Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The gods must be testing her.

 “Scary! Hysteric woman aren't popular you know!”

Aside from the fact that Gojo just dropped the bomb that there might be a spy among them, he never showed a hint of seriousness in his attitude. He didn't even flinch when she threw her cup at him, only mocked her for it.

He mocked her even more by making her stutter before the start of the Goodwill Event in front of the students.

Why can't he be serious, just for once in his life.

But this is Gojo Satoru she was talking about. Nothing is ever serious to him. He just laughs at her, gets her riled up and enjoys the outrage he causes. A sassy smile is all she gets after throwing a second cup of tea at him.

What a waste of good tea, though Utahime and tried to turn her attention to the event.

Yes, this was supposed to be an event where her students compete with Gojo’s. She and him had done the same year ago, when she was an almost graduated sorcerer and Gojo had no business in that event. The only reason why he was allowed to participate was because he was, by far, more advanced and stronger than anyone else in Jujutsu High, alongside his best friend Geto. Utahime would never forget the humiliation of that day, where Gojo apparently had made it his sole purpose to show her just how weak she was.

“You are so weak, Utahime”

Maybe she had clenched her hand too hard in her skirt because Gojo even made a comment on it.

Calm yourself.

She shouldn’t try to solve her unfinished business with Gojo by proxy with her students.

But there, in the deep, deep layers of professionalism, her duty as a teacher and as a sorcerer, laid the spirit of competition against him. Just once, she wanted to get him as riled up as he always did to her.

“My, my, you are making such a scary face Utahime!”

“Utahime-senpai! Respect your seniors!”

“Scary!” Gojo gave her a cocky smirk “You always get mad when I talk to you”

“Well,” said Mei-Mei, calmy “You´re always picking fight with her”

Even Gakuganji nodded.

“You are not a child anymore, Gojo. Act like it”

Gojo stuck out his tongue at him in a rude way.

Irritated, Utahime tried to kick his leg only for it to slam against his Infinity barrier. This only amused him further.

“What is your problem anyway?” Utahime snarled at him “Why do you always pick a fight with me if you already know what is going to happen?”

“Oh my god, Utahime, you haven't figured it out?” Gojo threw his head backwards in the seat “You're supposed to be a teacher!”

If she had another cup in her hand, she would have thrown it at him already. Instead, she controls her breathing, folds her hands in her lap and frowns at him.

“Please, enlighten me”

Gojo turned his head at her. For once, he wasn´t smiling. “I like you”

Utahime closed her mouth, staring at him.

There was a pause before Utahime let out a huge, hysterical laugh.

*….*

“You should have seen his face! It was hilarious” Utahime covered her mouth trying to hold back her laughter. Even the simple memory was enough to make a chuckle escape form her.

After the disastrous event, well, with all the special grade curses, Gojo blasting a hole in the middle of the forest and some serious healing for some students by Shoko, Yaga and Gakuganji gave them a few days in Tokyo before returning home and she was going to take advantage of that free time by going out with her best friend.

Shoko made a “mmmh” sound as she was trying to hide her dark circles the best she could with make-up but it was a lost battle. They persisted under her eyes.

For a moment, the incredulous face of Gojo came back to the mind of Utahime and this time she couldn´t suppress the giggles.

“Oh gods, I am never going to forget that face in my life”

“He was quite upset you know”

Utahime looked at her friend as she started to put on the mascara.

 “He told me after I healed Maki”

“Oh yes, the great Gojo Satoru is upset because I didn't believe this little prank”

“It wasn't a prank”

“Yes it was, Shoko. Gojo likes me? Me?” Utahime inhales deeply and stands up, joining her friend in the mirror. Absent minded, she starts to comb her hair “Gojo takes pleasure by disrespecting me in any way he can think since we were students. You are telling me that this is his way of showing his attraction to me?”

“I had told him a long time ago that he should change this tactic but he wouldn’t listen” Shoko took out her lipstick, carefully applying it. After popping her lips, she began applying it to Utahime.

She tried to keep talking but was shushed by her friend.

“I know it´s not my business but I will have to deal with a heart broken Gojo for the next few weeks because of you. But also, it’s not your fault Uta.” Shoko kept pressing the lipstick against her lips, shushing her effectively. “He should have shown his interest in you in a less childish way. But in the end, it will be your decision if you decide to accept him or not”

She finally pulled the lipstick away but Utahime said nothing. She just kept staring at her friend.

“Now” she smiled “let´s go to that karaoke I've been telling to about”

*….*

“Mai, Momo, don't fight for the window seat, there are plenty”

“Utahime-sensei, I can't find my luggage!” Miwa's panicked voice resounded in the wagon

“It's behind Toudou’s, don't panic Miwa”

Sometimes Utahime wondered if this was how motherhood felt. 

The train was going to depart in a few moments. Gojo had taken the trouble to escort her and her group to the train station but he hadn’t said a word in the shared taxi they took while her students traveled in another. He only stared out the window. It was the most peacefully moment she had shared with him, with no bickering or fighting. She was almost happy.

“So…this is it” Gojo said.

After making sure everyone had everything with them, she stepped out of the train, her hands folded in her front.

“Yes. If I have more information about the thing we discussed, I will contact you”

They stared at each other, saying nothing.

“Well, I will see you later”

Gojo nodded, but didn´t move.

Strange, by now he would have at least made a snarky comment or laugh in his “hehehe” way.

He was uncharacteristic quiet. It was unnerving.

It wasn’t a prank. Shoko's voice resounded in her mind.

It was almost sad leaving him like his, like a kicked puppy. Carefully, she cleared her throat

“Thank you” She says. Gojo looks at her, confused, tilting his head, so she quickly ads “For the baseball game. That was your doing wasn't it? No way Yaga would approve that”

Gojo stares more and weakly nods.

Utahime gives him a faint smile.

“I really enjoyed it”

She may hate him most of the time, but right now she felt a strange peace between them. Gojo naturally towered over her but on that moment she could have sworn that he shrugged under her gaze. Now that was definitely weird.

“Anytime, Utahime”

“Utahime-senpai” she corrects.

“Whatever” he grins at her in his usual way “See you later”

Gojo quickly turned and gave her wave with two fingers as he walked away.

Utahime got in the train and sat in the seat across Mai and Momo. They both had huge grins on their faces.

“Gojo-sensei was blushing” said Momo, fixing her eyes on her.

“Really?” Utahime turns her attention to a magazine “He must have seen something he likes”

Mai snickered “Yeah, I bet”

Utahime doesn’t pay attention to her and choses to try to sleep the ride to Kyoto. Just as she felt his body relax, her mind recalled Gojo's face in the Godwill Event.

His lips were pressed tightly as he stared at her

“Oh”

He was hurt.

She had hurt him.

Chapter Text

In the end, it was Gojo who ended up calling her first. On her day off no less. 

Hearing him praising his students was fine until he tried to take all the credit by affirming that his skills as an instructor were responsible of their success. Gojo’s students were powerful, yes, but she highly doubted his teaching methods where responsible for that.

So she interrupts him before he can enlarge more of this already oversized ego and inquiries about the party. It frustrates her that she couldn’t find any leads on her side, but uncovering a mole was not going to be an easy. Gojo’s remarks of having non-alcoholic drinks because of the students and him being a light-weight, makes her heart clench. She didn’t want to suspect the students either but it was a possibility, and Gojo just gave her the green light on her own idea. They exchange a few more words, promising to get in contact if one of them finds something. 

She almost hangs ups to finish the call and get on with her day but Gojo’s voice stops her before she hits the red button.

“Utahime”

“Yes?”

“I like you”

Pause

This again?

Utahime sighed heavily 

“Gojo, this prank didn’t even end well the last time.”

“What?”

“As soon as you said those words, special grade curses attacked the school”

 If he was going to have funny trying to play with her feelings, screw it, she was going to do the same. 

“Who knows” a faint smile came to her mouth as she wiggles her fingers weakly, trying to emulate a sense of fright “Those words might be cursed” a quick laugh escapes her mouth, finding her strange humor somewhat hilarious.

The other end of the line remained silent.

*...*

The buzzing of her phone in her nightstand immediately woke her up.  She was quick to grab it, thinking that maybe it was an emergency mission and the higher-ups wanted her to provide support immediately. Or someone set the students building on fire again while trying to cook a midnight snack.

Nanami Kento

The name shines in the screen with a ghoulish blue light that hurts her eyes. For a moment, she hesitates and finally picks up.

“Yes?”

“Iori-san” Nanami’s voice came distant from the other end. It sounded tired and, surprisingly, borderline pissed “I want you to talk with Gojo-san about his huge crush on you”

Utahime kept quiet

No “please”, no “thank you”.

This was a demand.

She glanced at the alarm clock by her bedside. It was three in the morning.

“Right now?” she asked, confused, still not understanding anything the man was saying.

“Yes”

“Where are you?” Utahime rises of her bed “What are you doing?”

Does Gojo go around telling people at three in the morning that he likes her?

“He has been dragging me unwillingly to a bar for two nights straight to drunkenly talk about how much he loves you” 

Oh my gods. Even she felt pity for the man. He was one of the few people who could tolerate Gojo because he basically paid no attention to the nonsense he did. But even he had a limit. Utahime wouldn't have been surprised that at some point in those nights, he may have wanted to hit Gojo with a bottle in his stupid face. She knew how clingy he got after a few sips of sake.

“Wait, love? You said he likes me”

“What’s the difference?”

A lot, she wants to answer but a noise on the other end of the line stops her. It’s Gojo’s voice. He is slurring and screaming something she doesn’t understand. Suddenly, there is a noise so loud against her ear that she flinches in pain and almost drops the phone. She could hear struggling on the other end, followed by a moment of silence. Finally, Nanami’s voice came back, this time more calmed.

“I have to go Iori-san”

“Is everything ok?” asks Utahime, with a hint of worry.

“Nothing so serious Ieiri-san can’t fix” Is that supposed to reassure her? “But I still want you to talk that issue with him.”

“...Why?”

“Because if he doesn’t drag me along next time, I’m sure he is capable of dragging his students with him. Have a good night” and hung up.

Utahime did not doubt that Gojo was capable of dragging his students to a bar.

*....*

The next day she texts Gojo.

>I thought you couldn’t drink

The reply came not even four minutes later.

I said I was a light-weight, not that I couldn’t drink     >:( 

The frowny face was accompanied with a whole bunch of different emoji’s that didn’t even make sense. Utahime sighed, exasperated. He couldn’t have been that drunk last night if he could type this kind of nonsense in his phone to annoy her. For a moment she considers leaving the conversation on seen and get on with her schedule, which was already busy enough to be texting a hungover man-child.

But Nanami is one of her few juniors she appreciates. She also knew the possible consequences of Gojo taking his fifteen-year-old students to a bar, so she has to suck it up and deal with this problem. 

Her phone buzzed with another text

If you had been paying attention to me you would have known    >:( 

And you call yourself a teach     ):>

“What the fuck”

All good intentions she had to help Nanami with this man evaporate instantly.

How dare he? 

She pressed the call button so hard she actually heard the faint sound of glass breaking.

Gojo’s groggy voice answered in a sing-song.

“U-ta-hi-“

“This prank has gone long enough Gojo.” She cuts him off, furious “You overstepped by dragging Nanami with you and your bad decisions. He is your junior and you are his senpai. You” she slams her finger in her desk to mark her point “Should be the one helping him out, not the other way around. So stop saying you like me-”

“But I like you”

All playfulness in his voice is gone, replaced with the same tone he had the day of the Goodwill Event. Utahime takes a deep breath.

“No, you don’t”

“I do like you”

“Stop it! “She yelled, unable to contain her anger, “This isn't funny anymore!”

“I fucking like you Utahime, why can’t you believe me?”

A heavy silence installs in her office. 

“Because I can’t”

*...*

It’s one in the morning but she knows Shoko it’s still wide awake. She was a night owl and Utahime couldn’t sleep no matter how much she tossed and turned in her bead, that dreadful phone call with Gojo repeating itself all over again in her head. Groaning with frustration, she reached out to her phone.

On the third beep, she friend’s voice answers.

“Hi”

Utahime cuts to the chase “Let’s assume what you said was right”

“I was right” said Shoko. She didn’t even ask what the subject is but knowing her, and knowing Gojo, she must have been already briefed in what happened that afternoon.

“I said let’s assume” Utahime took a deep breath “Since when?”

“Since we were second years”

Oh my gods

That’s more than a decade.

Utahime pinched the bridge of her nose as her head began to throb.

“Then why did he take so long to tell me? Why did he make it his personal mission to annoy me every single time we meet?”

Each passing moment made her angrier and angrier and soon she was shouting at the phone.

“Why does he tell me every single time that I’m weak?! Why does he try to make me feel so bad about myself all the time?! Why-“

Why did he make me hate him so much? 

She must have screamed more questions but she doesn’t remember all of them. By the time she’s done, she face is all red and there are tears of frustration in her eyes. A crackle comes from Shoko´s end. She must have put her in speaker.

“Got it all out?”

“Kinda. Yes” she took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes.

They burned.

The sound of Shoko dropping her phone on a surface brought back her attention. 

“It’s true that Gojo was a brat to you all this years” there are more crackles and a metallic sound in the background. What the hell is she doing over there? “Partly because that’s how he thought he would get your attention”

“Like an elementary school kid, yes” Utahime clenches her hand in the sheets of the bed and looks down. For a moment, she feels empty “But that doesn’t explain why he never said how he felt about me all those years.”

The metallic sounds in Shoko's end stop all together. Utahime stares at the phone, anxiously. When Shoko replies, her voice is soft.

“Because he was being thoughtful”

Utahime pauses, confused.

“Thoughtful?”

“Yes. Gojo didn’t feel it was fair for him to put the moves on you because he liked you”

He liked me? Who liked-

A quiet gasp escaped her lips. She looks at the phone, shock creeping up her spine

“Geto liked me?”

Chapter Text

Gakuganji stares at her dumbfounded

“You want two days off?”

Utahime nods firmly, looking directly into his eyes.

“I have urgent matters to take care in Tokyo. I understand this may cause problems for you but I need to go immediately.”

Before he could answer, she explains that her students would use those two days to train by themselves and finish a huge pile of homework. The dark circles in her eyes weren't for nothing. She had made that thing in the course of a few hours after her call with Shoko.
A heavy copy is placed in front of Gakuganji, who takes it and flips through it. His eyebrows rise slightly at the difficulty of the task.

The elder didn’t say anything for a moment, pondering his options. He had no reason to refuse this. Utahime never asked permission to leave work early or skipped her responsibilities-unlike the tall man Yaga was so keen on protecting all the time-and keeps her terrible students at bay.

She was the perfect model of a teacher. So, after an uncomfortable silence, he nodded.

“I will have to take those days off your vacation, though”

God fucking dammit Gojo Satoru.
You better be worth this.

Utahime inhales and smiles brightly.

“All right”

*...*

Unsurprisingly, no one was thrilled that she left them with homework. Actually, half of her students wanted to kill her as soon as they saw the thickness of the copies Miwa handed out.

“Why do we have to do this?! You’re only leaving for two days!

“Like I said, it’s an urgent matter. I’m sure you can handle this kind of work”

“For what kind of urgent matter you have to go to Tokyo?” asks Mai, suspiciously.

“That’s personal” she gives the tall girl a little smack on the head with her long black carrier bag.

“Why are you taking a sword with you?”

“It’s not a sword” she pinches Momo cheek playful “Little nosy kids. Good luck with your assignment”

A collective groan is heard.
A small backpack is all she needs for her trip, since Shoko offered to let her stay at her department. A taxi takes her to the train station where she buys a ticket to the next train that leaves in an hour.

Once aboard, she texts Nanami and Shoko telling them that she’s on her way and asks them to keep the idiot on the school until she arrives. Shoko sends her a thumbs-up emoji. Nanami replies with a dry “Understood”

Utahime looks out the window as the train leaves the station.

And begins to think. To remember all those times Geto, Gojo and her were all together as students. Well, at least when they were students, she was already a grade two sorcerer before...the incident.

When Geto murdered an entire town and was declared a criminal in the jujutsu world.

Stop. She scolds herself. Concentrate.

Geto smiling at her.

But he always smiled all the time and, frankly, it was quite weird.

Geto sparring with her.

But she had asked him to because Mei-Mei wasn’t there and Shoko wasn’t the combative type.

Geto giving her a small thank you after receiving some friendship chocolate for Valentine´s day.

Geto and Gojo calling her weak together.

Geto and Gojo being self-centered bastards.

No, wait, that was only Gojo.

Gojo grinning with mischief, standing above her in the stairs.

Gojo teasing her by pulling her pigtails and running away with her hair ties.

Gojo’s rude and obnoxious way of talking about the higher-ups and how much they sucked, how much rules sucked, how he was going to destroy the system, how she was so dull and weak and none would ever love her-

‘I wonder if it’s not to late to jump off this train’ she thinks. Of course, she wouldn’t do it

But sure it’s tempting.

*...*

Sorry, lost him

Utahime nearly snaps her phone in two. Shoko sends another text.

Somehow he found out that you were coming and bailed out of the school.

And for some reason this doesn’t surprises her. Gojo had a bad reputation with women, running away from them after having broken their hearts or when they wanted to have something more serious with him. If they got extra clingy for his taste, it was enough to send him running in another direction.

And everybody knew that.

Heck, even the students knew that but apparently that didn’t stop Miwa from idolizing him not matter the nastiest rumors that circulated in the jujutsu community.
But the thing about gossip is that you should only believe half of it. Her mother had taught her that. There was no way had Gojo banged all the women he had dated or had god-knows-how-many mini Gojos running around illegally. If anything, his family was begging to him to have children.

Nishinoya, a sorcerer woman of her generation and the main source of those rumors, had gone out with Gojo a long time ago. Apparently, she didn’t take it very well to be dumped for a barista.
After her revenge, she hadn't heard of Gojo dating anyone else, sorcerer or civilian. Perhaps he was afraid of the retaliation he might attract if he continued to be a womanizer.

Still, she couldn't believe that Gojo, the strongest sorcerer in the jujutsu world, couldn’t handle that his crush came to confront him on the matter and choose to flee. Like a coward.
Shoko had work to do and wouldn’t be free until the evening. Nanami couldn’t help her either because he was dispatched to deal with a grade one curse.

So she was alone in this mission, with an invisible ticking clock over her head, to find Gojo Satoru in Tokyo. She clenches the cellphone in her hand.

‘Gojo, you can’t run from me forever’

*...*

Turns out Gojo can run from her forever.

Shoko recruited a reluctant Ijichi to the cause. As soon as she or Nanami had news about where Gojo might be, he would drive Utahime to the location like a madman, only for it to be empty or curse-free.

By sunset, she hadn’t achieved anything but being tired, hungry and pissed at the idiot. Her last option was the school. By requirement, Gojo had to deliver Yaga a report of all the curses he dealt with today, so her new plan was to wait for him at the entrance of the main building.

Her stomach growls in protest after half an hour of being there. For a moment she considers giving up, go with Shoko to a sports bar and drown her misery in beer when she hears a loud voice approaching her.

It’s Fushiguro Megumi and Sukuna’s vessel, Itadori Yuuji.

“Good afternoon” says Fushiguro, bowing slightly.

“Hello!”

“Hi. I’m looking for your stupid teacher”

Both kids are unfazed by the insult.

“Gojo-sensei hasn’t been the school all day. He actually asked us to deliver this to Yaga-san” Itadori shows her a badly done report, written and signed with Gojo’s childish handwriting.

Utahime wants to scream.

“I see. Well, if you see him, tell him I need to speak to him about an urgent matter”

“Will do” says Fushiguro.

Itadori says nothing, staring at her, narrowing his eyes. Utahime raises an eyebrow and is about to ask him if she has something on her face when the boy gasps loudly.

“You are Gojo-sensei’s fair lady!”

Fair lady?

Fushiguro looks at his classmate with a tired expression.

“Itadori” he warns him.

The kid’s face instantly morphs in one of absolute terror. He bows deeply.

“Please don’t tell him I said that! He is going to kill me!”

“What?” Utahime resists the urge to laugh at the boy's witticisms “Gojo would never-“

Fushiguro nods his head behind him.

Or maybe he would.

Before anyone can say anything else, a faint growl is heard. Itadori laughs nervously and scratches the back of his head.

“Sorry”

Utahime smiles with tenderness.

“Actually I’ m pretty hungry too. Wanna use the kitchen to make dinner?”

*….*

Gakuganji would have a heart attack if he knew whom she was having dinner with.

Itadori Yuuji is basically sunshine personified. And it’s pretty obvious that Fushiguro had feelings for him by the way he gently scolds him for being a messy eater and even cleans his face with a tissue. They talk about movies, sports and, together, they trash talk about Gojo. Well, mostly Fushiguro and her, Itadori seems to still have a soft spot for his teacher.

After all, even if it was unorthodox or highly unconventional, Gojo had taught them to fight and survive in this world. She realizes then and there that Gojo is actually a pretty good teacher. Maybe his skills were responsible for his students’ success but she would never, ever, admit it to his face.
After they clean the kitchen, Itadori excuses himself to his room and Fushiguro leaves to make a call.

Utahime steps outside; her carrier is starting to hurt her shoulder. She sighs and stretches. No longer hungry, her body feels a little better and her bad mood has diminished.

So what now?

She stares at the beautiful color of the sunset when her phone buzzes. It’s Gojo.

I’m in the school, the text reads

Utahime glances around her and types

>I’m not a genie, where are you?

In our special place

>All right then, I’ll go to the train station

):<

A small laugh escapes hers lips. Who would have thought that teasing Gojo Satoru could be so much fun? Oh. Now she kinda understands why he did it to her all these years. It really is entertaining.

*...*

Gojo is seating in the stairs where the students met for the Goodwill Event. It was also the place where they used to hang out when they were students all those years ago.
Utahime sits next to him, but Gojo doesn´t turn his head to look at her.

“Hi”

“Hi”

Neither of them says anything else.
After all he’s too proud to apologize for involving her in a wild goose chase, and although she wishes with all her heart to make him pay for it, she doesn’t want to chase him away when he finally came to see her by his own free will. Besides, talking about his huge crush on her, with her, must be pretty uncomfortable.
Someone has to be the adult.
So she begins.

