The Boyfriend Act

by MsSalahlah, MsSalalah (MsSalahlah)

Summary:

Gojo Satoru turns up at Yuki's doorstep dead. Or almost dead.

Or,

Your ex-boyfriend turns up at your doorstep dead. Or almost dead. You haven't seen him in years.

 

*The story switches between two timelines. One is set in the past, Pre-Star Plasma Vessel | Hidden Inventory Arc and present which is set in Post-Shibuya Incident Arc.

Chapter 1: Prologue

She's on her way home from the corner mart when she sees him waiting in front of her apartment door. She wonders how he knew where she lived, how he got into the building, and, more importantly, what bug had crawled up his ass for him to think it was okay to show up on her doorstep when her footsteps slow down, her mouth slowly opening in a slow, horrified gasp.

Gojo's leaning against her door, bloodied and injured, as if barely able to hold himself up. If it weren't for his white hair and trademark blue eyes, she wonders if she would have recognised him.

"Took you fuckin' long enough," she hears him say gruffly. And that mouth. Of course, that trademark awful mouth. Perhaps, if nothing else, she would recognise that nasty mouth anywhere. The same mouth she had lo—

Yuki blinks. The only words that rush out of her mouth are, “What have you done to yourself?” He seems to have been waiting for her, and having finally seen her, his legs seem to give out because he is crumbling to the floor.

The bag of groceries slips from Yuki's fingers as she reaches towards him. Her hands barely grasp him. He runs through her fingers like sand as he slips to the ground. She kneels, her hands painted with red from where she had touched his uniform, the dark of it hiding the crimson successfully.

“Are you... What... Did you come here to die?” Yuki asks, horrified. She reaches out again to wrap her arms around his shoulders.

"Don’t tell anyone... Don’t...” He says before passing out. When Gojo collapses into her arms, and the initial shock subsides, Yuki realises she is touching Gojo... Completely touching him. Confused and horrified at what had just happened, her bag of groceries lay forgotten and abandoned, an orange rolling out and wandering down. How was she touching him? How? He always had his infinity on. What...What had happen—

"Onee-san, is this your orange?" A voice breaks her train of thought.

Hottaru. She doesn't even need to turn to know it's the five-year-old grandson of her neighbour, Mrs Matsumoto, which means she must be with him too. Perfect, just perfect. What a Saturday this was turning out to be! Yuki reaches into the pocket of her jeans, struggling to get to her keys, while she also supports Gojo. She finally decides to abandon him by pushing him against the door, freeing her arms to rummage through her pockets. Where on earth had she kept them?! Had she forgotten them somewhere?

"Onee-san!" Hottaru is now next to her, holding out an orange in his tiny arm. His eyes widen at the man propped against the door. Luckily, this is also the moment her fingers grasp around metal and feel the familiar shape of her keys press into the flesh of her fingers. Yes, she thinks as she pulls out the keys and thrusts the shortest one into the keyhole while she answers the impatient kid.

"Oh, Hottaru-kun, how lovely to see you. Thanks for the orange. I'll see you soon, yeah?" She says hurriedly as she throws the door of her apartment open. Unluckily for her, Gojo's body, which she had propped up against the door, falls back with a worrying thump. Three things happen simultaneously. Hottaru screams. Yuki gasps. And an older woman's voice asks what on earth is happening.

Yuki rushes to check if Gojo is okay. He is. Well, he is breathing. She looks up to see Hottaru is now tucked safely into his grandma's side, looking at Yuki with afraid and wide eyes. She remembers another pair of eyes once looking at her like that and cannot help the sharp pain that shoots through her heart.

She looks at the elderly woman, who is now looking at Yuki with suspicious eyes. “Oh, hi, Mrs. Matsumoto. Nice to see you. Sorry, yes, excuse me, my...yes, he’s drunk...very... Young people, yes, pish posh,” Yuki grunts as she drags Gojo's unconscious body into her apartment. Please don't leave a trail of blood, please don't leave a trail of blood, she prays while letting out a nervous chuckle. "I'll just get him out of the way."

"Dear, this is not a good sight. You should have a tighter leash on your boyfriend. Although, I suppose, it is good to know you do have one. A boyfriend, I mean." Mrs. Matsumoto's words grate on Yuki's nerves, and she would've corrected her at a better time, but for now, she is glad neither of them seemed to have seen any blood. 

"Yes, Mrs. Matsumoto. A lesson for another time, definitely," Yuki says through gritted teeth as she deposits Gojo's body next to the shoe shelf, away from the door. She is about to shut the door when something stops her.

"Your bag of groceries," a little voice pipes up. Yuki shoots Hottaru a strained smile. "Thanks, I'll get that soon, too."

"I can help, nee-chan," Hottaru replies enthusiastically and starts picking up her fallen bag of groceries.

"You know your mom will be happy to know you're dating!" Mrs. Matsumoto chimes in unhelpfully. Yuki ignores her. Lord, could the woman not shut up?!

"Oh darling, thank you," Yuki says, reaching down to pet the child's head. "See you soon, okay? I'll come by, bye!" Yuki feels a little bad for how she snatches the bag of groceries from the child's hands and slams the door shut, but the feeling only lasts a few seconds, clouded over by much larger concerns, i.e., the half-dead man in her apartment.

She takes out her phone. "Aiko, I need help."

Chapter 2: Bastard-Sama and Pantsuits-Chan

Notes:

The storyline will shift from the past to the present, and so will the narrative style. For the past, I will use a second-person narrative, and for the present, it will be a third-person narrative.

Present Day

"That's him?" Aiko asks as she steps into Yuki's apartment. She nods and directs her friend to where Gojo is passed out on the couch.

"I don't think he's bleeding anymore...Or was it even his blood?" She mutters to herself absentmindedly. Aiko raises a concerned eyebrow but stays quiet otherwise, considering something.

"He looks different."

"Yes," Yuki replies curtly. "Now, just help him, please... And keep this between us."

"I have some bandages, but I am guessing I will need more... Bandages, painkillers, disinfectant, and other stuff..." Aiko takes out her phone and scribbles something on it. Yuki's phone buzzes.

She glances at the list she's received from Aiko and nods, "I'll go to the pharmacy."

The trip to the pharmacy is longer than she anticipates. It is a half-hour before she gets everything on Aiko's list.

When Yuki returns, she sees Gojo's not in his uniform anymore, he's shirtless with some bandages around his chest, his head and his arm.

She swallows and looks at Aiko with a worried expression. Aiko's sitting next to Gojo in a chair, looking tired. She looks back at Gojo's unconscious form.

How much damage did he take, and how did his reverse cursed technique not kick in to help him?

"Looks like his reverse cursed technique didn't work," Aiko echoes Yuki's concerns. 

"Has he been passed out throughout?"

"He did wake up for a second, muttering something."

"What?" Yuki asks, kneeling next to Gojo's head.

"Pantsuits."

---

Nine Years Ago

You've been assigned to Gojo. He doesn't know it yet, so when he prances into Jujutsu High and finds you waiting by the car, he is surprised. "Who are you?"

"Good morning," you open the door, “I will be driving you around, Gojo-sensei. I'm your new assistant, Y—"

"New assistant?" Gojo interrupts you, leaning over the opened car door. You keep your gaze directed downwards. 

"Yes, I have been assigned to you temporarily since Ijichi-san is on leave." 

"Hmm..." You can feel his gaze boring into you, and you try not to squirm. You hold your shoulders straight as you stare at the ground. "Alright, then, drive away," he says with mirth and hops into the car. Huh. You had not imagined the Head of the Gojo clan to be so...casual with how he moved. Every move should be deliberate and precise. Anything less or more betrays a lazy mind or, worse, a thoughtless one. That's what you've grown up hearing. Hmm. You try to reserve your judgment, but your opinion of him has suffered.

You get into the car and start the engine. "Gojo-sensei, would you like the AC on?" You check your mirrors and see Gojo checking his phone with a bored expression on his face.

“Sensei? That’s a bit uptight, isn’t it? Ijichi calls me San. You may call me that, too.”

“Oh… Well, I was told by Yaga-Sensei to refer to everyone as—”

“Ignore Yaga, that old rat. He’s always up to no good.” His eyes flash at you over his glasses in the rearview mirror, and you feel a shiver shock your spine when you see the cerulean blues of his eyes. The Six Eyes. Of course, his eyes would be beautiful. You just hadn't imagined them to be that blue, though. One could be tempted to pluck them out and make a beaded necklace out of them.

 "As you wish, Gojo-san." You turn your gaze to the road. 

Your first mission of the day is to drive him to Zenpuku-ji River Green Park. The drive is mostly peaceful, apart from some wayward comments by Gojo directed at his phone. You suspect he is on Twitter, unimpressed by some posts. You don't mind it too much and think of it as white noise. Once you reach the destination, Gojo steps out before you.

When you get down, he turns to you to say, "Pantsuits-chan, put up the curtain and stay out. I don't have time to tend to you if anything goes wrong."

Your eyebrow twitches. "P...Pantsuits?" You were wearing women's pantsuits and had your hair in a tight bun—a picture-perfect portrait of professionalism. 

"Pantsuits-chan, that's your name," Gojo says dismissively and stuffs his phone into the pocket of his uniform. He extends his arms over his head like a cat, shrugging off the laziness from its bones with a bored panache. 

"I will not be responding to that," you say calmly. 

"Don't be like that, Pantsuits-chan," he says mockingly, "A good assistant makes their boss's life easier, not harder."

Your eyebrow twitches. You clear your throat and take out your notebook.

"Today's mission is dealing with the curse haunting the park. There have been several cases of missing children in the past few weeks, and we suspect it is the work of a curse. Your mission is to kill the curse and get any survivors," you read off from the notepad. 

"Gotcha." Gojo gives you a mock wave before heading inside the park.

You bite the inside of her cheek, annoyed, but remain calm. You turn to start putting up the curtain.

Emerge from the darkness, blacker still. Purify that which is impure.

---

You take out a cigarette and light it while you wait.

You've promised your mum you'll quit soon. She is worried you'll end up like your dad, a chain smoker, but she's also going easy on you. She calls it a 'pre-frontal lobe development pardon'.

So you have four years until you turn 25 and your frontal lobe develops, and until then, she will not be commenting on your: 1.) smoking, 2) dating life, 3) eating habits, and 4) stupid life choices, i.e., working at Jujutsu High.

Post-frontal lobe development, your mom wants more than a 'because I wanted to' as a form of reasoning. You can't fight with your mom's logic of wanting a daughter with more than two working brain cells, so you agreed to the deal.

Well, here you are, smoking your first cigarette of the day, delighting in the pre-frontal lobe developmental bliss of ignorance. You relish each puff and see them float away like fluffy clouds. Puff, puff, puff. Goodness, why do bad things have to feel so good? You wonder as you take out your little notebook and open it up with a bored panache. The cover slaps against the back of your fingers as it flips open.

You pull out a pen and write, 9 am. Exorcism, Zenpuku-ji River Green Park.

Writing these notes makes you feel a bit icky, but it's just writing down the schedule. Nothing too sensitive or serious. If it gets bad...you'll call it quits. At least, that's what you told yourself when you agreed to the job.

An ominous feeling creeps up on you, forcing you to abandon your half-smoked cigarette and stuff your notebook back in your breast pocket. What the fuck...? Your eyes widen when you spot a bulbous shape with wings. Wasn't Gojo supposed to be good? So why was a—grade 3, was it?—curse coming at you?

You tense up, but remember your training.

Empty your mind, then fill it with technique. 

You bring your hands together to slam the ground, evoking an illusion and momentarily disorienting the curse. It will only last three seconds at maximum, but it gives you enough time to pull out the cursed throwing stars tucked in your socks and the inseam of your jacket. They are a bit worn out, seeing as you'd received them as a gift from your parents when you first exhibited jujutsu powers at around twelve, but they still get the job done.

You rush towards the curse, crouching down, as you plunge two of the stars straight into the curse's head and three more into its body, effectively exorcising it.

Thank god, it was only grade three, you think to yourself. Where the fuck is Gojo?

You don't have to wonder for long. 

"You have potential. Why did you never attend Jujutsu High?" A voice startles you. You stand up from your crouched form to face the owner of the voice. Gojo. You bite back the irritation that sparks within you and mask it with superfluous humility. 

"I wasn't very good. My parents' biggest shame. I could not bear to bring more burden to their name by openly displaying my lacking abilities," you say, your head bowed and face morose. 

"That's excessive," he says, looking at you calculatively. "Sorry about having to tackle the third grade by yourself. It got away from me. Good thing you know how to exorcise curses, huh?"

Perhaps he is not as stupid as you think. Perhaps you are not as good of an actress as you think. You stick to the script, nevertheless.

So when he says, "Surely, you know, we can use all the sorcerers we can get," you immediately respond with, "My illusions only last a few seconds, and my offensive skills are extremely rough around the edges. And perhaps more importantly, I am only here temporarily, as I had told you."

"Ah, yes..." He scratches his head thoughtfully. "Why temporarily?"

"It...was at my behest. My parents do not think me capable—"

"Perhaps I should pay them a visit. These parents of yours," he says in a playful voice, but you can detect the seriousness in it. Panic flares in you.

This is how Gojo Satoru is. He cares about no one and respects no one. Your mom had warned you. Mom had said, be obedient, be invisible. Gojo-sama is important. Do not offend him! Do not let him know about our family too much! That strategy only lasts two seconds when you slip up immediately.

"Gojo-sama—" You begin, but he cuts you off sharply.

"Sama?" His voice is cold now. "It seems like we haven't been properly acquainted. You're a Gojo, too? Don’t tell me you’re a cousin.”

You bend a knee and bow your head. You have been taught how to greet the head of the house, after all. You had been prepared well for all formal occasions. Your mother has made sure to prepare you.

“Not yours. And our family doesn’t live on the main estate. I'm a cousin of someone who married into your family."

Unfortunately, your deference is met with impatience and barely contained ire. "Whom do I have to thank for this little arrangement, then? My grandpa, Yaga, Yoshi or someone else?" 

You hesitate in answering even as your mother's warning rings through your brain, Always be prompt and obedient with your replies! You keep your head bowed, choosing to rely on silence to do the job for you. But Gojo is intent on extracting an answer from you.

"Well?" He asks. A shadow falls over you. You gulp. He could pulverise you if he so wished. Gojo-sama is the strongest jujutsu sorcerer alive in Japan, no, in the world. Never provoke him to anger. Your job is to only serve him. Nothing else.

"I have been assigned to serve you, Gojo-Sama. Nothing more. I am...but a mere servant of the clan." You lift your head a little, stealing a glance at him. Gojo's eyes remain indecipherable behind his glasses, but his intimidating form towering over you is enough to alert you to his displeasure.

"Serve me?" There is a cruel twist to his mouth. Goodness, who knew gods could look this terrifyingly beautiful even in their wrath? You direct your eyes to the floor, the concrete now digging into your knee painfully.

"If...it displeases you so, I would understand if you requested for someone else to be assigned to you. I am sure I could assist another—" You scramble, your earlier resolve crumbling. Your mom has been clear: fuck up but don't fuck it up for everyone. You don't want to fuck up the peace your mom has brokered for your family, and inviting the wrath of the Gojo Satoru is not in anyone's books.

"No," Gojo says sharply. "Now, whyever would I do that?"

"So you will not—"

"No, you can stay."

"I am indebted to your kindness." You bow deeply, even as you are suspicious of the generosity.

"Bleugh, can you at least speak normally?" Gojo taps your head mockingly. You look up to see Gojo standing up straight.

"What an interesting day it is turning out to be, Pantsuits-chan," he says and gestures to the car. "But we have another place to visit."

You frown, still on your knee, and open your notebook. The schedule for the day is clear. 

"Come then, you don't expect Gojo-sama to open his own door and drive himself around, do you?" He laughs. 

You grimace but stand up and brush the dust off your pants before you open the door for him. "What a good little servant." He laughs again before sliding in. You shut the door and take a deep breath in before you get into the car.

"Where to, Gojo-san?" 

"Shinjuku."

"Oh...Why?"

"I'd like to get a new pair of shoes."

Your mind blanks out for two seconds. What on earth...? "Um...I am not sure if I am to drive you—"

"Will you be refusing your clan head? My, my, how outrageous and improper. On our first meeting, too."

You frown before easing your face into a plain expression. "This car is for official business only."

"Ehh!" Gojo cries out, imitating the buzzer sound for a wrong answer. You wince.

"This car is for me, Gojo Satoru, and everything I need."

You bite back the scoff surging in your throat and focus on the road. "As you wish."

"Oh, right... How did the mission go?" You ask, remembering something. "Any survivors?"

"Unfortunately, none. No bodies either."

Your eyes flash with surprise and horror. You see, he's looking out the window with a grave expression.

"Right..."

"Worried about the kids?" He asks mockingly as if the mere thought of it strikes him as ridiculous. The bastard. You smirk to yourself. That's a good name for him. Bastard. Bastard-san.

"I need it for my report," you say simply.

"Ah..."

When you reach Shinjuku, he makes you follow him to different shops and help him pick out clothes and shoes before making you drive him home. You're exhausted, annoyed and ready to go home. Today was a long first day. Hasn't this man heard of work-life balance?! On the drive home, Gojo is in a chatty mood.

"So, why temporarily? And a bit more honesty, this time, if you please," Gojo says.

You shoot him a nervous glance through the rearview mirror. He's flipping through his phone again. "You see, I am saving up for university, and Jujutsu High pays better than other places, so I..."

"Yes, I am sure spying on your Clan Head would pay better than working at the corner store," he says blithely. You bite the inside of your cheek to keep yourself from snapping.

You have a limit, after all. Even if it is the Gojo-sama. You focus your eyes on the road, your nails digging into the leather of the steering wheel.

"Oh dear, be careful not to rip the leather. I am sure they'll dock the repair fees from your pay," you hear Gojo-sama say in a sing-songy voice. Oh, how he grated on your nerves! You mutter out a reluctant apology but refuse to ease your hold. You subtly scratch the surface with your freshly manicured nails. Let them dock your pay.

"Yes, Gojo-san."

"You know, on second thought, perhaps Gojo-sama is better."

"As you wish, Gojo." You look him straight in the eye, pausing before adding, "Sama."

"Shorter pauses, though."

"Of course," you say easily, pausing again before adding, "Gojo. Sama."

"Hmm, still too long."

Stuff no one's ever said to you, you think secretly and smirk. The petty jibe cheers you up, and you smile sweetly as you say, "I live to learn under your instruction, Gojo-sama."

You relish in the way he grimaces at your overly deferent language.

---

"That fucking, mother-fucking bastard. He's always breathing down my neck. 'Pantsuits-chan, make sure you keep your mouth shut about this, or—'" You make a choking motion with your hands. "Like I need that fucking idiot to remind me I am at his mercy. I mean, it isn't enough that I am stuck working with curse users that I also need to be abused. I wonder if I can report him to the Labour ministry, but the bastard's got enough money to buy out the whole place, I think."

"I hate jujutsu sorcerers, I swear." Aiko visibly shudders and butters her sourdough bread. You're sitting at an outdoor cafe with your longtime friend and fellow sorcerer, Aiko. The sun is shining, and it's a perfect day to be out.

It's been a week since you started working with Gojo, and things have only escalated since your first day. At every chance he got, Gojo was intent on testing you. Letting curses attack you by "mistake" or taunting you and accusing you of spying on him every chance he got. You were close to calling it quits when you remembered how much they were paying you. Just a couple more months, and that's it, you kept telling yourself.

"And he's always fucking talking about my language. Saying I talk like some old-timer, an old relic! It's called talking like you've read a book, bitch!" You cry out, spit flying everywhere. Aiko grimaces, but you ignore it. "He's such a motherfucker, I swear. If my job wasn't on the line, I'd like to—" You make a wringing motion with your hands before you take a long sip of your ice americano and let out a satisfied grunt.

"He's a limitless user, isn't he?" Aiko says, tilting her chin downwards to look at you over her sunglasses.

"Yes, he is."

"Hmm..." Aiko runs her hands through her long red hair. The motion of it has some of her hair falling onto her plate. It shines differently in the sunlight, like it is on fire, unlike your deep brown hair, which glows dimly under the light. You reach out to pick out the strands of hair falling into her food. She shoots you a grateful smile before saying, "Have you seen him fight?"

"No, actually," you take a bite out of your eggs, looking contemplative. "Now that you mention it," you chew slowly and gulp before saying, "I haven't...at all. But... but he has..." 

"He's orchestrating fights between you and the curses and then watching you fight them to assess you. That's what you said, right?" Aiko frowns.

You nod, suddenly more agitated. "I think he's onto me," you say in a low voice and wound your arms around yourself in a protective gesture. 

"Your mom and I did say it would be a sticky situation." Aiko sighs and leans back into her chair. Her disapproving tone makes you pout.

"Well, yes... but the money... And it's not like I'm doing anything wrong."

"Yet," Aiko completes and lifts her arms to stretch her body like a cat in the sun.

"I will quit...like I said before. If they ask me to do anything unethical." You don't sound very sure—something that doesn't go unnoticed by Aiko, but she doesn't contradict you. The peace only lasts a second as you get surprised when she jumps out of her chair, her hands up in a bracing motion. What...?

It all makes sense when a voice says, "If who asks you to be unethical, Panstsuits-chan?" 

"Gojo-sama!" You cry out, your voice panicky.

You watch as Gojo's eyes slide to the shirt hanging loosely over your body to reveal a round, bare shoulder and an open neck. He is gawing at you, you realise. But what the heck is he doing here in the first place, and how did he even find you? Or was this accidental? How much did he hear? Aiko and you exchange a panic glance.

Finally, he says, "Pantsuits-chan, are you a normal person?"

Your nostrils flare in anger.

---

Present

"You bought a lot of stuff," Aiko says, raising her eyebrows at the bags lying on the floor.

Yuki nods absentmindedly and stands up from where she is crouched next to Gojo's unconscious form. She reaches into one of the bags and pulls out something. She holds it up for Aiko to see. The red-headed girl smirks.

"He's going to be so angry."

"That's the plan."

Chapter 3: Meet the Kids

Past

Gojo pulls out a chair and takes a seat at your table. Aiko and you look at each other, bewildered and deciding on an escape plan. Is he going to attack you both? Should you run? Should you be already running? 

"Gojo-sama," you begin, unsure, but he waves you off while nibbling on your toast before saying, "Come now, sit. We're all friends here, aren't we?"

Aiko, stoic as she normally is, flinches at his gesture but does oblige him by taking her seat. You give her a look of incredulity. She shrugs as if to say, what the heck do you expect me to do? Fair. You remain standing. You don't trust this man to not strike you any second. If that happens, you at least want to try to make a run for it.

"I can teleport," he says as if he's read your mind. Your eyes widen. What the...? "I will catch up with you, and I might not be in such a forgiving mood as I am right now." He grins at you, tugging at his blindfold to reveal a twinkling blue eye. You swallow and take a seat, understanding that behind the veil of humour lies a very real threat.

"Well, then, continue as if I am not here," he says in a sing-song fashion, now actively taking your avocado and shoving it in his face. Your temper flares, but you keep it in rein.

"R-right, I was just telling Aiko—" you jerk your head at your friend, "—about work and stuff..." You trail off inelegantly. 

"Ah, yes. Aiko-chan. I don't think we've met," he turns to Aiko with an interested glance, momentarily distracted from devouring all your food and says, "You're a sorcerer, too." It is not a question. Of course, Gojo can immediately see Aiko's cursed energy. You're secretly impressed and jealous by what his six eyes allow him to do.

Aiko is still a perfect picture of stoicism. She gives him a curt nod and says, "I'm Aiko Takahashi. It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Gojo-san."

"Hmm..." Gojo replies disinterestedly before digging into your food again. You feel another prick of annoyance. 

"Gojo-sama, do you want me to order you another plate?" You ask, despite the precarious situation you're in. He gives you a confused look before saying, "No, I'm good with this one, thanks."

