Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Yo! Satoru!”

Satoru whips his face around and sees a ghost. The figure is so familiar to him; his hands had caressed that body a thousand times over, mapped all of its scars and memorized them well enough to last a lifetime. He’d be able to identify the figure with his eyes closed, with only his hands or ears to guide him. The person standing behind him was someone he’d killed with his own hands all too many years ago. The only person in his life who Satoru had ever loved, and the only person he’d ever hesitated in front of. Suguru Geto, his one and only. And suddenly, the memories come flooding back in as he stands frozen, staring at someone he watched bleed out in an alley three years ago.

Satrou remembers. He remembers the mission that had started to crack the foundation of their relationship. Two boys not nearly old enough for the burden placed on their shoulders, a simple order to protect an innocent young girl that led her to her death, a man whose very existence was shunned by all of Jujutsu Society, and the bloody aftermath.

Other than the puckered stitches across his forehead, the man is a mirror image of his best friend and soulmate. Satoru’s six eyes tell him the person standing before him can only be Suguru Geto but his soul knows differently. There is something wrong about the man; the way he holds himself, the cadence of his voice, the uneven footsteps, and most of all, the way Limitless didn’t deactivate around him. This is not his Suguru.

“Who are you,” Satoru questions, barely keeping the rage out of his voice.

“Come on now Satoru, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten your lover so easily?” the thing wearing Suguru’s skin laughs.

“My six eyes tell me you’re Suguru Geto. But my soul knows otherwise! Hurry up and answer. Who the hell are you?” Satoru demands, his body is trembling from the effort of keeping himself in check. His cursed energy is trying to jump out from under his skin, demanding that he strike down this imposter at once, deeply offended by the thing parading around in Suguru’s skin. Satoru’s hands are clenched tight and hang limp on either side; there is a brief sting and he feels liquid begin to drip down his fists.

The fake slowly reaches up a hand to the stitches stretching across its forehead, pulling at the end and Satoru watches as they become undone, blood seeping out from the edges. It then reaches up its other hand to the top of Suguru’s head and Satoru watches in abject horror as it pulls the top of its skull off to reveal a pulsating mass of flesh occupying Suguru’s skull. A small mouth with jagged teeth is set into the front of the flesh, and there’s a scream trapped in Satoru’s chest as he watches the mockery that's become of Suguru’s body.

‘I never did cremate his body did I?’ he thinks to himself hysterically.

“Yeesh!” the fake grins widely, his eyes scrunched in a grotesque imitation of Suguru. “How’d you know?”

***

Satoru jolts up in bed with a scream. His body is soaked with sweat and his chest heaves with every breath he desperately tries to take in. Satoru brings his hands up and stares at how they tremble, there’s throbbing pain behind his eyes that makes it barely possible to see in front of him. His heart is beating faster as the seconds tick by and there’s a darkness creeping in from the edges of his fuzzy sight. Satoru can hear his breaths growing faster as a fist slowly squeezes tighter and tighter around his heart.

A hand suddenly touches his shoulder and he flinches away before turning his gaze to the owner of the offending limb. Satoru has to blink a couple times to clear his vision, but he finally manages to focus his eyes on Suguru sitting up in bed beside him. His brows are furrowed in concern, his long hair is down and there’s a yawn teasing at his lips but Suguru is very much alive and sitting next to him.

“Another nightmare, Satoru?” he questions softly.

Satoru jerks his arms forward to grab Suguru’s shoulders and his gaze frantically roves over every inch of Suguru’s body. He looks at Suguru’s forehead, untouched, before he finally allows his body to relax.

“Yeah,” Satoru breathes out, bile rising in the back of his throat as he remembers the nightmare.

Satoru hears a soft thump beside him before a hand grabs his arm and pulls him down to rest his head against Suguru’s chest. He freezes for a second, the image of Suguru’s skull popping off the top of his head still running through his brain, but he soon melts into the warmth and molds himself to Suguru’s side. Suguru reaches a hand up and begins to stroke it through Satoru’s hair while humming softly under his breath. Satoru leans into the gesture; it’s so easy to accept the comfort Suguru offers freely, that Satoru almost forgets about the nightmare he just woke up from. Almost.

Satoru hesitates, “Do you wanna hear about it?”

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Suguru counters, still running his hand through Satoru’s hair.

“No,” Satoru says grimly.

“Then I’ll wait until you’re ready to talk about it,” he responds while pressing a soft kiss to the crown of Satoru’s head.

Satoru can’t help but smile at those words, but he turns his head and hides it against Suguru’s stupidly thick chest.

“Now go back to sleep,” Suguru yawns. “Some of us have to wake up early tomorrow and don’t have the luxury of sleeping till noon.”

Satoru pouts against a pec, “You know I need my beauty sleep. How else do you think I manage to stay so young and handsome?”

“You prey off the vitality of others, like a leech,” Suguru deadpans. “Poor Nanami gets the worst of it. He's younger than us but already looks like he lost his kids in a divorce."

Satoru fake gasps in outrage, bringing a hand down to smack against the other man's ribs. It does next to no damage though, because of how Suguru is literally built like a tank. “Suguru!”

Suguru curls up against the blow with a groan, acting as if it had hurt way more than it actually did. “Please spare me, I have to train the kids tomorrow morning in martial arts. I already get beat up enough as it is, I don’t need my husband to start in on me too.”

Satoru rolls his eyes but smoothes a hand against Suguru’s ribs in apology. “I want chocolate pancakes tomorrow. With whipped cream and a river of maple syrup,” he murmurs into Suguru’s chest.

Suguru groans but doesn’t remove his arm from where he has it wrapped tight around Satoru’s shoulders, “Anything else, your majesty?”

Satoru thinks for a moment, “A caramel frappe from Starbucks. Grande size, extra caramel drizzle.”

“Alright alright, now go to sleep,” Suguru yawns. He shifts in bed a little bit, before gradually going still.

Satoru simply watches as Suguru’s breaths slow and he drifts off. Once he’s sure that Suguru has really fallen asleep, he lifts his head and rests his chin on Suguru’s pecs. Satoru gazes at Suguru's beautiful face, the man looks ethereal in the moonlight. Satoru lets his gaze drift over the chiseled planes of Suguru's face and then pushes himself up with one hand on the man's chest. The blanket they're both sharing slips down to pool around Satoru's waist but he pays it little mind. He raises his other hand and lets it caress Suguru's face, pushing some stray hairs out of the way and taking a moment to cup the man's cheek.

He’s beautiful, he thinks to himself, tracing a finger across Suguru’s jaw. He’s mine.

The events of Satoru’s dream flash through his mind and the hand resting on Suguru’s chest clenches reflexively. I would burn this world down if I ever lost him. After all, Suguru is the only thing that keeps Satoru from forsaking the responsibility forced upon him ever since his birth. The only reason he still sees worth in saving the twisted society they live in is because of Suguru’s righteous sense of justice, and his endearing belief that Jujutsu Shamans exist to protect those weaker than them. Satoru doesn’t give a damn about the rest of the world, but unfortunately his world does.

He leans down and presses a lingering kiss to Suguru's forehead, right where the stitches had been in his nightmare. Then, he moves on to pepper the rest of Suguru's face with soft kisses. Satoru pulls back and takes a good look at Suguru's face, as if trying to convince himself that the other man is really there.

Despite the insistent throbbing behind his eyes, Satoru doesn't fall asleep that night. Instead he spends his time tracing out and mapping each and every one of the scars on Suguru's body while the man sleeps safely at his side.

***

Satoru wakes up the next morning at 12pm feeling as if he was hit by a truck, the taste of bile still present in the back of his throat. Sometime in the long night he’d fallen unconscious due to his utter exhaustion, but in spite of the sleep he’d gotten, Satoru’s body is still tired. He groans from where his face is shoved into his pillow and throws an arm out to reach for Suguru only to find air. Satoru lets out an even louder groan, but perks up quickly enough at the tantalizing scent coming from the bedside table. He pulls his head out of the pillow and braces himself on his arms to find a plate stacked high with the softest chocolate chip pancakes he’s ever seen, whipped cream on top and a river of maple syrup dripping down the stack. There’s a caramel frappe sitting next to the plate and Satoru can feel himself salivating at the thought of shoveling it all into his mouth.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shoots across his forehead and Satoru’s arms buckle beneath him. Satoru brings a hand up to clutch at his head, a silent groan trapped in his throat as he waits for the pain to pass. As soon as it’s dulled to a low throb, Satoru drags himself up out of bed throwing a cursory glance at the food. He heads towards the bathroom, stumbling a little along the way but finally reaching the small room attached to his and Suguru’s bedroom. He braces himself against the granite countertop, finally gaining the courage to lock eyes with himself in the mirror.

I look like shit.

There are bags under his eyes; Satoru doesn’t even remember the last time they appeared, he’d always been one to keep up his appearance and on the rare times his appearance was less than satisfactory a quick burst of reversed cursed technique fixed the problem. There’s a dull sheen to his eyes, his hair is ruffled distastefully and there’s a pallid tone to his normally bright skin. He watches as his mouth turns down into a frown, but he quickly turns his face away, breaking eye contact. Satoru turns on the tap and rinses the taste of bile from his mouth, refusing to think about the nightmare he’d had last night, before heading back out to dress.

As he’s pulling on his usual uniform, his eyes fall back on the previously forgotten stack of pancakes and sees a note that he’d missed previously. He walks over while buttoning his clothes, picking up the hastily scribbled note to skim over.

Satoru,
Taking the kids to school with me. If you don’t eat these pancakes I’m gonna shove them down your throat when I get home.
Love you.

Despite his exhaustion, Satoru cracks a smile at Suguru’s words. He turns his face towards the stack of pancakes and forces himself to take a couple bites. They taste like dust in his mouth, but he thinks of the disappointed quirk of Suguru’s eyebrows and forces himself to finish the stack. The drink he throws away, Satoru loves Suguru but at this point he just doesn’t have it in himself to force the thing down his throat. Finally ready for the day, he heads out of their shared room, grabbing his blindfold on the way, and starts towards the training grounds where he knows Suguru will probably be.

He hears them before he sees them; there are yells coming from the grounds and loud bursts of Suguru’s voice as he barks out pointers. Suguru has gathered the first and second years out into the field to do some hand-to-hand combat training. From where he’s standing, Satoru can see the spike of Megumi’s head sitting next to a brown bob as well as what looks like a pink burr. Before he reaches them, Satoru slaps both hands hard on his cheeks, willing a bit of color to return and mentally preparing himself. With a practiced smile on his lips - it won’t fool Suguru but it’ll get him past his students - Satoru walks towards the group.