“Look I know what I said about you being Nanami’s senpai. That you should be the one to help him because he is your junior” by the corner of her eye Gojo is sticking his tongue out. Utahime’s eyelid tics but continues “So now I’m going to help you because I’m your senpai”

Gojo keeps quiet but stopped making faces.

“I know about Geto” she chooses her next words carefully “His feelings”

This makes him grunts.

“Shoko should have keep her damn mouth shut”

“Zip it” Utahime hit his arm even though it doesn't affect him. Damned Infinity barrier “And no, I don’t think she should have. If she hadn’t do it, you would have waddle in your own misery for the rest of your life”

“Excuse me!” Gojo threw his hands in the air, irritated “I confessed to you and you laughed in my face!”

Utahime sighs deeply and resist the urge to imitate him “Well of course I did Gojo! You haven’t been exactly the nicest person to me so I’m bound to distrust you when you say things like that”

Gojo grunts again and looks away, pouting.

“....Maybe if you had been more honest with me from the start, I could have believed you”

“But I wasn’t” the pain in his voice was palpable.

“Exactly”

“So you hate me now”

“I hate you most of the time because you are an egocentric bastard”

Gojo laughs in his obnoxious “hehehehe” way. Being told that he is a pain in the ass always cheered him up “Yes I am. Yaga always says-” he places of his both index fingers on his face, pretending to frown. He deepens his voice “You’re so full of yourself, Gojo Satoru!”

Utahime snorts and covers her mouth quickly. The resemblance is uncanny.

“Stop it!” she tries not to laugh and fails, a giggle escaping her lips.

“One of these days, you’re going to get in soooo trouble Gojo Satoru! ”

This time she can't contain herself and lets out a huge laugh. It feels good, almost liberating, being honest with each other, without Gojo bothering her every five minutes and her not trying to kill him for it, even though her effort would be in vain. They keep talking about banal things until the sky darkens. That's when Gojo takes off his blindfold, and fixes his gaze on the horizon, where the city lights are flickering. Utahime stays quiet. Even in the darkness, she can see the azure glow of his eyes.

“Can I show you something and you promise that you won’t laugh like you have been doing these last few days?”

“Awwww” Utahime grins “Little Gojo can’t stand a little bit of teasing?”

“I’m serious Utahime” in his defense, he did look pretty serious in that moment.

“All right” she smiles gently “I promise I won’t laugh”

Gojo looks deeply into her eyes without saying anything, as if that way he could see if she was lying. A few moments pass and he reaches into his pants pocket, pulling out his wallet. Utahime watched, curious, as he carefully pulled out a piece of paper that was stored inside the transparent compartment of the side and handed it to her.

Sensing that this was precious to him, she took it carefully by the sides with her index finger and thumb.

It was a candy wrapper.

It was a very old candy wrapper. It had lost mostly all the blue color it used to had, a reminder that it was blueberry flavor.

She gasps in recognition and smiles widely.

“Hey, I used to eat this candy all the time when I was a kid! I always had them in the pockets of my skirt” the memories of her childhood came flooding into her mind. She caresses the wrapper carefully, in a nostalgic way. She turns to Gojo, who has his eyes fixed in her. “Why do you have this in your wallet?”

Gojo blushes and hides his face between his knees. He murmurs something she can’t hear.

“What?” Utahime closes the space between them, noticing that his infinity was off but didn’t comment on it “What did you say?”

“That’s the first candy you gave me” Gojo glances back at her, with his beautiful azure eyes hidden between his hands “When we were kids”

Chapter Text

Utahime looks at him in disbelief

“You kept this all these years?”

Gojo's face shifts into a mortified look.

“Wait, you remember?!”

“Of course I remember Gojo!” Utahime threw her hands to the air “Not every day you meet a kid with white hair and beautiful blue eyes!”

Gojo's expression immediately turns into an incredulous one, with a hint of tenderness and adoration. “You think I’m beautiful?”

Utahime stares at him deadpanned “I think your eyes are beautiful. They are your best feature since you’re basically trash”

The man’s mouth fell comically open emitting an offended gasp.

“Utahime you’re so mean to me!” Gojo placed his hand against his chest in an exaggeratedly dramatic gesture. “I’m opening my heart to you and you just tramped all over it!”

Utahime scoffs “Oh, please, you have done that to many women”

“Sure, but you’re different!”

“Uhu. So you can trample over other women’s heart but I can’t do that to you because…?”

Gojo turns away, a slight blush appearing in his ears.   “B-because it’s different”

“How so?”

“Because I love you so much”

Utahime felt like the world around them stopped when it finally clicked in her mind. The sincerity in his voice left no doubt. She’d had people confess to her before but this was Gojo.

Gojo Satoru, her asshole coworker whom she knows since she was a little kid, who bothered her every chance he got in Jujutsu High, who always made her feel bad about her own weakness and who has always stood by her side when things got ugly, was in love with her.

“I know that I said I like you” he continues “But it goes deeper than that. It’s something I have felt for years” he looks at her and for a moment and she fears he is going to break there “I understand why you didn’t believe me at first but… it hurts me that you dismissed it as a joke when I was being serious”

You always make jokes to me.

You always tease me.

But he had never played with her feelings in all those years.

He had never done something like fake confessing before turning around to laugh at her with other boys. He always smiled at her while doing his antics and when things turned ominous, his aura changed, becoming threatening, becoming the kind of person she could count on.

Gojo was serious that day of the Goodwill Event, he was serious in that phone call and he was being serious in that moment. And he was hurting to the point he looked like he could just crumbled right next to her.

So before it happens, she does what she hasn’t done in years since she met him. She pulls him into a tight hug.

It’s a very awkward hug. Gojo's legs prevent her from reaching his torso and his hunched posture-why does he have to be so tall- doesn’t help either, so they end up with her legs tangled in his, her arms hugging his back, and his head rests against the crook of her neck. The first time she did this was after his mother’s funeral and they were alone in the garden, where Gojo could cry against her after putting on a brave face in front of his family; the other time was after Geto left Jujutsu High.

She feels him placing his arms around her waist, returning the gesture, taking a deep breath.

“I never told you anything because Suguru felt something for you. It wasn't fair to ask you out because I felt that now that he wasn't here….now that he’s gone, there were no obstacles between us. And that made me feel like a shitty friend” Gojo takes a deep sigh “I never should have told you how I felt”

Utahime hugs him tighter, as if that could help him somehow. As if Gojo is once again the five-year-old child that cried against her after his mother died protecting him. Her voice is firm as she speaks.

“You are not a shitty friend. I think you’re one of the best people in the world to have as a friend. Shoko tells me you help her get out of awkward dates. You bring souvenirs to your students and mine. You go out with them for dinner and pay the bill. You defended Okkotsu Yuuta and Itadori Yuuji from death penalty, putting your life at risk even though it was a stupid and reckless” she pulls away and forces Gojo's head to look at her, her eyes shining fiercely into his azure glow “You’re a first grade jerk and at the same time one of the best people I have ever met, do you understand me?”

Gojo stares, his eyes opened wide. Utahime’s expression softens as she caresses his cheek “You aren’t a shitty friend. Never say that about yourself again. And I´m glad you told me how you feel about me. You were sincere for once in your life”

Gojo blinks and nods slowly. Softly, Utahime rests his head again in the crook of her neck.

“Listen, Gojo. When I came here from Kyoto, tired, annoyed, hating you every second for what you were putting me through-”

“This is relevant to what you want to tell me or-“

“Shut up, I haven't finished talking” she pinches him on the ear, getting a small protest “I was thinking of all the times we spent together. And you know what? I have more memories of you being an insufferable bastard to me than all the times I chatted with Geto. He never showed that he felt something more than our simple relationship as acquaintances because I was friends with Shoko. But you did show your feelings to me in your stupid, childish way. It wasn't the best way to do it, but you did it anyways and in the end, that’s what really matters”

Gojo turns away, avoiding her gaze. Geto was no longer among them but even so, his presence still had power over Gojo. His voice cracks a little when he speaks.

“He always looked at you with fondness...he complimented you every chance he could. But he only did it when Shoko and I were with him. You know…” he mutters “Sometimes I think he just said he liked you in front of me just to piss me off”

Oh.

Considering how Suguru was when he was with him, both of them constantly at each other’s throats, it was a possibility. Unlikely, but it could be.

“Did he tell you that? That he did it to annoy you?”

“No. I was never able to talk about it with him.” He takes her hands and lazily traces the palm of her hand with his thumb. “But he did felt something for you”

Utahime nods weakly “I see. But we can’t do anything else about that anymore. Right now we have to figure out what you want to do with your feelings, Gojo. Are you going to let me hold you back for the rest of your life?”

Geto was no longer with them because he was dead; Gojo had been the one to finish him off after the battle by Okkotsu Yuuta. And they both knew from the moment he had murdered the residents of that village, the moment Gojo couldn´t reason with him to abandon his plans of making an only-sorcerer world, that he couldn’t be saved. He didn’t want to be saved. He had voluntarily severed all connections to Jujutsu High he once had, and with it, the relationship with his friends.  

Seeing that he doesn’t respond, Utahime is afraid that she took it too far. That at any moment he would get up and walk away without answering her question. Instead, Gojo lowers himself one step, pulls her closer to him, and buries his face against her lap. It was a much more comfortable position than the previous one.

 “Your hugs suck” he mutters against her skirt.

Utahime looks at his mop of white hair. She understands that he was fighting an inner battle against his feelings-for her, for Geto’s- but she could only support him by being there for him. She takes his hand, stroking his knuckles slowly. Gojo’s voice is weak when he speaks again.

“I don’t want to stop loving you”

“That’s fair Gojo. You didn’t have to. The question remains the same: what do you want to do with those feelings?”

“I want...”

Gojo raises his head and places his hands around her face, caressing her scar with his thumb.

“I want you to love me as much as I love you”

Utahime closes her eyes and leans against the palm of his hand.

“All right. Let’s do it”

Gojo keeps quiet. And then he shows a big smile, full of excitement “Really?”

Ah.

There’s the Gojo Satoru she knows. She can't help but smile too.

“Really, really “. Utahime places both of her hands in his cheeks and looks at him with a stern face “But as soon as you flirt with me like a stupid elementary school boy with a crush I’m dumping your ass”

“Utahime” Gojo crosses his fighters over his heart “I swear I will never do that again”

He is lying; she knows by the way he’s trembling trying to contain his laugher.

“Also if you cheat on me I’ll dump you without a second thought”

“My Casanova days are long over!”

“Ah, that explains why I hadn't heard rumors about you lately”

“Hey, it was an embarrassing part of my story while trying to control my feelings for you”

“So you best decision to handle your feelings for me was to date and fuck everything that moves?”

The horrified expression in Gojo’s face is priceless. Utahime smirks

“Is what Nishinoya-san said.”

“Oh my god! And you believed-”

“Everyone did Gojo. She called you a whore” she stood up, dusting her pants and bottom “Personally, I think womanizer does you justice”

“Oh” Gojo imitates her and smiles cockily “Well, at least we agree on that part”

Utahime kicks his calf, earning a small “Ow!” It was so liberating to be able to hit him without his Infinity barrier activated all the time. Gojo leans into her, wrapping her in a big hug and squeezes.

“I promise you that I will never see another woman again. I'll do anything to prove it to you! In fact, I will do whatever it takes to pay for what I did to you all these years!”

“I will hold you to that” she says, and starts going up the stairs. Gojo follows besides her, humming happily.

“I’ve been meaning to ask” Gojo points at her long carrier bag in her shoulder “What are you carrying over there?”

“Oh, that. That’s my baseball bat at I’m going to use to beat you up with”

Gojo laughs.

Utahime smiles at him and beings to open the carrier bag.

“Oh wait you’re not kidding”

The baseball bat was old, given to her by her enthusiastic father when she was a teenager that loved that his daughter shared the same interests as him. She gave it few swings and looked at Gojo.

“You said that you would do anything to pay up those things you did to me, right? Unless the great Gojo Satoru, heir of the Gojo clan and bearer of the Six Eyes and Limitless is a liar”

A glimpse of surprise flashes on Gojo’s face. Calling him by all those names was enough to trigger his reckless behavior “Seriously? I’ll do it. I’ll show you that I’m serious about this relationship and this is my first step. Do it”

Utahime takes position and swings.

*…*

Gojo Satoru’s face at the Goodwill Event when she turned him down?

Screw that.

Her new favorite face was Gojo's horrified expression when she swung as hard as she could only to stop millimeters from his eye causing him to let out a small cry of panic.

He looked at her gasping in fear, as she patted him reassuringly on his cheek. He immediately turned on his Infinity. Shoko almost choked on her beer when she told her the story that night in her apartment, while an embarrassed Gojo gave them the finger as they all laughed at him. Nanami said nothing but he was clearly amused.

The next day he took her to the train station. He was sad that she was leaving early despite having another day off. But Utahime didn't want to start a weekday tired and she was going to regret leaving that homework to her students because she had to grade that too, so leaving early was ideal.

By his insistence, they walked holding hands. She was unfazed by this but Gojo had a huge grin in this face, emitting joy all around him. Utahime turns to look at him.

“Hey, so what made you finally confess what you felt for me?”

Gojo froze for a moment and looked the other way, slouching his posture.

“It’s embarrassing. I’ll tell you another day”

The small woman grins, clearly mocking him.

“Whatever you say Gojo”

“Why don't you call me by my name? We’re in a relationship”

“We are” Utahime patted his arm, affectional. Gojo’s Infinity was on but that didn’t bother her, as they’re in a public space and an ambush could happened at any moment “But I still don't feel comfortable calling you by your first name”

“Why not? I call you by your first name all the time!”

“Yes, because you are disrespectful bastard.”

She feels like a mother explaining something to a stubborn child. Oh wait she does that all the time at Kyoto Tech. And she had done it with Gojo when he was a little snotty kid that demanded her undivided attention. Gojo groaned, sounding upset. He leans his head against hers causing Utahime to lose her balance.

She tries to push him off, annoyed. “Gojo, be careful! You almost knock me down, you weight more than me!”

He growls louder and wraps her in a hug. The people around them turn to look at them-some irritated, some smiling-and Utahime feels her cheeks turning red. She nudges him in the chest.

“Gojo, people are staring! Let me go!”

“No! I won’t let you go until you call me that!”

“Call you what?!”

“You know what!”

“Fine! Satoru! Happy?”

He looks damn too happy just to be called that. Gojo lets her go but holds her arm firmly between his.

“Now tell me you love me and I’ll let go of your arm”

This fucking man-child.

His grip tightens without losign his smile. Utahime sighs.

“Fine. I like you now” Gojo makes a face and she places a finger in his lips, shushing him up “And I will like you more and more in the future and that will turn into my love for you, Satoru” She closes the gap between them and Gojo’s barrier drops. She rubs her cheek against his, letting her lips brush his skin slightly “Now let go of my arm”

Gojo's face was profusely red and he obeyed without protest as his barrier turned on again. The weight of what she'd said, how cheesy it was, made her made her feel ashamed of herself. She wasn't a teenager anymore.

Next to the train, Gojo takes her hand.

“Don’t go”

“I only asked for two days and I have to return on time”

He scoffs “It's not like Kyoto Tech is going to catch fire in your absence”

“Bold of you to assume that it won't.”

He doesn’t comment on that.

 “You were worth losing two days of my vacations”

“So you measure the great Gojo Satoru with that? “

“Yes”

They look at each other. She knows that Gojo wants something more from her before she leaves but won’t say it. Old habits die hard.

“Bend over”

His mouth immediately turns into a huge grin as he blushes and giggles, covering his mouth.

“Oh my god Utahime, you little perv-“

“Bend over before I regret this”

The seriousness in her voice leaves no doubt that he would regret it if he didn’t comply. So, he does, turning off his Infinity, and she puts her hands in his cheeks, gently pressing a kiss in his lips.

When she pulls away, she doesn’t know whose face is more red, hers or Gojo’s.

She tried her damn best not to stutter but it comes out anyway.

“I’ll see you later” and basically ran into her cabin, slumping against her seat and hides her face with her hands. An old lady sitting in the other line of seats looks at her and chuckles, murmuring something about young love. A cry of joy startled the passengers and the heart of Utahime almost leaps out of her mouth.

“YES!”

She looks out the window just as the train begins to move and sees Gojo jumping excitedly on the platform.

“I LOVE YOU SO MUCH UTAHIME!”

Utahime hid her red face with her hands, embarrassed.

Chapter Text

It’s not fair

His nanny, a stern old woman who did not tolerate his antics-his bullshit as his cousin calls it- had sent him to his room without supper.

It wasn't fair because they were the ones who had fought him first and he fought back just like his mother had taught him.

“Don’t let them get to you, Satoru” she hugged him, weakly, her fever so high it makes him sweat “You’re strong”

The other adults had stopped them when he busted the lip of his cousin and broke the nose of his servant, a boy his age. So as a punishment his nanny sent him to his room without supper. The hunger bites into his flesh and he feels like he’s going to cry of frustration at any moment.
Before he makes a turn to the right to head for his quarters, he sees her.

A little girl with pigtails standing next to the koi pond, her eyes fixated on the fishes.

She wasn’t from his family-her kimono said that much-and she wasn’t a servant either.
So she was a visitor.

Aside from his little cousin, he had never met a girl his age. Halfway to her, he realizes with mild horror that she is taller than him, therefore, not his age. But the sound of leaves crunching under his shoes has alerted the girl of his presence and she turns to look at him.
They neither of them moves or speaks.

He blushes

It’s not fair that the girl he wanted to talk-and maybe become his first friend- would be so pretty.

He’s frozen, unsure of what to do next. The girl tils her head, growing more and more confused by the second. So he does that he has seen his older cousins do with their pretty fiancées and stands next to her by the pond, his eyes fixated on the placid movements of the colorful fishes and doesn’t say a thing.

After a moment, the girl copies him; an awkward silence grows between them until it’s interrupted by the growl of his stomach. The girl’s head turns to look at him as a deep flush creeps up his face and all he wants to do is die on the spot.

“You hungry?” the girl asks.

He doesn’t respond, keeping his eyes in the koi fish, trying to resist the urge to run back inside the house.

“Here”

The girl shoves her hand in one of her pockets and, without asking him, takes his hand and places a small object in it.

It’s a blueberry flavored candy.

His hunger almost subsides at the sight of the little sugary treat and he opens his mouth to speak.

“Excuse me”

A voice startles him and turns around to see that a servant is approaching them. He quickly hides the sweet in his yukata and the girl immediately straightens up, crossing her hands in front of her. That gives her an aura of elegance that makes his cheeks blush. His stomach also feels funny but he doesn’t know what it is.

The servant clears their throat.

“Your family is looking for you Iori-san”

The girl, the Iori girl, nods.
The servant gives him a deep bow, and turns around, a silent command for the girl to follow them.

“Bye” she says, giving him a gentle smile before walking away.

Later in his room he eats the candy, enjoying the sweetness of it while thinking of the Iori girl.

*...*

It’s not fair

Yu, his dear kouhai, with his overly cheerful and optimistic behavior, had asked in a playful way:
Which one of the girls in school would you date if you had to?

Gojo puts his hand to his chin while glancing upwards. He was just pretending think his answer when in reality it came to his mind as soon as Yu had finished his question.

But Suguru answered first.

“Utahime-senpai”

His voice gets stuck in his throat as he looks at his best friend in disbelief. He feels his mind going numb.

“Are you serious? Her? Dull, stick-in-the mud, Utahime?”

Suguru smiles, slightly frowning his eyebrows. That means he’s being sincere.

“If I had to date one, it would be most certainly her.”

“What about Mei-Mei-senpai?” asks Nanami “She is very strong”

“She may not be as strong as Mei-Mei, but she isn’t addicted to gambling or how to make more money” answers Suguru.

“And Shoko-san?” Yu looks anxious at him. Oh I see, thinks Gojo.

“Shoko straight up ditches us at the mercy of curses if thing get out of hand. So, no thank you.”

Everybody laughs at this, minus Gojo.

It’s not fair that Suguru got to answer before him.

His friend shouldn’t have any reason to like Utahime.
Maybe, just maybe, he had realized his feeling for her and he was just doing this to mess with him. He would ask him later.

But as time passed, it became more and more difficult for him to do it. Suguru just wouldn’t stop staring at Utahime when she wasn’t looking and would make comments like “Did you notice she changed her perfume” or “She asked me to be her sparring partner today. She’s improving”

It’s not fair because all of those things are the exact same thoughts he has all the time she is around, and Suguru being able to express his feelings freely around him and Shoko, makes his stomach twist and turn.

He can’t ask the question he’s been keeping down his throat.

Suguru, do you really like Utahime? Or are you just doing this to spite me?

But the way he looks at her leaves no doubt. So he finally shallows the question and moves on with his life, enjoying the missions he gets to have with his best friend, ignoring the despair that he can’t ever tell him his real feelings for Utahime.

Their friendship is more important to him.

Until the incident.

*...*

They meet a month later after Suguru’s escape.

Utahime doesn’t say anything, and he maintains his facade of being carefree and arrogant because he’s the strongest jujutsu sorcerer.

The Honored One.

She advances, looking as if she’s about to murder someone-probably him but he hasn’t done anything bad yet- and pulls him in a tight hug.

“I’m sorry” she says, quietly.

‘About what?’  He wants to ask ‘I´m the one who should be sorry. I wasn’t able to save him’ He stands quiet, unsure of what to say or do.

And then, like a snake, a thought slides into his mind.

Suguru is not here now.

If he wanted, he could tell her how he feels about her; tell her how much he loves her. But his best friend had also liked her? Loved her? He would never know and it wasn’t fair for him to do this knowing that, yes, his friend had had feeling for Utahime, and he didn’t want to be a shitty person by confessing to her as soon as Suguru was out of the picture.
He forces the feelings as deep as he can in his mind and doesn’t return the hug.

*...*

Pulling Utahime’s ribbon and messing with her hair is his favorite prank. It never got old how much that vexed her and that pretty little face of hers would turn red with anger.

But this time when she turned around, Gojo saw the scar across her face and froze.

