Work Text:
Gojo stares at the stack of papers and even the Six Eyes are getting tired in looking at them. They are placed exactly at the corner of his desk, not yet touched after Yaga had dropped them there specifically for the purpose of being seen and, hopefully, finished right before noon.
“You can always teleport when you’re done,” Shoko says, shrugging off his plea for help immediately. “I’m still on the clock.”
“Then, why are you taking a smoke break?”
“Because I’m good at my job to have that break.”
“Wow, that’s mean,” Gojo pouts but he still accepts the candy Shoko offers. “I hate this,” he mutters and bites the hard sugar.
Shoko shrugs again and she takes her leave. “Whining won’t help and the higher-ups are just going to add this to their complaints about you,” she reminds him and they both know it is not for the sake of keeping their respect of him.
No, Gojo could care less about that. The higher-ups can fuck themselves for all he cares.
But when it only concerns himself.
They’re a bunch of withered things who have grown senile and fearful of everything, but they are snakes and they can hold a grudge to the point of pettiness. He is familiar with this. After all, he was born from their bunch and grew up being fed with their gnarly roots trying to trip him over and over. And like rats, they would try to nibble and dug at each corner he has, chittering and muttering and scurrying away the moment Gojo appears with a light.
Gojo is untouchable to them, this he intimately has been aware of ever since he gained self-awareness. Yet he has long come to learn, it merely means they would attack him in other ways, and so far, they haven’t run out of ideas.
Their latest favorite is, of course, his students.
Gojo might be the strongest, but even he isn’t immune to the waves of maneuvers happening between whispers and speeches and papers. His students are young, children who are trying to fit into a world that demands allegiance and power and the tricky dynamics of give and take. Gojo could train and make them powerful, but allies and the masses are often determined by reputations and loud deeds and the mightiest sway the sorcerers’ society is enraptured with.
Currently, Gojo sighs as he reads the papers. They’re demanding a complete documentation of his latest students. Civilian paper work, finances, healthcare, all the mundane things that do not exactly need another renewal. There’s nothing of note that they can use as a weapon against him – despite what others might assume, Gojo can be meticulous, especially when he was hiding Itadori Yuuji during his presumed ‘death’ – but by the playbook Gojo has long compiled of their behavior, they want to poke and raise questions. Filling their quota to be able to have a new material in their ‘Gojo Satoru shit talk’ gossip session which they’d do discreetly and indiscreetly to the clans.
He can weather that kind of thing, Infinity not needed to let that dirt fly over his head. Yet dragging a student, dragging Yuuji into this mean girls’ game…
Well.
He picks up the pen.
===
It’s raining by the time he is done, bright afternoon disappearing rapidly by the drizzle. This kind of cool weather is perfect to eat sweet and some tea, and honestly, he deserves that after writing for almost an hour, and also, he needs a new shirt because the ink has stained a sleeve. That’s it. After dropping this thing, he’s going to Ginza!
“Apologies, Gojo-san, but everyone is busy at the moment and I’m afraid there’s nobody else to spare…” The school staff’s voice wavers, but she keeps on going. “The students need drivers for their missions today and…”
“Ijichi should be available, right?”
She hitches a breath. “Unfortunately, Nanami-san needed him just an hour ago, so Ijichi isn’t available too.”
Ah…
Oh well. It’s Nanami, so.
“Gojo-san?” She asks when he just chuckles. “Perhaps I might be able to arrange something else,” she tries.
Poor girl, what did they say about him when they are hanging around the water cooler?
“It’s fine,” he says and he can practically hear her screeching inside her own head. “I’ll just get there myself.”
“But Gojo-san…”
“It’s really fine. You know, I do have my driving license, right? Right? Okay, good bye!” He smiles and ends the call.
Ah…
He hates this.
Driving takes effort and he has already given his today. It’s a hassle and he has to watch the speed limit, and not to mention having to wear seatbelt and following the traffic and… Gojo sighs. He checks the time and grabs the damn documents.
“I’m a good teacher, I’m a good teacher…” He mutters.
He’s heading for the parking lot when someone skidded to a halt right in front of him. Sakura pink fills his sight and the red hoodie greets him before Yuuji pulls it off and shakes off water droplets from his bangs.
“Gojo-sensei!” He greets while he unbuttons his uniform. “Are you heading somewhere?” He looks to the stack underneath Gojo’s arm and at the car key between his fingers, “It’s raining badly outside though.”
A puddle is forming by the entrance and Yuuji’s shoes aren’t saved either. Miraculously, however, his hair remains fluffed up.
“I need to drop some documents,” Gojo easily answers and twirls the key. “Did you just finish a mission today?”
“Hmm? Oh yeah,” Yuuji hangs the wet outer shirt. “It was close by so I had to just take the bus, but the forecast didn’t say anything about a heavy storm!” He pouts as he finally shucks off his shoes. “Man, and these are the only shoes I got…” He gingerly places them on a hanging rack.
“My, my, and you’re already done with the mission this early? Good job, as expected of my student,” Gojo gives him a thumbs up. “You should dry up and enjoy a free afternoon!”
Yuuji grins, but he looks at the papers he is holding again. “What about you, sensei? Are you going to work overtime today?”
Ugh, going to the higher-ups headquarter obviously is going to be that.
