Akutaguwu

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It had been a tough week for Gojo. The toughest days he had probably ever faced, in fact. Guilt had been eating him alive, his mind torturing him with that image of her, with her sounds, with the fact that he had seen something of her he shouldn’t, and now he was carrying that secret with him, while she probably kept spending time with Sukuna, unaware of what he had done, of what he had recorded and shared. 

He was supposed to be with her, to marry her. She was supposed to fall in love with him eventually, and now, because of Sukuna pulling that shit, he was going back in all the process he had made. She was annoyed with him, he knew. She hadn’t told him, but he could tell. Hhe knew her better than she knew herself, after all.

Every time her eyes locked with his, he saw the hurt in her eyes, the disappointment, and it hurt him so much he wanted to tell her what was happening in the spot. And yet, every time he tried, he froze in fear.

“What if she hates me for not telling her earlier?” “What if she can’t look at me anymore because of what I’ve seen?” “What if she ends up discovering I've seen it before I get to tell her?” ”What if she doesn’t believe me when I tells her I've deleted them?” “What if our relationship changes forever…?”

It had been eating him alive, and  Geto noticed, and that’s why he insisted on him attending this next party. At first Gojo wasn’t sure, because what if she was there again? But the thought of her possibly getting drunk and Sukuna being the one ‘taking care’ of her made him feel even worse. So he ended up going along.

He wanted to separate them. After what Sukuna had done, he did not trust Sukuna at all near her. Earlier, despite how deeply in love Gojo was with her, he had accepted her and Sukuna having something for the time being. He didn’t like it, but he’d change it fair and square. He’d make her realize he was the better option. But now? He’d do anything if it made her be far away from Sukuna, to be safer. He didn’t deserve her, she didn’t deserve him. She deserved better, infinitely better.

So that’s why he ended up attending the party. But once he realized she wasn't there, the thoughts started flooding again, and so he inevitably ended up drinking a bit too much.

Normally, Gojo Satoru thrived in places like these. Within five minutes he'd have half the room laughing, someone challenging him to beer pong, girls flocking around him, desperate for his attention, and another group trying to convince him to join whatever stupid drinking game they had invented. But tonight...

"Gojo!" He looked up and saw someone he had talked to a few times in his whole life waving at him "Come on! We need one more!"

Gojo lifted his beer slightly in silent apology "I'm good," was all he said.

The group’s chatter died a bit while they looked at him with curious and surprised looks. But he didn’t care nor paid attention to them, instead he just switched somewhere else in the house where he would luckily go a bit more unnoticed. 

And as soon as he disappeared back into the crowd, the smile disappeared too, his attention returning to his phone.

There were no new notifications, still. He unlocked it anyway and opened her chat for the fifth time that night. Hoping she’d text him, butknowing she wouldn’t. Thinking whether he should text her, and knowing about how stupid it’d be—and still dying to do so.

"You're doing it again" Gojo looked up, meeting Shoko who had appeared next to the couch, skillfully carrying two drinks with only one hand.

"What?"

"You keep reading the same conversation" Gojo wanted to say something smart, but he couldn’t. So he just locked his phone and looked away with a roll of his eyes "You're gonna end up texting her at this rate” she predicted.

“I’m not,” he frowned, determined not to. Not until he had thought of the best way to tell her about what Sukuna did without looking guilty, without making it look like he wanted to talk ill of Sukuna.

"You are,” Shoko said, handing him the other drink. He chugged the last bit of beer he had and grabbed this other drink. He definitely needed more alcohol to stop feeling this miserable. 

“I’m not,” he repeated, and took a sip of the disgustingly sweet drink “and if I do, you'll be there to avoid it” he smiled. But she looked at him with an arched brow, already thinking he made it sound easier than it would probably be. And oh was she right. After all, Gojo Satoru was a lightweight. 

After he was done with that second drink, he became noticeably lighter, less worried. He’d laugh every now and then with Shoko, Geto, and a few others, but then, he’d keep checking and staring at his phone with a frown, fingers hovering over the keyboard while he debated whether to write everything he wanted to tell her. 

“I’m going outside,” he stumbled upon his words, standing up after having been staring at her socials pictures for a long while. Shoko and Geto both looked at each other

“Don’t drunk-text her,” Geto warned.

Gojo cracked his neck with a sigh before answering a tired "I won't"

But he did.

And as soon as he was outside, leaning against the wood railing, he sent the first text. Then another one, then another one. Then he stopped. It was late, almost mid-night, maybe she was asleep… But his head was so loud, and his feelings were too heavy, so he kept texting and texting. 

Maybe if she hadn’t answered he would have eventually stopped, regained his consciousness and deleted everything he said before she got to see it. But she replied, and so his texting became worse. He spammed her more, he became more desperate, more open. To the point where people around him, who were chilling out on the porch kept asked him and talking about him:

“Yo, you good?”  To which he just dismissed with a wave of his hand.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He's gone,"

He even got in a fight with Shoko and Geto later that night when they tried to take his phone away from his drunk hands.

"Give me your phone" Geto suddenly appeared next to him. Gojo looked up as if he had suggested killing someone.

"No,"

"You're drunk,"

"She’s talking to me" he frowned, pulling his phone close to his chest.

"You just tried to type beautiful three times" Geto groaned, trying to snatch his phone from him.

"It was autocorrect!" he yelled, trying to flee from Geto, only to be faced Shoko

"Satoru Gojo," she said, face as tired as always.

"I'm having an important conversation" he complained, grabbing his phone tighter against his chest.

"Exactly," Shoko added, stepping towards him. He frowned harder. 

“You need to stop before you start telling her the names you’ve planned for your future children" Geto mocked him, pulling from Gojo’s hand to take his phone away for his own good. But Gojo groaned dramatically.

"I hadn't even gotten there yet!" he complained, pulling from his phone.

Shoko tried to pull Gojo the other way to help Geto.

"Take the phone!" she complained to raven-haired boy.

"I'm trying…" the other one groaned, but Gojo had a toddler's grip on his phone.

“Let it go!” Gojo yelled, desperately fighting both as if his life was on the line—at least that’s how he felt it, especially when his screen lit up with another text message from her “Give me my phone back! I need to talk to her!” he continued fighting “You’re gonna ruin this"

“You’re gonna ruin it yourself, stop acting like a drunkard,” Geto frowned "You're gonna regret this tomorrow," he tried again, but stopped when Gojo bit Geto’s shoulder so he let go of his phone "What the hell, Satoru?!" he yelled, grabbing his shoulder and thus letting go of his phone.

"You started it. Let me be!" he frowned at them, immediately turning his attention to her messages.

"You bit me!"

"Leave me alone, this is important..." he continued, already texting her while disappearing into the house to get lost somewhere more private where they would leave him alone with her.

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✿ Valko whose ears always betray his real emotions. He's trying to look all tough and serious? His tail keeps wagging uncontrollably. He broke something while you were away and tried to hide it? His ears are folded backward apologetically, eyes looking away innocently each time you look at him. 

✿ Valko's tail which, when you're talking about having a date with him, or telling how much you love him, or literally just smiling at him, will swing so vigorously you'll hear it thumping the furniture even if you can't see it. 

✿ Valko who always has to shake his head after a shower, plunging into a swimming pool or just generally getting wet, thus getting everything around him wet as well. 

✿ Valko whose head tilts slightly whenever you catch him off guard with a prank or he doesn't understand what you're saying, one of his floppy ears falling slightly

✿ Valko who loves to playfight with you, but will, most times, let you win with a wide smile 

✿ Valko who sometimes out of nowhere gives the biggests sighs as if he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, even when he's chilling

✿ Valko who loves whenever you get cute aggression and bite his biceps, back, shoulders... anything of him. Who will actually encourage you to bite harder even if it draws blood. He loves to see the marks you leave, makes him feel claimed by you. Makes him feel his instincts about you reciprocated

✿ Valko who has a tendency to, out of nowhere, just pick you up and take you anywhere. Will even make you lay down again if you ever thought of getting up to go somewhere just to pick you up and take you himself. Nu-huh, you're not walking on his watch if you mentioned being tired in the slightest.

✿ Valko who is the worst at keeping secrets. Whether he's preparing a surprise for you, or has some secret he can't tell you yet. He's a great actor, except for his tail, ears and eyes that keep betraying him. And eventually, if you push him even slightly, it'll take absolutely nothing for him to cave in to you. 

Who besides his scent accompanying you through the day will also leave hidden love and cute short notes on your pockets, wallet, anywhere, for you to find them through the days. And if you don't find them? He'll eagerly try to encourage you "Did ya not use your make-up bag today?" and if you say no his ears will drop significantly "Oh, aren't ya going to use it?" and he keeps being (not) subtly insistent until you look through it and find it.

✿ Valko who is easily and almost willingly trained by you, unconsciously. He'll sometimes start rambling about something he did at work, using all his smart words and technical concepts. So pretty with his glasses on, rambling and rambling. He's so cute and hot you can't help but nuzzle on his cheek and perhaps even nibble a bit. That? Instant reward. Now expect him to continue rambling, because he expects your cuddles and bites afterward. He helps you with your phone, internet connection, whatever, and you pet him and shower him in kisses lately? Expect him to be even MORE devotional and obliging. It becomes a love and reward loop you're not even aware you're a part of.

✿ Valko who becomes immensely overjoyed when you rescue a stray dog, hitting him right in his heart since he too had a part of his childhood as a stray

Whose heart would hurt a bit when the stray dog is at first scared of him, sensing his werewolf and predatory aura in him

Who would be loved very quickly by the dog since he's used to taking on a "big brother friendly" energy from playing and caring for his clan's wolf-pups

Who would get mildly jealous of the dog every time you mentioned how much of a good boy it was and gave him belly and ear rubs. He'd latch to you, lay on your lap, hug you like his life depended on him, hoping you tell him he's a good boy too.

Who would generally be playful and make purposely edgy comments when jealous, playfighting with the dog while saying things like "stealing all my ear pets, huh? Traitor". But his smile and wagging tail would give away how happy he is nevertheless.

✿ Valko whose golden eyes become sharp and scary, glowing like those of a predator lurking on a prey, whenever he's engaging with anyone who's not close to him, especially if there is the slightest chance of you being in danger or threatened directly or indirectly

Who, unlike with anyone else, gives you the biggest puppy eyes when you (playfully) refuse to pet him, kiss him or  hug him back after playfighting. Or when he wants to have just one more chocolate—we all know it won't be just one more.

✿ Valko who, if you're diabetic, will make sure his chocolate business has an entire line of chocolates you can eat, catered entirely for your tastes and needs.

✿ Valko who will know way before you, or any medical device does, that your blood pressure is dropping, or that you need some sugar, etc. He'll be there for you even before you notice, and even if you stubbornly tell him you're alright You're not, and he was right, and he'll hold you until it passes.

