Overacting

[Next, Satoru Gojo also dealt with Baier from Q. After you regrouped, things went much as they had in the previous simulation. Once both sides had introduced themselves, you accompanied Riko Amanai to school on Masamichi Yaga's orders to fulfill her wish.]

[Because you had experienced the previous simulation, you knew what would happen over the next few hours.]

[In fulfilling Riko Amanai's final wish to live like an ordinary person, she would come under attack, and her maid, Misato Kuroi, would be kidnapped.]

[You were perfectly capable of preventing Kuroi's capture ahead of time through Circulating Corridor or Wukong's reconnaissance, but you chose to remain silent and watch it all unfold with cold detachment.]

[This was not cold-bloodedness, but a necessary trade-off.]

[The butterfly effect was your greatest enemy at present. If you changed the chain of cause and effect here and Kuroi was not kidnapped, then everyone would not go to Okinawa.]

[If you did not go to Okinawa, the time and place of Toji Fushiguro's attack would become impossible to control.]

[Rather than face the fear of the unknown, you would prefer to fight Toji Fushiguro to the death on this stage you knew so well.]

[Only by letting the script progress in the direction you knew could you make the most of your information advantage.]

[Besides, going to Okinawa would, to some extent, fulfill Riko Amanai's last little wish. You did not think you had any right to deprive her of it.]

[Misato Kuroi was kidnapped. Through negotiations, you went to Okinawa for the exchange and successfully rescued her.]

[The tense escort mission turned into a brief summer school trip thanks to Satoru Gojo's willful suggestion that, since you were already there, you should stay and have fun for another day.]

[The turquoise sea, the blue sky, the white sandy beach, and the white-haired boy who never deactivated his Cursed Technique, even while playing around.]

[It was already late at night, but Satoru Gojo still wore his sunglasses as he sat on the railing by the sea, swirling a can of ramune in his hand. Although he appeared to be watching the ocean, those Eyes of the Sky never stopped analyzing the surrounding Cursed Energy.]

[This was already the third day. You knew that, according to the original script, Toji Fushiguro was waiting-waiting for the instant Satoru Gojo exhausted his mental strength and deactivated his Cursed Technique.]

[You took a deep breath, pulled a can of iced coffee from the convenience store bag, walked over, and pressed it against Satoru Gojo's cheek.]

["Hey, that's cold!"]

[Satoru Gojo let out an exaggerated cry, ducked his head, and turned to look at you.]

["Shunchen? Instead of sleeping in the middle of the night, did you come to watch this year's strongest and the ocean gaze lovingly into each other's eyes?"]

["You're overacting. You haven't deactivated Limitless at all."]

[You pulled the tab and tipped your head back for a sip. The bitter taste spread through your mouth, making you more alert.]

["No, I just came to make a suggestion. Deactivate your Cursed Technique and go to sleep."]

[The smile on Satoru Gojo's face stiffened, and his eyes narrowed slightly behind his sunglasses.]

["Huh? Are you kidding? We're still on a mission. If those Curse Users with a death wish..."]

["This is Okinawa. You guys have already scared those small-fry Curse Users out of their wits."]

[You interrupted him, your tone unusually serious, even carrying a hint of forcefulness.]

["You've been maintaining Limitless for almost three days now, haven't you? Even with the Six Eyes helping you and your Cursed Energy consumption close to zero, your brain isn't a perpetual motion machine. Those nonstop calculations will push your nerves to their limit."]

[You pointed toward the hotel rooms nearby.]

["Nanami and Haibara are already here, and Geto and I are here too. Even if a Special Grade Cursed Spirit really does attack, we can hold out until you wake up."]

["So turn it off and get some sleep. This is to make sure that when you really need to act, you're the strongest at full strength, not some exhausted guy with sluggish reactions."]

[Satoru Gojo did not answer immediately. He looked you up and down with an extremely suspicious gaze that even held a hint of scrutiny, as though he were meeting you for the first time.]

[Only after a long while did he speak slowly, his tone less flippant and more probing.]

["...Shunchen, just what the hell are you up to?"]

[He jumped down from the railing and stepped half a pace closer, an oppressive presence washing over you.]

["Back in the classroom, you were the one most eager to insist we give this our all, the one most nervous about this mission. Why are you suddenly telling me to 'slack off' at the critical moment?"]

["I'd buy it if Geto, that mother hen, said this, but you... haven't you always played it safe? Wouldn't 'playing it safe' right now mean keeping me on guard around the clock?"]

[Satoru Gojo's intuition was frighteningly sharp.]

[He had noticed the inconsistency in your logic. A cautious person suddenly urging the main fighting force to drop his defenses was abnormal in itself.]

[Of course, you could not tell him the truth: Because I know that when we return to Jujutsu High tomorrow, Toji Fushiguro will launch a surprise attack when you're at your most exhausted, then kill the Star Plasma Vessel.]

["It's precisely because I want to play it safe that I don't want our trump card to fail us at a critical moment because he's overworked."]

[With the help of Life Is Like a Play, your performance showed no flaws in Satoru Gojo's eyes.]

["But as I see it, ignoring your body's limits out of arrogance is the biggest destabilizing factor. I'm not telling you to slack off. I'm carrying out 'risk management.'"]

["...Tch. What a load of twisted nonsense."]

[Satoru Gojo curled his lip and sat back on the railing. Although his words remained sharp, the unnerving fluctuations of Cursed Energy around him really did seem to subside a little.]

["Okay, okay, you're such a nag. I'll go to sleep once Geto takes over. Happy?"]

[Satoru Gojo suddenly turned his head, his sunglasses slipping down his nose. Those azure eyes shone astonishingly bright in the moonlight.]

["But Shunchen, lately... have you been keeping something from us?"]