Yuuji is the one who notices him first. “Gojo-sensei,” the boy calls out excitedly to a chorus of collective groans.

Satoru feels his smile pull into something more real at his student’s excitement, “Yuuji!”

Yuuji quickly stands up from where he’s seated beside Kugisaki and Fushiguro,waving an arm to motion his Sensei over, “Over here!"

Satoru waves back, quickening his pace as he makes his way over. Yuuji walks forward to meet him and Satoru bends down to clasp his arms around the other boy. He takes a moment to rub his cheek against Yuuji’s porcupine-like head before speaking, “How’s my favorite student doing today?”

“Getou-sensei is teaching us some more hand-to-hand combat techniques,” Yuuji grins from where he’s shoved against Satoru’s chest.

Satoru lifts his gaze, propping his chin on Yuuji’s head and watches as Suguru corrects Maki and Yuta’s stances slightly. Suguru has taken the outer coat of his uniform off and is standing in a simple tank top with his signature ridiculous pants, his lightly tanned skin glistening from the sweat he’s built up while in the heat. Suguru’s long hair is pulled up into a bun and Satoru allows his gaze to run over him. The tank top clings to Suguru’s body leaving little to the imagination, the soft definition of his abs and pecs clearly visible. The bulge of his biceps and shoulders flex as he moves and if Satoru squints enough, he can even make out a faint outline of dark hair leading down Suguru’s abs, a trail he’s followed many times before. There's a drop of sweat making its way down the glistening expanse of Suguru's neck as well as across his collarbones and Satoru is seized with the sudden urge to lick it.

“Good, good, remember to brace your core and have a wide stance at all times,” Suguru praises, bringing Satoru out of his lecherous thoughts.

Satoru turns his gaze to where Nobara and Megumi are lazing on the bleachers alongside Inumaki, sending him side-eyes. Megumi especially seems to have a little more venom in his eyes, Satoru notes as he rubs Yuuji’s head, while Nobara is more focused on splitting her attention by sending heart eyes at Maki as she runs through her stances.

“Suguruuuuu,” he sing-songs, letting go of Yuuji to wave a hand at the man. Suguru turns his head at Satoru’s voice and immediately a grin spreads itself across his face, eyes crinkling in happiness. Satoru is barely aware of Yuuji walking back to his friends, attention wholly centered on Suguru.

Suguru jogs over and Satoru quickly throws his arms around Suguru’s neck, tilting his neck down slightly so that the other man can meet his lips in a gentle peck. He can hear the other students fake retching in the background and honestly they should all be used to this by now.

“Morning,” Satoru chirps after pulling back.

Suguru rolls his eyes fondly, reaching a hand up to push Satoru’s eye mask out of the way. “It’s almost 1pm Satoru, it’s not morning anymore.”

“For you maybe. But MY day has only just begun,” Satoru counters. Suguru shakes his head but turns around to walk back to the students, except Satoru refuses to let go and gets dragged along as well.

“Alright, run through the drills again,” Suguru orders Maki and Yuta. “And as for the slackers on the bleachers, 10 laps around the field.”

There’s a chorus of groans from all except Yuuji, but the students get up from where they’re sitting and start making their way towards the track, but not without dragging their feet. Satoru buries his head into the crook of Suguru’s neck, breathing in the scent of his natural heady musk mixed with sweat.

Suguru halfheartedly pushes at Satoru’s head, “I stink.”

Satoru gives one more, annoyingly loud, sniff before leaning his head against Suguru’s temple, arms now wrapped around the other man’s neck.

“Where are Mimiko and Nanako?” Satoru asks.

“Shoko has them. And Nanamin’s got Panda and Junpei. He went out with Haibara to exorcise a couple curses. Thought they could use the experience.” Suguru mumbles back, eyes still focused on Maki and Yuta while they run through their drills.

Satoru hums in assent, letting his eyes drift shut and leaning more of his body onto Suguru. The other man simply shifts his feet, adjusting himself to carry the added weight before going back to watching the students. The heat of the day is stifling, but Satoru can’t bring himself to let go of the comforting presence in his arms. He can feel Suguru’s heartbeat against his own arm, which combined with the slow rise and fall of the other man’s back almost lulls him to sleep.

Suguru claps his hands loudly and Satoru jolts from where he’s standing. “Alright, start wrapping it up, good job today! It’s time for lunch so let’s all head to the cafeteria.”

Satoru opens his eyes, mask still pushed up on his forehead, and watches as the students gratefully gather in front of their teachers.

Yuuji throws a hand up, the only one other than Maki who's not bent over and catching their breath, “Sensei! Will the others be there as well?”

“Yeah, I think they should be back by now, they left pretty early in the morning,” Suguru answers after a quick pause, reaching a hand up to absentmindedly stroke Satoru’s hair.

“Sensei, I thought excessive displays of PDA were officially banned after Inumaki-senpai and Okkotsu-senpai got caught in the kitchen that one time,” Nobara asks, wrinkling her nose at the two of them.

Okkotsu blushes bright red and starts stuttering, completely at odds with his intimidating appearance, while Inumaki sends such a withering glare at Nobara that Satoru half expects the boy to tell her to go fuck herself.

“But Kugisaki, didn’t Megumi and I see you and Maki-senpai in the hallway outsi-,” Yuuji starts, but he doesn’t get far before Nobara elbows him hard enough to cause the boy to double over while clutching his stomach in pain.

“Not now, idiot,” she hisses. Yuuji turns his head to Megumi while still bent over, face pinched in a confused manner but the other boy simply shakes his head in exasperation.

“Yes, for most people,” Suguru answers breezily. “Satoru’s exempt from most rules however, on account of how stubborn and bullheaded he is.”

“~Suguruuuu~,” Satoru whines, rubbing the sides of their faces together. “Stop being mean to me. Also, just for that I’m cutting you off of my black card Kugisaki.”

Nobara narrows her eyes and bristles, “You wouldn’t.”

“Maybe if you’re nicer to me I might consider giving it back to you,” Satoru says smugly.

Just before Nobara can launch herself at Satoru with her claws bared, Maki grabs the girl by the arms and pulls her into her chest, Nobara immediately melting into the embrace.

“Sensei I know you’re petty but I didn’t know you were also stupid enough to threaten Nobara’s shopping,” Maki drawls.

Satoru raises an eyebrow, “She provoked me first.”

“Alright alright, settle down everyone and go get some food. If we start a conversation about how childish and petty Satoru is, we’ll be here all night,” Suguru mediates.

Satoru fake gasps in outrage, clutching his chest for dramatic effect. “Et tu Suguru?”

“To be quite honest, you’re just as bad if not worse than Gojo-sensei,” Megumi murmurs under his breath to a chorus of agreements. The students collectively turn their backs on the two of them and start walking back to the main building. Suguru pulls himself out of Satoru’s embrace to follow behind them, making sure to link their hands together. Satoru walks slightly behind, just so he can admire the way the muscles in Suguru’s back shift under his tank top as he walks.

“Do you think we have time for a quickie?” he wonders aloud, and the students in front of them all start walking a little faster.

Suguru stops, and turns his head back to look Satoru up and down consideringly. The heat in Suguru’s gaze makes Satoru shiver in anticipation, only to be doused in ice when Suguru speaks. “No, we definitely don’t.”

“Can’t believe I’m hearing this from you of all people, Suguru,” Satoru pouts. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the time you pulled me into a closet between classes for a quick blowjob. I didn’t even have time to wash the taste out of my mouth.”

“TMI,” Nobara screeches behind herself as she and the other students kick up their pace even more.

Suguru groans and runs a hand across his face. “Tomorrow, I promise. Mimiko and Nanako are having a sleepover with the other kids in the dorms so we’ll finally have the place all to ourselves.”

Satoru wants to complain a little more, but they’ve arrived at the school cafeteria so he drops the subject. The students had arrived before them and were already seated at the tables with their food. Suguru immediately heads towards the area where the food is set out and Satoru takes a seat with the students. He places his elbow onto the table so that he can support his chin using the palm of his hand, and simply watches the kids expectantly.

Megumi is the first to break the sudden silence that descends on the table at Satoru’s arrival, “Shouldn’t you get some food Gojo-sensei?”

“Tuna mayo,” Inumaki echoes.

“Awww,” Satoru cooes. “I knew you cared about me Megumi!”

Immediately Megumi’s face twists into one of utter revulsion, and Satoru almost laughs at how ridiculous he looks. Nobara reaches out a hand and rubs his back, consoling him as another one of Satoru’s victims.

“Anyway, I don’t have to, Suguru’ll get some for me. ”

Inumaki narrows his eyes, “Salted salmon roe.”

“Exactly,” Maki echoes. “You two are disgusting.”

“Come on you guys,” Yuta consoles. “I think they’re sweet!”

“~Toge~,” Satoru sings, chin still propped in one hand. “Should I tell Maki where her skirt disappeared to last weekend?”

Toge’s face goes rapidly pale and he shoots up in his seat as Maki whips her head around to send him a narrow eyed look.

“What the hell is he talking about?” She demands.

“Tuna mayo,” Inumaki shoots out before whipping around and running away as fast as he can. Maki immediately gets up to run after him, cursing the whole way as she follows him out the doors.

Despite the fact that he was defending Satoru only moments ago, Yuta shoots a disappointed look his way before standing up as well. “I should go make sure Maki doesn’t hurt Inumaki too much.” With those words, Yuta quickly starts after the two, studiously ignoring the pitiful looks the first years send him at the thought of being alone with Satoru and Suguru.

Megumi eyes Satoru distastefully, “You’re a menace.”

“Well you’re the one who practically got on their knees to beg this menace to train you so what does that make you?” Satoru retorts, leaning back in his seat.

At that moment Suguru arrives with both their food and sits down beside him. Suguru sets a plate down in front of Satoru and immediately he wrinkles his nose. The plate is piled high with a vegetable stir fry; carrots, celery, green beans, onions, etc.

“Suguruuuu,” Satoru groans, sliding lower down in his seat.

Suguru simply snorts, “What are you, a child? Actually, wait, don't answer that.”

“I’ll eat them for you sensei!” Yuuji pipes up brightly.

