“i know you can manage but it’s important that you know you don’t have to, right? we’re here for you.” he says, easily finding your shaking fist, his large hand engulfing yours in a light squeeze, a reminder of how your friendship started sparring just a few months ago. 

you nod, lips tight with a sigh. It was difficult allowing yourself to trust people again, even if it was just suguru. 

you hear the absence of the wind raging outside, your window stills for the first time. his warm voice seems clearer without the distraction.

“‘sides,” he says, releasing your fist and swatting it instead, you could hear a grin forming. you detach yourself from his side, instead reaching to grab bun bun from his other side. 

“... satoru would jump at the chance if you said anyth–” 

you pull a face and drop bun bun into suguru’s lap.

“I’d rather die," you say crossing your arms protectively, brattily turning your head the other direction.

“right," he says with a scoff, "so when are you going to admit that you miss him?” he asks pointedly, playing with the stuffie’s ears, sharp eyes finding yours.

“what?” 

fuck. he's definitely a special grade.

who- what, miss gojo? “oh c’mon, i thought we were friends – ” “- and we are!” “so why are you treating me like an idiot?” “what the fuck are you talking about?” you spit out incredulously moving bat his bangs out of his face with disproportionate force.  

did you miss him? no, you were glad he was away. while he was gone you could actually think, he was a distrac– 

suguru squints challengingly, but even he knew that this was a fight he could not win. he knew you could be stubborn. the similarities between you and satoru were insane, but the differences were monumental.  suguru knew he didn't need to baby you, you could take criticism and bluntness and even welcomed it, but today just wasn't the day. you seemed off. your room was usually neat, nothing on the ground, things in order, shelves straightened out. but currently it was too neat. too neat to be happy. you wanted a distraction, something was clearly on your mind.

suguru sighs, patting you on the shoulder to your annoyance, before bewilderingly settling down into your sheets, dramatically yanking the covers from your confused hands. 

you huff, dramatically yanking the covers back off him.it was times like these where you were reminded why suguru and gojo were friends. 

“bitches dont get to be warm.” you sneer at his smirking face but he easily pulls back the covers. 

“pff, you get nothing then.” he says barking out a laugh so infectious that you couldn’t help but smile as you rolled your eyes relieved that he dropped the subject. 

your stomach growled as you watched the shadows on your wall dance against the dim light from your bedside table. eyes growing heavier with neglected sleep, you sigh restlessly. after suguru begrudgingly left to do his reports an hour ago, you felt annoyingly a little colder. outside you hear the winter winds whistling once more, the depth of its frigidity proudly announcing itself. you shiver.

detaching yourself from your now cold bed, you decided to walk to the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat. 

turning on the lights to the kitchen you found that your mind couldn’t help but wander to a certain someone: gojo.. er satoru, now. honestly you didnt mean to call him by his first name – it had just slipped out, but as it did you felt a sense of comfort and even relief and it bugged you that you didn’t know why. the stale silence of the dormitories in his absence only made you even more irritated. sure, he was annoying but he did add some entertainment to the day. he did add an electric energy and he was funny when he wasn’t being obnoxious. 

did you miss him? 

sugurus words echoed through your busy mind.

you shake your head.

fuck suguru and fuck his dumb questions.

an: hiya everyone! im alive! It's been forever! there is no planned release date for the current chapter but i wanted to share what i've been working on. thank you to everyone who's reached out to me, i read every single ask and comment and appreciate you all 💖

your patience was wearing dangerously thin, you could already feel a dull ache developing in the back of your head – a spot where satoru gojo’s face had been in a lot more than you’d like to admit.  this must have been the most household chores that gojo has done in his whole life, begrudgingly taking into account his never ending flow of complaints. tsking in annoyance you wondered if it would be easier to just cut off your ears. 

“grumps, im boooored. we’ve been at this foreverrrr,” he pouts, his whole body sulking like a wilted daisy as he turns to meet your seething stare. you massage the space in between your eyebrows, wisely opting to bite your lip instead of voicing the even flow of obscenities that you’ve been thinking for the past 2 hours. “look, so am i but you have to fucking do it right the first time or we’re going to be here forever.” you snap, your twitching hand moving to your temple, massaging the ache. 

you and gojo were reaching the end of a two week detention for getting caught sneaking out. you remembered the way that shoko obnoxiously laughed in your face when you told her the other day, you’ve never seen her laugh so hard. suguru on the other hand knew how to get under your skin, you almost punched his arm when his familiar shit eating grin appeared, teasing for actually getting caught. but you definitely punched him when he sassily asked why you didnt get a donut for him. it was times like these that you were starkly reminded that gojo and suguru were friends for a reason.  gojo strangely seemed pleased about it all. you couldn’t figure out why, especially since he complained about it every hour. 

“fine, fine. but i dont know know why we have to do this shit for two weeks..” he whines as your nostrils flare. “ oh? you dont remember? i’ll remind you, it’s when you teleported us right into yaga’s bed when you said that you could totally do it right the second ti–” “babe!” he cries, and you scrunch up your face at the ridiculous pet name.  “i said i was sorry! what do you want me to do, i can’t fucking turn back time !” you stick your tongue out at him to gojo’s quiet amusement.  “my perfect record, soiled all due to some hyperactive white haired brat..” you mutter. 

“ hey! I heard that! you always mutter and i can always hear you! ” he says as he takes the broom to poke your side. “and that’s totally a lie, i know what you sugu have been up to – you’ve just never been caught yet!” “only losers get caught.” you answer, sticking out your tongue at him. 

gojo snickers, dropping the broom carelessly to ruffle your hair. “and look who’s the loser no–” you smack his chest in retaliation, moving away from his too warm hands and blinding smile. smoothing your hair out, you barely notice the way his trailing blue eyes shine behind his dark glasses – probably just a trick of the light. 

“i just dont see why we got two weeks, it’s so dumb. when sugu and i got detention last month for sneaking out we only got a week..” he sighs, stretching his torso with a groan. 

“uh huh..” you mutter, not even bothering to act like you’re listening. picking up the rag again to busy your hands before they strangle him. 

“OOoOOOoh shit, babe! i forgot to tell you heh , last week when suguru and i –” 

why was he like this anyway? what was his deal?frustratingly you didn’t understand gojo. 

all week he seemed to be in a great mood despite the strangely long detention, always finding new things to talk about. you noticed that gojo was getting more and more comfortable with you – if that was even possible – often dropping by your room in the evening. It started when suguru was on missions but quickly his visits happened when suguru was home, even as much as every other day. initially he’d knock on your door, “i know you’re in there babe, dont ignore me!”  somehow he’d easily slide past you despite the multiple feeble attempts to keep him out, eventually you stopped the charade and begrudgingly allowed him to teleport into your room, as long as he texted you 10 minutes before.  gojo would waltz like he owned the place, annoyingly touching everything in your room while yapping on about the cool new show he was watching with shoko or how he beat suguru in a video game. you recalled how much he’d whine in class the day after when he teleported into your room to find you and shoko on the bed flipping through magazines, loudly complaining he was being “neglected.” needless to say, you found that your nights were louder and more lively – fun. 

“-and then i said, “what the fuck suguru?! this thing is huge , and if you dont think that it’s scary –” 

you stretch out your sore back with a groan. you swear all this stupid cleaning was exacerbating your already sore back from your usual sparring session with suguru the other night. your muscles were so tense that you even complained about an unusually quiet gojo earlier in the day. 

“–but y’know how he can be, right?” he clears his throat obnoxiously, waiting for a response, a grunt, anything to acknowledge his demanding presence. ugh stupid gojo and his stupid plans for his stupid mischief. 

“..and i told him that was seriously something he had to work on – ” he impatiently whips his head to look at you, eyes narrowing when he sees you lost in your thoughts. 

“right, grumps? ??”the sound of gojo’s impatiently tapping foot on the still dirty classroom floor brings your attention back to him. you dont even need to look at him to sense the annoyance from his gaze burning into you –  what was he on about? 

oh shit he was talking to you. 

“i said, right?????” 

busted.

“yup – totally.” “i thought you got two weeks?” you try, looking up at his exaggerated frown, recovering quickly.  

“didnt shoko and i see you and suguru cleaning out the cursed tools shed at the end of the month? and then i saw you cleaning the kitchens after? you snuck me that sesame milk!” you add, attempting to ease his pouting. 

“nah, the second week was because we tried to smuggle back a cursed tool – ” he smirks.

good. a smile. he was satisfied with your response, you’d lose it if he had another tantrum. It was a long two weeks to say the least.  “gojo–” you start with a sigh. “what – hey dont look at me like that – it was suguru’s idea! you didnt see how big that blade was – it was so cool!” 

“you guys are fucking crazy.” 

“special grade, babe, can’t help it.” your rolling eyes only cause him to smile even brighter.

you look out the window once more, the sun was sitting lower in the sky, its rays of light now casting shadows on the semi clean floor. 

hmm.. if you went in the next hour, there would still be time .. 

“hey..?” you test carefully, quickly busying yourself by grabbing the discarded rag and resuming your floor polishing, missing the way that gojo’s eyebrows raise at your hesitation. 

 “..do you have training after this?” “nah, not today, thought i’d just stay in, i think. my back and legs are killing me from the slavery. ” he stretches, groaning obnoxiously, before cocking an eyebrow at your curious expression. 

“.. why?” he says nonchalantly, blowing his bangs out of his face, glasses sliding down his slender nose to reveal brilliant blue. 

that was unfair. but what do you expect from gojo? this was the gojo heir, you had to remember.  

“i just.. no, it’s okay you’re tired,” you add hesitantly wondering if he even deserved an answer, the embarrassment surging, quickly morphing into meekness against your will. you cursed your weakness, you cursed gojo as well but at this point you were afraid to even wonder if it was one in the same. “no- hey! look! look, im fine – look wanna watch me blue this chair right here because i totally can, im surging with energ–” “nah, you’re tired, it’s okay..” you quickly turn around, not wanting him to see embarrassment already taking charge of your body. placing the rag onto the desk beside you, you walk past gojo with purpose, your own thoughts enough to cause your fight or flight response to trigger. “wha-what? wher-” gojo’s eyes widen, eyes blinking rapidly in confusion at your retreating figure.

did he do something wrong? 

“–i’ll just ask suguru.” he thinks he hears you mutter as you fidget with a button on your uniform. 

why were you –  “hey…” gojo takes two large steps to meet you before grabbing your arm gently, halting your escape plans. “c’mon just tell me…?” he says softly in a voice that you don’t think you recognize from him. 

“i– no.. it’s okay. you’re busy.” you shrug his searing touch off you, it’s harder to think when he’s that close. “no, really – im not, you’re not bothering me, okay?” gojo says, his twitching hand going instead to rest on his hip. 

you’re never bothering me , he thinks, studying the way you slowly look up at him, eyes no longer darting at the door. for once gojo thinks you look defeated, you were always guarded, sometimes annoyed – especially around him – but never defeated. 

he wonders if you know that you could ask him for help – for anything really. gojo watches you as you fiddle with your uniform, a nervous habit he’s noticed. as every stale second that passes, he starts to worry. what was going on in that head of yours? 

“..okay?” he tries again, a step closer to you. you sigh, turning your head away from him, he always has to win doesn’t he?

you clench your fists in frustration, why do you always fall for it? but.. maybe, this could be good – maybe a little fun would relax your tense mind. what’s the difference? gojo and you hung out with shoko and suguru all the time, he teleported into your room basically whenever he wanted it’s not like he wouldn’t want to go, he just said he was bored – maybe you needed something to break your routine, something to shake things up - maybe – it wouldn’t hurt –  impulsively you make up your mind, throwing caution to the wind, you turn around to face him, almost defiantly. “...wanna go to jinbocho today?” “jinbocho?” gojo’s eyes light up. 

you clear your throat to rid yourself of the hesitation still attempting to gain control of your tongue.  “uh yeah, i want to get that new manga volume that came out.” 