“Mm, you can say that,” Gojo tilts his head dramatically. “It’s mostly just because of the travel distance, and just between you and me, Yuuji-kun, it’s going to be so boring. Not to mention, I might miss dinner! Can you believe it? I’ll be missing dinner and my afternoon snack!” He sighs and leans on the window. “But sensei must go even with such hardships.”
It’s going to be a quiet drive too. Alone in the car, there can only be so much a radio would help fill. He could always teleport, he knows, but expending energy at that wide of a distance just for the higher-ups? Ew, no. Besides, driving also means someone has to wait for him. Serves them right.
“Eh? That far?” Yuuji checks the maps on his phone. “Whaatt? That long?”
Gojo nods. He can do it, though. He’s used to the silence and the responsibility annoyingly demanded of him. This is nothing.
“Sensei,” Yuuji’s voice stops him from turning on his heel, “Can I… Can I come with?”
Gojo goes still. There’s a smile being kept plastered on his face and his hands are in his pockets. He looks at Yuuji fully again.
“You want to come with?”
Yuuji nods.
“It really does get boring,” he repeats.
“Yeah, I know, but I don’t think there’s much to do around here, all the chores are done,” Yuuji gestures to the dorm. “And I already did my studying and homework,” he adds hurriedly. “So, please, can I come? I’ll be good, I promise!”
Gojo tilts his head. “Yuuji,” he leans forward, “are you bored?”
“Uh-huh,” the boy replies. “Yeah, sort of.”
“Are you trying to cancel boredom with another boredom to make a positive?”
“Err,” Yuuji scratches his cheek, “… yes?” He straightens up then. “But forget it, sensei. It’s okay, I was just, uh, asking. Of course, I don’t want to disturb your work.” He makes to leave towards the showers before Gojo grabs his hoodie.
“I’m not saying no,” he grins and pats his head. “Alright, dry and change in ten. I’ll be waiting in the car, alright?”
Yuuji brightens at that and for a second, Gojo thinks the sun has peaked from the sky. He glances up. It is still raining and Yuuji is running to the showers, swearing he’ll be done in five. Gojo believes him.
===
Yuuji’s hair is damp as he enters the car, towelled haphazardly before he ran here. He brightens when Gojo throws him a warm can of coffee. It’s not the best kind, but that should do for now. They pull out of the school grounds and within twenty minutes, Gojo has them on the highway. The rain hasn’t abater, keeping their fall sporadic and it makes the road emptier at least.
“You can turn some music on,” he smiles at Yuuji.
“Oh okay,” Yuuji opens his phone and connects the aux. “What would you like to listen?”
“Whoa, that is a passenger privilege, Yuuji-kun. It’s like roadtrip, passenger always picks the vibe for the songs.”
“Oh…” Yuuji’s fingers hover over the buttons. “Is that what people usually do?”
“Never been on a road trip before?”
“Nope,” Yuuji replies. “It was my bucket list during middle school. I mean, I could get a license in a few years and rent a car. Was thinking of taking part-time jobs to save up but then, Grandpa got sick, so no.”
And now, with being a vessel, when would he? They would think he’s running away and tighten the watch.
“Well, you’re getting a bit of that now,” Gojo points out. “Pick whatever song. I like just about anything!” He winks.
Yuuji smiles, encouraged to just press play. “Alright.”
That is how Gojo finds himself listening to music from his parents’ era. It’s… it’s something. Yuuji hums along and he leans against the window, looking bundled up in his fresh hoodie and varsity jacket. Nobara probably is the one who made him buy the trousers, but Gojo zeroes in on the sandals. Flips flops to be exact. The kind you get from nearest convenience store for an emergency.
“Whoa, the houses here look big,” Yuuji awes, breath fogging up the window.
“Well, we are more in the outskirts now,” Gojo turns without the light signal on.
Yuuji keeps staring outside and he only leans back when the houses disappear, the view melding more into trees. The music has moved on from some city pop into… a jingle.
“Hey, Yuuji-kun,” Gojo says while resting his cheek on his knuckles, “Why do you have Don Quijote’s jingle?”
“It’s catchy?”
Right. Catchy. He knows his students are all abnormal, but damn.
“Besides,” Yuuji takes a photo when they are tad higher now and the expanse of the city are somewhat visible through the mist, “it annoys Sukuna.”
Gojo laughs.
“That’s my boy,” he says and Yuuji laughs too.
It’s a nice sound.
===
Yuuji’s snoring when they arrived and were it not for Infinity, his forehead would have thunked hard against his own when he wakes him up.
“Ow shit, oh fu- sorry, sensei…” Yuuji slaps a hand over his mouth.
Gojo ruffles his hair. He looks up to the stone stairs leading up the hill, the gate of the higher-up’s mansion even more invisible with the rain and the dense foliage. It’s colder now that he feels the breeze managing to slip between the creases of his pants and sleeves.
“Yuuji.”
His student looks up, halfway pulling an umbrella from the dashboard drawer. He pushes it back down and tightens the strings of his hoodie instead. A freshly laundered one, the color green striking and familiar. It no longer carries the scent of incense and curses.
“You wait here. It’s a boring grown-up world up there,” he nods to the ancient Torii gate. “Watch the car for me, ‘kay?”