You curl your lips, your temper flaring. "That's my breakfast, though," you grind out, annoyed. "I'll just order another one," you grumble and flag down the waiter. Once you've placed your order again, much to the confusion of the waiter, you turn to Gojo and say, "So, how did you find...me?"

"A happy accident. There's a pancake place nearby I like to visit, and then I sensed some cursed energy, and then voila!" He claps happily. You give him a look of suspicion. That's the dumbest lie you've ever heard. You see Aiko has also raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Anyhoo, what were you talking about?"

"Uh...Just ethics, philosophy and things like that. You might get bored," you say, slurping down the rest of your ice americano noisily. Aiko nods politely as she hands you a napkin to clean up any stray drops of your watery coffee that may have fallen. You take it to dab it against your mouth and hands. Gojo looks unimpressed by the explanation but doesn't probe, thankfully. Instead, he turns to Aiko, subjecting her to the full force of his attention. She tenses immediately while you let out a sigh of relief. 

"You were in the Kyoto School, if I'm correct?" Gojo tilts his head thoughtfully. "But you left."

"Yes, I was. But I am technically an independent mercenary of sorts right now," Aiko says carefully. "I have another main job, and I am going to open a cafe." 

"Don't worry; I have nothing against jujutsu sorcerers who want to follow another path. In fact, I have a friend you might get along with well," Gojo says, surprisingly. You'd expected him to criticise Aiko. 

"So, what was the ethical dilemma?" He turns to you. You tense.

"My boyfriend," Aiko interrupts, drawing Gojo's gaze back to her, much to your relief and gratitude. "You see, he's been offered a lot of money at this corporate job he hates. It's in HR, too, the place where people really sell their souls. Anyway, we were talking about whether he should take it or not."

"And you think...?" Gojo turns to you again. You stiffen.

"I think he should take it. Temporarily."

"Even if he's required to do evil stuff?" Gojo prods. You frown.

"How is HR evil?" You lean back into your chair and cross your arms over your chest. At that moment, the waiter comes and places your food in front of you, but your appetite has dimmed greatly thanks to your uninvited guest.

"It could ask him to be complicit in certain acts," Aiko says, leaning forward to take a sip of her drink. You raise an eyebrow. What the fuck was she doing? Why was she saying these things in front of Gojo?!

"Well, you do trust him, don't you? To leave if the time comes?" You ask testily. Aiko shrugs, prompting an incredulous scoff from you.

"I can't believe it! You don't trust y-your boyfriend? The person you love and have known for ten years now?!"

"Wow, you've been dating him for ten years?" Gojo interjects, letting out a low whistle. You both ignore him.

"It's not that I don't trust him. I just don't understand him."

"Well, maybe you don't need to understand everything he does. Maybe he just needs your support."

"Uh, do you have a thing for her boyfriend?" Gojo asks, waving his hand in front of your face when he gets the silent treatment. You stand up.

"I'm going to pay the bill." You extend your hand towards Gojo. "Your card?" You ask, raising your eyebrows, daring him to challenge you. He was fucking loaded, so he had no right to refuse you. Also, he did ruin brunch. Surprisingly, Gojo gives in easily. He only smirks and flicks his card at you. You catch it easily and go inside. Your face feels warm from the argument as you make your way to the billing counter, and you glance outside to see Aiko and Gojo chatting away. She doesn't look tense. You pay the bill and return at a leisurely pace to your table, in no hurry to join whatever conversation from hell Aiko and Gojo are having. 

When you arrive, Aiko says, "I should go." You look at her, surprised. 

"Why? I thought we were going to walk around for a bit," you ask, feeling annoyed at the sudden change of plans. You also did want to continue your conversation with her. Alone. In response, she shakes her head.

"You're busy," she says, jutting her chin at Gojo. You turn to him, feeling your annoyance grow.

"I didn't find you just for the pleasure of your company," he says teasingly. You feel your eyebrow twitch. "Check your phone."

Puzzled, you take out your phone to see a message from Jujutsu High about a new, urgent mission. You let out a groan.

"But it's the weekend," you grumble. 

"My dear, evil never takes a weekend off, and neither can we," Gojo says, swinging an arm around your shoulders casually—too casually for your liking. You immediately shrug him off and step forward to say goodbye to Aiko. 

"I'll call you later," you say as you prepare to leave. She nods, and her eyes slide to Gojo, then back to you. "We'll talk," she says. 

"Yes, Aiko-chan, I'll call you later too. Have fun with your boyfriend." Gojo waves, grinning at her. You frown.

"How will you call— Did you give him your phone number?" You ask, incredulous. Aiko only shrugs. You groan. What a day it is turning out to be.

---

"The mission is in Koenji?" You ask, excited, but your joy soon dims when you find out more about the assignment.

Turns out the mission is for one of the private benefactors of Jujutsu High, hence the urgency. They want to build an apartment complex to gentrify Koenji and want to make sure there aren't any curses looming in the area. Koenji's been in the news for a while now because of the protests against gentrification. Had the government gone through with the redevelopment plan anyway? That was strange... You didn't think the residents would give up so easily. As you drive into the neighbourhood, you see yellow tape everywhere and Save Koenji posters plastered on every house and building. Your spirits dim as you realise you're collaborating with the bad guys. The web of the Jujutsu-Industrial complex isn't lost on you. You are surprised that Gojo has taken on the mission with no qualms.

You glance over at him. He is driving for a change. It is his car, though, so you shouldn't be too grateful. You have a sneaking suspicion he's one of those people who obsesses over his things and will probably do some backseat driving if you didn't drive his car exactly how he drives it.

"They're redeveloping Koenji."

"Hmm," Gojo says, apparently not in the mood to talk much. 

"I didn't think they'd be successful. The protests were keeping them at bay so far."

"Well, the power of money cannot be underestimated."

The comment rubs you the wrong way, especially the nonchalance with which it is delivered. "Well," you ground out, angry now for some reason, "the power of the people cannot be underestimated either." 

"Hmm..." 

Another Hmm, and you were ready to start screaming. "Doesn't it bother you? It's the birthplace—okay, maybe not the birthplace—but important to the development of folk rock in our country." 

"Is it now?" He leans back in his seat.

"You know it is," you scoff. It's where your parents fell in love. They'd met during the 80s band boom, and the neighbourhood, which was so integral to that boom, was an important part of their love story. You wouldn't be here if it weren't for this neighbourhood and its history. Your mother would still be trapped in her stuffy family, and you'd probably be working as a servant right now if it weren't for the neighbourhood.

"If we clear the place, it will go through redevelopment."

"Yep," Gojo says, popping his lips at the 'P'. You feel upset. Was this the evil part Aiko was talking about? Do you end up working for big corporations against the interests of ordinary people? Had it already begun? 

You're momentarily distracted from your spiral when Gojo puts the window down, letting some cool, fresh air burst into the car. You're hit with a wave of envy when you see how fluffy his hair looks as it flows in the wind. You take out a rubber band and put your hair in a bun. You don't want it to become a bird's nest.

As you pull into the residential area cleared for redevelopment, something strikes you as strange. "I wonder how...they got people to leave this area..." You wonder aloud, especially when the residents seem so intent on not leaving. "Could it be the curses, I wonder?"

Gojo remains silent. He does not give a fuck, does he? Once he parks, you get down, put up the veil and say, "Don't let loose any more curses on me 'accidentally', thank you."

"Why don't you come?" Gojo asks, not even denying that he had been letting curses loose on you. "I mean, you're not even good enough to be a Grade 3, but at least you could be a Grade 4." You wonder for a second if he thinks what he's said is a compliment.

"I'm good, thank you," you politely decline and step back.

"Come now, isn't it boring to just sit and wait? It will be fun," he says in a sing-songy way. 

"We-we don't even know if there are curses here," you say hotly. "So, it—"

"Of course, there are." He taps his forehead, and it takes you a second to realise he's pointing to his bandaged eyes. "I can see them."

"Oh..." You let out, surprised. You didn't know he could do that. You tell him that, "I didn't know you could see all the curses. And you can teleport. What else can you do?"

"This is your chance to find out," he says, laying out the perfect bait. You lick your lips slowly, considering the offer. Well... Aiko and you were just discussing how Gojo never lets you see him fight. Maybe this is the perfect opportunity to rectify that. You frown.

"Did you overhear my conversation with Aiko?" You ask, suspicious.

Gojo turns his head at you. You can't see his eyes, so his expression escapes you. "Which conversation? Aw, were you talking about me?"

You huff and say, "Never mind. Fine, I will come along. But don't...let me die," you add the last sentence more quietly. You don't like asking for help, but the thought of dying humbles you enough to let him know you aren't completely confident in your fighting skills.

It doesn't help you when he doesn't respond.

"Gojo-sama? Did you hear me? Gojo-sama?" You say as he starts walking inside, with you following closely behind. "Hello?"

He suddenly raises a hand, silencing you. You immediately pause and look around warily. "What is it? Did you see something?"

"No, you were irritating me."

You give him a look of pure loathing but keep quiet. "There are...a lot of curses here. Too many, in fact," Gojo says as if it strikes him as odd.

"Don't curses usually form with places of trauma and resentment? But a neighbourhood of people organising together, building community... That's strange," you remark. 

"It is, isn't it?" he says, almost as if he knows something is strange. You give him a questioning look, but he is still looking ahead.

"There's a couple of grade 3 ones for you. Think you can handle them?"

"Hmm.." you say and reach down to your socks for your stars before you stop. "I'm not armed."

"Use your cursed energy." You're irritated at how easy he makes it sound to someone like you who hasn't trained in a year. The curses haven't noticed you both yet, but you're sure it's going to happen any second now, so you start formulating a plan of time. You try to remember some of the close-combat skills you've learned. Was it too late to look up a quick YouTube tutorial on how to throw a good kick or punch? The apartment building still has old furniture and stuff lying around in the compound. You find a metal rod and wield it.

"I hope you're not thinking of imbuing it with your cursed energy. It will break," Gojo warns as the curses now slowly make their way to both of you.

"Tsk," you frown, "I'm not that ignorant. I do need some weapon, though," you say defensively.

"You should work on the cursed energy," Gojo chides. Your cheek twitches in annoyance, but you listen to him. You let your body thrum with cursed energy. The past week has been useful in reminding you of things you'd forgotten. How to maintain a steady flow of cursed energy was one of them. 

"Good," he says approvingly. "For now, at least."

The grade 3 curses, a dozen fly heads, come at you, but you're prepared. You can see Gojo take a backseat. He's letting you deal with the small fish. Fine by you. Without your usual weapons, you must depend solely on your body and cursed energy to protect you. 

You use a technique you haven't used in a year or so. When was the last time you even practised combat with Aiko? You were good at it until university ended. Now, everything has been about getting into a master's programme, so your training has taken a backseat. It isn't as if you'd trained to fight curses in the first place. It was just something your mom wanted you to know how to do, and you kind of enjoyed it. Of course, it helped that your best friend was an actual sorcerer and humoured your antics. But now that you're dealing with real curses, you've got to try out techniques you haven't before. 

You swing your metal rod at them, disorienting them momentarily before letting your fists rain down on them. The three fly heads you strike, owing to their weak cursed energy, immediately dissipate. But there are still quite a few left to go. Annoyed at the prospect of having to deal with them individually, you try out something new you've been thinking about this past week. You slam your hand to the ground to invoke an illusion and follow these up with a complex combination of hand signs, and so instead of pulling up an illusion to disorient the curses, you now create illusions imbued with cursed energy. 

"Doppelganger," you whisper, bringing your hands in front of you to make your hand signs, and soon there are multiple copies of the curses you've fought so far. While the copies won't be as strong as you'd want them to be, they're still strong enough to take on the flyheads. While previously you've tried to (unsuccessfully) sever the link between you and them to establish them as independent entities that can protect you, right now, they continuously draw energy from you and copy your movements while also using a simplified version of their unique techniques. As you hit one of the curses, so do your cursed copies, and you take down all the fly heads in less than a minute. Before you can rest, though, you see a much stronger curse, you guess from its energy, coming at you, its big, bulbous body, covered in spikes, overtakes your cursed copies easily, and you withdraw the remaining ones and focus your cursed energy into your fists. 

"Some help?" You call out to Gojo, who is standing silently to the side like a bored spectator. You blink, and he's next to you now, startling you. 

"Let's see..." he says leisurely as if the curse isn't charging at both of you. "This one's pretty strong, and you're planning on close combat?" He looks at your fists, now glowing with cursed energy.

"Uh...Yeah?" You say impatiently.

"It's not strong enough to shield you from the spikes," he remarks nonchalantly, and then in the moment you take to blink, he does a simple hand sign before the spikes of curse get obliterated into nothingness. Your jaw drops in shock. Did he just...?

He turns to you leisurely and says, "You may now go ahead and try what you want to." 

"O-okay," you stutter before you launch yourself at the curse and rain down fists on the curse. Your punches aren't strong enough to do lasting damage, but they're not completely ineffective. You need something to create lasting damage. Unfortunately, you're out of tricks, and the curse is about to hit you, your eyes widen in horror at the impending strike when it...bursts apart, leaving you covered in gooey, cursed bits. Wh—

Gojo is standing with his hand raised in front of his face, his index and middle fingers intertwined. How powerful was he? You're astonished. He hands you a handkerchief. You take it dumbly and wipe your face.

"There's a lot more curses here. I can handle them, but..." he trails off thoughtfully. "I am thinking about what you said." You look up at him, surprised.

"About how many there are here," he adds. You nod. "And the anti-gentrification movement is strong, so why would residents leave?"

"Because of the curses," you add and jerk your head urgently at a new horde of curses approaching. Gojo nonchalantly does a couple more hand signs, killing them.

"And who would that benefit?"

"The—" you pause and then look at him. "Do you think?" 

"Yes." He smiles bitterly. "I think the curses were planted here to force the residents to leave. All the missing or dead people... Of course, it helped when the neighbourhood came under fire in the news about harbouring criminals, the movement was undermined, and the people also eventually left, taking the settlements offered by the Itsubi Development Co."

You look around at the half-demolished apartment building and the abandoned furniture, the sadness brewing here. "And then they sent us here...knowing there were curses here, because, of course, they planted them here... But who helped them with that?" 

"Who knows? Maybe some independent mercenaries, maybe we did or someone else entirely." His face darkens.

"Why did you accept this job?"

He jerks his head. "This many deaths meant a high probability of a special grade being here." You look ahead, in the direction he had jerked his head, to see a humanoid curse peering at you. Your eyes widen, and you feel your blood go cold. It was looking at you. As if it were sentient. As if it were capable of—

"⎅⎎⎅⏃⎎⏃⎅⋏⌇⏃☍⎅⏃⌰☍⋏"

"Did it just talk?"

"Kind of," Gojo says. You raise your eyebrows.

"Is that normal?" You look back at the curse. Its head is covered in eyes, and each eye seems to be focused on you. Peeking out from where they're attached to an extremely muscular body, the whole thing freaks you out.

"Not always. Stay close." 

He didn't have to tell you twice. You stepped closer to him immediately. And then the moment arrives, you finally watch him fight. Gojo is...inhuman in how he tackles the special grade. His blindfold pulled away; his eyes acquire an almost unhinged, excited twinkle as he lets go. He uses minimal cursed energy manipulation and relies mostly on martial arts to render the special grade completely useless and wobbly. After five minutes of battling it, Gojo tiredly places a hand on its chest and exorcises it with a burst of cursed energy, leaving you, once again, gaping. 

He turns to you, "I could use a treat. How about you?"

---

You're sitting at a cafe in Koenji. It's tiny, but Gojo swears by the pancakes and hot chocolate, so you oblige.

"Gojo-san, welcome!" The person behind the counter greets him as you both enter the place. You raise your eyebrows. Clearly, he comes here a lot. He wasn't lying earlier. You both take a seat after placing your orders—you a hot chocolate and him...half the menu. Expending energy meant replenishing it with desserts, apparently.

As Gojo digs into his whipped cream with a side of pancakes, you sip on your hot chocolate, watching him curiously. He looks so...different from the earlier, half-insane fighter you just saw.

"What will happen to the apartment complex?"  

"What do you want to happen?" He asks, pausing between taking a huge bite of his pancakes. His eyes are covered again, so you can't tell what on earth he's thinking. You consider his question seriously.

"I...want it to be with the community. I don't want the place to be gentrified."

He smiles but doesn't respond otherwise. "Is that how things usually are?" 

"No," Gojo says. You're about to let out a sigh of relief when he adds, "Things are usually much, much worse." 

You see he is not joking and swallow. The Jujutsu world is more fucked up than you initially thought. "You have potential. You should develop your duplication technique. You could possibly take on a Grade 2 if you practice for the next two weeks."

"No," you shake your head, laughing. "You are free to gamble with your life but not with mine. I am actually loved."

You don't see how he flinches at your comment. "Where does your family live?" he asks. You look at him suspiciously. 

"Why?"

"Is that an off-limits question?"

"Yes," you answer crisply. He leans back in his chair. "You know, you've gotten really casual with me. What happened to 'Gojo-sama this' and 'Gojo-sama that', and 'I cannot imagine defying the orders of my lord and master, the head of my house and almighty, Gojo-sama'?" 

"My sincerest apologies, Gojo-sama, I fear all the near-death experiences must have left a deep-lasting impact on my brain," you reply demurely, but the bite in your voice is apparent. Gojo detects it, too, and lets out a chuckle.

"They live in Kyoto," you answer carefully. "And that's that. But about my report," you add hurriedly before Gojo can interrupt you, "What do I write?"

"You write the truth," Gojo says simply.

"What does that mean? I—We should coordinate. Right?"

"My goodness, Pantsuits-Chan, what on earth do you think I am planning to do?" He gasps dramatically.

You groan. "I don't know, you need to tell me, so I can—"

"Do what you think is right. And I will do the same," he says cryptically. Understanding that you won't be getting anything more out of him, you let the matter rest.

When you both are done with your food, you leave. "I'm going to add this as overtime," you say before you leave.

"I don't expect anything less from you," he says, not unkindly.

You scoff, nevertheless, and make your way home, excited to get back to your cat, Chibi.

---

Come Monday, the bastard's got a strange assignment for you. Instead of driving him around, the bastard's got you waiting outside a school to pick some kids up and bring them home. You weren't some babysitter! But it is a break from being around him, so you don't protest too much. You look at the picture he gave you.

A grumpy-looking boy with spiky hair and a girl with a toothy smile. You wonder how Gojo knows them? Were they his cousins? Kids? Nephew and niece? You wave at them when you spot them outside the school gate.

"Hello... kids," you say awkwardly, "Gojo-sama sent me to pick you up."

"Gojo, did?" The little boy asks, sizing you with suspicious eyes. 

"Yes, he did. You and your sister. I am to bring you to his apartment. Today...is the day you have a standing appointment with him, right?" You ask, feeling confused at their confusion. You whip out your tiny notebook to confirm what Gojo has told you. 

21st of every month, take the kids out for a movie and then ice cream.

"Yep, I have it in my diary, alright." You shut the notebook with a flick of your wrist and stuff it in the breast pocket of your coat. "Off we go," you say, waving your hands towards the car. "Come on now. We have a schedule to stick to."

By the time they reluctantly get into the car, and you start driving, you realise you haven't asked their names. But the silence is so awkward that you decide to have your little nicknames for them. One you call Grumpy, the other, Happy. 

Once you arrive at Gojo's apartment, you text him, only to get no response. You call him, and he answers on the third ring.

"The kids are here. Come down and get them," you say and then reluctantly add, "Gojo-sama."

"Oh, Panstsuits-Chan, I completely forgot about that. I'm in a meeting with Yaga and the old farts right now. I won't be home soon, but I'll text you the code to my door lock, and you can let the kids in. Thank you, byeee," he says in a sing-song manner before hanging up. You're left feeling furious and confused. What the fuck? You turn to the kids. They're looking at you with their tiny bodies weighed down by their heavy book bags. You lick your lips nervously.

"Oh...He can't...make it." You feel the crushing disappointment of the children and feel your heart sink. Be stoic, be nonchalant. But Happy's unhappy frown wrings your heart.

You have to go home to Chibi. She's been home alone all day. But you also can't imagine leaving the kids by themselves. How irresponsible was Gojo?!

"Come with me; we're going to make a pit stop at my house," you say, opening the door of the backseat. "Buckle up, okay?"

"Okay," Happy replies in a small voice. You feel your heart breaking. You want to kill Gojo. You take a deep breath in and get into the driver's seat.

"I'm...Yuki, by the way. You can call me...Yuki-chan...if you wish," you say tentatively. "What are your names?"

Happy brightens up at the introduction. "Yuki is such a pretty name. I'm Tsumiki, and this is my brother, Megumi."

"Ah, thank you. Tsumiki is also a pretty name," you say politely. You have no idea how to talk to kids. What did you do with them? "How...was school?" You ask tentatively.

"How do you know Gojo?" Grumpy—Megumi—demands.

"I'm his assistant," you explain. 

"Wasn't Ijichi-san his assistant?" Megumi fires back. You glance at him in the rearview mirror and want to chuckle at the look of wariness on his face.  But a dark thought passes your mind: what kind of experiences make a child so wary? 

"Yes, I'm filling in for him. He's taken a leave of absence for a few months."

"Is that even possible?" he asks again.

"Yes, it is, stop asking boring questions, Gumi." It is Tsumiki who answers before you can. "I have a better question, Yuki-chan, do you also have a curse technique? What is it?"

"Oh," your cheeks grow pink, "It's nothing fancy. Just making illusions." For some reason, you feel self-conscious in front of the kids. You wished you had some super cool stuff to show them, but... On second thought...

"Wow, that sounds cool. Right, Gumi?"

Although Megumi is quiet, you catch a look of curiosity on his face before it is replaced by a look of nonchalance. "I guess. Dunno," he mumbles. You finally let out a chuckle. 

As you pull into your neighbourhood, you glance back at the kids and wonder if you should take them with you or ask them to wait in the car. You decide to ask them, and Tsumiki enthusiastically asks to come along while Grumpy just begrudgingly follows his sister's lead. When you enter the apartment, you immediately disable the security and put your coat on the rack. 

"Kitty!" Tsumiki runs towards Chibi. Your chubby, black cat welcomes the scratches and cuddles she receives from the kid. Thankfully, Chibi is an affectionate cat. You don't want to imagine how it would've turned out if it were Haru—your parents' cat (she never took to you, so you always called her your parents' cat)—in Chibi's stead. Tsumiki would probably be having her face clawed out right about now. You suppress a shudder at that thought and take out some cat toys, snacks and a cage with you. Megumi is standing by the door, taking note of your one-bedroom apartment. You let him be while you gather your things.

"Okay, I'm all set. Let's go," you call to the kids as you start putting your shoes back on. The kids, thankfully, are obedient and line up next to you, putting their shoes on. You notice Tsumuki is happily holding onto Chibi. You let her hold the cat throughout the car ride.

---

"What are we going to do now?" Megumi asks after you enter Gojo's apartment.

"We wash up first and then decide on dinner?" You suggest. Your suggestion seems acceptable to Megumi's sensibilities for he makes a beeline to what you guess is his and his sister's room. Tsumiki puts the cat down and follows her brother. 

You set Chibi's cage and toys aside and feed her in her favourite bowl. Once you've taken care of that, you pop into the kids' room. They have bunk beds and a stack of different kinds of board games. They've both changed out of their uniforms and look up when your head appears. You ask whether they want pizza for dinner. Tsumiki lets out a happy yelp, and Megumi only shrugs. You take that as a yes and order dinner for everyone. 

"How about we play some board games while we wait for the pizza?" It gets another enthusiastic response from Tsumiki while Grumpy, true to his name, only lets out a nonchalant grunt. 

"Will you help me pick one?" You ask Tsumiki, and she happily hops to the shelf with the stack of board games.