“the one about the shark head dude?” 

“ha, yeah that one..” your eyes narrow in suspicion.

 how the fuck did gojo – “suguru mentioned it.” he says casually, easily reading your loaded expression.

“.. right.. and uh i want to check out some other books.” 

“yeah! okay! let's go after this?” you glance up to notice his eyes, half visible behind his dark glasses, practically flashing in excitement. “.. uh, yeah right after this.” you nod your head, a twitch in your lips. “okay, i can call shoko and suguru when we’re don–” half pulling out his phone from his back pocket, phone charm jingling as he unlocks his phone. But with the sound of the clearing of your throat, he hesitates and looks over at you, his eyes widening at the sight of your sheepish face, slight blush dusting the plains of your cheeks, flashing quickly. 

“hm, i thought we could just go? like just us…” you mutter. just us?something explodes in gojo, you still manage to catch him off guard every time. it unlodges in his brain and falls into his stomach, clanging loudly all the way down in his empty cavity. falling so rapidly it catches fire and leaves him breathless. this was the first time that you’ve invited him out. when you first arrived he begged you to go to jinbocho with him for months but you always ignored him or claimed that you were busy. 

 “just.. just us?” “uh, yeah?” the ghost of a cheeky smile haunting your face. “..unless you want bun bun to come?” turning your back to continue wiping down the floors on your knees, the slight sense of teasing in your voice. he’s glad that you cant see his flushing face. “honestly, i think he’d like that,” he says with a grin as you amusedly shake your head. 

he laughs, and you suppress the flutter in your heart. “oy let’s go! keep sweeping –” you say waving the rag at him. “stop yelling at me! i’m going, i’m going!” “it closes at 9!” 

“ – see sweepy sweepy!!” he shouts as his exaggerated movements toss the dirt around the floor, grinning as he catches the slight upwards turn of your lips before you hastily turn around. 

crowded tokyo trains really were the worst. your hesitant hands play with the button on your coat, something to soothe the anxiety creeping up on you. crowds weren’t your favourite, you needed the space to breathe. crowds had too many uncontrollable variables, too many potential surprises. no control. 

maybe you should have given in to gojo’s suggestion of teleporting there. you had understandably insisted that you take the train, withstanding his annoyingly persuasiveness. you swiftly dodge the hoards of people, walking slightly in front of gojo, his long strides following you close behind. 

“..she’s not the only one who likes strawberry milk – look i’m just saying! did you see the 50 cartons of strawberry milk in her dorm trash can – how the fuck does she go through all of that!?” he yaps, as you get onto a crowded train, his tall frame slouching slightly, not noticing your slight grunt at being jostled among the other passengers. 

“and so quickly too – there’s absolutely no way she’s the sole reason why we’re always sold out of strawberry, theres like 3 fucking vending machines on campus that carry it! and i’m pretty sure suguru is lactose intolerant even though he denies it and your favourite is the sesame milk–”  you step closer to him in an attempt to gain some personal space. you mentally tsk in the irony of it all. “pff, yeah suguru’s definitely lactose intolerant but he just ignores it,” you add, adjusting your long scarf. “ right?! i fuckin' told him!  i think she also goes and buys her own stash,” he grins,  you hum in response as you ignore the laughter of some teenagers further down the train. 

 “I went with her the other day to get some, dude she bought like 2 cases.” you see his blue eyes widen in realization as you visibly watch the gears turn in his head. 

“ what? ! when?” “hm.. like two or three days ago…maybe?” you say thoughtfully as you lean your weight to one side to accommodate the swaying of the train. “that fucking – oh myyyy god - m’gonna kill her!” he moans, dragging a slender hand over his face – you couldn’t help but grin in amusement, not minding when the man beside you elbows your side softly. maybe seeing gojo struggle a little bit at something made you giddy, or maybe you just liked seeing him pout cutely. “she made me beg for the last one in the vending machine after training yesterday!  i even agreed to do her garden duties next tuesday and wednesday in exchange for it!!” he groans, lip jutting out at the injustice. 

you scoff in amusement, quickly shuffling out of the way as the business woman beside you swings her large bag. you knew too well that shoko was the sneakiest when she wanted to be, gojo wasn’t the only victim of shoko. just last week you ran into suguru at the convenience store picking up extra snacks for shoko at her request when she missed class claiming to be unwell, “she sounded really bad – must be a nasty cough,” you remember him saying with concern near the hot food section. you knew for a fact that shoko was feigning illness to get concert tickets –  shoko was incredible. “ugh it’s so crowded,” gojo craning his neck as he looks down the train, “we really shoulda just –” his eyes widen as the train lurches forward, with a surprised yelp you stumble into him 

 “–whoa babe.”

your smaller frame leaned into his, your hands settling into his chest to stabilize yourself. 

“don’t worry I gotcha,” he mutters, he loosely winds his arm around to steady you. 

your breathing hitches as you feel his comforting arm find a home on your lower back, holding you there comfortably. eyes glance up to his face only to catch him already looking down at you, the twinkle in his eyes echo a fondness for you that you didn’t notice before. something in your stomach flutters while you feel your body relax. 

the train lurches again, as school bags and bodies knock you even closer to him. you sigh – in relief or in frustration, you weren’t sure just yet but it seems that the universe was against you today. 

he slouches down to whisper to you, “don’t worry babe, i’ll fight off anyone who knocks into you again,” teasing dripping from his tone. 

“oh really ?” your eyebrow raised in amusement, your hand going out to grip his open jacket as the train hits a bumpy path. his protective arm curving around you, gently tugging you closer to his wide frame to your appreciation. 

“even that baby over there?” turning around slightly, your chin pointing out the sleeping baby in a stroller, softly sucking on a green pacifier. 

“ especially if it’s that baby over there.” 

you stifle a laugh at his theatrics, a reluctant smile spilling onto your face as you gently knock your shoulder to his abdomen to reprimand him. 

“d’ya think I can take him on?” he whispers, leaning down slightly to you, his boyish face playfully feigning worry. 

and that’s what does it, you cant hold it in anymore as your laughter reaches gojo’s pleased ears. a really pretty sound, rare and fleeting, gojo thinks. his lips perk up in pride to be the cause.

“you’re crazy.” you shake your head with a smile, tossing your scarf’s tassels in his face, not missing his wide grin. unconsciously leaning on him with the excuse of the train being crowded to ease your mind, enjoying the warmth he brings. 

as the late autumn winter finally sets, you find a strange comfort walking side by side down the familiar street to the bookstore. 

“–and given the circumstances, i think that sugu should just let me ride that damn dragon once, even after uh.. that incident –” 

you laugh, “you mean when you threw up on it?” “look in my defense, okay –  i didn’t expect it to go that fast!” “eughhh, shut up! it was so gross dude – what did he say? Didn’t suguru say that you had like 8 pieces of cake or something before, right?” 

“right, thank you, exactly my point! i was vulnerable ! baby was being so mean – ” 

ignoring him completely, you grab his jacket sleeve to still him, something in the shop window catching your eye. you dont catch the way gojo’s eyes narrow in confusion. 

“let’s go in here!” you say grasping his hand to pull him along with you, not waiting for an answer – you didnt want to wait for protests or commentary. gojo’s eyes widen at the contact, your smaller hand grabbing his. your hands were cold, were you warm enough? he could keep you warm if that’s what you wanted, he’d give you the clothes off his back if it meant that you were safe and happy, but holding your hand would be preferable. he lets you lead him, gently tugging on him to follow you but as quickly as it happened, you let go of his hand in favour of walking around the small store of knick knacks and handmade gifts. he looks around in mild curiosity, stopping to smell some of the hand poured candles.

his ears perk up to the sound of you softly calling him over, finding you in the back corner of the store,  picking up something that clearly interested you on a table, filled with what looked like little chopstick rests in different shapes, cups and little ceramic sculptures. “look! it’s shoko!” you hum, examining the little brown cat, gojo leans into you his large frame brushing your arm as his eyes pull away from the carefully painted prints on the table beside you. 

gojo grins, “hehe! it’s just missing the cigarette...” he comments as he bends down to examine the homemade ceramic animals. he decides that  he likes seeing you like this, shy smiles and mischievous eyes, teasing words dangling from your pretty lips. it was a rare sight but gojo’s happy to see it more often even if it meant he had to be a bit more ridiculous than usual. his stomach does backflips as he watches your growing smile, hands picking up little trinkets examining them with a careful eye. 

“oh my god, they have suguru too!” you grab the sleek black haired ceramic cat with purple eyes, “doesn’t he look kinda spooky?” stroking the cat’s sleek head with your pointer finger, you were practically buzzing with excitement. 

the sound of your gentle laugher, brings his attention to you picking up a little fluffy ceramic white cat with big blue eyes and bringing it close to his face to compare. eyes darting between the sculpture and him, gojo feels his breathing pattern change under your scrutinizing gaze and sharp eyes.  “damn... you look good in cat form too! yours is the cutest.” you say casually, stroking the head of the little white cat, the kitty versions of suguru and shoko carefully held in your other hand. 

cute? did you think he was cute? he thinks his grin will split his face open as you go back cooing at the other ceramic cats, commenting on the cute little stripes on a green eyed tabby. “heh. grumps,” he mutters, bending dramatically to knock his shoulder into your much shorter one when you don’t give him attention. you grunt as you feel him pat your head when you ignore his shoulder bumps. you turn to him, eyes narrowing at his dramatics. “..what??? eugh , no pats, gojo !!” “..y’think im cute?” he asks with a shit eating grin, hand stilling on top of your head. eyes widening ever so slightly as you budge his hand off of your head. 

“hm? oh, –” you say hastily but not quick enough, “ definitely not . i was talking about the cat goj- catoru , dude.” 

gojo’s eyebrows raise at the slight wobble of your voice, as you immediately turn around to look through the rest of the shop, busying yourself with the homemade cards on a rolling rack. 

“really, babe? catoru ?! and you can’t call me satoru ? always gojo this, gojo that..” ” he groans playfully, clutching his chest dramatically, like you somehow wounded the strongest – and you have. 

but all wounds heal as he catches you shaking your head, the blush on your face telling him all he needed to know. 

“what about this one?” his lanky figure trailing you like a clingy puppy as you move up and down the aisles of your favourite book store, the paper bag of safely wrapped ceramic cats brushing against his pants. 

“ehh? I actually haven’t read that one…” you say as you take the manga volume from him, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. 

“wait, really? it’s actually really good! it’s a little slow in the beginning but once you reach his arc –” he taps the cover of the book to a red haired protagonist, “it goes so hard, trust,” gojo says with a smile, taking the bag of shopping from you as you flip through the book. “really? what do you like about it? oh– ” you scoff, showing him a large spread of the book featuring a character with an absurdly large chest. “- i see, gros–” “okay wow, kill me for being a guy! you’re so judgemental you know that?! and it’s not just that, okay!? but even if it was I have needs, i have – ” “OKAY, then what –” you snort at his frantic expression. “it’s the character development, the way he –” he leans forward pointing out what seems to be one of the main protagonists, “learns from his past to find the strength to move forward, and the dialogue is so smart and the humour is so relatable like – actually, y’know i actually have the other volumes, you can borrow them,’ he adds exasperatedly, you snicker, seeing gojo so frustrated always tickled you, he was definitely the type to be able to dish it but not take it on the receiving end. 

“ honesty , you think i like this because of a pair of boobs?” 