✿ Valko who can track your cycle with his smell better than any period tracker

Who becomes even more touchy and protective when your period comes. He instinctively needs to be close because of the imprint and how his primal side unconsciously sees her as more vulnerable. So he becomes extra attentive, extra needy, extra warm just for you

Who's happy to become your personal heater and pillow, especially if you have bad cramps. Perks of being a werewolf are the high body temperature after all. So expect lots of spooning, belly rubs, nuzzling and kisses.

Who won't ever leave your side if the cramps become too bad.

Who will never have to leave your side to get you more pads/tampons or snacks, because he sensed your period before it even came so he prepared in advance.

Who has an immense tolerance and patience for your non-sense if you ever become irritable during those days.

Who becomes even crazier about your scent during your period, triggering even stronger protective and nurturing instincts. 

✿ Valko who will invent and create things just for you. You mention an app bugging? Next day you have your own version of the app created by his truly. Your phone keeps lagging? Leave it to him, and in less than an hour your phone will be faster than it ever has. Are you looking for a specific useful app that doesn't exist? He's created one for you

✿ Valko who's so respectful the first and foremost thing he cares about is your well-being and consent. Even when he's all cuddly and touch-starved, he won't fully engulf you unless you give him a sign you're okay with it. But once you do, prepare to be rubbed and nuzzled in every way and part of your body, especially neck, head, cheek, back and arms.

✿ Valko who will make sure to nuzzle you so hard and intensely while you're with him that when you're not around him you'll still smell his scent nearby. 

✿ Valko who will mindlessly and unconsciously raid any chocolatey sweets or snacks you have. He won't even do it on purpose. He'll be strolling around, deep in thought about something when he finds your chocolate stash. He'll eat just one, only to realize once he's finished his thread of thoughts, that he has finished most of them. 

Who's attentive enough to leave a few of the chocolates for you, and will make sure he brings extra sweets from his business next time, for compensation. 

Who will lower himself lightly, ears dropping down with puppy eyes the moment you realize your chocolates are gone. He'll try to play dumb, but his body expressions betray him.

✿ Valko who always talks of you two like a pack. If somebody asks him something, it's not "I can't", "I think", "I've seen", "I did". Instead it’s "We": "we can't", "we think", "we've seen"... he always speaks in plural.

✿ Valko who more often than not will suddenly ask you out on dates, even after you've long been together. He'll do it with messages like "Good afternoon, beautiful lady. Would you happen to be available this Friday evening?" or "hi pretty, are you free tomorrow?" as if you haven't been on a hundred dates before. And he'll always be as excited and attentive as he was on your first date.

✿ Valkowho will check on you regularly. Even if you're both at home, each doing something different, he'll suddenly appear in your room, studio, or just wherever you are. Look at you, smile and get excited (insert tail wagging and moving ears), demand some kisses and then go back to what he was doing with a wide grin. Only to do the same again after an hour.

Who after he's checked on you will forget what he was doing originally, and will start doing side things until he remembers what he was originally doing. 

✿ Valko who has a low attention span unless he's hyperfixating on something. So most times he's leaving his stuff scattered around your place

✿ Valko whose body temperature is always very high so he is the absolute best cuddler, especially in winter, and especially with his squishy muscles and nuzzles.

Who will also pout, ears angling down, tail wagging sadly and he'll even go as far as to sigh/whimper lightly if you refuse to cuddle him because it's too hot in the summer and he's making you sweat and you get all sticky. He swears he is not emotionally manipulating you, but how can you say no? 

✿ Valko who every now and then sends you gym pics after he's done, all sweaty and flexing his muscles on the mirror. Most times wearing a compressed t-shirt, sometimes having taken it off - Valko who will never demand kisses but will always expect them after every little (and not so little thing he does)

The days after Sukuna sent the video had been hell for Gojo.

Every time he saw her, the images flashed in his mind: her lips around Sukuna, the sounds she made, the way her body moved… The guilt was suffocating. He felt dirty for having watched it, jealous in a way that made him hate himself. And above all, he was paralyzed by the question. ‘Should I tell her?’ and ‘How the fuck do I tell her’

So he started pulling back, sending shorter texts, he even started avoiding sitting next to her in class, and all conversations they had ended up being awkward, half-hearted conversations. 

She noticed, of course she noticed. But she said nothing, just watched him with that guarded, slightly hurt expression that made his chest ache.

He was so out of himself, that when the next weekend’s frat party came, he barely engaged. He went anyway, hoping to get his mind off her, because ever since that night when he blocked Sukuna, his every thought had been about her. It used to be that way before too, but his thoughts used to go more along the lines of ‘how can I make her happy?’ ‘Would she like this gift?’ ‘She’s so pretty omg’ ‘If I ask her out what are my exact chances of her accepting? 30%?’ ‘How long will it be until she notices we’re getting paired in class suspiciously too often?’, etc. But now, his thoughts were more miserable. Still her, but surrounded by guilt and torment. He had even been having nightmares and horrible stomach aches ever since that day every time those images and sounds popped in his mind. Every time he thought of how she’d react if she knew what he had seen. 

So maybe, a frat party was all he needed. After all, she never went to those, so the chances of crossing her were slim. And yet, as he continued to be miserable on the porch, away from the heart of the party, a girl stumbled her way out of the house. 

His head quickly darted to the side, watching the girl who he thought would either be one of his fangirls, or someone too drunk to realize what door they were crossing, and yet, he was proven wrong—halfly. It indeed was someone apparently drunk, but to his surprise, it was none other than (Y/n). 

He immediately jolted at her sight, eyes opening widely and heart hammering against his chest. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked, surprised she was even there. 

“Itadori,” she answered shortly, waving her hand in dismissal as if that was enough explanation for why she was at the party. Gojo’s white brows furrowed lightly when he noticed her half-lidded eyes and lousy stand.

“You’re drunk…” he stated, stepping forward instinctively, confused and worried since he knew she didn’t usually drink alcohol.

“Yup,” she said, popping the ‘p’ and walking forward to lean against the railing of the porch “Turns out… the non-alcoholic drinks did have alcohol in them…” she said, body slightly falling to one side before she caught herself on the wood of the porch. Gojo stepped even closer just in case she actually fell, frown now even harsher on his face. But before he could ask anything else, she opened her mouth again “You’ve been weird all week. Avoiding me…” Gojo looked away, unable to look her in the eyes when the guilt flooded him again, when he remembered the picture and video “If you’re tired of me, just say it. I told you from the beginning, I don’t care about your little chase…” she mumbled, looking away as well while she braced the wooden post. 

And just like that, Gojo’s heart lurched, eyes going back to where they belonged, to her. 

“No—fuck, no,” he quickly blurted, voice cracking with panic. He moved closer, hands hovering like he wanted to steady her but didn’t dare touch her too much “I’m not tired of you, that’s the last thing I am. I’ve been losing my mind thinking about you all these days” he rushed, stopping just a few seconds to observe her. But when she saw her tiny pout his heart tightened even further “The day you helped me pick my bike was the best day I’ve had in months. I think about it constantly. I’m not giving up, (Y/n). I could never get tired of you. You’re… you’re the only person who makes me feel more than just a popular guy, or a smart guy”

He was rambling now, a little pathetic in his desperation. But the guilt made it worse, terrified she’d slip away thinking he didn’t care. When in reality, it was the other way around, he cared too much.

She stared at him, alcohol making her slower to put up her usual walls. For a dangerous second, warmth bloomed in her chest, realizing he really meant it. 

She killed the thought instantly.

“I don’t… care,” she muttered, but her voice lacked its usual bite. She swayed again, and Gojo caught her arm gently. 

“I’ve got you. Let’s get you some water and somewhere quieter, okay?” he said, managing to direct her towards the front door. But before he could open it and enter, someone else did from the other side, loud music booming clearly now. 

“She’s fine. I’ll take her home” Sukuna’s voice cut through the noise like a blade. 

Gojo’s frown got impossibly harsher, and in his chest a raging heat started to pool. His entire body went rigid. This was the first time they had been this close since what he sent. He stepped in front of her slightly, one arm still supporting her.

“Back off,” Gojo said, voice low and dangerous “You’re not taking her anywhere.”

Sukuna’s lips twitched into a subtle smirk, but his eyes remained cold “Thought you’d like my gift, but guess not,” he paused, taking a step forwards towards her “Get over it”

“Don’t you say another fucking word,” Gojo stepped between her and him more clearly now, standing inches apart from each other “You’ve done enough,” Gojo snarled. “You think I’m letting you take her after what you pulled? Stay the fuck away from her”

Sukuna’s eyes darkened “You’re really going to do this? Meddle in shit that doesn’t concern you?”

They were a second away from throwing punches. Now, the argument had spilled into the hallway. Music still thumped through the walls, but the crowd had thinned and some people were watching now, phones discreetly out.

And then, she slid down the front door. She sat on the floor, legs splayed awkwardly, eyes unfocused, and the world spinning too fast. The alcohol had finally won.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she muttered, voice slurred but stubborn “Both of you… shut up.”

The fight died instantly.

Gojo folded first, not in defeat, but in priority. He crouched next to her, all the anger draining from his face. His voice dropped, low and soft.

“Hey… this isn’t the place to sit, angel” he spoke to her, but she played deaf “This floor is very dirty, you know” When she didn’t respond immediately, he didn’t force her. Instead, he reached out slowly and gently brushed a strand of hair out of her face “At least move to the couch, yeah?” he coaxed “I’ll stay right there with you” he tried again when her eyes locked on him. She seemed thoughtful about it, but nothing was coming out from her.

Meanwhile, Sukuna went still. He watched them, watched the way she unconsciously leaned a little toward Gojo’s voice, the way Gojo’s entire focus narrowed to her. Something ugly twisted in his chest: jealousy, regret, and ugly possessiveness. 

He sent a murderous look to those in the hallway that were looking at her, and then, he stepped closer. He didn’t grab her, he knew that would push her away.

“You’re not staying here,” Sukuna said, voice rough but quieter than before. He positioned himself to block the hallway, shielding her from the curious stares of drunk partygoers. But she just gave him a hazy glare before ignoring both. Gojo sighed, thinking he would have succeeded if Sukuna had not appeared. 

"If you stay here people are gonna trip over you, honey" he tried softly again, trying for her to look at his eyes. She pulled her lip slightly, very obviously trying hard not to look at his eyes "They'll spill beer on you" he added, and that immediately made her lock eyes with him, looking horrified.

"Ew" she gasped

"Yeah..." Gojo agreed with her holding out his hand to her with a gentle smile

"Fine..." she finally accepted, taking his hand. He helped her up carefully, one arm around her waist to keep her steady, the other hovering without being restrictive.

Sukuna followed as they moved her to a quieter couch in an adjacent room. Gojo crouched in front of her again, talking softly, getting her water, asking if she felt sick, keeping her grounded. And meanwhile Sukuna stood guard a few feet away, sending out anyone who dared get close to the couch as he stood arms crossed, silent but not leaving.