Before Satoru can respond, Suguru shoots down the suggestion. “Don’t encourage him, Yuuji. He may be the strongest sorcerer alive but his cursed techniques don’t protect him from getting diabetes.”

“Actually, they do,” Satoru says smugly, leaning back and crossing his hands behind his head. “I can just reverse curse technique that shit. How else do you think Shoko smokes a pack a day and still hasn’t gotten lung cancer yet?”

“Do not bring her into this,” Suguru grits.

“Awww, still sore you had to give your cigs up when Shoko got tired of fixing your lungs? Maybe you should learn reverse cursed technique like the rest of us then.”

Suguru’s face twists and Satoru wonders for a moment whether he’s gone too far. Suguru had been cross for weeks when he had to stop smoking, but his expression quickly smoothes out into a serene smile. Before Satoru can relax however, the other man speaks.

“Hey Nobara?”

The previously forgotten first year jolts up at her name, “What?”

“You know how you couldn’t find your skirt the other day?”

Immediately Satoru jolts up in his seat, eyes widening. Kugisaki sends him a suspicious glance before responding, “Yeah, what about it?”

Satoru narrows his eyes at Suguru, “You wouldn’t.”

Suguru simply stares back with a placid smile, “It’s currently sitting in Satoru’s dresser, waiting to be washed.”

It takes a moment for the other man’s words to register with Nobara, and Satoru takes that moment to jump up and run towards the door. From behind himself he can hear Kugisaki screech as she takes off after him, hammer in hand. He can hear Suguru’s laughter as well, and Satoru mentally curses the other man as he desperately tries to find somewhere to hide.

***

When Kugisaki finally gets tired of chasing him, Satoru sulks back to the apartment he shares with Suguru and his girls. When he opens the door, a soft amber light spills out from the interior along with the sound of Suguru’s voice and the laughter of the girls. Immediately Satoru feels his shoulders relax as he walks into the home and announces his presence.

“Welcome home,” he hears Suguru’s voice call out as he bends over to take his shoes off at the door. “How’d you get away from Kugisaki?”

“No thanks to you,” Satoru grumbles as he walks through the living room and into the kitchen. “I sat down and activated Infinity. She got tired of trying to smash through it.” A ridiculously simple method, and Satoru is embarrassed it took him so long to come up with it. From the smirk on Suguru's face when he walks into the kitchen, the other man knows too.

Suguru is standing at the stove, stirring something that smells like curry, while Mimiko and Nanako are sitting at the table nearby. As he walks by them on his way to Suguru, he reaches out a hand to ruffle a blonde and black head in turn. Nanako swipes at his hand with a scowl while Mimiko simply accepts her fate with a blank face. Once Satoru reaches Suguru, he wraps his hands around his chest and leans his chin down onto the other man’s shoulder. Suguru reaches up a spoon full of curry for Satoru to taste and Nanako wrinkles her nose at the sight in the background.

“Could be sweeter.”

Suguru sighs, “I’m not adding any more sugar to curry Satoru.”

“You should be grateful you get to eat the food that Geto-sama cooked with his own hands, you undeserving peasant,” Nanako scowls.

Satoru’s eyebrows shoot up, “You’re just going to let her talk to me like that, Suguru?”

Suguru goes back to stirring the pot without even turning around to acknowledge the situation behind him, “Nanako be nice. You know better than to stoop to Satoru’s level.”

Immediately Nanako shrinks back, expression grave at the thought of being compared to Satoru. At her side, Mimiko tugs on her sleeve and leans up to ask her something.

Nanako listens for a moment before responding. “Mimiko we’ve been over this. You can’t hang him. Despite his many shortcomings, Geto-sama is strangely fond of him.”

Satoru shudders, pressing himself closer against Suguru’s back. “Suguru! Get your homicidal brood under control.”

“Mimiko, no murder talk at the dinner table,” Suguru calls out absentmindedly, most of his attention still on the curry. Mimiko pouts, hugging the frankly disturbing plush she always carries around, while Nanako sends the younger girl a sympathetic look. Nanako then stands up from the dinner table, tapping Mimiko’s shoulder to get the other girl to do the same.

“Geto-sama we’ll be in our rooms. Please call us when dinner is ready.” With that, both girls head out.

Satoru groans in relief, “God, finally. I thought those brats would never leave.”

Suguru reaches back a hand to smack Satoru on the hip. “Stop talking about my girls like that. They’re perfectly lovely.”

“Yeah, to you. They hate practically everyone else.”

“Nah, just you,” Suguru responds nonchalantly. “Something about you just seems to irrationally piss people off. You’re pretty enough but as soon as you open your mouth your worth immediately plummets.”

Satoru chooses to ignore the majority of what Suguru says, batting his eyelashes at the other man while taking the chance to grope at his chest a little bit. “Awwww, you think I’m cute? That’s kinda gay Suguru.”

Suguru groans, letting his head fall back against Satoru’s shoulder. “This is exactly what I mean. We’re married, Satoru. You’re literally feeling up my chest as we speak.”

Satoru tilts his head to press a peck to the skin of Suguru’s neck, nibbling a little bit at the spot to leave a hickey. “Still kinda gay though.”

Suguru shoves Satoru's face away from where it’s braced on his shoulder, “Go call the girls. The curry is ready.”

Satoru throws his hands up in surrender and turns his back to head towards the bedrooms. He knocks on the corresponding door, “Dinner’s ready!”

There’s no response so he knocks again. This time, he presses his ear against the door and from the other side he can hear some unintelligible mumbling.

“. . . straw man . . . cursed energy . . . stab it . . . Gojo-san . . .”

He rapidly backs away from the door, jogging back to the kitchen. “Suguru? I think your girls are trying to kill me. I told you introducing them to Kugisaki was a bad idea.”

Suguru turns around, and Satoru sees him opening his mouth to speak but then suddenly the other man’s expression changes abruptly, his body lurching forward with his arms outstretched and Satoru realizes that he’s falling as his vision skews. He’s all too aware of his surroundings, the pounding ache in his head slows itself to match his heartbeat and he’s falling in increments. As he falls, Satoru wants to tell Suguru not to worry; he wants to press his thumb to the wrinkles in the center of Suguru’s forehead and say that he’ll be fine. But his mouth, along with the rest of his body, doesn’t seem to want to cooperate with his brain. Before he reaches the floor though, Satoru catches himself against the wall. Suguru still has his arms outstretched in preparation to catch him and his brow is pinched in worry, so Satoru waves a hand at him to indicate that he’s ok. Suguru still walks the remaining distance and wraps one hand around Satoru’s waist, raising the other so that he can cradle the taller man’s face. Satoru gratefully lets his body weight rest against Suguru’s chest, tucking his face into the side of Suguru’s neck, a favorite place of his, and breathing in the warm air.

“Just a headache. The pain suddenly spiked and I wasn’t prepared,” Satoru laughs hollowly.

“The same one you’ve been having for weeks? I’ve been telling you to have Shoko check it out,” Suguru frowns against the side of Satoru’s head. He starts rocking them both side to side unconsciously, and using the hand previously cradling Satoru’s face to slowly rub his back instead.

Satoru allows his body to be swayed, rubbing his face against Suguru’s shoulder in an effort to rid the pain behind his eyes. “It’s not that big of a deal! I promise, it’s just a headache.”

“Yeah? How come you can’t look me in the eye then?” Suguru points out.

Satoru groans, “Suguruuuu.”

“No, I’ve given you enough time with this. If you don’t get Shoko to check this, I’ll drag you to her myself,” Suguru threatens, stopping his movements altogether. He pulls back and grabs Satoru’s chin, forcing the other man to lock eyes with him.

Satoru raises his hands in appeasement, “Alright alright! Geez, I’ll go to her first thing in the morning.”

Suguru stares at him, unconvinced.

He rolls his eyes and pulls back from their embrace to stick his hand out at the other man, pinky finger extended. “I promise.”

Suguru looks down at the hand and slowly extends his own, locking pinkies with Satoru. “You better. I’ll drag you to her kicking and screaming if I have to. I’ve done it before and I’m not afraid to do it again.”

Satoru sticks his tongue out, gently swinging their hands side to side. “Yeah, yeah. That was one time Suguru, when will you stop bringing it up?”

“Twice actually,” Suguru corrects. “Both times you were practically on death’s door. And I’ll stop bringing them up when you finally start listening.”

At the other man's words, a sudden spike of pain shoots across his vision and Satoru slumps over, as if the strings holding him up were cut. Just as he’d expected, Suguru catches him against his shoulder only staggering slightly at the sudden weight.

“Fuuuuuuuuck,” he groans into Suguru’s shoulder.

“Shhhh,” Suguru rubs a hand across his back while using the other one to smooth Satoru’s hair back. “I’m worried about you.”

Despite the soft tone of Suguru’s voice, his words still grate on Satoru’s nerves. “I know,” he mumbles.

Suguru pulls back to get a good look at Satoru’s face, checking his eyes and feeling his forehead for any heat. “Why don’t you head to bed? I’ll plate up some food and bring it to the bedroom for you.”

Satoru’s about to protest, he can’t stand the thought of being alone right now, but at that moment a dull ache spreads throughout his skull and he swallows his words. “Y-yeah. I think that might be for the best.”

Suguru shifts so that Satoru’s arm is slung over his shoulder and reaches his other hand down to swing it around the back of Satoru’s knees, pulling him up into a princess carry.

Satoru wrinkles his nose despite how his body relaxes into the embrace. He usually hates being coddled while he’s weak or even showing any weakness at all, there are too many who would jump at the chance to attack him while he’s unable to defend himself, but this is Suguru. “You know I can walk right?”

Suguru chuckles and Satoru can feel the pleasant rumble of his chest against his ear. “I know. I just like carrying you.”

“Everyone would be shocked to find out, you know,” Satoru yawns.

“Find out what?”

“That between the two of us, you’re the clingier one.”

Suguru presses a kiss to the crown of Satoru’s forehead while pushing open the door of their bedroom with his shoulder, “I’d deny it to my dying breath. No one would ever believe you.”

“Yeah, that’s the most annoying thing about it,” Satoru grumbles as he’s lowered gently into the bed. “You’re the real menace and they don’t even know it.”

Suguru pulls the covers up and tucks them in around Satoru. He reaches a hand over and dims the lamp sitting on the nightstand.

“Do you want me to turn it off?”