“uh yeah, you’re a guy, you’re – ” “that’s so rude dude! i swear, babe i’m not some –”  

“dude come onnnn, i’ve seen your phone backgrou–” “honestly babe that’s super reductive of yo–” 

“tsk! gojo, have you read this one?” you point to a colourful cover behind him, determined to move away from that conversation with gojo. gojo looks over and wrinkles his nose obnoxiously. “nah, it looks weird – ” “ugh, don’t tell me you’re the type to not read something if the art style isn’t your preference!” “it’s so distractinggggg,” he whines, “how can you concentrate on the story when their bug eyes are staring back at ya? it’s scary . ” “you just get used to it –” “– but their whole face is all eyes!!” “ your whole face is just eyes, gojo!” 

“no it isn’t! look –” he swiftly removes his sunglasses to move his face close to yours for you to inspect, “i got a cute nose, some sculpted cheekbones – i’m a well proportioned boy, i mean heh.. except my d –” you slap your hand over his mouth, you hide your grin when you hear his muffled whine of your name.

“shhhhh!! you’re so fucking loud dude, we’re gonna get kicked out!” you scold, your grin leaking onto your face, only removing your hand when you make him promise to quiet down. 

“babe, you gotta stop doing that..” he mutters poutily. “you really need to be nicer to me…” 

you grab a copy of the manga on the shelf next to you, slamming the volume onto his chest, his wide eyes blinking curiously. “here, i’ll read your suggestion if you read mine,” you say with a grin. 

“oohh! babe’s book club?!” he whispers excitedly, his frown instantly turning into a bright smile at the potential of spending more time with you. baby steps. “we can call it BBC –  wait, actually no –” you roll your eyes but gojo you couldn't help but be amused at his enthusiasm. “c’mon let’s go pay, they’re closing in thirty minutes,” you look back at him with a smile as you watch him make quick strides to catch up with you, easily falling into place and chatting your ear off about how the bug eyed characters would haunt his dreams. 

curiously, you dont seem to mind. 

for once it was you leaning closer to gojo, the glow of the street lights illuminating his uncharacteristically serious face. “– look okay, you can’t tell anyone -”. this was the most serious you’ve ever seen gojo you nod curiosity filling you. the moon fully out now, illuminating gojo’s bright hair as he enthusiastically sways your bags of shopping back and forth. 

“ – not even suguru!” damn he was good. you roll your eyes. 

“fine.” you sigh. 

“pinky promise?” 

you huff, hesitantly hooking your pinky with his, dropping your hand immediately to hear what he has to say. 

“... i was known for biting other kids until i was 9.” he says stiffly, his hand ruffling up his hair. 

you blink, his confession stopping you in your tracks. gojo takes a few more paces before he notices your stiff figure and stony expression, lip bitten.  a pregnant pause. 

your muffled giggles. 

“babe dont laugh –” the panic in his voice amplifies your loud laugh, flowing loudly and endlessly as it echoes through the dark streets.

 “y’said you wouldn’t laugh!!” he pouts, his heart beating quickly, a rhythm matching the tempo of your laugh. gojo crosses his arms poutily, bags of shopping rustling in his hands. 

you mumble something close to an apology through your giggles, cold hands moving to wipe the tears in your eyes.

“listen, like i wasnt used to being around other kids because i always had to go to specialty training and – like i did it one time and then –” “ ah okay, sure! so the first taste of blood and then you were addic–” you laugh, the visual of a smaller more feral gojo biting every other child in sight has your legs weak, crouching as another giggle attack takes over you. “ oy, it’s not like that!” gojo quickly walks back over to you, shoulders hunched, self conscious hands running through his hair. “Ughhhhhhhh!! I  knew i shouldn’t have– ” “s’okay gojo, you were just a kid..” you snicker, standing straight once more, you swear you hear a sigh in relief. “but is that why you’re always eating gummy candies?” “no! they just taste go–” 

“wait, have you bitten shoko or sugu –” 

“i- mean, uh – of course not –” his frantic answers interrupted by another wave of your laughter. 

“HA! that means you’ve definitely bitten suguru! I cant wait to ask hi–” you say excitedly, grabbing your phone out of your coat pocket. “Babe! BABE! STOP –” gojo’s widen, quickly using his large frame to pry your phone out of your hands before you could sent the message. 

“OY! give it back!” 

“nope!” he says, a smile cracking onto his face. 

“gojo!” you giggle, “heh- stop!” you lightly slap his forearm, cursing his freakish height. “i’ll give it back to you if you tell me something that you haven’t told anyone.” you hum, considering his deal, a small smile still on your face – a curious one that always seemed to take over you while gojo was around – something you haven’t told anyone? 

“ and watch  – you just watch – i’ll be so nice i wont laugh at all!” 

“ suguru’s contact name in my phone is “throat goat.”’

gojo snickers, easily handing you back your phone. 

“you just laughed, gojo!” you snort, pocketing it, shrugging your scarf tighter on you. 

“what, i can’t laugh at funny things now? ‘sides,i told you something personal about myself! you told me a lame secret -” 

“still something about myself!” you argue, tone testily, cold hands moving to dry your eyes from your previous laughter. 

“doesn’t count babe, y’owe me another secret!” he says in a sing song voice, wagging a finger in your face as you roll your eyes. 

“man, now I have to change his name on my phone too! why didnt i think of that…” he mutters, taking out his flip phone from his back pocket. “what do you have him under right now?” he grins, flipping open his phone, his other hand gesturing you to come close for you to take a closer look. gojo snickers in your ear, suguru’s contact had a photo of suguru pouting with his arms crossed in a high bun with blue bows in it with the contact came of: sugu baby decorated with bow on the side 

you snort,  “where’d you get the bows?” “shoko!” he responds cheerily. “it suits him, strangely.” you comment, head tilting to the side. you watch in amusement as he changes suguru’s contact name to THROAT GOAT, opting to keep the bows on his contact name. “see thats what i said, babe! it contrasts his sharp jaw, cute right?” he says, glancing at his contact screen proudly, as you stifle a grin. 

“how ‘bout me? what am i, grumps? knowing you, you must’ve changed it.” he frowns slightly, eyes still bright. 

“mmm wouldnt you like to know, chomper ?” you playfully tease, wiggling your eyebrows. 

“ hey !” he pouts incredulously with a whine, “you promised …” he takes off his glasses to rub a hand past his face exasperatedly groaning dramatically. 

“if you keep pouting, it’ll stay that way, gojo!” you laugh at his expression, ruffling his hair playfully in an attempt at an apology, you could practically see his imaginary tail wagging at the gesture before walking down the street. 

a bright stall comes into light, a savoury smell insticing your brain, beside you hear your stomach grumble loudly. he sniffs the air enthusiastically, eyes almost glowing in the dark as you approach a busy yakisoba stand.  

gojo shoots a knowing look at your sheepish face, “that smells good, hey? wanna grab some?”  

you nod as you make your way forward, gojo trailing behind you closely. your eyes take in the busy yakisoba stall, the glow of the amber lights illuminating the steam rising from the noodles and vegetables cooking, making your mouth water from the short line at the stall. 

“hi, can we get 4 yakisobas?” gojo contemplates, “and… uhh maybe 2 of the sodas?” 

“– please!” you tack on, elbowing his side as you, chastising him silently at the lack of his manners. you satisfyingly smirk at gojo’s dramatic grunt as the middle aged woman at the counter smiles at the scene. 

“that’ll be 2405 yen, please.” “ah okay – hmmm” gojo hums, pats his coat pockets for his wallet – where’d he put it again?

bumping your hip to his, you move to grab your wallet in your jacket pocket. 

“you literally paid for everything else today, gojo, lemme – ” “babe, it’s okay –” 

with a soft sigh, a soft hand stills his forearm, the heat of your kindness burning through his coat. “but you cant do this all the time…” displeasure written out on your face, a slight pout, your nose scrunching up – a cute combination that gojo has learned means that you’re stubborness is rearing its head. “really, it’s fine – ” gojo tries again, he’s stronger than this, but he also knows that the sweetness of your gaze in combination with your gentle touch is enough to question his sanity. “can you just let me this time?” 

“nope – ” he says cheerily, triumphantly finds his wallet amongst the empty candy wrappers, loose digimon cards, hair ties for suguru and strangely enough some star stickers in his back pocket. he wrenches open his too stuffed wallet to grab some yen before –  “thank you, auntie,” you interrupt, bowing slightly as you quickly hand over your money. 

turning to accept two containers of steaming noodles, you meet gojo’s confused stare, his hands still holding his open wallet, suspended in mild disbelief, the frigid cold late autumn air biting at his fingertips. 

“just let me, you can’t do everything all the time...” you say quietly. 

gojo blinks. 

“heh,” he quickly recovers, a smile gracing his pink face. 

“... what?” 

“so that’s what it feels like to be a sugar bab–” “just go find a seat.” you interrupt with a grumble, shoving two containers of steaming yakisoba at him as gojo snickers past you, singing a thank you. 

you shake your head as the sound of his fading laugher is replaced with the lively sound of the sizzling of vegetables and noodles on the grill. 

“your boyfriend –” a rich voice calls. boyfriend? you choke on the breath that you’re trying to catch, almost dropping the last two steaming containers in the process. 

what? who? 

“ – really likes you. i remember when my husband and i were like that, it felt like just yesterday –” the middle aged woman at the stand comments while putting two sodas in a bag. 

gojo?

you can’t help your widening eyes as you stare at her, as you try to juggle the containers of steaming yakisoba while accepting the bag of drinks and utensils.

“..and he’s always looking at you, you know? how sweet – oh here he comes!” 

likes you? boyfriend? 

perhaps sensing your thoughts, he rushes over, an arm stilling behind your back gently moving back and forth sweetly. 

“y’okay? here, lemme grab them..” he easily takes the containers gently from you, your fingers brushing against each other clumsily. 

you feel his warm hand on your back, your muscles easing at the short amount of contact. boyfriend?“take care of each other!” the yakisoba shop lady calls out with a knowing grin, as you carry the plastic bag of drinks and cutlery into your cold hands, waving to you before turning her attention back to the frying noodles. 

satoru. 

you stutter out a thank you and a quick bow before you follow gojo’s retreating figure, wondering if you even heard her correctly. as you sit at the table you feel gojo’s foot gently poke yours underneath the table, “where’d you go, grumps?” you feel him nudge you as you snap apart some wooden chopsticks. 

“mmm, just thinkin.” you hum between a mouthful of noodles. 

“well…” he mumbles as a slender arm pokes at  you, “aren’t ya gonna tell me?” 

you shrug him off annoyed, “i just did!” “babe, dont act dumb – i meant tell me about what you’re thinking about!!” “i can’t.” 

“what do you mean you can’t? ya got a mouth don’t ya” he points at your lips with his chopsticks with a cheeky smile. “i just can’t – it’s a secret.” you snort. 

“well great, you still owe me a secret, so – ” gojo teases as he opens his second container of yakisoba enthusiastically, his dark shades fogging up immediately from the steam. “oy! i dont owe you shit !” you counter, mouth full of slightly crispy noodles and perfectly cooked savoury vegetables. “mhm – well also, there’s babe tax –” he says with a mouthful. 

“no fucking way there’s more babe tax – “ you grumble, eyes rolling so hard that you think that your eyeballs would detach. “ – fine, suit yourself! so now you owe me two secrets!” he adds joyfully, wiggling his eyebrow at your pouty frown, taking off his fogged up sunglasses. 

you take extra time to aggressively use your wooden chopsticks to grab some yakisoba from your container to avoid looking at his too bright eyes. 

gojo notices the very subtle twitch of the corner of your lips – he loves it when you pretend to be mad at him, the way the ice melts, the brightness of your smiles bathing him in new light. 

