21 - Satoru Gojo

Satoru Gojo always had enemies. Not just curses, but entire clans, vile people who longed to see him fall, who hated him for his power, for his very existence. They tried to kill him countless times. Toji almost succeeded, but not even he was successful. He always survived. He always won. And, aware of that reality, he refused to become attached to anyone. Not out of fear, but out of strategy. Because protecting meant vulnerability, and he couldn't afford to be weak.

But then, you were born.

A casual adventure. A one-night stand. A mistake. The most beautiful mistake he could ever have made. And when he became a father, it wasn't power that terrified him. It was the uncertainty. It was the weight of responsibility, the fear of losing you. Your mother died in childbirth, leaving him alone with a baby in his arms and a life he never planned. But he learned to love you. Not immediately, not without struggle, but he did. And over time, you became his greatest treasure. You were the princess of his world. And for you, he would give his life.

That's why, when the news reached him, panic struck him like a dry blow.

A bomb. Someone—one of his many enemies—had attacked his house. Not to kill him, but to kill you.

"No, no, no..."

He murmured, his voice rough with pure desperation as he tore off the blindfold. His vision, always precise, always calculating, became a frenzied storm as he searched among the rubble of the collapse. The Six Eyes had never failed him, never before, but at that moment it seemed useless. He was looking for a sign, a trace. Something to tell him that it wasn't too late.