She points to Rumble Nation. "Gumi likes this one especially," she whispers. 

"How about you?" You ask, curious.

"I like everything," she replies easily. You smile and take out Rumble Nation. It's been a while since you've played this, but Megumi, surprisingly, volunteers to refresh your memory and explain how the game works. You listen carefully, and soon, everyone falls into an easy flow. Chibi is lying on Tsumiki's lap, happy to receive all the love and affection from the little girl, and Megumi is calmly explaining what every move would do, even if doing so puts him at a disadvantage. The pizza arrives soon, and the kids decide they want to watch a Moomins movie. You sit back as the kids take the lead in putting the film on. One hour into the film, they start yawning and struggling to stay awake. You have to hold yourself back from chuckling when you see Megumi fighting a losing battle against the powerful tendrils of sleep. Before the movie is over, you have two fast-asleep kids on the couch. You gently rouse them and get them to brush their teeth before tucking them into bed.

"Nee-chan, are you going to stay the night?" Tsumiki asks in a small voice.

You hesitate for a second before saying, "Of course. I'll be in the living room. Call me if you need anything, okay?" 

"If...if you're staying, then can I cuddle Mr. Night?"

"Mr—" You begin but stop abruptly. You let out a short laugh. "Do you mean Chibi? Oh, I just realised I didn't tell you what her name is...Oh well, never mind, yes, sure, I guess..." You trail off. You'd been planning on cuddling her, but oh, well. You go to the living room and bring Chibi for Tsumiki to cuddle. The girl reaches out, her hands eagerly excited for the animal. You chuckle at the outpouring of love. Chibi curls up next to Tsumiki's pillow contently.

"Goodnight, Tsumiki, Megumi." 

You hear a couple of goodnights being mumbled before you close the door.

You step into the living room and collapse onto the sofa. As far as you can tell, the place is big, but it is still a two-bed, meaning the only other room is Gojo's. You're curious about what it looks like, but you're worried it's covered in booby traps like your place. You settle into the sofa and let sleep take you. It isn't long before you fall into a deep slumber.

---

You wake up with a start to muffled sounds in the living room. You're disoriented for a second before you realise where you are. Oh. 

"Morning. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up," you hear a voice—Gojo's. Somewhere during the night, you'd laid down completely on the sofa and used your coat as a blanket. You sit up slowly and glance at your watch. It's six a.m. 

"You should've slept in the bedroom," you hear him say.

Your eyebrows shoot up automatically at the suggestion. "I should have slept in my own bed, but I couldn't, thanks to a certain someone," you say bitingly.

"Cute cat," Gojo says. You frown as you see the ball of black fur cradled in his arms. Wasn't she with Tsumiki? Well, whatever, right now, she is purring loudly in Gojo's arms. She's practically putty in his hands, the little traitor. You raise a hand and call out to Chibi with no success.

"Ugh," you feel a prick of annoyance as your sore body, having slept on the sofa, starts hurting.

You stretch your hands above your head and walk over to Gojo to snatch your cat back. Luckily, Chibi snuggles against your chest, the familiar warmth more tempting than a stranger's ministrations.

Gojo lets out a chuckle but remains quiet otherwise. He prances towards the fridge to get a drink for himself. He's really bouncy, you realise. Damn it, who has that much energy at 6 in the morning? It should be criminal to be awake at this time. Nope, no. You shoot him a look of pure hatred before gathering your things, ready to go home.

"Stay for breakfast," Gojo says, pushing a bowl of fruit and cereal toward you. You shake your head.

"I will be filing this as overtime," you say as you pull your coat. Gojo smirks.

"But of course," he says. And then: "I liked your report," he adds. You pause and throw a glance over your shoulder.

"I don't know what you mean." You shut the door behind you.

Chapter 4: Something Happens, Some things happen-Part 1

Past

Hana sprawls out on your bed in her outside clothes, and you wrinkle your nose.

"Heard you're workin' at Jujutsu High?" She rolls onto her stomach and cups her chin in her hands, her feet in the air. She's wearing a short, strapless pink dress. A white shrug that belongs to her lies abandoned at the foot of the bed. Chibi is curled up next to her but comes up to greet you when you walk in.

You've just returned from work, and although you were scheduled to go clubbing tonight with her and Aiko, you didn't expect her to turn up at your apartment before you even came home. Granted, you had given her the code to your door lock. But that was for emergencies. You'd almost let out a shriek when you first walked in.

"Heard you're marrying the pig," You say nonchalantly as you put your coat in the closet and go into the bathroom to wash up. You hear Hana let out a cackle at your words. 

"He hates you too," She says, giggling. You don't need to ask why. Of course, he does. 

"Your thing attacked me, you know?"

"Chibi is not my thing," you call out, scrubbing the grime off your face. You hear her snort and come to stand near the bathroom door.

"You know I'm talking about that stupid hallucinator cube. I almost forgot about disabling it."

"Here's a suggestion: don't break into my apartment!" you say as you splash water on your face. You don't hear Hana's response—if she even gives you one.

Once you're done washing up, you change into jeans and a top. Hana appraises your clothes. "You look cool," she pulls your grunge denim jacket from the back of a chair and pulls it on. "He'd hate this on me. Too masculine." She wrinkles her nose and hands it back to you.

"Hmm..." You say. You know she's baiting you. She likes you fussing over her and worrying about her. She's your first cousin on your mother's side, as your dad was not part of the Jujutsu family line or even a sorcerer. Even though your mom was disowned, she remained close with her older sister and her kids—Hana and Tomoya. But that didn't mean you got to see Mom's side of the family growing up. You knew of their existence. You and Hana became close when you both ended up going to the same university. You found her odd. And she found you odd. You both had such different upbringings. She did like to party, though, and she was the one who had introduced you to Tokyo nightlife when you'd moved here from Kyoto.

"Am I invited to the wedding?" You ask.

Hana lets out a beautiful peal of laughter. She is one of the most beautiful people you've ever seen in your life. It is easy to admit: with her long, flowing, jet-black hair and beautiful dark eyes, it is no surprise that you think she's beautiful. 

"Don't be silly, now." Hana comes up to wrap her arms around your shoulder. "Of course you are. Naoya-sama agreed too."

Your cheek twitches in irritation. You want to say something about the 'sama' business, but you bite your tongue. "That's generous of him," you say demurely. "Ready to be the lady of the Zenin Household?"

"Oh, darling, I was born ready." Hana flashes a lovely smile. “Is he hot?” She asks.

“Who?” You look at her questioningly as you pause to grab your house keys.

“Gojo Satoru,” Hana says, putting her heels on. She doesn't wait for you to answer. “Naoya hates him. Sometimes, I think he’s in love with Gojo-sama.” She lets out another cackle. You raise an eyebrow.

"That doesn't sound very good. Are you sure about him?" You ask, keeping your tone light. You've gotten into countless fights with Hana over this—one of you always ends up crying. But you've lately been making peace with the fact that your cousin knows best for herself, and you just need to trust her. She flashes you a warning look. Don't start, she was saying. 

“You don’t know him. Not completely,” Hana says. You know enough. You know how he treats the other women in the house, anyone who falls below his standards. "Anyway, I think he's jealous." She giggles.

"Of?" 

"You," she says. "You've taken Gojo Satoru now, haven't you?" 

You look at her, her expression indecipherable. "I suppose I have."

---

Hana may be a prim and proper lady in front of Naoya, but she doesn't mind living it up in secret when she's with you. She lives a double life, and you're no one to judge. You all have sides of yourself you hide, after all.

You take the train to Shibuya after convincing Hana that, no, a taxi would be too expensive. She's become a spoilt princess, you secretly think to yourself, but it is an opinion you don't voice. She was always a princess, after all. And what are princesses if not spoiled?

Your phone vibrates. You glance at it to see Aiko is calling.

"Hello? We're almost there. Which club are you at?" You glance at the train map and see you're two stations away.

"Downtown Punk? Okay, we'll be there in fifteen."

Hana loops a hand around yours. "Aiko?" She asks when you hang up. You nod. "I'm excited to see her. I haven't seen her in a while."

When you reach the club, Hana squeals in delight upon discovering Aiko and rushes to hug her. "Aiko-chan, it's been such a long time. You've grown prettier," she says. Aiko hugs the enthusiastic girl back and awkwardly pats her on the back. You notice she's wearing a long black dress over a pair of distressed jeans. The three of you cut an odd picture, you think to yourself.

Once inside the club, you settle on getting shots before going to dance. "I am ready to get moderately shit-faced," Aiko says seriously. You all laugh and agree. After dancing for a while, you step out to take a cigarette break. 

Hana shows you her bejewelled lighter. "Don't tell me those are real," you say, taking it from her and biting it. She laughs and puts her arms around Aiko, pressing her cheek against the taller girl's upper arm. Aiko leans into her touch and looks at her curiously. "Is it?" She asks, echoing your question.

"Of course it is. It is a gift from Naoya-sama." 

You wrinkle your nose before you can stop yourself. You try to cover it up by lighting your cigarette and handing it to Aiko. "It's pretty," Aiko says, lighting her cigarette now. Hana hums happily. 

"I know, he says I deserve everything pretty in the world."

You manage to not grimace at that and focus instead on the nicotine rush soothing your nerves. A presence catches your eye, and you see a man approaching your group. You raise an eyebrow and wait for him to speak.

"Uh...Hi... Are you guys having fun?" He is not bad-looking, but you're definitely not in the mood for anything. 

Hana is more polite than you or Aiko. She humours the guy. "Yes, we are, thank you."

He eases up at her response and says, "That's great. We thought we could have fun with you guys." He points to a group of his friends behind him. Some of them wave when they see you looking. You give a nod of acknowledgement. 

"Oh, dear. That's so nice, but we're both taken. Well, Aiko's available." Your eyebrows shoot up. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

The 'available' Aiko in question looks at you in surprise, completely ignoring Hana and the stranger. "I thought you ended it with Tanaka?" 

You shake your head. Hana looks at you, confused. "Tanaka? Didn't that end a while ago? I'm talking about Gojo Satoru."

Aiko's eyes widen, and she raises an eyebrow. You swallow.

"Well...Something happened. Or should I say, some things happened." You shift uncomfortably. "I'll tell you later," you give her a meaningful look. Some things you couldn't discuss in front of Hana. Aiko nods and looks back at the guy.

"I am single, but I'm here to have fun with my friends tonight," she says, her face completely devoid of expressions. You feel bad for the guy to be rejected like that, but you let Aiko handle it. The guy looks disappointed, but he leaves easily. 

Hana turns to you. "I feel honoured," she leaves Aiko's side to hug you.

"For what?" 

"Well, you've never told me anything before Aiko. Now, I feel special." She grins up at you. You ruffle her hair.

"You're a little troublemaker, you know that, right?" You ask, feeling a rush of affection for your cousin. She was a bit silly, but she was family. Hana only smiles. You let your cigarette drop to the ground and crush it.

"I'm ready to get back to dancing."

Aiko nods, and the three of you head back in. After dancing for a couple of hours, you go get kebabs from a food cart on the street. The streets are lined with drunk people passed out, with cigarette butts and cans of alcohol piled up everywhere.

Hana whips out something from her purse and hands it to you and Aiko. "The invites," she says perfunctorily.

"Ah..." You stuff the invite into your back pocket without looking at it, your attention taken more by the kebab. Aiko, to her credit, actually peruses through the invite carefully. The ivory colour of the invite glitters under the night lights.

"It's pretty," she comments. "I'll make sure to be there."

Hana smiles warmly. "Thank you. I'm not sure if we'll be able to meet again like this after I get married."

You chew on your kebab roll, trying to muffle the burst of emotion bubbling in your throat. Why did Hana want to go ahead with the wedding if she would be denied such small joys? You know why. Because of duty, because she was expected to, but worse, she wanted to. You had asked her to wait until her frontal lobe developed. But nope, she wanted to get married now.

"We'll sneak you out," Aiko says, interrupting your train of thought. Hana smirks.

"I look forward to it." Hana flashes her a sweet smile. 

You take taxis home—Hana, to her hotel, and Aiko comes home with you because she lives on the outskirts of Tokyo, and it would cost an arm to take a taxi home. Once Aiko and you are home and tucked in bed, you roll around to face her and tell her exactly what had happened the past two weeks. 

---

Two weeks ago

You have submitted your first report, and the Council of Elders is not happy with you. 

"We're paying you a lot for what, exactly?" One of them says. They're behind curtains, so you can't see them. You hear a flutter, and then pages of your report fly around. They're furious. They're a bit dramatic if they ask you. You swallow nervously nonetheless.

"To tell you what Gojo Satoru is up to," you reply meekly.

"And this is what you say? 6 pm ice cream in Ueno. 7 am, stretching in Toshima," another furious voice roars.

"But that's what he does," You try to defend yourself. "And I—"

"Silence," a third voice chides you. You shut up immediately.

"This is useless. You've given us nothing. Nothing to make it worth our dime. Bring us something more useful next time, or we'll cut you off." 

You're thrown out before you can get a word in edgewise. Once outside the school, you can't help the chuckles that escape you. The whole thing is so ridiculous. You are spying on someone and then doing such a shitty job at it and pissing off some old farts. Aiko and your mom are right. This is extremely stupid. You take out your phone and type to Aiko, You were right. Spying on Gojo was a stupid thing. I think I'm going to—

You almost let out a shriek and drop your phone when you hear someone say, "So they do have you spying on me."

It's Gojo. Leaning over your shoulder and reading your text nonchalantly. Did he just...?

"I—" Your mouth opens and closes like a fish's. "I—I..."

---

You're not at the school anymore. Gojo's brought you to another dessert cafe, and you're sitting opposite him in a booth, too nervous to sip your coffee while he's casually devoured an ice cream sundae all by himself. To your relief, he doesn't look angry. 

"What did they promise you?" He asks casually, licking his spoon clean. His eyes are shielded—always!—and you have no idea what he's thinking. Will he kill you? Fire you? Will he tell the elders?  Will they kill you? Fire you? Your mom is definitely going to kill you.

"Tuition," you answer slowly, licking your lips nervously. He nods thoughtfully.

"I'll pay you double," he says, throwing his spoon into his empty ice cream cup. He stands up and shoves his hands into his pockets.

Your eyes grow wide. "Wh-wha— Why would you do that?" You say, gaping up at him.

"You didn't tell them about Megumi. Why?" He asks, towering over you now.

"I...He's a child," you say simply. "I..."

"You didn't ask me who he was to me. Why?" Gojo leans closer. You shrink in your seat.

"I didn't know. I didn't...want to know so I didn't have to exclude it from my report..." You admit. Gojo nods, satisfied and stands upright.

"That's what I thought. Of course, the offer of the money isn't free." Your eyebrows shoot up. "I have a condition. Date me."

"Wh-"

"Oh, you'd love that, wouldn't you?" He asks mockingly. "It was obviously a joke."

You sniff, your pride wounded at being played with. "I wasn't going to accept anyway," you sound more defensive than you'd prefer.

"Well, my condition is that you tell them what I want to tell them. And you spy for me." 

"A double-crossing spy. It doesn't end well for the spy," You grumbled, but to be fair, the money was good, and you're getting the good end of the deal. Your mom is definitely going to kill you.

---

Since Gojo found out that you were spying on him and had reached an understanding, he seems to feel way more comfortable with you than you'd imagined. You've also been hanging out more and more with the kids, training with him more and even expanding your skill set. It isn't too bad... But sometimes, the boundaries get blurred.

You're at the kids' school now, ready to pick them up. Tsumiki spots you before you do.

"Oh! It's Yuki-chan again!" You hear a voice and feel warmth flood your chest. Tsumiki rushes to you and holds out something for you—a candy bar. Your stoic face wavers as you slowly accept the treat.

"Thank you, Tsumiki-chan," you say softly. Megumi follows his sister and gives you a polite hello. You accept it and get them settled in the car. Once you reach Gojo's apartment, you fall into the easy, practised rhythm of making dinner while the kids wash up. You usually ordered them to takeout but wanted to make something homemade for them today. You're at the stove, cooking, when you see Megumi come out of his room and make a beeline for you.

You watch curiously as he walks up to you and tugs at your shirt, prompting you to bend down.

“Yes?” You ask, amused.

“Ice cream," he says with the most serious expression on his face.

“No.” You frown. "It's dinner time."

"For dessert," Megumi says as if you were stupid to think he was suggesting they have ice cream for dinner.

"Didn't you guys already have a huge dessert yesterday? Yes, Gojo told me."

You think he will play the obedient child and agree, but you're wrong. He makes...eyes at you. Puppy eyes. His eyes are big now, glistening, and his mouth is curled into a pout. You swallow, feeling your resolve weakening.

“St-stop looking at me like that. I said no...” You say firmly, but your voice is much softer now. It's almost as if you're trying to convince yourself. You're the adult, damnit! When Megumi turns back with a defeated look, his little shoulders drooping, you almost reach out to him and promise to buy him an ice cream parlour (with Gojo's money, of course, you weren't a complete idiot) if it meant the little kid would cheer up, but you hold yourself back. You will not be manipulated d—

Your thoughts come to an abrupt stop when Megumi returns to hand you a piece of paper. It is a drawing. Of you, a blindfolded fool with white hair and two kids. You swallow. Oh no. 

“D-did you draw me?” You ask, your heart melting.

Megumi nods. "Fine, we can have ice cream," you say, clearing your throat and blinking away tears.

The spiky-haired kid lets out a satisfied smile and then: "Pizza."

You raise an eyebrow, impressed at the level of manipulation. "Don't push it," you say before ruffling the little punk's hair and ordering them some ice cream. 

When Gojo comes home, he fusses over the kids, teasing them and annoying the heck out of Megumi. He turns to you cooking curry over the stove and comments that it smells delicious. You give him a pained smile and take a step back when he leans in to smell the pot. You think it is rather unnecessary. The smell is all permeating. Didn't he just say it smelled good? The scene is too domestic for your liking, too suggestive. You are colleagues and nothing more. Cooking is also such a woman's thing that you've always hesitated before today to do it because you didn't want to fit some sexist stereotype. But you thought of the kids and nutrition and said, fuck it...

Gojo notices the distance you put between him and you and smirks. You raise an eyebrow. He straightens up and looks at the block of ice cream on the counter you've forgotten to put in the fridge. When the delivery driver had handed you the ice cream fifteen minutes ago, you'd taken it hurriedly and chucked it on the counter to check on the curry and make sure it wasn't burning.

"You ordered ice cream? The kids had ice cream yesterday, too. Didn't I tell you?" He asks, putting it in the freezer.

You show Gojo the drawing Megumi made as an explanation. He lets out an 'Ah' and disappears into his bedroom before coming back with a bundle of papers. Your eyes widen.

"Guess there's two suckers in the house now," he says. You take the bundle and see that they're all drawings of Gojo, Tsumiki and Megumi. You can't help the chuckle that escapes you. You carefully give the bundle back to Gojo.

"I will try to be strong next time."

"Nah, it's okay. He has a couple of difficult years ahead of him. Let him have his fun..." Gojo says, looking over to where Megumi and Tsumiki are watching an animated movie. He suddenly looks thoughtful and morose, you think. "And I think the brat could do with a little humbling. Maybe getting his teeth rotten from too many sweets might do the trick," he says, lightening the mood again. You laugh. Your phone vibrates.

"I need to take this. Can you watch over the pot?" You don't wait for Gojo to reply before you step out onto the balcony to answer your call. It's Tanaka. You tell him you'll call him later. He's not happy to hear that, but it is what it is. You know you're going to argue about this come weekend.

When you walk back inside towards the kitchen, Gojo is looking at you suspiciously Even with the blindfold, you have now come to decode some of his expressions. "Who was that?" He asks.

You shrug and let out a sigh of relief when you see the curry is still safe. "Her boyfriend," a little voice pipes up. You look up to see Megumi and Tsumiki's heads peeking out from above the sofa. 

"Don't be silly, Tsumiki-chan," Gojo says, walking up to the sofa and settling next to the kids. "Pantsuits-chan isn't remotely interesting enough to have a dating life."

You don't dignify that with a response. "Dinner's ready," you announce. You eat dinner together, and Gojo starts picking on Megumi, much to the latter's fury. Tsumiki and you watch the whole ordeal with amusement. 

"Nee-chan, will you tuck me in bed today?" Tsumiki asks, and you feel both touched and awkward. You look at Gojo to make sure he's okay with it, and he nods. 

"Yes, I will. We can also read a story tonight. Which one would you like?" You ask, knitting your fingers and propping your chin atop them.

"How about the Dragon Princess one? You guys like it, right?"

Megumi grows red but nods. "Yes, please," Tsumiki chimes in. "It's our favourite." 

After dinner, Gojo announces he will do the dishes while you read to the kids. You pull up a chair next to the kids' bunk bed and read to them. You have different voices for the Dragon Princess and her friends, Rabbit Knight and Toad the Giant. You notice Tsumiki laughs harder when you do the toad voice and put more effort into exaggerating it. Once you're done with the story, you put the book aside and bid the children goodnight. You step out of the room, shutting the door quietly.

"Where did you learn to do the voices?" Gojo asks. You look up, surprised at the question. Had he heard that? He is sitting on the sofa, so you can't see him. 

Before you can think, you say, "My mom—" you stop abruptly. You had painted a lie for Gojo about your upbringing to make him believe you were one of the Gojos. Your mom had instructed you to tell him you were brought up in a cold, sterile environment to prevent looking like an outcast, and you had. Unfortunately, the mom-doing-funny-voices bit didn't fit in well with the story, and Gojo caught onto it. He threw a glance over his shoulder. You noticed his blindfold was off.

"Looks like your mom wasn't as bad as you made her out to be, huh?" He asks, amused.

You chuckle nervously as you walk over to the sofa, where your coat lies abandoned on one of its arms, far from Gojo. "Well, since the cat's out of the bag, yeah. I had a pretty good childhood," you admit, putting your coat on. You notice his blue eyes latched onto the movement of the coat sliding over your arms. You button your coat. His eyes flash to yours.

"That's nice," he says.

"Sorry for the lie, I guess." You don't feel very sorry, and he doesn't look too offended. You don't leave immediately, but you don't sit down. You remain standing in front of the sofa as the question you're curious to ask springs forth before you can control yourself.

"How...was your childhood?"

"Falls short of yours, no doubt," he says, smiling. You roll your eyes but smile. You don't miss him evading the question.

"Well, I doubt that. You probably had fifty people waiting on you."

"Maybe more," he shrugs. You click your tongue in feigned distaste.

"Gojo-sama," you say, "I shall take your leave then."

He waves two fingers. When you reach home, you carefully place the picture Megumi made you in between some books, making a note to get it framed one of these days. 

---

You reach into your pocket and take out botan rice candies. You were addicted to these as a kid and thought it would be so smart to make something out of them. You collected the little character cards they'd sell and had been working on imbuing them with cursed energy. They're slowly getting stronger. So have been your curses. 

"Good," Gojo says approvingly. You try not to preen under the praise. It would be a bit unbecoming. And you're anything but. You light a cigarette to celebrate your win. His phone rings. He shows you the name of the caller. It's the kids.

"Hiya, my little rascals, how are you doing?"

You wrinkle your nose at the bizarre term of endearment but keep your mouth shut. You don't tell others how to raise their kids. Or...whatever situation this was. You hadn't really figured it out yet, and Gojo was always so tight-lipped. Plus, you didn't even know if you wanted to know. 

"We're on a mission in Kyoto," Gojo says, turning the phone towards you. You immediately hide your cigarette from view and glare at Gojo for not warning you. He looks amused.

"Hi there!" You smile. You're greeted with excited squeals from Tsumiki, and even Megumi looks happy to see you. Well, that's some improvement on the usual grumpy nod you get from him.

"How are you guys doing?"

"Good, Nee-chan, when will you come back?"