The two of them coexisted in thick, unresolved tension. Gojo kept glancing at Sukuna with barely-contained fury, and Sukuna stared back, jaw tight and the earlier smugness gone. After all, there was a new priority right now.

The secluded corner couch was barely quieter than the rest of the house, but it was private enough. She was stretched across it now, one leg dangling off the side, clearly not planning on cooperating fully. And then, when a specific song started sounding from the living room:

“I wanna go back to the party,” she announced, trying to push herself up “This is boring. You two are boring.”

Gojo gently pressed a hand on her shoulder, guiding her back down without force “Party’s still going to be there in ten minutes, princess. Drink some more water first, okay?”

“Nuh-uh” she mumbled, shaking her head in denial when he held a big glass of water to her. 

“You need water, sweetheart. You look like you drank too many drinks”

“I’ve had…” she spread her hands in front of her, trying to remember and counting on her fingers “many…” she gave up, not clearly remembering.

“Exactly,” Gojo answered. But she pulled her lip even more, sitting farther from him. Sukuna sighed, tired already, and snatched the glass out of Gojo’s hands. 

“Just drink the damn water,” she immediately frowned annoyed. 

“No” 

“Don’t be difficult,” he groaned.

“I’m not difficult,” she said, and then made thinking sounds “I’m being… hydratedn’t” she said, stumbling on the last word. 

Gojo audibly chuckled, making her move her gaze from Sukuna to him and smile at the warm sound. Meanwhile Sukuna only looked more stressed. 

Gojo took the glass back and took a sip himself.

“Then I’ll drink it,” he said, sitting on the couch next to her and drinking a bit more. She looked at him, and licked her lips.

“Okay, I want water,” she suddenly realized that she was thirsty, holding her hands out for the glass. Gojo failed to hold his smile as he handed it to her. Meanwhile Sukuna only did but stare more sharply, wondering why the hell had that worked, and wondering whether Gojo knew what he was doing.

“You want more, sweets?” Gojo asked softly when she was done, taking the empty glass off her hands. 

She groaned as an answer that didn’t really answer anything, and instead, she said: “Stop being all soft and reasonable” she hit him in the chest, not hard enough to hurt. But Gojo couldn’t help but smile softly when she did it with the cutest frown and pout “It’s annoying,” she mumbled before her face lit up again “I want to go dancing,” she repeated. And immediately, Sukuna, who was standing nearby with his arms crossed, clicked his tongue 

“You’re staying here. You’re too drunk to be out there”

“Make me,” she shot back immediately, voice bratty and challenging. She even started to swing her legs off the couch just to spite him. It seemed that with Sukuna, the resistance was instant.

Sukuna’s jaw clenched, he took one step forward, but Gojo shot him a sharp warning look. He hated it, but he could see the pattern: every time he pushed, she pushed back harder. Gojo, on the other hand…

Gojo turned to her again, voice low and coaxing, almost playful but genuinely gentle “Come on, bunny, just a little longer here. I’m not letting you fall on your face in front of everyone, can you imagine?”

She huffed, but there was the faintest twitch at the corner of her mouth “You’re cheating with that voice…” Gojo’s heart sped up a little, but he focused when she spoke again “I’m going to dance,” she declared anyway, trying to stand up. 

“You can’t even walk properly,” Gojo commented despite helping her up. 

“I absolutely can—” she began, shaking him off. She took one step, and immediately bumped into the coffee table, stumbling and sitting back down with a hiss as she rubbed her reddened shin “The table attacked me…” she said embarrassedly. Gojo nodded solemnly. 

“I saw. It was a sneaky attack too…” he added, sitting on said coffee table in front of her. 

“It’s dangerous…” she glared at the coffee table, still rubbing the hurting skin on her leg. Gojo nodded, taking in how cute she was. 

“Yeah, we should avoid it,” he agreed.

“Yeah…” she mumbled, laying back down on the couch, the idea of dancing gone for a while.

Sukuna watched the whole exchange in silence, completely baffled. The realization settled in like a stone in his gut: she listened to Gojo more and she fought him less. Even drunk and bratty, she seemed to lean toward Gojo’s softer persistence. It stung more than he wanted to admit.

But a few minutes later, she tried again, this time standing first before speaking. 

“I wanna go,” she announced, resolute. There was a short silence: she was waiting for resistance from their side, Sukuna was waiting for Gojo to smoothly take care of this again, and Gojo was just looking at her. 

“Okay,” the white-haired said, however. Sukuna immediately stopped leaning against the couch, uncrossing his arms.

“What?” he asked, disagreeing with a frown. 

“Yeah,” Gojo simply said, standing up with her “We can go together,” he smiled at her. And Sukuna immediately frowned. 

She beamed happily, hooking one of her arms with his, like it was the obvious thing to do, and then, she walked with Gojo, letting him lead her. 

“Oi, are you really…” Sukuna began, starting to get irked. But he had no choice but to follow them, refusing to leave them alone. 

They made it exactly fifteen meters, once back into the main living room, with loud music, even more drunk people… She suddenly stopped. 

“Actually…” she began, looking around before her eyes fell on Gojo “I don’t wanna dance,”

Sukuna huffed, unbelieving. 

“You don’t?” Gojo asked, too surprised to genuinely be surprised. Actually, he sounded like he expected this. 

“No…” she shook her head, leaning her weight more on him “I’m sleepy…” she said. 

“We can go to my room upstairs. It’s quieter, and no one will bother you” Gojo proposed, holding her steadily. 

Sukuna immediately bristled “The fuck she’s going to your room”

“She’s tired, and she’s in no shape to ride on a bike, even as a backpack,” Gojo snapped back, his sweet expression turning into a threatening frown whenever he turned to him.

The two of them glared at each other over her head, the air crackling again. She groaned loudly.

“Fighting again… I’m going back to the floor…” she announced softly yet dramatically as she started to turn her body into a dead weight. 

That killed the argument instantly.

Sukuna exhaled sharply “Fine. Your room. But I’m coming too.” Gojo wanted to argue, but taking one look at her made him bite his tongue.

“Whatever. Just don’t touch anything”

With a lot of coaxing from Gojo (and reluctant backup from Sukuna blocking people from getting too close), they got her upstairs to Gojo’s room. She was still bratty the whole way: complaining, dragging her feet, telling Sukuna he was “too tall and scary” and Gojo he was “annoyingly nice”.

Once inside, Gojo helped her onto his bed, sitting on the edge and keeping her company with quiet conversation and water. And meanwhile, Sukuna took the chair in a corner, arms crossed, watching everything like a guard who hated his post.

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She jumped slightly, barely managing to muffle a scream. She turned around, to the side, next to the door she came out from, only to find Gojo Satoru, sitting on her couch, one arm behind his head and phone dimly lighting his face.

“What the—” she began, hand on her chest “You scared the hell out of me” She had genuinely forgotten he was there. He straightened a bit, voice lower, apologetic.

“Sorry,” he said carefully. And then, “You okay?”

There was no teasing or smugness in his tone. No trace of frat Gojo. Instead, this was a more attentive and quiet version of him.

She was still too sleepy to answer, so she just dismissed him with her hand, and still a bit dazed, she crossed the living room into the kitchen. He watched her go for half a second before getting up. Not following closely, but trailing enough to be there. She poured herself some water. Resting her eyes as she did so. Meanwhile, he leaned lightly against the frame of the door, giving her space but watching her closely, all of her. Her bed hair, her sleepy eyes, the slight mark of a pillow on her cheek. He couldn’t help but smile softly, feeling all warm and snuggly inside. 

“You need anything?” he asked, wanting to be of use for her even in this moment. She frowned slightly:

“I’m just getting water” she mumbled, pouring herself another glass that she would probably get tired of as soon as she sipped from it. He continued with all his focus on her.

“If you need anything else...” he began, feeling giddy.

She studied him for a second, frowning when the white light from the kitchen entered her eyes.

“Go to sleep” she groaned, shaking her head as if she was shaking off her mind some thought. She wasn’t harsh, just… deflecting.

“You too,” he said, following her out of the kitchen before plopping back onto the couch. He didn’t say anything else, just watched her go inside her room. And once the door was closed, the silence of the night flooded the apartment again.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, she laid down on her bed, hugging the sheets and the white cat plushie he had gifted her tightly while her eyes fixed on the door. And as she fell asleep again, she realized that having him outside didn’t feel as weird or unsafe as she thought it would. At all.

Then, the next morning, (Y/n) woke up with a strange aroma. The moment she came out of her bedroom, her eyes squinted in suspicion. Especially when she found no trace of Gojo on the couch. 

“Morning,” he said, peeking his head from the kitchen, and smiling as soon as he saw her. He seemed so casual, as if he lived there, as if him being there was completely normal.

“Why are you cooking?” she asked, immediately piercing 2 + 2 together. She frowned, but went into the kitchen anyway to inspect what he was doing.

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” he started, smile still beaming as he turned towards the frying pan “And you have leg day today. And we have lab. You need protein, fiber, and nutritional fats” he said, knocking the spatula a bit against the pan, leaving it aside, and scooping some of what he was making before giving it to her. He blew on the spoon before slowly taking it close to her mouth “Try it,” 

She was too tired to fully process it. And her stomach rumbling, added to the tantalizing smell, she didn’t quite think it through, moving her head close to him and tasting the sauce from the spoon.

“Salt? Pepper? Basil?” He asked, eyes focused on her reaction. She almost let go of a gasp from how tasty it was. 

“It’s all good...” she said, despite wanting to say it was fucking amazing. He smiled nevertheless, fighting the burn in his ears, and finished cooking before serving it in several dishes “You’re weird,” she added, sitting down on the table right where he had placed her breakfast. But his smile only widened at her words, especially when she started digging in.

Then Nobara walked out of her room, hair even messier than (Y/n)’s and frown even heavier than hers. But it disappeared into a confusion scowl when she too smelled the appetizing smell. 

"What the hell is this?” she said, stopping right in her tracks when she found both Gojo and her sitting by the dining table, her eating in silence, and him just… looking at her with a stupid smile. Then, another door down the hall opened, and Itadori came out of it:

“YO, breakfast??” he said, looking more awake than any of the girls.

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(Y/n) felt her heartbeat quickening due to his big and warm hand on her waist and by the proximity between them, but especially by the way his eyes looked at her, expectant and with a slightly arched brow. She swallowed and did as she was told, parting her lips open ever so slightly while she looked at him with flushed cheeks. Cheeks that only turned redder when Hanma slowly slid the food inside her mouth, feeding her. She softly closed her lips around his fingers and ate the food, careful not to bite on him as his fingers remained inside. He then moved his hand to where her jaw and throat connected, only leaving his thumb in as she sucked on it. He tilted his head slightly, golden eyes lingering to her lips for a second as the distance between them got shorter. 

