gojo satoru, ♤ appointments
“Gojo-sensei took the day off.” Itadori was still in his pajamas, scratching his side. “He said the break was more for me than him, though.” His styled hair was darting out on all sides. You looked away from his bedhair to stare at his tired eyes.
“You didn’t see him at all today?” You took this opportunity to peek into the boy’s dorm room, glancing at the unmade bed and the strewn-out clothing on the floor. Itadori shook his head, a guilty expression creeping upon his face.
“Ah, I kinda slept in today, so no. I haven’t seen anyone actually.” He giggled. You responded with your own.
A day off itself isn’t unusual for Gojo, but yesterday you remembered him droning on and on about how excited he was to ‘whip Yuuji up to shape’ and then treat him with sushi afterward.
You balled the fist that was in your jacket pocket, hiding any worry from your face. “Thanks for letting me know, Itadori-san.” You turned around, pausing midway, “Tell Sukuna I said hi.”
Itadori blinked at you, and you saw the mouth forming on his cheek. The curse let out a string of profanities and the occasional death threat, then disappeared into Itadori’s skin.
You waved at your student and took your leave.
Almost running down the hallway, you kept your eyes glued on your phone, fingers tapping vigorously on the screen.
It wasn’t that you didn’t trust your co-worker. In fact, Gojo’s tendency to poke his nose into things he shouldn’t have brought more trouble for you than him. The reason is that your mental gymnastics about his wellbeing has you aging for about ten years’ worth.
If he wasn’t making you exasperated, Gojo would be on your ass for worrying too much about him. This is acceptable since you’re basically stressing over nothing.
Though, there’s still a lingering feeling, gnawing at the dark recesses of your thoughts that says otherwise-
The device in your hand vibrated, notifying you of the incoming call. You barely gave it time to ring, quickly answering your phone.
“Where the hell are you?” You couldn’t keep the snarl from escaping your mouth. You felt slightly relieved when you heard his light chuckle, but you weren’t saying that out loud.
“Someone’s cranky today. Did you need something from me, sweetheart?” He hummed. You could almost see his smug smile.
You pinched the bridge of your nose. “You’re the one who called, Satoru.”
“Ah, I guess so.” Breathing in deeply, you tried not to end the call right there. Gojo’s side was silent for a few moments until you heard him snap his fingers. Three seconds later, there was still no response from him.
“Satoru?”
You sneered at the caller ID, before pressing the red icon. Pocketing your phone, you decided to not associate yourself with whatever that man’s up to. He was not worth wasting your morning over, and you had a long, long day ahead.
You settled with going to your second-year students to start the daily training. Turning on your heel, you didn’t expect to be met face-first with a broad chest.
Well, it was a broad chest in front of you, but what you hit was something much more solid. You rubbed your sore forehead, clicking your tongue at the culprit.
“I told you not to activate Infinity when sneaking up on me.” Your complaint was met with a satisfied smirk.
Gojo leaned forward (and down), waving his finger at you. “Or…you should probably get better at detecting things, instead of bumping into everything.” He puffed some air into your forehead. “I’m worried you’ll get a concussion and forget about me, you know?”
You backed away from him and crossed your arms. “What’s so important that you had to warp here instead of telling me through a phone call?”
In truth, it was nice having him here physically. It gave you some ground to quell your overthinking. Again, not that you would tell Gojo that.
Your question, however, made Gojo visibly deflate. His shoulders slumped as he tried to explain his side. The sudden shift of mood softened your irritation towards him, yet you held your ground, lest he tried to butter you up for a favor.
“You remember when I bought that new box set of sweets, the one from the new bakery downtown?” He started.
You snorted, recalling how he didn’t even give you a single bite. “Sure.”
“Well, I met up with Nanamin after my session with Yuuji. And he saw me eating it, so he decided to give me a two-hour lecture on how my sugar diet will lead to my depleting health, fitness, and concentration.”
This time, you laughed. The situation was a Nanami thing to do, no doubt. The image of Gojo being told off by his kouhai, however, was something you wanted to see so badly. That man has the ability that most cannot fathom to grasp. The ability to handle the manchild of a sorcerer.
“So, are you here to snitch on Nanami-san? I’m not gonna scold him, you know. He was right.” You raised an eyebrow, pointedly waiting for Gojo to continue.