"Gojo-sama's heading back tonight. I'm going tomorrow. I'll see you next week. We can go to that cafe you were talking about."

Tsumiki lets out a happy squeal. "Yes, that sounds good! Gumi also wanted to go to this arcade near Shinjuku."

"Okay, we'll see if we can fit it all into one day," you say gently. "Catch up with you soon!" You turn the phone to Gojo, feeling awkward, and also, your cigarette is burning out! You take another puff, cupping your face behind your hand to make sure the kids don't accidentally catch a glimpse of you in the background smoking. You enjoy the last remaining puffs while Gojo chats to the kids. When he hangs up, he turns to you with a sly smile.

"Why not just smoke in front of the kids?" He asks.

"It's called being a responsible adult." You crush the cigarette butt with the heel of your shoe and run your hands down your suit to smooth out any wrinkles. 

"But not a very responsible thing to do for yourself," he quips.

You shrug. "We all have our vices. And I'll quit."

"That's what all addicts say." 

You chuckle. "Touche." You stretch your hands above your head. God, you're sore. "Okay, I'm going to go home."

“Come on, hang out with me. What? Don’t tell me you have plans after work," he whines, putting his hand over your shoulders. You shrug him off and consider his question. 

You were going to lie in bed and engage in some good-quality doom-scrolling before dinner with your parents. Before you can answer, you get distracted when your phone vibrates. “Oh, I’m getting a call.” You walk away from him to take the call. When you return, Gojo shoots you a curious look.

“Who was that?”

“My boyfriend.”

Gojo stares at you for three seconds. “What?”

“It was my boyfriend,” you repeat, stuffing your phone back into your breast pocket. “So, what did you want to do?”

He lets out a bark of laughter. "You...have an actual boyfriend?"

You raise your eyebrows. "Yes...?"

Gojo looks like he wants to say something. "Why are you not meeting him right now?"

 You shrug your shoulders defensively at the question. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you said you had dinner plans with your parents later, right? But why aren't you meeting your boyfriend?"

"My parents are important to me."

"Sure, but before or after meeting them?"

You feel annoyed. "What's it to you?" 

"I just find it strange, that's all."

"We're in the middle of a...fight if you must know," you huff, frustrated and angry.

"Well, let's go surprise him. Flowers, chocolates and a girlfriend turning up at your doorstep. Unless..." He trails off, already sensing your impending rejection "...You're afraid."

You roll your eyes. "That's your big hook? Geez... I'm shaking in my boots." You're already walking away, but Gojo doesn't give up that easily. He falls in line with you. 

"Well... Come on. It'll be fun. And I want to see the guy."

You find your resolve faltering. Well... It wouldn't be the worst thing to do. Tanaka might actually appreciate it. What could go wrong?

---

Apparently, a lot. A lot could go wrong, and it does.

Tanaka doesn't appreciate it. At all. He is surprised to open the door and find his girlfriend accompanied by a strange man. You notice how his gaze lingers on Gojo before moving on to you. He's...angry, you're heartbroken to find. Why did you think it was a good idea again?

"What are you doing here?" He asks harshly. Tanaka is never harsh except sometimes. You guess today is one such day. 

You flinch. "I'm—here to see you. I thought we could make up after our fight..."

Gojo holds out the flowers and chocolates. "And she comes bearing gifts."

"Wh-who are you?" Tanaka zooms into Gojo. Of course, the man doesn't shrink under your boyfriend's scrutiny. You wish he did, if only to make you look good. But of course, it is Gojo Satoru, nay, Gojo-sama. He stands tall.

"I'm her boss. Didn't she tell you about me?"

"Oh..." Tanaka clears his throat. "So you're from that school? And you can also see those things and do that stuff?" He looks a bit nervous now. Minus point for Tanaka, great for Gojo, who thrives on making people quiver.

"Yes, and I spy... a little something..." 

You're about to ask Gojo to quit his ridiculous antics when you notice Tanaka swallowing nervously. Huh? Before you can process the information completely, Gojo thrusts the gifts you'd bought earlier into Tanaka's arms, forcing him to accept them and pushes past Tanaka to march into his apartment without an invitation. Your eyes widen, and you rush to stop him. You almost crash into him when he abruptly stops in the living room.

"Gojo-sama! You're—" Your words die in your throat when you see what had made him stop. Different things hit you at once. There's a girl. On the sofa. Wine. Table. Wine glasses. Half-eaten food. The girl is now looking scared and worried. You feel pain. Oh. It's your heart. You turn on your heel. 

"Oh my, someone's been naughty," Gojo remarks. You grab his hand and drag him out. You faintly hear Tanaka saying something. Most of it is cruel. Some of it might have been true. You never have time, and you think he said that which was true. But, You made me do this. Yes, that one was cruel. When you try to think back to the moment, you can't remember most of the stuff he says. You ask Gojo what Tanaka was saying, but he never tells you except, 'some loser crap'.

---

"Are you...okay?" You hear someone ask and look up, surprised. It is Gojo. Your brain feels muddled, and you can't seem to put words together. Did he just ask you something? You feel warmth on your shoulders. It's hands. His hands. On your shoulders. Directing you towards... a park bench and making you sit.

"Are you alright?" This time, you hear him. You nod. 

"My parents," you say, remembering. "I...have to tell them I don't want...I won't be able to make it to dinner."

"You will have to call them for that," he says gently, and although it isn't meant to be an insult, you do find yourself chuckling.

"Yes, I suppose I have to do that," you say and take out your phone to dial their number. Your dad answers. "Dad...Hi... Yes, I'm fine. No... I... actually won't be able to make it to dinner. Yeah... I... The mission is running quite late... Yes... I know, I'm sorry. Love you too, bye, Dad."

You sit with your phone in your lap. "I'm sorry... I didn't realise." 

You stand abruptly. "That motherfucking asshole..." You mutter. "Hah! I knew something was up. I knew...I mean, I didn't know, but I knew... You know?"

"Sure..." Gojo nods, unsure. Before you know it, tears are streaming down your face, and you can't stop them. You feel stupid, silly and embarrassed. To your surprise, instead of mocking you, Gojo slowly reaches out, giving you enough time to back out if you so wished, and pulls you into a hug. You bury your face into his shoulder and cry. You're probably drenching his uniform, but thankfully, he doesn't complain. When you pull away, sniffing, Gojo ruffles your hair. You wipe your cheeks with the back of your palms. 

"We should go if we want to return to Tokyo before nightfall."

You nod and let him lead you. You take a bus to Kyoto Station and take the Shinkansen back home. You nod off and end up catching some much-needed shut-eye. When Gojo rouses you, you sleepily follow him to the parking lot where you'd parked the company car. He stops you when you try to get into the driver's seat. You sit in the back and lie down. What a fucking day. You don't fall asleep, though. Your head is a mess. You glance at your phone. It's 6 pm. No message from Tanaka. That bastard. Tears threaten to spill, but you force them back. You are not going to cry over that idiot!

When Gojo pulls into your neighbourhood, you sit up. You pat your hair to make it look a little less of a mess than it is right now, but you're unsuccessful. Oh, well. You step out of the car and turn to say goodbye and thank Gojo. "Don't spend the whole night crying," he says before driving off.

You open your apartment door and collapse into your bed. Chibi curls up next to you. 

---

The next morning, you wake up to someone ringing your doorbell incessantly. What the fuck? Can't a woman cry herself to sleep and be left alone to cry herself awake in the morning? You force yourself out of bed and peek through the peephole to see it's...Gojo?! You look at yourself in the mirror in front of your door. Your hair looks shit. Your face looks shit. You smell worse, having slept in your clothes from yesterday. Perfect. 

When he rings the doorbell again, you unlock the door but crack it open just slightly. "What are you doing here, Gojo-sama?" You ask through gritted teeth.

"Morning!" He greets you in a shrill voice. "I was worried about you—Oh my," he stops abruptly and leans closer, making you snap away from the door. Unfortunately, that means your hold on the door has eased, allowing one annoying Gojo Satoru to barge in freely. "You look terrible. You should definitely shower." He tuts and leans down to pick up Chibi, who is rubbing herself against his calves. You feel your head throb.

"I...appreciate your concern, but I would like to be alone today."

"No can do," Gojo says, sitting on the chair in front of your computer desk. "This is threat-level 1000. I cannot leave you alone. I also brought reinforcements." He points to the bags behind him you've only just noticed. They're filled with snacks. "I also brought movies. Which one would you like to start with? But first, a shower."

He is already pushing you towards what he thinks is the bathroom. You click your tongue, irritated. "That's the closet, for god's sake," you say and tie your hair up. "One movie, and then you go. Okay?"

"Of course," Gojo promises, holding up his pinky finger. You're not confident he will stick to his word, but you gather some clothes and your towel before heading to take the longest shower known to humanity.

When you step out of your shower, your hair wrapped up in a towel, you are greeted with the smell of rice and...eggs, was it? You feel your mouth salivating. You were hungrier than you thought. Gojo's standing in your open kitchen with pots, pans and plates laid out in front of him. He greets you with a smile when he sees you.

"Hungry?"

You nod. You feel warm... Like you're taken care of. Tokyo's a cold place. Apart from Aiko, you don't have a lot of people here you call family, so it is rare for you to have someone cook for you. You pull out the folding table attached to the other side of the kitchen counter and help Gojo set the table. Once you're sat down, you look at the food—rice, eggs, bacon and sliced cucumber. It's sparse, and you should've gone grocery shopping, but it is not too bad. You're grateful.

"Thank you for the food," you say before digging in. You're in a much more amenable mood once your belly is full. Considering his actions yesterday and today, you find it within yourself not to hate the whole movie-watching idea. You have orchestrated the seating arrangement carefully to avoid any awkward or accidental touching. He is sitting on the computer desk chair, and you're on your bed.

After the first movie, you are ready to call it quits when Gojo is already putting on the second one.

"I could use a break," you say, your ass hurting from all the sitting. "I'm going to step out for a smoke."

"Can you get me some ice cream?" Gojo says. You nod as you grab your wallet and a tote bag. When you leave, you automatically run your hands through the cube, setting it up. It's almost second nature to you, and you don't think much of it.

You only remember after you've smoked your cigarette and you're on your way back from buying the ice cream.

You run.

---

Gojo scrolls through his phone while he waits for you. You've been surprising him quite a lot lately. Although he was initially displeased and (rightfully!) extremely suspicious of your 'sudden' appointment, you had come to grow on him. And if he could use you, even better. You were always so prim and proper with the deferential language and the distance. So when he confirmed you were a spy, he was both relieved and gutted.

Relieved because Gojo-sama's instinct was on point. Gutted because the kids seemed to actually like you, and you them. But there were puzzle pieces which didn't fit...

Your report on the Koenji neighbourhood had been...fabricated. Much of it had been a lie about how it was practically uninhabitable and of no use to the corporation. Of course, Gojo had backed it, but he had been surprised. He thought...he might be wrong about you being a spy.

You possessed glimmers of humanity not easily found among those in the Jujutsu world. Occupational hazard and all that. 

And then there was also how your reports (of course, Gojo saw them! He also had spies!) didn't mention Megumi. In fact... They were pretty bland overall. They hardly detracted from his official schedule. That told him you weren't a lost cause, which is why he offered you the job. 

For some reason, when he found out about your boyfriend, he didn't like it. He didn't like that there were parts of you he didn't know. He didn't like that someone got to know you intimately when you had so many rules and boundaries for him.

Your tears had surprised him, even driven him into a panicked frenzy. You never showed much emotion, much less cry! And there you were, sobbing. You were more fragile than he thought. He knew he couldn't leave you to your own devices and had decided to come spend the day with you. And that is why he is here, with you.

The door clicks.

Gojo sees you're back earlier. He's about to ask you how you're back so early when he gets distracted by your actions—you're shedding your coat and your slippers. He watches as the shirt stretches over your chest. He licks his lips involuntarily. His gaze wanders. He hates how your hair is always in a bun. So prim and prop— It's not in a bun now. Huh. When did you undo the bun? Something is strange, but Gojo is distracted by how long your hair is. Goodness, was it always this long? It should be criminal to keep such beautiful, long hair bound. He reaches out to run his fingers through the long locks and marvels at it. He doesn't think about how or when you walked over.

"Gojo-sama," you're saying in a warm, inviting voice. You've never spoken to him this way. Perhaps the earlier encounter had softened your usually cold, professional heart. "I... What you did back there..." You fiddle with your fingers as you sit down next to him, the bed dipping under your weight. He doesn't wonder how he got on the bed. Your loose hair falls over your shoulders as you lean forward and say, "I am very grateful."

Gojo is silent. Waiting. And he is not disappointed when your mouth meets his. Your lips are as soft as he imagined them to be. He brings his hands to cup your face in his hands. Was your face always this small? Goodness, you were so fragile. You were so...

His mind short circuits when you straddle him and put his hands on your breasts. Okay... You were...very...proactive. He likes it even as he is surprised by the pace.

Then the door opens with the door lock jingle playing. Huh? Didn't the door just open?

---

You open the door and slam your palm onto the hallucinator cube as you burst in.

You're surprised by the scene that greets you. Gojo is on your bed with his hands extended forward. He is staring at his hands and then at you. And then back. You cast your shoes aside, carefully walk towards him, and kneel next to your bed. 

"Are you okay?" You ask as you gingerly reach out to pull his hands down. A jolt of surprise hits you when he holds your hand between his and presses it against his cheek.

His head rolls into your palm desperately as if your touch could heal him. You watch, fascinated, as he proceeds to press his mouth into the fleshy bit of your palm with his eyes closed, his hand coming up to press it further against his mouth. When you make to pull your hand away, he lets out a noise of discontent. You pull your hand away, nevertheless. He opens his eyes. Cerulean eyes boring into yours. You swallow.

"Gojo-sama, snap out of it!" you say. Maybe the sweet-toothed demon might wake up at the mention of his treat. You hold up the brick.

"Ice cream," you say.

"You scream?"

Your eyebrows crinkle at the corners when you let out a smile. "I bought ice cream."

"Wonderful..." he reaches out to touch your...cheek?

"Did you tie your hair again? I like it loose..." He pouts. 

You scoff, amused. "I... will keep that in mind." When his palm cups your cheek, you pull away. He pouts. 

"You're embarrassed about our kiss?"

You frown, genuinely confused. "What kiss?"

He blinks, and then he sits up. "Wh..." He knocks his palm on his head. "What...?"

"I'm sorry, Gojo-sama, I think the hallucinator cube got to you. It's meant for intruders, and I activated it before I left without realising... It's nothing harmful, just keeps the intruders engaged before I can make it home and deal with them..." You trail off when you see Gojo jump out of bed. His ears are pink.

"A hallucination?"

"Yes...I'm surprised it got to you."

"So nothing happened...? You weren't?" He peers into your face. You give him a confused look.

"I wasn't what...?"

"Nothing," Gojo gives you a reassuring smile. "Interesting...cube. What... Did you make it?"

"Yes..." 

"Well, you'll have to explain to me how it works another time. I think I'm going to go now."

You nod, dumbfounded. "The ice cream?" You hold it up for him. He takes it from you, his fingers slightly brushing yours. 

"I will take my treat," he says and zaps out of your room. What the fuck was all that about?

---

You're in bed now with Aiko, telling her the story.

She looks at you. "What kiss?"

"Exactly," you say.

Notes:

Hana is definitely inspired by the protagonist of Fever Daydreams by buttholesupreme! If you haven't already, it's one of the most beautiful fan fictions I have ever read.

Please read and review! Looking forward to hearing what you guys thought about this chapter <3

Chapter 5: Somethings Happen, Some Things Happen—Part 2

Past

You turn to Aiko. "There's something else."

Feeling too agitated to say this lying down, you sit up. Chibi, who lies curled up near your head, gets startled by the sudden motion. You apologetically run your fingers through her fur softly as you say, "The thing is... I'm dating Gojo Satoru, but he isn't dating me." 

"What do you mean?" Aiko asks sharply.

"I had a meeting with the Council of Elders again. They...were hounding me... They wanted me to do something, give them something... They wanted some sensitive information, but I couldn't... So I said...I said I was working on another plan. I told them...I lied... to them and said I was dating Gojo Satoru so I could get some more information." 

"Yuki!" Aiko says admonishingly. "How could you?!"

"I know!" You whine, clutching Chibi to your face to shield you from Aiko's glare.

"Are you saying you're dating Gojo Satoru, but he doesn't know it yet?"

"Yeah..." You say, holding the ever-compliant kitten in your arms. Aiko looks unimpressed.

"You're a fucking idiot," she says before turning away from you.

"I know..." you mutter, defeated, before lying down. 

"I'll talk to Utahime about getting you a job at Kyoto. This is getting out of hand," you hear Aiko say. You don't argue with her. It would be nice, after all, to have something to fall back on when everything eventually went to hell. 

---

D+14 days

You haven't told Gojo that you're dating him, and he's dating you. You're training with him and going on missions like usual. You are an avoidant personality, so there is no way in hell you will ever be bringing it up. It was a stupid thing, anyway. How would you explain it to him? Luckily, the Council seems to have kept mum because he hasn't said anything.

Right now, you're practising with Gojo how to hone your skills and make them stronger. Sometimes you wonder why he puts so much energy into training you, but just figure it's some evil plot of making you go on missions by yourself so he can stop taking on so much work. You don't mind it since you're getting to learn stuff, and learning has always been a fun thing. Yep, you knew you were kind of a nerd.

"So, your illusions," Gojo begins. You're both spread out on the training ground, breathing heavily after an intense sparring session. "...Have you thought about injecting them with electricity to make them stronger?"

"...No. Where would I get electricity from? I can't exactly electrocute myself to get it..." You say, letting out an incredulous laugh. When you're faced with silence from Gojo, you sit up to give him a look of disbelief. "You don't mean to suggest..."

"Well, it is something to try. Exposure could numb you to the pain, and you could channel—"

You shake your head. "Why the fuck would I do something so ridiculous?"

"To become stronger," he says as if you've asked the most absurd thing in the world. "Isn't that what everyone wants?"

"No," you scoff. You stand up and dust your uniform. "Not everyone wants to be you, you know, Gojo-sama," you say his name sarcastically.

He gives you a puzzled look. "They don't?"

"No, there's a reason why my mother never brought me up in the Jujutsu society. She never wanted me to step foot into that life. She saw you. She felt bad for you. I grew up hearing sad stories about how your life sucked," you say much more cruelly than you would have on a normal day, but something about how he casually suggested you electrocute yourself to become 'strong' really rubbed you the wrong way and you can't help but let him have it. You see how Gojo's face changes. A dark shadow befalls his face, and he looks upset. Good.

"And so, Gojo, thank you for your suggestion, but no, I am not going to electrocute myself." 

"It's Gojo-sama for you," he says bitterly. You make a face of displeasure.

"My mistake, Gojo-sama," you say mockingly. "I guess I forgot myself for a second," you bow deeply, knowing your deference would only cut him more deeply because it is so insincere.

"A mistake," he says coldly, and you've never seen Gojo act this cold before, you realise. It is strange, perhaps even a little scary. You push that thought aside. It is still Gojo, after all. But even though you are standing and he's on the ground, you feel small. 

"Ready for round 2?" He asks, jumping to his feet. You want to say no, but you can feel the unspoken challenge in his question and cannot help but rise to it.

"Sure." You brace yourself. Gojo stands in a relaxed stance.

"Here's a task: try and touch me." He walks closer to you. You raise an eyebrow and scoff, amused.

"Haven't I done it a billion times already?"

He gives you a cold, mocking smile. "Oh my, don't tell me you're stupid enough to think you were actually touching me."

You give him a look of unease. What the heck was he talking about? "Come on, then, don't just stand there." He is still standing at ease. You bring your hands up in front of you to assume your fighting stance. "Come at me with everything you have."

So you do. But for some reason, you cannot land a single blow. When your hand finally connects his upper arm, you let out a triumphant cry. Gojo, however, shakes his head and tuts in an infuriatingly condescending manner. You glare at him, feeling wronged. "I touched you right there. I did!" You say, but he shakes his head again, with his hands clasped behind his back, as if he finds the whole thing quite tedious. You place your hands on your hips and face him squarely.

"Explain," you demand. "I know I touched you. I felt... I felt your arm underneath mine!" You argue. He gives you a mocking smile, which makes your blood boil.

"You didn't touch me; you touched the infinity between us."

You frown at his words. "Infinity? What...exactly is that?" You demand. 

He walks to stand in front of you, towering over you. He lifts a palm. "Touch me..." You look at him suspiciously. His earlier foul mood seems to have dissipated, but you cannot be sure. "Go on, then," he nods encouragingly. 

You reach out curiously and find your hands are not actually touching him. "What's happening?"

"You're slowing down because of the infinity. So you're not touching me, ever." 

"Huh..." You exclaim as you stare at the distance between your fingers. You get startled when he intertwines his fingers with yours. You let out a startled huff and try to pull your hand back, but he refuses to let go.

"Gojo...Sama?" You say nervously. His expression is indecipherable. "Let me go."

"I answered your question. I think it is time for you to answer one of mine."

"Okay..." You say as you stop struggling. "Hit me."

"Tell me why I am hearing that I am dating you?" He asks, smiling that cold smile of his.

Your eyes widen. "I—" You try to pull your hand away more urgently now, but he yanks you forward to pull you against him. If it weren't for your hands in between you, you would be pressed against his chest.

"Ah, so the culprit was hiding right under my nose," he says, looking down at you. "Why, though?"

"I... The council was pressuring me to give them something... So I..." You shift uncomfortably. "I...was going to tell you, but I..."

"What exactly did you tell the council?"

"Well...They were asking me about your personal life. They seemed to have caught wind of Megumi or something about him, and they wanted me to tell them about his Jujutsu skills...Someone mentioned something about ascension and becoming the Head of the Zenin family, but I don't know why they brought it up. And, of course, it was news to me that Megumi is even a Jujutsu sorcerer. I guess I've never thought about it... I just... And also, Megumi's a Fushiguro, so I don't know why they're so keen on finding out about him... Anyway, I didn't...want to tell them anything, so I lied... But they had pictures of me with the kids. They knew I was...lying... So...I said... Well, I said we were together, and I'd get more information..."

Gojo's expression remains indecipherable throughout your rant. "Did you tell them anything about Megumi and Tsumiki?"

"Nothing they didn't already know."

Gojo nods thoughtfully. He still hasn't let you go. "Since we're playing twenty questions, here's one for you." 

He looks down at you in surprise. "The kiss," you say, looking up at him, "What were you talking about?" He lets you go immediately as if your touch had burned him.

"Aha!" You exclaim. "So something did happen. Was it the hallucination?"

"I have no idea what you mean." He is walking away now, but you're hot on his heels.

You roll your eyes. "You know what I mean."

To your frustration, Gojo only shrugs. He suddenly turns, catching you off guard. He leans down, causing you to shrink back. "They don't believe you," he says. You frown at him. "That you're dating me. Why would they? There's a difference of infinity between us."

"How do you know?"

He nods his head at a tree in the distance. "The crows," he says. You glance over your shoulder to see a murder of crows sitting on the tree. "They're spies." You feel dread pool in your stomach, but before you can process it, you feel a hand—Gojo's—come up to cup your chin.

"Oh dear, whatever will you do now," he says, leaning in closer now. Your eyes widen in horror, and you jerk your head back. You felt his touch right then. That was him touching you, right?

"Was that the infinity, or was that you touching me?" You ask as you put some distance between you and him. He smirks.

"Does it matter?"

You cross your arms across your chest. "I suppose not to you. But you know, you just proved my point. Why would I be like that...? Always on my guard. I don't think you even sleep through the night." You shudder to yourself. "I can't imagine living like that." You see his face change. He is displeased. But before he can answer, you continue, "And the crows are as much your problem as they are mine." You hold your hand out. "We both want to protect Megumi."