Satoru squints at the light, it hurts his eyes but at the moment he doesn’t want to be alone with his thoughts in the dark so he simply shakes his head. Suguru reaches a hand over and smoothes it across his forehead, pushing his hair back and placing a gentle kiss on it.

“I’ll come join you as soon as I give the girls dinner.”

Satoru frowns, “Ok, but hurry up.”

“I’ll be as quick as I can,” Suguru promises. He places a kiss on each of Satoru’s closed eyelids and pulls away to head towards the door. As Satoru watches the other man leave, his vision suddenly wavers and Suguru’s figure vanishes for a moment before snapping back into sight. Satoru simply blinks the shakiness away and turns over in bed, pulling the covers over himself more tightly to ward off the sudden chill that creeps down his spine.

***

The next morning Satoru wakes up earlier than Suguru. The other man had crept into bed sometime during the night, quietly enough that Satoru hadn’t noticed. He’s lying on his stomach, with the covers pulled down so that they just cover the curve of his ass, the strength of his bare back on full display under the soft length of his hair. Satoru pulls his knees up to rest his chin on them, and reaches a hand across to stroke along the wide expanse of Suguru’s shoulders, he’d been big in highschool but the other man had only bulked up since then. Suguru shifts, and Satoru watches as the warm curves of his muscles tense and relax as he finds a better position to sleep in.

Satoru weighs the odds for a moment, and then throws himself forward to land roughly onto Suguru’s back, the other man jolting and releasing a loud groan underneath his weight.

“What the fuck was that for, asshole,” he mumbles, voice still slurred with sleep. Despite his clear annoyance, Suguru doesn’t make any attempts to remove Satoru from where he’s lying.

“That was for snitching on me to Kugisaki yesterday,” Satoru informs, rubbing his cheek against the firm muscles of Suguru’s back.

“I regret nothing,” Suguru yawns, shifting his body into a more comfortable position with Satoru’s added weight. “What day is it?”

Satoru reaches over to grab his phone and checks the date, throwing it back onto the nightstand when he’s done. “It’s Thursday.”

Suguru groans in relief. “Nanami’s got the kids.”

Satoru props his chin up on Suguru’s back and raises a brow, “Didn’t Junpei ask you for extra lessons today?”

“Yeah, but that’s not until noon. Plus Junpei’s a literal angel.”

There’s a sudden knock at their door and Nanako calls out from behind it, “Geto-sama we’re leaving for our classes.”

Suguru pulls his face out of the pillow to respond, “Alright, stay safe you two!”

There’s some shuffling from outside, but soon they both hear the front door shut and Suguru shoves his face back into the pillow.

“What’re you still doing here? Weren’t you supposed to go see Shoko?”

Satoru pouts against Suguru’s back, “I just wanted to stay with you until you woke up.”

Suguru turns his head to eye Satoru, “Well, I’m awake so you can go see her now.”

Satoru shoves himself back and throws a hand over his forehead in exaggerated shock, “Oh wow. Is this how you treat the love of your life? Shoving me out of the bed so you can play house with some harlot from the streets?”

Suguru rolls his eyes, but there’s a small smile on his face. “Yes, that’s exactly it. I’m kicking you out so that I can have a threesome with Nanami and Haibara.”

Satoru gasps, “How dare you. We agreed we’d both be there when one of us finally manages to convince Nanamin to have a one night stand.”

Suguru shrugs, “Sorry, you’re just too high maintenance for me.”

“Ok, ok I know I started this but you’re going a little too far now,” Satoru grumbles, letting himself fall back into bed.

Suguru takes a moment to watch Satoru, “I know what you’re doing. And it’s not going to work.”

“Oh really? Why don’t you enlighten me then oh wise one.”

“You’re stalling,” Suguru informs him smugly. “You’re hoping I’ll forget about the promise you made to go see Shoko. I don’t know why though, because it’s never worked before.”

Satoru tilts his head down and bats his eyelashes at the other man, “You can’t blame me for trying.”

Suguru reaches over and shoves Satoru off the bed, the other man releasing a yelp when he suddenly finds himself lying on the floor.

“Go see Shoko,” Suguru says firmly.

Satoru groans from where he’s curled up, “You didn’t have to be such an asshole about it.”

“If I wasn’t an asshole, you’d never go see her. Now go. I’ll probably be with Junpei when you get back but I’ll leave you some french toast.”

Satoru instantly perks up at the promise of sugary food. He stands up and props his hands on his hips, “You know what, maybe I will go see Shoko.”

Suguru waves a hand in his general direction before letting it fall back onto the bed, “Say hi to her for me.”

“I will,” Satoru calls out as he heads to the bathroom to get ready. He quickly brushes his teeth before wearing something presentable and finally heading out of their bedroom. Satoru grabs his eye mask before leaving the apartment and starts heading towards the highschool which isn’t very far away. While the students had to live in the dormitories on campus, the teachers at Jujutsu High could choose to live wherever they wanted, though most ended up settling somewhere close to the school for convenience’s sake. As he’s turning a corner, Satoru almost runs into two people walking the other way. He pulls back, and instantly brightens when he sees who it is.

“~Nanaminnnn~,” he sings. “And Haibara! How have you guys been?”

Nanami’s expression immediately sours when he sees who they ran into, while next to him Haibara greets Satoru with a grin almost equal to his in intensity.

“Gojo-senpai,” the man laughs. “You saw us a couple days ago!”

Satoru reaches out and pulls Haibara into a crushing embrace, the other man easily accepting and returning it with one of his own. “Too long without my favorite Kouhai!”

Nanami crosses his arms and taps a foot impatiently while checking his watch, “Yu, we should get going, the students are probably waiting for us.”

Satoru pouts, “Awwww, come on Nanamin. We haven't been able to talk in so long, it kinda feels liek you're avoiding me on purpose!” He pulls an arm out and beckons the blonde into the hug.

Nanami scowls and mutters under his breath, "Not long enough.”

“Kento! That’s no way to treat Gojo-senpai,” Haibara chastises, pulling away from their embrace to face the other man.

Satoru shoves his hands into his pockets, leaning over to grin at Nanami from around Haibara’s body, “Yeah Kento. That’s no way to treat your cherished senpai.”

Nanami visibly shudders, “Please never say my first name, or refer to yourself like that, ever again.”

Haibara reaches out a hand to take Nanami’s, and sends the other man a pout of his own. Nanami holds strong for almost a full ten seconds, Satoru counts, before cracking under the weight of Haibara’s puppy dog eyes. He visibly deflates as he turns to Satoru and drones, “I’m so happy to finally see you after so long Gojo-san. I can’t wait to catch up.”

“Aw shucks Nanamin. No need to get all emotional on me now,” Satoru grins, brushing a finger under his nose. “Sorry, I know you must miss me but I gotta go see Shoko. I’ll catch up with you two later though!”

“Please don’t,” Nanami mutters, before his expression pinches as Haibara swats at his arm. Satoru turns to jog away, and as he goes, he faintly hears Nanami complaining about how Haibara had been spending too much time with him recently. So he makes a mental note to cockblock the other man at the most inconvenient time he can manage.

Satoru reaches the school infirmary/mortuary without much difficulty after his meeting. He shoves the door open violently before stalking over to one of the beds sitting by the side of the wall and dramatically draping himself over it, remembering to throw one hand over his forehead before speaking, “Suguru doesn’t love me anymore.”

There’s an extended pause and Satoru tilts his head to look over at Shoko only to yelp as he finds her standing much closer than he expected with a scalpel raised over head. He scrambles back, almost falling off the bed, as she swings it down and stabs the bed where he’d been lying just a second ago.

“Shoko!”

“Oh no,” she deadpans. “I missed.”

Satoru gapes at her figure as she turns away to sit down at her desk, picking up a cloth to wipe her scalpel with. The ever present bags under her eyes seem deeper, but other than that she looks just like she always does.

“So?” she prompts. “What’d you do wrong this time?”

“Why do you always assume I did something wrong?” Satoru demands.

“Because of the two of you Suguru’s the one who’s more self-aware.”

Satoru stubbornly crosses his arms and pouts, “I didn’t do anything.”

Shoko eyes him with a raised eyebrow as she pulls out a new cigarette from an almost empty pack sitting on her desk.

Satoru slumps, “I’ve been having headaches on and off for the past couple weeks and he told me to come see you about them. They’re not that bad though, I swear!”

“If you’re actually coming to see me on your own then I’m pretty sure it’s really bad. The last time you came to see me you weren’t even conscious; Suguru had to drag your half-dead body into my infirmary.”

“That was one time!”

“Twice actually,” She corrects. “Now hurry up and tell me your symptoms. I’ve got some dissections lined up for today.”

Satoru shudders, “Headaches, really bad ones. They seem to come and go randomly and my eyes have been super sensitive too, the same feeling I get after prolonged usage of the Six Eyes.”

Shoko tilts her head consideringly, before pushing her chair closer to where Satoru’s sitting on the bed. She holds out a hand and Satoru lays his own inside her palm. He feels a cold pulse enter his wrist as she releases her cursed energy, it courses through his body from head to toe before returning to her through his wrist. Shoko takes a moment to take in the information it gathered before frowning.

“There’s nothing wrong with you physically. I can’t detect any abnormalities in your body, in fact you’re almost disgustingly healthy.”

“Geez Shoko,” Satoru rolls his eyes. “I can really feel the love.”

She chews on the end of her cigarette for a second before leaning forward, “The only thing I can think of is that it’s something mental. Your subconscious is trying to tell you something. Is there anything you’re forgetting or trying to block out?”

Satoru’s smile freezes for a second, but it quickly smoothes out before Shoko looks at his face. “Nope! Nothing comes to mind.”

Shoko eyes him for a second, “I’ll give you some pain killers but other than that I can’t do anything else. Come back to me if it gets worse ok?”

“Of course!”

“Actually, nevermind. I’ll text Suguru to send you back if he thinks it’s getting worse.”

Satoru pouts, “If I didn’t know any better I’d think you didn’t trust me.”

Shoko doesn’t even turn to face him from where she’s bent over her phone, “I don’t.”

“Rude!”

Shoko turns away from her phone to stand up and head towards her desk. She pulls open a drawer and rummages through it for a little before pulling out a small, white pill bottle with a satisfied hum. Shoko turns around and walks back to where he’s sitting, holding the bottle out to him. Satoru grabs it from her and turns it around to look at the label only to find that it’s been scratched off.