“It’s not that. I’m healthy and in perfect shape, that’s obvious,” Gojo ignored the snarky remark you threw at him. “But since he said all that jazz, he also demanded to see my teeth for evidence.”
Your eyes narrowed at the sudden turn of the story. “And?”
“I have a cavity. Two, actually.”
A few beats, three, four.
You couldn’t help the noise coming out of you. You held your sides and leaned backward as you cackled at the revelation. Gojo was not amused at the reception of his confession. He looked at you with displeasure.
“It’s not that funny.”
“Pft- right you’re right it’s not-“ You let out a suppressed giggle, feeling your eyes tear up. A good ten seconds and you recovered enough to face Gojo without snickering. He had a cute pout on his lips.
“Okay, I think I’m okay.” You cleared your throat. “What’s the deal now?”
You asked him, but you had a general idea of what he was going to say. The abrupt day-off made sense, and you were expecting Gojo to ask you to substitute for him, while he goes to the dentist. Pretty straightforward.
Gojo pursed his lips, acting like he would do anything other than speaking the next words.
“Can you come with me to the appointment?”
The dumbfounded look on your face made Gojo regret mentioning it, and he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
“You’re pretty immature and annoying.” He said, bemused. Gojo’s words snapped you back to reality, earning a slighted reaction from you.
Gojo didn’t activate his Infinity barrier when you punched him on the arm. The effort was futile, with the taller man barely moving at the action. In your defense, that wasn’t meant to hurt him anyway.
“If you insist on having me as your companion in this dentist trip, then I suggest you play nice.” You emphasized the last word, pointedly staring at his covered eyes.
A second later, Gojo flashed a grin and ruffled your hair. “I always found you cute when you’re all huffy like that.”
You sputtered out a response, which fell on deaf ears as Gojo tapped away on his phone to get directions for the clinic.
The trip took longer than expected, as Gojo had to drop in his apartment and change into casual wear.
You noted the cream sweater he was wearing and how it wasn’t something you saw beforehand. You chose not to bring it up, since Gojo might tease you for noticing.
“Like what you see?” He stared at you over his sunglasses with a smirk, and you looked away with a huff.
“Let’s just get to the appointment.”
~
The idea of sitting around a waiting room for an hour or so didn’t bother you much, opting for an excuse to laze around on a supposedly tiring day. You settled on a chair, scanning for an interesting magazine when you spotted a head of silver hair out the corner of your eye.
“Pst, hey,” Gojo called out to you in a whisper tone, not actually whispering. His head was peeking out the door that separated the room from the clinic. “What are you doing there?”
You scrunched your eyebrows at the bizarre question. “I'm reading something.” The fashion magazine in your hand was unopened, though you were deciding on scanning it.
Gojo seemed unsatisfied with your reply but didn’t say anything. You were waiting for him to go back to the clinic, instead, he stood there staring at you.
“Do you need anything?” You inquired, exasperated by his weird behavior. “Gojo, the dentist isn’t going to start if you’re not in the chair so-"
“Can you come in with me?”
Whiplash. You placed the magazine back on the coffee table, and subtly pinched your forearm. Gojo is still there, awaiting your response.
“Did the-“
“Yes, I asked for permission and the doctor accepted.” He made an impatient noise as he nodded his head towards the clinic. “Come on, we don’t have all day.”
Before you could call him out for being the one delaying the appointment, he shut the door quietly. With a dumbfounded look on your face, you pondered about his change of demeanor.
Gojo still has the usual pushy attitude, but it sort of dampened during the whole exchange. And the fact that he’s asking for your company more openly than normal, you wondered if he felt unwell.
You let out a scoff and stood up from the couch, thinking that whatever’s making Gojo act friendlier, is none of your business. You were only tagging along for something very mundane, totally nothing to worry your head about.
The dentist greeted you with a polite smile as you entered. For some reason, Gojo didn’t acknowledge your presence, but you let it slide as he was already lying down on the reclined chair, with a pink bib on his chest.
That made you smile to yourself. You hoped he would wear some other color in his wardrobe. Along with the uniform, his sweaters and the occasional long-sleeved button-up offered nothing to the imagination.