He considers your words for a second before he clasps your hand. You take that moment to hold up your clasped hands to your face to take a closer look. There are gaps. Infinity between your palm and his. "Ah, I see it now. Fascinating," you remark nonchalantly. "This does make the whole thing much less awkward," you note aloud.

"Glad to be of service," Gojo remarks off-handedly. You crack a smile and start walking.

"Happy two-week anniversary, by the way." You stop. "You should gift me flowers, you know, to be romantic."

"Hah," he scoffs. "Anything else?"

"Hmmm, I think I shouldn't be calling you Gojo-sama anymore. I think Gojo-san is more suitable. Or even Gojo."

"Psh," he scoffs louder now. "Sure, go ahead and drop the honorifics. It's not as if I didn't know what my name is saved as in your phone."

You stop in your tracks. "No way, really? When did you find out?"

"Day Two."

You gape, shocked. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I thought it was only fair considering what I've saved your name in my phone as."

You grimace.

Chapter 6: A Fight and Then Some

Summary:

You fight with Gojo. And both of you fight against some new, old enemies.

You're enjoying a quiet afternoon at Jujutsu High doing some boring paperwork. The ennui is welcome because the past month and a half has been too eventful, and your nerves are fried.

Apart from the very near-death experiences you've had fighting curses alongside Gojo, you're also taking care of his kids (?), spying on him and then spying for him and now embroiled in a fake dating scenario.

You look around the tiny office you're sharing with Akari Nitta, the other assistant, also filing her reports, and let out a happy sigh. Today looks like a quiet day. You lean over to ask Akari if she wants to have lunch together, and she lets out an enthusiastic yes. You hardly get to spend time at the office, so you're also looking forward to getting to know other people.

Over lunch, you learn that she's assisting Atsuya Kusakabe—a sorcerer you've yet to meet. You can't tell if she likes him or not. The only thing she says is, "Well, he doesn't really pick the hard missions, so the paperwork's easy." You wonder if Akari secretly judges Kusakabe, but you can't be sure. You do feel envious and wish Gojo was a bit like that if only to ease your paperwork. 

On your way back from lunch, you get a text from Gojo:

Trouble at school with Megumi. Can you go over and handle it? ( ╥ ᆺ ╥ )

You frown at the lack of details and call him after asking Akari to return to the office without you. He answers on the second ring.

"Hello? Pantsuits-Chan, why are you calling?"

You feel annoyance prick you at the question because you were obviously calling because of the text HE sent! You wonder if he did such things on the regular because he knew it annoyed you. You ignore the bubbling annoyance and reply curtly, "Hello, Gojo-sama, I am calling regarding your text—"

"Ah, yes," he says, cutting you off, "Can you go over to Megumi's school, then?"

"Well, yes, but can you tell me what happened?"

"I'm not entirely sure, something about the little runt getting into a fistfight?" Gojo sounds distracted to you. You don't appreciate the lack of details or the blase way in which he is telling you this. You're not sure if you're even supposed to be handling this! You're not Megumi's guardian. Was it even appropriate?

"Where are you, Gojo-sama?" You ask.

"I'm in Kyoto, dealing with something at the moment."

"Something more important than Megumi right now?" You ask sharply.

"Something came up!" Gojo says defensively.

"I'm not their guardian," you say into the phone, and you're greeted with silence. "I am a responsible adult, though, so I will go. But I don't like... I don't think it is right for you to treat me as their... guardian. They rely on you for these things, you know? You're disappointing them when you don't show up, and I think they've been disappointed enough by adults around them," you're seething as you say this while you walk to your car. You know Gojo won't be happy to hear this, but someone has to say it to him.

You are met with a few more seconds of silence before he says: "Understood." And then a click. 

You stare at your phone in disbelief. "Did this bastard just hang up on me?"

---

When you pull up at the school, you notice Tsumiki sitting outside the Principal's office with Megumi. Your heart clenches painfully, but you mask it with a warm smile.

"Yuki-chan!" Tsumiki calls out in relief as she sees you and runs up to hug you. You hug her back. You've become less awkward with being physically affectionate with the kids. "Why are you here?"

"Oh... Megumi's homeroom teacher wanted me to wait here with him until a pare—Gojo-san arrived. They'll call us in soon..." the little girl looks to her brother, who is decidedly looking away from you. "But where is Gojo-san?"

"He's busy, so I came..." You say, not letting it show how miffed you are that the teacher didn't stay with Megumi and instead asked Tsumiki to do so.

"Why don't you go back to your class, and I'll handle this?" Tsumiki nods and looks at Megumi for confirmation. She only leaves when the boy nods begrudgingly.

You finally turn to Megumi. He's all scratched up and in bandages. You kneel to his eye level as you examine his injuries critically. "How are you, Megumi? Are you okay?"

He's staring at the ground, his mouth clenched tightly as he nods.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?”

He remains quiet. "Gojo-sama said there was a fight," you say. When he doesn't say anything, you sigh. "Okay, you're probably tired. Let's... just wait for them to call us in." Megumi doesn't say anything. You sit down on the bench next to him. It is ten minutes before you're called inside. 

When you step in, you are introduced to Megumi's homeroom teacher and the principal. The principal, an old man, is sitting at his desk while the homeroom teacher, a younger man, is standing next to him. You bow to them both and introduce yourself. They nod, confused, understandably because they haven't seen you before. 

"Thank you for meeting with me, and I apologise for the trouble caused. Can you tell me what happened?" You wonder if they're taken aback by the calm and deadpan tone of voice. You're not smiling or making yourself come across as approachable.

"Right..." The principal begins shifting in his seat uncomfortably, "Megumi-kun is a good student, and we're disappointed by what happened today. The homeroom teacher was alerted to some disturbance in the classroom and arrived to find Megumi-kun sitting on one of his classmates and hitting him."

You nod and then ask, "And why did this fight break out?" 

"Well..." The homeroom teacher spoke up for the first time since you'd entered, "It was an argument over something. But you do understand that we have a 'Zero Tolerance to Violence' policy, so no matter what was said, it doesn't warrant such a reaction."

"But what was said?" You ask.

"Well, as Mr. Yamaguchi said, it doesn't really matter—" the principal began, but you cut him off politely with a, "Sure, I understand that, but what was said? Or did you not ask the other kid or Megumi?"

"We did," the Homeroom teacher, Mr. Yamaguchi, says impatiently. "And it was something about Megumi being accused of stealing something, and it looks like things escalated from there."

"So the other kid was wrongly accusing Megumi of stealing something?" You shift in your seat to look at Megumi. He's angrily staring at his hands.

"How long was this going on?" You address the question to Megumi, but it is the Homeroom teacher who answers.

"We think a month... Or so..." He admits uncomfortably.

"More than a month?" Your voice has risen a decibel, but you're still calm—or appearing to be. "And you knew this? Did you inform Gojo—Megumi's Guardian?"

"Well..." Mr Yamaguchi frowns, and sensing the danger of being held responsible for what happened today, the principal jumps in, "Well, squabbles happen, and we cannot report every single thing to—"

"So this was considered a squabble? That happens over a month? Where is the school manual?" You ask, stretching out a hand. "What does it say about verbal abuse and bullying?"

"We don't need to go that far. We just need Megumi to apologise and promise not to repeat this. It won't be on the record, so there's nothing to worry about, Mrs—"

"Ms. Hashimoto," you cut the principal's tirade. "No, that will not happen." You turn to Megumi. "Do you want to apologise for what happened? Did you hit this kid unprovoked?" 

Finally, Megumi looks at you. "I didn't... He was lying... And I asked him to stop. He hit me first, and I was only defending myself."

"Well, there you have it," you say. "Where is the other kid and his parents or guardian?" You cross your arms across your chest.

"I think this meeting is taking an unexpected turn, and we were ready to let this go, but it might warrant disciplinary action—"

"Good, I'm glad you're treating this with the severity it deserves. Here is my business card," you stand up and give the business card to the principal, "And please let me know once the disciplinary proceedings begin. I'll let Gojo-sam—san also know what's happening. He might consider pulling his wards out. I think today's been a lot, so I will be taking Megumi with me, with your permission, of course. I hope that's okay?" You don't give them a second to digest your words and motion for Megumi to get his things. For once, he complies readily.

"Mrs— Ms Hashimoto, I think we've gotten off the wrong foot. We didn't mean—" The principal begins in a panicked voice.

You're already at the door when you turn to say, "Please feel free to email me with whatever you decide. We'll act accordingly. Megumi-chan is coming with me now. Thank you."

You don't wait to hear the rest of their tirade as you walk out of the office with Megumi in tow. Your face feels hot, and your heart is beating rapidly. You're pretty sure you've soaked through your shirt inside your coat. Once you reach the car, you lean against the roof and exhale loudly. What the fuck was that? Had you fucked it up for Megumi and Tsumiki? Should you have begged? Is that something parents did?

You turn to see Megumi staring at the ground with an uneasy expression. You take his book bag from him and put it in the backseat. He lets you take it and gets into the front seat quietly. When you get into the driver's seat, you let out another breath. 

"How are you feeling?" You ask. 

"I'm okay... Are you...okay?" Megumi asks in a small voice. You frown and look at him. He's nervous, you realise. Is he nervous about you?

"I'm fine, Megumi. I was just worried about you. But I'm not angry. Not at you, okay?" Megumi nods slowly as if he doesn't completely believe you.

"How about we go for ice cream?" 

He nods and looks out the window. You find an ice cream parlour fifteen minutes from the school and order a sundae for Megumi and a coffee for yourself. Once you're seated and Megumi is digging into his ice cream, you lean back into your chair and watch him. You cut an odd picture, you think. He's in his school uniform, covered in scratches and bandaids, and you're in your pantsuit with your hair tied in a bun.

"You're like Gojo in some ways. He likes sweets, too." 

Megumi shoots you a glare, which makes you chuckle. "I am not like him," he grumbles. You reach out to ruffle his hair.

"I'm sorry that this awful kid was picking on you for a month... Why didn't you tell Gojo-sama or me?" You ask, looking worried.

Megumi shrugs. "It wasn't that big of a deal. It just got to blows today."

"Well, you should have told me—"

"Will you leave?" He asks, interrupting you. "Will you leave...?"

 "I—" You chew on your lip, tense. "I will leave this job, yes, but I will still be around." 

Megumi doesn't look satisfied. Your answer seems to have confirmed some insecurity in him. "But you can still talk to me about stuff... And..." You take out your business card and give it to him. "Here's my number. Call me if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay..." he says in a low voice.

"How...do you feel on a daily basis...?" You ask carefully. 

"Mostly okay... But sometimes my mind feels..." he trails off as he struggles to find a good word to describe his mind.

"Your mind feels like what?" You prompt.

"Like bszch, bszch, bszch..." He says, clenching his palm into a tiny fist. You purse your lips, worried.

"Bszch, bszch, bszch...?" You repeat, confused. "It...feels...confusing? Like too much is going on?"

He nods eagerly. "Okay... Does it happen in particular situations?"

"Yes... It happened when that boy was picking on me... Or... at night when I am thinking of things..."

"Well..." You say carefully, "It helps to write things down. It usually happens when you're feeling overwhelmed..." Megumi frowns at the word. "...Or... too many thoughts piling on at once..." He nods eagerly now. You smile before continuing, "And then... you should take out a diary and write down every thought; then you zoom into the emotion you're feeling, okay? You try to understand why you're feeling that. We can start from there and see if that helps. How does that sound?"

Megumi just nods, unsure. "And then...when we get angry, we—"

“Count to ten, I know.” Megumi crosses his arms across his small body, his eyebrows crinkling and a small frown twisting his mouth.

“No, that’s stupid. You take a deep breath and think things through. You assess the damage that a possible route of action might cause and choose the one least problematic. But if someone lays their hands on you, you hit him back and come tell me. Gojo, too, of course. I’ll be sure to make the parents’ life hell. Okay?”

He nods slowly. “Risk assessment. Hit back. Tell Gojo. Tell you.”

"Yes..." You smile. You wonder if you should've consulted your mom or the Wiki How-To page. You have no idea if what you're saying to the kid is actually correct, but oh well, it will have to do for now.

Once he's done with his ice cream, you hang around a bit before going to pick up Tsumiki. She's relieved to see you both and immediately rushes to her brother.

"Did everything okay?"

"Yes... Yuki-chan handled it... She made the Principal sweat," Megumi says, snickering. You can't help but smile. 

"Oh shush," you say fondly and take Tsumiki's book bag from her as you usher her into the backseat with her brother. 

When you reach home, you start on dinner while the kids do their homework. Tsumiki comes up to you after a couple of minutes.

“Nee-chan, can you please help me with my hair?” 

“I’m not good with stuff like that...” You say, feeling sorry to disappoint her.

"I am," you hear a voice and almost let out a start before you see it's just Gojo. 

"Oh..."

"Gojo-san," Tsumiki rushes to him, and Gojo ruffles her head. You try not to be too impressed with how Gojo deftly braids Tsumiki's hair. 

Dinner is spent in silence, and Gojo takes the initiative of tucking the kids into bed. You're both revving up for an argument—you can feel the anticipation in the air. It's going to be a fight. You have your points prepared. You smoke while you wait on the balcony for Gojo to join you.

When he does, he approaches you warily. 

"Everything went okay earlier?" Gojo asks.

You put your cigarette out and motion him to sit down on the empty chair next to you. He shakes his head. "I prefer to stand."

"I don't know where to begin," you say calmly.

"Maybe start with why you're so angry?" 

You purse your lips angrily. "You're irresponsible, and you're so thoughtless. They need you to be present. Why is Tsumiki acting like Megumi's mother? She is also a child. Why did you take them in? Who are they?! But if you have, then you need to act right. And did you even know that Megumi was being bullied at school for the last month?"

"No, he didn't tell me—"

"And you didn't even show up today. They needed you to be there!"

"Well, today was an emergency. And I thought we had spoken about it," Gojo says dismissively. It makes your blood boil.

"I didn't appreciate you giving me zero details. I don't even know if what I did in the meeting was right or not. It's a lot of pressure, and I'm not qualified for this... Also, you're so infuriating and so blase about it. And we need to get Megumi a therapist. He's really struggling." You don't realise it, but you're almost shouting. Of course, Gojo is not one to be cowed down. He joins in, too.

"We? There is no 'we'. I'm the one taking care of them—" he begins, his voice a bit louder than yours.

"Well, if you are, then take care of this. Take care of the kids, better!" You're almost in his face now, shouting.

"I'm trying, dammit!" He says, clenching his palms into fists.

"Try harder! Because it's not enough. You're—" 

"Shut the fuck up before I call the police!" An older man's voice calls out, shocking you both into silence. You look down from the balcony to see an old man in his night clothes standing on his balcony, looking up at you. You bow and apologise immediately.

Gojo is the first to crack. He starts laughing loudly, and you must almost drag him inside before someone calls the police on you. You find it so silly that you can't help the couple of chuckles that escape you as you close the balcony door.

Gojo's on the floor with you standing over him. "I don't know what to do..." he admits, lying flat on the ground.

"I literally just told you..." You sigh. Why was he such a...man? "You're infuriating."

You walk over to the sofa and collapse on it. Gojo sits up with elbows propped up on his knees.

"Get Megumi a therapist. Put pressure on the school to treat them well. Show up," you say slowly as if he's stupid. He is.

"Okay..." he finally says. "I'll try."

"Don't try. Do," you say tersely. "I'm only here for another month and a half... You need to be better at this."

"Right... Forgot about that." He looks like he's deep in thought. "About the kids... Well...Megumi... He's actually not a Fushiguro. I mean, he is, but he's part of the Zenin family—" Gojo says, but you cut him off, panicked.

"Stop! Don't tell me." Your eyes are wide, and you are genuinely afraid because you've realised something. You lick your lips slowly. "I didn't hear anything..." You stand up abruptly and start putting on your coat.

"Where did you say your family was from, again? Someone married into the Gojo clan, right? Who was it?" Gojo asks, suddenly serious.

"My family's from Kyoto... I've told you this before," you say carefully. "And...I've never met the person because my mom was exiled from her family for marrying my dad, who's a non-sorcerer."

"Ah... That rings a bell...Of sorts. Are you related to Aunt Hazuki? I think I'd heard that someone in her family had been exiled." He leans back on his hands and stretches his long legs in front of him.

Your cheek twitches in annoyance. "Right... Yes, that's my mom's cousin."

"I see... And you grew up in Kyoto?"

"Mostly... I've been in Tokyo since I turned eighteen." You glance at your phone and see you've got a message from your dad about them coming to visit Tokyo soon. You make a note of replying soon. 

"Ah... For university?" You hear Gojo ask and look up. You've become better at reading his expressions now, you realise. Even with the blindfold, you can tell the mood he's in.

You nod. "Are you done with your interrogation?" 

"Almost." Gojo hoists himself up and walks to stand in front of you. You watch him curiously as he brings something out from behind his back. It's a rose.

"Happy one-month anniversary," he says.

"A single rose..." You comment with an eyebrow raised as you accept it. "How cheap are you? I'm expecting jewellery next time."

Gojo lets out a bark of laughter. 

---

You're at Jujutsu High getting ready for a mission when your phone buzzes. You look at the email you've gotten and then at Gojo, who is looking at you curiously.

"We have a strange...report." You say reading the report you've been emailed. Once you're done reading it, you say, "Apparently, there was an attack on a village, and we will have to inspect the site and see if there are any survivors. But it looks like we will...not be dealing with curses this time. It's...another sorcerer or sorcerers. Huh, I didn't realise there were evil sorcerers out there too." You chuckle. But your humour dries up when you see the serious look on Gojo's face.

"Everything alright, Gojo-sama?"

"Gojo," he corrects you as he walks over to you. "And no, it is not." He puts his arms on your shoulders. It feels warm. 

"Are you touching me?" You ask, curious.

He doesn't answer. Instead, he says, "Listen to me carefully. This...is going to be more dangerous than any of the special grade curses we've dealt with."

"Okay..." You swallow, nervous. You've never seen Gojo be this serious before, so it is definitely worrisome. "How dangerous?"

"Very..." He pauses and then looks away to stand up straight. His hands are still on your shoulders. "Have you heard of the... movement to establish a new world order?"

"Movement...? What?" You ask, confused.

"Geto Suguru. Have you heard of him?"

"No," you tilt your head. "Should I have?"

He sighs. "I don't have time to explain everything. But we're going to go hard, okay? No holding back. Remember everything that you've learned so far."

"Wait... Are... Are we going to kill them? Aren't they people, though?" You ask, dread pooling in your stomach.

"Unfortunately, they will not hesitate to kill you." You wonder if you imagine his thumbs brushing the side of your neck as he withdraws his hands from your shoulders. You swallow.

---

As you walk into the village, an eerie feeling descends upon you. You shake off the shudder that shoots down your spine and inch closer to Gojo. He looks tense. To ease the tension, you decide to ask him something you've been meaning to ask for a week now.

"Did you find Megumi a therapist?" You ask, your eyes scanning the village for any movement. There are houses laid out in front of you, but everything is completely silence.

A whole village annihilated, the report had said.

"No, I'm still looking," Gojo says curtly. He has removed his blindfold. It makes you even more nervous. You're distracted by his answer.

"Still looking? It's been two weeks. How are you still looking?" You ask, incredulous.

"Really? You want to argue about this right now?" He stops to shoot you an exasperated look. His response makes your blood boil.

"Well, then, when? And this is a priority, too. Don't act like I don't work. I work as much as you—even more, maybe! And yes, even the small things count. Just because I'm not fighting special-grade curses doesn't mean I don't have five hundred different things to do! From changing the water filter in the jug to making sure the kids are eating well, all the mission reports are filed, also training with you and making sure your house is taken care of and replying to your emails—I do a lot!"

Before Gojo can respond, you both sense something coming down to hit you and jump out of the way immediately. The ground where you had been standing blasts into pieces, rousing up clouds of dust. Once the dust settles, you see a harpoon nailed to the ground. A second of delay and you would've been split like a banana. You swallow.

Gojo is next to you in a second. Unlike you, he seems to have zoomed into the source of the attack. You follow his gaze to see a man and a woman sitting leisurely on the roof of one of the houses. 

"Goodness, did we interrupt a lover's squabble?" The woman with long dusty-pink hair and dark blue-green eyes says. She is wearing a sleeveless black dress and high heels.

"How sweet," The man with long black hair dressed in what looks like a Buddhist monk's robes says. He is wearing an intricate gold-coloured kāṣāya garment over black yukata robes. His face...is at once a picture of serenity and pure evil. "I'm jealous, Satoru."

You're surprised by the intimate way in which the man addresses Gojo. You sneak a glance at the latter to see he is frowning. No, he looks angry.

"Suguru. Did you and your friends do this?" So that's Geto Suguru? It doesn't escape you that Gojo is also speaking in a very familiar way with him—addressing Geto by his first name and all.

Huh. You tap on Gojo's hand discreetly. Although he doesn't openly acknowledge the motion, you know he got the cue.

"Is that your famed girlfriend, then, Satoru?" Geto asks, and before you can blink, you're shoved behind Gojo. You're about to ask what the heck and why he did that, but your question is answered when you look up to see Geto standing directly in front of Gojo. If Gojo hadn't shoved you out of the way, you'd be face-to-face with Geto right now. He's fast, you realise, horrified.

Who the fuck was this man? You don't want to find out. "We don't have any intention of fighting you," Geto smiles wickedly.

"But you'll do this again, won't you?" Gojo says.

"Well, it is part of our plan, now, isn't it, Manami?"

"Yes, Geto-Sama," the pink-haired woman replies demurely.

"Then I have no choice but to apprehend both of you," Gojo says, stepping forward. You take that as your cue and snap your fingers, and the botan candy cards you'd been littering on your way here come to life, distracting Geto and the woman with him. But they're fast, and before your characters can strike successfully, Geto pulls out a Katana and disintegrates them in one single move.

Luckily, Gojo is prepared, and before you know it, he's sending out a red ball flying at Geto—the cursed reversal technique: red. The man goes flying into one of the houses, sending debris flying everywhere. However, he is unhurt, having saved himself with his katana, which you only now realise is probably infused with cursed energy.

With Gojo and Geto being busy, the aide goes for you, but you are ready. You whip out your cursed throwing stars, aiming at the woman, and she dodges a few—successfully. However, you haven't thrown your real throwing stars but illusions which you have mastered to mimic the physical ones. They successfully cut into her torso, making her cry out in pain.

You slap your hands together, twist your fingers and whisper, "Doppelgangers." Two of the strongest curses you have faced off recently appear, waiting for your command. Your copies have grown stronger. While they are still attached to you and feed off your cursed energy, they now attack with their powers, making your attacks more varied, unpredictable and damaging.

The pink-haired woman's eyes widen, and she goes back flying when one of your curses hits her. It doesn't take her out, though. She jumps to her feet and launches her own attack. She flings her body at you, her hand rearing back to clench into a fist before it rains down on you. Luckily, you're prepared. You pull back your curses and focus on close combat. You dodge her attack and aim for her torso with your leg. She grabs your leg and twists it, yanking you to the ground and straddling you. You wrap your legs around her waist and roll her to the ground, pushing yourself onto her. You are about to strike down when you're thwarted by a hand slamming into your stomach and knocking you back ten feet.

"Oh dear, how pretty. Don't worry, I will not hurt you. Well, not any more than I have already. I only hurt monkeys." He raises a hand to tenderly run his knuckles against your cheek. He throws a glance over his shoulder and jumps out of the way to reveal Gojo's form, striking down at the ground Geto was crouching on a moment ago.

"Are you done with your stupid games then, Suguru?" Gojo spits out, standing with his back to you. You want to get up, but your body is in a tremendous amount of pain. You feel almost paralysed. 

"I am not, but I don't think you have time to tend to me," you faintly hear Geto say. Gojo notices you're losing consciousness and the way you're sweating bullets. You both hear Geto's laughter echo in the vacuum he leaves behind as he disappears into the clouds of dust.