“Extra strength stuff. You’re not gonna find them in any normal pharmacy. I wouldn’t give these to any normal person but I figured you’d need them,” She explains.

Satoru hums his assent, “How often should I take them?”

“The headaches come and go right? So just take them as needed. You can probably handle an overdose with your reversed cursed techniques but I still recommend taking no more than six pills a day.”

He unscrews the cap and shakes a single pill out of the bottle before throwing it back and swallowing it dry. Satoru’s face scrunches up at the bitter taste, “Disgusting.”

“Don’t be such a baby,” Shoko rolls her eyes. She leans back against her desk and reaches a finger up to twirl a strand of hair, an unconscious habit. “Now if there’s nothing else you need, get out. Unlike you, I actually have work to do.”

“You’re so mean Shoko,” Satoru pouts as he stands up.

Shoko laughs, “Somehow I think you’ll live.”

As he reaches the door and starts to pull it open, Shoko calls out to him. “Take care of yourself alright?”

Satoru pauses and turns around so he can send her a smirk, “Come on Shoko. I’m the strongest. What could possibly hurt me?”

“I’m not talking about physically you idiot,” Shoko drawls with a puff of her cigarette. “You seem to forget that despite all your strength, at the end of the day you’re human just like the rest of us. And being human isn’t easy, even for you.”

Satoru clasps his hands in front of his face and bows in an exaggerated manner, “Oh great Lord Shoko, I have received your wisdom and thank you most graciously for it.”

Shoko flicks her cigarette to the side and sighs, “Nothing I say is going to get through your thick skull. Just go.”

Satoru keeps his head bowed to her as he walks out of the door backwards, “Yes my Liege. I hear and obey your most divine order.”

He allows the door to shut in front of him and turns to walk back to their apartment. Satoru makes it a few feet before he collapses against a wall, trembling from the effort of hiding how much pain he was actually in from Shoko. He shoves a hand into his pocket and pulls out the pill bottle she’d given him, and spills three of them out into a shaky hand. Satoru throws them back, swallowing them dry and letting his head fall back against the wall with a thud. He reaches a hand up to press against his blindfolded eyes, the heat coming from underneath almost making him pull back. Satoru lets the hand fall back to the floor next to him and drops his head onto his shoulder.

“Just a little more,” Satoru grits through clenched teeth. “I just need a little more time.”

***

The sun is still high by the time Satoru gets back to the apartment. He pushes the door open with slumped shoulders, takes off his shoes and calls out, “I’m home.” He’s pleasantly surprised to hear a response.

“Welcome home Satoru!” Suguru’s voice sounds out from the living room. “I brought Junpei back for some technical training.”

“Welcome home Sensei,” Junpei’s softer voice calls out.

Satoru shakes his head for a second before he walks into the living room with a practiced smile on his face. “Junpei! What a pleasant surprise,” he greets. As he walks in, he can see the two of them sitting on either side of the coffee table they have situated in the center of the room. Suguru is sprawled against the couch with one leg folded and the other raised, using it to rest one arm. His other hand is pressed against the floor, bracing his body up and his hair has been let down from it’s usual tight bun. Junpei on the other hand, is sitting across from him with his knees properly folded beneath him and his clenched hands resting on them. There are a couple books spread out on the table in front of them, with some notes scribbled on pieces of paper thrown haphazardly throughout the mix. Satoru walks over and spreads his legs to sit on the sofa directly behind Suguru, reaching his hands forward to start combing through the other man’s long locks. “What’re you two up to?”

Junpei brushes his bangs back and Satoru absentmindedly notes that the scars that had been there previously are almost completely gone thanks to Shoko’s technique. “Geto-sensei thought it would be useful for me to understand the technicalities behind cursed techniques and cursed energy since I’m struggling with the application.”

Suguru lets his head fall back into Satoru’s lap with a groan, “Junpei’s not a physical learner like most of the others are and he doesn’t have any experience in the shaman world either. Thought it would help to start with the basics.”

Satoru hums his assent, not stopping his massage as Suguru pulls his head back up to continue the lesson. Satoru tunes them out, allowing his hands to continue to move on autopilot before being brought back to the room at Junpei’s loud groan. Satoru looks up and sees that the boy is bracing his elbows on the table with his head clutched in his hands.

“I’m sorry Sensei,” the boy groans. “It’s just not clicking for some reason.”

“That’s ok,” Suguru soothes. “This isn’t something you’d understand easily. And everyone runs into a wall at some point, you’ve just run into yours earlier than others.”

Junpei tilts his head to peek at Satoru, “What about you Gojo-sensei? What helped you when you were first starting out?”

Suguru’s shoulders shake as he chuckles, “Come on Junpei. You know better than to compare him to mere mortals like us.”

Satoru immediately freezes at Suguru’s words, his spine snaps straight and he snatches his hands away from the other man as if he’d been burned.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he demands icily, pushing his mask up to glare at the back of Suguru’s head. From the corner of his vision he can feel Junpei stiffen, but at the moment he can’t bring himself to care.

Suguru turns his head around to look at Satoru’s expression with a grin, the look on his face must tell Suguru he’s not amused because the other man’s smile dims in intensity.

Suguru calls out to Junpei without turning his head, “Sorry Junpei, can we end this session early? You can leave the books here.”

Junpei sighs visibly in relief and scrambles up to send a quick bow to the two of them. “Of course Sensei! I just remembered that I have to meet Yuuji at the theatre in fifteen minutes.”

With that, Junpei quickly leaves the room and Satoru can hear the front door gently click behind him. He hasn’t broken eye contact with Suguru. The other man reaches a hand out to brush against Satoru’s knee, but he quickly pulls it out of reach.

“What the hell did you mean by that?” Satoru demands again.

Suguru sighs and raises a hand to run through his hair, “Come on sweetheart.”

“Don’t ‘sweetheart’ me,” Satoru grits. “And answer the question.”

Suguru groans, “You know what I meant.”

“No, I can’t say that I do.”

There’s a lengthy pause as Suguru probably decides what answer is least likely to anger Satoru. “You’re practically a god,” is what he settles on with a chuckle.

And despite the fact that Satoru knows Suguru only spoke in jest, he can’t help but flinch at the words. Satoru may be a god to many, but Suguru makes him feel painfully, foolishly human. He didn’t know it at the time, but Satoru’s descent from the heavens had begun all those years ago when he’d first met Suguru. The unstoppable force that was Satoru Gojo finally met an immovable object that was Suguru Geto. The pain of his impact and the speed at which Satoru had come down from above had shocked him at first, the emotions and experiences scared him. But at the end of it, Suguru had been waiting for him with open arms, and Satoru can’t help but think that the honor of the heavens paled in comparison to the warmth he felt whenever Suguru smiled at him.

“Don’t say that,” he grits out. “I’ve got enough people saying shit like that I don’t need you to start too.”

Suguru studies his expression for a moment before sighing. He reaches an arm up and pulls Satoru into his lap sideways, and despite his flare of anger Satoru finds himself melting into Suguru’s warmth. He tucks his face into the hollow of Suguru’s neck and breathes in the warm air there. Satoru can feel the tension leave him as he lays his ear against Suguru’s pulsepoint and listens to the other man's heartbeat. Suguru begins to hum, taking a moment to gather his thoughts before speaking.

“You know I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” he starts.

“Don’t care,” Satoru mumbles against his neck.

Suguru swats at Satoru’s hip, “Don’t interrupt me you brat.”

Satoru gulps at the heat that rushes down his spine at Suguru’s words, but his anger refuses to die down despite how horny Suguru’s words might make him.

“Don’t say dumb shit than.”

Suguru pauses for a moment, resting his chin on top of Satoru's head. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have said that, I’m sorry.”

Satoru doesn’t respond verbally, he simply pushes his face further into Suguru’s neck and presses a soft kiss onto his pulse to indicate that the other man is forgiven. He never could stay mad at Suguru for long.

“For what it’s worth,” Suguru teases. “If you were a God I wouldn’t mind worshipping at your shrine everyday. I get down on my knees for you often enough as it is.”

Satoru blushes, Suguru can definitely feel the heat of his cheeks against his neck, and now it’s his turn to swat at Suguru’s arm. “Flirt,” he grumbles.

“Your flirt,” Suguru chuckles into the crown of Satoru’s hair.

Yes, Satoru thinks to himself. All mine.

Suguru presses a kiss to Satoru’s head and starts to rock them side to side slowly. Satoru finds himself becoming drowsy at the smooth movements, and as he’s falling asleep all he can think about is how happy he’s been the past few years. How happy he’s been thanks to Suguru and the life the two of them have carved out of the hellscape that is Jujutsu Society.

But Suguru is good, too good for someone like Satoru. Which is how he knows, despite how happy he is in the moment, that the shoe is going to drop one day and stomp all over this happiness Suguru had helped him cultivate from the barren concrete of the incredibly cruel world that they had been born into.

***

Satoru is lying in bed on his knees, with his face pressed sideways against a pillow. His back is arched deeply and his hands are tied behind his back. There’s a blindfold with a talisman tied over his eyes so he truly can’t see anything that’s happening around him, even if he were to use the Six Eyes. Satoru jumps as a hand runs along his spine, but quickly settles at the familiar touch.

There’s a chuckle from somewhere behind him, and then he hears footsteps as Suguru walks over right next to him. Satoru’s breathing is deep; the other man had barely touched him but the anticipation of what is to come has his cock stirring in interest. There’s some clattering as Suguru searches for something before he lets out a pleased hum. Satoru feels the bed dip beside him as Suguru joins him, he reaches out to touch the other man before he’s stopped by the restraints tied to his wrists. Satoru freezes for a moment, before reminding himself that this was something they’d both agreed to before starting. He shuffles anxiously until Suguru finally situates himself behind Satoru’s body and soothingly strokes his thigh.

“Color?” Suguru prompts.

There’s an uneasy itch at the back of Satoru’s mind but he pushes past it, “Green.”

“Tell me if that changes at any point,” Suguru soothes.

Suguru’s hands cup Satoru’s ass and smooth across the plush cheeks. Satoru’s ass gets pulled apart, and he can practically feel Suguru staring at the puckered skin of his hole. He shifts uneasily before scowling against the pillow.

“Are you gonna stare at it all night or what?”

Suguru’s unspoken amusement is practically tangible, “Patience is a virtue you know.”