Before you could fantasize more about Gojo in a velvet red suit, the dentist started talking to him, cutting your own thoughts off. She was stating the usual tips to avoid cavities in the near future, with Gojo humming every now and then.
“You know, as a sweet tooth myself, the maintenance that you have to do for your teeth is twice the work.” The dentist started poking around their tools. Having found what she needed, she turned around to face Gojo. “Okay now, can you open up for me?”
For good reason, you felt a bit intrusive about being in the room. You chose to busy yourself on your phone as the dentist did her work.
32 new messages.
Your heart nearly stopped upon seeing the notification. A few scrolls later, you realized it wasn’t a real emergency and let out a breath.
Maki and the other second years were texting about the training session, wondering why you weren’t showing up. You were about to reply when you noticed the dentist sat up from her chair.
“I'll just get some tools and we'll get started.” She spoke up, retreating to the other corner of the clinic. You took this time to look over at Gojo, who was silently brooding.
“Nanami-san did you a favor, at least your teeth aren’t falling out and all that. Wait, are they?” You jested at the last part, though the humor faded out when Gojo only met your expression with a pensive glare.
“Are you seriously making fun of me right now?”
You shrugged, “Thought it'd bring up your mood. You've been quiet during the whole briefing.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I have tiny mirrors and needles poking in my mouth.”
“Besides that,” you clicked your tongue at his snarky reply. “Is it because you’re not used to being at the dentist?”
You half-expected Gojo to brag about how he’s Mr. Perfect and that he doesn’t need to do annual check-ups like every normal person would, but you were met with a shaky sigh.
That made you worry even more.
“Not really that, it’s just…” He trailed off. You looked over at his sapphire eyes and Gojo stared to the side. You pressed down the urge to pat his puffed-out cheek and waited for him to continue.
“There’s too much to feel. Around here, I mean.” The bright color in his eyes dulled as he went on, accompanying the taut smile on his lips. “Complaining and all is a pain in the ass since it doesn’t really do anything.”
You mentally scolded yourself for not considering it. The sterile white furniture and shiny steel equipment, bright lights, and the whirring of the machinery. Not to mention the needles and drills poking around his teeth later on.
Sensory overload, the worst enemy against the Six Eyes user.
You looked over at the dentist, seeing that she was still preparing the necessary tools. Glancing back at Gojo, you offered him a sympathetic gaze. “It doesn’t mean that you’re not allowed to complain.”
He hummed, clasping his hands together on his lap. Gojo kept his eyes closed, either deep in thought or shutting his surroundings out.
“You know if I planned to train myself on keeping my technique active, you would’ve thought I prepared an off-switch or something.”
A pause. “But you didn’t?” You asked.
“Kinda like learning how to ride a bike,” Gojo opened one eye slightly and fixed his gaze on you. “You never unlearn it.”
There was something innately fragile in that last sentence. You’re not sure if it was the nerves or something deeper. It's mostly obvious that Gojo wasn’t just the cheeky man that he is. You chose not to voice your thoughts.
The gesture felt bizarre, and you were sure of the notion when you saw Gojo tense up, your fingers hovering over his clenched fist. “May I?” You squeaked out, not realizing how dry your throat has been.
His blue eyes studied you and your awaiting hand, checking to see if you were joking around with him. Gojo looked satisfied with what he saw, and he let out a quiet sigh. You detected movement and saw him open his hand palm up.
You weren’t expecting the slight chill on his skin, yet you held back from flinching and gingerly placed your fingers on Gojo’s palm. The floor looked interesting as you felt him observe every motion you did.
“If it’s worth anything, my hand’s sanitized.” Gojo broke the silence, and you thought you heard a smirk from his reply.
You couldn’t stop a snort from coming out of you as you let your hand clasp around his. “That’s funny, I thought I saw you scratch your ass on the way here.”
Gojo squeezed your hand, “So you were checking out my ass, then?”
Your eyebrows furrowed at the retort while you let out a retching noise. “Please, there’s barely anything there. You’re flat as cardboard.”
His tousled hair bounced with his laughter; crystal blue eyes no longer glazed with gloom. Both of you failed to notice the dentist picking quietly at her tools in the corner, whispering something about young love and all.
gone insane and posted a 5 month draft from my notes lol,, i have a bad habit of keeping works in the backburner..
masterpost