"I'm going to pull your shirt up," Gojo says. You nod slowly and clench your teeth together. He runs his fingers over your stomach gingerly. You wince and let out a groan. Your whole body is on fire. "We need to get you out of here..." he mutters and tries to scoop you up in his arms, but you let out a scream of pain. "Stop, stop, I'm trying to—" You're unable to explain the inexplicable amount of pain that overtakes you when he tries to move you and thrash around violently. "I need to teleport you; I'm going to knock you out, okay?"

You're shaking your head, delirious from the pain, and before you know it, you feel a tap on your temple and pass out.

---

You wake up in a bed. It's warm, and you feel something soft—someone's hands—touching you. You feel discomfort and pain in your body, which leaves you when the hands go over the injuries, and you lean into the touch. Desperate to make the pain go away, you grab onto the hand and direct it to where it hurts the most. You let out a sigh of relief as the pain recedes. Slowly, you open your eyes.

It's bright, really bright, making you wince. A woman's face comes into view. She has long brown hair and a mole near her eye.

"At least buy me dinner first," you hear her say with a smile. You blink, confused. It takes you a few moments to realise that you're holding her hand against your breast. You let it go immediately and feel your cheeks stain with embarrassment.

"I—" you start but stop because your throat feels scratchy. Why is it hurting so much? Wait, where are you, who is this woman, and what are you doing here? Your eyes slowly get accustomed to the light, and you see you're in a hospital bed. 

"I'm Iori Shoko, a doctor at Jujutsu High. Gojo brought you here after your encounter with Suguru," the woman explains as if she had spied the growing bewilderment on your face. Ah, yes. You remember now. The fight. He had wounded you, hadn't he? Gojo. Where is he? 

"Your wounds, on the outside, were deceptively light, but the mothefucker had punctured your lungs. He had also planted a parasitic curse inside you. I didn't even know he could do that... If Satoru had been a minute late with bringing you here, you would've died." 

Ah. "Wh—" you start but wince at how raw your throat feels. You clutch your throat in confusion. Had that creepy asshole done something to your voice?

"You were screaming..." the doctor—what was her name again?—says kindly as she pulls your hands away from your throat. "You were in a lot of pain..."

Oh. You try to sit up, but the doctor stops you, gently pushing you down. "You need rest... Your mind and body are in overdrive. While I've tended to the most urgent of your wounds, you need to rest to fully recover."

You're unhappy about the order but can feel that the doctor will not take no for an answer. You reluctantly relax into the cushions. But before you can fully surrender to sleep, there is something you need to know. You reach out for the doctor's hand, and she watches curiously as you write your question into her palm with your index finger. 

Gojo?

"He's outside right now, updating Yaga on what happened. He'll be back soon." 

You nod, satisfied. And then, Thank you. 

At that, the doctor smiles in acknowledgement. "Of course. Now get some sleep, Yuki-chan."

You pull the sheets up to your chin, and your eyes flutter shut soon.

---

It's morning. The first thought that strikes you is that you need to feed Chibi and clean out her litter box. It's been a couple of days, and it's full. But when your eyes adjust to your environment, you realise you're not at home. You're in the infirmary. Ah. Ah. Yesterday's events come back to you. 

You stretch your hands over your head and sit up. Chibi must be alone at home. You need to get to her soon. 

The door to the infirmary opens, and you see the doctor from yesterday walk in. What was her name again? You can't remember. "You're up!" She says in a chirpy voice. 

"Ah, yes..." Your throat is not as sore as it was yesterday. "Thank you for yesterday."

She hums happily and runs her hands over you—without actually touching you. "Everything looks good now. Much better than it did yesterday, that's for sure."

"Wonderful, can I go now? My cat's home alone..." You say, standing up already. You notice you're wearing a hospital gown. "My clothes...?"

"Got destroyed. I think Gojo's gone to get you some clothes. He should be here soon."

As if on cue, the door opens, and you hear a voice say, "Darling, good morning. I'm here. And look who I have with me?"

It's Gojo. Followed by your parents.

Oh... Oh no.

"Ah..." 

Notes:

I'm not very good at action/fighting scenes so any suggestions are welcome!

Chapter 7: The Aftermath

Summary:

Your parents catch up to what's been going on in your life. They are not impressed. Also, something finally happens between you and Gojo.

"Darling," Gojo says, entering with your parents in tow. Your eyes go wide, and you almost shoot out of your bed in shock. "I ran into them while I was at your apartment," you hear Gojo say as a way of explanation.

He remains at the door while your parents file in. Your dad immediately goes to hug you while your mom sits on the chair next to your bed, scanning every inch of you for any visible injuries. You can't tell if there are any scars or wounds on your face, having not seen yourself in the mirror since morning. But seeing as neither of your parents raises a fuss, you guess Shoko had healed you completely, even scars and all. You throw a grateful glance at Shoko, which goes unnoticed as she is busy silently communicating something with Gojo. Huh. Interesting. You file that in your head to examine it later. 

"Gojo-sama almost gave us a heart attack when he tried to break into your apartment," your mother says, chuckling. Her eyes cut into yours. You swallow and look at your hands.

"Good thing we opened the door before he could go through with it," your dad says much more kindly. He hands you a bag. "Some clothes for you to change into."

"Thanks, Dad..." you mumble.

"I heard you had a rough mission. Gojo-sama told us that you were hurt..." Your dad says, sitting down on your bed. His forehead wrinkles with worry. You throw a look of apprehension at Gojo, wondering what on earth and how much he had told your parents.

"It wasn't too bad..." you say carefully. Your mother purses her lips, unimpressed by the evasive answer. You squirm under her glower.

Luckily, or so you think, Gojo intervenes. "It wasn't too bad, and please, like I've said, call me Satoru," he says exaggeratedly to break the tension.

"Yes, after all, your daughter is dating Satoru, right?" Shoko says, giving you a mischievous wink.

The air grows heavy. Your parents exchange a look of shock with each other before subjecting you to the full power of their LOOK. This is the look they've given you when they were called to the school after you got caught cheating on a test when you were caught with your high school boyfriend in the living room thinking your parents weren't home, and when you and Aiko decided to get drunk in your room in high school without realising how foolish and loud you both get—and were discovered by your parents. The LOOK makes you feel like a child again. The LOOK says, you are dead, and also, what the hell are you doing?

You gulp loudly. "I was going to tell you, but it is still new..."

"Yes, Okasan, Ottosan, it is new," Gojo stepping around your dad to wind an arm around your shoulders. Your parents and you visibly cringe at the corny way Gojo addresses your parents. 

"Can we... Can we speak to our daughter alone, Gojo-sama?" Your mother asks pointedly. Her face is a blank slate. He nods.

"Of course, Okasan," Gojo says in a sing-song voice. Goodness, could he act sillier?! Knowing Gojo, he probably can. The thought makes you smile despite the circumstances. Your face regains its original solemnity once Gojo and Shoko leave. 

The door shuts close. Your parents turn to you, waiting. This was their shared tactic. No good cop, bad cop. Just plain bad cop routine. "I... I was going to tell you."

"You broke up with Takeshi?" Your dad asks, frowning.

"Touma," your mother corrects him, coming to stand next to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. 

You roll your eyes. "Tanaka," you correct them both. Your parents exchange a puzzled look.

"Never heard that name," Your dad mumbles. Your mom nods. They're exasperating.

"Well, it is Tanaka," you say through gritted teeth, "and yes, that ended...a few weeks ago. And I was...lonely and Gojo...sama was there...and it just happened."

"But what about that spying—" your dad begins, but your mom squeezes his shoulder urgently, shutting him up effectively. He looks at her with panicked eyes.

Your mom shakes her head. She takes out her phone and types, The walls have ears, Dear. We need to be careful.

You're impressed by your mom's foresight. Even you had let your guard down. Multiple times, actually. Maybe that's why you got caught. Ugh. You make a note not to mention that to your parents.

Heeding your mom's warning, your dad rephrases his question. "What about the... predicament?"

"It's... it's been... I'm working around it."

Your parents subject you to another LOOK. "I mean... It's...not that serious.." You mumble. "And..." You lower your voice, but your mom is unconvinced about how secure that could be, so she shoves her phone into your hand.

You type out. You were right, both of you. It wasn't the best thing to take on this job. And since I'm dating Gojo... I am going to tell the Council I am done. I'm quitting this job and moving back to Kyoto. 

Placated by your answer, your parents nod their approval. "But how did you guys even...get together?" Your dad asks, frowning.

You find it easy to answer his question. "He makes me laugh," you say, feeling a blush creep up onto your face. And then, "Also, did you see him?"

Your parents begrudgingly nod. Your mum runs her fingers through your hair and kisses your forehead. 

"This is by far the stupidest thing you've done."

"Are you proud?" You ask, feeling unsure suddenly.

"Extremely," she says. "But no more going on missions," she adds sternly. Your dad nods. You look at your hands.

"I'll think about it," you offer. Fortunately, your parents accept it.

Once your parents are assured that you're doing okay and haven't done any more stupid things, they leave, promising to visit you soon. You expect Shoko to come in for additional tests but are surprised when you see it is Gojo who walks in. He drags the chair next to your bed closer to you and flops down.

"How did it go?" He asks, his blindfold pushed back onto his head like a hairband, making his hair stand in all directions. It makes you let out a giggle.

"You look silly." You shrug when he raises an eyebrow. "And it went... as well as it could. But also, never call them Okasan and Ottosan again. I think it made us all gag."

His eyes bore into yours when he says, "Did it? I can think of another to make you ga—"

You slap your palm against his mouth. "Shut it." You feel his lips curl under your palm. He's smiling. You withdraw your hand quickly. Wait... "Was I touching you?" He gives you a wink but otherwise refuses to answer, much to your irritation.

Instead, he asks, "So, did they give you permission to date me?"

You let out a chuckle. "Permission? To date you? We're not living in the 18th century."

"Ah..." He nods thoughtfully. "They're more open than the other Gojos."

"Well, we're not technically the Gojos. My mom's from the Ito clan. We just started aligning ourselves with the Gojos in a desperate attempt to make ourselves feel more powerful and prominent when Aunt Hazuki married your uncle," you explain patiently. Gojo nods.

"Well, they really love you."

"Yes, they're my parents," you chuckle as if you've said something silly. He nods, his eyes not leaving yours. "D...do you get along with your parents?"

"Goodness, look at you trying to get to know me. Someone might think we really are dating," he grins, but his eyes are empty of any hint of mirth. You raise your eyebrows at the obvious deflection.

"Right..." You shift to lie down on your side. "Thanks for earlier, by the way. For bringing me here on time. Shoko said I would've... could have died if we'd arrived a moment later."

A dark shadow falls on his face. "I'm sorry...about you getting hurt. I didn't...think Suguru would be there."

"He went so hard at me... I wonder why..."

"Because he thought you were my girlfriend."

You raise an eyebrow. "Were you guys close?" You ask, nestling your face into your pillow. It's soft. He catches the motion.

"Once upon a time," he answers cryptically. For all his pretence of openness, Gojo is a mystery box, you realise. He locks every bit of genuine information about himself in a safety locker, far from any scrutiny. But despite the reticence of sharing any details, you can spy a hint of sorrow on his face.

You give him your hand. "For any crows that might be watching."

His lips twitch. He takes your hand and presses it against his forehead. It's warm. Really warm.

"Are you running a fever?" You frown. 

"No, I was just...stressed." He closes his eyes.

"About this whole thing?"

He nods. You press your cool hand against his forehead firmly. "That's touching."

He smiles and moves your palm to press it against his cheek. You remember how he had pressed his mouth against the fatty flesh of your palm, and a blush creeps up your neck at the memory. Was he touching you then? Are you touching him now?

You know asking him will be futile, so you take matters into your own hands and shift your hand lower to run a thumb over his lips. His eyes flutter open. Your thumb presses down hard against his mouth. He opens it obediently, and you slip your thumb in, fascinated. It's like one of your illusions. You can't tell if you're touching it—him—or if the warmth is artificial. When he bites your thumb and runs his tongue over it, your breath catches in your chest. Gojo smirks, and it makes your stomach flip. 

"I am touching you." You feel triumphant for some reason as you pull your thumb back and place your hand under your cheek where you've pressed it against the pillow. "I think I'm going to rest for a bit," you say, closing your eyes, ignoring the way your face feels like it's on fire. You feel a phantom touch on your head, but when you open your eyes, the chair is empty, and Gojo is gone.  

---

Gojo is sad. He has been sad since the fight with Geto Suguru. You've never...seen him sad, you realise.

You're sitting with him at his apartment on a Friday afternoon, trying to finish the report for the Council. The fight with Suguru will probably become the juicy fodder the Council wants, but you want to be careful of what details you reveal.

"Leave out the details about the conversation we had with them..." Gojo says, sinking into the sofa, he throws his head back against the headrest and lets out a groan. He's not wearing his blindfold. "My head hurts..."

You smile sympathetically at him from where you're seated at the foot of the sofa, your laptop propped up on the coffee table. "Your eyes?" 

He nods before saying, "Say something about his ideology and that he's planning to strike again. I haven't mentioned that to them so they will like that. Mention his aide. Her name is Manami Suda."

You make notes diligently. "And about her abilities?"

"Yes, sure, why not? Mention them, too." You type away.

By the time the report is finished, it is dark outside. You stretch your hands above your head and let out a groan. "I'm exhausted," you say and prepare to leave. He doesn't answer.

You chew on your lip, feeling the guilt and worry seep in as you leave.

---

You don't change your clothes.

Instead, you take Chibi, Chibi's cage, and her food and drop by the store to get a bag of snacks before returning to Gojo's apartment.

When he opens the door, he is surprised to see you and the billion bags you're carrying.

"You're...not spending tonight alone. Threat level-3000," you say as a way of explanation. He cracks a tired smile.

You let Chibi out of her cage, shove the cage into Gojo's hands and walk into his apartment. "I didn't get movies, though. But...I thought we could watch Shin-chan. And, of course, you get her for cuddles," you say, holding up Chibi for him. He accepts her, and thankfully, the ever-accommodating feline settles into his arms easily.

"Did you grow up with her?" He asks, cuddling her closer to him on the couch.

"No... My parent's cat was horrible. Did you have a pet growing up?" You ask, connecting your laptop to the projector. Once that's done, you put Shin-chan on TV-Asahi and join him on the couch. You reach into your bag of snacks to get some popcorn and hand Gojo a couple of mochi puyo packets, which he eagerly accepts.

"No... It wasn't encouraged. I think I would've liked to keep a pet... To feel safe. I never felt safe. I liked locked doors... Big chunky locks on doors. Small gaps and spaces. Inside the cupboard or under the bed. I would squeeze myself into it to feel...safe. That was before I realised how powerful I was, of course," he chuckles and opens one of the mochi puyo packets to chuck it into his mouth.

You're surprised that someone as strong as Gojo felt weak once upon a time. Well, he was a kid once, too. You reach out to squeeze his hand before letting go.

"I think I saw a crow outside..." Luckily, Gojo doesn't contest your words. "Maybe if I had grown up in the jujutsu world, we could have been friends with each other. You could have my mom and my dad. Aiko and even Hana..."

"What would that have done?" He pulls back a little to place his chin on Chibi's back and looks up. You reach out to gently scratch Chibi behind her ears. She purrs, content. 

"We could have been your safe rooms..." 

"Does a person need more than one?"

"Yes... Sometimes people are using theirs, or they've lent it to someone else..."

"Ah..." He says. "I think I found one here..."

He leans forward, and you think it is to pass Chibi back to you, so lean forward too, but your eyes go wide in surprise when you feel his mouth against yours.

“Gojo-sama,” you say in a strained voice as you try to pry his fingers off you. “I think you're sad,” you gasp as his mouth brushes against your pulse before going further down.

Pre-frontal lobe development pardon. Ah, fuck it.

You shove his face away, forcing him to fall back onto the sofa and delight in how his eyes, which were trained on you, dim with disappointment. You straddle him and look down, delighting once again in how his eyes slowly come alive, his mouth, set in a tight frown, now lazily stretches across his mouth.

“I can’t fuck the sadness out of you,” you say, “But I can try.” His mouth curls into a tired smile.

You help him out of his shirt and let his hands help you button your shirt and tie. He reaches out to cup your breast over your shirt curiously and uses his other hand to help him sit up. “I always did wonder why you wore such awful clothes.”

“And then I got obsessed with seeing you wear these. All prim and proper. Leaving too much to the imagination.”

You watch him curiously as he reaches forward to brush his mouth against yours, but you pull back. His eyebrows crinkle in the middle, and his eyes find you questioning. You take one of his hands and grab two of his fingers to put them in your mouth and suck them clean. His eyes darken. You take his hand and guide it lower, putting it where you want it to be.

Then you’re rolling, hands everywhere, mouths everywhere. When he pushes into you, you both groan, and it’s only a few more minutes before he comes. Your eyes widen. He... Just did not.

“Well?”

“It’s true what they say. Hot people are terrible in bed.”

Gojo gives you a tired smile. Then he looks away, contemplating. His face is morose again. A realisation dawns on you.

“Goodness... You... Loved him, didn’t you?”

He crumbles in your arms.

Chapter 8: Temporary Bliss or TLDR: Gojo Satoru is a Little Shit

Summary:

Gojo and you have different understandings of what's going on between you.

You have sex again. It is better and slower now. It lasts longer, too.

He plants his mouth against yours, nibbling your lower lip before soothing the skin with light licks. You watch him with hooded eyes as his mouth moves against yours and his hands reach for your breasts. His hair tickles your chin as he dislodges his mouth to move lower.

He rolls up the shirt you're wearing—his—having changed into his pyjamas after you decided you were going to sleep over. His hands move all over you, exploring, and he cups one of your breasts in his hands before he lowers his mouth to suck on the erect bud. You arch into him, your fingers finding his hair and nudging him closer to yourself. His other hand moves to palm your other breast, and you let out a sigh. When you look down, you're met with his blue eyes boring into yours. You push yourself up a little to press a tender kiss against his forehead before falling back onto the pillows.

When he moves lower, you feel your heart pound in anticipation. If he's bad at this, you will revolt. The five-minute sex followed by a bad eating-out session would be criminal. Gojo kisses the inside of your thigh before moving to press a tender kiss against your sex. You want to groan, impatient. Could he just get on with it?

"Someone's eager," you hear him say when you push your hips towards him. You don't need to look at him to know he's smirking.

"Shut up," you mumble, but don't move. Finally, finally, he places his mouth where you need him. His lips latch onto the little bud. He sucks, letting out an obscene slurping sound, eliciting moans from you. You fist the blankets as stars explode behind your eyes. Is he good, or have you gone without being eaten out for far too long, you can't tell? You find your question answered when you feel his tongue, hot and firm, press against your clit with enthusiasm. You find it difficult to keep track of exactly what he's doing, giving in to the sensations of your body. His tongue licks at your bud with fervour while his hands come up to palm your breasts. Your hands find his head, and you nudge him closer to yourself. Encouraged by your reactions and moans, he continues his ministrations until you come with a cry.

"Well?" he asks, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Finally, we're getting somewhere," you say breathily. He chuckles. 

---

Gojo is everywhere.

He drops into your apartment whenever he wants, takes you to all of his favourite dessert places, and drives you to school and back home. He's very touchy, you learn. He likes Koala hugs, bear hugs, being the little spoon, and the big spoon. Always skin on skin. It is overwhelming, but it feels good. You feel all gooey inside and try to rein it in. When he calls you 'Girlfriend' in front of everyone and puts his arms around you, you can't help but melt into his arms.

Going to work shouldn't feel this fun, but it does. You're kissing before missions, between missions and after missions. It's a lot of kisses, and your mouth is sore, but your hands are always reaching for him, and he's reaching for you. 

"You're so cute," he mumbles as he snaps his head back and lets it fall against your head. You feel his teeth graze your scalp and wince. "M gnna ea u," you hear him say and giggle in response.

"I can hardly work with a chunk of my head missing," you mumble against his uniform.

"You don't need to work. I make enough to feed us and the kids." 

You scoff. "We can't let the kids just be my responsibility." It's a secret from them for now. You haven't discussed it yet.

"Of course not, I'm a present dad." He squeezes you tighter, drawing a gurgle out of you.

You hear gagging noises and turn to see Aiko and Utahime, of all people, standing there. You try to peel your limbs off from Gojo, but he holds on to you, pulling you tighter against him. 

"Aiko!" You exclaim and reach your arms out to her. She lets out an amused huff but takes your hands despite your body still wrapped firmly around Gojo.

"Hello, Gojo-sama," Aiko adds politely.

"Hi, Aiko-chan, and oh dear, isn't that Utahime-chan? What are you doing here?" 

You see Utahime grow red. "Stop speaking to me like that! I'm your senior!"

 "Utahime was here for some work, so I thought it would be nice for all of us to catch up," Aiko explains, still holding your hands.

You nod eagerly. "That's an excellent idea."

Gojo huffs. "I don't want to hang out with Hime. She's mean to me."

Utahime scoffs. "As ridiculous as ever," she mutters, eliciting a giggle from you.

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun." You look up to give Gojo your puppy eyes. In response, he bends down to kiss your nose. 

"If my lady says, then so it shall be."

More gagging sounds follow, but you all go out for dinner and drinks. It is a good time, with Gojo poking fun at Utahime and riling her up, while you and Aiko giggle to yourselves. You get especially drunk and hang off Aiko's neck as she supports you with her arms around your torso. 

"Goodness, you're really out of it," she says, smiling softly at you.

"My girl's drunk. I'll take care of her, thank you," Gojo announces, pulling you away from Aiko. She gives him a critical look.

"Is it okay if Utahime and I crash at your place?" Aiko asks, looking back at you. You nod, giving her a goofy smile that makes her face soften.

"You'll be okay, right?" She asks, holding your head in her hands. You blow her a kiss. 

"I'm going to be fine. More than fine." You wink at her. She grimaces.

"Text me tomorrow. Let's catch up. Properly," she says seriously, her eyes not leaving your face. You nod dutifully before Gojo drags you to his car and deposits you in the backseat. You doze off only to be shaken awake, what feels like two minutes later. You rub your eyes and sit up to see Gojo squatting with his back to you.

"Hop on," he says, throwing you a look over his shoulder. You give him a sleepy smile and take him up on the offer. Your hands come to wrap around his neck loosely while your legs squeeze his waist.

"Oof," he grunts, "Don't go strangling me now."

You giggle and close your eyes, enjoying how his shoulder feels pressed against your cheek. You feel safe, like you're lying your head in your mom's lap or hugging your dad. Gojo makes you feel safe.

You reach home soon and open your eyes when you feel him lay you down on the bed.

"I always wanted to have drunk sex," you say, crawling over him, but he nudges you aside.

"I'm afraid I'm not drunk, Pantsuits." he pulls up the sheets over your shoulders. You pout and look at him from underneath your eyelashes. 

"That can be remedied easily."

He lies down beside you and props his head with his hand. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you tonight." You huff and plop down on your back, feeling disgruntled. "Aw, look at that, poor baby, feeling so upset."

You roll away from him but gasp—delighted secretly—when you feel two arms grasp you and pull you back. You feel the warmth of Gojo's chest behind your back and throw your head back to look at him. He looks down at you and presses a tender kiss against your head. You pass out before you know it.

---

It's Hana's wedding. She looks beautiful. She's dressed in a delicate Uchikake kimono with peacocks and lilies drawn over it.

You're surprised that you were allowed to be a part of this and wonder if it has to do with the white-haired man accompanying you today. It's just Hana's parents and brother, her in-laws, you and Gojo at the shrine for the wedding ceremony. Unlike being held at one of the ancient shrines, it is being held at one inside a hotel. You'd imagined the Zenins would refuse to have the ceremony anywhere else except an old shrine, but it looked like they were keeping up with the times.