Yuuji follows the motion of his hand pressing him back to his seat. “Oh, okay,” he nods and makes to hand the umbrella over. “Here, sensei.”
Raindrops are nothing to Infinity, it has saved him enough hassle for that. Itadori Yuuji must have become familiar enough with the concept by now. But Gojo doesn’t say anything and just plucks the thing from his hand.
“You can take a nap at the back,” Gojo smiles. “It might be a bit long.”
“Nah, I’m fine,” Yuuji shrugs and pulls out his phone.
The rain picks up when Gojo finally closes the door. It hits the pavement hard and it is that kind of grey noises Gojo would have loved if it weren’t for this. He cracks his neck and rolls his shoulders. He also doesn’t forget to open the umbrella.
“Gojo-sensei!” Yuuji is so loud that for a split second, Gojo thinks he just ran up to him. He glances over his shoulder, and the boy waves between the opened window. “Good luck!” Yuuji shouts, with a peace sign.
He stands there for a second, the space around him flickering, and then, he smiles back.
===
The servant standing by the engawa gapes when he actually greets them. And it’s funny if not for the fact the young man immediately falters when one of those pruned, dried up twigs walks up to them. He doesn’t even need any sixth sense when the cane is enough.
Old man Hiroki still looks at him like he was taller and could lord such fact over the one truth that he had been, is and always will be an insect to Gojo Satoru. It’s only the untimely death of Hiroki’s father and the sudden vacant seat left by the sickly grandfather that allowed Hiroki to be amongst the board. He hacks and coughs, and bleurgh, that shit is always disgusting. At least, now, he has decency to turn slightly away when he’s doing that. (He can’t make Satoru cringe anymore. No, not since he truly activated his Limitless.)
“Gojo-sama,” he greets and there is that hesitation in moving his neck to bow. Oh, Satoru is benevolent enough not to have him even do it ninety degrees or else his back cracks. He only nods and always, always a smile manages to unnerve the man.
The door slides close, the halls are lit, and Gojo Satoru stifles a sigh.
===
It’s, thankfully, brighter when he finally is able to leave in a metaphorical kind of way, and in the literal sense too, now that he looks up. The sky still drizzles, but at least, the clouds are dispersing. He pops up at the parking lot and quickly catches the pink head peeking between the opened door.
“Oh, sensei!” Yuuji calls. “Are you done?”
“Uhm,” Gojo folds the umbrella back. He blinks when Yuuji opens a plastic bag. “Oh, thanks,” he drops it inside. “Did you go to the convenience store?” He looks at the logo.
“Yeah, actually,” Yuuji buckles the seatbelt. “I got a bit hungry, so…” There’s another plastic bag right by his foot, filled with empty wrappings and two bottles of protein shakes. Curry and melon bread by the looks of it.
“I bought some sweet sandwiches too,” he lifts them to him, “and uh, some coffee.”
There’s one in the cup holder, steaming and hot to the touch. The clerk must have some spare time because they drew a chibi on it. It smells sweet and rich from whatever cheap creamer available. But it’s nice. After sipping on bitter, obviously burned tea, he was looking for something to wash it all off. And it warms him a bit, staving the peckishness he’s feeling.
The sandwiches are incredibly dry, some bites cold while some are soggy as all hell, but again, it’s also nice. Fucking gourmet compared to the stale senbeis he had plucked from a bowl in the estate.
“Awe, my student is so nice,” he ruffles Yuuji’s hair as they pull away from the driveway. “Thinking of his sensei.”
“Well, it kinda is like when Gramps still had work,” Yuuji shrugs and when Gojo points to his mouth, Yuuji breaks a piece of the sandwich to feed it to him, while Gojo downs the coffee. “He would be rummaging the kitchen for something to nibble on, I ended up always putting something on the table,” he breaks another piece, “Gramps would eat that and more, yet still wanted dinner too.”
He feeds him again and Gojo peers from his glasses. There’s a quietness which settles as Yuuji looks outside, he’s not noticing his own reflection on the car window, somewhere through the droplets dripping down. Gojo hums and at the next intersection he picks a left, cutting a small SUV which honks at him. The sound is cut short when he presses more on the gas and the thrum of the Subaru reverberates through the tunnel they’re entering instead.
“Sensei, I don’t think this is the road back,” Yuuji squints at the map.
“Nah, we’re making a detour. Don’t worry, we won’t be back late.”
He whistles and winks.
===
They end up going to Ginza just like he wanted. Its crowd is the kind that makes you invisible as always, something no sorcery could achieve. He steers them to a favorite restaurant of his first, ordering enough food to make the kitchen actually peeking to see who the fuck ordered a buffet for two, and making the proprietor smiling so wide, Gojo thinks he can see his reflection on the teeth. Then, another glance at Yuuji’s sandals, he steers him to the department store and Yuuji is so stark against the polished everything-ness of the place, it tickles Gojo, but nobody says anything because well, who would when he’s pulling the sleek card from his pocket? Yuuji though, keeps looking up and around, chirping and awing that it’s refreshing. That excitement, that naivety of encountering something Gojo finds mundane.
It’s almost ten when they do return to the dorms and Shoko, who sometimes floats around the vending machines when the morgue holds her back, takes one look at him and hums.
“Took him on a date, didn’t you?” She half-murmurs.