"What would you do for me?" he suddenly asked, voice low and deep, hitting right onto her lips. His eyes traveled down to her lips again, this time staying there longer and almost as if he was fleeing her own gaze. 

"Anything," she answered honestly. Because as much as she had questioned it in the past, she was too enamored and infatuated with him to deny it any longer. There was a silence after her answer, and Hanma looked up to her eyes again, this time a glint of amusement in his eyes that still kept that serious aspect. 

"Would you kill someone for me?" he asked with the same almost airy tone as before, breath hitting her again and making her hair stand just from how seriously he was saying it despite his almost tender tone. This time it was her throat where his eyes wandered to, his fingers finally leaving her mouth "I would kill anyone for you" he added when his eyes went up to her lips and his hand went to her nape, caressing her jaw as well "You just have to say it, and I'll have anyone dead in a second" he said, finally looking deep into her eyes with an expression that she had barely seen in him but that made her heat up and her chest flutter. 

It became difficult to breathe for a second as she became even more entranced by him and by how his eyes looked deep at hers as if to let her know how serious he was. And his lips, now with that tiny and subtle smirk of his... She laid her hand on his chest, feeling it under his shirt, and leaned in to kiss him, which to her surprise, he actually allowed the kiss to stay soft. At least for a while. 

"I'd kill for you too," she said without actually thinking it through. But she knew that if things ever got down to that, she might actually do it. That's just how he made her feel, just how heavy her feelings had become for him. Especially after he said that; as if he felt as intensely as her.

His smirk got bigger, and although the kiss continued to be relatively softer compared to the kisses they used to share, his hand traveled down to her thighs where he gripped and started to caress her exposed skin. She opened her legs slightly, allowing him more room to touch her. And at this action he couldn't help but smile again, kissing her forward and definitely heating up the kiss. His hand slid under her skirt, and when he touched her slightly wet underwear, she let go of a small gasp amidst the kiss. He gripped her thighs tighter and stood up, taking her up with him. She wrapped an arm around him as well, and happily let him take her, in this case to his bedroom. 

He sat down on his bed, back resting against the bedframe, and he placed (Y/n) in between his legs, having her back be against his chest as his arms wrapped around her remarkably smaller body. Completely trapping her in him. Immediately after, his 'sin' hand slid down her belly until it found its way to her panties again where he now rubbed more shamelessly. And as soon as he did that she immediately leaned back her head against his chest, closing her eyes and closing her legs, trapping Hanma's hand in her sweet core. He smiled, looking down at her adorable flustered face, and while his sin hand slipped under her underwear, making her shudder from the feeling of his long and cold fingers pushing teasingly at her entrance, his other hand went to the hem of her shirt. 

(Y/n)'s body slid down the bed the more pleasure that started to build up in her body. One of her arms hanged over his bent knee, gripping at his body while she rubbed her head more against his abdomen and chest, trembling and moaning when his long fingers finally slid inside at the same time that his other hand rubbed her shirt up, exposing her body while he started to massage her breasts. 

"Ngh~" she started to pant as his fingers thrust in her at a faster pace, using his thumb and palm to rub at her clit while he used his other hand to press her body harder against him and massage her nipples and breasts "Shuji..." she continued to moan, leaning back her head even more. 

She opened her eyes for a second and realized that he was intently observing her with a smirk and a tilted head. It only made her quiver more under him, turning even redder. She brought one hand to her face, embarrassed by the lewd expression she must've had. But her action only made him chuckle, and the sound ringing on her ears only made her squirm in pleasure more. To the point where she couldn't hold it anymore, and feeling one of his big hands, pressing down and fondling with her nipples, his other hand fucking her and stimulating her clit, and just the warmth and security his body offered around her... His smell, and not the light one of tobacco that usually accompanied him the days he smoked a lot, no. His actual scent. She just couldn't hold it anymore, and seeing that Hanma wasn't telling her not to come, letting her actually orgasm for once, she moaned and shivered, gripping at his leg and shirt while she came over his fingers. He smirked, seeing her so worked up and a mess, and leaned down to lay a kiss on her forehead.

That wasn't their usual interactions, for anyone wondering. But the more time they were together, and especially the more time she spent with him at his place, the more common they started to be. Of course, though, she didn't spend all of her time with him. He didn't want that, and she had other things to do like for example focusing on getting her degree. And that led her to also spend most of her time going from library to library, whenever she didn't have to work for the gang that is. 

Today she had finished studying earlier, leaving her with enough time to unhurriedly eat lunch and take a nap, or maybe go outside on a walk. She wasn't sure what she would do with her free time, but she knew for sure that she was excited. So much excited in fact, that she didn't realize there was a car behind her, speeding up and seeming to have lost control as it drove over the sidewalk towards her. 

"Girl!" a man called her at the same time he pulled her close to the door of a shop, making the car miss her for less than a meter. Only then did (Y/n) realize that there was a car out of control that luckily didn't hurt anyone. 

The car stopped some distance further from everyone that had thrown themselves out of their way. And as people started to recompose themselves they all looked at the vehicle seeing that it was a dark van with no license plate. 

"Thanks," (Y/n) muttered, feeling her heartbeat against her chest. But the man's hold on her arm became tighter when the car started to go backward at an unusual speed.

"Get out!" people started to scream, fleeing from the road.

"It's out of control!" another person yelled. 

(Y/n)'s eyes widened when she saw that the car was going back in their direction, but she was frozen. She only snapped back when she was pushed further away by the man. She hit the floor and looked to where she was standing, seeing that the van had now broken into the shop from the now broken window.

"Run!" the man told her from inside the shop where the few people that were inside were hidden on the most farther corners, screaming in panic. 

(Y/n)'s body was frozen cold yet again, and all she could do was stand up in panic. She looked at the van and locked eyes with the two people driving. The car lights lighted up again, signaling that it was going to drive off at high speed once more, and it was then when she knew. This car wasn't out of control. This car was purposely trying to kill her. 

Her legs finally responded and she sprinted in another direction, going into a narrow alley that couldn't fit the van. She looked back while running and confirmed her thoughts when the van stopped right at the entrance, looking at her before it disappeared, trying to go around and find her. She started sweating cold and not because of the fact that she had been sprinting for minutes, trying to get the van lost. It was from how much scarier this was than to be almost run over by an out-of-control car. Because now, she thought it would be nearly impossible to escape if somebody wanted to kill her. Why is someone trying to kill me?! she screamed in her mind. Until she understood. 

She finally seemed to lose the van and ran into a parking lot, hiding in a corner behind another big parked car. She brought her hand to her heart, trying to calm down while she caught her breath again. And then she took out her phone, dialing a number with trembling hands. 

"What," Hanma's voice sounded annoyed at the other end of the line. He didn't like to be bothered while he was working after all "I'm busy" he added, but shut up when he heard (Y/n)'s silent cries. 

"Shuji," she called him with a trembling whispering voice, making his frown change completely "someone's trying to kill me" she said but didn't say anything else when she heard a car again. 

"Where are you" he demanded, seeming calm but definitely less calm than earlier. She tried to look over the car, trying to see if the car she heard was the same van or some other from the parking.

"I'm hiding at a parking lot" she cried anxiously again.

"Which parking lot you idiot" he said, starting to lose his calm.

"The one by the cinema" she said, but suddenly shut up when indeed she saw the van. She let go of a gasp when the drivers got out of the car, but she immediately went back to hiding.

"(Y/n)" he called her, his heart beating unsteadily "(Y/n)!" he called her again, this time significantly louder when the line went dead. 

“Did you order anything?” Itadori asked Nobara, who frowned. 

“Why would I? And why are you asking me?” she spat. 

“Who is it?!” (Y/n) yelled from her bedroom. 

“I’m getting it,” Megumi came out of the kitchen to open the door when a second ring sounded.

“Yuji!” Megumi yelled after a while from the front door “Can you come for a second?!” the pink-haired boy stood up and sluggishly approached the entrance down the hall, leaving Nobara alone with the snacks while she tried to peek into the hallway and listen to the conversation those two were having with who knows who.

“Who is it?” (Y/n) peeked her head out of her bedroom into the living room, hair in a very messy bun and face full of a muddy mask. 

“I don’t know,” Nobara said, still looking at the entrance before she turned to her “Are you done or what?” she then asked her friend. 

“Two more minutes. My skin is awful these days,” she said before disappearing back into her bedroom. 

She went to her ensuite bathroom to pad around her mask, see if it was dry already, only to listen to more voices: Megumi, Itadori… and another male’s voice. They must have still been in the hallway because she couldn't quite make out what they were saying. 

Then she proceeded to rub the product off her face with warm water, and it was then that the voices became clearer for they had now settled into the living room. It was also then that she could hear that 3rd guy’s voice better. ‘Is that…’ she frowned at the thought. 

No, it couldn’t be Gojo. Why the hell would he be there? But the more she heard their voices, the more she was convinced it was Gojo. 

“What the hell are you doing here?!” (Y/n) immediately asked after her face was clean, furiously popping out of her bedroom. But Gojo smiled brightly at her despite her apparent frown.

“Hi,” he waved at her too innocently. And immediately, the murderous look on her was directed to Itadori who slumped on the couch farther, trying to force his gaze on the TV to avoid hers, thus showing that he was the one to blame for his appearance.

“He invited himself,” Megumi defended his pink-haired friend. 

“I was just passing by,” Gojo defended himself with a coy smile.

“Passing by my ass,” she crossed her arms, frowning at him. He sweat-dropped a little, but maintained his angelic smile.

Then she looked at Itadori and Nobara, as if to see if any of them would back her up on kicking him out, but they just didn’t seem to care. Then she looked at Megumi, who may have sided with her, but he seemed too tired to argue. So in the end, she just sighed and sat down on her spot at the edge of the couch, the one Gojo was practically hogging.

 "It's getting borderline creepy" she commented lowly to him while sitting on her spot as Itadori put on the episode of the show they were watching.

"You wound me. I was really just passing by"

"And the convenient snacks you brought?" she said, pointing at the several snacks on the coffee table that weren’t there before him, like the bags of sweet popcorn and other types of sweets.

"I like to have something you like around. I'll never know when you may need it" he smiled sheepishly whereas she squinted her eyes at him, clearly not quite believing him.

"Conveniently accomodating…" she rolled her eyes

"I call it strategically accomodating" he refuted before they fell into a short silence while the others searched for the right episode. Then, Gojo added almost in a whisper, eyes locked on the screen in front of him "I just want you to see how good I can be for you…"

"You're giving me a headache" she complained, holding her head, and leaning the other way, opposite to Gojo.

"I also have painkillers ready if you need them," Gojo quickly said, already looking through his pockets.

"You being quiet for a few minutes would do too"

"You'd miss my voice"

"Headache…"

Right after, the opening played, and immediately, everyone shut up. Well, almost everyone. Ten minutes in and Gojo’s voice sounded between the ambience music of the show.

"Wait, wasn't that guy dead?"

