The four of them were still swimming.
Yuji had just splashed Takeru again.
"Seriously?!"
Takeru laughed and chased after him.
One of the Gojo's was floating nearby while the other was trying to stay on his surfboard.
For a few minutes, everything felt completely normal.
Then—
The sunlight changed.
Takeru stopped.
"…Wait."
The ocean around them suddenly became golden.
Not because of the sunrise.
Not because of the reflection of the sun.
The entire sky was changing.
The clouds began glowing.
A brilliant golden hue spread across the sky, mixed with strange cosmic colors that seemed to stretch far beyond the atmosphere.
Tiny points of light appeared between the clouds.
Stars.
In the middle of the day.
Yuji looked up.
"…What the hell?"
One of the Gojo's slowly sat upright.
"That isn't normal."
The other Gojo looked toward the horizon.
"No."
Takeru stared upward.
His Six Eyes focused.
"…I can't make sense of it."
That got everyone's attention.
Yuji looked at him.
"You can't?"
Takeru shook his head.
"Not completely."
The golden light intensified.
FWOOM.
The entire sky suddenly shone.
The ocean reflected the cosmic glow, turning the water into a massive golden mirror.
Takeru immediately turned toward shore.
"Out."
The four hurried through the water.
SPLASH!
They reached the beach.
Takeru grabbed a towel and barely bothered drying himself.
He simply stared upward.
People across the beach had stopped what they were doing.
Everyone was looking at the sky now.
Maki lowered the drink in her hand.
"…That's new."
Hakari squinted.
"Is the sky supposed to do that?"
Nanami looked upward.
"No."
Both Sukuna's stood silently.
Kenjaku's expression had become unusually serious.
Even the curses had stopped playing.
Fred looked toward the sky.
"…Pretty."
His friends stared at him.
"Fred, that's terrifying."
Fred blinked.
"…Pretty terrifying."
Takeru stepped forward.
The golden cosmic light reflected in his blue eyes.
"Something's happening."
Yuji stood beside him.
"You think it's Sukuna?"
Takeru shook his head.
"I don't know."
One of the Gojo's looked at him.
"Can you see anything?"
Takeru stared harder.
The golden light pulsed.
BOOM.
A sound like a heartbeat echoed across the sky.
Everyone froze.
Takeru's expression became serious.
"…Okay."
He looked at the others.
"Now I'm officially concerned."
The sky continued to glow.
Golden.
Cosmic.
Beautiful.
And deeply, deeply wrong.