Gojo grins. “You know me,” he sits down next to her, avoiding her foot trying to knock his. “Besides, he asked.”
“Oh?” She leans back and crosses her legs. “Well, that’s….”
“We got you something, Shoko-san,” Yuuji walks up to her, all smiles and holding a paper bag.
It’s a liquor chocolate, seasonal and an extra limited edition. Her favorite and a part of Gojo’s occasional bribery after he learned of this.
“Thank you,” she says, still accepting it because at least, it’s not Gojo who hands it over.
“I hope you like it, Shoko-san.”
She stares, then glances at Gojo. The man shrugs and smirks. Huh. She changes up her tone. “Actually, I like these,” she says. “I appreciate it, Itadori-kun. They’re a bit hard to come by, you know.”
“Eh? Really? Gojo-sensei didn’t say anything about it…” Yuuji blinks. “Oh my god, that’s why the clerk’s looking at me weird.”
“Of course, he didn’t,” Shoko says and smiles to the man beside her.
“Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it?” Gojo opens his palms up, “We still got them anyway.”
Shoko snorts. As she pushes stray bangs from her face, she notices the bright and crisp shoes Yuuji’s wearing. “Anyway, I think it’s time for me to get back to work,” she stands and takes the bag with her.
“Whoa, you’re still working, Shoko-san?”
She nods.
“What happened to being good at your job?” Gojo also asks, complete with the shit eating grin of a tone.
Some sorcerers died on a mission. Running on an incomplete intel would do that. The curses had seemed special, she is meant to find its traces on the dead bodies.
“Urgent autopsy,” she answers.
Yuuji wilts. “Oh.”
“They died doing good,” she consoles because this is a kind boy who had actually stood with her as she cremated the transfigured humans from that case. “They knew what they were getting themselves into,” she says and it’s a half lie that Gojo can immediately smell.
“Sorcerers, especially advanced ones, often sign something that lets us know we could use their body for research, Yuuji-kun,” Gojo adds, placing his hand lightly on his shoulder. “So, they would appreciate that Shoko does just as what they wanted.”
“I know, Fushiguro told me,” Yuuji says, then he rolls his shoulders and straightens up. “Well, it’s getting late, so I think I really should go to bed now,” he says and makes to bow. “Good night, Shoko-san, Gojo-sensei.”
“Night, Itadori-kun,” she replies and gives in to the urge to actually pat his head just like Gojo. She still has a few centimeters over him and she’s using it.
Yuuji’s eyes widen slightly, but he just chuckles. “Oh right,” he says before turning a corner, “There’s some prepped meals at our dorm fridge if you want something to eat later, Shoko-san,” he points to the hallway with his thumb, and then, he looks to Gojo, “Also, thanks for bringing me with you, Gojo-sensei,” he smiles, much too brightly at this hour, “the drive was fun.”
Shoko goes quiet and she catches Gojo missing a beat before he puts his hands in his pockets.
“… only the drive?” His voice switches to teasing.
Yuuji taps the edge of the wall in contemplation. “I mean, everything was nice, but the drive was the most fun,” he grins. “I enjoyed it very much, sensei.”
He disappears then after saying that and Gojo stands there a bit longer than necessary that Shoko nudges him. Oh, he turns off his Infinity. Her finger pokes his arm. “He’s a simple person, isn’t he?”
Gojo clears his throat and fixes his sunglasses. “He is,” he replies and it’s a bit different than what he would say instead.
Shoko raises a brow. “Did you have fun?” She likes it when Satoru is stumped as all hell. It’s rare these days.
He walks off. “That’s mean, Shoko.”
He did, then.
“Would you do it again, if he asks?”
Satoru chuckles.
\
\
\
The answer comes some weeks later. When Megumi has let go of the fact that Gojo took Itadori out during a school night and Nobara has stopped complaining that Yuuji was the first to actually explore Ginza before her.
“Sensei!”
Gojo stops in his tracks. It’s past noon and a Friday, even the most dutiful of students do not miss a chance to leave early. There’s dusting on Yuuji’s sleeve and he’s holding a broom.
“Hm?” He turns on his heels. “I don’t remember putting you on cleaning duty, Yuuji-kun.”
“Megumi and Nobara needed to go,” Yuuji shrugs. “And I had to finish my homework, so I stayed later.”
A stack of books lies haphazardly on a desk and there’re crumpled papers right beside them. From here, he can even see Megumi’s handwriting on the post-its and Nobara’s scribbles.
“That’s very nice of you, Yuuji-kun,” he throws the crumpled papers to the bin that Yuuji holds out. “But you should just go home, there’s a cleaning staff for a reason.”
“I know, I know,” Yuuji puts away the broom. “It’s just habit, I guess.”
At Gojo’s amused inquiring look, he elaborates. “Uh, I sort of slack off a bit during middle school, so I got put on detention afterwards. Well, that also meant sweeping the classroom and stuffs.”
“My, my, Yuuji-kun was actually a delinquent back in his heydays, huh. Were you famous? Did you have a nickname?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Yuuji flushes and picks up his jacket. “It’s embarrassing,” he opens his phone.
Gojo isn’t about to let go, but Yuuji beats him to it when he is about to open his mouth.
“Anyway,” he shows his phone, “there’s a movie screening in Akihabara, sensei, and there’s a discount for two. If you aren’t busy, do you want to come with?”
