꧁─── you hate 𝓼𝓪𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓾 𝓰𝓸𝓳𝓸, your…husband to be.
this marriage is going to be a disaster.
it's a gnawing sense that you're certain of. it ripples over your bones when you even just think about it. the ink on the agreement hasn’t even dried and already it feels like a threat. like someone tied a knot around your throat instead of your wrist.
you hate your husband to be. hate him. that he’s untouchable. unbearable. he’s the type to press a blade to your throat and smile all cockily, like a reminder he could push it further if he wanted to.
it’s a hatred cultivated over years of hushed discussions with your clan elders, sideways glances every time you were in the same room as the man. clipped words and that infuriating, knowing look he always seems to wear when he looks at you.
and he hates you right back.
you hear steps - undoubtedly his steps - trail closer and closer to the room you’re in. your shoulders tense at the thought of having to look at him. the door swings open. “you’re late,” you say without looking up.
“wow,” gojo says lightly, dragging the word out. “that’s how you greet your future husband? no flowers? no tears of joy?”
you finally look at him. he’s smiling. of course he’s smiling. you hate that it suits him. “if i had flowers,” you reply drily, “i’d throw them at your face.”
“romantic,” he hums. “i always knew you were the sentimental type.”
your fingers tighten around the paper in your hand. the clan seal stares back at you like an accusation, like a joke someone forgot to laugh at. “you have to sign this,” you say, voice flat, pointing to the paper you’ve left crumpled on the table. “my clan head wants it in the next hour.”
“well, i’m my own clan head, so i’ll sign it when i feel like it,” he replies, and he drops his gangly figure on a couch, tilting his head back.
you roll your eyes. he really is insufferable.
“try not to look so thrilled,” gojo drawls from across the room, long legs stretched out like he owns not just the space, but the air you’re forced to breathe with him. “people might start thinking you actually want this.”
you scoff before you can stop yourself, arms folding tight across your chest. “please. the day i want anything involving you is the day i check myself into a monastery.”
he hums, tilting his head, blindfold hiding his eyes but not the sharp curl of his smile. “tempting. you’d finally get some peace and quiet.”
“i’d have it right now if you stopped talking.”
“and miss out on all this?” he gestures lazily between the two of you, like this is some kind of joke, like this isn’t a life sentence being signed in ink that feels too permanent. “our beautiful, politically motivated union? i’m touched.”
“you should be,” you snap. “i’m sacrificing more than you are.”
that earns a soft laugh, low and unimpressed. “that’s funny. i was about to say the same thing.”
the room feels smaller than it is. suffocating. packed with expectations that don’t belong to you, voices of elders who decided this was the solution, the alliance, the neat little bow tied around decades of tension. as if forcing two people who can barely stand to look at each other into marriage will magically turn resentment into harmony.
it doesn’t. it won’t. you know that. he knows that too.
“don’t flatter yourself,” gojo says. “this isn’t a sacrifice. it’s damage control.”
your gaze snaps to him. “for who?”
“for you,” he says easily.
you take a step forward before you can stop yourself. “watch it.”
“or what?” he tilts his head, smile widening just enough to be insulting. “you’ll glare at me harder?”
your jaw tightens. “you think this benefits me?”
“i think,” he says, sitting up now, elbows braced on his knees, “your clan’s been bleeding influence for years, and this is their last attempt to cling to relevance. congratulations, you’re the bargaining chip.”
the room goes still and you laugh sharply. “and you’re what? the prize?”
“no,” he says, just as sharp. “the leash.”
that almost knocks the breath out of you. for a second neither of you moves. the air feels brittle, like it might crack if either of you breathes too hard. “you’re not that important,” you say quieter now, which somehow makes it worse. “no matter how much you like to pretend you are.”
gojo’s smile slips. “right,” he murmurs. “keep telling yourself that.”
you hate that tone. you hate that it sounds like he knows something you don’t. you hate that he always sounds like that. “sign the damn paper,” you snap, shoving it closer to him. “or are you too busy admiring your own ego?”
he looks at it. doesn’t touch it. “you know what i hate about you?” he says suddenly.
you blink. “only one thing?”
“you stand there like you’re above it,” he continues, ignoring you completely. “like you weren’t raised in the same system. like you didn’t benefit from it just as much as i did.”
your stomach twists. “i never—”
“don’t,” he cuts in, voice dropping, colder now. stripped of that lazy amusement. “don’t try to make yourself the victim here. you’re not being dragged into this. you walked in with your head high and your pen ready.”
that stings and you step closer again, close enough until you poke his chest, finger jabbing him.
“i walked in because i don’t have the luxury of refusing,” you say. “something you wouldn’t understand.”
“no,” he says. “i understand perfectly.”
he leans back again, all sharp edges tucked away behind that infuriating ease. “but sure,” he adds, waving a hand dismissively. “tell yourself you’re the only one suffering. makes it easier, right?”
you stare at him, really stare this time. you see past the arrogance, the mockery.
resentment. aimed straight at you.
“sign it,” you repeat, voice steadier.
gojo glances over it like it’s something mildly inconvenient rather than binding, then his hand comes up, fingers brushing yours as he takes the paper, and it’s brief but jarring, like touching something you shouldn’t.
he doesn’t look at you, and doesn’t say anything. just glances down, grabs the pen off the table, and signs.
quick, decisive and careless.
he drops the paper back against your chest. “there,” he says. “happy?”
you stare down at it, at the ink that’s slowly starting to dry. “ecstatic,” you mutter.
“good,” he replies, already turning away. “wouldn’t want my wife-to-be to start off disappointed.”
you look up sharply at that, something hot and immediate flaring in your chest. “don’t call me that.”
he pauses at the doorway, glancing back over his shoulder, smile curling like a threat. “what?” he says lightly. “wife?”
the word sounds wrong in his mouth. mocking. “get used to it.” and then he’s gone, leaving the door half open and the room feeling too quiet without him.
you look back down at the paper. at his name, at yours.
this marriage is going to be a disaster, and it feels like a promise.
a/n ~ the fic that’s deadahh been in my drafts for 2 months