“Take your patience and shove it up your-,” Satoru yelps as Suguru suddenly leans down and licks a stripe up his ass. Suguru uses his tongue to work slow, easy circles around Satoru’s hole making sure to work his spit into the tight muscle. Satoru moans at the feeling, the excess saliva is dripping down his thighs and making a sticky mess but he can’t bring himself to care.

Suguru suddenly uses the thumb of one hand to press against the tight skin, before pushing gently at the muscle to pull apart Satoru’s hole. Satoru’s dick is well and truly hard now as Suguru gently nibbles at the skin of his rim every now and then.

“Suguruuu,” he groans.

The other man simply hums, and the vibration against his hole goes directly to Satoru’s dick.

“J-just fuck me,” Satoru pants against the pillow. He tries to crane his neck back to look at Suguru but the blindfold makes it impossible to see anything.

Suguru finally pulls back, eyes still locked on the mess he’s made between Satoru’s cheeks. “We haven’t been able to have sex in a while. I’m gonna take my time with you tonight.”

Satoru shudders at the dark promise in Suguru’s words, and he only gets a moment of respite before Suguru dives back into his ass. This time he digs his tongue deep into Satoru’s hole, lapping at the walls of his ass. Satoru can feel his toes curling against the bed, as he lets out a deep keen. Suguru’s tongue stiffens inside him as it spears into his hole, and this time Suguru decides to press a finger in alongside it making Satoru cry out at the feeling.

Satoru desperately grinds his hips, but his cock is too high above the bed to get any friction. Suguru pulls back to survey the mess he’s made and the cool air against the heated skin of his rim makes Satoru shiver.

“Have I ever told you how pretty you are?” Suguru mumbles, the weight of his gaze very clearly focused on his hole.

“Pervert,” Satoru gasps out against the wet pillow and Suguru responds by spearing two fingers into his now soft hole, the slightly gaping furl easily accepting the digits. Satoru groans at the feeling, and when Suguru scissors his fingers he cries out at the sting. There are tears welling up in Satoru’s eyes under the blindfold, and the sensation of his rim being tugged open goes straight to his hard cock. There’s the sound of a cap opening and Satoru flinches as he feels the cold drizzle of lube being poured into the crack of his ass. Suguru uses it to sink his fingers more deeply into Satoru’s hole, searching for his sweet spot. There are obscene noises coming from behind him, and Satoru can’t help but blush at the slick sounds. His body jolts as Suguru finds it and immediately the other man curls his fingers up to better reach it, using his thumb to caress the puffy rim of Satoru’s hole.

Satoru’s panting at this point, his ignored cock is throbbing with need. “Suguru please!”

“Please what?”

“Please fuck me,” Satoru begs.

“Oh don’t worry,” Suguru chuckles. “I will.”

With that, Suguru presses more firmly at Satoru’s prostate, and he can’t help the way his hips follow Suguru’s movements. Satoru can feel his hole gaping open with Suguru’s movements, and the sting of the stretch goes straight to his cock. He desperately tries to clench down, but Suguru’s fingers are firm and unyielding.

Suguru soon adds a third finger--Satoru’s sloppy enough for it now--and pumps them quickly into his hole, fucking the loose furl hard and fast while Satoru rides his hand.

“Such a pretty slut,” Suguru praises, and Satoru can’t help the desperate whimper that leaves his lips at those words. There’s a growing wet spot beneath his knees, a mixture of lube, Suguru’s saliva and his own precum, but Satoru’s mind can’t focus enough to care. Suddenly, he’s seized with the urge to touch Suguru so Satoru tugs at the rope tying his hands behind his back, but the knot Suguru’s tied stays true and all he gets for his trouble is a burning sensation in his wrists. There’s no way he can get out or touch Suguru.

He can’t touch Suguru.

And just like that his heartbeat is racing and Satoru’s struggling to pull air into his lungs. He tugs more furiously at the bindings around his wrists, and begins to thrash where he’s kneeling. He can feel Suguru scrambling away from him in shock, but there’s a fist slowly squeezing around Satoru’s heart and he needs to get out. He needs to feel Suguru, what if he’s gone, what if Suguru isn't there anymore?

The rope holding his wrists together is suddenly cut, and Satoru immediately snatches the blindfold off of his eyes. His gaze darts around the room, and when it finally lands on Suguru he throws himself forward into the other man’s embrace. Suguru wraps his arms around Satoru’s body, using one hand to gently stroke his back.

“Shhhh,” Suguru soothes. The fist around Satoru’s heart loosens slightly when he finally gets his hands on Suguru’s sweat soaked skin, but it doesn’t let go completely. He curls himself into a ball and presses more closely into Suguru’s side, as if trying to melt into the other man’s skin.

“Hey, hey it’s alright. You’re ok. I’ve got you,” Suguru says while pressing a kiss to the crown of Satoru’s forehead. His breathing is returning to a normal pace, and he can finally gather his thoughts.

Suguru uses a hand to tilt Satoru’s chin up so that they can make eye contact, the worry in his gaze clearly visible.

“What happened?”

Satoru pauses, before pulling his chin away from Suguru’s grasp. “It’s nothing important,” he rasps.

“Satoru,” Suguru chides. “Talk to me. Please?”

Satoru’s eyes dart back and forth between Suguru’s face and the wall, there’s still a slight tremble to his hands and his heartbeat is not completely normal yet.

“It was just-,” he hesitates.

Suguru smoothes a hand around the curve of Satoru’s cheek and leans forward to press a lingering kiss to his forehead. Suguru hauls Satoru closer to him so that the other man is basically sitting in his lap at this point, and Satoru gratefully melts into his warmth.

“Just what?” Satoru can feel the rumble of Suguru’s voice against his head, and it helps soothe his erratic heartbeat.

“It’s stupid,” he grits out. “While I was tied up, I just had this random thought. W-what if I was never able to touch you again?”

Suguru pauses and then suddenly laughs, Satoru’s head shaking from the rapid up and down movements of the other man’s chest.

“That’s it?” Suguru chokes out from between chuckles.

Satoru scowls, thumping one hand against the bulk of Suguru’s chest. “How dare you laugh at me! I’m being serious you ass.”

Suguru pulls back from the blow, still laughing through the pain. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” He pulls back to look at Satoru more fully, wrapping his arms around Satoru’s waist.

“It’s just, why would you never get to touch me again? You’re so silly Satoru,” Suguru smiles softly, eyes crinkling at the corners. His voice is bewildered, but also incredibly fond at the same time. Satoru looks at him, he takes in the messy hair cascading over Suguru’s shoulders, his wide smile, the twin black holes that are his eyes, the crooked line of his nose. Satoru reaches a hand up to trace Suguru’s cheekbones, and feels tears welling up. Immediately Suguru’s eyes go wide.

“Hey, hey, hey. Was it something I said?” The deep concern in Suguru’s voice only makes him tear up even more, and Satoru can barely see the other man's face through his watery eyes. He reaches up a hand to furiously rub at his eyes, he shouldn’t waste his time crying.

“Yeah,” he chokes out through tears. “That was silly of me. Why would I never get to touch you again, you’re right here!”

Suguru reaches a hand up and brushes away his tears, cupping Satoru’s face and leaning forward to press a soft kiss to Satoru’s mouth. “Shhhh, I’m right here baby. I’m not going anywhere.”

Satoru smiles shakily, gripping Suguru’s wrists where they’re cradling his face. “Y-yeah. You’re right here.”

Suguru frowns and studies his face for a moment, “I think we should just go to sleep now.”

“No!” Satoru lurches up onto his knees, almost smashing his face into Suguru’s at the panic that jolts through him.

Suguru dodges to the side, and steadies Satoru by grabbing his sides. “Are you sure? Because I don’t mind-”

“No,” Satoru repeats firmly, this time more controlled. “I still want to have sex.”

Suguru raises an eyebrow, and Satoru scowls down at him.

“Just,” he hesitates for a moment. “No ropes this time. Just gently?”

Suguru’s expression immediately softens, “Yeah. We can do that.” He leans up to meet Satoru’s lips in a kiss, and they move against each other reverently. Suguru’s tongue swipes across Satoru’s lips and he opens his mouth to the other man with a soft moan. Their movements slowly grow more heated, and Suguru reaches down to grab the bare skin of Satoru’s ass without breaking their kiss. He squeezes the warm globes in his hands, and Satoru arches back into his grip. Satoru breaks their kiss for air, breathing in greedily as Suguru simply moves to press soft kisses to his neck. Suguru’s fingers press into the soft gape of Satoru’s hole, still pliant from his earlier ministrations, as he sucks at the skin just under Satoru’s jaw.

Satoru groans, clutching desperately at Suguru’s shoulders as his cock rises in interest. “You promised not to put hickies in any visible places.”

“I lied,” Suguru murmurs from where he’s pressed under Satoru’s jaw. Satoru suddenly jolts as Suguru finds his prostate and rubs slow, even circles around the nub. Satoru hunches over at the pleasure, biting Suguru’s shoulder to control his voice. Suguru spreads his fingers open, stretching Satoru’s poor hole to its limits. His hole clenches desperately, but Suguru’s fingers hold strong. Satoru is left sobbing against Suguru’s shoulders at the stretch, his mind feels splintered. Satoru can feel the weight of Suguru’s cock against his thigh, saliva pooling in his mouth at the thought of being stretched open on that monster. Suguru pulls his fingers out and wipes them against the sheets, steadying Satoru’s listing body with his free hand.

“What’s your color sweetheart?”

“Green,” Satoru slurs against his shoulder.

“Good boy. Sit down when you’re ready,” Suguru murmurs, already back to leaving hickies on Satoru’s neck

Satoru reaches a shaky hand below himself to line Suguru’s cock up with the gaping rim of his hole. He leans down slightly, and is keenly aware of the way his rim strains to accept the head of Suguru’s cock. Suguru reaches his hands down to grip Satoru’s ass, pulling apart the cheeks to help stretch his hole a little wider.

“Go slowly baby,” Suguru says while leaning forward to wrap his mouth around one of Satoru’s nipples, the sudden pleasure causing him to drop another half inch onto Suguru’s cock with a punched out groan.

Satoru grits his teeth, “You’re not helping.”

Suguru simply grazes Satoru’s nipple with his teeth in response, the sharp pain going straight to his cock. Satoru digs his nails further into Suguru’s shoulders, biting his lip to work through the haze in his mind. Satoru lowers himself further onto Suguru’s cock, his thighs shaking with the strain of going so slowly. By the time his ass is finally resting on Suguru’s thighs, Satoru is gasping against the other man’s shoulder and his cock is leaking fat tears of precum against Suguru’s abs.