The phone shows a poster. Huh, some dark genre stuff. Horror and all that. He’s not a fan of those kinds of things. He reads the big bold letters at the corner too, and he almost laughs.
“It’s a couple’s discount, Yuuji,” he points out.
“Yeah, I know, that’s why I’m asking you,” Yuuji pulls his phone away. “Fushiguro and Kugisaki don’t like it, so I couldn’t ask them. The discount comes with a free drink and popcorn too.”
“It’s a couple’s discount, Yuuji,” he repeats.
Yuuji tilts his head. “Uh, yeah? I mean, Kugisaki always makes us take those and I don’t think they care much as long as there are two people.”
That’s smart. His students are smart. Suddenly, he’s feeling so proud of them. And how devious they can be.
“So, uh, if you have some free time, would you like to come with me, sensei?”
Gojo doesn’t need discounts. If he wants to watch something at a cinema, he would rent the whole studio out for some peace when he really is interested in the movie. But Yuuji isn’t that kind of person now, is he? He doesn’t mind crowds and is comfortable being a plain face amongst a thousand.
“Sure,” Gojo holds Yuuji’s hoodie and the next, they’re in an alley.
“Eh?”
“We’re here!”
“Holy crap,” Yuuji squawks. “I thought we would take the bus or the car?”
“Why would we?” Gojo puts him down. “It’s faster this way.”
“I mean, yeah, but this short distance, doesn’t it waste your energy, sensei?”
Nobody ever asked that. Gojo Satoru has an infinite sink for cursed energy. He’s never going to run out. It’s a fact, it’s truth. He is not weak, after all. He is not just a mere human. He’s Gojo and the holder of Six Eyes.
Yuuji knows this. He has been taught the whole basics of sorcery by now. He has witnessed Gojo opening his Domain. Yuuji knows. And still, he asked. Gojo would be a fool to not see the innocence in that question.
“Are you saying you like my driving, Yuuji-kun?”
“Well, yeah, and also, I don’t mind walking with you, sensei. This is cool too, but I don’t mind either way,” Yuuji says with an ease that even the Six Eyes could not immediately process. So, what Gojo does is taking Yuuji’s arm and pulls him to the street.
“Almost forgot,” Gojo says while Yuuji walks alongside him. “We should have changed out of uniform.”
“Oh, right,” Yuuji nods. “Uh… how?”
“We still have a bit of time before the movie,” Gojo winks at him. “A change of clothes is in order.” And by that, it means buying them.
It dawns on Yuuji quickly for this, and he slightly winces.
“Kugisaki is going to find out…” he sighs. “She’s going to be annoyed at you, sensei.”
Gojo laughs. “Is that a no, then?”
“What? No!” Yuji comes closer to him. “If you want, sensei, then it’s cool. And also, it would be more convincing,” Yuuji gives a thumbs up.
“Exactly.”
===
Well, in hindsight, when he meant convincing, he meant in the “this shit’s so funny, I’ll tell it later for drinking session” kind of thing, but Yuuji never does things in halves now, doesn’t he? Nobara really have whipped the boys up real good to have him actually knowing to pick things that are complimentary with Gojo and sticks to him so close where you can only really see in those shojo mangas.
So, in the spirit of that, what else should he do except answering in kind?
“Two tickets for Bring Her Back, please,” he leans on the cashier booth and Yuuji crowds against him.
The girl takes a glance and noticing their linked arms, makes a grand guess. “Would you like a couple’s discount?”
“Yes, please!” Yuuji chirps. It’s different seeing him in a pastel colour, all blue and yellow sweater with the grey trousers and sneakers.
“I hope you don’t get scared easily,” Gojo teases, tapping his card. “You’re already squeezing me.”
Yuuji giggles. The girl behind the cashier blinks and there is a hint of red on her cheeks. She almost forgets to give him the receipt.
“Well, that’s why we’re watching it together, ne, Satoru-san?” He replies with a proverbial… sparkle in his eyes.
The girl is beginning to stare. Gojo turns to steer them away after plucking the tickets from her hands.
“But of course,” he answers and encircle Yuuji’s shoulders with an arm, “honey.”
“Satoru-san,” Yuuji mocks pouting, but instead of an elbow, he just slaps him lightly back.
They’re at it all the way to the snack booth and Gojo knows they’re making the youngins gagging in their part time job. Only one doesn’t, a nice, plump lady with rogued cheeks who just coo at the display. She even drops an extra cookie when a praise from Yuuji on her knitted shirt makes her laugh, and she gives him that elderly approving look when he takes most of the food and carries it on one arm while Yuuji hangs off the other still.
“You’re a good actor when you want something, huh,” Gojo tells him when they’re finally inside and sitting down.
Popcorn almost spills out from Yuuji’s grasp. “Uh, no, I’m not… Kugisaki often complains I can’t make up excuses fast enough..”
“Really? Well, your sensei is giving you a ten out ten,” Gojo high fives him.
“That’s because,” a munch, “it’s with you, sensei,” a slurp and Yuuji is wiping his mouth.
He stops. Then, pulling away his own stray, he turns to Yuuji. The theater is getting dimmed now and some commercials are playing. They don’t bath Yuuji in the dark and the noise however. He’s clearer than the resolution on the screen.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s easier around you,” Yuuji shrugs as he leans back further, stretching his legs.