Shoko had said that her healing wouldn’t leave a scar. She said everything would be ok as she tried to pry her from his arms because he was clutching her so hard she couldn’t stop the bleeding properly. Utahime had almost died in his arms; almost bleed to death, and in his panic, he had squeezed against him in a poor attempt to stop the blood from pouring out of her wounds.

Mei-Mei had to intervene so that he would let go of her body; Gojo had almost cried because Utahime was the spitting image of his mother as she bleed over him after she shielded him for the attack that was meant to kill him.

However, Utahime reacted to his antic the same way she always had; by screaming “I am your senpai!” and “Respect your seniors!” while trying to hit him. That familiarity was enough to snap him out of his dark thoughts as the small woman tried to retrieve her ribbon.

Behind his blindfold, his eyes opened a little. He understood-in the middle of the screaming and threatening of the small woman- that a scar wasn’t going to change Utahime in anyway and it shouldn’t change the way people treated her, including him.

Utahime would always be the same, scar or not.

So he laughs obnoxiously and keeps her from reaching the ribbon using only his arm. She is so tiny, he wants to hold her against him and burry his face in her hair.

*...*

One time they were furious with each other for a very petty thing.

But while Utahime shows her anger more openly, he acquirers a dangerously calm face, void from emotion and full of snarky, hurtful remarks. Yaga asks them both a question about the handling of a special grade curse object, either completely failing to read the mood, or just not giving a single fuck about their personal spat.

Gojo answers something he can’t remember. Utahime grunts in exasperation at the sound of his voice.

“Shut up Gojo, everything you say is stupid”

Gojo turns and slides his glasses down his nose bridge to look at her dead in the eye.

“Iori Utahime”

If looks could kill, he would have already died twice.

“Listen you little shit-“

“I don’t listen to weak, useless sorcerers like yourself Utahime-senpai” he basically spat the last word with as much snide as he could muster.

Before Yaga could intervene, Utahime uses her cursed technique on him.

They end up suspending him for the rest of the day for inciting conflict between teachers. The higher-up suspend Utahime for a whole month without pay for hurting the heir of the Gojo clan, bearer of the Six Eyes and Limitless, and the strongest tool they had against curses even though he wasn’t hurt that badly.

She only ruptured his eardrums.

But the message was clear as crystal.

You don’t matter in this world, Iori Utahime. Only Gojo Satoru does.

That same night, for the first time in his life, he goes out with the first pretty girl he finds in a club.
The blue candy wrapper in his wallet only makes him feel slightly guilty when he pays for the drinks.

*...*

“Don’t shit where you eat”

Shoko had told him that once. He never liked that crude saying but now, he discovered it was absolutely right. The last girl he dumped for a cute barista was a sorcerer of Kyoto and apparently had made it her personal life goal to let everyone know what a whore he was, jumping to one bed to another as soon as he saw a pretty face.

Well for starters, he wasn’t a whore.

Rude.

He didn’t sleep with every fling he had, he just enjoyed the attention they gave to him and once he got bored, he moves to the next one.

Womanizer was the correct word to describe him. Not that it mattered now because everybody knew his gossip of “all girls he had been with”. And the worst thing about gossip is that it grows and twists and turns into a horrible stain in his reputation where ever he goes.

As if he ever gave a single fuck about that to begin with.

But the look Utahime gives him the next time they met was a mixture of sadness, pity and disgust and almost doesn’t talk to him.

He refrains from the dating world from that day

*....*

He could drink a little bit. But only one cup of sake. Two would make him dizzy and three would call for disaster.

So while everyone else is drink two or three bottles of sake or beer-Utahime and Shoko-he orders the only non-alcoholic drink of the menu. Half a bottle later he realizes that the waiter is a fucking idiot-how can you mess up non-alcoholic beer with actual beer?-, and that he’s clinging to Utahime for dear life.

“Get off me!” she tries to pushing him away with no avail.

“Nooooo!” He clings harder and buries his face in her lap. “Everything is spinning! It’s not fair!”

“You’re drunk Gojo”

“Hold me!” He hugs her waist and pouts.

“Get off me before I smash this bottle against you head”

“No. You’re warm and you smell good” he takes off his blindfold and gives her what he thinks are his puppy eyes.

Utahime stares at him with pure disgust.

After three more attempts to get him off her and an actual bottle broken against his Infinity barrier- boy she wasn’t kidding with that one- she surrenders and lets him stay in her lap for the rest of the evening. He likes it there. Its soft, smells good and he doesn’t feel shitty.

“I’m sorry...” he drawls and hiccups

“About what?”

“That time....I got you suspended....”

He would have never said that sober, but right now it felt so good to get it out his chest.
Utahime laughs at him. ‘What a ruthless bitch, I’m opening my heart here!’

“What, no one told you? They brought me back after two days”

“W-what?!” He tries to stand up, but the world spins violently and decides it looks better from Utahime’s lap “Why?”

The expression in Utahime’s face is a fiercely proud one

“You thought that they could control my students by themselves?” she smiles “None can put them in their place but me. So they called me after two days, begging me to return”

Whoa.  

‘I love this woman’ he thinks and buries his face in her skirt. He can allow himself to do it. He’s drunk after all.

Maybe his drunken brain is playing games with him but he swears he feels her finger playing with his hair as she talks “They can’t get along with anyone after all”

Gojo laughs at his.

“It’s Utahime’s curse!”

“Utahime-senpai!”

*....*

The final push he needed to finally confess his feelings came in the glorious form of Zenin Naoya.

He’s being sarcastic of course, yet that man breathes and acts as if everything he says it’s true.

He went as far as going to Tokyo High to meet Yaga because he wanted to ‘form a good relationship with the school so he can use it a leverage to be the next head’ explained Maki before leaving the school grounds as soon as she found out he was on his way there. The last thing she wanted was having a run in with her misogynist cousin.

If Gojo reputation was being a whore with women, Zenin Naoya’s outshines his by being utter misogynist trash to all the women he has encountered.

Shoko even had suffered his attention-she was already in a relationship with her high school crush-but she had happily called him one evening to help her get out of the fancy restaurant where she and Naoya were having dinner through the bathroom window. When he asked why the hell she went out with him, she said she wanted a fancy meal.

“But aren’t you a lesbian?” asks Gojo as soon as he appears outside the alley of the restaurant after Shoko sent him the address. The woman waves her hand before opening the tiny basement window.

“I am. But I never turn down free dinner” she replies as she sticks his arms out the window for Gojo to pull. The man just raises an eyebrow at this because he knows Mei-Mei always treats her fancy dinner whenever she is in town.

“And Mei-Mei was okay with this?”

“Oh, this was her plan. You know, get more inside information about this trash”

Zenin Naoya must be a real piece of work because Shoko didn’t last ten minutes into that plan.

They couldn’t contain their shrieks of laughter as he helped her crawl through the narrow space; they laughed even more when they went to take a peek at Naoya’s confused face after five minutes of Shoko “bathroom break”, and sprinted out as he stood up from this table, furious.

Gojo laughed so hard he almost puked in the nearby park they stopped to catch their breath -people passing and looking at them weirder out at two grown adults trying to talk before laughing again-and they decide to go to a bar to spend the rest of their Friday night. Shoko was nursing from a beer while he had the sweetest non-alcoholic drink they had on the menu.

“Anyway” Shoko said, putting her drink on the table “Now I’m worried about Utahime”

Gojo tries to keep his goofy smile when inside him, a turmoil of emotions arises.

“Why?”

“I shit you not, not even five minutes into the date and he was already proclaiming that ‘I was the only sorcerer woman in Tokyo that was fit to be with him’ and ‘no other man in the Zenin clan was fit to be the next head’ ”

Gojo lets out a huge laugh. He couldn’t believe the illusions of that man. And his lack of proper investigation before choosing his targets.

“Wait, wait, you said ‘the only sorcerer woman in Tokyo’. Has he dated every single one of them?"

“I wouldn’t doubt it”

Gojo laughs even louder and almost falls of the chair. In fact, his sides are starting to hurt.

“So now what? Why are you worried about Utahime?”

“Well, if he is finished with the entire community of sorcerer women in Tokyo, his next stop is Kyoto. And Utahime would be the first in his list”

Oh fuck, no.

All trace of a good mood vanishes from his being. He clenches in hand.

“Why would he go after her first?”

Shoko seems to be enjoying his change of actitude because she takes her sweet time drinking her beer before answering very slowly.

“Well, think about it. Naoya has a pretty clear pattern. He starts with women that are sorcerers AND are part of a clan. The only one that fits those requirements in Kyoto is Utahime”

God fucking dammit, she is right.

Panic starts to swell up in his mind. What can he do to stop Zenin Naoya from going to Kyoto? First, when he would do it? Would he send her a text? Did he have her number? Or would he send her a letter? Even worse, a formal letter? A formal letter of marriage? Would the Zenin family be really mad if he just murders-

Shoko waves a hand in front of him.

“Gojo, are you listening to me?”

“No”

Shoko rolls her eyes, exasperated

“I was telling you that you should ask her out first”

All murderous thoughts banish from his head and are replaced with white noise.

Him? Asking Utahime out?

As a couple, as boyfriends and girlfriends do?

With automatic movements, he drinks from his glass, absent minded. He had come pretty close to ask her out a couple of times in the last few years but Suguru’s memory always stopped him.

Suguru bending down to look at a book Utahime was showing him with a smile. Suguru grinning at the small bag of chocolates she had given him in Valentine’s days while he only got a miserable mini chocolate bar. Suguru’s body leaned against the wall, bloody and missing an arm-

Shoko snaps her fingers in front of him and brings him back. He quickly gives her his usual laid back smile.

“So you are saying I should ask her out to protect her? Like a knight in shining armor?”

“If that’s how you want to see it”

“Oh, I can definitely see it”

Him scoping her up in his arms as they both laugh and jump into the sunset. He laughs stupidly at his imagination and Shoko gives him an irritated glare.

“Utahime is not going to be one of your flings”

“You lack of trust offends me Shoko! I would never think of her that way”

Shoko’s expression relaxes a little and smiles. She knows he’s being sincere. Gojo relaxes against his chair and smiles widely.

“Oh I can’t wait for the Goodwill Event!”

Chapter Text

Oh my gods it’s a cat

All thoughts in Utahime’s head halt as soon as her eye catches the unmistakable form of the feline at the entrance of the school.

Utahime loved cats.

She also likes dogs, but cats had been around her entire life as a kid living in the shrine of her clan.
Cats could literally just waltz in like they owned the place; they slept in the tatami floors or made holes in shoji doors as they pleased and no one would say anything. Her own mother even had special cushions for them around the house.

But in Jujutsu High cats were a rare sight. That’s why she stopped so quickly as soon as she heard the unmistakable sound of a meow to her right.

‘It’s so cuteeee!’

Utahime carefully bends her knees, trying not to startle it, and moves her fingers doing a faint sound.

“Psss pss psss”

The cat’s ears immediately stand up, twisting his head towards Utahime. She smiles, excitedly.

“Psss psss psss, here kitty, kitty”

For a moment, the cat doesn’t move and, considering that it was most likely a stray, it could turn around and run. Instead, his eyes widen in huge dark circles and he moves towards her. She lets him sniff her hand first, standing very still, trying not to startle it. The cat meows-as if he gave her an approval, the honor of its presence-and bumps his head against her hand, purring.

Utahime can’t contain an excited squeal and pets his head all the way to his tail. The cat it’s soft, and smells like grass and the wisteria that bloomed around that time of the year.

“Hello. Are you lost? Or are you looking to be petted?” She scratches the back of his ears, knowing how much cats love that spot and the feline purrs stronger, flexing his body to the side and curling into a ball against her lap.

Utahime cradles the cat against her like a baby and takes a seat in the bench by the tree, where the shadow cools her down. She continues to pet the cat’s fur.

“You are so soft and you smell so good. You’re such a cute little kitty.”

She enjoys the rough feeling of his toe beans, pressing its center to reveal his claws. The cat stares and shows her his belly. She has seen that so many times but she can’t resist the urge to pet it. The cat immediately launches at her hand and with the same speed, she moves it away. The feline meows in protest and Utahime laughs at him.

“That won’t work on me”

The cat yowls, as if that action had deeply offended him, and closed his eyes. She continues to pet him, telling him what a good boy he is, how soft was his fur, how-

The unmistakable sound of a camera shutter startles her and she turns at her left, where Shoko and Gojo are taking pictures of her with their flip phones.

She freezes like a deer in the headlights, her face red in embarrassment and the cat meows in protest as the petting has stopped. Shoko and Gojo don’t say anything, absorbed in their world as they continue to snap photos in different angles, only Geto looking at them like the weirdos they were.

“Stop!” She finally shouts, trying to cover her face.

Gojo grins and continues “Why? You look so cute right now Utahime! Probably the only time I have seen you without that ugly frown of yours”

Utahime snarls at him “Shut up you brat!”

Shoko approaches her “Can you hold the cat against your face and smile?”

“Not you too Shoko!”

To Utahime’s dismay, the cat stands up, irritated as he was no longer the center of attention, and walks away unfazed by the discussion. Later at night Gojo texts Shoko if she could send him the photos she took. Shoko replies that she will as long as he buys her a pack of cigarettes.

He agrees.

Shoko doesn´t tell him that Geto asked for the same thing and promised her a pack as well.

*…*

“Gojo-san, what are you doing?”

Gojo, whose face was flushed from the amount of alcohol he drank-a very small amount of alcohol-, was strolling through his image gallery. Nanami, who was sitting beside him, could clearly see that all the pictures were from their senior, Iori-san. And those pictures were clearly taken from what he could call “a secret angle”. His head starts to ache from the subtle meaning behind it, and he tries to lessen it by rubbing his temple in circles.

It doesn’t work.

Gojo sighs loudly and turns to look at him.

“Why did she think it was a prank? I was being serious when I told her my feelings”

Nanami doesn’t have the patience to have the longest conversation in his life with Gojo about his love life, and all the mistakes he has made over the years to make him hard to like. Utahime’s reaction to his confession didn’t surprise him in the slightest. Actually, he would have been sorry for her if she had said yes.

The best thing he can do in this situation is being sincere with Gojo.

“In all these years all you’ve done is bother her, stress her and just being a pain in the ass. It shouldn’t have surprised you the way she reacted and should be glad in ended like that”

The look Gojo gives him is one full of pain.

“Nanami, you’re my friend! You’re supposed to console me, not tell me the truth!”

“That’s a bad friendship, Gojo-san”

“I don’t care! I just got my heart broken by the woman I love! Do you know what love is Nanami?!”

Nanami stares at him quiet. He knows perfectly what being in love is. He knows very well the pain of having your heart broken. He knows what it feels losing your loved one in front of you and then having to stare at its corpse in the morgue. Nanami clenches his fist in anger at the memory-at the memory of Yu-and exhales the air he hadn’t realize he had been holding in. 

It angers him.

What angers him?

It angers him that maybe Gojo is taking his feelings for Iori-san lightly and is confusing them with love. Gojo was his friend but he wasn’t as close to him as Shoko and Geto had been. All he had seen him do over the years to their senior was annoy her on purpose, even going as far as insulting her by calling her weak. He knew Iori-san wasn’t he strongest sorcerer-no, that honor would always be Gojo´s-but she wasn’t helpless either.

She had beaten him and Yu in hand-to-hand combat when they were first-years. Yu had admired her for that. His words were ‘I didn’t know you could do that wearing those clothes senpai!’ and that had earn him a heartfelt laugh from her. Yu had cared for his senpai.

And he did too.

So Gojo had to show him that he really cared for Iori-san as he claimed.

“I know what love is Gojo-san” Nanami takes a sip from his beer “But do you?”

Gojo seems to be taken back at the bite of his voice.

“Do you really love Iori-san? Or is this another one of your whims?”

Gojo lifts his blindfold, his left eye staring intensely at him. Had he been another someone else, that would have made him tremble in fear. But that only manages to irritate him more.

“I love her, Nanami. More than you can imagen”

“Then show it to me”

Never in his life would he regret uttering those words. Because Gojo not only told him all the reasons he loved Utahime; he told him every single detail he could remember that made him fall in love more and more with her. All of that in drunken gibberish.

“Look, look, this is my first photo of her!”

Gojo practically shoves his phone in his face as he’s trying to get him in the backseat of the car of Ijichi, which proves to be a difficult task as he isn’t cooperating. The photo looks really old-Utahime is holding a cat in her lap with a surprised expression-but all he can think about is get him in the car and ditch as soon as he can.

“Nanami, where are you going?!” screams the tall man once he has succeeded in stuffing him in the back seat.

“To my home” he preferred taking his chances by walking.

“But I haven´t finished telling why I love Utahime!”

“I get it now that you love her. Good luck getting her to believe you now”

“If you don’t stay and listen to me I’ll make Yuuji do it!”

That stops him dead in his tracks. Irritated, he takes out his phone and scrolls through his contacts until the name Iori Utahime appears.

Gojo stares at him, confused.

“Nanami, what are you doing?”  

Utahime’s voice is raspy when she answered the call.

“Iori-san” Nanami was done playing nice to his senior “I want you to talk with Gojo-san about his huge crush on you”

Chapter Text

When Gojo returned to the school after dropping Utahime in the train station, Yuuji and Megumi were waiting for him in the common break room. Yuuji had a serious face with his hands crossed in front of his mouth while Megumi didn’t even turned to look at him, munching a granola bar as expressionless as ever.

Gojo makes eye contact with Yuuji.

“Well?” asked Yuuji, looking at his teacher with unusual anxiousness.

Gojo let out a huge sigh, pausing dramatically, before raising his fist in the air in victory

Yuuji lets out a huge scream of joy.

“You did it!”

“I did it!”

Yuuji jumped at him and the man catches him, hugging and cheering loudly as if Gojo had just won gold in the Olympics.

“Let’s take a picture sensei!”

“On it!” Gojo takes out his phone and takes several pictures with Yuuji hanging from his neck, both of them smiling.

“Why are you taking a picture?” asks Megumi, visibly confused and irritated at their behavior.

“Megumi don’t be such a party pooper!” Yuuji slides of Gojo’s neck and pats his partner on the back as he clenches his fist in determination “We are celebrating that Gojo-sensei has finally confessed his feelings to the woman he loves!”

“He did that a few days ago and got rejected, remember? How he was a crying mess?”

“I wasn’t a crying mess!” protested Gojo.

“Right!” Yuuji intervened “He was only a crying mess with Nanamin!”

“Yuuji!”

“Sorry sensei!”

“Whatever” Megumi says rolling his eyes.

Yuuji looks excitedly at Gojo with little stars in his eyes.

“Where are you going to take her on the first date? It will be a special place, right?! A restaurant in Roppongi? Tokyo Disneyland?”

Gojo opens his mouth but finds himself lost for words. Sure, he had loads of ideas he wanted to do with Utahime-go on missions together, travel abroad together, holds hands while walking on top of a crowd of people, kiss under the moon after having defeated a grade one curse, as Utahime proclaimed her undying love for him-but none of those were appropriate for a first date. In fact, those were the things he had liked to fantasize about in a boring meeting with the faculty staff as he discreetly looked at her face.

He couldn’t tell Yuuji that.

Also, the restaurants in Roppongi, while elegant and sophisticated, knew him for his other “dates” and he was not ready to take Utahime to those places, mainly because he knew her dislike to having to get ready for that kind of atmosphere. She was more of a karaoke person and watching sports while drinking beer with her friends.

Thank you Shoko, for your endless gossip about Utahime.

Gojo ponders his options for a while and goes for the safe one.

“I suppose I’ll take her to a sports bar”

“Are you crazy?!”

Everyone turned their attention to the door, where Nobara was glaring at them. The girl put her hand on her hip with an exasperated sigh as she shakes her head.

“Gojo-sensei, I realize that you’re and idiot with relationships” Gojo’s mouth opens but Nobara quickly shushes him by raising her finger. Surprisingly, that works “You need to show Utahime-sensei that you really are serious about this relationship! And you pick a sports bar for that?!”

Gojo, not really sure how to react to this-no one that told him how to deal with teenage girls-, murmurs

“But she likes sports...”

“I don’t care!” shouts Nobara, startling him “Everyone here knows about your shitty relationships with women. But if what you said was truth about Utahime-sensei, you need to take her to a place that screams” the girl raises a hands to the ceiling “I AM NOT A WHORE ANYMORE! ”

Gojo looks at her dumbfounded.

“She’s right” says Megumi “You’re a whore”

Since when were his students so mean to him?!

“But Kugisaki,”Yuuji says innocently “It’s not sensei’s fault that everyone thinks he’s horrible with women”

‘Yuuji!’ Gojo feels his chest fill with affection towards his student.

Nobara walks up to him and puts her hands on his shoulders, looking serious "Listen Itadori, if people say those things about him, it's for something"

"That's right" Megumi pats Yuuji’s back, agreeing with his classmate “You have heard the rumors and let me say this to you: They’re not wrong”

Yuuji gives them a worried look.

“But Gojo-sensei loves Utahime-sensei! He's not going to be a whore with her ... right?” Yuuji tilts his head, worried. Megumi pats his back again, this time in a more comforting manner.

"There’s a high probability that he will"

Nobara nods.

"Old habits die hard"

"Guys if you don't stop criticizing me, I'm gonna make your lives hell in the next exam."

That threat seems to silence the three of them immediately. Gojo pricks the bridge of his nose, feeling overwhelmed. He doesn't remember the last time he felt like this. Deep down, he knew Nobara was right. The rumors, the things that he had done to women weren't going to disappear just because he had started a relationship with the person he had wanted all those years.

Maybe Utahime had accepted him out of pity. Her agreeing to date him so fast was suspicious, but in his bliss, he hadn’t questioned it. Maybe she thought that as soon as he could, he would ditch her for another pretty woman on the street. Maybe she thought that he needed to get that whim out of his chest and then be done with her once he had his fill with her. Maybe Utahime thought that she was like the other girls.

Gojo swallows the bile that rises up to his throat and groans. He needed to show Utahime that she was not like the others girls.

 She was special to him.

His fair lady.

He was going to make this work. Even if that meant taking love advice from a sixteen-year-old.