“.. i was just thinking that i’m having fun is all,” you say shyly quickly shoving a mouthful of yakisoba in your mouth to counteract the flush of your cheeks. staring at your nearly empty styrofoam container you feel gojo annoyingly prod your foot under the table. you could already feel the heat of his gaze, the energy radiating off him infectious. 

“babe!” he lightly kicks you fussily, “hey!” his pout deepening with every passing second that you’re ignoring him. “babe! HEY! babebabebabe –” he pouts as he lightly pokes at your shin with increasing urgency, his empty containers of yakisoba tossed carelessly back into the plastic bag. 

“ow! what?!!? can you stop being so annoying for one second, im eati-” 

it’s the soft call of your name in gojo’s baritone that interrupts your complaints. you couldnt deny that you liked the sound of it in that way, something gentler with more intention. 

“i like hanging out with you too.” 

you blink owlishly. 

the words that you had planned to say die in your throat at his genuine smile, your eyes widening at the admission. you’ve seen gojo’s grin plenty of times, hell it was rare to see him without it – but this time was different. his eyes light up, a slight dimple on the left side of his cheek. he was the sun. 

with nervous tension you continue to slurp the rest of your noodles trying to find something to focus on other than his sparkling blue eyes, his white hair catching the amber glow of the lights, the way his shoulders would tense while he ate –  when did gojo get more.. muscular? why was he so – wait – 

you manage a noncommittal grunt in response, not trusting your fuzzy brain right now. must be the cold or something, right? 

being around gojo more often makes you more stupid, you guess – you make a mental note to hang around shoko more. he huffs dramatically at your silence, antsily bouncing his knee up and down under the table while drumming his fingers on his thigh. blue meets your daring stare –  did he always look at you this way? like you – “heh, got something there! you’re so messy, grumps.” he motions to the left side of your face, tapping his smooth face gently. 

you roll your eyes as you wipe the side of your mouth with unusual aggression, hoping the scrubbing erases the turning of your stomach. you must be hungrier than you thought. 

“You’re hopeless, to the left, grumps, no – left! my left not -y’know lemme just get it …” gojo mumbles, producing a napkin out of thin air and leaning forward to dab at your cheek with surprising gentleness, his other large hand caressing your cheek. 

your breath hitches  – what was he doing? but.. it felt kind of nice? 

what? 

stop.

have some self control. 

your hand winds around his wrist to still his slender hand on your face. “i can do it myself, im not a child..” you hiss, leaning back as his fingers obnoxiously wriggle as you tsk in annoyance, rubbing your hand to your face before he could dangerously come any closer. 

“uh huh, well accepting help is the mature thing to do, you literally said so back there!” 

gojo scoffs in amusement as feels you dramatically throw his wrist, effectively shoving his other offending hand away from your flushing face. 

“oh now you listen to me..” you mutter as  refrain yourself from being too sarcastic. Leaning over to you flick his forehead. gojo thinks that there should be a welt there for how much you flick the exact spot, but if it meant that you got into his personal space, he wouldn’t mind. 

using a spare napkin to scrub the yakisoba sauce off to distract yourself from his too loud voice, you’re sure there’s a red mark on your face where you wiped it. your were lips itching to say something, anythin–“see? what would you do without your best, most handsomest and the strongest friend satoru –” 

ugh, god – you’re going insane to have to have even considered – you stand abruptly, opting to collect the rest of the empty styrofoam containers on the table and shove them into the plastic bag to quickly dispose of them rather than confronting whatever that was. 

“we should get going, i'm not getting another detention,” you grumble stiffly, interrupting gojo’s passionate musings about the banned live action Dragonball movie.  if your interruption bothers him it, gojo doesnt show it as he carelessly throws a slender arm around you to teleport you both back. 

“well you shoulda said so! c’mere!” he says happily at the excuse of being close to you, not catching your grumbling.  ompffff.  

you stumble. 

you’re always stumbling lately. 

you dont know when you closed your eyes but you could still feel your stomach turning as you straighten your back as you feel your feet hitting the smooth wood of the hallway floors. “hehehe, see, grumps? see – I’ve been practicing! i told ya i could –” you feel his warm hand still around your shoulder, fingers soft and long, his thumb moving comfortingly back and forth on your shoulder as you blink away the dizziness.

huh. gojo actually did it this time. you sigh in relief, shrugging his too warm hand off of you.

thank god. shoko would’ve never let you live it down if you got another detention with the white haired devil. “– next time we should go further, i’m pretty accurate around most of central tokyo but it starts gettin a lil’ fuzzy past toshima. anyway, thanks for today, did you wanna go to the matcha cafe you mentioned next week?” 

“mhm.” you nod, accepting the bags of shopping from him, your cold fingers briefly touching his too warm ones. your twitching hands quickly latch onto the handle of your door, feet shuffling awkwardly. 

“sweet! okay, good night!” he turns abruptly, stretching. he takes out his phone to send a quick text to suguru – hmmm he should be home on his mission by now maybe he would want to play some game cube with him in his room? or they could spar together, but suguru would probably be too tried… or if gojo asked really nicely, maybe they could go on a ride on rainbow dragon and then he hears creaking of the floorboard –  Turning around with his eyes on still his phone, “what’d id this tim–” “satoru..?” 

gojo whips his head up to your pouting face, figure still your door way. wait- wait, you called – satoru? who’s satoru? gojo’s brain short circuits. the thumping of his heart going into overdrive, completely overwhelming him. a strangeness penetrating his heart. somewhere in his mind he hears his phone falling to the floor, his unfinished text to suguru cut short. 

gojo . you – 

satoru. 

he feels a slight jab to his shoulder, bringing his attention back to you. when’d you get so close?

“you good?” you ask, dusting off his phone before handing it to him.

gojo blink, words seem too heavy to hold, he takes the phone quickly. did you just call him satoru? he takes in your appearance. your cheeks still flushed from the cold, your scarf hanging from your neck, the ghost of the bags under your eyes still prominent from this close up. 

“...hey? i said, where are you going?” you ask with a furrow in your brow, something that gojo finds adorable coupled with your softened voice. he stares at you. you looked hesitant, almost meek, like a child waiting to be punished but ready to fight back. there was a bit of fight in you, there always was, you wouldn’t be you without that cold quiet defiance in your eyes. but in this light, there was something else in there, something softer and more fragile, something fleeting and gentle. 

“...uhh my room?” he says. “...i thought we were gonna read together.” you say gently motioning to your door behind you, the rustle of your paper bags sound too loud. 

in your room? you and him? reading? 

together. 

satoru? his eyes widen, the brightest blue blinds you for a second, you swear you see the slight tinge of pink in his cheeks as his long fingers card through his floppy hair. 

“uhh...read what?” 

“hello?? honestly, did you smack your head while you teleported or something?” you shake the bag of books in front of his face, brow furrowed in mild concern. 

what’s wrong with him? you knew first hand that gojo could be dense, but this dense?  this was strange behaviour. you take note of his loaded expression with a decision to ask suguru about it tomorrow. 

“c’mon, do i have to do everything?” you say rolling your eyes. gojo catches the miniscule smile in your eyes, something that he’s noticed that you were doing a lot more, smiles came easier to you now. 

his attention is drawn back to you when he feels your smaller hand grab his arm to practically drag him into your room. 

it only takes him seconds to settle beside bunbun on your bed, excitedly pulling out multiple volumes of manga out of the paper bags, pointing enthusiastically to the cover of one. you nod as he talks enthusiastically talks  about the stupid haircut his favourite character has in the first 3 volumes. the door shuts quickly, your quiet joy hidden behind a barely concealed smile, but gojo’s too loud laugh can be heard reverberating through the halls. 

snackies!tags: @starmapz @ghost-buddies @perqbeth @thatbitchsatoru @briezy04764 @averyjadedemerald

You switch over to your phone, pull the message up, and stare at the screen for a beat— thumb hovering over. You should tell him no. Remind him about your exam coming up later this week, and that this was supposed to be one of your sacred, uninterrupted study nights that you were pushing yourself all last week to sit down and get through. But the irritation twisting in your chest tangles up with that little flutter in your stomach you hate admitting is excitement. Because if he’s already “boutta pull up”, that means you’ve got maybe thirty minutes to take a quick everything shower and slip into something that’ll make the miles put on his engine worth the ride over.

By the time his black coupe eases up to the curb, you’re rushing down the steps, heart racing with every tick of the countdown waiting for his “outside” text.

You open the front door just in time to see him coming up the porch steps. He’s got on nothing fancy but a slim-fit stretched over his shoulders and grey sweats hanging low enough to almost make you forget every PSY 425 vocab term you reviewed tonight.

“You didn’t even ask.” You say instead of hi, stepping back to let him in after pulling you into a tight hug.

He shrugs, like asking never crossed his mind. “Would’ve said yes anyway.”

You roll your eyes, turning towards the stairs. “Come on. Try to be quiet though— Utahime and Shoko are in their rooms. I’m not tryna hear their mouths later.”

“You know I’m not worried about them.” His voice drops to a low whisper as the stairs creak beneath your steps. His presence presses warm and solid right behind you, and just when you hit the landing, his hand slides up the underside of your thigh, giving it a quick squeeze. You shoot him a look over your shoulder— half annoyed, half amused.

“What?” He asks, all fake innocent.

“I’m serious.”

“Alright.” He says, but there’s a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips, like he’s already planning to risk breaking that promise just to see your face balled up.

The rest of the apartment's dark, except for the soft glow spilling from your bedroom down the hall. Inside, the air is thick with the soft vanilla-cashmere scent from a candle burning in the corner of your room, musics playing low on your TV— something slow and bass-heavy that he immediately clocks with a raised brow.

“Kids See Ghosts?” He asks, shutting the door behind him and slipping off his sneakers to kick to the side.

You pick up on the lyrics— some track called Cudi Montage— pushing your sheets back to grab the remote.

“I just put anything on, wasn’t really listening.”

“It’s cool, you can leave it.” He steps to the edge of your bed, shuffling under the blankets. “What, you doing homework?” He asks, lifting your iPad to set it on the nightstand.

“Yeah, I was—” You tut, like the folder full of old course handouts on your bed isn’t obvious enough. “And I’m not finished either, so you’re gonna have to give me a couple minutes. I’m almost done, I was studying.”

“Where’s the pencil?” You ask, reaching for your iPad, ready to dive back into work.

For a split second he fishes around under the sheets like it’s a treasure hunt. “Right here.” He says, sliding the pencil across the bed to you.

You take it, eyes flicking to him as he shifts further under the comforter, sinking into your pillows with that ‘I’m-not-going-anywhere’ air around him.

“I just got five more pages.” You remind yourself, biting back a smile. “And then you got my attention for the rest of the night.”

“Do your thing.” He lets out a slow, lazy yawn, shifting onto his side to pull you close, his arms slide around your waist like he’s already halfway to sleep— but his eyes are wide open, watching you with that damn smirk that makes your heart skip. Focusing feels impossible now, but you blink it out, determined to finish up.

₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊

You really did try to keep your head down. Apple pencil damn near dying, with your iPad screen split between the GoodNotes page you been jotting notes on and your classes online textbook, highlighted in rainbow colors like some flag of productivity.

He’d said he didn’t mind—

“Act like I’m not here, keep working.”

“I just came to chill with you.”

— and you believed him. Thought this time around you could handle him being next to you, quiet.

Except Satoru is never really quiet. Not when his legs are intertwining with yours under the blanket. Not when his hands are rubbing down your thighs like he’s looking for warmth. Not when you can feel his stare on you, even when your eyes stay glued to the screen.

“You’re doing it again.” You murmur without looking up.

“Doing what?” He sits up, voice low enough that his breath ghosts over your neck.

“That thing where you pretend you’re not distracting me.”

“I’m not pretending.” His hand drags slow inbetween your thighs, fingers squeezing just enough to make your ApplePencil slip on the page. “I’m just here. You’re the one distracted.”