“Easier?”
“Yeah,” Yuuji nods, “easier.”
The commercials stop and the opening sequence rolls in. The lights are all off now, the music heightening from the speakers and everything becomes a vacuum focusing on the movie. Yuuji, as with everybody else, perks up and lifts his chin higher.
Easy.
Gojo forgets about his soda and popcorn.
“Oh, yeah also, sorry, sensei,” Yuuji whispers.
“What for?”
“I called you Satoru back then,” Yuuji clasps his hands. “Sorry.”
He fiddles with his glasses before pushing them over his head. The theater smells of those cheap cleaning supply with overpowering perfume.
“It’s fine,” Gojo pats his head. “I actually didn’t notice.”
A couple of people are munching loudly two rows behind, a few are on their phones with too bright screens, and the air conditioner is just too cold while there are no blankets around. And the seats. They’re not even reclining.
But Gojo watches the movie and when he finds the crumpled tickets in his pocket, he doesn’t throw them away.
===
Nanami peers over his glasses as Gojo waves Yuuji off to the dorm, fingers still a bit buttery from the popcorn and palms warm from leaning against Yuuji when they walked out. He’s wiping his hands when Nanami clears his throat.
They don’t talk. Not really. Nanami is a man of few words the moment he can afford to be. Instead, he just loosens his tie, folds his suit jacket and leaves with a raised brow.
“If you want to know,” Gojo stretches, “the movie wasn’t that bad.”
It earns another raised brow.
“What?”
Nanami just walks on.
===
It happens several more times that Shoko hums one day and studies the keychain he’s pinching. They had finished their mission earlier than expected, and Yuuji had pointed at the nearby gamestore. Gojo was hanging back, perching on a railing when Yuuji turned back and asked if he wanted to also get one. All the pictures on the gacha machine were fugly. Gojo had nodded.
“You look happy,” she says, munching on the chocolate. She lifts it away from his outreaching hand.
“Is that a bad thing?” He twirls the keychain.
“Of course not,” Shoko sighs as she sits down. “It’s just rare seeing you making a habit.”
Gojo frowns, he stops twirling the keychain. “I’m not, though.”
Shoko laughs. Genuinely laughs. She hands the box over and gets up. It’s light, there’re only two chocolates left – dented and half melted.
\
\
\
It’s not a habit. Because Gojo Satoru does not make it so.
He takes the reports from Ichiji’s hand.
“Hokkaido?”
“There’s been an influx of special cases appearing,” Ichiji replies, wiping his sweat when Gojo actually reads them. “The higher-ups…”
The higher-ups can go fuck themselves. There are many capable people who can do this, and they need the experience. Gojo crosses his legs.
“Drive me to the airport later, then.”
“N-not the station?”
“Nah,” Gojo puts a foot on the back of the seat.
He’s listing down the lesson plan for his students while he circles around the front gate after Ichiji drops him off. The sun is setting and his phone is at thirty percent; his blindfold is hanging off a wrist. It’s a noisy afternoon with the crows around.
“Sensei!” Yuuji shouts from the top of the stairs. He grins when Gojo waves. It beats the shadows the building cast. “Kugisaki found a new café, do you want to come with? It’s down near Shinjuku though, so a bit far.”
His voice is steady and clear despite the distance. The other two are waiting farther away, Gojo could make out their figures by the corner. He can imagine Megumi scrolling his phone while Nobara is tapping her foot.
“You all enjoy yourselves,” Gojo replies and the keychain digs against his breast pocket. “Your sensei needs to go on a work trip, so look at the group chat, alright?”
It’s not a habit. Gojo Satoru doesn’t make it so. When Yuuji deflates slightly, he’s not noticing it.
“Oh, okay,” Yuuji says, scratching his neck. “Erm, when will you be back, sensei?”
“Just a couple of days,” Gojo points. “Megumi knows what to do with the timetable I’m sending you all.”
“Okay,” Yuuji says again, then gives two thumbs up. “Good luck, sensei!” Then, he runs up to the others.
He watches that pink head going father away and there’s a chatter before he picks up Megumi’s flat “what?” at the tail end. The sun’s truly setting now and Gojo turns to his office. It’s getting colder.
===
Hokkaido isn’t a bad place for the job. It’s one of those spots where a spike in curses activity often happens every few months or so, something about being the northernmost island of Japan, while still managing to have a bit of that nature spots that feeds the deprived constancy of a concrete jungle. He takes in the crisp air as he exorcises another batch hiding deep in the foliages. It’s close to fall now and the trees are golden with preparation for the season change.
The sorcerers reach him eventually, a bit bruised, a bit ruddy from the trek. He wonders if it’s actually more than half of them who are not trying to reach him at all without the formality demanding them.
“I think we’re done,” he dusts off invisible dirt from his trousers. “Good work, everyone!”
There is a minute before the sorcerers just sort of… nodding to him. Ah, Hokkaido is beautiful but the local sorcerers aren’t always. They must be smarting from the stunts he keeps pulling over their clan’s relatives in the board. It reminds Gojo when he was just a teen, before he met Suguru, before he met Shoko and Yaga, and before he could wear the high school uniform. When all he could do was train and train, and be perfect to the point even when a flaw leaked through, his power could make it taintless. A shield, Infinity can be. A shield and a ca…
“Thank you, Gojo-sama,” one of them croaks finally.