You watch interestedly as the Shinto priest conducting the ceremony offers the couples drinks, and they each take a sip of sake before reading their words of commitment. Although you're not happy that Hana is marrying a misogynistic pig like Naoya, you can't deny the happiness on her face and pray for their happy married life. 

A wedding has never been on your list of things to do, but seeing Hana get married, with Gojo beside you, stirs something in you. You catch his eye and smile. He winks at you from behind his glasses. When he wraps his hand around yours and presses it against his mouth, your heart flutters, and you lean into him. His other hand is busily taking a video for you to share with Aiko later. 

The ceremony comes to an end when the couple makes offerings to the gods. You and Gojo rise from your seats to make your way to the reception hall. The newly married couple makes their way to their hotel suite—presumably to change out of their ceremonial clothes.

"That was beautiful. I hope she's happy," you say as you walk hand in hand with Gojo. He doesn't respond. Before you can ask him if there is a reason behind his silence, you get distracted by the anxious figure of Aiko. She spots you immediately and lets out a sigh of relief.

"Aiko!" You greet her. She smiles at you and Gojo. "The oldies are eyeing you, Gojo-sama. Better go pay your respects before they come buzzing here like flies," Aiko says snidely. Gojo gives her a stink eye but nods.

"Be right back," he says, squeezing your hand once before leaving. You nod and watch him leave before you turn to Aiko.

"How was the ceremony?" She asks. She's dressed in a lilac kimono with white flowers printed all over it. It matches your baby pink one. 

"Beautiful, I took a video of the whole thing on my phone." You hand her your phone. 

Aiko raises her eyebrows. "I mean, Satoru did," you correct yourself, prompting a knowing grin on Aiko's face. "Of course, nobody said anything to Gojo-sama, did they?" She chuckles as she watches the ceremony.

"Can you believe she's going to be the Lady of the Zenin clan?"

"Yeah..." You sip your wine without meeting Aiko's eyes.

"What, what is it?"

You shake your head. "Nothing. I am just...worried for Hana," you lie. When Gojo told you that Megumi was a Zenin, it was easy for you to put the pieces together. You knew that Megumi was gifted... You didn't know how gifted, but if he were born with the Ten Shadows, then he would be the head of the Zenin family, not Naoya. You had hesitated to ask Gojo for more details about Megumi's situation precisely for this reason. You didn't want to know because you knew you'd have to lie to Hana and Aiko.

"She's a big girl. She can handle herself," Aiko says, shrugging. "And if shit goes sideways, we're always there for her."

"Right..." You say, smiling. Aiko reaches for your hand and squeezes it to comfort you. You smile at her, before your eyes start searching for Gojo.

"How are things, by the way, between you two?" Aiko asks, distracting you. There is something about the way she asks the question that makes you look at her questioningly.

"Things are fine... Why do you ask?"

Aiko shakes her head. You look at her suspiciously. "Is something wrong?" You worry your lip. She shakes her head again.

"Just the pace of it... A bit fast, don't you think?"

"Oh..." You deflate, the worry leaving your body. "I didn't notice. It's..." Your eyes scan the room again until you finally find the white-haired man you're looking for. "...been nice." Your heart is a puddle of gooey stuff in your chest when Gojo catches your eye and flashes you a smile. He's talking to some 'old farts' as he likes to call them, but having caught your eye, he makes his way to you.

"Hmm..." You hear Aiko say, "Why haven't you told the kids?"

Your eyes snap back to her. "It's both of our decision," you say defensively. It's a lie but you don't want to tell her that and stoke her anxities. You look back at Gojo and the uncertainty in you fades. Aiko's worries fade, and she is in the background now. Everything is in the background when Gojo is near you. You lift up an arm when he's near enough, and he takes it dutifully to press a chaste kiss against the inside of your wrist before tucking your hand around his upper arm.

"God, I'm bored," he says, yawning. You grin up at him. "Want to get something to eat?" you ask. He nods and then throws a look over at Aiko.

"Coming along?"

She nods.

When each of you has grabbed plates full of food and sits in your assigned seats, the bride and the groom finally make their entrance. They've changed into a different set of traditional clothes, you notice. Hana is now wearing a white kimono with lilies sewn into them. You notice how her arm is tightly wound around Naoya's. Discomfort pools in your stomach again. You're against this. You don't want her to marry him. He's not the right choice for her. But he is what she has chosen, you remind yourself. And she's married to him now.

"You okay?" Gojo asks, noticing the frown etched into your face. You give him an uneasy smile and nod, keeping your eyes on the bride and the groom. Hana catches your eye and grins wider, forcing you to return a smile as warm as you can manage.

"She will be fine," Aiko says.

Your nails surreptitiously bury into your dress, but you don't say anything.

---

The reception is coming to a close, and everybody is in a happy-drunken state. You can see Naoya and Hana's cheeks are flushed from accepting ceremonial drinks and congratulatory drinks from everyone.

Everyone is getting their picture taken by the professional photographer the Zenins have hired for the day. When it is your turn to take pictures with the newlyweds, Hana wraps one of her arms around your upper arm and leans her cheek against your shoulder.

"I'm so glad you're here," she whispers. You glance down at her and smile. "Me too," you respond.

"Have a good honeymoon. I...wish you both all the happiness in the world," you say once the picture is taken. Your eyes shift to Naoya's face for a second before you look to the floor. His expression had caught you by surprise. It wasn't the usual scowl you're greeted by. He was smiling... You suppose it is one day everyone has decided to act civil.

"Oh, we will," Hana says playfully. "I'll send you a postcard."

"I look forward to receiving it," you say.

"Goodness, that looked like a lot of effort," Gojo comments when you're back at his side. You watch as Aiko goes to take pictures with the couple. You cast him an unimpressed glance sideways.

"There's a reason for it."

"A reason you care to share?"

You shrug. "I don't think I need to." You nod towards the newlyweds' direction. "My cousin is marrying—is married to Naoya Zenin."

"Ah," Gojo nods understandingly. "That's a good enough reason, I suppose. But she does look happy."

"Yes, that she does," you agree. You turn to him. "I want to leave now." You feel agitated for some reason.

"Already? Shouldn't we watch the newlyweds leave first?"

"Hana will understand."

Gojo frowns. "It's like prying a tightly wound ball of rubber bands loose."

You narrow your eyes. "You're free to stay."

"I'm good," he grins and throws a glance at the couple. Once you're near the car, your eyes land on the box in the passenger seat and let out a gasp. You'd completely forgotten about it!

Gojo throws you a look of curiosity as you open the backseat door and reach out to take the box. You hand it to him wordlessly, just a smile on your face. He opens it to find a black silk one inside. He looks from the box at you. Something shifts, and before you know it, his hands are cupping your face and he is kissing you fiercely.

Life is good, it is very good. You hear Aiko's voice in the background asking you, Isn't the pace too fast? But you dim the voice. You dim everything.

---

But it stays with you. The niggling doubt. It eats you away. You bring it up as a joke—an excellent idea, you think in retrospect. 

"Aiko was saying the other day that we're going too fast," you blurt out unceremoniously.

You're sitting in a park, with a picnic blanket spread out and a book in hand. Gojo is busy scrolling on his phone, lying on his back, while you sit cross-legged. He found reading books boring. Who would have thought? He puts his phone down on his chest and looks up at you.

"Was she?" 

You nod and smile nervously. "Yeah, it was silly, I guess. But she was also asking me why the kids didn't know, and I said it was a mutual decision..." You can feel yourself rambling and decide to stop. You look down at Gojo and he looks... at ease.

"I haven't thought much about it, to be honest..." He rolls onto his side and props his head on his hand. “And it’s not like this is anything serious.”

Your smile fades as Gojo’s words sink into your brain. You can feel his eyes absorbing every micro-expression flitting across your face. It doesn't take him long to put two and two together. He sits up and kneels. 

“Oh. I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression.”

Your eyes snapped up to meet his.

"Yuki, I thought this was a—"

You hold up a hand, your face a blank slate. You knew he was selfish and thoughtless. You knew how careless he was. How did this happen? Why did you forget? You weren't an idiot. You aren't an idiot, so why... You straighten your shoulders from where they had drooped in shock earlier as you process everything. It's okay, you tell yourself. You're going to be fine. Your mind is running a thousand miles an hour and you can feel your brain is about to explode.

But one thing is for certain: You aren't going to beg a man to love you. You start gathering your things mechanically and say, “I see. Gojo-sensei, thank you for your time. I shall see you tomorrow at school.”

He kneads his forehead, looking frustrated. “Yuki, can you please stop with that robotic stuff and just talk? You don’t want me. You don’t want to date me. I’m a piece of shit. And you—you’re actually loved. I’m jealous and possessive, and I’m petty.”

You want to snap at him but you hold your tongue. If he was convinced he was the wrong person for you, he might be right about that, if nothing else. You don't look him in the eye as you pull the strap of your bag over your shoulder.

"Thank you for your time, Gojo-sensei. As I said, I will see you tomorrow.”

Chapter 9: Interlude

As you leave the park, you call Aiko. She picks up on the second ring.

Before she can say a thing, you say, "Aiko, can you talk? I'm—I—" But you burst into tears before you can complete your sentence. Aiko's panicked voice over the phone makes you choke back your tears, and you say, "Gojo... It's over... He said it wasn't anything serious."

"Oh, darling," you hear Aiko's voice say, and it's so warm and kind that it only makes you cry harder. "Where are you? I'll come to you."

"N-No. I'll come to you. Are you home?"

"Yes, darling... I am... But I'm not alone. Hime is with me. But come, we're here for you."

The pain in your heart is so severe that you can't even process Aiko's words. Grief makes you selfish. Your pain is the most painful, and your grief overshadows all other concerns. You don't even ask Aiko why Utahime is with her.

You don't think about anyone but your grief. And you hadn't thought about anything else but Gojo for the past few months. You'll think back to this time with regret, shame, patience and understanding. But right now, you're overwhelmed by your grief.

When you reach Aiko's place, crying and sobbing, snot running down your face, you are embraced by her and Utahime. They fall over you like a warm blanket on a cold day, and you feel your grief grow a little lighter. You're given a cup of tea, have a blanket thrown over your shoulders and are made to sit on Aiko's bed with her and Utahime sitting on either side of you.

Once you've calmed down, you tell them everything that happened.

"How did I not see this? He's such a narcissist, and I knew it, but I... Why did I not...?"

Aiko stays silent, but her dark eyes are telling. You look away from her and seek Hime's eyes. She looks at you pitifully and says, "It's okay. You... liked him."

"But I... I can't... I feel so..." The words don't come out. Aiko squeezes your arm.

"I know. But you'll be fine... You'll get better..."

Aiko's words feel empty. You feel empty. Sleep takes over before you know it. When you wake up in the middle of the night, you're tucked between Aiko and Hime. You're warm and safe.

You fall asleep.

---

When you wake up, it is with a plan. First, you submit a letter of resignation via email. Second, you submit a report on Gojo, a detailed report of every little thing about him, to the old farts. You still need your money, after all. Third, you make a plan to get the fuck away from Gojo. The first two come easily, the third is difficult.

Not because Gojo is unavoidable. Apart from a single text, there hadn't been a call or even any forceful apartment visits. Perhaps you had secretly wanted that. You had wanted him to inundate you with texts, calls and force himself through the door, beg for your forgiveness— but no, there had been none of that. And that's when you realise, the strongest sorcerer was also secretly a coward. Perhaps the shame of having led you on broke him more than it hurt you. 

And so when you see him outside of Miki and Gumi's school, you feel a sense of satisfaction come over you when you see the drooping shoulders, the sad, downward face. You delight in the way his eyes light up at the sight of you before they dim upon seeing your blank expression.

"Hi," he says. "I... heard you quit."

"Yes... I'm leaving. But I came to say goodbye to the kids. I’m moving to Kyoto.” You stare at a point in the distance. Looking at him hurts too much, as much as you hate admitting it to yourself. 

“What?” He asks, sounding shocked. When you look at him, you see his eyes are wide and his mouth is set in a hard way.

“I’m leaving Jujutsu high. I told you this was a temporary thing, right?” You say in an even tone. A painful look comes over Gojo's face.

"Yes..." He says slowly. “I... I remember...you said that. You could come to see you sometime...with the kids.”

“No.” You turn to him, smiling coldly, and say, “I don’t know about that. But I’d like to see the kids from time to time if that’s okay with you.”

Before he can say another word, a cry of joy interrupts you both. "Yuki-chan!" You hear Miki shriek and open up your arms without a second thought. The little kid runs up and, without a second of hesitation, jumps into your arms. Goodness, she was so sweet and small. Your heart breaks as you think of what you're about to tell her. Your eyes search for Gumi, and you see him trodding after his sister with a happy look.

"How have you been?" You ask Tsumiki, pulling away.

"I've been good. But where have you been?" She asks, with sad eyes. Megumi has caught up to all of you now, and a lump in your throat starts forming. You ruffle Megumi's hair and marvel at how far you've come when he doesn't dodge you. The lump grows bigger.

"I...I'm sorry. I got a bit busy... But I'm glad to see both of you here. How are you, Gumi?"

"Good," he says evenly, but you know him better now to hear the warmth in his tone. "You're having dinner with us tonight?" he asks, looking at his feet. He knows something is wrong, and your heart breaks at the knowledge. He is too sensitive to people’s emotions. You hadn’t checked with Gojo about the therapist again. You’d been too…distracted with him.

Shame burns you, and you clear your throat before saying with a forced smile, "Better, I thought we could go get ice cream."

Tsumiki and Megumi light up with joy, and your shame dims a little. You look at Gojo, and he nods. You sit in the front seat, next to Gojo, and try not to be too stiff. You don't want to tip off the kids that anything is wrong. But they will know soon. The guilt wracks your bones.

When you reach the ice cream parlour, and the orders have been placed, you let the kids talk about their day. Megumi is going to be in a school play soon, and Tsumiki got full marks in one of her dictation tests. Seeing the kids makes you happy. 

"I...had to tell you something," you say, and the air shifts. Gojo shifts in his seat uncomfortably, while Tsumiki and Megumi look at you with big, curious eyes.

"You know how I've been...helping Gojo all these months, right?" You start softly. The kids nod. "Well... It was because I wanted to go study in Kyoto, and the time has almost come, so I will be moving to Kyoto soon."

"So you're leaving?" Megumi asks. The disappointment in his face makes your heart hurt. 

"Are you?" Tsumiki asks when you remain silent. You finally nod.

"But, I will visit..." you begin uncertainly. You hadn't discussed the details with Gojo yet. He's remained silent so far, letting you talk to the kids.

The order buzzer starts buzzing, and Gojo gets up to fetch your order, leaving you with the kids. 

"Is it because of Gojo? Did he do something?" Megumi asks angrily. 

You look at him, shocked. "No," you say, shaking your head. "I... I was always going to leave. Remember the conversation we had a couple of months ago?"

Megumi nods, even if he looks unconvinced. "Let me know if Gojo did anything. I won't let him get off, okay."

"He sure is silly. But he cares about you both a lot,” you say softly.

Megumi looks at you with such sorrowful eyes that your heart breaks.

“I want people to stay. Stop leaving.”

“Good thing he’s the strongest in the world, yeah?” 

Right on cue, the Strongest in the World makes an entrance with the treats, bringing some much-needed levity to the sombre atmosphere.

"You said we'd go to the arcade..." Megumi mumbles, staring at the ground decisively. 

"How about we go this weekend?" 

He looks up, surprised. "I told you I'm going to be around. It's a promise." You offer him your Pinky finger. He considers it seriously before intertwining it with his. You chuckle.

"We go to the arcade and the cafe that Tsumiki was talking about."

Tsumiki pulls back from you to let out a watery giggle. "Will Gojo-san come too?"

"I have a friend who might be even more fun than Gramps," you say gently. Thankfully, Gojo doesn't contradict you except for saying, "Rude."

---

The weekend comes, and you go to the arcade with Megumi and Tsumiki. They're delighted to meet Aiko, even if the latter comes across as a bit stiff and cold initially. She softens when she hears Tsumiki elbow Megumi to say, "See, now we have two aunties."

"Aunties?" Aiko's eyebrow twitches. She is taking great offence at the title. "I'm twenty-three."

"Isn't that middle-aged?"

You let out a surprised chuckle. "Now I'm offended, too."

The day at the arcade goes by much quicker than you anticipated. Megumi's come with Gojo's card-- which doesn't have a limit, you're told, and you're all set to test it by getting game coins, goodies and treats of all kinds. When the day comes to a close, you decide to save the cafe for another day. Goodbyes are tearful, but you promise to come see them again. 

---

You start working at Kyoto Jujutsu High part-time under Utahime. She's not as dramatic as Gojo and helps you learn new skills and even meet new people.

While the initial few weeks, with the settling into a new apartment, starting your programme at university, and the new part-time job, took your mind off things, it kept going back to the thing.

Turned out it wasn't as easy to get over Gojo as you'd hoped to be. All of your days had been entangled with him. Your time is divided completely between seeing him and moving around to see him. The good thing is you have a support system here, bigger than you did back home.

When Hana asks you to spend a couple of days at her house, nay, her estate, you don't refuse. The thing that surprises you most is not the extravagance and the wealth, but the love Hana experiences at home.

You realise Naoya loves your cousin completely, devotedly. You're surprised at the tenderness with which he treats her. You're also happy that, apart from a gruff 'hello', he hadn't said another word to you or insisted on bonding with you. You slowly see that while you would have felt suffocated in these walls, Hana has flourished. She wields power here, too, you realise.

She sets you up in the guest bedroom and gives you a komon kimono to wear. You wrinkle your nose at the uppity-ness of it all, but Hana shrugs and points to her fancy kimono. You relent. It is custom, you convince yourself. And you don't have much else to complain about because you're treated like a baby—fed, dressed, hair combed and taken care of completely. 

---

On your second day there, Hana comes to find you in the morning. "You'll never guess who just walked in," she says, standing at your door. You look up from where you had been lounging in bed, scrolling on your phone.

"Who?"

"Gojo Satoru," Hana says with a mischievous look. Your stomach does a tumble, and you sit up.

"Why is he here?" You ask, frowning.

"Business," Hana shrugs. She steps into your room and urges you to sit in front of the vanity. "Come on, we can't have you cooped up here. You need to show him you're doing well."

You pout. "I don't want to look at his stupid face."

Hana giggles as she paints your face, adding some colour to it. "There, done." She tugs at your wrist. "Follow me, two steps behind, okay?" There is a conspiratorial look in her eye. You get the sense that she's cooking something, but doesn't have a moment to ask as she's urging you to keep up.

Hana leads you through a maze of corridors before opening a door which leads to a parlour where guests are received. She's blocking your vision, but you can sense the energy. Gojo is a few feet away from you. You can hear your heart beating in your ears.

"Gojo-sama," you hear Hana say before she bows lightly. "We are honoured to receive you in our home."

"Hana-chan," Gojo says in a chirpy voice. "A pleasure. And who is the bird hiding behind you?"

You feel your cheeks burn with anger and embarrassment. Bird? What the fuck was wrong with him? The anger turns to satisfaction when Hana moves out of the way and you appear, stone-faced, as you say, “Gojo-sama."

You bow your head and then look him dead in the eye. He looks the same. Untouched by grief. What had you hoped? Dark circles? Perhaps. Him looking frazzled? Perhaps. But despite everything, you derive some sick pleasure in how his eyes widen and the cheerful mask cracks. He's frowning now. You turn your eyes away from him to look at Naoya, who is sitting in front of Gojo, and bow your head to him in greeting. He nods back at you.

"Naoya-sama, I heard Father wants an audience with you." Hana looks at him meaningfully, and something is exchanged between them. You look at Hana questioningly, but she avoids your gaze. She's looking at Naoya still. He sighs before nodding and getting up to leave.

"I believe we've discussed everything that needed to be discussed, Gojo-Sama. Please enjoy your stay here," Naoya says before getting up to leave. Once he's out of the door, the air shifts.

“What are you doing here?” Gojo demands, standing up.

“Did you not hear, Gojo-sama? My beautiful cousin is marrying into our family.” Hana comes up next to you and puts an arm around yours.

“Hana!” You cry out, surprised.

“Oh dear, was I not supposed to say anything?” She asks, coyly.

You look at your cousin with an inexplicable look. What the fuck was she trying to do?

Gojo’s expression is indecipherable. “What?” He takes a step towards you. And then another and another until he’s towering over you. “Who is it?”

“Naozumi-San.” It is Hana who speaks, stepping in front of you and shielding you from Gojo’s glare.

“Naoya’s older brother?” Gojo spits out. “Have you lost your mind? You want to end up like Hana?” Your head snaps up, and you glare at him. You step forward, gently side-stepping Hana.

“Happy like Hana? Loved like her?” You spit out, angry. Who the heck was he to judge Hana’s life? “Naoya-sama cherishes her. I’m...” You look at Hana now, who is watching you with a look of surprise, and your voice takes on a tenderness absent before “...happy for you, Hana. He’s...not my cup of tea, but I can see he loves and cherishes you.” You lightly touch the almond blossom in her hair. “Nobody has ever bought me flowers, let alone tucked one in my hair every morning.”

“So, you’re marrying Naoya’s brute of a brother because you want flowers?” Gojo asks bitterly, drawing your attention back to him. You had almost forgotten he was there.

“And if I am?” You ask, raising an eyebrow.

“You’re throwing your life away, and I guess you weren’t the person I thought you were.”

Much to Gojo’s anger, you both look at each other and start laughing. “We must go. Our husbands await us,” Hana says, pulling you away.

---

“You can’t marry him.”

He’s at your door. You enjoy the desperation. You step closer to him and look him square in the eyes.

“Why?”

He brings up a hand to touch your face, but you slap it off. You will be doing the touching. And you do. You bring a hand up to his face, and he leans forward like an eager puppy to feel your touch. His eyes flutter shut, and he lets out a small sigh of satisfaction. He turns his face and presses his lips to the fatty flesh of your palm—

You withdraw your hand as if he’s burned you. You take a step back.

“Get out.”

“No.” He takes a step towards you. “I’m sorry, I... The kids miss you. Everyone misses you...”

You shake your head. “The kids are fine. Don’t use them against me.”

He pauses. And then, "I'm sorry."

"That's better," you say, and sit down on your bed and lean back on your hands. "For?"

"For..." He takes a step forward. Your heart quickens, and you resist the urge to swallow in anticipation. "...everything."

The word snaps you back to reality. Irritation pricks you. "Specifically?" You ask. He takes another step forward. 

"For... not understanding that people could fall in love with me."

A snort escapes you, but you lift a foot to halt his movement. "Do better," you command.

"For..." He looks at a loss for words. Your irritation grows.

"Leading me on?"

"Leading you on," he agrees.

"And pretending to be my boyfriend and then—"

"Well," he begins, "We were pretending—"

You kick him back and let out a huff of anger. "You really don't get it, do you?"

"No, I don't. But tell me," He counters, sounding frustrated. He takes another step forward, pushing your foot back and bending it at the knee.

"There's no point," you sigh and fall back onto your mattress. "Leave," you stare at the ceiling and withdraw your foot. You hear a rustling sound, and then the mattress dips.

"All I know is, I am sorry. And I...would like for things to get better..."

You remain silent. It's not a good enough apology, but it's...something. Over the next few years, you're going to think back to this moment and be angry at yourself for accepting such a pathetic excuse for an apology, but right now, you're in the prefrontal lobe development stage. Right now... You're still in love with Gojo, so you feel... a sense of satisfaction.

"Well... It's too late. As you can see, I am...otherwise engaged." It's not technically a lie. And even if it is, you don't really care. You would like to be buttered up with compliments and apologies. Maybe even some begging.

Your response upsets him. He lets out a scoff, and he says, “He’s going to be terrible in bed.”

“Didn’t you last five pumps?”

“Four.”

You chuckle. “I stand corrected.”

You feel his hands pull up your nightdress, and one of his palms comes up to caress your foot, massaging it before sliding up to your calf. He pauses.