Nobara didn't even look away from the screen when she spoke "He has a twin. It's been established since season one"

"I wasn't here for season one"

"Skill issue"

Gojo was about to answer and start some bickering, but upon listening to (Y/n)'s muffled chuckle he stopped himself. He watched her from the corner of his eyes, seeing a shadow of a smile that made him smile shortly too. And so, he let Nobara get away with it. 

Later, around the 2nd episode, she adjusted herself, folding both legs under her. For a moment, her leg brushed his for a bit less than a couple of seconds, but it was enough for him to completely disconnect from the episode for some long 15 minutes because his brain kept shouting at him:

‘Don’t react’

‘It’s just her leg’

‘People have legs’

‘I’ve touched a lot of legs…’

‘That sounds awfully wrong and nothing like I meant’

‘How much of a fuck up would it be if I moved a bit? Pass my arm around her?’

‘No, no, no, she’d definitely notice’

‘I don’t want to mess this up, fuck’.

And so on. 

Then, by the 3d episode, it was her who got distracted. But not because of his proximity. Actually, because a lot of time had gone by, she had become used to his closeness, to the heavy heat his body emanated and how it was actually kind of comforting. The reason she became distracted was by the snacks. 

Because Gojo and her were sitting closer, they were sharing the snacks on the end of the coffee table. She had been the one to finish the popcorn, and the sweet popcorn, even if it was Gojo’s most favorite snack. In any case, every time she was about to open and reach for more snacks, she found the bowl full of them already. She had thought nothing of it, but when it happened with her own drink, she arched a brow, her attention withdrawing from the series to see her previously empty glass, now filled with a soda she didn't even pour.

“Gojo," she muttered, looking at him while he pretended to be deeply invested in the show.

"Hm?"

"Are you refilling everything?"

He hesitated, not knowing what would be the best answer to give "Maybe…?" And when she remained looking at her with an accusing look, he gulped and added "Sorry," She went back to look at the TV, but not without muttering first:

"Weirdo" and then “Thanks” because despite feeling weird about it, she was raised with manners. It still made him smile anyway.

Eventually three episodes somehow turned into four. Then four somehow became "well, we might as well finish the season"

Nobody questioned it, and by the time the ending credits rolled, Itadori stretched so hard his back cracked.

"I'm starving," he whined.

"I second that," Nobara groaned.

Megumi was already reaching for his phone.

"What do you want to order?"

Immediately, everyone started talking over each other, arguing whether it was better to order pizza, or Chinese, or Mexican…

"I got it" Gojo said, taking his phone out to make Megumi stop. All heads turned to him in quiet expectancy and curiosity "My treat," he added

"No," (Y/n) was quick to refuse, which only made Gojo smile more. Because she probably was one of the few people who refused his money.

"Yes," he repeated, handing his phone to Nobara so she ordered whatever she wanted because he knew she would not refuse.

"No, you don’t need to" (Y/n) continued, frowning. But Gojo only smiled more

"As a thank you for letting me stay. I insist"

"You insist too much" she complained with a sigh, letting her body plop further down the couch.

"I know," he smiled softly this time "It's one of my best qualities"

She sighed dramatically, but she didn’t say otherwise, because for good or for bad, it inevitably was true. And then, after their order had arrived and everyone was eating, Gojo decided to try his luck for the first time in the whole night.

“You’ve got those figurines in your room, right?” he started, remembering a conversation they had a long time ago about anime and videogame collectables “You never showed me—” but she shut it down instantly.

“I’m not letting you into my room, you player” she squinted at him. He paused for half a second, taken aback by such an honest answer. And although he felt a small pang at being called something he wasn’t anymore, he smirked.

“You think I need your room for that?” 

She glared at him, half warning him, and he immediately backed off, putting his hands up in surrender “Relax, I was genuinely asking for the figurines” He was lying, or at least not being completely honest. And she knew it. And he knew she knew it. But he didn’t push any further.

By the time everyone finished eating, it was almost midnight. Megumi stood first.

"I'm going to bed" he announced, and right after, Nobara yawned.

"Same," she said, standing up and retreating to her bedroom down the hallway.

Itadori began collecting empty containers, and Gojo looked around the apartment til his eyes fell on a clock. Then his gaze went back to Itadori.

"It's pretty late..."

"It is," Itadori agreed.

“I think I’m too sleepy to drive. It’d be dangerous to go back now"

(Y/n) didn't even look up from her phone when she spoke: "No."

"What?" Gojo said, because he hadn’t even said anything yet.

"You’re not staying here" she said, standing up from the couch next to him to help Itadori tidy up a bit.

"I didn't say anything"

"You were gonna"

"He could stay, though?" Itadori pondered cluelessly.

“What?” she snapped at him, unbelieving. 

“Thank you!” Gojo beamed. 

“Don’t thank him? You’re not staying,” she quickly hissed at Gojo “What are you doing?” she then spoke to Itadori, who gulped.

“It is pretty late, and we have classes tomorrow,” Itadori tried to reason with her. For once, Gojo remained quiet, letting Itadori vouch for him. 

“He has a bike,” she refuted. 

“But it’ll get even later. And he said he was sleepy...” right after he said that, almost as if to plead his case, Gojo yawned exaggeratedly, laying diagonally on the couch “See?”

“I can sleep here,” Gojo finally spoke, meaning the couch “Won’t make a sound, I promise,” he smiled too angelically. (Y/n) pressed her lips together, clearly not trusting him.

“And he paid for the dinner. We ordered so much we won’t need to cook for a couple of days too,” Itadori continued. 

“Fine,” she sighed with gritted teeth “But I swear, Gojo, if I catch you doing anything weird…” he again put his hands up in the air in surrender, looking dazed and sleepy. In fact, the image of him, laying now horizontally on the couch, hair a bit disheveled from the couch, half-lidded sleepy eyes and a dazed warm smile… it made her soften up, even if she knew it all was probably fake. 

And so, with a big sigh she too retreated to her room, which happened to be next to the couch.

“Thank you,” Gojo mouthed to Itadori who gave him a thumbs up “I’ll clean this, don’t worry,” he added so that Itadori went to sleep too. 

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1) For starters, about the 'Coming Soon' being deleted and the update being as heavy. My boyfriend and other developer friends I have told me it's highly likely some assets and stuff from Valko's debut are there, just hidden, like the 'Coming Soon' feature. Usually, something like that text is more than just a text, it's an asset that works as a placeholder for the real thing (Valko). Since in this update he was supposed to be there, the 'Coming Soon' text has been removed, but Valko remains hidden and inaccessible. My take on this is that it was way less work to leave it and just hide it, than to actually scrape the content off the update. Especially if they're unsure on how to proceed with the main story now, or other actions. So two possible things could happen:

a) They leave it there, try to go back to normal, fix whatever it is going on behind closed doors, and maybe in the future use the hidden content, unhide it, and we get Valko back (hopium 🤞)

b) The one I unfortunately I'm inclining for: they will slowly clean the remaining assets and stuff related to Valko, deleting it with future updates.

2) However, one of the reasons I believe they left the update as it was, hiding Valko's content instead of scrapping it off is mainly bc it was more economic and fast, but also because they probably aren't sure how the game will go on. Valko was part of the main story from the beginning. He was supposed to be there, if he is deleted, they'll have to change the main story, a story that had been thought, written and played in a certain way, with him in mind. Changing it is not something that can be easily and well done, and it is something that takes a lot of time. That's why they've probably haven't deleted any Valko references that are still in the game, because they don't know yet whether they'll reuse them for the main story, or not. So I guess it's wiser to just leave it be for now until they've decided what way they'll make the plot go, which could be with or without Valko.

3) Same thing goes with the reruns, and reused things. The game didn't get what it was supposed to, instead it got a rerun. Why a rerun? Like I said, it's probably to make time while the choices are being made. But it is definitely not a coincidence the rerun they decided to make is one related to Chinese culture.

4) About official Valko debut announcements and promotional posts of Valko still being up. I feel it's the same as the last point, but with a more optimistic point of view. I think they haven't deleted them because they probably do not know where to go with the game. They may still want to use hope to lose less players and keep people playing for a while longer. But overall, I do not have a good argument against Valko’s comeback as to why they're keeping them up if Valko is really permanently cancelled. Besides, if they were in a tight position legally or politically because of all of this, wouldn't it make more sense to delete it? Even if they were to consider postponing Valko instead of cancelling him, wouldn't it make more sense to just delete those posts and redo an announcement in the future? That will probably gain more views and likes, so I don't know. The only thing that could make sense is if they're planning to make his comeback in a certain way, like some people say about him hacking or whatever. I'm not quite sure about it, but it's the only explanation as to why they're keeping it up, to broaden their options, which include Valko’s comeback.

5) I've also seen a lot of people complaining about wanting Infold to say it to their faces... Babes, he WAS cancelled, they kinda did that already. They literally put out a statement/letter/whatever saying that they were cancelling the launch AND further development of the love interest. Surely, I'm in copium mode and I can believe that they said they only cancelled the launch, and that ofc the development is halted if they're in a ruckus internally... But they already did say he was cancelled. We all just decided to believe because love makes us do stupid things. Which is why I keep believing in the long term despite knowing I'll just get hurt.

6) Sadly, I think this will likely set a precedent for other otome or similar games, at least in China. And I don't necessarily mean making the characters more asian or fit the Chinese beauty standards. I mean games not adding new content/characters anymore in fear of such a backlash; events, outfits or other things being done more carefully to not be put in a political radar (meaning less spicy content and more friendly PG one); cater only to Chinese target, etc. This is purely speculation, of course. But I don't think other companies with similar games will not learn anything from what happened. And unfortunately, game companies are businesses, and they do not care about the players, they care about the money. So to those Valko haters, as we would say here in Spain "Disfruten lo votado". Which means, basically enjoy your ruined game with the consequences of your actions.

7) Which leads me to the huge amount of Valko supporters who will stop playing the game and spending money after this. Overall, the revenue will definitely dip for the following months, but it is likely it will slowly rise again as time passes. People forget, people stop caring, new players who aren't aware of what happened, etc. So honestly, even if I feel it will be a huge blow for them at the beginning, and I do think they won't have the same revenue as they used to have before ever again, I don't think they'll care because they'll probably prioritize home market and government relations. Which I personally find stupid because that's the fanbase that originated all this with vandalism and threats. But like I said, they're a business, and they care about the money, not the community (I'm talking about the ones making the decisions, not the workers, those have no say in any of this and are not at fault)

8) Funny how a company whose name is 'Infold' folded so quickly and bad over negative comments and actions

Anyway, sorry for making this so long, especially if you didn't find any new information and you were searching for that. This was just kind of a rant/opinion on all this.