“Yes, yes,” he pulls his blindfold over. “Now, I’ll leave the cleanup to you.” The toppled trees and broken roads seem to agree with him. “Alright, good bye.”
He jumps off and the next, his feet meet the carpeted hallway of his hotel room. A homey place that belies the five stars it boasts on the front door. The fridge is full of snacks and the restaurant serves old style cooking that gets you to note every taste in the dishes. It faces a hill, complete with a lake and the view of the horizon which you can stare for hours and hours.
Yet Gojo only fiddles with his laptop by the balcony and as he yawns, stretching on the bed like a cat, he slowly listens on the only noise. A ticking clock. The only thing that fills the silence. Looking at it, there’s still about five hours before he needs to check out.
A moment, then another two, and Gojo grabs his jacket. The half assed report can wait until he’s on the plane. Maybe.
He picks a café at random and the lady balks when he orders three cakes with tea which he proceeds to add five lumps of sugar. They’re super soft and some of the crunchy caramel just hits right. He’s the only one at this hour though, and after the cakes are all finished, he’s…
Well, the quaintness is getting boring.
So, he moves again, walking down a street alley with food stalls and souvenirs. But he doesn’t find himself gravitating to anything. He explores the whole alley, up and down and up once more. Eventually, his boredom settles and he ducks into a tiny coffee shop to maybe actually look up the overflowing email inbox from two days ago.
The coffee he orders arrives on a languid pace, it has a sort of foam art, depicting a cute bird, he thinks. It manages to distract him enough from the fact the chair beside him is empty.
Ah.
It should not be a habit now.
===
His phone pings two hours later.
[02:00 p.m.}
Yuuji
‘Sensei! Fushiguro said you’d be back this evening we’re having sukiyaki at the dorm. Do you want to join us?’
It pings quickly again with a picture. A basket full of meat.
Gojo puts down the last bite of the pastry and leans his arms on the table as he types.
[02:02 p.m.]
Gojo Satoru
‘I’ll be back by six. And wow, sukiyaki? Of course, I’m in.’
Yuuji
‘Okay, great! Kugisaki told me that we’re getting too much, but it’s four people though…’
He can imagine the pout and the head scratches Yuuji’s making. It gets him chuckling and a couple one table away glance at him. Gojo snaps a picture of the menu before crossing his legs.
[02:05 p.m.]
Gojo Satoru
‘Meh, buy a couple more, I’ll cover them all.’
Yuuji
‘Really? Is it okay, sensei?’
He smiles as he opens the camera.
Gojo Satoru
‘It’s okay~ and also, your sensei will be bringing the dessert. Ask Nobara-chan and Megumi-kun which pastry they want, kay?’
Yuuji
‘!!!!!! Oh, those really look good O o O Imma ask them’
His phone buzzes again as he’s cleaning up his plate and standing up.
[02:08 p.m.]
Yuuji
‘Thank you, sensei! See you and have a safe flight’
Gojo stares at the message as he walks up to the register. It takes a bit of calling, before he blinks and remembers where he is. He pockets the phone and almost orders half of the things on display. Yeah, Hokkaido isn’t that bad, after all.
===
His students are changing their shoes when he appears. Nobara squawks and Megumi huffs, but they grab his bag and puts down his indoor shoes too.
“I’m not late, am I?”
“You’re early actually,” Megumi replies, already going in.
Yuuji grins, “Hehe, they’re actually been asking about you,” he toes off his sneakers. “We already cooked the rice, so everything’s set. Nobara’s the one suggested we have sukiyaki today, she’s been watching this drama and she’s craving it.”
He takes all the plastic bags. Gojo shakes his head when he offers to carry the dessert box too. The way to the kitchen is lit by the sunset and there’s light spilling out from it, Nobara and Megumi moving around with the pot and stove, the slide of padded feet and the creak of a table being pulled.
Yuuji’s humming beside him. A faintly familiar song he often plays in the car. It’s an oldies, probably even before Gojo’s time. His shoulders tremble.
“Gojo-sensei?” Yuuji tilts his head. “What’s funny?”
“Nothing,” he ruffles Yuuji’s hair. “It’s nothing.”
“Ookay,” Yuuji says and slightly jogs forward.
Then, he stops for a second.
Gojo often walks by himself. He’s either at the front or at the back. That’s the reality he has been made comfortable since time immemorial. Nobody needs to notice the very being who can always be seen. It’s a road he knows, a set of knowledge long ingrained.
“Oh right, sensei,” Yuuji looks over his shoulder, “Welcome back.”
He can’t help the tug that smile gives on his own lips. It’s ridiculous. Really, he’s grown and should be at peace with that.
Gojo smiles.
“It’s good to be back.”
\
\
\
There is surprise so obvious on Ichiji’s face that it almost feels fake when he drops the report on his desk. Before he can stutter out something, Gojo just shrugs.
“I have something better to do,” he replies. “Now, please send it as soon as possible,” he says in lieu of teleporting the same way he came in.
Shoko covers her mochis when he drops down right beside her. He also fails in filching Nanami’s red bean bread. They both raise a brow at him and Gojo just lifts his hands away. Tsk, cheapskates.