Suguru squeezes his ass in approval, “You’re so good for me, Sweetheart. Move whenever you’re ready.”

Satoru takes a moment to catch his breath, but soon lifts himself up slowly until the head of Suguru’s cock is just kissing his rim. And then he drops. Immediately, Satoru cries out at the way Suguru’s cock rakes over his prostate while the man himself lets out a hiss of pleasure.

“Slowly,” Suguru groans, head falling back against the headboard.

Satoru’s panting softly, he tilts his head to the side and Suguru meets him for a bruising kiss. Satoru begins to move in earnest then, starting a steady up and down rhythm. He clenches periodically, Suguru’s groans intermittent as he feels his cock squeezed in the wet heat of Satoru’s hole. The pleasure is steadily building, and Satoru’s thighs are twitching with the strain of keeping the even pace.

“I’m not going to last much longer,” Suguru gasps against Satoru’s neck.

“M-my cock,” Satoru stutters. The pleasure is making his head spin, Satoru can barely think through the syrupy haze his mind has descended into. “Touch me Suguru.”

Suguru reaches a hand down, gripping Satoru’s cock firmly. He matches the slow and steady rhythm Satoru has set, twisting his hand periodically. Satoru’s hole feels bruised, the skin of his rim hot and swollen around Suguru’s cock despite the gentle pace. And despite his previous words, Satoru can’t help the way his hips begin to stutter and slam down more harshly as he chases his peak. He’s drooling against the firm skin of Suguru’s shoulder, and he can feel the way Suguru is sweaty and shaking underneath him. Satoru is desperately arching his hips back now, catching Suguru’s cock against his prostate with every thrust.

“Suguru,” he keens against the man’s shoulder.

“I’ve got you,” Suguru pants, voice sounding wrecked. The other man’s hips are making small upwards twitches, chasing his own pleasure but remembering the promise he made to Satoru earlier.

Satoru’s at the edge of his peak, he grinds his hips down into Suguru’s lap, the head of the other man's cock pressing firmly into his prostate. Satoru sobs at the pleasure, and when Suguru digs the tip of his nail into the head of his cock Satoru is gone. Immediately his body seizes as he cums against Suguru’s abs, the pleasure momentarily short circuiting his mind and his vision goes blank.

Satoru comes into awareness after a couple minutes, there’s a wet feeling between his cheeks so he knows Suguru came. His body is manipulated and laid down into their bed, and he’s vaguely aware of Suguru walking away into the bathroom and coming back. Suguru wipes him down, before leaning forward to press a soft kiss to each of Satoru’s closed eyes.

Suguru moves into the bed behind Satoru, pulling their bodies closer so that Satoru is tucked into his chest. Satoru can feel the warmth of Suguru’s body pressed against his, and it begins to make him feel drowsy. Suguru leans forward and tucks his face into the back of Satoru’s neck, pressing soft kisses to his nape.

“I love you,” Suguru murmurs. There’s a warmth that blooms in Satoru’s chest at the other man’s words, and if he were more awake he would return the sentiment. As it is, all he can do is hum his assent before he falls asleep, cradled in Suguru’s arms.

***

Satoru is walking slightly behind Suguru with their hands clasped together. Their pace is incredibly slow as they make their way through a dark hallway with evenly spaced yellow lights covered in talismans hanging from the roof. There’s a silent itch at the back of Satoru’s brain, but he ignores it.

“Suguru?” Satoru calls, his voice echoing in the empty hall. “Where are we going?”

There’s no response from the other man, but the hand gripping his own tightens. Satoru frowns, but doesn’t think much of it. They continue to walk, and the previous itch grows into a scratch. In the distance he can see a small object sitting on the ground but it’s too far away to make out what it could be.

“Suguru?”

Again, he’s ignored but the other man begins to walk faster and Satoru picks up his own pace to keep up. The lights above them creak as they begin to swing softly, despite the fact that there isn’t a breeze to speak of. The scratch at the back of his mind begins to knock at the door of his consciousness. Suddenly, a chill creeps down Satoru’s spine and he can feel the hairs on his arms rise up. He eyes Suguru more closely and sees that there’s a dark ring that seems to circle the crown of his head. The hair around it seems slick, and Satoru watches as some type of dark liquid beads up and spills out from the edges. The hand holding his tightens to a painful intensity as Satoru sluggishly tries to connect the dots.

“You’re hurting me Suguru,” he says, panic lacing his words.

Suguru doesn’t answer, and simply speeds up even more. The object sitting on the floor slowly becomes clearer in his vision, and Satoru can make out a cube with oval shapes across its faces. Immediately the knock in his brain becomes a furious slamming. Satoru reaches up and scratches at the hand clutching his own, but it refuses to budge.

“Suguru,” he’s desperate at this point, digging his heels into the dirt but it seems to do nothing to slow their pace. Satoru reaches out with his free hand to dig his nails into the wall, but they’re slick with a thick liquid that coats his palm. He brings it closer to his face to make out what it is, and immediately flings his hand out to throw it off. It’s blood. The walls are dripping blood.

He definitely knows something is wrong at this point, but there’s nothing he can do to control the situation. He and Suguru finally arrive at the cube sitting on the floor, and Satoru can now see that it’s the Prison Realm, and the ovals he’d seen were the eyes that cover each surface of the cube. The eyes are blinking at different intervals, and it’s incredibly disorienting to look at it. The two of them stand in front of the Prison Realm for a long moment before Satoru speaks.

“S-Suguru?”

The back of Suguru’s head tilts slightly to the side before he slowly starts to turn it around in sharp, jerky movements. When Satoru finally locks eyes with the other man, a dawning sense of horror creeps down his spine. Suguru’s eyes are empty, there’s not a single emotion in them and his lips are pulled into an exaggerated and grotesque smile. His skin is incredibly pallid, and there’s rivulets of blood running down from somewhere above his brows.

“Yes? What’s wrong, Satoru?” the thing’s mouth jerks awkwardly as it speaks, and its voice grates violently on Satoru’s nerves. He slowly raises his eyes to look at its forehead, and is greeted by a long line of black stitches dug into red and inflamed looking skin. Satoru’s shaking violently at this point, and he lowers his gaze to lock eyes with the thing masquerading as Suguru. He opens his mouth to scream, but no sound comes out, he’s been frozen into place somehow. No matter how much Satoru’s brain yells at him to run, his body won’t move. From the corner of his vision he can see the prison realm slowly opening, its many eyes darting rapidly back and forth as it begins to reach out pale tendrils that grip at his clothes. It starts to drag him towards itself, but Satoru can’t take his eyes off the thing that’s masquerading around as Suguru. Its eyes suddenly dart up to lock with his own, and Satoru jolts as the awkward smile drops from its face. The eyes are still empty, there’s no sign of life in them at all as the thing tilts its head to the side again and speaks in that same grating voice.

“Goodnight Satoru Gojo. Let us meet again in the new world.”

Satoru jolts up in bed and immediately slaps his hand against his mouth to block out the scream that desperately wants to come out. His heart is beating incredibly fast, and there’s a fist around his heart that feels as if it’s slowly tightening. Satoru breathes in rapidly, trying to get some oxygen into his empty lungs. He throws one hand to the side and feels around on the bed for a familiar body, and audibly sighs in relief when he finds it. Satoru can’t make him out in the dark, but he can see the fuzzy outline of Suguru’s figure sleeping on his side. Satoru shifts his hand to the small of Suguru’s back, and listens with bated breath until he’s sure he feels it slowly rising. Satoru slumps against the headboard, taking in a deep breath as his racing heart finally slows. Suddenly, a sharp pain shoots across his forehead and he groans as he brings a hand up to clutch at his head. At his side, Suguru shifts and Satoru freezes until the other man stops once he’s found a more comfortable position. Satoru slowly slides his feet from under the covers, making sure not to make any noise as he gets up and limps to the bathroom. He slowly shuts the door before turning on the light, only to shut his eyes with a flinch at the immediate brightness. Once his eyes have finally adjusted, Satoru looks up at the mirror and barely recognizes the figure that stares back at him. His skin is extremely dull, there are bag-like bruises under his eyes and lines of exhaustion that run across his face.

Satoru’s vision goes fuzzy for a second, and when it clears again his reflection has a completely different expression. Its eyebrows are raised in amusement, and there’s a smirk on its mouth. It almost seems to be mocking him.

Satoru scowls at it, “Shut the fuck up.”

The reflection opens its mouth in a silent laugh and Satoru almost hits it before remembering that Suguru is still sleeping. Instead, he quietly opens a drawer and pulls out the bottle of pills Shoko had given him and sets it down on the counter before locking eyes with his reflection again. It shakes its head at him silently, and Satoru feels his face twist into something uglier. He knows exactly what the reflection is thinking about, and all of a sudden everything he’s been holding back comes out in a rush.

“So what if it’s fucking selfish,” he demands, making sure to keep his voice low. “For once in my life let me be selfish and choose myself instead of everyone else in this goddamn world.”

The reflection lets out a deep sigh, before disappearing and Satoru flinches as he’s suddenly looking at himself again. A dull throb at the back of his head reminds him of what he originally came here to do, and he grabs the pill bottle to quickly shake out five onto his hand. Satoru can’t remember how many he’s taken so far that day, but he quickly throws them back and swallows them dry. It’s definitely more than six, but he can’t bring himself to care. Satoru slowly shuffles back to bed, pulling himself close to the warmth of Suguru’s body and lets his forehead rest against the other man's back. He has one last thought before falling back into a fitful sleep.

I wish I was more selfish back then.

***

The shoe drops on a Sunday.

It’s a beautiful day; the sun is shining high, the sky is a stunning aquamarine color and there are wispy, cotton-candy-like clouds drifting lazily. There’s a pleasant breeze as well, so the sun's rays don’t feel as harsh. It’s Satoru who has dragged them out, he’d complained nonstop yesterday about how he hadn’t gotten any personal time with Suguru in so long that Shoko had willingly shouldered their share of work just to get him to shut up.

Suguru had packed a lunch for their trip and he set it aside now to place a cloth for them both to lie on. Satoru lays down on the blanket beside Suguru, pillowing his head on the other man’s chest.

“This is nice,” he murmurs against Suguru’s chest, eyes half-lidded. “We should do this more often.”