“Don’t piss me off…”

“Ain’t nobody pissing you off.” He says back, smug. He knows. You don’t even know why you still try.

One touch turns into another. Your iPad gets nudged aside. Then he kisses up your neck from your collar bone slowly like he’s testing you— like he’s giving you an easy out— and then to side of your jaw, wet, when you don’t pull away.

It’s how you end up here. Arched over your bed with your cheek against the sheets, his hands gripping your hips. The slow grind of him pushing in, stretching you open, stealing your breath before you can even think about finding it again.

He’s already too deep, too much, but he’s still holding you like he’s got all night. And then he stops— hips pressed tight against your ass, still buried to the hilt.

You shift, about to ask why, but he’s leaning over you, chest against your back, lips brushing the top of your spine. “Hold on.” He warns, voice rougher than before. “Just… give me a second. Hold on.”

“Oh my god.” You can’t help the little laugh. “What, you tired already?”

A low sound rumbles against your back. “Don’t start. He mutters, voice deep but shaky in a way you catch instantly. “I’m not tryna nut just yet…”

“You running?”

“I’m not—” He cuts himself off, sucking his teeth like you’re the one being a fool. His hips give one slow rock, so deep your eyes roll before you can push the joke further. “Not running.”

The distraction almost works— until you feel him shift, head dipping to press a kiss between your shoulder blades. Then another, right along your spine, each one slow enough you feel the shape of his mouth. His hand smooths down your side, holding you there like you might try and wriggle away if he doesn’t.

He’s not fucking you, not really. Just rocking deep, keeping himself seated so far inside you that every breath feels weighted. You can feel him throbbing— every twitch, every little fight he’s losing against himself.

You exhale through a laugh you can’t hold in, clenching down around him. “Mm… sounds like running to me. Pausing in the kitty means you’re running.”

His reply is only but a low hum, one that vibrates against your skin. “Sounds like I’m lettin’ you breathe.” He drags his mouth lower, teeth grazing lightly at your waist before pulling back to kiss it. “You wanna talk or you wanna cum?”

The slow roll of his hips makes you arch, hands clutching at the sheets. “Can’t cum if you’re not gonna move.”

“I’m tryna get you there.” His voice is warm and smug now, even as his breathing gives away how close he still is. Another long, deliberate grind has you clenching around him again, and he groans— low, like it’s pulled out of him. “Do that again.”

“I thought you ain’t wanna nut?” You clench down again, circling your hips as you rock back against him. He’s rock hard now, and as much as you don’t want this to end, you do still really want to finish cracking you down so you can finally call it night.

“Toru~” You whine, feet kicking up against his backside to nudge him along. Then a rough hand slaps your ass and your pussy clenches involuntarily. You hate when he does this shit. You’re ovulating, you know he doesn’t want to risk it. But all he had to do was remember to bring enough condoms with him and y’all could have been getting it on up to round three.

“Stop it.” He warns. Hands tightening around your waist, nails digging in just a little to remind you he’s got you where he wants you. Then his other hand slides lower, trailing down your body until they brush over your pussy, fingers slicking up wet.

Your breath hitches when he slips a thumb slow and wet between your cheeks, dragging it up until it presses against your asshole, just barely teasing it. Heat starts to pull deep in your belly and your pussy clenches again, needy and aching. He watches your reaction, lips curling like he’s got the best secret.

“You like that?” He murmurs, thumb pressing firmer, slick sliding over the tight muscle as you press back without shame.

“Fuck.” You breathe, voice catching on the word. “You’re so fucking nasty, I swear.”

“You don’t know nasty yet.” He hums, hips rocking slow and controlled, that makes you shudder.

“Hold still. Don’t make me lose it.”

Your world narrows to the slick slide of his thumb, the stretch inside you, and the fire building with every second. You clench, pulse, moan low, and finally— finally— he moves again.

His hips snap forward hard, setting a brutal pace that has you gasping, fists clenching into the sheets to stop you from riding up the bed. Every thrust hits that sweet spot, making your walls squeeze him tighter.

“Yeah?” He pants, voice rough as fuck in your ear. “How that feel?”

“Good.” You whine, barely able to get the words out, chest rising and falling, sweat all over your skin. “‘So fucking good…”

“What else?” He grabs your hips with both hands, thumbs digging into your back as he fucks you like he’s trying to prove a point. His mouth finds the curve of your neck again, biting, kissing, marking. Fucking you harder and deeper, chasing the edge he was holding back.

“Talk to me.” He rasps, breath hot against your ear. “Say my name.”

You do. Breathless, desperate. “Toru.”

His fingers squeeze your hips, thumb brushing over your skin, pulling you closer with a deep, rough thrust that makes your whole body shake.

“Say it again.”

“Toru.” You gasp, nails raking the sheets as he drags you back on every hard stroke.

“Keep talking.”

Your pussy clenches around him and his hand slides down, fingers finding your clit and rubbing tight circles in time with his thrusts. Your breath hitches, throat tight, body ready to explode.

“Don’t stop.” You cry out, voice shaking. “Fuck, don’t stop— Toru!”

His hips snap faster, every thrust deeper. You whine, everything spilling over— hot, tight, all-consuming. Your legs tremble, and he’s right there with you, grunting and cursing your name as pulls out, flipping you onto your back with ease

His dick twitches as he spills himself hot and milky across your stomach. You lay there, chest rising and falling, eyes locked on his, until he falls back onto his side in exhaustion.

“I wasn’t running.” He breathes out after a moment, arm slung across his eyes.

“You’re still on that?”

your patience was wearing dangerously thin, you could already feel a dull ache developing in the back of your head – a spot where satoru gojo’s face had been in a lot more than you’d like to admit.  this must have been the most household chores that gojo has done in his whole life, begrudgingly taking into account his never ending flow of complaints. tsking in annoyance you wondered if it would be easier to just cut off your ears. 

“grumps, im boooored. we’ve been at this foreverrrr,” he pouts, his whole body sulking like a wilted daisy as he turns to meet your seething stare. you massage the space in between your eyebrows, wisely opting to bite your lip instead of voicing the even flow of obscenities that you’ve been thinking for the past 2 hours. “look, so am i but you have to fucking do it right the first time or we’re going to be here forever.” you snap, your twitching hand moving to your temple, massaging the ache. 

you and gojo were reaching the end of a two week detention for getting caught sneaking out. you remembered the way that shoko obnoxiously laughed in your face when you told her the other day, you’ve never seen her laugh so hard. suguru on the other hand knew how to get under your skin, you almost punched his arm when his familiar shit eating grin appeared, teasing for actually getting caught. but you definitely punched him when he sassily asked why you didnt get a donut for him. it was times like these that you were starkly reminded that gojo and suguru were friends for a reason.  gojo strangely seemed pleased about it all. you couldn’t figure out why, especially since he complained about it every hour. 

“fine, fine. but i dont know know why we have to do this shit for two weeks..” he whines as your nostrils flare. “ oh? you dont remember? i’ll remind you, it’s when you teleported us right into yaga’s bed when you said that you could totally do it right the second ti–” “babe!” he cries, and you scrunch up your face at the ridiculous pet name.  “i said i was sorry! what do you want me to do, i can’t fucking turn back time !” you stick your tongue out at him to gojo’s quiet amusement.  “my perfect record, soiled all due to some hyperactive white haired brat..” you mutter. 

“ hey! I heard that! you always mutter and i can always hear you! ” he says as he takes the broom to poke your side. “and that’s totally a lie, i know what you sugu have been up to – you’ve just never been caught yet!” “only losers get caught.” you answer, sticking out your tongue at him. 

gojo snickers, dropping the broom carelessly to ruffle your hair. “and look who’s the loser no–” you smack his chest in retaliation, moving away from his too warm hands and blinding smile. smoothing your hair out, you barely notice the way his trailing blue eyes shine behind his dark glasses – probably just a trick of the light. 

“i just dont see why we got two weeks, it’s so dumb. when sugu and i got detention last month for sneaking out we only got a week..” he sighs, stretching his torso with a groan. 

“uh huh..” you mutter, not even bothering to act like you’re listening. picking up the rag again to busy your hands before they strangle him. 

“OOoOOOoh shit, babe! i forgot to tell you heh , last week when suguru and i –” 

why was he like this anyway? what was his deal?frustratingly you didn’t understand gojo. 

all week he seemed to be in a great mood despite the strangely long detention, always finding new things to talk about. you noticed that gojo was getting more and more comfortable with you – if that was even possible – often dropping by your room in the evening. It started when suguru was on missions but quickly his visits happened when suguru was home, even as much as every other day. initially he’d knock on your door, “i know you’re in there babe, dont ignore me!”  somehow he’d easily slide past you despite the multiple feeble attempts to keep him out, eventually you stopped the charade and begrudgingly allowed him to teleport into your room, as long as he texted you 10 minutes before.  gojo would waltz like he owned the place, annoyingly touching everything in your room while yapping on about the cool new show he was watching with shoko or how he beat suguru in a video game. you recalled how much he’d whine in class the day after when he teleported into your room to find you and shoko on the bed flipping through magazines, loudly complaining he was being “neglected.” needless to say, you found that your nights were louder and more lively – fun. 

“-and then i said, “what the fuck suguru?! this thing is huge , and if you dont think that it’s scary –” 

you stretch out your sore back with a groan. you swear all this stupid cleaning was exacerbating your already sore back from your usual sparring session with suguru the other night. your muscles were so tense that you even complained about an unusually quiet gojo earlier in the day. 

“–but y’know how he can be, right?” he clears his throat obnoxiously, waiting for a response, a grunt, anything to acknowledge his demanding presence. ugh stupid gojo and his stupid plans for his stupid mischief. 

“..and i told him that was seriously something he had to work on – ” he impatiently whips his head to look at you, eyes narrowing when he sees you lost in your thoughts. 

“right, grumps? ??”the sound of gojo’s impatiently tapping foot on the still dirty classroom floor brings your attention back to him. you dont even need to look at him to sense the annoyance from his gaze burning into you –  what was he on about? 

oh shit he was talking to you. 

“i said, right?????” 

busted.

“yup – totally.” “i thought you got two weeks?” you try, looking up at his exaggerated frown, recovering quickly.  

“didnt shoko and i see you and suguru cleaning out the cursed tools shed at the end of the month? and then i saw you cleaning the kitchens after? you snuck me that sesame milk!” you add, attempting to ease his pouting. 

“nah, the second week was because we tried to smuggle back a cursed tool – ” he smirks.

good. a smile. he was satisfied with your response, you’d lose it if he had another tantrum. It was a long two weeks to say the least.  “gojo–” you start with a sigh. “what – hey dont look at me like that – it was suguru’s idea! you didnt see how big that blade was – it was so cool!” 

“you guys are fucking crazy.” 

“special grade, babe, can’t help it.” your rolling eyes only cause him to smile even brighter.

you look out the window once more, the sun was sitting lower in the sky, its rays of light now casting shadows on the semi clean floor. 

hmm.. if you went in the next hour, there would still be time .. 

“hey..?” you test carefully, quickly busying yourself by grabbing the discarded rag and resuming your floor polishing, missing the way that gojo’s eyebrows raise at your hesitation. 

 “..do you have training after this?” “nah, not today, thought i’d just stay in, i think. my back and legs are killing me from the slavery. ” he stretches, groaning obnoxiously, before cocking an eyebrow at your curious expression. 

“.. why?” he says nonchalantly, blowing his bangs out of his face, glasses sliding down his slender nose to reveal brilliant blue. 

that was unfair. but what do you expect from gojo? this was the gojo heir, you had to remember.  