“All right, Nobara” he turns to the girl “What is your suggestion?”

The look Megumi gives him is one of disbelief as if to say ‘what the hell are you doing?’ Nobara blinks surprised, as she didn't expect Gojo to take her seriously. But there was no way she was going to miss a chance to poke her nose into this.

She smiles.

“Besides sports, what else does Utahime-sensei likes?”

Gojo thinks for a moment, putting his hand to his chin as he mentally went over his list. Baseball, beer, karaoke, making fun of him....

Gojo snaps his fingers

“She loves cats”

*...*

On Utahime´s day off, Gojo appears inside her apartment’s kitchen- it scared the crap out of her and almost hit him on the head with the coffee mug she was holding- and takes her to the place where Nobara had suggested. ‘After all, would be just romantic if you took the first step?’ the girl’s voice resonated in his head as they walked towards their destination.

Utahime questioned where they were going and Gojo replied with a smile, saying that she would ruin the surprise if she kept insisting. She huffed at this, murmuring that knowing him, it couldn’t be a good.

But when she sees the facade of the cafe, Utahime’s eyes widen in surprise.

"Gojo-"

"Satoru” Gojo interrupts “Remember, we’re dating Utahime "

But she didn’t seem to pay attention to that important information-at least it was important to him- , too busy trying to look into the establishment through the windows "How did you find this place?"

Gojo smiles and winks at her.

"It’s my power"

Actually it was Nobara who spent hours searching the internet furiously to find the perfect place for his first date but shhhh, Utahime didn't have to know that.

In fact, Gojo would have never thought of a place like that as an ideal place for his first date with the woman whom he’d had a crush for years but Nobara-and Yuuji, who had also join the research-had insisted that it was perfect.

A Cat Cafe.

Utahime covers her mouth in delight as she sees the felines roaming freely around the place, lazily lounging on furniture or playing with other customers with different toys. A girl, dressed cutely, led them smiling to their table and left them a menu before leaving.

Gojo turns to look at Utahime.

"Do you like it?"

"Yes!" she looked at him smiling broadly "It's so cute!"

Gojo could die in that moment and he would die a happy man.

He could count on the fingers of one hand the times Utahime had sincerely smiled at him in his entire life; and they were all when they were children and that time they didn’t talk about.

‘I want to kiss her right now’, Gojo thought, ‘But I also want to take a picture’. Who would know when would be the next time he could see such big smile on Utahime? As he reached for his phone, he sees a dash of white by the corner of his eye and a cat basically flops itself on Utahime’s lap. The animal, a huge ball of white fur and two big blue eyes, meows and bumps its head against her chest.

Utahime stifles a squeal of joy and begins to pet it. The feline purrs loudly and kneads her leg, happy with the attention he was receiving. After taking several pictures of Utahime’s smile, Gojo leans in to kiss her when the cat hits his cheek with his paw.

It didn’t touch him but he still opens his mouth in shock.

Did that cat just slap him?

Utahime laughs uncontrollably as the cat repeats the action, meowing threateningly.

*...*

“I can’t believe you did that”

After leaving the cafe - to Utahime's sadness - they were walking through a park where the wisterias were in full bloom. Families and couples alike were having picnics, and taking walks to admire the trees dowsed in beautiful purple flowers. Gojo should be taking pictures of his beloved Utahime under those trees but instead he was huffing and puffing walking alongside her, slouching his shoulders.

“It’s not that big of a deal” Utahime, very uncharacteristically, smiled at him. A smile full of wicked mockery. That only worsen his mood.

“Well, it is for me!”

“Because I gave that cat your name?”

“Yes!”

Yes, Iori Utahime, the love of his life since he was a brat, gave his first name to the ball of fluff that lived in that cafe. The girls of the cafe explained that the cat was usually a grumpy little bastard that always bit customers and didn’t like people all together.

All but his girlfriend it seems.

The cat kept rubbing itself against Utahime, purring happily, while Gojo used all his strength to restrain himself from pushing the cat away from her lap. But every time he tried to get rid of him, a paw quickly emerged from his white fur and clawed Gojo’s hand away.

Seriously, what is up with this cat? Is it really one? Or just a bunch of white fluff that moves around his girlfriend?

Utahime was delighted with the attention the cat gave her, rubbing his belly and giving him small little kisses in his head while cuddling him.

Can someone be jealous for a cat?

Because he is.

He was supposed to get all the kisses and cuddles from her. The only good thing he got from that place was the hundreds of photos of a happy Utahime with that pest, but not with him.

Before leaving, to Gojo’s dismay, the girls offered Utahime to name the goddamn cat.

And of all the names she could have chosen for it-snowball, cupcake, ball of fur, girlfriend-stealer, pest-she chose Satoru. Utahime borrowed his glasses for a moment and put them on the cat’s face, smiling as she saying ‘Look Gojo, it’s you’ before the cat proceeded to throw his glasses on the ground. His goddamn first name was now the one of a white fluff ball with big blue eyes and grubby paws. Not only that, Utahime exchanged numbers with the girls at the cafe, who promised to send her photos of Satoru any chance they could. Needless to say, he was in a foul mood after leaving the cafe.

Nobara would get a pretty shitty exam for recommending him that place.

Utahime continued to smile mockingly, completely ignoring his pouty face.

“Wanna know why I named him that?”

“Probably to piss me off”

“Kinda. But also because he’s you”

Gojo halts suddenly and turns to look at her

“Excuse me?” he says, thinking that he must have heard wrong.

“White fur, blue eyes. Clingy and demanding my attention. Gets angry if some other man tries to speak to me...”

Gojo flushes because, yeah. That’s him. That’s exactly him when Kusakabe, or any other male sorcerer talked to her and he was within earshot. Hence the reason why he went immediately to her side, repeating her name over and over again until he managed to divert her attention to him.

Utahime opens her mouth to continue and he places a finger on top of it.

“I get it, I get it! I’m a terrible person for being jealous of a cat”

Utahime snort incredulous.

“You were jealous?”

“Yes!”

The uproarious laughter that escapes from Utahime is enough to break his self-restraining. Annoyed, he holds her face with both hands and kisses her. That effectively shuts her up, a deep blush spreading across her face as Gojo fixes his blue eyes on hers. They end up separating because Utahime hit him - or tried – in the chest when she almost ran out of air. Gojo moves away but immediately hugs her tightly against him, resting his head on top of hers, pouting.

“We’re supposed to pay attention to each other on our first date all the time”

“Were your other dates like that?” Utahime tries to break free from his hug when she catches her breath.

Gojo gazes at the sky and responds.

“No. They were more boring”

Utahime raises an eyebrow “Really? I thought you did exciting things with them”

“No, they were usually drinks and talking. It quickly became tedious because they kept talking about them”

“I can imagine. You adore when all the attention is focused on you”

Gojo smiles at those words. He loved being the center of attention. But he loved being the center of Utahime's attention the most.

Utahime tries, again, to move away but fails miserably “So you will get bored when I start talking about me?”

“Of course not! I will pay attention to everything you say”

“Really?”

“Sure!”

She smiles.

“In that case, I want to go back to that cafe”

“Over my dead body”

Utahime laughs, frowning her eyebrows.

“You’re such a child. Why did we go there if it was such a bad experience for you?”

Gojo pushes his glasses up “I wanted to make you happy”

“Ah”

Utahime cheeks blush lightly at this, making Gojo grin. This time he’s able to take a picture before her expression morphs into an angry one.

“Stop it! You’re an embarrassment!”

“What wrong with taking lovely pictures of my girlfriend? Come on Utahime, get in here!” He quickly places a hand to her cheek, squishing her face against his as the camera shutter goes off quickly. The picture comes out with him smiling widely while Utahime looks uncomfortable, her lips puckered between her cheeks.

Gojo quickly moves his phone way as she tries to reach for it.

“Delete them!”

“No! These are my precious memories of us together, even if you look ugly in them” he evades the angry woman that starts chasing him angrily around the park.

“Gojo Satoru!”

“Just Satoru! Remember, we’re dating now!”

A frustrated scream is the only thing he gets for an answer.

*...*

“Good morning first-years!” shouts Gojo as he enters the kitchen were his students were having breakfast.

Yuuji greets him cheerfully while the other two ignore him.

Rude.

“How was your date sensei?” ask Yuuji, looking at him excited “Was it good?”

Gojo makes a “Mmmmhh” sound and smiles lazily.

“Nah” he enjoys way too much the instant shift of Yuuji mood from cheerful to shock “It was perfect” Yuuji horrified expression immediately softens as he sighs relieved “Also, I’m adding twenty extra questions to the exam”

This grabs the attention of the other two.

“What?! But why?!” shouts Nobara

Gojo pouts “You kept talking bad about me! Bad students deserve punishment!”

Furious, Nobara throws him the chair where she was sitting. Gojo easily dodges it and jumps out of the room making fun of her.

His phone buzzes and the screen lights up-the wallpaper that greets him is him smiling and Utahime sticking out her tongue to the camera-with his favorite name and a text that reads “Good morning” followed by a notification of a photo.

Gojo smiles like an idiot as he quickly types his password. His face immediately crumples in disgust at the sight of a smiling Utahime holding a white cat against her face.  

Another text arrives.

>Satoru sends his regards

Chapter Text

When Yu had asked the question, ‘Which one of the girls in school would you date if you had to?’ his answer had been a default one. He was sincere about it, dating Utahime if he had to choose one, but he didn’t harbor any feelings towards his senpai.

She was a pretty cute girl yet, as Satoru said, she was weak by his standards. He along with his best friend, were the strongest and they were only first-years. He takes pride at this. Utahime was a grade two sorcerer, and he easily out-ranked her in both strength and ability. However, the more he thought about it, the more he delved into the subject of Utahime being weak, he realized something.

The thing was, most of the time Utahime didn’t need protection at all. Maybe Satoru was too blind to see that-with his dark glasses and all-, but on most occasions Utahime could handle herself pretty easily.

She was paired up with Mei-Mei, and that woman was a living nightmare. No one lasted more than a few mission with her because of her little interest about everything except money. That included the well-being of her mission partners.

Got injured and you’re slowing me down? Bye!

Oh, you are bleeding to death? That sucks, man.

Got caught under a broken wood beam? See ya, wouldn’t wanna be ya!

Utahime, somehow, had been her partner for two years and always returned to the school walking with her own two feet- if you ignored the band-aids’ that she sometimes had on her face and hands- alongside a smiling Mei-Mei. Geto had never heard of Mei-Mei ditching her on a mission. What he did hear was the admiration the first-years had for Utahime after she whipped the floor with them in hand-to-hand combat the first week of introduction. She wasn’t an expert in hand-to-hand combat like him or Satoru yet had fluidity in her movement that was striking, forcing his gaze on her as she lashed out against her opponent with a cursed tool.

Utahime had talent for being a teacher. And perhaps it would be the best for her, since on the battlefield, she could only provide support. She was a grade two sorcerer for something, but it didn’t erase the fact that she was a weak fighter outside the training ring. Geto had seen how she dealt with curses and- for being a petite person- she could be thought as a strong opponent when the situation required it.

But it came with a cost. In this world, the odds were always against them as sorcerers. And the weak-like Utahime- couldn’t always come out unharmed.

Every time Utahime returned to the school showing an injury, Satoru’s eyes would open wide, filled with concern, before jumping in front of her and begin his endless teasings. It seemed like his friend liked to put his foot in his mouth every time she was around.

Had Satoru ever noticed that she had a really cute smile? Because he had.

When he spoke it out loud, Satoru’s face scrunched up in disgust.

And jealousy.

Messing with his best friend was his favorite hobby, so he begins to compliment Utahime about everything he can find about her that it’s worth his time. Her perfume, her skills, her smile.

But the more he looks, the more he finds about Utahime to admire, to think over and over. The more sincere are his compliments, the more he wants to look at her.

“Fuck”

Shoko lifted her gaze at him. “Now what?”

“I think... no, forget it. It’s nothing”

“Did you forget to put the barrier outside?”

“I’m not Satoru” he thinks for a moment “Yes I did”           

Utahime gives him friendship chocolate on Valentine ’s Day.

Geto doesn’t miss the chance to show it off to Satoru, who was looking at the piece of candy in his hand with a annoyed expression. Utahime had begrudgingly given him a mini chocolate bar. ‘But you shouldn’t feel sad’ Geto reassures him; after all, they both had a pile of chocolates given to them by other girls.

But that bag was enough for him. To Satoru, his mini chocolate bar wasn’t.

If Satoru liked Utahime so much, he should just say it. Or show his affection for her in a different way that wasn’t akin to an elementary school kid pulling pranks on his crush in order to get their attention.

*…*

Shoko smokes and it’s no secret because the smell practically follows her everywhere. Even Yaga knew, had scolded her for it and banned smoking areas in the school in the attempt to make her quit. Geto thinks that Yaga worries about them way too much. They aren’t his kids. So he and Shoko sneak around trying to find the most secluded space in the school where she could smoke one and he could be near the smell. It was a win-win situation.

Geto takes a deep breath “Shoko?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you like any guy at school?”

His friend visibly tenses at this. The cigarette burns, forgotten in her mouth, and the ashes fall to the ground when she finally answers.

“Well Geto, it so happens that I play for the other team.”

Geto blinks, confused.

And it clicks

“Is it-“

“No. Utahime is my friend” Shoko lowers her gaze y more ashes fall from the cigarette “You know who. She’s beautiful”

“Oh”

They stay in silence for a moment.

“Have ever thought of telling her?”

“She likes big boobs. I don’t have that”

Geto frowns, not understanding what that would have anything to do with her feelings.

“I think you’re beautiful Shoko. Mei-Mei is a fool is she doesn’t see that”

Shoko snorts and elbows his sides.

“Awwww, thanks man”

She tosses the cigarette butt to the ground and steps on it as she lights another one.

“I see you also have feelings for my best friend”

Geto laughs, frowning his eyebrows

“Is it that obvious?”

“For me, yes. For others? Who knows”

Geto looks forwards, avoiding her gaze.

“And Satoru?”

“Well” Shoko blows out the smoke in rings “He’s a lost cause”

“What do you mean?”

“Did you really mean all of those things you said about Utahime? Or were you just messing with him?”

Geto ponders for a moment but Shoko interrupts him before he can even say anything else.

“To be honest you and Gojo are basically joined by the hips; so you two liking the same girl? It doesn’t surprise me. The problem is:  what are you going to do about it?”

What is he going to do about it?

There were times when in the middle of the night he would make a cage with his fingers and imagen a tiny Utahime resting in the center of his palm.

And there were times where he wanted to support his best friend feelings for her. They were resting in the cafeteria before classes’ started. Satoru was sitting in a chair with his long legs spread out to his sides, while he read his notes.

“Since when do you know Utahime-senpai?”

This question seems to throw Satoru out his balance. His friend looks at him in confusion before switching into irritation “Since we were kids. Why?”

Geto realizes that Satoru is not comfortable giving him that information. He must think he’s looking for pieces of information of Utahime through him so he could later use it in the future to get close to her.

Fair enough, he could do that, but he won´t. He gives his friend his usual smile.

“Well you can’t say that she’s weak anymore”

“Why?”

"She must have had a will of steel not to kill you in your childhood"

Satoru hurls a table at his face and they fight in the cafeteria. Yaga punishes both by making them hold buckets filled with water for five hours in front on the school gate. Utahime passes by them, snickering. Satoru sticks out his tongue as he pours one bucket on her, earning a scream and a slap to his face.

Geto understands that his friend is arrogant. And, ironically, also shy about his feelings for Utahime. But he can’t understand why he chooses to play antics on the girl he likes to get her attention.

Was he dropped on his head as a child?

While out on a mission, Shoko is smiling at her flip phone.

“Who are you texting, your boyfriend? “mocks Satoru. He quickly dodges her punch.

“No, I’m texting your girlfriend” Shoko snarls at him as she types back.

“Oh my god is that girl still saying we’re a couple? I swear sometimes I just want to-“

“No, you dumbass. Utahime”

Gojo sticks out his tongue at her.

“Utahime is not my girlfriend” he tries to look at Shoko’s phone over her shoulder “What is she saying?”

“Keep your clammy hands to yourself or I won’t heal you next time”

Satoru gives her the finger and goes to speak to Geto about the last movie they saw. He bets that he could pull that kind of moves using his abilities in real life. That he could blast through his opponents like they were nothing.

Geto laughs at this, telling him that he’s an idiot.

And it clicks again.

If he confessed to Utahime, his friendship with Satoru could be damaged in a way that couldn’t be mended. And he values it way too much to risk that.

So he decides that he won’t say anything to her until Satoru said something first. It was only fair because his friend had had his crush on her since he was a little kid.

In the meantime, he would tried to nudge him into do it- goddamnit Satoru just tell her you like her- and enjoy his youth with him by his side.

“Hey” Shoko calls them over “Let’s go to our next mission”

“I bet I can defeat more curses that you, Suguru”

Geto smiles seriously.

“It’s a bet”

Chapter Text

If there is one thing that lighters in her mind after starting her relationship with Gojo Satoru is the fear of cheating.

In the past, Gojo had always been unfaithful to his partners. The longest he could last was two weeks with the same girl before messing with another. He didn’t even bother to end the relationship first like a decent person. Sometimes he took a long break from dating before starting again in an even worst manner, like dating two or even three girls at the same time. Utahime wasn’t there when it happened; she knew all of that thanks to Shoko, who liked to vent all the things Gojo told her about his relationships after five beers.

Utahime kindly reminds her that gossip is not right. Shoko gave her a side glance that meant “I don’t fucking care” and continued to describe how Gojo was, simply, a fucking imbecile with those girls that were willing to put their whole world in his hands only for him to discard them aside so casually.

Maybe the only good thing that came from his whorish attitude was that those girls could hit him.

Sure, Gojo could always pretend that the hand had connected to his cheek and fake a pitying look. But a normal person, who only wanted him to feel a fraction of the pain they were suffering, would quickly realize that there was no red mark in the skin of his cheek. Or if one of them threw him their cocktail, of course they would freak out if the water floated millimeters from his clothes and face.

So Gojo allowed them to hit him. It saved explanations to which he had answers but wouldn’t be understood.

In the past, there were times Utahime would’ve loved to be those girls because they were allowed to have their revenge. She wasn’t. No matter how many times Gojo’s works got under her skin, he wouldn’t let her touch him unless it was safe.

Which was never.

Of course, they had had their fair share of touching. When they were children, Gojo was a snotty brat that still couldn’t control his powers and was stuck to her side every time her grandma took her to the Gojo clan’s state.
As adults? They had a hug there and there, like when Gojo had had his life fucked over twice, and when she graduated as a teacher in Kyoto. And that thing they don’t talk about.

If he chooses to do so, to cheat on her, then she would end the relationship. As simple as that. There was no use for being unhappy in this life over trivial things. Their line of work made them susceptible to death- more her than Gojo- and she didn’t want to cry her eyes out over Gojo Satoru seeing another woman behind her back.

Maybe someone prettier and girly.

Utahime knew that she wasn’t the standard Japanese woman in her days off. She liked to wear pants and overalls. She liked wearing caps. Of course, she had her fair share of dresses and skirts but they were at the back of her closet, collecting dust as she hadn’t wore them in quite some time. Even her kimonos were used more often and it was rare the occasion when she had to do it, like last month’s meeting of the clans.

She had felt someone’s gaze linger in her body but couldn’t find out whom. Gojo was seating all the time next to her, trying to win the thumb war he had started under the table.

It had been distracting.

And it’s those gestures that make that worry of hers a thin string slumped at the back of her mind.

It doesn’t grow because Gojo doesn’t let it grow.

He still teases her - maybe that will never truly go away - but he isn’t a dick as before. She still has her attitude towards the goofy antics he pulls from time to time but her reaction isn’t as intense as before. They wrestle - playfully - but they end up breaking the table in Shoko’s apartment, injuring Ijichi and pissing off Nanami, who made them apologize to everyone.

“So wrestling is off the table until further notice, am I right?” said Gojo, smiling happily.

Ijichi polite laugh only makes it more awkward.

Gojo brings her souvenirs from his missions, from sweets they can share with tea, to weird ornaments that she has no idea where to put in her apartment. They see movies together. They go out shopping for groceries and nag like an old couple when he tries to sneak candy in the basket. Gojo called her in mild panic because he forgot to make the test for tomorrow and Yaga was going to kill him if he doesn’t do it right.

“It’s midnight Gojo” says Utahime - who can’t even open her eyes fully- tired, disoriented and annoyed at him.

“Please Uta, I beg you! I’ll buy you your favorite beer!”

That was a tempting offering, but not enough. They settle for two bottles of sake from his family private collection and the exam is done after two in the morning.

All his students fail it.

Utahime raises an eyebrow over the phone when Gojo told her that, sounding extremely happy for some reason.

“You should have seen their faces, Uta! I swear, Megumi looked like he was about to cry”

“Gojo. You’re a goddamn sadist”

It’s unsettling in two ways; Gojo’s enjoyment of the suffering of his students, and the fact that her students had already learned that in the beginning of the year.

Gojo feigns ignorance after he eats half of the hanami bento made specifically for the cherry blossom trees with Shoko and Mei-Mei. She inquiries about it when there’s rice in the corner of his mouth, an empty compartment of the layered bento box she used in the table, and two of his students- Kugisaki Nobara and Itadori Yuuji- standing beside him with crumbs of croquet around their mouths.  

At least they looked guilty, unlike their teacher. Gojo complains-as if that justifies his actions- that her bento looked far more delicious than his and promptly ate half of the layered boxes, giving some to his students who asked for a bite thinking it was his hanami bento.

Utahime folded her arms in front of her chest, mild irritated “If you wanted one so badly, you should have cook your own”

The silence that follows shouldn’t have surprised her. He may be the strongest sorcerer but ever since he was a kid, Gojo had had everything handed in a silver platter. To this day, she still can remember how the five-year-old could snap his finger and servants would flock around, ready to satisfy his whims.
But she wasn’t going to do that. Gojo learns how to boil an egg that same evening in the shared kitchen of the student’s dorm. Itadori Yuuji celebrated with him as if he had just discovered fire when it finally came out hard boiled.