“Not with the higher-ups breathing down our necks,” Suguru scoffs and Satoru hums in agreement.

“You know Suguru,” Satoru starts after a moment of consideration. “I’ve been thinking.”

“Don’t hurt yourself.”

Satoru smacks Suguru’s chest with a huff before continuing, “Anyway, I was thinking. Why don’t we just kill all of those geezers?”

Suguru freezes, “Seriously?” There’s an undercurrent of disbelief in his voice. “I literally said the same thing years ago and you said nothing would change since they’d just be replaced with even more close-minded geezers. That we had to reset the Jujutsu world as a whole instead.”

Satoru extends a hand out in front of himself to admire the manicure he’d gotten yesterday with Mimiko and Nanako, “Hmmmm, can’t say I remember that.”

Suguru pushes himself up on one arm, gravity pulling Satoru’s upper body down into his lap. “It was our third anniversary, the one where they sent us out on no notice to exorcise three semi-grade 1 cursed spirits alongside a recent special grade.”

Satoru innocently looks up at the other man through his, in Suguru’s words, ridiculously long eyelashes, “Sorry, doesn’t ring a bell.”

“I’m going to kill you,” Suguru growls out and immediately jumps towards Satoru, landing on top of the other man. Satoru shrieks as Suguru’s elbows and fingers poke into his sides, his face almost hurting from how wide his grin is. They roll in the grass together, the sun beating down on their backs. Satoru looks up at Suguru, his face haloed by the sun and his breath catches for a moment. Suguru is beautiful; the sun highlights every plane of his face and combined with the sheen of sweat caused by the heat of the day Suguru looks like a god, Satoru’s god. There’s a bubble of happiness rising in the pit of his stomach and Satoru can’t help the ridiculous giggle that escapes his lips at the thought.

Suguru raises an eyebrow at his antics, “What’re you laughing about?”

“Nothing,” Satoru responds giddily. “It’s just, have I ever told you how beautiful you are?”

Suguru’s other eyebrow shoots up to join the first and he quickly pulls back while shoving Satoru’s shoulder. Suguru turns his face away, stretching a hand towards Satoru to bar him from approaching. “Why the hell are you so sappy today? Shoko told you you’re dying or something?” Despite his harsh words, Satoru can see the beginnings of a blush spreading across the other man’s cheeks.

“Awwww,” Satoru cooes, pushing against the hand Suguru has pressed to his chest. “Are you blushing?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Suguru grumbles, still not turning back towards Satoru.

“I’m flattered really,” Satoru reassures, pushing Suguru’s arm away so that he can crawl closer to the other man. Satoru reaches out and pulls away the hand Suguru is using to cover his face. “We’ve been together for how long and you still blush around me! That’s so cute.”

“Sato-,”

Suddenly, there’s an earth shattering thud that comes from above, jolting them both out of their bubble. Satoru whips his face up to the sky, and sees thin cracks forming in the blue expanse, allowing a darkness to seep in from the outside. Immediately any happiness he’d previously felt is gone, replaced by a bone chilling sense of despair. His time is up.

Please, he thinks to himself. Not now, just give me a little longer. A couple more days is all I’m asking for.

He looks next to him and sees Suguru studying the sky as well. The expression on his face is far more composed than Satoru’s but no less grave.

“It’s time for you to go, Satoru,” Suguru whispers so softly that Satoru almost misses the words.

Satoru bites his lip, hands fisted in the grass where they’re bracing his body. There’s so much he wants to say, so much he’d wanted to do before he’d be forced to leave. "Yeah. I'll see you soon though so don't cry while I'm gone, ya hear?" As soon as the words leave his lips, Satoru chides himself mentally. That wasn’t what he’d meant to say. He takes a moment to quell the ache in his heart, gathers his breath, locks eyes with Suguru and tries again.

“You know, you’re-,” and here Satoru falters, because he cannot think of words strong enough to describe how precious Suguru is to him. Suguru had been the only person in Satoru’s life to see him as a person instead of a weapon. The only person to ask him if he was ok, the only person to worry about his health, the only person to recognize that despite being the strongest, Satoru was still all too human. That Satoru was capable of breaking. Suguru had been the only person to treat him like he was something special and worth protecting, not because he was the wielder of the Six Eyes or Limitless, but because he was Satoru Gojo. And that had made all the difference. Loving Suguru was the best and easiest decision he’d ever made in his life. It was everything that came after that he regretted.

“You saved me,” he settles for, despite how inadequate the words sound in comparison to all that he feels. “And I’m so sorry I couldn’t do the same for you.”

Suguru smiles softly, and Satoru can feel tears starting to bead up in his eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t see how much you were hurting. I’m sorry I didn’t see how much of a toll everything was taking on you. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you needed me the most.” There’s a wobble in his voice now and despite the fact that Satoru had promised himself he wouldn’t cry when this moment finally came, tears start flowing down his face. Satoru can barely see through the blur in his eyes, Suguru’s face hazy in his vision. He reaches up a hand to furiously rub at his eyes; Satoru wants to look at Suguru’s face for as long as he can because this is the Suguru he wants to remember, happy and healthy. Not as the thing that wears Suguru’s skin and speaks in Suguru’s voice but isn’t Suguru, a mockery of his beloved.

Suguru laughs fondly, a sound Satoru wishes he could bottle up and carry with him back out into the real world, “Strongest sorcerer and you still cry like a baby. What would your students say?"

“I don’t give a fuck what they say,” Satoru says viciously, unable to help the way his voice cracks. “I just want you back. Please Suguru, go back with me. I miss you every day.”

Suguru’s smile turns down at the edges, both softer and sadder. The man reaches out a hand that’s starting to look more and more transparent by the second, to cradle Satoru’s cheek and he leans into the soft caress with a sigh. Suguru uses a thumb to wipe away the tears streaming down Satoru’s cheek. “You know I can’t,” he says regretfully. “And I never once blamed you for anything that happened.”

Satoru laughs brokenly, “You should. Even I blame myself.”

Suguru softly smacks the cheek he’s cradling, while the scenery behind him flickers in and out. “We were just kids Satoru, kids expected to bear the weight of the world on our backs. It’s no wonder things ended up the way they did. If anyone is to blame it’s the useless adults in our lives.”

Satoru manages a shaky smile at Suguru’s words, “Yaga-sensei was always hopeless without us.” There’s a tugging sensation pulling him towards the slowly widening cracks in the sky, but Satoru stubbornly ignores it.

Suguru chuckles, “Exactly.” Satoru hungrily takes in every inch of the other man, and in the corner of his eyes he’s aware of the way the edges of Suguru’s figure are breaking apart in small pieces and drifting away into the sky, sucked into the black crevices that grow ever wider. Satoru knows it won’t be long before Suguru himself disappears from his vision.

“I love you Satoru. More than you’ll ever know,” Suguru grins, and at this point Satoru can see through his figure. Suguru reaches out a hand to caress Satoru’s cheek, the touch barely registering. “But it’s time for you to move on. Don’t come over too quickly, ok?”

“Ok,” Satoru lies. “I’ll try.” Suguru’s face says he doesn’t believe him, but Satoru doesn’t care. The tugging sensation is stronger now, and he can feel his body being pulled towards the cracks above despite his best efforts. Satoru desperately reaches out to touch Suguru one last time, but as soon as he gets close his hand goes right through the other man. Satoru wants to scream, but as if he’d read his thoughts Suguru leans forward instead and presses one last ghostly kiss to Satoru’s forehead before his body crumbles and disappears. Almost immediately, Satoru’s vision goes black.

***

When his eyes finally open back up, he’s laying on his back in a dark room staring up at a rundown ceiling. Satoru slowly pushes himself up, supporting his wobbly body with hands. Immediately he’s bombarded with information as the Six Eyes update the current situation and Satoru flinches, bringing a hand up to his head to brace it. There are two reservoirs of cursed energy standing around him, but they feel familiar so Satoru isn’t worried about them. As soon as he gets his bearings, Satoru lifts up his head and locks eyes with Yuuji, who looks as if he’s aged years. There’s a scar running diagonally down his forehead, hugging his right eye as well as one next to his lips. There’s also something different about the boy’s presence, a sharper edge as well as a loss of innocence. Megumi is standing next to him, an expression graver than Satoru has ever seen on his face. Physically the boy looks fine, although with some scuffs and bruises here and there. He notes that the two have grown stronger in the time he’d been sealed. Satoru wonders where Kugisaki could be.

“Sensei,” Yuuji’s voice cracks a bit, and the relief in his face is almost tangible. Satoru knows it’s not fair, but he’s struck with a sudden urge to furiously shake the boy and demand he send him back. It’s a childish impulse, one he quickly buries. Instead, Satoru turns his face around to get a good look at his surroundings. The wall of the room has been blasted away in the back, and under the light of the full moon he can clearly see the wreckage of the city behind him. A quick perusal with the Six Eyes tells him that there are curses roaming as far as the eye can see, as well as next to no civilian presence. It doesn’t take a prodigy to put the pieces together.

The world ended because Satoru Gojo had loved too deeply. Satoru almost wants to laugh at the cruel irony. Before he can let that thought sit for too long, there’s a sudden thud coming from the outside causing all three of them to stiffen.

“We should get moving soon,” Megumi stirs. “It’s not safe here and everyone else will definitely be relieved to hear you’re out.” The two boys quickly turn around, automatically expecting Satoru to follow.

Satoru nods half-heartedly. He stands up and follows behind the two boys while reaching a hand up and pulling his ever present mask down over his eyes. The stimuli were overwhelming after what felt like months in that damned box.

Satoru turns his face towards the sky as he walks, and watches as the stars twinkle above him. There are so many more than he’s used to, crowding the sky and blanketing an otherwise pitch black canvas. They sit up there, between the heavens and the Earth, shining a glorious light down at the tragedy that unfolds below them, a warm comfort to those still living among the destroyed remains of Japan. One of the few things that remained constant despite the rapid changes occurring around them. He likes to think that Suguru is somewhere among them, gazing down at him fondly with his eyes crinkled in that endearing way of his, as Satoru stumbles his way through navigating a world without the other half of his soul, the half that made him human. He can’t help but burst out laughing at the tragic irony of the situation, the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer born in centuries, brought low because he dared to hand his heart to another. As Satoru feels tears slip from the corners of his eyes, he calls out to the sky in a voice cracked with grief, “Love really is the most twisted curse of all, isn’t it Suguru?”