I'm a very obsessive person, and when I obsess over something or someone, I do it HARD. And this had been Valko for me in the last days. So I'm quite devastated that I won't be able to see anything from him beyond what we've already seen. I'm also a "Fine, I'll do it myself person". It's why I started writing fanfic, because I couldn't find one I liked (I started on wattpad in 2014). It's also why I started playing instruments, why I started crotcheting, programming, and many more other projects. That, added to the fact that I studied (and dropped) from videogame design university, makes me want to try to do something for myself and give Valko de love and attention he deserves.

I've always wanted to make an indie game, and as a variety gamer who's played tons of otome titles—some I loved, some I hated—I NEED more of Valko in some form. So I’m thinking of picking art back up, getting into development again. Maybe a visual novel-style otome game with some combat mechanics (turn-based like P5 or Honkai or real-time). Just a small demo for now, something for closure. I don’t know, I'm still thinking about it.

And if you’re reading this and feeling the same, whether you’re artsy, tech-savvy, or anything, I encourage you to create too. We’re not mere gamers. They haven’t taken Valko from us, they’ve just chosen not to do anything with him. We can.

Anyway, Valko may be cancelled from the game, but he's well and taken care of in my heart <3

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It honestly sucks so much. I was genuinely excited to play the game, and it was almost entirely because of him. If they really cancelled him for good, I’m probably just… not going to play it. Even if I would probably still enjoy the game without him. How is it possible to get this obsessed over a character even though there's barely anything about him? A few crumbs and I’m already attached. Bring my cutie back pls how could you do this to this cutie!?

I just know my man would have been the biggest yearner

Later that afternoon, Gojo created a Discord group. She joined the call from the bed, camera off and mic mostly muted since she was curled to the biggest plushie she had, heating pad on her lower tummy while she wished to die and for the analgesics to start working—something it didn’t happen more often than not.

As soon as everyone else joined, Dan didn’t miss the opportunity to slyly bring the topic again:

“Nice of everyone to make it,” he said, starting to share his screen. 

“Nice you could get online from uni,” she unmuted herself momentarily to say back. 

“I’m just saying it would’ve been easier if we’d stuck to the original plan,” he insisted. She rolled her eyes, but she didn’t bother to talk any further, she had worse things to manage like the horrible cramps she was having. 

“It would have been easier for you,” Gojo refuted. 

“It would have been easier for everyone,” Dan insisted, but even then the tone he had with Gojo was never as condescending as the one he had with her. 

“I’m literally sitting at home in pajamas. This is easier,” Gojo said flatly, looking dead at the camera. She couldn’t help but smile lightly as she watched him through the screen, face close to the camera, and glasses slightly low on his nose. 

He barely wore any glasses, only when he was studying or when he spent long hours with his computer. So she didn’t usually see him with them. But every time she saw that image she couldn’t help to think how strange it was. Not bad, not ugly—on the contrary—, but different… Nerdy. Well, he was a nerd, that much she had gathered a long time ago. But he still had this annoying frat boy aura most of the time. That’s why seeing him like that, with an oversize hoodie, disheveled hair, gamer headphones, and glasses that slid down his nose, ended up being... endearing?

“Let’s just get into it so we can finish sooner,” she unmuted herself again. 

“Yeah,” Noah, who also had his camera off, said. 

And so, Dan started to scroll through the section, talking, and talking, and talking. Noah wrote “yes” in chat every now and then. Gojo corrected him more often than not, adding something interesting along. And she was half listening, still curled up in bed with her laptop next to her.

And then, they reached ‘her part’ of the document. And of course, Dan had a lot to say about it. Even if it had already been edited like 5 times. 

“I still think we could summarize this better,” he said, scrolling through the document “It has a lot of non vital info. The summary and work should have been better prioritized,” he continued. And (Y/n) sighed at home, or rather she huffed a laugh accompanied with a smile that widened when she saw Gojo’s own repressed smile “We should improve this,” he concluded with her whole section. And finally, she unmuted, giggling along. 

“You hear that, Gojo? Learn a bit from me,” she playfully mocked the white-haired. Dan’s confusion was obvious in his camera. 

“What do you mean? This was your section. Gojo’s section was flawless,” Dan complained, almost annoyed that she was understanding the contrary. 

“Thank you,” she answered, only contributing to his confusion. 

“We swapped sections,” Gojo finally explained “All this section you’re talking about, I did it,” he said with a small smile, half amused that this had worked so well, half annoyed that Dan had so much nonsense to say about his work. (Y/n) could see the small short-circuit in Dan’s brain. After all, he had been nitpicking for days the work of the person he admired the most in the whole class.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Dan asked, now slightly angry, or rather panicked. It only made her laugh harder.

“There was no need. It was for quality control,” Gojo came up with it on the spot, and although his gaze looked harmless, his grin told a different story. 

“So, Gojo,” she unmuted herself again “You have a lot of things to change apparently,” 

“Nah. The section is perfect as it is,” he responded. And he knew he was right. Everything Gojo did was always perfect. That’s why he knew Dan was biased the moment he started editing his work only because he thought it was hers. 

“We can review it again in person. Let’s just go for the presentation,” Dan decided to change the topic. Noah agreed in chat, probably because he was also having a hard time not to laugh at his friend. 

Eventually, once it was mostly reviewed, and the changes to be done were noted down, Dan moved onto the oral presentation. 

“So, for the presentation,” he began, creating a new document with the slides “I’ll do the literature review. Gojo, you can explain the transit methodology and data analysis. Noah, you can do the results section. And (Y/n), you could probably cover the variable stars section” Everyone agreed shortly. At least until he added “Since it’s a bit less technical,” There was a tiny silence. He probably meant to say it lowly, but everyone heard. And he noticed when the silence was heavier than he anticipated “Well, compared to the actual detection methodology” 

She huffed, not surprised, but still amazed by the audacity. Because it was objectively nonsense. Variable-star classification, false positives, signal analysis, periodicity… Those were not easy. But she knew Dan’s type, and it was not worth it. 

“They’re the same difficulty,” it was Gojo the one to speak. (Y/n) moved her face away from her plushie to the screen, seeing Gojo’s white brow arched as he watched his own screen.

“Not really,” Dan hesitated.

“They literally are,” Gojo’s brow arched further.

“I just think it’d be easier for her to explain,” he added, now slightly more nervous. 

“Why?” Gojo asked, face so expressionless it made Dan visibly swallow. 

“Because the content is lighter, it’s an add-on, and she worked on that section” he added the last one because it sounded more logical than what he really thought “It just suits her better,” 

Gojo tilted his head slightly, and Dan continued with his monologue. But he was soon interrupted by Gojo before he could even finish the sentence: 

“Are you always this awkward with girls or is it just her?”

Now the silence was even more deafening than before. She even stopped curling on her bed, lips curving into a wide smile she covered with her hand, even if no one was watching her. Because Gojo did not just ask that like he was asking about his life. 

“W-what?” Dan asked, caught off guard. 

“Genuine question,” Gojo continued. And now Dan was very obviously nervous, and (Y/n) was laughing out loud.

“What are you talking about?” Dan asked, frowning. But Gojo continued:

“Every conversation somehow ends with you deciding what she should do, what she should write, what she should present, what section suits her… It's getting kind of weird,” and the worst thing was, Gojo sounded genuinely curious, not accusing. Which only made it worse for Dan whose face was becoming redder by the moment “Or do you like her?”

“What?” he quickly responded, too quickly perhaps. Almost sounding offended. Offended in a way, no one who didn’t care about her wouldn’t sound.

“Because you talk normally to me and Noah, but the minute she enters the conversation, you start acting weird,” Gojo continued rambling, as if he was trying to come up with a reasonable explanation. Or perhaps, he just wanted Dan to admit the real reason “I mean, I don’t blame you but it’d be a horrible way to gain her attention, not gonna lie,” 

“That's not what's happening,” 

“Then why are you obsessed with everything she does? Unless you’re just awkward with all girls then? It’s kinda fascinating to be honest”

“I’m not awkward,” Dan gathered his thoughts to answer. By then his face was even redder. Gojo squinted at his screen, clearly not believing him and having a slight smile from his parallel chat with (Y/n).

“Sure,” was all he said. And then, she finally unmuted herself once she had regained her breath from laughing. 

“We should move on, I want to finish this already” she said, but from her voice it was obvious she was still half giggling. And the sound made Gojo’s smile widen on camera. Which only bothered Dan even further. Especially when Gojo and her continued chatting and Gojo kept smiling at his phone. And so did she, but unlike him, she did not have her camera on.

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His hands gripped at both sides of (Y/n)'s hips, but she didn't even have time to react to that as his hips thrust into her ass immediately after. It was so unexpected but it felt so good... his warm hands gripping at both sides while she felt his hard dick rubbing against her; she obviously couldn't continue with what she was doing. One of the glasses she was cleaning fell into the sink, splashing some water around her and making her somewhat wet, but nothing compared to how wet he was making her be. 

Hanma continued to thrust against her ass as if there weren't any clothes between them, fucking her through her clothes. But despite all the pleasure he was making her have, and that he himself felt, it still made both of them wish for the clothes to be gone. One of Hanma's hands went up to her chest, gripping without any care or gentleness on one of her breasts, and then the other one travelled in between her legs, still over her clothes. And so, he kept thrusting hard against her perking up ass, one hand rubbing her clothed clit while the other one massaged harshly her boobs. She bit her lip, losing her composure completely from how amazing it was to feel his hands and just him in general touching and groping all of her body. 

She had long ago stopped caring about what she was doing, and unconsciously and with low moans she instead leaned against the counter, trying to rub her ass against him as well. But of course, she couldn't keep it low the more she heard and felt Hanma's breath over her and felt the strength he used both to hold her still and to thrust against her. And on the other side, Hanma also couldn't help but smirk more the more she rubbed on her own, so desperate for him.  

After that, one thing left to another and now she was laying over his lap, completely tied up and naked. But she didn't seem mad about it. She was, in fact, placidly asleep over his lap after having orgasmed some time ago.  Hanma, on the other side, was still fully dressed, having one beer in one of his hands, and the other one having it over her marked ass. He loved to see her like that, tied up at his mercy without her complaining, obediently doing whatever he ordered her to. But he had to admit that it was even more rewarding to see her around untied and free yet choosing not to run away from him, perhaps because of how surprising it was to him. How strange it was to think that someone could ever choose to stay by his side, out of her own will... He didn't understand, and maybe that's why he preferred to tie her up, afraid that one day she'd realize and leave.