“You seem in a good mood,” Shoko notes and offers a mochi to Nanami right in front of him.
Ouch. Gojo actually likes that flavor too.
“Is that a bad thing?”
“You’re rarely skipping your steps after missions like those,” Shoko points.
“Maybe my regards towards the higher-ups have changed.”
Shoko laughs a short laugh. “Bullshit.”
Well, she knows him so well. He just chuckles and fixing the collar of his shirt when she continues, “Going somewhere?”
He nods. Then, she blinks and she has that expression which he’s been too familiar with whenever she sees through him. It’s both blank and dissecting, and any cursed technique can’t cover Gojo away from that. Very, very scary.
Before she can announce her finding though, Yuuji turns the corner and he brightens when he spots him. Or is it the other way around? He doesn’t think too much about that split second musing.
“Ohh, Gojo-sensei, Shoko-san, Nanamin!” Yuuji waves and bows. “It’s rare seeing you all together.”
“Well, I’m on a break,” Shoko answers and to him too, she offers her mochi. She even smiles when Yuuji immediately accepts. “I don’t know about these two.”
Nanami crumples the bread wrapping and he puts his glasses back on. “I’m also returning back,” he checks his watch, before he hums and gives the last bread to Yuuji. “Here, Itadori-kun, I bought too much.”
“Eh, for real? Thanks, and good luck out there.”
Bought too much, his ass, Gojo stares at Nanami. An unplanned purchase? Him? Unbelievable that is. Yuuji whistles at the bakery name before he tears it open.
“And what about you, sensei?” He turns to him, mouth already stained by the cherry cream.
Gojo gives him a tissue. “Are you done with the lessons?”
“Yep, thanks to Fushiguro,” Yuuji pats the books underneath his arm. “I swear I would fail if it weren’t for him.”
He’s not a stickler for a solid schedule when it comes to the school. And besides, Gojo is a big believer of practicing what’s been taught. Hands-on experience, full body thrown in and learning immediately how to swim or fly or fight. His students are the best because of this, no? Yeah, it is, it is.
“Then, would you like to come with me?”
And Yuuji’s eyes spark something curious, something exciting.
“What’re we doing?” He asks, already coming closer to him.
“A hospital has been receiving complaints about strange things happening in their basement,” Gojo pushes himself off the wall. “We’re taking the car,” he twirls the key and it has the fugly ass mascot as an accessory. “I need to wrap few more things, so start the car for me, okay?”
Yuuji catches the key and salutes. “You got it, sensei!” And he runs so fast, he leaves a brief breeze in his wake.
“What?” He turns to the other two. “I’m not encouraging underage driving here,” he raises a hand in mock deference.
Shoko sighs, eating the last mochi while keeping their gaze. There is a knowing smile she has that has Gojo remembering she still beats him at crane games and poker.
“A habit then,” she murmurs, but it’s soft and colorless in tone.
Gojo lifts one shoulder and she takes her leave. It’s Nanami who lingers a bit longer.
“Itadori-kun seems to enjoy doing missions with you,” he notes and picks up his jacket.
“Oh~ do I sense jealousy?”
“I’m not a teacher,” Nanami replies, holstering his knife. “Just…” He readjusts his glasses, “… Take care of that child.”
“I am always careful, Nanamin,” Gojo secures his blindfold. “You don’t have to worry about that. Yuuji’s my precious student.”
When he glances over, Nanami is looking at him as if he’s losing his comprehension skill. Or maybe, he’s annoyed at him using the nickname and wants to punt him a little. He lets it go in the end, however, and whatever passed on his face is gone, returning back to that somberness only a sorcerer can achieve.
“I’m clocking out,” he says.
“Eh? You don’t want to join us?” Gojo calls after him.
“I don’t do overtime.”
Touche.
\
\
\
The car’s air conditioner is already turned one when Gojo climbs to the driver’s seat. There’s coffee in the cup holder, smelling like those beans kept in the school’s pantry. It also carries the scent of sugars and cream. Yuuji is already buckled in, fingers tapping his leg as he rolls the windows close as the car starts moving. The road down the hill is empty and there are no trees, it’s bright with such clear skies too.
“Sensei,” Yuuji digs into the compartment in front of him and pulls out a case, “Here.”
It’s his sunglasses case.
“I read that driving with the sun’s out like this is bad,” Yuuji opens it and carefully pulls out the glasses. “It’s… Hold on, let me clean it a little. Ah, there,” he hands it over to him. “Something about the degree of the sun’s position?”
The sun is no longer an input nightmare ever since he was six and managed to figure out a way to lessen such strong light. He had been seven and a half when he could walk around on his own without covering his eyes. The world is his to truly see, after all, and it is a reflex by now to measure himself. However, Yuuji is a different kind of input and the Six Eyes hasn’t been able to truly pinpoint him yet. Gojo stops himself from squinting.
He plucks the glasses and with a smile, puts them on. They’re still warm from Yuuji’s grip.
“Hey, Yuuji,” he leans his elbow by the window, resting his cheek on his knuckles, “Play us some songs.”
“Sure, any request?” Yuuji tilts his head.
“Up to you,” Gojo says.
A second later, Doraemon’s soundtrack filters through the speaker. Yuuji grins and Gojo laughs.
It’s a good day.