“Nice legs.” He's referring to your unshaved legs. You snort.

“Future hubby likes them au naturale.”

His grip tightens momentarily before moving up further. “And what will he say about me being here, doing this to his to-be wife?”

“I don’t intend to find out.”

You can feel him undo his pants, but stop him, pushing him off as you curl onto your side. “No... I don’t want to.”

You hear the rustle of clothes before you feel the warmth on your back. “You’re not really going to go ahead with the marriage, are you?”

You elbow him to put some distance between you before you get up and open the door to the balcony. You sit out on one of the balcony chairs, swinging your leg and light a cigarette. He sits beside you.

“Naozumi will tie you down and clip your wings.”

“I like the first part.”

“It’s not funny,” He snaps, sniping your cigarette from your hand. You don’t take the insult lightly and immediately try to snatch it back, but he keeps it out of your reach before taking in a long puff. You raise an eyebrow in surprise. You haven’t seen him smoke before. You didn’t even know he smoked or knew how to. He leans forward, his mouth full of smoke, offering you a compromise. You humour him by tilting your head, letting him plant his mouth against yours to do a shotgun. You pull away once he finishes exhaling the smoke into your mouth, eyes latched onto yours. You reach out a hand demanding your cigarette back, and this time, he complies, placing the burning stick between your fingers.

“You will lose your freedom.”

"Why do you care?" You snap. "Why don't you mind your own damn business?"

"I care about you," he says simply. You shoot him an angry look.

"That doesn't mean a whole lot to me right now," you say, looking away from him.

He gets up to kneel in front of you and put his hands on your knees. "I... don't know how to make things right. And... While I figure things out, I don't want to lose you to someone else."

His words both anger and flatter you. He doesn't want to lose you—but he's worried about someone else. What if there weren't someone else? Would he have come to this realisation? Your mind is swimming with questions, but when Gojo leans forward, you don't pull away. You lean forward and let your lips press against his and kiss him slowly. When he pulls away to lean his forehead against yours, you let out a sigh. 

"I'm going to bed," you announce, and Gojo stands up to extend a hand for you to take. You raise an eyebrow but concede. You allow him to lead you to your bed. You're curious about what he has on his mind. When you make to lie down, he tucks you in bed, pulling up the blanket to your chin. You think he's about to leave, but he surprises you by settling in next to you.

You make a noise of complaint, and he pauses. "Tomorrow, we will go back to being... nothing," you warn. You see his lips press into a thin line—a sign of displeasure.

"Tomorrow... is another day," he jokes weakly before putting an arm around you.

The bed isn't big enough for two people, but it isn't bad. You can't complain. Not when Gojo is snuggled up against you, being the little spoon. You press your cheek against his head, his soft hair brushing against your skin in a way that makes your heart clench. You had thought you'd lost this forever. That you'd never feel this again. One of your hands rests against his back, and you can feel his warm breath brush against the skin of your neck. Yes, you had really thought you'd lost this forever. But now... it was here. Again with you.

You feel sleep slowly claim you, and you let it wash over you willingly.

---

The next day, Gojo sees you sprawled across Hana’s lap on the sofa. She is humming and combing your hair while you are eating grapes from a bowl and reading a book. He knocks on the door, drawing attention to his presence, but you two, save for a cursory glance, don’t acknowledge him. When Gojo tries to enter, Hana says sharply, “You can’t enter. There’s no chaperone here.” So, he makes do with sitting near the threshold.

Is this what you meant when you said you were loved? He didn’t even know the Zenin household had a space for tenderness and love. “I feel like a baby,” He hears you say, stretching. Hana pats your shoulder, asking you to get up, and you do so to sit on the floor in front of her.

“Before I have a baby, I suppose you are my baby.” Hana combs your hair. “Do you have a baby?” She asks, curious.

“Babies," you correct, "Gumi and Miki.”

“Those kids you were telling me about?”

Gojo tenses. “You have always been close?” He interjects, trying to change the topic, but also being unable to take being ignored.

"We've had our highs and lows," Hana replies. You, on the other hand, remain quiet. You're... unbothered... You don't even look at him or engage with him in any way. It was like you were well aware of the power you held over him and were ready to shamelessly use it to your benefit.

"Is this one of the highs?" Gojo asks, a mocking edge to his voice. To his fury, Hana and you ignore him.

"Do you want me to do pigtails, or a French braid, my baby?" Hana asks in a sickly sweet voice.

"Hmm..." You seem to be actually thinking it over.

"Pigtails," Gojo offers. "I'd like to see you in—"

"How about space buns? And do you have those flower hair ties from last time?" You ask, ignoring Gojo. But he is relentless. He is also good at these games. Good at being an attention-whore.

"—braids. It's what I always imagined—" Gojo continues, undeterred.

"Hmm, I am not sure," Hana says loudly. "Sachi!" she calls out, drowning Gojo's monologue. 

You're wearing them and also sporting a pretty dress. That would've been nice—"

A maid appears at the door and, after giving a short bow to Gojo, she looks at Hana. "Yes, My Lady?"

"Could you get me those hair ties we put away in the second bedroom last time, please?"

Everybody's ignoring Gojo, and it is pissing him off. He finally quietens down, upset. He's like a ...child without candy. Perhaps a child who wants someone else's candy but still... He's used to getting his way.

He is forced to listen to them continue acting like he didn't exist. They speak about mundane things, you get your space buns, but get unhappy and ask Hana to undo your hair, and try another hairstyle. Your cousin obliges you. What the hell was going on?! Gojo hates every second of this. Every second of you...being adored by someone else... And...looking happy and fulfilled without him. But most of all, he hates Hana.

Things only get worse when Naoya, of all people, appears. After a bow to Gojo, Naoya starts wagging his tongue too, acting needy and pathetic, if someone asked Gojo (no one asked).

“My wife should tend to me when I’m around. Not her cousin,” Naoya says with a huff.

“A mother should tend to her baby before her husband. Do you not agree, Naoya-sama?”

He raises his eyebrow, amused. “You mean…”

“When she’s in this house, she’s my baby.” Gojo sees you reach out to put your arms around your cousin’s waist and bury your face in the soft flesh of her stomach as if to illustrate the point. Hana raises an eyebrow and tilts her head at her husband as if to say, See, what did I say? Gojo sees you shift in surprise, a tender smile curving your mouth. "Now, can you pass me the hair oil, please, My Lord?" Hana asks in a prissy way (Gojo's words).

To his surprise, Naoya chuckles and sits next to his wife to hand her the hair oil.

Gojo feels the pinch. Hands cupping his cheek, holding him. He stands up abruptly. You don’t even look at him.

“Going somewhere, Gojo-sama?” Naoya asks. Gojo nods curtly before storming out.

He spends the rest of the day sulking. He can’t get a moment alone with you, and you seem completely content being Hana’s baby and doll. After having oiled and combed your hair, Hana had asked the kitchen to prepare treats for you and fed them to you. You had only rolled around the floor in the most undignified way, scrolling on your phone and eating, talking, laughing and eating again. Not one moment was spared for Gojo! Not a second!

That night, when Gojo tries to sneak into your room. He can’t find you. Illusions. You’ve trapped him in a box of illusions. He goes through doors, doors and doors. He tries to follow the residuals of cursed energy, but he runs into the Botan rice candy characters propped up everywhere. Feeling pathetic about how desperate he is to find you, Gojo gives up and goes back to sleep.

---

Come next morning, Gojo marches towards your room only to find it empty. The whole section of the east wing seems to be empty. He stops a maid to ask her where everyone is, and she tells him everyone is preparing for the engagement ceremony. Gojo curls his palm into a fist, determined to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life.

The doors to the living room, where everyone has gathered for the engagement ceremony, slide open with a bang, causing everyone present to jump. The culprit behind the offence is none other than the strongest sorcerer alive, Gojo Satoru. Half of the people in attendance are offended, while the other half are in awe.

Gojo's eyes scan the crowd for you. "Is anything the matter, Gojo-sama?" Naoya asks impatiently. 

"Yes, there is. This engagement." His eyes zoom in on the girl standing next to Naozumi, but something's wrong. It...It's not you. "Where...is the girl to be engaged?"

The girl in question lifts her head and looks you square in the face with a confused expression. "Right here... Gojo-sama..." She replies, unsure.

"No... I mean..." Gojo finally turns to Hana, who is hiding her smile behind her delicate palm.

"Oh dear, are you feeling alright, Gojo-sama?" She asks, feigning concern. "Would you like me to have some tea fetched for you?"

"Where is she?" Gojo asks with a frown etched into his features.

"Who are you talking about?"

"Yuki."

"As the Lady of the household, I should perhaps ensure our esteemed guest is alright."

Naoya grunts in response. Hana takes it as acquiescence and gracefully runs to catch up to Gojo, who is marching towards the exit, puffing with anger. Hana catches up to him and says, “Forgive me, Gojo-sama, I was playing tricks on you.”

"Where is she?" he asks.

"Oh, dear, she left." Hana looks anything but apologetic.

---

He finds you outside. Cut off shorts, a tank top and a helmet on your head, an ice lolly wedged between your teeth as you manoeuvre a bike with both of your hands. You have a backpack, too.

“It was a lie.” Gojo is standing in front of you. You almost jump in surprise at the sudden intrusion.

You can’t answer as your mouth is occupied. You knew stopping to get a treat was a bad idea. Gojo doesn’t stop. He marches towards you, pulls out the ice lolly from your mouth and pops it into his. “Sweet,” he says, his mouth full. You try to snatch it back, but it is of no use. You can’t touch it. Or him.

You let out a puff of air out of frustration and start getting on your bike. Gojo steps in front of it and clenches the front wheel in between his legs, keeping you effectively trapped. He removes the ice lolly from his mouth and offers it to you—as a gesture of peace or punishment, you're not sure, but you accept it.

"It was all a lie," he says, chuckling. He reaches for your ice lolly again, but you try to dodge his attack. In response, his hand shoots out to grab you by the chin and forcibly remove the treat. You relent when you realise you don't want it to break and be stuck with a huge chunk of ice lolly in your mouth that might give you a brain freeze. Gojo pops it into his mouth and sucks on it, letting out a vulgar slurping sound. You watch, disgust mixed with desire setting in your eyes as he offers it to you again. 

"You lied," he repeats. You shrug and lean forward, opening your mouth. To your surprise, it isn't the ice lolly that meets your mouth. 

Chapter 10: Gooey Stuff in the Middle

"They're together now?" Utahime asks, looking confused. She is sitting with Aiko in the Kyoto Jujutsu High Cafeteria, watching you and Gojo act all lovey-dovey and cringey, at another table.

"I guess," Aiko shrugs before digging into her bowl of rice. For all the love Hime had for the raven-haired girl, she had to admit that Aiko was a tight-lipped one who frustrated her to no end.

"What...do we do?" She asks, unsure. It only prompts another shrug from Aiko.

"You're making a lot of good points— but really," Utahime says, frustrated, "Can you...say something?"

Aiko shakes her head. "It is best to stay out of it. Water must flow to not go stale," she says cryptically. Utahime gives her an annoyed look. 

"And sense must come," Aiko adds with a discrete wink, "whether one wills it or not."

Utahime blushes and nods. Ah. But of course. 

---

It isn't just your friends who are confused with the recent developments to say the least. Even your parents have a difficult time catching up.

"So you're back with Takashi?"

"Tanaka," your mom corrects.

"I'm talking about Gojo," You say through gritted teeth, annoyed with your parents and their goldfish memory.

"Is this the..." Your dad points to his head for some reason. Your mom nods seriously.

You, on the other hand, are irritated and confused. "Wh-what is that supposed to mean? A head? Dad, when have I dated someone without a head?"

"He obviously is talking about the white hair," your mom says defending her husband. 

You make a face. "Obviously," you add. 

---

Then come the kids. This time, you're firm that you want them to know. Thankfully (?), Gojo relents.

"You're together... Like boyfriend, girlfriend?" Tsumiki asks, her eyes widening.

You nod. Her eyes widen in surprise and Megumi's expression turns sour as the realisation dawns on him.

"This is not a good idea," he says in a quiet voice. "But does this mean we will be seeing you more?"

"Of course—" you begin but Gojo cuts you off with an enthusiastic, "Yeah! She's moving back to Tokyo." He wraps an arm around your shoulders.

You give him an incredulous look before shrugging off his arm. "No, I'm not!" You cry out, annoyed. The anger bubbles down when you see the look of hurt on the children's faces. "I mean," you quickly say, "I'm... still going to be in Kyoto because I'm studying there. But maybe after I'm done with uni, I'd like to explore some options... in Tokyo," you explain gently. It almost feels like a session with your career counsellor. You force a reassuring smile and add, "But of course, I'll be seeing you more often now, and you'll also... I mean if you want... You can come to see me in Kyoto. My parents would love to meet you guys." 

That cheers them up and the crisis is averted. You let out a sigh of relief.

"I'd love to visit Kyoto. We went there as kids," Miki says earning a chuckle from you.

"As opposed to you now, when you're adults?" You tease her. She blushes and rolls her eyes but smiles.

"When we were younger," she juts her chin in the air, and continues, "Gumi loved this dessert shop there. We should go there again."

You look at Gumi who nods serenly. "Yes, I enjoyed it," he agrees, crossing his arms across his chest with an air of someone much older than his years. 

That night, once the kids are put to bed, you and Gojo have your first fight—since your relationship started officially.

"Why did you tell the kids I would move to Tokyo? What even... What gave you that impression?" You start slowly. The anger which had lain dormant all day was now bubbling up slowly.

"I assumed," Gojo says casually. Too casually. It irks you. You give him a twisted smile. He's sitting on the couch, his blindfold abandoned on the floor. He massages his temples tiredly.

"Why...would you assume that?" You ask. 

He gives you a perplexed look. "Well... Because..." He waves his hand around as if to say 'because of this'. 

"Elaborate, please," you say through gritted teeth.

"We're together. And you like the kids. So, I assumed you would move back here..." He explains slowly as you're an idiot. You give him a tight smile as you count to ten in your head. Violence is never the answer, you remind yourself.

"That..." You pause before you take a deep breath in and exhale, "...is a reasonable thought for you. But not for me." You pause again to make sure he is listening and hasn't started disassociating. He nods, urging you to continue. So you do. "But, I am not sure about my future. I might want to stay in Kyoto or even move to another place. Or go somewhere else for higher studies. Who knows?" When Gojo tries to open his mouth you cut him off immediately to finish what you were saying. "It could also be moving back to Tokyo. However," you say forcefully, "You can't just say stuff like that to the kids without asking me." 

His cheek twiches in annoyance and you look at him expectantly. "Fine," he grumbles. "I don't see what the big deal is‚ but fine." 

You're about to argue when he pulls you closer and says, "Now enough talking." And you stop. But, of course.

---

"—and then he was like, 'Well, I assumed you'd obviously move back to Tokyo', as if I didn't have an entire life in Kyoto. As if I didn't just start a master's course recently! Can you believe that?" You cry out in frustration to Aiko and Hime.

Aiko gives you a sympathetic nod whereas Utahime is more willing to meet you at your desired decibel. "He's such a jerk! Gojo is selfish and an idiot!" Utahime says, frowning. She crosses her arms across her chest before saying, "I'm glad you let him have a piece of your mind. That idiot needs everything to be drilled into his head a dozen times before it makes sense."

"Thank you. I agree!" You feel consoled by Hime's response. You then turn to Aiko expectantly but she only says, "I also agree."

While Aiko's lukewarm response hurts you, you don't linger on it for too long. It feels like criticism... Like... she doesn't think it will—

"But I think it's good that we're talking, you know, communicating. Because after all, communication is key," you try not to sound too defensive but you fail. Aiko only smiles warmly and nods. 

"You are right," she says but it rubs you the wrong way. You scowl and change the topic. Perhaps you should've called Hana instead. She would've agreed.

---

When you call Gojo later in the evening to tell him of this, expecting a sympathetic ear, he instead asks, "Babe, don't you think you're reading too much into things?"

You scowl harder. "No, I am not," you say sternly. "I know Aiko. She's—She's not... She doesn't approve of this."

There is a pause before Gojo says, "Of what? Us?"

"Yes!" You cry out in frustration and joy. Finally, he gets it. The idiot. 

"Why wouldn't she? And if she doesn't, isn't she wrong?" 

"Yes, I mean, she is, but she doesn't because..." You struggle with your words because you honestly don't know. "I don't know..." You admit.

"Well, has she said anything?" 

"No..." You admit begrudgingly.

"Then what makes you think that?" Something in voice makes alarm bells go off in your head.

"I— No. Don't do that. Don't make it seem like it's some unconscious part of me—"

"I'm not saying anything. You are. Are you—"

"—that doesn't want this. Stop talking over me!"

"—not the one having doubts? And you're talking over me too!"

You hang up, frustrated. When Gojo calls you back you don't answer. That wasn't really the communication skills you were boasting about a few hours ago but you don't care. Aiko would never find out anyway. 

---

When you take the train to Tokyo for the weekend, you have an apology prepared. Several drafts including three paragraphs sat in your Notepad app on your phone. You had memorised it like the diligent student you were. You've also not come empty handed. You've got a selection of his favourite desserts from Kyoto and a dinner reservation at a very good restaurant. The kids have gone to visit their aunt, so you will have the house all to yourselves.

But upon your arrival at Gojo's abode things start going downwards. You knock on the door several times but no one answers. You open the door using the passcode Gojo had given you and find it is... empty. Your confusion turns to a quiet fury and your apology is forgotten. The long paragraphs you had prepared are torn and you sprinkle the ashes over the image of a very dead Gojo Satoru.

You call him. He answers on the third ring.

"Mochi, mochi?" His cheerful voice does nothing to quell the rage brewing in you.

"Where are you?" You ask in a quiet voice.

"Out, why?"

"I...am at your place. We were supposed to spend the weekend together. Did you forget?" You try to rein in the anger but your voice is trembling.

"Oh dear," he says. "It slipped my mind. I am out with Nanami right now, but I will be back in the evening."

"Evening?" You glance at your watch. It is 11 in the morning right now. "What time?"

"Eight? Nine? I'm not sure yet. I'll see where the day takes us. See you later, Darling. Toodles!" The man hangs up before you can get a word in edgewise. You're standing in the living room, feeling like an idiot. You put the bags on the counter and bite your lip, forcing yourself not to cry. A tear is about to drop when a huge pop shakes you into combat mode. You whip your head around and are ready to throw out your nunchucks when you see it's...

"Gojo?" You ask, a stray tear making its way down your cheek.

Gojo gives you a cheeky grin and winks at you. "Gotcha," he says and opens his arms. Your shocked expression takes on a softer look as the realisation dawns on you.

"You were playing with me?" You ask, as you walk to him and throw your arms around his waist. You like the way you fit into his arms. His cheek comes to rest on your head and you hear him say, "You kind of deserved that." 

You push your head back to look up at him and frown. "Rude... But true... I'm...sorry for being mean."

Gojo smiles at you and kisses your forehead. "Good." He then opens his mouth and lets it fall on your forehead. His teeth slightly grazing your skin. "Nom," he says in a muffled voice. "What do you think about going out for lunch?"

You shake your head. "No, I'd like to spend the day at home with you. And then I have dinner reservations for us later. A fancy place. And—" You say before Gojo can interrupt you. "I also brought gifts." You let him go to show him the bag of treats.

Gojo brightens up and immediately takes the bag from you. "So, dinner reservations, huh? Where are we going?"

"Somewhere special. My treat," You say and reach out to put your arms around him. He munches on the treats happily as he winds an arm around her shoulders with a free hand.

You look up at him, your chin pressing against his chest, as you watch him contently. "Stop staring even though I know I'm pretty," Gojo says before pausing for a moment to kiss your forehead. The crumbs of the biscuit he'd been munching on fall in your eyes, making you wince. 

"Ugh," You say and pull away from him. "I got crumbs in my eyes."

"Show me," Gojo says, dusting his hands on his jeans. You let him take your face by the chin and blow air into your right eye, the one offended by the crumbs. "All gone, I think," he says, his breath warm against your mouth. And then, even before you can blink, his mouth descends on yours and you're pulling him closer to yourself and he's doing the same.

---

"Ugh, they're so annoying," Utahime groans as she wounds her arms around Aiko's shoulders. The latter smiles. "They keep making stupid sounds like, 'Nom, nom.' I don't want to really use my position as Yuki's superior at work and ask her to stop inviting her boyfriend to her place of work."

"You should," Aiko says, reaching down to kiss Utahime's forearm. "If it's causing a disturbance at work, then it would make sense."

Utahime rolls her eyes. "You're always so diplomatic. Don't say one bad word."

"Would you want me to?" Aiko asks seriously. Utahime considers her question for a moment before saying, "No. I like that you're the bland one and I'm the spicy one."

Aiko lets out an incredulous laugh. "Bland one? I'm offended. But you definitely are spicy."

Utahime loosens her hold around Aiko and leans her head against the raven-haired woman's head.

---

"Nom, nom," Gojo says as he pretends to bite off a chunk of your cheek. You let out a giggle and push him away to finish typing out your assignment for college.

"You've been busy these days," he comments.

You're at your studio apartment. You can tell he's not happy about not receiving your attention but alas, the man must entertain himself because you're working under a strict deadline. You're sitting on your bed, surrounded by papers and books. Gojo is sitting next to you and while he's playing nice for most of the time, he does get irritated every twenty minutes and tries to get your attention.

"Yes, I'm drowning in school work." You pause your typing to reach out and scratch his head. You give him a weary smile when he catches your hand and playfully bites it. He tries to hold on to it for longer but you pull it away. "I need it to type," you explain.

"Okay," he replies sullenly and springs out of bed. You watch him curiously as he puts his jacket on. Is he planning on leaving? 

"Since you're busy, I think I should go." He leans down to kiss you but you dodge him.

"No, stay," you frown at him. "I would like for you to sit here. We're spending time together, aren't we?"

"Not really. You're working," he says, pushing his blindfold up his forehead, making his hair stick out in all directions.

"Yes, but we can still spend some time together. You do your thing, and I do mine."

"Unfortunately, I don't really have a 'thing' to do sitting. My tasks include more physical stuff, like fighting curses and saving the world kind of things," he says sarcastically eliciting a frown from you.

"But still, we can spend time together," you pout and start pushing your papers to a side. "Come. Take a nap or something," you raise a hand and see Gojo's resolve break. He shrugs his coat off and flops down next to you. You put your laptop aside and lay down to pull him into your arms and pepper his face with kisses.

He chuckles. "Don't you need to finish your assignment?"

"Yes, but I can take a break."

He lets out a noise of content and snuggles into your neck. "How is saving the world going?"

You feel a puff of air against your neck. "It is going," Gojo says. There is something in his voice that makes you pull away to look down at him. He, however, remains still. Eyes avoiding yours.

"Is it Geto?"

Gojo says nothing, confirming your suspicions. You remain silent. He finally says, "It's getting worse. I don't understand him. Why did he change the way he did? I mean, I was there... I saw the signs but I was... too late. I didn't see..." He is rambling now and you let him get it all out. "But I'm not sure what I could've done... Perhaps I should've done something... I should seek him out now and do something..." He trails off.

You mull over his words, and then ask, "What do you mean 'it's getting worse'?"

He remains silent for a few moments. And then, "Shoko thinks something big is brewing... That there will come a moment where there is no going back..."

You feel uneasy. "Sounds... scary," you say. The unspoken question of dealing with the problem, i.e., taking out Geto hangs between you. 

"I don't think I can do it... I won't... At least for now... I..." Gojo trails off. You run your hands through his hair as you stare at the ceiling vacantly. You don't envy the predicament he's in. You lay there for a few more minutes and soon you hear Gojo's breathing grow regular. He's fallen asleep. 

You press a kiss against his cheek and pull his blindfold down.

Time to get back to work.