“i just.. no, it’s okay you’re tired,” you add hesitantly wondering if he even deserved an answer, the embarrassment surging, quickly morphing into meekness against your will. you cursed your weakness, you cursed gojo as well but at this point you were afraid to even wonder if it was one in the same. “no- hey! look! look, im fine – look wanna watch me blue this chair right here because i totally can, im surging with energ–” “nah, you’re tired, it’s okay..” you quickly turn around, not wanting him to see embarrassment already taking charge of your body. placing the rag onto the desk beside you, you walk past gojo with purpose, your own thoughts enough to cause your fight or flight response to trigger. “wha-what? wher-” gojo’s eyes widen, eyes blinking rapidly in confusion at your retreating figure.

did he do something wrong? 

“–i’ll just ask suguru.” he thinks he hears you mutter as you fidget with a button on your uniform. 

why were you –  “hey…” gojo takes two large steps to meet you before grabbing your arm gently, halting your escape plans. “c’mon just tell me…?” he says softly in a voice that you don’t think you recognize from him. 

“i– no.. it’s okay. you’re busy.” you shrug his searing touch off you, it’s harder to think when he’s that close. “no, really – im not, you’re not bothering me, okay?” gojo says, his twitching hand going instead to rest on his hip. 

you’re never bothering me , he thinks, studying the way you slowly look up at him, eyes no longer darting at the door. for once gojo thinks you look defeated, you were always guarded, sometimes annoyed – especially around him – but never defeated. 

he wonders if you know that you could ask him for help – for anything really. gojo watches you as you fiddle with your uniform, a nervous habit he’s noticed. as every stale second that passes, he starts to worry. what was going on in that head of yours? 

“..okay?” he tries again, a step closer to you. you sigh, turning your head away from him, he always has to win doesn’t he?

you clench your fists in frustration, why do you always fall for it? but.. maybe, this could be good – maybe a little fun would relax your tense mind. what’s the difference? gojo and you hung out with shoko and suguru all the time, he teleported into your room basically whenever he wanted it’s not like he wouldn’t want to go, he just said he was bored – maybe you needed something to break your routine, something to shake things up - maybe – it wouldn’t hurt –  impulsively you make up your mind, throwing caution to the wind, you turn around to face him, almost defiantly. “...wanna go to jinbocho today?” “jinbocho?” gojo’s eyes light up. 

you clear your throat to rid yourself of the hesitation still attempting to gain control of your tongue.  “uh yeah, i want to get that new manga volume that came out.” 

“the one about the shark head dude?” 

“ha, yeah that one..” your eyes narrow in suspicion.

 how the fuck did gojo – “suguru mentioned it.” he says casually, easily reading your loaded expression.

“.. right.. and uh i want to check out some other books.” 

“yeah! okay! let's go after this?” you glance up to notice his eyes, half visible behind his dark glasses, practically flashing in excitement. “.. uh, yeah right after this.” you nod your head, a twitch in your lips. “okay, i can call shoko and suguru when we’re don–” half pulling out his phone from his back pocket, phone charm jingling as he unlocks his phone. But with the sound of the clearing of your throat, he hesitates and looks over at you, his eyes widening at the sight of your sheepish face, slight blush dusting the plains of your cheeks, flashing quickly. 

“hm, i thought we could just go? like just us…” you mutter. just us?something explodes in gojo, you still manage to catch him off guard every time. it unlodges in his brain and falls into his stomach, clanging loudly all the way down in his empty cavity. falling so rapidly it catches fire and leaves him breathless. this was the first time that you’ve invited him out. when you first arrived he begged you to go to jinbocho with him for months but you always ignored him or claimed that you were busy. 

 “just.. just us?” “uh, yeah?” the ghost of a cheeky smile haunting your face. “..unless you want bun bun to come?” turning your back to continue wiping down the floors on your knees, the slight sense of teasing in your voice. he’s glad that you cant see his flushing face. “honestly, i think he’d like that,” he says with a grin as you amusedly shake your head. 

he laughs, and you suppress the flutter in your heart. “oy let’s go! keep sweeping –” you say waving the rag at him. “stop yelling at me! i’m going, i’m going!” “it closes at 9!” 

“ – see sweepy sweepy!!” he shouts as his exaggerated movements toss the dirt around the floor, grinning as he catches the slight upwards turn of your lips before you hastily turn around. 

crowded tokyo trains really were the worst. your hesitant hands play with the button on your coat, something to soothe the anxiety creeping up on you. crowds weren’t your favourite, you needed the space to breathe. crowds had too many uncontrollable variables, too many potential surprises. no control. 

maybe you should have given in to gojo’s suggestion of teleporting there. you had understandably insisted that you take the train, withstanding his annoyingly persuasiveness. you swiftly dodge the hoards of people, walking slightly in front of gojo, his long strides following you close behind. 

“..she’s not the only one who likes strawberry milk – look i’m just saying! did you see the 50 cartons of strawberry milk in her dorm trash can – how the fuck does she go through all of that!?” he yaps, as you get onto a crowded train, his tall frame slouching slightly, not noticing your slight grunt at being jostled among the other passengers. 

“and so quickly too – there’s absolutely no way she’s the sole reason why we’re always sold out of strawberry, theres like 3 fucking vending machines on campus that carry it! and i’m pretty sure suguru is lactose intolerant even though he denies it and your favourite is the sesame milk–”  you step closer to him in an attempt to gain some personal space. you mentally tsk in the irony of it all. “pff, yeah suguru’s definitely lactose intolerant but he just ignores it,” you add, adjusting your long scarf. “ right?! i fuckin' told him!  i think she also goes and buys her own stash,” he grins,  you hum in response as you ignore the laughter of some teenagers further down the train. 

 “I went with her the other day to get some, dude she bought like 2 cases.” you see his blue eyes widen in realization as you visibly watch the gears turn in his head. 

“ what? ! when?” “hm.. like two or three days ago…maybe?” you say thoughtfully as you lean your weight to one side to accommodate the swaying of the train. “that fucking – oh myyyy god - m’gonna kill her!” he moans, dragging a slender hand over his face – you couldn’t help but grin in amusement, not minding when the man beside you elbows your side softly. maybe seeing gojo struggle a little bit at something made you giddy, or maybe you just liked seeing him pout cutely. “she made me beg for the last one in the vending machine after training yesterday!  i even agreed to do her garden duties next tuesday and wednesday in exchange for it!!” he groans, lip jutting out at the injustice. 

you scoff in amusement, quickly shuffling out of the way as the business woman beside you swings her large bag. you knew too well that shoko was the sneakiest when she wanted to be, gojo wasn’t the only victim of shoko. just last week you ran into suguru at the convenience store picking up extra snacks for shoko at her request when she missed class claiming to be unwell, “she sounded really bad – must be a nasty cough,” you remember him saying with concern near the hot food section. you knew for a fact that shoko was feigning illness to get concert tickets –  shoko was incredible. “ugh it’s so crowded,” gojo craning his neck as he looks down the train, “we really shoulda just –” his eyes widen as the train lurches forward, with a surprised yelp you stumble into him 

 “–whoa babe.”

your smaller frame leaned into his, your hands settling into his chest to stabilize yourself. 

“don’t worry I gotcha,” he mutters, he loosely winds his arm around to steady you. 

your breathing hitches as you feel his comforting arm find a home on your lower back, holding you there comfortably. eyes glance up to his face only to catch him already looking down at you, the twinkle in his eyes echo a fondness for you that you didn’t notice before. something in your stomach flutters while you feel your body relax. 

the train lurches again, as school bags and bodies knock you even closer to him. you sigh – in relief or in frustration, you weren’t sure just yet but it seems that the universe was against you today. 

he slouches down to whisper to you, “don’t worry babe, i’ll fight off anyone who knocks into you again,” teasing dripping from his tone. 

“oh really ?” your eyebrow raised in amusement, your hand going out to grip his open jacket as the train hits a bumpy path. his protective arm curving around you, gently tugging you closer to his wide frame to your appreciation. 

“even that baby over there?” turning around slightly, your chin pointing out the sleeping baby in a stroller, softly sucking on a green pacifier. 

“ especially if it’s that baby over there.” 

you stifle a laugh at his theatrics, a reluctant smile spilling onto your face as you gently knock your shoulder to his abdomen to reprimand him. 

“d’ya think I can take him on?” he whispers, leaning down slightly to you, his boyish face playfully feigning worry. 

and that’s what does it, you cant hold it in anymore as your laughter reaches gojo’s pleased ears. a really pretty sound, rare and fleeting, gojo thinks. his lips perk up in pride to be the cause.

“you’re crazy.” you shake your head with a smile, tossing your scarf’s tassels in his face, not missing his wide grin. unconsciously leaning on him with the excuse of the train being crowded to ease your mind, enjoying the warmth he brings. 

as the late autumn winter finally sets, you find a strange comfort walking side by side down the familiar street to the bookstore. 

“–and given the circumstances, i think that sugu should just let me ride that damn dragon once, even after uh.. that incident –” 

you laugh, “you mean when you threw up on it?” “look in my defense, okay –  i didn’t expect it to go that fast!” “eughhh, shut up! it was so gross dude – what did he say? Didn’t suguru say that you had like 8 pieces of cake or something before, right?” 

“right, thank you, exactly my point! i was vulnerable ! baby was being so mean – ” 

ignoring him completely, you grab his jacket sleeve to still him, something in the shop window catching your eye. you dont catch the way gojo’s eyes narrow in confusion. 

“let’s go in here!” you say grasping his hand to pull him along with you, not waiting for an answer – you didnt want to wait for protests or commentary. gojo’s eyes widen at the contact, your smaller hand grabbing his. your hands were cold, were you warm enough? he could keep you warm if that’s what you wanted, he’d give you the clothes off his back if it meant that you were safe and happy, but holding your hand would be preferable. he lets you lead him, gently tugging on him to follow you but as quickly as it happened, you let go of his hand in favour of walking around the small store of knick knacks and handmade gifts. he looks around in mild curiosity, stopping to smell some of the hand poured candles.

his ears perk up to the sound of you softly calling him over, finding you in the back corner of the store,  picking up something that clearly interested you on a table, filled with what looked like little chopstick rests in different shapes, cups and little ceramic sculptures. “look! it’s shoko!” you hum, examining the little brown cat, gojo leans into you his large frame brushing your arm as his eyes pull away from the carefully painted prints on the table beside you. 

gojo grins, “hehe! it’s just missing the cigarette...” he comments as he bends down to examine the homemade ceramic animals. he decides that  he likes seeing you like this, shy smiles and mischievous eyes, teasing words dangling from your pretty lips. it was a rare sight but gojo’s happy to see it more often even if it meant he had to be a bit more ridiculous than usual. his stomach does backflips as he watches your growing smile, hands picking up little trinkets examining them with a careful eye. 

“oh my god, they have suguru too!” you grab the sleek black haired ceramic cat with purple eyes, “doesn’t he look kinda spooky?” stroking the cat’s sleek head with your pointer finger, you were practically buzzing with excitement. 

the sound of your gentle laugher, brings his attention to you picking up a little fluffy ceramic white cat with big blue eyes and bringing it close to his face to compare. eyes darting between the sculpture and him, gojo feels his breathing pattern change under your scrutinizing gaze and sharp eyes.  “damn... you look good in cat form too! yours is the cutest.” you say casually, stroking the head of the little white cat, the kitty versions of suguru and shoko carefully held in your other hand. 

cute? did you think he was cute? he thinks his grin will split his face open as you go back cooing at the other ceramic cats, commenting on the cute little stripes on a green eyed tabby. “heh. grumps,” he mutters, bending dramatically to knock his shoulder into your much shorter one when you don’t give him attention. you grunt as you feel him pat your head when you ignore his shoulder bumps. you turn to him, eyes narrowing at his dramatics. “..what??? eugh , no pats, gojo !!” “..y’think im cute?” he asks with a shit eating grin, hand stilling on top of your head. eyes widening ever so slightly as you budge his hand off of your head. 