After five half-cooked eggs.

Gojo appears to genuinely enjoy spending time with her and she did too. Utahime had him try one can of her favorite brand of beer and Gojo had brought her a slice of his favorite cake. It had been a disaster but strangely, she felt as if a warmth grew between them. The more things they did together, the more that warmth and a comfortable feeling surrounds her like a bubble every time she’s near him.

But bubbles pop, sooner or later.

And it’s not her o Gojo who pop it.

It’s Tsukumo Yuki.

*....*

“You have been spending an awful lot of time in Tokyo, sensei” Momo’s smile was equal to that of a chesire-grin, and Mai’s wasn’t left behind. Miwa only smiled nervously.

Utahime turned to erase the blackboard, creating a sense of distance between her and her students. “Well, my friend lives there”

“Uhu” Mai’s voice was coated in sugar “Your friend and Gojo Satoru”

Her hold in the eraser tightens as a flash of irritation crosses her face.

“Yes, but I don’t go there to see that idiot”

Well that was a fucking lie.

Mai and Momo snicker to themselves while everyone else ignored them.

Everyone, except Kamo.

Her top student stayed behind in the classroom after everyone else had left. Utahime raises an eyebrow to him, considering that it was Friday and he usually left as soon as possible to his clan’s state.

“It’s something wrong Kamo?”

His face has worry written all over it.

“Utahime-sensei, are you dating Gojo Satoru?”

The question itself doesn’t bother her. It bothers her that apparently she’s not good enough to enough to hide her personal life to her students. It was one thing Mai and Momo suspected, but Kamo, her most diligent student, was another. So she tries to settle the matter as gently as possible.

“Kamo-“

“Please refrain to pursue a relationship with that man”

Utahime is taken back by the distress in his voice.

“I’m certain you have heard how Gojo Satoru treats women. To him, they’re nothing than objects he quickly discards as soon as he gets bored of them!”

‘Holy shit Kamo’ thought Utahime in shock. Utahime knew he was perceptive but she never imagined that he was that perceptive. Gojo’s dating life was not that private - it was hot gossip among the female community in the Jujutsu world - but the comment Kamo had just said was usually reserved for his closest friends and the women who had already dated him.

“As my teacher, I don’t want you getting shunned by his clan!”

Utahime raises a hand, interrupting him as she clears her throat nervously.

“That’s not-“ What the hell is she supposed to tell him? That he nailed the exact same thought she used to have of Gojo before they went out? Or that he didn’t have to worry about her getting shunned by his clan?

Her student frowns “Please Utahime-sensei! I know that man is extremely attractive-

“Ah?!”

“But you mustn’t fall for his charms!”

“I do not! I am his senior! I just go to see my friend!”

Kamo wrinkles his nose angry “Gojo Satoru is unworthy of a kind woman like yourself!

“You are misunderstanding everything!”

*...*

Utahime slumped against the back of the bench and for once in her life didn’t care if her posture was bad. She was unable to assuage her student's concerns. She only managed to get rid of him by the call he received from his clan and Kamo left apologizing, saying that they would continue this conversation later.

As if he was the teacher.

But she understood where his worries came from. His mother was shunned by the Kamo clan for being a concubine and their subsequent separation so he could become the heir, left a deep motivation in him. Yet Utahime never expected him to extrapolate in that situation in her. As if Kamo didn’t want her to suffer the same fate.

Just recalling the conversation makes her tempt to cancel her plans with Gojo. However, she had already bought the ticket to Tokyo and was leaving in an hour, so she better move.

Utahime lets out a tired groan as she peels herself of the bench and stretches her body until her spine crackles, closing her eyes in momentary bliss. When she opens them, her heart leaps out her throat as the special grade Tsukumo Yuki is standing before her.

“Iori-chan” Tsukumo Yuki blows her a kiss “What is your type of woman?”

‘Ah, so that’s where that famous phrase comes from’ thought Utahime in mild annoyance. Of everything Toudou could have picked from the special grade, he chose that.

Utahime, somehow, maintains her composure and gives the special grade a small bow.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again Tsukumo-san”

The special grade lets out a squeal that startles her.

“Oh my, you’re always so polite to me Iori-chan!

Confusion grew in Utahime. Tsukumo Yuki was a special grade; of course she had to be polite. Who wouldn’t be?

Gojo was a special grade too but she didn’t respect him.

Carefully, as if to remind her, she answers “You’re my superior”

“That shouldn’t be a reason! You can be informal with me.”

“No” Utahime says deadpanned, and changes the subject “Are you here to see Toudou?”

Tsukumo Yuki laughs “No, I’m here for take care of other business. Besides I know I left Toudou in good hands” the woman grabs hers as she winks “You haven’t answered my question. What is your type of woman?”

Utahime’s confusion grows even more. Now that they’re standing in closer proximity it allows her nose to pick up her perfume. She shouldn’t criticize the taste of others but the perfume Tsukumo Yuki was using was particularly strong. As if she had decided to try on ten different types all at once. Maybe it’s a custom from overseas she adopted.

“Shouldn’t it you ask what is my type of man?”

The special grade keeps smiling “No. Your type of woman”

Utahime, overwhelmed by her proximity, her perfume and her touch, and having no idea what was happening, stammered the first thing that came to her mind “I...a....a kind woman?”

Tsukumo squeals again “You’re such a sweet girl Iori-chan!”

“…Thanks?”

“Do you like my shirt?”

She was wearing a sleeveless dark colored shirt, but it didn’t look special at all.

“I....yes?”

“Good! What are you doing after this?” the woman slipped an arm between Utahime’s shoulders, closing the distance between them even more. Utahime had only meet Tsukumo Yuki once-the day she left Toudou at her charge before disappearing in the distance riding on her motorcycle- so her familiar touch was making her a tad nervous. That, and the way her eyes where fixated on her face before going down her body.

“I have to go to Tokyo in an hour...”

“Oh, really? I was just there trying to see an old friend”

‘An old friend?’ thought Utahime “You mean Gojo Satoru?”

Tsukumo Yuki lets out a laugh.

“No. But I saw him only for a moment. You should probably smell his clothes”

The causality of that last part leaves a numb sensation in her body but before she can ask what does she mean by that, the special grade moves away from her.

“I’ll see you later!” and waves her hand before going down the entrance stairs.

*...*

Sleep embraces her as soon as the train starts to move, and she is woken up by the stewardess as they’re about to reach the station. Utahime feels as if she had blinked and opened her eyes in a moment, not feeling rested at all. She did have a string of drool in her mouth which she quickly cleans, embarrassed.

Maybe she should ask Gojo to come to Kyoto and crash in her apartment next time. That way her students wouldn’t question her weekly trips and Kamo wouldn’t try to finish his lecture in how the three main clans treated women. She didn’t need that information. She knew exactly how they did it.

There’s a text of Gojo in her phone, saying that he’s already there to pick her up. A soft smile comes to her face and she answers that the train will arrive in ten minutes. She’s almost feeling eager at the prospect of seeing him in the platform with his black uniform and goofy smile as he waves his hand. It’s a better image than the one he puts when she leaves: his puppy dog eyes with a weak whimper.

As soon as she got out the train, her name was called in a sing-song.

“Utahime!” Gojo sprints towards her, smiling.

‘You should probably smell his clothes’ Tsukumo Yuki’s words resonate in her mind for a moment.

Utahime doesn’t have to. The smell practically hits her nose even before he reached out to envelope her in a tight hug.

Gojo’s clothes smell like woman’s perfume.

Like Tsukumo Yuki’s perfume.

Chapter Text

She doesn’t ask.

No matter how many times she wants to ask the question, Gojo’s smile stops her. It’s full of the same excitement when he sees her every weekend she has had come to Tokyo for the last three months, and it’s accompanied by the same hug and the same kiss on the cheek.

It’s the same Gojo she has been seeing for three months in a relationship; the same man that takes her to release the stress of the week by drinking with their friends. It’s the same man that steals kisses every chance he gets, who intertwines their hands at the movie theater, and the one that gets mad at her when she still calls him by his last name.

Every time the questions tries to come out of her mouth, her heart clenches painfully and drowns the words before she can even try to pronounce them.

‘Why do you smell like that?’

‘So I was just another fling?’

‘Everything you said about me was a lie?’

‘We’re done’

Utahime had told him that as soon as he cheated, she would dump him. But the look Gojo gives her as she drifts into sleep after having drunk a six pack to calm down her anxiety doesn’t allow her to utter those words.

It’s a look that is filled with adoration.

His fingers comb her hair and tickle her scalp; Gojo smiles as he takes place next to her and snaps a photo of the two, adding cute kissing emojis next to her face.

Utahime whimpers and covers herself with the duvet, making Gojo laugh as he must have thought that she was embarrassed, when in reality she was feeling more miserable by moment.

And under the duvet she couldn’t smell the thick aroma of perfume that surrounded him. It’s so sweet, she wanted to puke.

Under the duvet, Utahime felt safer. It felt like a fort against the one thing she feared of that relationship; the one thing that had become true. Gojo ends up hugging her over the duvet and before she can drift asleep, she asks herself if this is how he treated all those girls before her. How he charmed them, making them unable to leave him only to cry their eyes out when they found out they were just another side chick.

Utahime survives that weekend somehow. She’s able to put on a convincing smile, to trace the knuckles of Gojo’s hand as they watch a terrible movie together, to return the hugs, and to kiss him in the cheek before leaving on the train to Kyoto.

“I love you” Gojo says as he nuzzles her hair.

She freezes for a moment.

“Utahime?”

“Yes?”

Gojo’s smile is beaming “I can’t wait to see you next weekend!”

She doesn’t want to cry.

“Me too”

To cry would be the same to admit that she is weak.

*...*

Work actually helps her avoid thinking of him.

Most of the time.

Her phone still exists and Gojo didn’t tolerate being ignored after sending a text message. He would continue to spam her phone until he managed to get a single response, no matter how short it was.

>‘Look at this weird tanuki I found!’

It was a tanuki sitting like a person. Utahime’s fingers feel numb as she types her answer.

>‘That’s nice’

But even doing that makes feel strangely exhausted and she finds herself sighing in the most inappropriate times; like when Miwa arrived late at class and was pretty bummed out for the rest of the morning thinking that she was mad at her.

She couldn’t exactly tell anyone about this.

If she told it to Shoko, her friend would march out of the morgue of the school and murder Gojo Satoru with a rusty scalpel. And Mei-Mei would only shrug smiling and ask her what did she expected of a relationship with him. He wasn’t loyal to anyone.

Deep down, Utahime knew that.

But she had secretly hoped that it would be different with her.

‘And look where that got you’ whispers her mind back, the cruelty of the truth stabbing her gut.

Even if she doesn’t want to, Utahime can’t help but to overthink everything that happened. If there were indications before that Gojo may have been seeing Tsukumo Yuki. The special grade was famous for taking long trips abroad and not doing anything kind of mission.

But her and Gojo?

Utahime closes her eyes. She was no one to judge Gojo’s taste in women, no matter how young or old they were. After all, he had good taste. She had seen them, the girls he used to date before and they were gorgeous.

Tsukumo Yuki was gorgeous.

She can’t help but to touch the slightly rugged skin in her face. A reminder that she would never be perfect in the eyes of the non-sorcerer world.

Her students must have noticed something because Toudou asks her if she would like to go the meet-and-greet event of his favorite idol with him. A strange request she doesn’t accept but makes her smile. Kamo doesn’t try to finish his lecture of the way men in the three main clans treated women, but seems to be attentive to anything she might need.

Mai and Momo are more direct.

“Did something happen in Tokyo?” asks Mai while loading her gun.

“Did that idiot hurt you?” Momo clenches her fist in rage around her broom “Tell us and we’ll make his life hell!”

She can’t help but smile fondly at her students and lies that she is fine.

Because she’s not fine.

Ever since that day, there’s a pain in her stomach that stops her from eating and doesn’t calm down no matter what she does. There is a point where it’s so strong, she has to call Shoko holding a hand over her abdomen.

“Sound like you have gastritis” says her friend “Have you been under too much stress?”

‘Yes, because there’s a high probability that Gojo cheated on me with special grade Tsukumo Yuki by the smell of perfume in his clothes but I don’t want to talk about that’

“The usual” she answers.

Shoko hums before giving her the name of the medicine she has to take every morning before having breakfast.

It helps the pain.

But doesn’t help her with her discomfort of her relationship.

She should talk to Gojo about it. Be direct and settle the matter once and for all. But she can’t because she doesn’t want it to be truth. And that makes her angry with herself as she considers that a weakness.

As she is taking the medicine in her office, her phone buzzes with a notification and the name that pops in the screen makes her somewhat gloomy.

Which is ironic because Gojo’s text irradiated happiness.

>’Can’t wait to see you next Saturday! ( ˘ ³˘)♥ ( ˘ ³˘)♥ I have a special surprise for you!’ (｢･ω･)｢

Utahime stares at the screen for more than fifteen minutes but is unable to conjure a proper answer. Two hours later she’s finally types a dry “Can’t wait” and sighs deeply.

*...*

Gojo is busy with a mission so he can’t pick her up at the train station, but Ijichi can. Utahime doesn’t want him to. She wants to walk until she has to see Gojo again, preferably when she knows how to ask him about why his clothes smelled of another woman's peculiar perfume.

Also, the medicine Shoko recommended had run out and she needed to buy more. While she's in the line at the drugstore, she thinks the correct words that won't make her sound like an overly attached girlfriend or crazy jealous woman.

Because, yeah, she doesn’t want to look like that when she faces Gojo; the one thing that gives her peace in mind is that her fear of the cheating hadn’t been wrong, and it would have happen sooner or later. She just turned a blind eye to it because Gojo showed her that for three months he could only love her and no one else.

At this, her heart clenches to the point that she’s forced to stop her walking to control her breathing and regain her composure. Utahime can't help but stifle a sob since she had thought, she really had thought that Gojo would be different with her.

‘You’re such a weak fool’ whispers her subconscious back at her. A voice that sounded so close to Gojo’s it actually made her shiver.

Thank the gods she was already out of the drugstore and no one could judge her small freak out in an almost empty park.

“Utahime-sensei?”

The woman feels her blood turn cold in her veins, and turns to look at Fushiguro Megumi, who is staring at her with a surprised expression. Utahime quickly straightens ups as she places her hands in front of her. Her voice-amazingly- comes out clear and calm.

“Hello Fushiguro-kun. Can I help you?”

He looked like he wanted to ask the very obvious thing-why was she at the edge of crying- but he stammered in his words, looked sideways, and finally turned his gaze at his feet.

“I wanted to ask you about something”

Utahime raises an eyebrow at this.

“Is it about last’s week exam?”

Megumi visibly flinched.

“No. Well, maybe. But that’s not it” he scratches the back of his neck as his face flushed “It’s something that I can only trust you since you are an adult”

He pauses.

“A responsible one” he adds.

Utahime blinks. There were plenty adults in Jujutsu High. Nanami is the first one that comes to her mind.

“I’m sure there are other adults you can talk to” she wouldn't turn him down, but she's curious why he wanted her specifically.

Megumi makes a face.

“You mean Gojo-sensei?”

“You’re right, I’m the only responsible adult you can talk to” Utahime comes closer to him, waiting for his question.

Megumi avoids her gaze, his cheeks turning bright red. He opens his mouth, closes it, and opens it again. He looks down at his feet and clenches his hands. When he speaks, his words come out stuttered

“I wanted to ask you for some dating advice”

Utahime drops the paper bag from the drugstore with her medicine. The first-year looks at it for a moment before picking it up and hands it back to her.

*...*

Megumi handed Utahime a can of hot coffee and took a seat next to her on the bench. She thanks him and drains half the can in one gulp, ignoring his faint judgmental look. Sue her, she had plenty of practice. And she was slightly freaking out inside, as she had never given dating advice before. After all, none of her students were dating and she had limited experience in that.

But Fushiguro Megumi was a student and was counting on her for support. And it was her duty as a teacher, and as an adult, to help him. The warmth of the drink makes her sigh in comfort and she turns to look at his eyes.

“It’s Itadori Yuuji, isn’t it?”

Megumi nods weakly, fiddling with his own can in his hands.

“He’s a nice kid” Utahime smiles at the fond memory of them having dinner for the first time “A literal sunshine”

Megumi groans “That’s the problem”

Utahime blinks in surprise at the boy's brusque words. Megumi frown deepens as he speaks.

“I don’t...I don’t think I deserve someone like him. He’s is such a good person. He’s so bright and I’m....gloomy. Everything I say comes out wrong or makes it seem like I’m mad at him when I’m not” Megumi inhales raggedly as passes a hand through his hair, before letting it fall down “I don’t think... I don't think I'm good enough for someone like him”

 “Fushiguro-kun” Utahime looks at him, worried “Don’t say that”

But Megumi’s gaze is full of sorrow.

“Sometimes I wish…I wish I could be another person. One he deserves; one that makes him happy-”

“No.”

With Utahime's gaze fixed on him, the severity of her words made Megumi pause. For a moment, he can see the same intensity of Gojo's eyes in hers when Gojo told him that he needed to fight seriously.

“Fushiguro-kun, you shouldn’t live as someone you’re not in order to please others. You’ll only get hurt. You’ll be mad at yourself and in the worst case scenario you may end up blaming someone else for that”

She places her hand on the back of his. He flinches at the contact but doesn’t turn it away. Instead, he tilts his head to her side, as if to hear her better. Utahime softens her tone at this.

“What you can do is to improve. See what you lack. Work on it. And be a better version of yourself”

Megumi looks down, a slight chuckle escaping his lips “That’s a lot to improve then”

Utahime smiles.

“I’ve seen how Itadori-kun looks at you” at the way Megumi’s cheeks turn red she can’t help but chuckle “And I personally think that he likes you just the way you are”

Megumi groans covering his face with one hand, clearly embarrassed. They stay in silence for a moment until he inhales deeply.

“I think I got it” he turns his face towards hers but his eyes look away to the other side as the tip of his ears blush “Thank you for your help Utahime-sensei”

She grins happily.

“You’re welcomed” she says and drinks the rest of the coffee.

That wasn’t so bad after all.

“Are you happy with Gojo-sensei?”

Utahime chokes on the last gulp of the can and coughs as discreetly as she can. Megumi pats her on the back in a hurry. She clears her throat and smiles awkwardly at him, hoping that he takes it as an answer. Megumi stares at her before speaking again.

“He’s really happy. Much more than you can imagine. Every day he talks to us about what you two do-“

“Wait, what?” color drains from Utahime’s face “He tells you about our dating life?”

Megumi nods.

“Basically since you agreed to go out with him. And even before, he used to refer you as his ‘fair lady’”

Utahime groans as she covers her face with her hands. ‘Goddammit Gojo’ she thinks ‘Now I can never look at your students at the face again’.

Megumi is unfazed by her embarrassment but his next words are said firmly.

“If he ever does something to hurt you, I think that the students would get him first”

At the seriousness of his voice Utahime can’t help but to stifle a laugh.

“Even before Shoko?”

“Ieri-san would deliver the finishing blow”

Utahime laughs out loud and Megumi gives her a weak smile before returning to his usual expression and continuing.

“I think if something is making you uncomfortable, you should say it to him. If you hold back then...it wouldn’t be good for you”

Megumi’s words make her feel empty for a moment, because he was right. She should just ask him about it.

Running away from it, from the issue, from the truth, was the thing that made her weak.

And she wasn’t weak.

“Yes. You’re right Fushiguro-kun” Utahime looks at the empty coffee can in her hands “I should be honest with him, as you will be with Itadori-kun”

Megumi nods and begins to drinks his own can, a comfortable silence falling between the two. They walk together to Jujutsu High and before they enter the main building, Megumi speaks.

“The study material of that exam...”

Utahime nods.

“I’ll send it to you by Monday”

*...*

As soon as they saw each other in the hallway, Gojo came running towards her spreading his arms.

“U-ta-hi-me!” He sing-songed and pursed his lips.

She stops him by raising a hand and-surprisingly-, it works. Gojo stands still, waiting for her permission with a huge grin in his face. When the words finally come out of her, they are calm.

“Gojo, why were you clothes smelling of perfume the last time I came to visit you?”

The man looks confused at her for a second, titling his head to side.

“You smelled like perfume” Utahime clarified “Like Tsukumo Yuki’s perfume. I know it because she went to Kyoto and hugged me, saying that I should smell your clothes when I arrived here. And you smelled like her”

There is a flash of recognition on his face. Her stomach drops and she thinks ‘This is it. This is Gojo Satoru’s longest run with a woman, he can be faithful for three months, that’s a new record, at least I can finally get revenge on him, I’ll slap him so hard for my younger self behalf’

Gojo’s face remains blank...before turning around and pouting.

“You will laugh”

Chapter Text

Utahime closes her eyes and reminds herself to breathe, to be patience and not murder the man in front of her.

“I assure you I will not laugh.”

“Yes you will!”

Now she can’t help but to snarl at him in frustration.

“Gojo, this is serious. I would like for you to be honest with me.”

All she wanted was the truth so that she could let go in peace. She wanted for this to be over so she could leave, and maybe, just maybe, slap him like all those other women he had been unfaithful too. The man fidgets instead, visibly uncomfortable. He scratches his neck evading her gaze, and Utahime is almost certain of his answer.

‘I’m sorry.’

‘It was a one-time thing.’

‘I won’t do it again, I promise.’

“I’m not telling you!” is what he yells.

Utahime doesn’t know which is worse. His whiny tone, or that he began pouting. She rubs her eyes, tired, and raises her hand with her index and thumb close to each other.

“Gojo, I’m this close to dumping you.”

“Your fingers are almost touching.” He points out.

“Exactly. So you better talk because I assure you I'm not going to laugh. I just want to why you smelled like another woman when you hugged me.”

Her hurt must have leaked to her voice given how Gojo’s pout immediately disappeared from his face. Even though he was an idiot most of the time, he must have realized the implication behind those words. After all, he had never loyal to any the women before Utahime. And maybe those same words she had used had come out of another person’s mouth stuck in the same situation as she was.

When he answers, his voice comes out soft and almost guilty.

“I tried them all on myself.”

