“not really,” you shrug, honest. you resume petting gojo’s hair, which remains unfairly soft even after being subjected to chr looking off into the distance. the thought of gojo exploring– chatting up, being touchy, and kissing anybody else in the villa– makes something ugly rear its head within you. you swallow down your jealousy and try and think about it logically. “but isn’t that part of the process? y’know being open and exploring other potential connections?”

“do you want to explore?” gojo says, countering your question with a question of his own. not even his own, he’s throwing your original question right back at you.

you blink.

“no, not really,” you slowly say. sure, the other guys in the villa are plenty attractive and nice enough, but you really don’t feel anything for them beyond friendship. you certainly don’t feel as strongly about any of them as you do for gojo.

gojo leans further into your touch, his cheek rubbing against your thigh in the process. you feel the quick press of his lips to your sun-warmed skin before he settles back into your lap, relaxed once more. his eyes drift closed as he plays with your fingers.

“you don’t wanna explore and i don’t want to either. so no need for us to do so,” gojo says as if it’s as simple as that.

you open your mouth to counter gojo’s statement, not necessarily intent on starting an argument, but looking to reason that surely things aren’t that simple. not when you’re on a reality television show that’s being broadcasted across the world. not when bombshells are continuously introduced, any of which could turn gojo’s head, and casa amor is yet to happen. anything could happen. it would be naive of you to think otherwise. but you let your mouth fall shut, any protests dying before they can even form on your tongue.

there’s no use fretting over things that have yet to occur. you’ll worry about potential bombshells and casa amor when the time comes. for now, you’ll enjoy the time you have with gojo.

maybe things are as simple as that.

“none of them are around right now.”

“but they could walk by at any moment.” you look away from semiu, eyes drifting to the entrance of the building you both reside and work in. “we are sitting at the front desk of HQ.”

finally, semiu lifts her gaze from the dirty magazine. “you worry too much,” she flatly says.

you immediately frown. you do not worry too much. you worry an appropriate amount. just this past week, semiu was thumbing through a porno mag with not a care in the world as she was conversing with rudo and enjin!

semiu sighs.

“you want to look with me?” she shifts the magazine, so it’s laying at a better angle for the two of you to look. you should say no since taking up semiu on her offer would make you a hypocrite of the utmost degree. but…she is right. there’s no one really milling around the entrance of hq much less any of the kids.

semiu sighs again. “don’t act like you’re going to say no when we’ve done this a thousand times together.”

“we don’t do this that often,” you protest. semiu silences any further objections with a look that reads really? “okay, maybe we do,” you quickly amend, “but when you say it like that, it makes it seem like it’s all we do together.”

“you’re overthinking it,” semiu says, waving off your concerns. “now c’mon and let’s just look through this together. it’s a new one i bought recently.”

a pout forms on your lips, but you cease your protests and follow semiu’s lead, looking down at the dirty magazine. the women that are printed across the pages are in various states of undress, posed in all sorts of provocative positions. you look on appreciatively. they certainly are all incredibly attractive.

you and semiu sit in comfortable silence, the only sound in the air is the distant bustle expected of HQ and the swish of paper as semiu slowly leafs through the magazine.

“you have a favorite?” semiu asks, disturbing the silence.

you hum. your fingers trail over the glossy pages, tracing curves and contours of flesh as you flip to the next page. it’s hard to say that you have a favorite, all the women are beautiful beyond belief, but if you had to choose…

“like it when they’re like this,” you answer, pointing at the woman gracing the page.

unlike many of the other models, she’s not topless nor fully nude. instead, she’s dressed in a sheer baby blue babydoll top that reveals the barest hint of her nipples and a matching pair of panties. it’s lacy and soft-looking, and you wonder how they managed to make something like it on the ground with all of its filth.

semiu hums approvingly.

“what about you, semiu?”

semiu turns through the magazine as if she already has a model in mind, which she probably does.

“i like this type of woman,” semiu says, pointing to the two women spread across the pages. you give them an appeasing look. they’re undoubtedly gorgeous, but you’re pretty sure that’s not what semiu is exactly pointing out to you.

“so women who either have a big ass or tits?”

“bingo.”

you laugh at your friend’s candidness. though you’d much rather prefer indulging in this activity with semiu in a more private place than the front desk of HQ, you can’t deny that you enjoy yourself every time you partake. perhaps, you are a hypocrite.

you: satoru, you know neither of us have the facilities for that to be the case.

you stay on the text message thread between you and gojo, awaiting his response, which should be coming sooner rather than later knowing how he’s glued to his phone at all times. you watch as the three little dots appear on your screen, indicating that gojo is in the midst of replying.

satoru <3: really? so what is this then?

satoru <3: [image attachment]

your eyes light up when the picture comes through. you click on the attachment to get a better image of the plush that gojo undoubtedly bought during his trip.

the bright blue eyes of the cat plushie starkly stand out in the sea of soft white fur. the longer you look at it, the more it reminds you of gojo in a way. you wonder if he picked it out for that reason. you wouldn’t put it past him. you can so clearly imagine him saying something along the lines of got you something so you don’t miss me too much when i’m away when he presents the stuffed animal to you when he finally comes home.

you: my sincerest apologies. how could i forget about the life we created </3

you: i’m ready to step up as a parent and be involved in my child’s life

gojo either has some free time between his meetings or he’s slacking off (either is equally possible) because he replies as soon as you hit send.

satoru <3: yeah how could you

satoru <3: but i suppose better late than never

you roll your eyes. how did you end up as the deadbeat father in this scenario? you suppose you can lean into that role and grovel a little bit.

you: thank you for being so forgiving

you: to make up for lost time, how about i take my handsome boyfriend and our child out once they return home

satoru <3: your handsome boyfriend wouldn’t say no to that

you snort. of course he wouldn’t.

you: it’s a date. i’ll see you then satoru <3 try not to get into too much trouble with our child

when you receive gojo’s reply, you can only laugh and shake your head. it’s just so like him.

satoru <3: no promises ❤️

you can’t wait until he comes home.

gojo loudly scoffs, but his fingers continue toying with the strings of your bikini bottoms. "that's only meant for my eyes."

"is that so? with the way you're loosening them, it's like you want everyone to see."

you crack an eye open.

"i'm not trying to get charged with public indecency."

"this could be a nude beach," gojo says and waggles his brows.

"you're definitely trying to make it one," you laugh and swat at his hand, "now quit it! not only that, but retie it so it's tighter. i don't like how it feels when it's loose."

"so bossy. no please? no 'could you please help me out my wonderful, amazing, and outrageously handsome boyfriend?'" gojo says, batting his unfairly long lashes at you.

you give gojo a blank stare.

"no. now do as i say."

"hmph. so mean to me," gojo complains, but does as you ask. he unties the side-strings of your bikini bottoms, letting his hands wander a little bit too much that can be considered appropriate for being in a public area before you level another glare at him, and reties them as tight as you like.

"thank you, my wonderful, amazing, and outrageously handsome boyfriend," you coo. you lift your head and lean over to press a kiss to gojo's cheek.

"you missed," gojo says, pouting and pointing to his lips.

such a baby.

you roll your eyes, but press another kiss to gojo's lips.

"happy now?"

"i could be happier. y'know, if you took these off," gojo says, tugging on the strings that he just tied for you.

"keep it in your pants, satoru," you close your eyes, keen on getting back to resting and relaxing again. "you'll see them off later."