“hm? oh, –” you say hastily but not quick enough, “ definitely not . i was talking about the cat goj- catoru , dude.” 

gojo’s eyebrows raise at the slight wobble of your voice, as you immediately turn around to look through the rest of the shop, busying yourself with the homemade cards on a rolling rack. 

“really, babe? catoru ?! and you can’t call me satoru ? always gojo this, gojo that..” ” he groans playfully, clutching his chest dramatically, like you somehow wounded the strongest – and you have. 

but all wounds heal as he catches you shaking your head, the blush on your face telling him all he needed to know. 

“what about this one?” his lanky figure trailing you like a clingy puppy as you move up and down the aisles of your favourite book store, the paper bag of safely wrapped ceramic cats brushing against his pants. 

“ehh? I actually haven’t read that one…” you say as you take the manga volume from him, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. 

“wait, really? it’s actually really good! it’s a little slow in the beginning but once you reach his arc –” he taps the cover of the book to a red haired protagonist, “it goes so hard, trust,” gojo says with a smile, taking the bag of shopping from you as you flip through the book. “really? what do you like about it? oh– ” you scoff, showing him a large spread of the book featuring a character with an absurdly large chest. “- i see, gros–” “okay wow, kill me for being a guy! you’re so judgemental you know that?! and it’s not just that, okay!? but even if it was I have needs, i have – ” “OKAY, then what –” you snort at his frantic expression. “it’s the character development, the way he –” he leans forward pointing out what seems to be one of the main protagonists, “learns from his past to find the strength to move forward, and the dialogue is so smart and the humour is so relatable like – actually, y’know i actually have the other volumes, you can borrow them,’ he adds exasperatedly, you snicker, seeing gojo so frustrated always tickled you, he was definitely the type to be able to dish it but not take it on the receiving end. 

“ honesty , you think i like this because of a pair of boobs?” 

“uh yeah, you’re a guy, you’re – ” “that’s so rude dude! i swear, babe i’m not some –”  

“dude come onnnn, i’ve seen your phone backgrou–” “honestly babe that’s super reductive of yo–” 

“tsk! gojo, have you read this one?” you point to a colourful cover behind him, determined to move away from that conversation with gojo. gojo looks over and wrinkles his nose obnoxiously. “nah, it looks weird – ” “ugh, don’t tell me you’re the type to not read something if the art style isn’t your preference!” “it’s so distractinggggg,” he whines, “how can you concentrate on the story when their bug eyes are staring back at ya? it’s scary . ” “you just get used to it –” “– but their whole face is all eyes!!” “ your whole face is just eyes, gojo!” 

“no it isn’t! look –” he swiftly removes his sunglasses to move his face close to yours for you to inspect, “i got a cute nose, some sculpted cheekbones – i’m a well proportioned boy, i mean heh.. except my d –” you slap your hand over his mouth, you hide your grin when you hear his muffled whine of your name.

“shhhhh!! you’re so fucking loud dude, we’re gonna get kicked out!” you scold, your grin leaking onto your face, only removing your hand when you make him promise to quiet down. 

“babe, you gotta stop doing that..” he mutters poutily. “you really need to be nicer to me…” 

you grab a copy of the manga on the shelf next to you, slamming the volume onto his chest, his wide eyes blinking curiously. “here, i’ll read your suggestion if you read mine,” you say with a grin. 

“oohh! babe’s book club?!” he whispers excitedly, his frown instantly turning into a bright smile at the potential of spending more time with you. baby steps. “we can call it BBC –  wait, actually no –” you roll your eyes but gojo you couldn't help but be amused at his enthusiasm. “c’mon let’s go pay, they’re closing in thirty minutes,” you look back at him with a smile as you watch him make quick strides to catch up with you, easily falling into place and chatting your ear off about how the bug eyed characters would haunt his dreams. 

curiously, you dont seem to mind. 

for once it was you leaning closer to gojo, the glow of the street lights illuminating his uncharacteristically serious face. “– look okay, you can’t tell anyone -”. this was the most serious you’ve ever seen gojo you nod curiosity filling you. the moon fully out now, illuminating gojo’s bright hair as he enthusiastically sways your bags of shopping back and forth. 

“ – not even suguru!” damn he was good. you roll your eyes. 

“fine.” you sigh. 

“pinky promise?” 

you huff, hesitantly hooking your pinky with his, dropping your hand immediately to hear what he has to say. 

“... i was known for biting other kids until i was 9.” he says stiffly, his hand ruffling up his hair. 

you blink, his confession stopping you in your tracks. gojo takes a few more paces before he notices your stiff figure and stony expression, lip bitten.  a pregnant pause. 

your muffled giggles. 

“babe dont laugh –” the panic in his voice amplifies your loud laugh, flowing loudly and endlessly as it echoes through the dark streets.

 “y’said you wouldn’t laugh!!” he pouts, his heart beating quickly, a rhythm matching the tempo of your laugh. gojo crosses his arms poutily, bags of shopping rustling in his hands. 

you mumble something close to an apology through your giggles, cold hands moving to wipe the tears in your eyes.

“listen, like i wasnt used to being around other kids because i always had to go to specialty training and – like i did it one time and then –” “ ah okay, sure! so the first taste of blood and then you were addic–” you laugh, the visual of a smaller more feral gojo biting every other child in sight has your legs weak, crouching as another giggle attack takes over you. “ oy, it’s not like that!” gojo quickly walks back over to you, shoulders hunched, self conscious hands running through his hair. “Ughhhhhhhh!! I  knew i shouldn’t have– ” “s’okay gojo, you were just a kid..” you snicker, standing straight once more, you swear you hear a sigh in relief. “but is that why you’re always eating gummy candies?” “no! they just taste go–” 

“wait, have you bitten shoko or sugu –” 

“i- mean, uh – of course not –” his frantic answers interrupted by another wave of your laughter. 

“HA! that means you’ve definitely bitten suguru! I cant wait to ask hi–” you say excitedly, grabbing your phone out of your coat pocket. “Babe! BABE! STOP –” gojo’s widen, quickly using his large frame to pry your phone out of your hands before you could sent the message. 

“OY! give it back!” 

“nope!” he says, a smile cracking onto his face. 

“gojo!” you giggle, “heh- stop!” you lightly slap his forearm, cursing his freakish height. “i’ll give it back to you if you tell me something that you haven’t told anyone.” you hum, considering his deal, a small smile still on your face – a curious one that always seemed to take over you while gojo was around – something you haven’t told anyone? 

“ and watch  – you just watch – i’ll be so nice i wont laugh at all!” 

“ suguru’s contact name in my phone is “throat goat.”’

gojo snickers, easily handing you back your phone. 

“you just laughed, gojo!” you snort, pocketing it, shrugging your scarf tighter on you. 

“what, i can’t laugh at funny things now? ‘sides,i told you something personal about myself! you told me a lame secret -” 

“still something about myself!” you argue, tone testily, cold hands moving to dry your eyes from your previous laughter. 

“doesn’t count babe, y’owe me another secret!” he says in a sing song voice, wagging a finger in your face as you roll your eyes. 

“man, now I have to change his name on my phone too! why didnt i think of that…” he mutters, taking out his flip phone from his back pocket. “what do you have him under right now?” he grins, flipping open his phone, his other hand gesturing you to come close for you to take a closer look. gojo snickers in your ear, suguru’s contact had a photo of suguru pouting with his arms crossed in a high bun with blue bows in it with the contact came of: sugu baby decorated with bow on the side 

you snort,  “where’d you get the bows?” “shoko!” he responds cheerily. “it suits him, strangely.” you comment, head tilting to the side. you watch in amusement as he changes suguru’s contact name to THROAT GOAT, opting to keep the bows on his contact name. “see thats what i said, babe! it contrasts his sharp jaw, cute right?” he says, glancing at his contact screen proudly, as you stifle a grin. 

“how ‘bout me? what am i, grumps? knowing you, you must’ve changed it.” he frowns slightly, eyes still bright. 

“mmm wouldnt you like to know, chomper ?” you playfully tease, wiggling your eyebrows. 

“ hey !” he pouts incredulously with a whine, “you promised …” he takes off his glasses to rub a hand past his face exasperatedly groaning dramatically. 

“if you keep pouting, it’ll stay that way, gojo!” you laugh at his expression, ruffling his hair playfully in an attempt at an apology, you could practically see his imaginary tail wagging at the gesture before walking down the street. 

a bright stall comes into light, a savoury smell insticing your brain, beside you hear your stomach grumble loudly. he sniffs the air enthusiastically, eyes almost glowing in the dark as you approach a busy yakisoba stand.  

gojo shoots a knowing look at your sheepish face, “that smells good, hey? wanna grab some?”  

you nod as you make your way forward, gojo trailing behind you closely. your eyes take in the busy yakisoba stall, the glow of the amber lights illuminating the steam rising from the noodles and vegetables cooking, making your mouth water from the short line at the stall. 

“hi, can we get 4 yakisobas?” gojo contemplates, “and… uhh maybe 2 of the sodas?” 

“– please!” you tack on, elbowing his side as you, chastising him silently at the lack of his manners. you satisfyingly smirk at gojo’s dramatic grunt as the middle aged woman at the counter smiles at the scene. 

“that’ll be 2405 yen, please.” “ah okay – hmmm” gojo hums, pats his coat pockets for his wallet – where’d he put it again?

bumping your hip to his, you move to grab your wallet in your jacket pocket. 

“you literally paid for everything else today, gojo, lemme – ” “babe, it’s okay –” 

with a soft sigh, a soft hand stills his forearm, the heat of your kindness burning through his coat. “but you cant do this all the time…” displeasure written out on your face, a slight pout, your nose scrunching up – a cute combination that gojo has learned means that you’re stubborness is rearing its head. “really, it’s fine – ” gojo tries again, he’s stronger than this, but he also knows that the sweetness of your gaze in combination with your gentle touch is enough to question his sanity. “can you just let me this time?” 

“nope – ” he says cheerily, triumphantly finds his wallet amongst the empty candy wrappers, loose digimon cards, hair ties for suguru and strangely enough some star stickers in his back pocket. he wrenches open his too stuffed wallet to grab some yen before –  “thank you, auntie,” you interrupt, bowing slightly as you quickly hand over your money. 

turning to accept two containers of steaming noodles, you meet gojo’s confused stare, his hands still holding his open wallet, suspended in mild disbelief, the frigid cold late autumn air biting at his fingertips. 

“just let me, you can’t do everything all the time...” you say quietly. 

gojo blinks. 

“heh,” he quickly recovers, a smile gracing his pink face. 

“... what?” 

“so that’s what it feels like to be a sugar bab–” “just go find a seat.” you interrupt with a grumble, shoving two containers of steaming yakisoba at him as gojo snickers past you, singing a thank you. 

you shake your head as the sound of his fading laugher is replaced with the lively sound of the sizzling of vegetables and noodles on the grill. 

“your boyfriend –” a rich voice calls. boyfriend? you choke on the breath that you’re trying to catch, almost dropping the last two steaming containers in the process. 

what? who? 

“ – really likes you. i remember when my husband and i were like that, it felt like just yesterday –” the middle aged woman at the stand comments while putting two sodas in a bag. 

gojo?

you can’t help your widening eyes as you stare at her, as you try to juggle the containers of steaming yakisoba while accepting the bag of drinks and utensils.

“..and he’s always looking at you, you know? how sweet – oh here he comes!” 

likes you? boyfriend? 

perhaps sensing your thoughts, he rushes over, an arm stilling behind your back gently moving back and forth sweetly. 