There’s a pause and Utahime narrows her eyes, unsure if she heard right.

“Excuse me?”

Gojo groans loudly and turns his head at the ceiling with a defeated expression.

“I tried them all on myself, happy?!”

Utahime looks at him confused, not understanding at all what he meant.

“You tried what?”

“The perfume!”

“You...tried woman’s perfume on you?” Utahime looks at him utterly flabbergasted, her anger substituted with incredulity. “...Why?”

Gojo groans through tight lips, resisting answering her.

“Gojo, tell me why!”

“No, it will ruin the surprise!”

“What surprise?!”

He groans again, his leg moving restless from side to side avoiding her gaze and Utahime grabs him by his uniform forcing him to look at her.

“Gojo, just tell me!”

“No!”

Utahime clenches her hold in his shirt. If the idiot turned off his Infinity on purpose so that she could touch him, then she wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. Utahime grabs him by the neck and forces his head down at the same level as hers, her fingers slightly pulling his white locks.

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll break your pretty face.”

Gojo’s expression goes blank for a moment, before giving her his signature cocky grin.

“Awwww, baby, you think my face is pretty?”

Utahime lets go of his head.

“You know what? I think I’ll take your secret stash of candy and bump it in the trash.”

His grin immediately disappears.

“You wouldn’t.”

Utahime turns around on her heels “Or maybe I’ll share it with all of your students.”

Gojo gasps like that's worse. “You don’t even like sweets!”

“True. But I so happen know that Kugisaki-san and Yuuji-kun love them.”

She tries to walk away but Gojo grabs her arm and murmurs something she can’t hear.

“What?”

“....Our anniversary.”

The man sighs in defeat and tugs on the sleeve her kodose. He only did that when he wanted her to get closer to him. Utahime hesitates from a moment but ends up doing it, keep some distance between them.

Gojo’s fingers rub the fabric as he talks. “I was looking for a gift for our 100th day anniversary when I bumped into Yuki. She was free from her business in Tokyo, so I asked her to help me choose a perfume for you. And we tried them all,” he grimaces “And the helpers of the store got mad at us for spraying perfume in the air.”

Utahime opens her mouth taken aback.

“Who...how...why did you do that?”

“She said that’s how women tried perfume overseas! We sprayed it in our clothes, and then she told me she was going to Kyoto and she would tell me which one you liked better!”

There’s a pause, and Gojo scratches his neck.

“So I got you the one she put on her shirt. And that was the one I had on my uniform. That’s why we smelled similar.”

Utahime stands still and slowly nods. “...I see.”

What Gojo said didn’t make any sense and, at the same time, it did.

Because Gojo Satoru was an idiot.

A broken giggle escapes from her mouth and Utahime can’t look at him in the face.

She felt awful.

Gojo cups her cheek, alarmed. “Utahime, are you ok?”

“No. I thought you had cheated on me with Tsukumo Yuki.”

The man makes a disgusting face.

“With that old hag? Why would you think-“ Gojo pauses, and his mouth forms a perfect ‘o’. “The perfume.”

After the third time, he finally got it.

Utahime scoffs and rubs the corners of her eyes where it stinged.

“Yeah. It was a pretty miserable week.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

It’s almost accusatory. And Utahime decides that if Gojo had been sincere to her, she should be as well. Like Fushiguro Megumi had told her to be.

“I was afraid,” Her mouth suddenly feels dry, she feels vulnerable, but the words keep coming out. “I was afraid that there was the possibility that you really had done it and I was just another fling. Because in these lasts months I really felt loved by you.”

Everything feels uncomfortable. She feels vulnerable in front of him. She feels weak.

Utahime tries to move away, but Gojo doesn’t allow her. He stands in her way, and cups her cheeks, squeezing them together, and the corner of his lips curve up.

“Utahime, have you seen yourself in the mirror?”

She can’t help but to scoff.

“Have you, Gojo?”

“Of course, my face is perfect no matter what I do.” seeing that Utahime’s lips wrinkle in a grimace of disgust, he quickly adds “But you’re beautiful!” Gojo rubs his thumb on her scar, smiling. “I should be the one worried that you might get snatched away.”

That makes her choke a giggle. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“I’m not. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

She laughs even more, making Gojo frown.

“Stop laughing, I’m serious. You saw what Yuki did.”

“Talk?”

“Put the moves on you!”

“Right. Whatever you say.”

Gojo rolls his eyes, frustrated. “Who can you be so oblivious?! You’re a teacher!”

“She didn’t put....” Utahime pauses, thinks of a moment, and her eyes open wide. At this, Gojo growled and took her hand.

"We'll talk about that later, but we need to go, we'll be late."

Utahime tilts her head. "Late? Late to what?"

Gojo’s lips curve into a sneaky smile “You’ll see”

*...*

“The rooftop? What are we, teenagers?”

Gojo shushes her with a smile and carefully moves to the edge, urging her to follow his example. She does, but walks normally and her shoes creak against the gravel until she’s standing next to him.

“Could you be even louder?” whispers Gojo.

Utahime opens her mouth to answer when a familiar voice sounds under neat them, and Gojo covers her mouth with a huge grin. It’s Fushiguro Megumi, and Itadori Yuuji. They’re standing in front of each other, and even from that distance, Utahime can see the deep blush on Fushiguro's face.

Oh.

A confession.

It’s almost nostalgic. But it’s also something private.

“Gojo,” she whispers and tugs on his sleeve. “Let’s go, we shouldn’t be here.”

But he waves his hand in dismissal and takes out an object from his pocket that Utahime has a hard time making out in the moonlight.

A party popper.

Utahime opens her eyes wide and tries to take it of his hands, both of them struggling in silence.
Below them, Fushiguro takes a deep breath.

“Itadori....I...” His words come out stammering and he lowers his gaze. “Y-Yuuji, I-“

But gets cuts off when the other grabs him by the shoulders, frowning and blushing.

“Megumi, I like you! Go out with me!”

If it was even possible, Megumi’s face goes a deeper shade of red. He opens his mouth slightly when a strong ‘pop’ echoes above them and shiny confetti rains down on them. Gojo’s giving them a huge grin with a horrified looking Utahime by his side.

"CONGRATULATIONS ON NOT DYING A VIRGIN, MEGUMI!" He screams.

"Gojo!" hisses Utahime by his side.

Fushiguro immediately pulls Itadori inside the building, ignoring that his classmate gave a thumbs up to their teacher with a huge smile. The man returns the gesture with a heartfelt ‘Congratulations!’. Utahime rubs her temple and sighs annoyed.

“You’re unbelievable.”

“Oh, come on, don’t so bitter! As their teacher, I fully support them. Confessing to Megumi like that was actually my idea, you know?”

“No wonder Fushiguro-kun asked for my help.”

Gojo lets out a laugh. “Wait, Megumi went to you for advice?"

She nods. "He told me I was the only responsible adult he could trust in."

Gojo immediately stops smiling and frowns "I'm a responsible adult!"

"Oh, really? Then where are your third-years?"

"Some...where out there. Probably.” Gojo crosses his arms. “Where are your third -years?

“Momo’s with Mai and Miwa on a girls night. Kamo’s attending his duties as the next clan's head. And Toudou’s in a meet-and-greet event with his favorite idol."

Gojo stayed silent for a moment before looking away.

"Show-off."

"Like you're one to talk."

Pouting, Gojo pulls her ribbon, and moves away quickly before her punch can land of his face. The bickering is so familiar Utahime can’t help but to crook a smile. Gojo, noticing it, imitates her and rests his body against hers. It was almost as if a few moments ago they hadn’t put their hearts out the open.

“I’m glad that I can trust you.”

Gojo’s weight immediately disappears from her side.

“You didn’t trust me?”

He sounded shocked and hurt, and Utahime’s heart clenches.

“I could with related work stuff. I always did, knew you wouldn’t let me down.”

“But you didn’t trust that I could be faithful to you.”

Utahime nods slowly. “It was a fear in the back of my mind. The first months I was okay, but then when I smelled your clothes I really thought you had done it. I didn’t know how to ask you about it. And the doubt grew more and more with each day.”

Gojo's sigh was sharp, and he banged his hands playfully in the edge of the roof. Utahime gazes downwards, knowing he was upset. He had the right to be upset.

“To be honest, I can’t say I don’t blame you for thinking that.”

She eyes him confused. Gojo’s stops moving his hands and turns to look at her.

“I never committed to any relationship before because they weren’t you. Ever since I was five and you gave me that candy, I only wanted to be with you.”

And Utahime remembers Gojo as the child she used to play with. Little Satoru, who was shorter than her, clinging to her side with a huge smile, and demanding for her attention as their grandmas looked at them from afar, amused at their interactions.

She can’t help but to smile at the memory.

“That’s really sweet, Satoru”

Gojo laughs faintly hearing his name, a slight blush appearing in his cheeks. He takes her hand, enveloping it completely, and Utahime can once again feel the warmth of the bubble surrounding them. He pulls her into a hug.

“Even I know that relationships take time and work. And trust. You’re my first serious relationship and I want it to be the last one.” He pulls down his blindfold and rests his head on her shoulder. “What are you doing to me, Utahime?”

There’s pain in his voice and Utahime gaze at him in alarm.

“Satoru?”

“You..are make me say all of these embarrassing stuff!” Gojo folds his arms in a cutesy way, giving her a wink. “I’m going to blush!”

Utahime’s eyelid twitches.

“I’m going punch you in your fucking face.”

“Scary!”

Without a word, she walks away from him and leaves the rooftop. Gojo soon catches up with her with a big grin on his face.

“Hey, out of curiosity, what would you have done if I had cheated on you?”

“Dump your ass. The only good thing I would have gotten in that situation is that I would have slapped your dumb face.”

Gojo raises an eyebrow. “Slap me?”

“Yeah. That’s what you allowed to do to those women you dated and were unfaithful.”

The sorcerer is silent for a moment.

“Shoko told you that?”

“Yep.”

“That snitch.”

“Watch it.” She warns.

Gojo intertwines their fingers as they walk. “You know, in another time, I would have loved for you to know that. Now I don’t.”

“Why?”

“I did all that dating out of spite, and I may have bragged it on purpose in front of Shoko because I wanted to make you jealous.”

Utahime stops abruptly to look at him. “What.”

“I did all those things to make you jealous.”

“...How and why would you’ve wanted me to be jealous?”

Gojo frowns. “Come on Utahime, remember! What happened in between me dating all those women?”

She arches an eyebrow, and Gojo waves his hand.

“I was nineteen. And you were twenty-two. Do you need more context?”

“Yes, please?”

Gojo makes a sound of frustration with his throat. “Oh my god- In spring! You just had just been promoted for semi-grade one!”

Semi-grade one. Spring.

Oh.

“I remember,” Utahime frowns and crosses her arms. “So you went on a dating sprint to make me jealous by being a piece of shit to women?”

“...Yes? Look, I was a dumb teenager back then.”

“You’re a dumb adult now.”

Gojo sticks out his tongue, validating her point. She scoffs and smiles weakly.

“So why did you want me to jealous about?”

The man scratches the back of his neck, a slight blush on his cheeks. “Well, if you haven’t already connected the dots....I had a crush on you. And yes, I was kind of a douchebag that season because you were...you know.”

She knows.

“Engaged?”

Gojo’s smile drops immediately and his expression turns sour.

“I thought we agreed we would never talk about it.”

Utahime shakes her head.

“I was engaged Gojo. Not anymore. Besides, that’s not the thing we agreed not to talk about. It’s the things we did that day.”

Gojo's good mood returns immediately, and gives her a smirk.

“Ah, yes, those things. The things we don’t talk about...”

Utahime looks at him annoyed “Are you done?”

“We had fun that day, remember? How happy I made you?”

The woman sighs and looks away from his cocky grin that stared to make her irritated.

“Yes. And I remember that half of those things were not...appropriate.”

“Don’t you mean illegal?”           

Hearing the same words she used that day years ago makes her blush and she hits him on the shoulder. Gojo stifles a laugh while Utahime hisses a ‘Shut up!’. The man pulls her into a hug, rubbing his cheek against her head, and she allows him to indulge in that, even if she felt embarrassed by it.

Gojo leans in and whispers in her ear. “You can slap me you know. Preferably in my apartment.”

It takes a moment for Utahime to realize that his hands where no longer in her waist, but where travelling down her sides.

“And what you did earlier...when you my pulled hair, can you do it again?”

“Satoru-“

“You’ve time before returning to Kyoto, right?” His voice deeps as he caresses her back, a hand pulling the ribbon of her hakama. “Utahime?”

*...*

Utahime realizes that lying like this in bed is different. She had shared a bed with Gojo before, but never like this. This was far, far more intimate than two adults sleeping together in their clothes after a long day of work, or a night in the karaoke. And it was far better than then time Gojo insisted on sleeping in the same infirmary bed when she got hurt after a mission.

She grumbles at the memory of teenager Gojo refusing the leave the bed that little shit.

When her hands stop caressing his head, Gojo pokes his head out from under the covers with a sly smile.

“You know, I was thinking...”

“That’s a new one. You, thinking.”

Gojo pouts against her breasts and Utahime pats his head. He gesture compels him to hold her closer to him, his eyes never leaving hers.

“If you ever feel uncomfortable in our relationship, tell me. Don’t bury your feelings, ok? I’ll do the same.”

Utahime nods “All right. I will.”

Gojo smiles and begins to leave kisses on her collarbone. Utahime runs her fingers through his hair like he had told her to do it earlier.

“Satoru, can you come to Kyoto next time? My students are starting to suspect that I'm in a relationship with you.”

Gojo stops.

“Wait, you haven’t told them?”

“No? It’s my private life, I don’t tell them everything.” She frowns, remembering her conversation with Fushiguro Megumi at the park. “I know that you tell your students everything.”

“Hell yeah I do,” Gojo kisses her with a smirk. “I love bragging about my awesome girlfriend.”

“You’re a nightmare.”

“I’m your nightmare.”

Utahime hums in approval and returns the kiss, her thumb caressing his lips. “Make it up to me.”

*...*

Gojo waves both of his arms with a huge smile as soon as he picks her up from Kyoto Tech the next weekend.

“Can we go to the cat cafe?”

Gojo rubs himself against her. “Over my dead body I’ll let you see that cat again,” He glances behind her, where a small crowd was staring at them. “Utahime, is it me or are your students glaring in my direction?”

“They’re glaring at you”

He seems genuinely hurt by that. “But why? I haven’t done anything wrong yet.”

“I know.” She caresses the Infinity in his cheek with her knuckles “They just think you will.”

“And you too?”

“No.”

“Good. That’s all that matters to me.”

He kisses her long and hard, earning a blow to his chest and the disapproving gaze of her students.

Chapter Text

Being the girlfriend of the strongest jujutsu sorcerer had its advantages.

At least that’s how it seemed to Shoko when she made Gojo something akin to a taxi that could bring best her friend from Kyoto to her apartment anytime she wanted.

And the best thing about that was that Gojo didn't mind.

He also wanted to spend all the time he could with Utahime, even if it left him exhausted for the rest of the day –his teleportation ability had to fulfil certain conditions to be used-, ‘But a nosebleed never killed anyone!’ were his words before stumbling backwards at the hallway of Shoko’s apartment.

He waves his hand unconcerned at this and Shoko hands him a tissue to clean the thin line of blood that came out of his nose before Utahime returned from the bathroom.

He’s the strongest.

A nosebleed wouldn’t ruin his time with the woman the loves and it wouldn’t ruin the leisure time Shoko got to spend with her friend.

It was the perfect win-win situation.

Or at least it was until Utahime put a stop to it after Gojo dripped blood in his shirt in front of her.

A silence fills the room as everyone is staring at the red droplets on his white shirt. Utahime makes Gojo look at her in the eyes and asks him since when he has had the nosebleeds.

The answer is not pretty.

And the follow up is worse.

Shoko and Gojo knew how Utahime was when she was angry: her face was scrunched up in rage, her hair moved at the same time as her fist, and she loudly expressed her thoughts. A calm Utahime that didn’t say anything far, far worse.

Utahime was furious.

Shoko understood that her friend was worried for him-after all, Gojo hadn't bled since that fight with Fushiguro Toji- but what he did next evaporated all trace of worry for him. Gojo, the traitorous bitch, had tried to ditch her by saying ‘It was all her idea, Utahime! She made me do it!’ and Shoko-having already drunk two bottles of sake with her friend before Gojo’s exhausted body decided to ruin everything-stood up and called him a fucking snitch.

Not the worse she had called Gojo but apparently enough for him to be offended. Angry, he yelled that he would never do ‘Another favor to an ungrateful smoker!’ while looking away pouting.

That was his mistake because Shoko grabbed the empty bottle of sake that was at her proximity and proceeded to almost murder Gojo with it, as he had sworn he would never tell Utahime that she had picked up her bad habit again.

He didn’t die.

But she was going to make his life hell for as long as she could.

Utahime had confiscated her cigarettes and bought her the nicotine patches. She got Mei Mei to at least compromise to watch her if she started to craver for a smoke. She even got her the chewing gum that Shoko disliked but ‘It’s good for the craving’. All for her own good.

Shoko knows she doesn’t deserve her friend.

‘But neither does Gojo.’ whispers the tiny devil in her left shoulder as she’s doing a long distance call with Utahime. It wasn’t the same, but they could still drink and talk; they even tried singing but the lag of the internet made them sound like a broken recorder so they dismiss the idea after several tries. Besides, Utahime’s voice sounded a thousand times better in person.

Her friend laughs weakly, face red because of the alcohol, and rests her cheek on her palm smiling.

“I still don’t know how to tell Satoru I love him.”

Shoko smiles sweetly.

“So don´t.”

She shouldn’t be a bad friend to Gojo. After all, those were the words he’d dreamt of hearing from god-knows-when from the girl he had pinned on for over a decade. But Gojo’s a stupid traitorous bitch that deserves to suffer for opening his big mouth was the reasoning of her alcohol-infused brain and that won over supporting his relationship.

Good thing that Utahime knows she’s still mad at him and doesn’t take her advice too seriously. Instead, she gives her the disapproving look. The one a mother gives to their child when they’re clearly disappointed at their actions. Shoko snorts at this and rolls her eyes.

“Fine. Just say ‘I love you’ and the idiot will propose to you immediately.”

Utahime pouts at her “Don’t be like that; he’s your friend too.”

“This is what I think of my friendship with that snitch.” Shoko pours an entire can of beer in her mouth. She drinks it in one go and eructs loudly.

Once the laughter dies down, Utahime looks at a point in the distance.

“I don’t know, it’s just…. I’ve been insulting him ever since he became a student in Jujutsu High; telling him that I love him sounds…” Utahime covers her mouth and makes a retch.

“Yeah, I kinda get- oh, wait, you’re throwing up.”

Utahime runs to the kitchen behind her and empties her stomach loudly. The sound makes Shoko wrinkle her nose.

“Those things take time, Uta. You’ll say it when you’re ready.”

Utahime answers with a thumbs up, her head still on the sink.

*...*

>I love you so much my sweet little Uta!!!! （*＾3＾ ） ( ☆ ´ 3｀) ～ (^з^)- ♡
>Have a great day with your brats!!!

Accompanying the text was a picture of Gojo pursing his lips in a kiss at the camera surrounded by hearts, and in the background, a Fushiguro Megumi looking at him irritated as he held a mug.

Utahime smiles at the text and begins to types back.

>Good morning, Satoru. Be nice to your students today as well.

And looks at the many emoticons Momo had installed in her phone unable to choose one to end her message.

(´ε｀ )                  ♡ ( ´ε ｀*)             σ( ≧ ε ≦ ｏ)

She stares an absurd amount of time at the screen to choose the one that looked less ridiculous.

Gojo loved any form of affection she gave to him but it was difficult for her to express her feelings in what seemed to be teenage language. However, Gojo could handle the terms so fluently that it stumped her and somehow, she learned new things from him every day.

Last week she learned what an OTP was, and the expression ‘I ship them’ that she’d heard Momo say so many times but had never understood it. It explained how Gojo could easily communicate with his students as if he was one of their peers, while her relationship with her students was more of a mentor.

And a mother figure for some, like Mai.

Mai never liked to talk about her family, not even her sister. Her way of being-cold, distant and sharp- was the form of self-defense she had developed in all those years in the Zenin clan before coming to Kyoto Tech.

The Zenin clan held the male gender above the female in many forms. Mai was seen as failure, along with her sister. When she first arrived to Kyoto Tech- a stark contrast to her past surroundings- she took a while to adapt because she was being treated at the same level as her male classmates and had a woman as her teacher.

Once, Utahime had asked Gojo if that had been the same case with Maki. ‘Heck no.’ he answered with a grin, ‘That girl is crazy strong.’

Momo was Mai’s best friend that listened to her in her dark times, when her invasive thoughts of inferiority would come to her unannounced. Utahime was the pillar that kept her from crumbling down completely under the pressure her family put her through when they remembered she existed. Mai would hug her tight until the storm in her mind passed, and Utahime reminded her that she would be there every time she felt like giving up.

So when Mai opens the door to her office without knocking, Utahime knows something is wrong. Her expression is somber and her eyes were looking down, her mouth twitched in a painful manner.

“Mai,” Utahime stands up immediately. “What happened-“

“Thank you for guiding me, Mai.”

A man’s honeyed voice stops Utahime. Her student is roughly pushed aside as a tall man enters her office. Utahime’s expression turns serious and she crosses her hands in front of her, knowing full well who is the man standing before her.

Mai clears her throat. From her place, Utahime can see that she’s shaking very faintly.

“Utahime-sensei, this is-“

“Zenin Naoya.” he finishes for her with a smirk. He has the sweetest, most fake smile Utahime has seen ever since she knew him. It’s the type of smile that served to lower someone’s defenses against a predator before it digged its teeth into their throat.

That was Zenin Naoya's reputation in the jujutsu world. But the women in the community had a different one of him.

If Gojo was a whore, Zenin Naoya was a thousand times worse than that.

He was a misogynistic bastard with delusions of grandeur who didn’t hesitate to use his authority over weaker sorcerers – even over his own family - to get what he wanted. And, a certain drunken person had let it split that Zenin Naoya wanted a wife whom he could exercise all that authority without ever being questioned.