It was the same thing with drugs. He normally used to involve drugs whenever he fucked some chicks. He still smoked, sometimes joints instead of normal cigarettes, but he didn't involve her in it. He used to do drugs with girls, and not so that he could take advantage of them. In fact, the girls were the ones willing to take drugs while fucking with him. But she didn't, and he didn't understand why. She never smoked, never took drugs, and the occasions when she drank alcohol were scarce. She literally was too good and innocent for him. And that's why he didn't understand why she enjoyed being with him when she was completely sober. Why she kept on letting herself be used by him however he pleased. It wasn't like she could refuse anyway, but it seemed like the thought had not even crossed her mind yet. It was more exciting somehow because he felt like she willingly was giving her body to him, which she was. But it made him uncomfortable at the same time because he thought that it was a matter of time before she realized, especially given the fact she was never under any influences. Although thinking about it a little better, it wasn't a thought that made him uncomfortable, on edge perhaps. Oh no, he knew what it made him feel. He was scared, scared to imagine the day when she would try to leave him. And it angered him to know he had such feelings. Just as much as it angered him to wonder if she would be like this with any man that was willing to do this to her. Is she with me only because I can fulfill her kinks? Would she leave me for someone more normal if he gave her the same things? The thought angered him as much as it scared him. And as much as it pained him and infuriated him, he knew he had got used to her. 

But how much he wished it was only 'having got used to' her. Because the more days that passed, the more he saw her, the more he fucked her... the more smiles he saw from her and the finer she seemed with freely being with him... It wasn't that he had got used to her, and he knew. It was the warm and fuzzy feeling that he had gotten used to. The feeling of... of being attached. He owned her, and she played into it. But that was it, she played. 

A ringtone broke Hanma from his thoughts, making him realize his hand had gone from her ass to her sleepy head, caressing her hair gently. He didn't stop, he just kept looking at her with one of his usual dull faces. Until he had to get up, so with a sigh he carefully let her rest on the couch while he looked for his phone. 

It didn't take a long phone call for Hanma to get in his work mood. That was something usual after all, usual for his type of work at least. But he couldn't leave just yet, not before he took care of (Y/n). So this time he approached her and started to untie her, not perturbing her sleep the least bit. Not until he picked her up on his arms and took her to his bed where she started to awaken. 

She shuffled under the sheets of the bed, feeling that she was now untied and actually delicately tucked in. She sloppily opened her eyes, seeing Hanma's smirking face so close to her that it immediately made her blush despite her still sleepy state. And now that she happened to wake up he decided to get on top of her. He cupped her cheek with his big hand, caressing it with his thumb while his eyes looked deep into hers, smirk having faded when he loomed over her. 

Her eyes widened at the proximity, even if her body continued to feel tired. And her breath caught up in her throat when the distance became even shorter. So short, their lips were merely touching each other and noses rubbing lightly against one another. His black and blonde fringe fell slightly and smoothly onto her face, just like his earring hung loose as well. He moved his lips over hers, but not kissing her, just continuing that deep stare that both of them maintained over each other's eyes. His thumb went down her jaw to her neck, gracing her collar, and with a serious tone and expression he muttered lowly: 

"You belong to me," his lidded eyes never left her (e/c) ones, not even to linger to her lips. His thumb gave her skin a ginger caress, his punishment hand still holding her softly. She didn't say anything and stayed completely still, mesmerized by Hanma's look and low tone of voice. He wasn't asking, but his tone didn't resemble that of a harsh command either "And I to you," he added, golden eyes boring deep into hers. 

She blinked, feeling her chest flutter in heat, and before she could nod, he closed the already small distance between their lips in a slow kiss. Or maybe it was the other way around and it was her who closed it. Who cares when the kiss was warm like they had never shared a kiss before. 

"Work calls," he added, separating from her but without getting his hand away from her cheek yet "Stay here" and again, it was obviously an order, but it didn't sound like it. 

He left without any further words or contact, leaving her so flustered it would be difficult to fall asleep again, that's for sure. But she stayed there, in his bed while she relished in this electric feeling that continued to spread over her skin, and while she pondered about her life and life choices. 

This was not the life she wanted. The relationship she always dreamed to have. She didn't even have the happiness she hoped for one day. And still, she knew she wouldn't be able to leave Hanma's side even if she were given the option because the truth was that she was completely addicted and infatuated with him. If somebody else did something like the things he did with her, she would hate it. She would desperately cry for help. But because it was him the one to treat her like that, she liked it. He was hot, and he just... had something. She wasn't sure about what it was. It was the way he had of hurting her so ruthlessly and then caring for her. Of being so rash but then being gentle and caring for her. Damn it she was even wearing a shirt she knew he must have put on her while she slept and even felt some healing cream on her butt cheeks. It made her stomach and chest flutter. He made her heart flutter. 

Unlike most of her classmates, (Y/n) actually had a job. Not because she desperately needed the money, she was lucky enough to have her parents help her out. Still, she liked having her own savings and being able to live without her family’s help. So, oftentimes, in the afternoons, she worked at her gym, mostly helping beginners.

Sometimes she helped people who wanted to lose weight, other times people who wanted to gain it. Sometimes she helped people who simply had no idea what they were doing and needed someone to stop them from folding themselves in half under a leg press. She liked it. It was quite straightforward. People came with a goal, and she helped them reach it. Yes, sometimes people had other problems and overshared with her. Sometimes people just needed someone to dump all their worries and thoughts, and thus were more talkative and distracted. But she didn’t care, quite literally. That’s probably why she was good at it.

The job wasn't particularly difficult either. Most clients only needed guidance for a few sessions before becoming independent enough to continue by themselves. Others preferred longer coaching plans. But overall, it was a very chill job. And what’s better, she got to help people. 

What it did take was time, time she didn't have much of lately. Between lectures, assignments, the exoplanet project, gym sessions of her own, videogames, and trying to maintain her social life and friendships… her schedule had become increasingly full.

This was also the main reason why she had been turning down most of Gojo's invitations lately, or putting them off, or forgetting them, or suddenly remembering she had something else to do… Not intentionally, of course. Well… maybe a little intentionally. But Gojo was not about to just accept her distancing, not after all the progress he had made. Not after the Exoplanet Project was bringing them even closer. 

Today, after finishing a solo project she had to hand in for Quantum Mechanics, she was going back to work after a few days off. She had been hired for a couple of hours, and that, added to her own workout... she expected to spend the full afternoon there. 

She was quite eager too. She had missed gym for two days because of the work load from uni and because of her bad premenstrual symptoms. But today, the analgesics seemed to be working, and she felt the energy in her body ready to be burned off. Hopefully her client would be nice and she’d have a nice time with them… Though I’m not sure if the word she’d use to describe her client would be nice. 

“You gotta be kidding me,” she whined with a frown the second she read her client’s name in the book: Satoru Gojo.

And as if on queue, said white-haired boy entered through the rotatory doors, a grin plastered on his face when he saw her. He ran a hand through his hair, his too-tight black t-shirt sliding up slightly to show his perfectly toned abs and v-line, and his bicep tightening just perfectly and totally not done on purpose—note the sarcasm.

“What are you doing?” she asked Gojo the moment he reached her by the entrance counter, brow arched, and clearly not pleased. Gojo didn’t seem the least fazed by her reaction. In fact, he may have smiled even more. 

“I booked a personal traininer,” he just said, leaning against the counter while looking at her and her coworker. 

“I can see that,” she replied, crossing her arms. 

“So… here I am,” Gojo stated as if it was obvious. By now her coworker was looking between her and him. It wasn’t normal for her to be so stern with her clients. Usually she was helpful, open, eager… Something she was nothing like right now. But at the same time, he could sense there was something going on between her and her white-haired client, so he decided to listen instead of telling her to be nicer and do her job. He didn’t want to miss the tea after all. 

“You don’t need a personal trainer,” she refuted back.

“He already paid,” her coworker shortly commented. 

“I wanted professional coaching,” Gojo said, sounding so naturally to her coworker, and sounding so much like a blatant lie to her. She let it be seen by the way she sighed and rolled her eyes.

“You’re crazy,” she muttered, leaving the book with the schedules next to the computer and walking around the counter.

“Depends on what,” Gojo muttered with an even prettier smile, following her into the gym. She looked at him from the corner of her eyes, already preparing an eye roll for what she knew he’d say next “If it's about you? Definitely,”

“You don’t even come to this gym. You have your bougie gym at your stupid frat,” she ignored his words with a condescending tone, stopping right before the stairs that lead downstairs where the lifting machines and heavier weights were. 

“It was getting cramped lately. Needed a change of scenery," Gojo smiled a toothy grin again. And again, she sighed.

“Just, don’t make this any weirder,” she said, looking dead in his eyes. He straightened for a second, as if to seem seriously compliant. Then, he nodded “What did you want to focus on?” 

“Full body work-out?” he said, unsure. Truth be told, he hadn’t thoroughly thought about this. He just wanted to spend some time with her without her avoiding him like she seemed to have been doing. 

“Okay,” she said, pushing off the handrail of the stairs “Let’s start with some stretching and then we’ll start with compound exercises,” she said, walking down the stairs with Gojo trailing right behind “Squats are best for that. So let’s do 3 sets of barbell back squats,”

“As first exercise?” Gojo whined already. He wasn’t too keen on leg days, let alone the heaviest most demanding exercise of leg days. So starting a full body workout with something as exhausting…

“Yes, it’s one of the most compound exercises there are. First, because it works as a warm-up for all muscles, you get your whole body involved. Besides, heavy compounds create a bigger anabolic response that supports whole-body growth. If you start instead with, say, a leg curl, or any other isolation exercise, it produces a much smaller effect. So it’s best to start big, and focus on isolated muscles later,” 

“Yes, coach,” Gojo muttered right after. He did it with a small smile, eyes big and fixed on her defined figure, on how her delts peeked beside the thin straps of her tank top, or how her lats widened noticeably across her back, creating a clear V-shape that narrowed toward her waist. He tried very hard to fix his eyes there, or on her entrancing pretty face, instead of lower, for he knew he’d be in trouble if he ever were to even take a peek at her tight shorts. 

She rolled her eyes at the nickname, but let it slide, and started to stretch with him. And then, they moved to the squat rack, where she barely had to correct anything but just encourage him to get lower. And then it was bench press, which he did considerably worse since all he could see from down there, laying on the bench, was her pretty eyes and focused frown on him, right above him. While she was focused on spotting him, on correcting his form, all he could think about was her, above him, strands of hair falling off her bun and framing her face even better. 

Fuck, she looked like a dream with the ceiling light illuminating her from behind. 

“Don’t rush it,” she corrected again, but he didn’t seem to listen “You’re gonna injure yourself, make a slower progression, and grow less muscle if you do it like that. It’s best to do controlled reps,” she said, trying to slow him down from the bar. But he could barely answer. 

Then they moved to weighted pull-ups, where Gojo tried to show off (in vain). Then Romanian deadlifts, and so on, until they were nearing the end of the exercises for Gojo’s full body work-out. 

“You’re kinda hot when you’re telling me I’m doing things wrong,” Gojo said while he rested in between sets. She started to roll her eyes, but didn’t get herself to do it. Instead, she just finished her own set. 

“I’m always telling you you’re wrong,”

“Exactly my point,” he grinned after, but there was no maliciousness or snark in his smile, just… honesty. She shook her head and pushed him to do his next set “You’re not so defensive with Dan, though” he said between gritted teeth as he pushed down to do his tricep push “I don’t know…” he stopped to exhale as he did another rep “how you haven’t…” he paused to push harder “strangled him yet…” he closed his eyes, focused with a groan.

