it?"

"Maaan," I sighed, "Don't go around slandering me, ya hear? I'll beat the crap out of you Suguru, no joke!"

"Okay," Suguru grinned, dribbling the ball a few times, "The first thing you need to know is—Satoru's nasty personality, it's all a front."

Megan laughed, "Don't I know it?"

I growled, "I really don't give a damn! Honest!"

"Yeah, yeah," Suguru waved me off and went behind the three-point line to take a shot.

"Deep down, he loves people," Suguru scored three points, "He really does. He might talk down about those who can't defend themselves, but really, it's just because he's a worrywart. When you're strong like him, you can't properly fear for yourself, so all you end up doing is fearing for others."

"Don't go around putting me on a pedestal, you damn creep," I ran to get the ball, "You're strong, too! That means I never have to go around worrying about you."

Suguru stood before me with a grin, blocking me from leaving the three-point line. "I'm glad you're relieved by me, Satoru," he turned to Megan, "And I'm guessing you also relieve him, in a way."

I looked at Megan, who gave me a warm smile.

Then that bastard Geto stole the ball from my hands, "Dammit!" I shouted as he backed up from the three-point line and took another shot, scoring three points right before me.

"I like to think so," Megan said, looking a little shy. I honestly couldn't stand this atmosphere, it was way too embarrassing.

"Suguru, I'll kill you if you keep this sappy shit up," I glared at him.

"Classic Satoru," he laughed as he went for the ball and I stepped out from the three-point line.

"Check," he said, throwing the ball to me, and I began to dribble. "There was actually this girl, Megan," Suguru said, and I immediately felt my energy leaving me.

"Riko Amanai, right?" Megan said, "Sa-chan told me about him."

"Did he tell you how he went out of his way to make sure her last days were filled with as much beauty as possible?" Suguru asked, "How we took a pit-stop by Okinawa to go to the beach? We went paddling, saw flowers, and even went to an aquarium. Satoru did this, even knowing how much risk he was under."

I shoulder-checked Suguru out of the way and ran up for a dunk, feeling a ball growing in my throat.

"He… didn't mention that," Megan said.

"Satoru looks out for people," Suguru said, grinning at Megan, "That's his nature. Don't let him convince you otherwise."

Suguru stepped out of the three-point line and I felt my eyes growing heavy, "Couldn't look out for you, could I?" I said as I passed him the ball. He paused for a moment, expression neutral, concerned. Tentatively, he started dribbling, and I stole the ball from him easily, stepping out from the line and throwing a shot. A three-point swish. "All that messing around screwed us in the end." He ran to get the ball and passed it to me. I threw another three-pointer, scoring. "I'm sorry man," I said quietly.

Suguru pressed his fist against my chest. I looked up to see his face. He was smiling. "No biggie. Just… come back whenever you can, alright? I'll be waiting."

"You might be dead."

"I've never given you a reason to worry before, have I?" he said, "I won't start now."

I chuckled.

"Megan," Suguru said to her. She was standing right by me, "Make sure he doesn't ruin things while being a hero. He's more suited for that than jujutsu sorcery." I groaned. What a damn worrywart.

"How so?" Megan asked.

"In the world of jujutsu, everyone is scared of him," Suguru said, "But in a world of heroes, people would love him instead. Make sure he doesn't throw that away."

"I'll try my best," Megan said.