‘Thank you, Shoko, for your endless gossip’, thought Utahime. That information made part of his intentions very clear by him being in her office for no good reason.

And that was his mistake.

If he had wanted to have an advantage over her, it would have been wiser to go first with Gakuganji to establish his intentions and then director would have had no other choice but to accompany him to see her. It was little something called manners and it would have, unfortunately, forced her to respect him.

Zenin Naoya could be an important member in his clan, but in Kyoto Tech he had no power whatsoever. At that moment because of his incompetence the balance was in her favor.

Naoya turns to look at her student.

"Mai, why don't you go somewhere else? Your presence is no longer necessary.”

The girl, who had been standing in the doorway without saying anything, was abruptly yanked from her thoughts and bit her lip while looking down. She clearly didn’t want to leave her alone with her cousin. However, at the same time, she was fighting the teachings engraved on her soul from the many years she had lived in the Zenin clan.

Obey me and don't question me.

But this was her teacher and she was no longer in the Zenin clan.

Her voice was whisper when she spoke.

“I’ve something to say to Utahime-sensei.”

It was like a switch had flipped in Naoya’s. His expression darkened, clearly not used to be challenged. Mai visibly flinched when he opened his mouth, but Utahime beat him to it.

“Mai,” Utahime smiled softly at her student. “It’s okay Mai, you can leave. We'll talk later, ok?”

Her student's horrified expression only deepened.

‘Don't be afraid for me, Mai.’ she wants to tell her but Naoya got in their line of sight, slamming the door in Mai’s face. When he turns around, he has the same expression he had when he first entered her office.

“It's a pleasure to see you again, Iori-san. The last time was at the clans meeting, wasn't it?”

Utahime nods curtly. "That's right. Would you like some tea?"

"I would appreciate that," Naoya took a seat in one of the armchairs without another word. His eyes kept staring at her as she prepared the cups; for a moment, Utahime seriously considered the possibility of throwing one at his face. The most satisfying thing would be that it would actually hit him.

Unlike her idiot of a boyfriend.

She quietly sighs. The faster she gets him out of her office, the better.

She turns to look at him as she pours hot water in the cups. “I suppose you came to Kyoto for something important, didn't you? It's a long trip from your clan’s state”

“Indeed, but I came here for an especial reason,” Naoya smiles. “You.”

 “Ah.”

Utahime wants to throw up.

But the man doesn’t notice her disgust and continues.

“You’re from a very respectable clan. As the eldest daughter, I understand that you’ll inherit the position of your father.”

Utahime’s happy to correct him, smiling condescending. “No, that honor would go to my younger brother."

The man, apparently unbothered by her interruption, gives her a pitiful smile.

"It's a shame. I can see that you’ve great potential as an heir.”

Utahime’s eyelid twitches. If Naoya had done his research well, he would know that her clan was not focused on jujutsu, but on the handling of shrines as priests and priestesses. If a child had talent above average for jujutsu, they were sent to Jujutsu High to cultivate their skills.
Indeed, she was the eldest, but her ability allowed her to live separately from her family affairs. That’s why her brother, the next in line, would inherit the clan.

But a man like Naoya who had no other interest other than himself didn’t care about that. Her clan was no even that respectable as he claimed. He had used those words as a poor attempt to swept her off her feet. Had she been an ignorant woman, she might have fallen for it. That is enough to give her an idea of the type of women Zenin Naoya was used to court.

Gullible, inexperienced and easy to manipulate.

“As you know,” he continues “I’m next in line to become the head of the Zenin clan. I’ve the support form principal Yaga and most of the Zenin clan underlines are under my command.”

Utahime stares at him, unimpressed.

“And I care why?”

“The only thing left is pretty obvious don’t you think?” He gives her a charming look. “A wife.”

Never in her life had she wanted to have a baseball bat in her hands.

“You have everything to be a respectable partner to the next head of the Zenin. Status, curse energy, beauty….”

“And my scar?”

Naoya stops.

“As far as I know, your family doesn’t approve of women with scars in their bodies. It lessens their value doesn’t it?” she says, coldly. The gods know how many times Mai had told her all the horrible things the men in the Zenin clan thought of women.

Of her and her sister just for being twins.

She tightens the grip in one cup, reminding herself to remain calm.

‘You have dealt with worse.’ an image of Gojo immediately forms in her mind with his goofy grin as he laughs in his ‘Hehehehe’ way.

She quickly quells that, now getting angry with herself. While Gojo had called weak, dull and many more things in the past in his childish attempts to flirt with her, he always did it in a playful tone, no serious meaning behind it in the end; he had never undermined her as a woman, or seen her just as a pretty ornament to put next to a man, or treat her any different because of her scar.

And that time she felt different because of it, he did the things they swore to never talk about.

Gojo had never made her less for what she was. If anything, in a way that she can't still understand, he seemed to have her in some kind of pedestal in his world. She was something that he adored and wanted.

And she thought the same of him.

Naoya remained silent after her last remark. The way he clenched his hand over his knee makes it obvious that he was expecting another reaction for her. Maybe a ‘Really? Me? Your wife? Oh, that would be such an honor Naoya-sama.’

The sheer thought of it almost makes her gag. Utahime decides that she has wasted enough time on this and places a steaming cup in front of him.

"You flatter me Zenin-san, but I'm already in a relationship right now."

With a carefree and goofy man-child. You know him, you hate his guts.

Utahime takes a seat in front him and quietly drinks from her cup. Naoya doesn’t reach for his. He seemed very busy trying to maintain his composure. When he speaks again, it’s pretty obvious he’s holding back his anger.

“Who is it? Your boyfriend.”

Utahime raises an eyebrow at this. Any other woman would have been scared at the expression on Naoya’s face but that only bothered her even more.

“I didn't think my relationship was of great importance to you.”

Naoya’s smile is way too wide for his next words. His tone is mocking.

“Then why not tell who he is? Is he such a low rank sorcerer that you don’t want to divulge his name?”

‘His clan ranks higher than yours, that’s for sure.’ thought Utahime as her eyelid twitched in irritation.

It was obvious that he was trying to start a competition, between himself - a misogynic trash - and her mysterious boyfriend – an overpowered childish man that loved sweets - and make her understand that he was a thousand times better as prospect.

One simple way to get Naoya out of her office was to tell him that Gojo Satoru was her boyfriend. But by doing so would give him the opportunity to emphasize why neither of them had divulged their relationship yet. And the reason was very simple.

They simply didn’t want to.

They both knew that as soon as they gave the news, the whole jujutsu world would be in chaos. Their families would arrange of marriage meetings between their clans. They would insist on having formal dinners and Gojo hated the outfits for those occasions. Most likely, they would want them to have a wedding as soon as possible – Gojo’s clan above all – so they could start making heirs as soon as possible.

Utahime wasn’t bothered by the prospect of having children; after all she already had six under her care and Gojo had seven, one of them training overseas. Heck, even Gojo had joked that if they had a baby, they should name it Yuuji so that it would be a ray of sunshine just like his student.

But above all those reasons, the main one they didn't want to deal with -especially Gojo- was gossip. He was afraid of how it might twist their relationship, and most of all, how it could affect her reputation.

He had told her that worry as he hugged her against his chest when they were watching a movie in his apartment. Utahime had flicked his forehead playfully after a moment of silence, breaking the tension. Gojo almost never used Infinity around her anymore unless they were in public places.

“Look at me,” she caressed his face “I’m not scared of your groupies, ok? What can they say about me other that I’m in a relationship with a cocky idiot?” Gojo gave her a huge grin and opened this mouth to answer. “Other than maybe I’ll catch something since you used to be a whore.” she added.

Boy, he really got offended after that one. He made himself a burrito with blankets and refused to speak to her for a day. Honestly, after all the teasing he’d done to her in over a decade, he could stand a little bit of hers.

So, the only ones that knew of their relationship were their students, their friends and close acquaintances.

Zenin Naoya was none of the above.

So fuck him.

Utahime fixes her gaze on him. "We intended to keep our relationship as private as possible, but if you insist.” Utahime takes a deep breath. “The person I’m seeing is none of your goddamn business.”

Naoya blinks.

“Excuse me?”

Utahime stares him coldly.

“I said that it’s none of your goddamn business.”

Chapter Text

As soon as Naoya had closed the door of the office to her face, Mai sprinted down the hallway with a somber expression. The hateful eyes of her cousin had sent a shiver down her spine, and even if she wasn’t in the Zenin state anymore, she feared the punishment.

She feared the pain that Maki always saved her from.

Back then, Mai knew she had been a coward for always hiding behind a pillar, with her eyes closed and pressing her hands to her ears as hard as she could to block out the groans of pain of Maki as Naoya kicked her. She hadn’t done anything to defender her until Maki left.

But this was her teacher. This was Utahime-sensei and if she didn’t fear Naoya, then she shouldn’t either. This time, she wouldn’t be a coward and would do something. Maki slammed open the door open of the common room.

“Toudou, give me your phone.”

The first grade sorcerer- who was playing in the ping-pong table by himself- wasn’t fazed by the order. He was used to her grumpy tone, so it didn't spoil his good mood. He replied with a smile without missing the ball that bounced back from the wall.

“Good morning to you, Mai! For what reason-“

The rest of his sentence get cut off when Mai grabbed him by the clothes tightly, causing him to miss the opportunity to hit the ball. It tapped away, lost somewhere in the furniture room. Now that ruined his mood. But when Toudou finally looks at her, he realizes that her face is stricken with deep fear and anger.

“Give me your goddamn phone now!”

Toudou blinks surprised because he had never seen those emotion in Mai and tries to ask what the hell is going on for her to be like that, but the girl yells the order again, increasingly desperate. Finally, he obeys and hands her his phone. Mai tries to use it and hands it back frustrated.

“Open it!”

He’s quick to put in the password, and Tadaka-chan face greets them both with a smile in the wallpaper. Mai opens his contacts and quickly moves through them.

Toudou face’s lights up when he see the name of the person she’s calling.

*...*

Yuuji groans when the screen of his phone lights up with the ID caller.

Toudou Aoi.

Nobara looks above his shoulder “Why do you have that loser’s contact?”

They’re out in the fields along with the second-years for a training session. Well, they were training, until Mai beat them both easily, leaving them pathing on the ground full of nasty bruises. She didn’t even have mercy on Nobara even though they had been dating for a few weeks now. Although while holding Nobara down, Maki did give her a sly smile, to which Yuuji stuck out his tongue. Not even Megumi and him did that kind of stuff in public. He wanted. But Megumi didn’t like to show public affection and he was okay with that.

Usually Gojo would be there to laugh at them while taking pictures of their failure, but he was nowhere to be seen so both Yuuji and Nobara shamelessly sat under the shade of a tree and watched Maki slam Toge in the gut with her weapon.

Yuuji fidgets with the phone in his hand.

“He insisted on exchanging contacts! I couldn’t say no!”

Nobara rolls her eyes at this. “Well is very easy. You just say no.”

Yuuji groans again and reaches her the device. “You answer.”

His classmate wrinkles her face in disgust.

“I’m not your mom, you answer!”

“I don’t wanna!” Yuuji whined.

“Stop being a coward and do it!” exclaims the girl as she smashes the green button in the screen and throws the phone to his face. Yuuji yelps and quickly catches it before it touches the floor. Defeated, he speaks.

“Hello?”

The voice of a woman answers. “Where’s Gojo?”

Yuuji raises an eyebrow, confused. He checks the name on the screen again, thinking he might be wrong and confused the ID caller for a moment, but Toudou’s name remains there. He brings the phone back to his ear.

“You’re not Toudou-kun.” He stated slowly.

“No shit! Where’s your teacher?!” The girl on the other side of the line - what was her name again? Maki? No, that’s the name of his senpai- sounded borderline hysteric, and Yuuji’s confusion grew more and more by the second. Nobara must have notice that because she asks him what the muscular idiot is telling him. Yuuji gives her an incredulous look.

“I think it’s Maki-senpai’s sister.”

That changes Nobara humor in an instant. She becomes angry and Yuuji flinches.

“Uh?! Why is she calling you?!”

“I dunno!” Yuuji turns to the phone. “Why are you calling me?”

“LISTEN TO ME, YOU LITTLE SHIT!”

Yuuki pulls away from the phone, his ears ringing painfully. Nobara, who clearly heard that, is ready to yell back at the device in Yuuji’s hand when the next words silence them.

“Utahime-sensei’s in danger!”

Another voice-Toudou’s actual voice- comes through the phone loudly, screaming a series of ‘What?!’ and ‘What is it Mai, where is the danger?! I’ll deal with it!’ alongside Mai’s voice telling him to ‘Shut the fuck up, he’ll hear you!’

Nobara grabs the phone from Yuuji’s hand ignoring his protests.

“He?! Who is he?! Why is Utahime-sensei in danger?!”

Yuuji tries to butt in near the device.

“Answer us, Mai-san!” he tries to grab his phone back but Nobara slaps him in the head.

“Ow!” the boy looks angrily at his friend “What was that for?!

“You idiot! Use that stupid speed of yours to go tell Gojo-sensei!”

“But-”

“Now!”

Yuuji hesitated for a moment, the cacophony of his friend's screams along with the screams coming from the phone didn’t help to clear his mind, but he ran off in the direction to the building where Gojo should be.

Mai's screams were still heard through to the phone along with Toudou’s and some other sounds of struggling. Nobara opens her mouth to yell at both of them for an explanation when the phone is snatched form her hands.

“Mai.”

Mai, who was trying to stop a murderous Toudou from going out the door of the common room, halts suddenly. Her partner also stops, looking at the strange face she was making as soon as she heard her sister’s voice, as her ragged breathing decreased. In Tokyo, Nobara looked at her girlfriend who stood calmly with the phone.

“Mai, listen to me. He can’t hurt you, do you understand? You’re not in that house anymore.”

In Jujutsu High, Maki's expression is serious.

In Kyoto Tech, Mai bites her lip as she squeezes her arm, the hand that’s holding Toudou’s phone shaking slightly. She hated it when her sister was right. She hated it that only from the panic in her voice, Maki’s able to connect the dots and figure out what is bothering her, who is bothering her. She hated that her voice is able to calm her down just like when they were children, and she was afraid of everything that surrounded them.

The house, their relatives, the curses.

But Maki was right. Utahime-sensei was right.

She wasn’t in that horrible place anymore. She’s in Kyoto Tech, safe, with her friends and classmates that supported her no matter what. Maki’s stern voice comes from the other end of the line.

“And if he tries to hurt you, your teacher is going to rupture his eardrums. I know so because she did that to mine, and he’s the strongest sorcerer.”

Mai nods weakly holding he phone, fully aware that her sister can’t see it and only Toudou could. In her next sentence, she can almost see the prideful smile in Maki’s face by her tone of voice.

“So stand firm. Gojo-sensei it’s on his way.”

*...*

Utahime still hadn’t answered his good morning text.

Gojo stares at the screen of his phone, and completely misses the question Megumi made him. He knows he shouldn’t obsess over it but he couldn’t help it. After the little stun his body had pulled on Shoko’s apartment, their visits had returned to the weekends where they took turns to go to each other’s cities. But it wasn’t enough for him. He missed her daily touch.

Utahime non-verbal way of showing her affection towards him was by touching. She would caress his cheek, give him a little peck on the forehead, or simply hold his hand when it was safe that they were alone and he could turn off his Infinity. And every single one of those times made Gojo internally scream of joy.

That was in the early stages of his relationship with Utahime and even in months later, he still felt giddy every time her lips came closer to him.

When she kissed him, he felt his insides melt. Those were his most cherished memories in the months of their relationship, along with that time she actually made a prank to him with her students. That day, Utahime had extended her arms calling him for a hug, smiling at the entrance of Kyoto Tech. He sprinted towards her when a rope attached to his feet and left him hanging form the school arc.

He almost cried proudly.

And from that day forward he hated the Kyoto student- her brats as he called them-with all his guts because they just left him there for Gakuganji to find him moments later.

They also exchanged texts every day. Their ‘good morning’ and ‘good night’, photos of what they found interesting and, unfortunately for Utahime, Gojo had the impulse to send her all the memes, gifts, and stickers he had on his phone along with hundreds of his best selfies.

Him eating.

Him pretending to blow her a kiss.

Him laughing at his students as they were getting beaten up by curses while he took photos from a safe distance.

If she got fed up, she would sent him a picture of Satoru-that fucking cat-and that was enough to put a hold in his endless texting. Seriously, he was going to have a stern talking with the ladies of that cat cafe. They shouldn’t text Utahime pictures of that fluff ball.

However, right he couldn’t stop staring at his phone. Utahime hadn’t responded his overly cute text of good morning made with all his love. She had seen it, the dots on the side of her conversation appearing as she was typing back her response while a stupid grin sat on his face.

But it never came.

His leg shook restless against the table making the mugs shake at the same rhythm.

“Will you cut it out? It’s just a text.” Megumi said while picking up his mug, its contents threatening to spill over.

Gojo answers without looking away from the screen.

“You wouldn’t understand it. You’re a kid.”

“I literally have a boyfriend and I don’t pout when he doesn’t text me back.”

Gojo was, indeed, pouting at the screen.

“Yuuji-kun is here with you so it doesn’t count!”

Megumi looks at him as if he’s throwing a tantrum in a supermarket, and he was his embarrassed mother. Gojo groans annoyed. Utahime shouldn’t be that busy. They both had the same jobs and he always had time to spare. Shoko had told him once that- unlike him- she did take her job seriously. Screw her, he was also a responsible adult! Last week he had learned to make a ‘proper breakfast’ as Utahime said it was, and didn’t burn down the kitchen. Utahime had patted his head affectionately for that, him leaning into her palm to kiss it.

He lets out a frustrated sigh and stands up. “I’m gonna call her.”

“Don’t,” Megumi tried to take away his phone so he quickly moves away “Stop it, she might be busy.”

“No, she is not!”

Megumi growled. “You’re being a child!  Honestly, I’ve no idea how Utahime-sensei can stand you”

Gojo glares at him.

“Megumi you’re in for a serious slap on the face later”

Megumi’s hands came closer in a familiar position as his face lost all irritation and was replaced with seriousness. Gojo had slapped him around-playfully of course-when he was a kid after he had slightly bad-mouthed him. After all, he was a terrible young adult that had suddenly adopted him and his sister, but it seemed as if both children had more sense of responsibility than him.

He couldn’t even cook a simple egg at that time.

But now he was older and shouldn’t have to tolerate his bullshit attitude. Gojo pulled down his blindfold, sensing that Megumi was going to fight him seriously when Yuuji came running through the door.

Literally.

They were shoji doors, but still.

“Yuuji, the door!” screamed Megumi.

“Gojo-sensei!” screamed the other, ignoring his partner’s anger “Utahime-sensei is in trouble! Kugisaki-“

The rest of his words were left hanging in the air as Gojo disappeared. Yuuji blinks in confusion, staring at the spot where his teacher had been just a second ago. And groans in pain when Megumi's fist hits him in his head.

“That door is coming out of your expenses.”

*...*

Gojo heard a surprised yelp when he appeared at the school grounds in Kyoto. A blue-haired girl standing a few meters behind him was frozen in her place.

“G-Gojo Satoru?” she murmured.

“Where’s Utahime?”

The girl-Miwa, was it?-blinked confused at him as she stammered.

“U-Utahime-sensei must be in her office...”

Gojo gives her a small wave before moving quickly through the building. He passes by the common room were a quiet Mai was receiving a few energetic pats on her back by Aoi. As he rushed down the hallway were Utahime’s office was, Yuuji’s words echoed over and over in his head, his anger rising with each step.

A thought slips into his mind and makes him smile in a playful way ‘It would be more fun to take them by surprise.’ It was bad habit of his, but one he indulged. He wanted to unleash his curse energy as a warning to the person that was inconveniencing Utahime. To make them know that he, Gojo Satoru, was there.

So he forces himself to quell his Infinity, to make it almost undetectable, ready to unleash it in the last moment. He’s reaching the door of Utahime's office, ready to slam the door wide open with a huge and dangerous grin, when he hears bits of the conversation inside.

“….intended to keep our relationship as private as possible, but if you insist. The person I’m seeing is none of your goddamn business.”

And that froze Gojo in the spot, eyes opened wide as he gawks at the door.

Did Utahime, the love of his life, sass someone?

A man’s voice came muffed through the walls but the shock in this voice was palpable.

““Excuse me?”

Uthime answers with a cold voice.

“I said that it’s none of your goddamn business.”

There’s silence, and Gojo hears Utahime scoff.

“Oh, I never imagined that you had hearing impairment. I’ll say it again. It’s none-“

“I heard you the first time. And it’s pretty obvious you’re lying”

Gojo removes his blindfold.

Ah.

It’s Naoya.

That bitch.

Now everything made sense. One of Utahime’s brats must have seen him and communicated with Yuuji. Maybe Aoi, who bugged him to exchange contacts at the end of the Goodwill Event, but it was most likely that Maki’s sister was the source of the panic. He couldn’t blame her for that. Maki hated her cousin with all her might, but Mai wasn’t as strong as her.  

Gojo sighs as he puts back his blindfold. So it had finally happened. What Shoko had told him all those month ago about that piece of trash looking for an obedient wife. Honestly, when Yuuji had said that Utahime was in trouble, he had imagined it was a special grade curse or something far more dangerous, but it was Zenin Naoya.

A cocky grin appears in his face. Utahime didn’t need his help to deal with that trash.

So he sticks his ear to the wall so he can hear his humiliation.

Utahime's voice was completely disinterested as she spoke.

“With all due respect, which is none, I don’t care if you think I’m lying to a petty man like you”

Gojo snorts and quickly covers his mouth, shaking as he laughed. Knowing Naoya, he should be furious right now, maybe enough to retaliate against Utahime. But even he wasn’t that stupid to attack a teacher of Kyoto Tech early in the morning if he wanted preserve his clan’s image and if he wanted to get out alive in the first place. Even if he hadn’t been there, Utahime’s brats and Gakuganji would have Naoya’s head on a pike if he so much dared to touch a hair of the woman.

More words are interchange but he can’t distinguish them. The next part, however, is clear as crystal.