“y’okay? here, lemme grab them..” he easily takes the containers gently from you, your fingers brushing against each other clumsily. 

you feel his warm hand on your back, your muscles easing at the short amount of contact. boyfriend?“take care of each other!” the yakisoba shop lady calls out with a knowing grin, as you carry the plastic bag of drinks and cutlery into your cold hands, waving to you before turning her attention back to the frying noodles. 

satoru. 

you stutter out a thank you and a quick bow before you follow gojo’s retreating figure, wondering if you even heard her correctly. as you sit at the table you feel gojo’s foot gently poke yours underneath the table, “where’d you go, grumps?” you feel him nudge you as you snap apart some wooden chopsticks. 

“mmm, just thinkin.” you hum between a mouthful of noodles. 

“well…” he mumbles as a slender arm pokes at  you, “aren’t ya gonna tell me?” 

you shrug him off annoyed, “i just did!” “babe, dont act dumb – i meant tell me about what you’re thinking about!!” “i can’t.” 

“what do you mean you can’t? ya got a mouth don’t ya” he points at your lips with his chopsticks with a cheeky smile. “i just can’t – it’s a secret.” you snort. 

“well great, you still owe me a secret, so – ” gojo teases as he opens his second container of yakisoba enthusiastically, his dark shades fogging up immediately from the steam. “oy! i dont owe you shit !” you counter, mouth full of slightly crispy noodles and perfectly cooked savoury vegetables. “mhm – well also, there’s babe tax –” he says with a mouthful. 

“no fucking way there’s more babe tax – “ you grumble, eyes rolling so hard that you think that your eyeballs would detach. “ – fine, suit yourself! so now you owe me two secrets!” he adds joyfully, wiggling his eyebrow at your pouty frown, taking off his fogged up sunglasses. 

you take extra time to aggressively use your wooden chopsticks to grab some yakisoba from your container to avoid looking at his too bright eyes. 

gojo notices the very subtle twitch of the corner of your lips – he loves it when you pretend to be mad at him, the way the ice melts, the brightness of your smiles bathing him in new light. 

“.. i was just thinking that i’m having fun is all,” you say shyly quickly shoving a mouthful of yakisoba in your mouth to counteract the flush of your cheeks. staring at your nearly empty styrofoam container you feel gojo annoyingly prod your foot under the table. you could already feel the heat of his gaze, the energy radiating off him infectious. 

“babe!” he lightly kicks you fussily, “hey!” his pout deepening with every passing second that you’re ignoring him. “babe! HEY! babebabebabe –” he pouts as he lightly pokes at your shin with increasing urgency, his empty containers of yakisoba tossed carelessly back into the plastic bag. 

“ow! what?!!? can you stop being so annoying for one second, im eati-” 

it’s the soft call of your name in gojo’s baritone that interrupts your complaints. you couldnt deny that you liked the sound of it in that way, something gentler with more intention. 

“i like hanging out with you too.” 

you blink owlishly. 

the words that you had planned to say die in your throat at his genuine smile, your eyes widening at the admission. you’ve seen gojo’s grin plenty of times, hell it was rare to see him without it – but this time was different. his eyes light up, a slight dimple on the left side of his cheek. he was the sun. 

with nervous tension you continue to slurp the rest of your noodles trying to find something to focus on other than his sparkling blue eyes, his white hair catching the amber glow of the lights, the way his shoulders would tense while he ate –  when did gojo get more.. muscular? why was he so – wait – 

you manage a noncommittal grunt in response, not trusting your fuzzy brain right now. must be the cold or something, right? 

being around gojo more often makes you more stupid, you guess – you make a mental note to hang around shoko more. he huffs dramatically at your silence, antsily bouncing his knee up and down under the table while drumming his fingers on his thigh. blue meets your daring stare –  did he always look at you this way? like you – “heh, got something there! you’re so messy, grumps.” he motions to the left side of your face, tapping his smooth face gently. 

you roll your eyes as you wipe the side of your mouth with unusual aggression, hoping the scrubbing erases the turning of your stomach. you must be hungrier than you thought. 

“You’re hopeless, to the left, grumps, no – left! my left not -y’know lemme just get it …” gojo mumbles, producing a napkin out of thin air and leaning forward to dab at your cheek with surprising gentleness, his other large hand caressing your cheek. 

your breath hitches  – what was he doing? but.. it felt kind of nice? 

what? 

stop.

have some self control. 

your hand winds around his wrist to still his slender hand on your face. “i can do it myself, im not a child..” you hiss, leaning back as his fingers obnoxiously wriggle as you tsk in annoyance, rubbing your hand to your face before he could dangerously come any closer. 

“uh huh, well accepting help is the mature thing to do, you literally said so back there!” 

gojo scoffs in amusement as feels you dramatically throw his wrist, effectively shoving his other offending hand away from your flushing face. 

“oh now you listen to me..” you mutter as  refrain yourself from being too sarcastic. Leaning over to you flick his forehead. gojo thinks that there should be a welt there for how much you flick the exact spot, but if it meant that you got into his personal space, he wouldn’t mind. 

using a spare napkin to scrub the yakisoba sauce off to distract yourself from his too loud voice, you’re sure there’s a red mark on your face where you wiped it. your were lips itching to say something, anythin–“see? what would you do without your best, most handsomest and the strongest friend satoru –” 

ugh, god – you’re going insane to have to have even considered – you stand abruptly, opting to collect the rest of the empty styrofoam containers on the table and shove them into the plastic bag to quickly dispose of them rather than confronting whatever that was. 

“we should get going, i'm not getting another detention,” you grumble stiffly, interrupting gojo’s passionate musings about the banned live action Dragonball movie.  if your interruption bothers him it, gojo doesnt show it as he carelessly throws a slender arm around you to teleport you both back. 

“well you shoulda said so! c’mere!” he says happily at the excuse of being close to you, not catching your grumbling.  ompffff.  

you stumble. 

you’re always stumbling lately. 

you dont know when you closed your eyes but you could still feel your stomach turning as you straighten your back as you feel your feet hitting the smooth wood of the hallway floors. “hehehe, see, grumps? see – I’ve been practicing! i told ya i could –” you feel his warm hand still around your shoulder, fingers soft and long, his thumb moving comfortingly back and forth on your shoulder as you blink away the dizziness.

huh. gojo actually did it this time. you sigh in relief, shrugging his too warm hand off of you.

thank god. shoko would’ve never let you live it down if you got another detention with the white haired devil. “– next time we should go further, i’m pretty accurate around most of central tokyo but it starts gettin a lil’ fuzzy past toshima. anyway, thanks for today, did you wanna go to the matcha cafe you mentioned next week?” 

“mhm.” you nod, accepting the bags of shopping from him, your cold fingers briefly touching his too warm ones. your twitching hands quickly latch onto the handle of your door, feet shuffling awkwardly. 

“sweet! okay, good night!” he turns abruptly, stretching. he takes out his phone to send a quick text to suguru – hmmm he should be home on his mission by now maybe he would want to play some game cube with him in his room? or they could spar together, but suguru would probably be too tried… or if gojo asked really nicely, maybe they could go on a ride on rainbow dragon and then he hears creaking of the floorboard –  Turning around with his eyes on still his phone, “what’d id this tim–” “satoru..?” 

gojo whips his head up to your pouting face, figure still your door way. wait- wait, you called – satoru? who’s satoru? gojo’s brain short circuits. the thumping of his heart going into overdrive, completely overwhelming him. a strangeness penetrating his heart. somewhere in his mind he hears his phone falling to the floor, his unfinished text to suguru cut short. 

gojo . you – 

satoru. 

he feels a slight jab to his shoulder, bringing his attention back to you. when’d you get so close?

“you good?” you ask, dusting off his phone before handing it to him.

gojo blink, words seem too heavy to hold, he takes the phone quickly. did you just call him satoru? he takes in your appearance. your cheeks still flushed from the cold, your scarf hanging from your neck, the ghost of the bags under your eyes still prominent from this close up. 

“...hey? i said, where are you going?” you ask with a furrow in your brow, something that gojo finds adorable coupled with your softened voice. he stares at you. you looked hesitant, almost meek, like a child waiting to be punished but ready to fight back. there was a bit of fight in you, there always was, you wouldn’t be you without that cold quiet defiance in your eyes. but in this light, there was something else in there, something softer and more fragile, something fleeting and gentle. 

“...uhh my room?” he says. “...i thought we were gonna read together.” you say gently motioning to your door behind you, the rustle of your paper bags sound too loud. 

in your room? you and him? reading? 

together. 

satoru? his eyes widen, the brightest blue blinds you for a second, you swear you see the slight tinge of pink in his cheeks as his long fingers card through his floppy hair. 

“uhh...read what?” 

“hello?? honestly, did you smack your head while you teleported or something?” you shake the bag of books in front of his face, brow furrowed in mild concern. 

what’s wrong with him? you knew first hand that gojo could be dense, but this dense?  this was strange behaviour. you take note of his loaded expression with a decision to ask suguru about it tomorrow. 

“c’mon, do i have to do everything?” you say rolling your eyes. gojo catches the miniscule smile in your eyes, something that he’s noticed that you were doing a lot more, smiles came easier to you now. 

his attention is drawn back to you when he feels your smaller hand grab his arm to practically drag him into your room. 

it only takes him seconds to settle beside bunbun on your bed, excitedly pulling out multiple volumes of manga out of the paper bags, pointing enthusiastically to the cover of one. you nod as he talks enthusiastically talks  about the stupid haircut his favourite character has in the first 3 volumes. the door shuts quickly, your quiet joy hidden behind a barely concealed smile, but gojo’s too loud laugh can be heard reverberating through the halls. 

snackies!tags: @starmapz @ghost-buddies @perqbeth @thatbitchsatoru @briezy04764 @averyjadedemerald

“look! it’s shoko!” you hum, examining the little brown cat, gojo leans into you his large frame brushing your arm as his eyes pull away from the hand painted prints on the table beside you. 

gojo grins, “hehe! it’s just missing the cigarette...” he comments as he bends down to examine the homemade ceramic animals. 

“oh my god, they have suguru too!” you grab the sleek black haired ceramic cat with purple eyes, “doesn’t he look kinda spooky?” stroking the cat’s sleek head with your pointer finger, you were practically buzzing with excitement. he likes seeing you like this, shy smiles and mischievous eyes, teasing words dangling from your pretty lips. His stomach doing backflips as he watched your growing smile, as you picked up little trinkets examining them with a careful eye. 

the sound of your gentle laugher, brings his attention to you picking up a little fluffy ceramic white cat with big blue eyes and bringing it close to his face to compare. Eyes darting between the sculpture and him, gojo feels his breathing pattern change under your scrutinizing eye.  “damn... you look good in cat form too! yours is the cutest.” you say casually.

cute? did you think he was cute? he thinks his grin will split his face open. “heh. grumps,” he mutters, bending dramatically to knock his shoulder into your much shorter one. you grunt as you feel him pat your head when you ignore his shoulder bumps. you turn to him, eyes narrowing at his dramatics. “..what???” “..y’think im cute?” he asks with a shit eating grin, hand stilling on top of your head. eyes widening ever so slightly as you budge his hand off of your head. 

“hm? oh, –” you say hastily but not quick enough, “definitely not. i was talking about the cat goj- catoru, dude.” 

gojo’s eyebrows raise at the slight wobble of your voice, as you immediately turn around to look through the rest of the shop, busying yourself with the homemade cards on a rolling rack. 

“really, babe? catoru?! and you can’t call me satoru? always gojo this, gojo that..” ” he groans playfully, clutching his chest dramatically, like you somehow wounded the strongest – and you have.  but all wounds heal as he catches you shaking your head, the blush on your face telling him all he needed to know.