“One more,” she told him “You can fit one more,” she said, eyes on his form and how his whole body tensed, making his muscles more prominent, from his arms, to his neck. He did one more “If it were me you would have flipped already,” he said, even managing to fit one more before finally letting the cable go. 

“Yes,” she admitted, changing the weight to hers. Gojo looked at her, chest weaving heavily, trying to catch his breath, cheeks slightly red from all the effort from the training, and hair slightly sticking to his forehead, sweaty “He’s not worth arguing with,” She looked back at him, neither looking away. 

“And I am?” he asked, not sure whether that was something good or bad. 

“I guess so,” she said, finally looking away, and grabbing the cable bar “People like him are never gonna change their minds. Not by anything I say,” she said while pushing through the first reps. 

“You say it like it’s regular,” Gojo commented, brows slightly straightening at the knowledge that it probably was. She did not answer, and he took it as confirmation, which only made him hate Dan and the likes of him even more. Because she took it so casually, like she was talking about the weather, about their next exercise, or a new update of a videogame.

But his thoughts got clouded when he saw her struggle in the last reps. She had added more weight than her usual to the cable, and thus she was doing the last reps more slowly, just like she had told him to do earlier. The muscles in her arms were popping out, even the ones in her back, as she tried to push down the bar in an impeccable form. A tear of sweat slid down her neck, disappearing behind her tanktop. And yet she pushed, and pushed, and managed to pull 4 more reps. Even if she looked done way earlier, even if her forearms were trembling, she refused to give up. And that was one of the things that Gojo loved about her. 

“You shouldn’t bother either,” she said after letting the cable go. She placed her hands on her hips, chest breathing rapidly “It’s not worth it,” she added, which only bothered him more. A few more seconds in, and Gojo moved to do his last set of triceps “We’ll do some biceps curls and hammer curls after this. And then finish it with cardio,”

“What cardio?” Gojo tried to smirk, but she had added more weight to his cable so the smile died when he had to focus more. 

“Burpees,” she said seriously despite her lips betraying her in the slightest form of a smile. 

“Hell no,” he answered, faltering with the cable. Especially when she laughed out loud.

"Let’s do something,” Gojo said once he was done and while while they rested between sets. She looked at him, with arched brows and crossed arms like she had been for the last minute.

“I swear to god, Gojo…”  she started, especially due to his cardio attempt at a joke earlier. But despite her frown, there was no bitterness or anger in her tone. He smiled nevertheless.

“Let’s swap sections,” he said. And when her frown transformed into confusion, he continued “The project. I’ll do your part, and you do mine”

She grabbed her dumbbells and Gojo did the same. 

"Why?" she asked as they both started their curls. 

"It’ll be an experiment," he said, looking at her reflection in the mirror next to him. She looked at him, before her eyes focused on her own figure and form.

"No"

"C’mon," he insisted.

"Don’t swing so much, you’re gonna injure yourself," she corrected his form “Tuck your elbows more and involve your biceps, not your body,” he did as he was told, and struggled more because, obviously, it was more difficult when one did the exercises right.

"It'll be funny" he struggled, a vein popping on his forehead. She finished her curls early to take a better look at his form, and it was then that she realized he was serious “What do you wanna bet he can’t even tell our works apart”

“Obviously,” she said, still looking at him after he was done with his curls, this time wondering why he would take her sections—the boring tasks that Dan kept assigning her “Okay,” she ended up accepting, creating the most stupid and genuine—and blinding—smiles from Gojo. 

She looked away and grabbed her dumbbells again, even if she still hadn’t rested enough.

After that, the last two exercises continued in silence. A few corrections every now and then, but overall silence. Only once they were finished did she say something else.

“Don't do this again,"

He looked up, confused, but heart beating even faster in fear for what she may mean.

"What?" he rushed.

"Booking sessions,"

He swallowed, a bit discouraged, but his face remained as clueless "Why?"

"Because you don't need them"

"You don't know that" he huffed exaggeratedly.

"I literally just spent an hour and a half watching you" she looked at him dead serious, which made it more difficult to hold her gaze.

"Maybe it was because I had a pro guiding me" She threw a towel at his face, that he caught before it could touch him.

“You’re lifting more than the average person,” she refuted. And before Gojo could say anything else—and he was going to because he was already grinning— she spoke again “I’m serious. You don't need this, and other people actually do"

He stopped for a second, realizing she did mean it. Not because she hated him, not because she didn’t want to see him, but because she wanted to help people who actually needed this.

Gojo looked away briefly. Half embarrassed, half disappointed “And if I want to train with you?” he asked

“Then text me like a normal person” His heart nearly stopped, even more so when he finally looked at her. She grabbed her water bottle and drank from it “We can work out together sometimes,” she even added, innerly hesitant “But don’t pay me to spend time with you. It feels weird,”

“Okay,” he said calmly, but his wide smile and heartbeat were nothing but calm.

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“Watch it on your own laptop?” she asked as if it was obvious, but he didn’t get to answer because the professor’s next words snatched everyone’s attention.

“For the last 20 minutes of class, I’m going to explain your next assignment,” and suddenly, everyone was paying attention, everyone was typing furiously, eyes glued to him. Everyone but her who just moved her eyes up from her screen to look at the professor “It will be done in groups of four,” and again, pure chaos, people looking around to find their friends, people taking their phones to start organizing “In a moment I’ll post a document in campus with each topic you can choose from. You’ll need to put the names of each member of the group next to the topic you are going to do, and what date from the ones in the document you want to do the oral presentation”

The professor continued explaining a bit further, a summary of each topic and what was expected of each, where to find the literature review and content needed for each, etc. And as soon as he was done, he allowed for the rest of the class to be for group organization.

Immediately after he finished, a few people moved to where Gojo and her sat.

“Gojo, do you already have a group?”

“We need one more person,”

Of course they’d want him, brilliant, top of the class, professors’ favorite. Having him in the group meant an easy 10.

“I’m doing it with her,” Gojo grinned, pointing at (Y/n) who didn’t seem even interested in finding a group. To her, it was pointless. She’d just wait until a group had one person missing, or other people like her couldn't find a group, or some of the few nice guys in her class asked her to join their group. That’s usually how it went, and she was more than okay with it. It saved her the stress of finding a group, asking around, etc.

But Gojo’s words immediately made her head snap to him.

“Since when,” was all she said.

“Since now?” Gojo answered as if it was obvious, his intense blue eyes completely on her again.

“You haven’t even asked,”

“Would you have said no?” he smiled arrogantly, making her roll her eyes.

She looked at him with that look in her eyes that said “You’re unbelievable”, and Gojo smiled, because he always did when she looked at him like that.

The two guys awkwardly lingered for another second, neither looked thrilled by the answer, and neither seemed courageous enough to say anything else, so, eventually, they left.

"What if I already had a group?" she continued looking at him defiantly. Meanwhile, the little people who wanted to ask her immediately changed their minds. They were already hesitant enough knowing how Gojo seemed to be with her all the time, but now having heard Gojo say she was going to do the project with him? They stood no chance—they didn’t earlier either but it hurt no one to hope.

"You don't," Gojo continued smiling.

"What if I wanted a different group?"

"You don't," Gojo repeated.

"What if I wanted competent teammates?" now Gojo huffed, but his smile didn’t disappear.

“There’s no one more competent than me in this classroom, sweetheart.”

“Don’t call me that,” she groaned, going back to her laptop, accepting yet again her fate as his teammate.

“You really enjoy arguing with me don’t you?” he said, still looking at her, smile getting softer as he watched her pretty ‘bothered’ profile. She shook her head with a sigh, but she said:

“Sometimes”

Gojo’s smile widened. But before he could say anything else, two guys approached them.

“If you don’t have a group yet we could do it together,”

Oh right, Gojo had forgotten this was a project for four. He honestly didn’t care as long as he was with her. Previously, he’d have chosen the best in class. Now, as long as she was with him he was alright. They’d get a ten anyway so the rest didn’t matter. Gojo looked at her for her opinion, she shrugged, she didn’t care either to be honest, so they just settled with them.

They sat around each other, and started planning and organizing the assignment.

“Any preferences for the topics?” one of the two guys called Dan asked, opening his laptop and accessing the shared document the professor mentioned.

“I don’t care,” his friend, Noah, said.

“I like the exoplanet detection one. Seems interesting and not necessarily too difficult” she said after having read all options.

“Gojo?” Dan asked the white-haired.

“Exoplanet detection sounds cool,” he said, firstly, because it did; secondly, because she wanted to do it.

“Exoplanet detection then,” he wrote down “What date do you want to present?”

“Probably the sooner the better. Less people to be compared with, and we can get it over with sooner,” she said.

“I think it’s best for later dates. It gives us more time,” Dan refuted without looking at her.

“We have plenty of time, sooner is better,” Gojo agreed with her.

“Okay,” Dan agreed, then “Let’s not put the first day, second one?” they all nodded, and so he wrote their names under said date.

Somehow, Dan had become the self-appointed leader, deciding everything, writing everything, taking the lead… But nobody seemed to care. Noah was alright with being led, she was more or less the same, less of a headache, and Gojo knew it’d eventually be his word that counted so he didn’t care whatever Dan did.

“How should we split the work?” Noah asked, looking at his friend.

“You and I can do the literature review, I can also handle the main coding and theoretical framework,” Dan quickly said, already writing it up on a document “Gojo, you’re probably best for the theory and discussion, and data analysis,” he looked at the white-haired for approval, who nodded shortly. After all, those were the ‘body’ of the project, so he too thought it’d be best if he did it himself. Now Dan turned to (Y/n) “You can find the data for us to analyse and work with, clean it, plot the light curves…” she nodded, that was the easiest part, and she was not going to complain about that, but she couldn’t help but think ‘Who the hell made you group leader’ “You can just grab the NASA files and make some graphs. Shouldn’t be too hard” and now, she understood it perfectly.

“Yeah, I know where to get the data. Thank you,”

“You can also transform our data into the document, write it in the correct format, arrange the references well…” Dan added.

“No, I think everyone should do their own part,” she was quick to say. There was no tone in her words, just a flat statement. Dan looked at her for a few seconds, Noah looked at his friend, then at her, and Gojo was already diving in the materials.

“It’ll probably look prettier if you do it. While we’re doing the analysis and research, you can format everything, it’s not that difficult.”

“Exactly, it’s not that difficult. Each person writes their own part. How am I supposed to write what you did and read about? It makes no sense. I’ll write my part, Gojo writes his, and you write yours,”

“Yes, it’s better that way,” Gojo said, eyes on his laptop. Already in his student-mode.

“Alright,” Dan ended up accepting, not without mumbling under his breath “jeez…” something that she of course heard, but decided to pay no mind.

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