“I never would have thought that the Iori clan had such rude woman as the eldest daughter.”

‘Oh, so now you’re insulting her clan to make you feel better’ Classic manipulation tactic. Not that he had ever done it, of course.

Utahime answered in the most deadpanned voice he had ever heard.

“I feel so offended right now.”

‘Whoa, she sounds exactly like Nanami right now’….Wait a minute-

“You insolent woman!”

“That’s so troubling, Naoya-san.” Utahime made a dramatic fake gasp. “What am I going to do?”

Oh, how he wished he was inside recording. Maki would have loved it.

There’s a slam on a surface and Naoya screams. “You clearly don’t know your place! I pity the man who is with you.”

Utahime, on the contrary, is almost merry.

“How nice of you to worry but fortunately I love him as much as he loves me.”

I love him.

I love him.

Utahime loves him.

Gojo’s heart clenches so hard against his chest he puts his hand over it as he bends down slightly. He had wanted to hear those words from her from god-knows-when. Sometimes he had caught her hesitating in her words, as if she was about to say them before giving up and kissing his on the cheek. Not that he complained about that. He loved it.

But now, now through that wall, he had heard her say them. Utahime loves him.

Gojo hears the screech of furniture against the floor and Naoya’s offended voice.

“I’m leaving”

“Please do. The exit-“

But the door opens so fast it almost hits Gojo’s Infinity as Naoya storms down the hallway. Thankfully it had open outwards so he didn’t see him standing right there peeping in their conversation. Utahime comes out after a moment and closes the door behind her, sighing relieved and tired. She turns around and jumps when she sees him grinning at her.

“Satoru?! What are you doing here?!”

“Utahime, you do love me!” he embraces her in a suffocating hug and squeezes. Hard.

“Ow, ow, ow, you idiot, stop it!”

“I also love you so much!” he says nuzzling against her head.

Utahime stops struggling and looks at him frowing. “Wait, you were listening?”

He stops and shrugs never losing his smile. “Umm, maybe. Just a little bit.”

Utahime’s frown deepens and it’s adorable.

“Gojo, that’s extremely rude.”

He hums in approval but doesn’t stop grinning, and Utahime growls.

“Why are you here?”

“Oh, you know. One of your brats called my students and I came as quickly as I could. But obviously you didn’t need my help this time.”

Utahime’s expression quickly transforms into one of deep worry. “You teleported, didn’t you?” She cupped his face, looking for blood, turning it from side to side. “Are you ok? Are you feeling tired?”

Gojo can't help but widen his smile as he rubs his cheek against her head.

“I’m not as weak as you, Utahime. I’m the strongest after all”

The woman tries to punch him in the stomach but it never touches him.

“Don’t use Infinity, you idiot!” she snarls and tries to get him off her. “This is what I get for worrying about you.”

“You do it because you love me, don’t you? You love me!” Gojo proclaimed loudly.

Utahime, startled, quickly covers his mouth “Ok stop, stop! I love you, ok? You don’t have to make a fuss about it.”

Gojo pouts and rests his head on top off hers. “But I wanna.”

She caresses his cheek. “But I don’t. Remember, if some else finds out we are dating, we will have to deal with your worst enemy.”

Gojo makes a face.

“Official family matters.”

“Exactly. Formal wearing.”

Gojo shudders and Utahime’s lips form a mischievous smile.

“Formal dinner where you would have to make a speech to the elders-”

“Ok, stop, stop!” Gojo shudders. “You’re giving me the creeps.”

Utahime laughs.

“You should go now. If the director finds you here-“

“Find whom here?”

Both adults freeze in place.

“Gojo Satoru,” Gakuganji, who was at the other end of the hallway, looks intently at the taller man. His hand trembled form the force in which he gripped his cane and his voice was filled with rage. “What’s your relationship with my student?”

It has been years since Utahime had studied under Gakuganji tutelage, but that didn’t change the fact that he was ready to commit murder depending on Gojo’s response.

Gojo smiles as she nuzzles his face against Utahime’s hair, missing her mortified expression as he answered.

“Isn’t obvious grandpa? I’m banging her!”

Chapter Text

Satoru clung to her kimono sleeve, screaming as big tears ran down his cheeks.

"Don’t go! Stay!"

The heir of the Gojo clan- ‘Little Satoru’ as she fondly called him-, was throwing a tantrum because of her. He always did it when she had to go back with her grandmother to their shrine, putting them in a very awkward situation with the Gojo family. Utahime’s mother had explained that she should always follow the instructions of the people in that house, as they were a powerful and respectable clan. But to Utahime, Satoru was just a clingy and spoiled child that got everything he wanted, and demanding that she stayed was his selfish way of saying ‘don’t ever leave my side’.

And as always, his strict nanny was quick to speak, the severity in her tone of voice making Utahime wince.

“Miss Iori has to go home now, Satoru-sama. Let her go.”

“No! I want her to stay with me forever!” Satoru clung even more tightly to her. “Don't leave me!”

‘Don’t leave me!’

“I'll be back, I promise.” Utahime tried to pat him on the head to reassure him, but her arm didn't respond. In fact, her entire body felt heavy. And tired.

So tired.

Satoru’s grip became suffocating, and Utahime tried once again to calm him down because if he kept shaking her, she was going to fall. She grabbed the boy's shoulder, finding it wet and sticky. Her hand came back stained in red, and she realized that Satoru's entire left side of his body was stained with blood.

‘Don’t leave me Utahime!’

His mother's blood.

‘Stay with me!’

The boy hugged her so hard, she could barely breathe.

But it wasn’t him preventing her from doing that.

It was her chest that refused to breathe the more she grew weaker, a cold shiver coursing through her body. Utahime fell to the side, and the world around her became blurred; her whole body hurt and she couldn’t move. Satoru's voice reached her ears, sounding far away as he continued to cry and shake her. The tears that fall on her cheek are warm.

“Little Satoru,” She murmured. “Don’t cry, Little Satoru. I won’t leave you alone. I promise.”

But the more she talked, the weaker she felt, and soon, she succumbed to a deep, cold slumber and he heard him begging for her to wake up, screaming for Shoko to come and help him. Utahime woke up with her face bandaged up in the school infirmary a day later with an IV in her arm and Shoko sitting on a chair next to her bed holding her hand. When she muttered her name, her friend immediately raised her face and Utahime saw that her expression was one full of guilt.

“I tried, Uta. I swear I tried but...”

Reversed cursed energy felt scars. When Shoko removed her bandages as Utahime held the mirror, she saw it. The new skin formed the scar on the right side of her face making it look like it was broken. Shoko quietly explained that the skin would become slightly darker with time, but if they keep using her technique, then perhaps-

“The children,” Utahime interrupted her, who looked confused. “Mei Mei and the children that were held in that cursed house, are they safe?”

The other paused for a moment before nodding.

“Good,” Utahime put the mirror down. “That’s the only thing that matters.”

Scars weren’t usual in the jujutsu world. Many could argue that being a woman with a scar would ruin her prospects in life, but Utahime didn’t care about that. People who could only see past the exterior of someone didn’t deserve to have a space in her life. But that mindset of hers didn’t stop Shoko from hugging her tightly. She returned the gesture smiling, easing her worries. Mei Mei paid her a visit later that day.

“You know, there’s an art called Kintsugi where a lacquered bowl is broken and then reassembled with gold. It shows the beauty of flaws and imperfections.”

Utahime smiled.

“Are you calling me beautiful?”

Her partner gave her a cocky grin. “Of course, dear. All women are beautiful, scars or not.”

She caressed a lock of her hair between her fingers, smiling seductively, and Utahime blushed with an awkward laugh. No wonder Shoko had a huge crush on her. She quickly regained her composure and folded her hands in front of her.

“I’ve been meaning to thank you for the flowers.”

She had noticed the three flower arrangements that were by her bedside, asking the nurses who had sent them. However, they giggled with a blush on their cheeks before changing the subject. Flowers weren't cheap, and the only one she knew that could afford them was Mei Mei.

“I didn't buy those for you. Giving flowers is a useless gift.”

Utahime narrowed her eyes confused. “So if it wasn't you, who was it?"

Mei gave her a mischievous grin.

“Gojo, obviously. Shoko didn't tell you? He was the one who got you out of that house. Honestly, when I saw him covered in your blood I thought he was going to faint."

Gojo had saved her and brought her flowers? Utahime frowned angrily, gripping the sheets of the bed.

“Now he won't stop making fun of me!” Furious, she took her pillow and slammed it down in the infirmary bed. “He won’t stop pestering me about how weak I am forever!”

Mei Mei laughed and offered her condolences, something that didn’t improve her mood. And sure enough, the next time she met Gojo it resulted in him pulling her ribbon like always, holding it on top of her on purpose no matter how much she yelled at him to respect her.

He doesn’t comment about her scar.

*...*

Utahime knew that the Inumaki clan’s inherited technique was curse speech, a powerful skill that was strong enough to deal with most cases of curses, with the cost of causing  temporary damage to their throats. Her own cursed technique was nowhere near that kind of level unless she stretched it to her limits, and Utahime knew the result was more dangerous than a sore throat. But when Mei Mei was about to be slashed to shreds by a special grade curse right in front of her, she didn’t think about the consequences on her body. The only thing that mattered was saving her friend.

Before the curse can reach Mei’s body, Utahime let out a powerful screech that broke all the windows surrounding the area, stunning the enemy for enough time for Mei to deliver the final blow, destroying it completely. Both stare at each other, Mei retrieving the finger of Ryomen Sukuna from the floor, before Utahime’s mouth is flooded with blood. It rushed to her lungs, making her unable to breathe when she began to drown. She coughed desperately and that only added to the pain coursing her body as she bent over and threw up red.

Surprisingly, she wakes up that same afternoon in the Kyoto infirmary with two different IVs in both of her arms-one blood and one with crystal fluid-, giving that she was sure that she vomited half the blood from her body in the floor of the abandoned building where she and Mei Mei had fought that special grade.

And she had a bandage on her mouth.

The doctor in charge of her, an older man she had seen a couple of times when she passed by the infirmary with Shoko, showed her an X-ray of her chest, pointing at several cottony-looking areas on the periphery of her lungs.

"This is blood," he explained. “Fortunately, we were able to quickly stabilize you by giving you a blood transfusion and fluids,” he turned to see her, now looking concerned. “The problem is your vocal cords. They are damaged.”

Utahime's soul fell at her feet.

No.

Her cursed technique depended on that. How could she be a jujutsu sorceress if she didn't have-

"No, no, don't be scared," the doctor said quickly, seeing the panic on her face. “We have already contacted Jujutsu High and they will send Ieri Shoko to cure you as soon as they can. In the meantime, try not to speak. You would damage them more.”

Utahime nodded, relief washing over her. Bandaging her mouth was merely a physical reminder to help her not to speak until Shoko arrived in Kyoto the next day. Meanwhile, she had to rest in bed and not get up because of the danger of falling. She had lost a lot of blood after all, and the least they needed in that moment was for her to pass out. The nurse closed the curtains around her bed to give her some privacy even though no one else was there. Mei Mei had sent a message, apologizing for not being able to stay longer but the finger needed to be sealed. She would come to see her along with Shoko, promising to pick her up from the train station.

'Shoko, you owe me one,' Utahime thought with a grin as she typed that information in the text before sending it, closing her flip phone. Of course, in the end she would owe her more when she finished healing her, but spending minutes with Mei in what was her family’s private car? It would be a dream come true for her friend. She made herself comfortable as best as she could in the infirmary bed, and began to close her eyes when she heard him.

“Utahime!”

Her eyes snapped open, unsure if she had heard it right. ‘No,’ she thought, as she shook her head, ‘I must be imagining things from the blood loss. It must be that. He can’t be here.’

“Utahime!”

‘He's not there, it's just an auditory hallucination.’

“Utahime!”

‘Oh gods, I beg you, please don't let it be-‘

“Utahime!”

Gojo opened the curtains with a beaming smile and a box in his hand.

“I came to visit you Utahime! Are you happy?”

Utahime gave him the finger, frowning, and Gojo laughed like a fool.

"You look like a ninja," he commented and looked around for a chair to pull over next to her bed.

Quickly, she raises her other hand mimicking the same gesture as the other and pointed to the door, indicating for him to leave. But Gojo was already pulling the doctor’s chair next to her bed and sat down ignoring her signs.

“You almost died again! Aren’t you sad that this time I couldn’t save you?

‘Fuck no,’ she though, brimming with anger.

Seeing that he had no intention of leaving, Utahime started to type in her flip phone, frowning and pushing Gojo away when he tried to snoop over her shoulder.

‘Get the fuck out, Gojo’ it read the text.

“Ouch, Utahime! I came all the way from Tokyo to see you! I even brought snacks!” He raised his hand with the pretty colored box decorated with flowers that smelled vaguely sweet.

She looked at him deadpanned and pointed at her bandages with an irritated gesture, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

“What? You can’t eat?”

Utahime shook her head. Until Shoko arrived, she couldn’t eat anything. Not even drink water, hence why she wanted to sleep. Gojo made a face.

“That sucks! Well, guess that I will have to eat all of these by myself!”

She took her sweet time typing her response on the flip phone. ‘Do whatever you want’ she showed him the text and slumped into the bed. Gojo did just that. He devoured the entire box of mochis all while talking nonsense and gibberish that she really didn’t pay attention to. He told her about the last Goodwill Event where they had totally won thanks to him. And he had met some guy of the Zenin clan that acted too arrogant for his own good, so he kicked his ass to teach him some modesty.

“Anyway,” Gojo licked the powdered sugar off his fingers. Utahime, annoyed, handed him a tissue to clean himself. “He totally hates me now.”

‘You need some of that modesty,’ Utahime thought, lying on her side watching him as he spoke. At one point she must have started to drift off to sleep because the next thing she knew, Gojo was pulling up the blanket to get into bed with her.

“Schooch over Utahime! You’re hogging the bed!”

Utahime stifled a scream- the pain that coursed through her body for that small sound almost made her bend over in the sheets-, and began to hit and push Gojo away, who had already gotten into bed and was about to hug her waist. Flustered and pushing his mocking face as far as she could, Utahime managed to turn to type with one hand on her phone.

'What is your problem?!'

The other nuzzled her palm with a silly grin. “I’m spending the night!”

‘Why?!’

“My precious and weak senpai is defenseless! What kind of kouhai would I be if I left you all alone?”

‘Leave me alone!’

But Gojo just gave her a cocky smile, sliding his glasses down his nose as he tried to climb closer to her.

“Don’t worry senpai. I’ll be gentle”

Without missing a beat, Utahime slapped him across the face and stood up for the bed to go to another of the empty ones in the infirmary dragging the IV with her. However, she hadn’t taken two steps forward when she immediately regretted her decision. The room distorted around her feet, causing her to stagger and reach out to try to find something to hold on while an intense buzz filled her ears. An intense feeling of vomiting assailed her, covering her mouth over her bandages and Utahime sat down in an attempt to lessen them. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. After a moment – when she was sure she wasn’t going to throw up and the room no longer spun – she opened her eyes to find Gojo staring at her, holding her by the shoulders.

“You ok?”

Utahime nodded weakly.

“See, this is what happens when you ignore Gojo Satoru!” he booped her cheek with a smile. “So keep your attention on me.”

In her rage, Utahime took the pillow from her bed and actively tried to smother the brat with the firm belief that no one, absolutely no one would miss him, and she would be doing the jujutsu community a favor. Gojo easily wrestled her with mocking laughter, careful not to hurt the IV in her arms until he’s resting next to her, a smile never leaving his face while she frowned.

Because to him, everything was a game when it involved Utahime.

“I won’t touch you if that’s what worries your virgin self. See?”

Without a warning, he tried to slam his open hand against her face- scaring the ever living shit out of her-,but it never touched her. His Infinity prevented him from making contact with her skin. Gojo laughed at her scared expression and stifled a giggle when Utahime jabbed his sides furiously.

“Ouch! That hurt! It hurts so much!” he lamented, putting on a show.

For the last time that day, Utahime gave him the finger and turned to the side, ignoring him. She felt defeated and no longer had the strength to deal with the child by her side. So she closed her eyes and placed her hands over her ears in an attempt to cancel out Gojo’s voice because the boy was a goddamn chattering machine. He talked and talked, and kept talking even when she kicked him to shut him up. But that only made him talk more and Utahime squeezed her eyes shut, trying to fall asleep faster, Gojo’s voice sounding further and further away until it’s a murmur that ends up lulling her to sleep.

She woke up hours later when Gojo’s body was almost pushing her off the infirmary bed. The sudden feeling of almost falling down had her heart beating wildly as she gripped the sheets of the bed strongly in order to not fall down. Gojo continued to sleep, unaware of her suffering, even curling up in the bed as she freaked out internally. Utahime managed to put one foot on the ground and regained her balance. Upon straightening up she no longer felt dizzy, but did feel annoyed at the idiot who was occupying her assigned bed. Gojo made a small sound and Utahime saw that he was drooling on the pillow.

'Yuck' she thought and took a picture for future blackmail even if the quality wasn’t that good. Seeing Gojo's face relaxed from sleep, and without his dark glasses, made him look younger. It bitterly reminded her of the boy he once was; the little Satoru that she smiled excitedly every time he saw her and ran to her side to play.

But after the death of his mother, he changed.

She wasn’t able to attend the funeral as her own grandmother had passed away, and there was no other reason to go to the Gojo house. It was the adults that whispered to each other when they thought she wasn't listening about the situation in the Gojo clan. But she listened. How more and more assassination attempts were made against the Gojo heir, the bearer of the Six Eyes. She listened how Gojo, a child younger than her, had become cold and calculating because of those some assassination attempts that took his mother’s life when she protected him from one.

Years later, when she read his name on the list of first-years in Jujutsu High, part of her was excited. She wanted to see him again, how much Little Satoru had changed. How much the rumors were true. And sadly, he had changed for the worst.

Gojo was, to put it simply, a brat. One who enjoyed telling her how weak and useless she was and Utahime wouldn't lie to say that it had hurt. Only the first time, thankfully; the next time set their endless fight of screaming and mockery that ended with her riled up and Gojo with a satisfied grin on his face.

That made her hate him most of the time.

The other time she could tolerate him, especially when he was quietly standing beside her in official meetings-probably bored out of his mind, or when they went out together with Shoko and Mei Mei to the karaoke, and that time she got dumped by her fiancé. That hurt like a bitch and Gojo was the one that cheered her up in his own unique way. That day, the situation had escalated so quickly that she had made Gojo swear to never speak to anyone of what they had done. Shoko had never questioned her about it, so he had indeed kept his promise.

He wasn’t bad. He was just a really annoying brat to deal with. Sometimes she asked herself what she had done to make herself the primary target of Gojo’s antics every time they crossed paths. She had lost count of the ribbons he had stolen from walking past her, or the times he purposefully put her on the spot with other people. The stress he made her feel every time he was near quickly turned into anger when he acted disrespectfully towards her on purpose.

But there were times Gojo had moments of weakness, like the time Geto had left them. He had shown her his cocky and arrogant self when they met a month later, probably to save appearances, but Utahime knew. She knew he was hurting. Even if he never returned the hug she gave him, Utahime saw for a moment Little Satoru that clung to her kimono begging her not to go. Little Satoru was sleeping next to her at that moment. Carefully, Utahime covered Gojo with the blanket he tossed aside, watching him stir a little, and made her way to the other bed next to him. She closed her eyes sure that she would finally sleep well.

The next morning when Shoko nudged her shoulder gently to wake her up she realized two things. The first one was that at some point in the night, Gojo had slither himself in her bed again and was hugging her against his chest. The second one, to her dismay, was that Gojo had drooled all over her hair. Utahime freaked out seeing that her pigtail was so dampened and sticky, it stuck to her cheek, and kicked Gojo out of the bed as Shoko laughed.

*...*

Utahime opened her eyes slowly as she raised her head slightly, realizing that she had drooled all over Gojo’s hair, who was snoring against her chest. There was a patch of saliva shining in his white locks, and half asleep, Utahime tried to clean it with the sleeve of her pajamas but only managed to spread the saliva even more, causing the ends of Gojo’s hair to turn wet and stick out in all directions.

A literal cowlick.

Utahime wrinkled her face, but if Satoru hadn’t woken up after his express shower, she could go back to sleep and not think about the atrocity she had done to his hair. Except that in her half-asleep state what she thought were gentle caresses to wipe away the drool from his head were actually half-slaps against Gojo's head that ended up waking him up and looking at her in confusion.

“What-“

She shushed him and hugged his head. “Go back to sleep.”

Gojo groaned, confused after that weird display of affection but obliged. Just as he was feeling getting pulled down to the dream, Utahime shifted in the bed, making him groan again, this time annoyed.

“What,” he muttered, his voice groggy and raspy. Utahime was now hugging him, her head buried into his chest.

“Your hair smells bad...”

“Uh?”

“Like dried-up drool...”

Gojo wrinkles his face without understanding. Why would his hair smell bad? He had washed it before going to bed. Still, he was too tired to find out and just settled back against Utahime, burying his face in her hair. He might drool on it but if he cleaned his crime before morning came, then all would be good. So the next morning as they were both brushing their teeth in the bathroom, Utahime asked him if he had drooled on her hair.

"Didn't you drool on mine?" he shoots back.

After a silence, Utahime continued brushing her teeth. "You did that to me a few years ago."

"Really? I don't remember."

"I kicked you off the bed."

"Oh yeah, now I remember."

“You were a little shit at that time.”

“Hey,” Gojo nudged her arm with a playful grin. “That little shit is your boyfriend now. And maybe your future husband!”

Utahime paused and stared at him with toothpaste on her lips. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“I did, but…Gojo, that’s something serious to say.”

“And?” He spit the toothpaste and washed his mouth. “I've known I wanted to marry you for a long time.”

“What?”

“Yep, kinda from the day you got engaged,” he kissed her forehead. “I’m going to make waffles, want some?”

Utahime grabbed his shirt, her face blushing. “You can’t just say that all of the sudden!”

Gojo gave her a cocky grin.

“Oh, but I can Utahime. Because I’m going to make it a reality” he kissed her again. “So, waffles?”