꒰ 呪術廻戦 ꒱ › satoru’s the luckiest man alive. sfw.
gojo x fem! reader. canon-compliant. tooth-rotting fluff. est rel.
it’s one of those summer afternoons where the air feels thick enough to swim in. tsumiki’s somehow managed to drag a very reluctant megumi to the community pool, leaving you and satoru to melt into the worn leather of your couch together. your head’s resting on his lap, the thin fabric of his shorts doing little to mask the heat radiating off him. a well-loved paperback of pride and prejudice with a creased spine is lying open on your stomach, but the words have started to blur into meaningless black squiggles. you let out a sigh. lifting the book and letting it fall to the floor with a soft thud.
“oh?” satoru murmurs. “finally done reading about ‘your darling fitzwilliam’ ?” his hair is slightly damp, a few snowy strands clinging to his forehead. his blindfold’s pushed up and he’s looking down at you with an amused smile playing on his lips.
“don’t call him that,” you mumble, swatting at his knee. “you have to call him mr. darcy. calling him fitzwilliam just ruins his sex appeal.”
“tell me, does fitzwilliam make your heart flutter the way i do ?”
“i don’t have the energy for your nonsense today, satoru” you groan, draping an arm over your eyes to block out the harsh light filtering through the curtains “it’s too hot”
“c’mon, sweets, humor me,” he murmurs, leaning down until his face is merely inches from yours. “i want to play a game with you.”
“what kind of game ?” you ask, your voice muffled by your arm “if it involves getting up from this couch, i’m not interested.”
“no moving required,” he promises, “it’s a naming game. we’ll take turns, ‘kay ?” you raise a brow but you’re too lethargic to question him
“name all the things you like about satoru gojo. see who can name the most. my turn.” he claps his hands together, “everything.” he claps again, looking down at you with an expectant grin.
you can’t help but roll your eyes, “you can’t just say everything” you scoff, “that’s cheating, now i’m obviously not gonna play”
it’s almost comical how quickly his smug grin melts away, replaced by a persistent pout. his lower lip juts out, his eyes widen, and he slumps back against the couch cushions with a wounded sigh. “sometimes it feels like no one appreciates me.” he mumbles
“oh, you’re such a baby,” you sigh. satoru’s genuinely sulking. the strongest sorcerer of the modern age, pouting because you won’t stroke his ego. it’s ridiculous, but it’ll be great practice for your vows
with another sigh, this one more resigned, you prop yourself up on your elbows, facing him. his pout is still in full effect, but his bright blue eyes are watching you, a flicker of hope in their depths. “fine, i’ll humor you” you concede, rolling your eyes. satoru immediately perks up, pout vanishing as if it never existed.
you take a deep breath, humid air filling your lungs. “okay. i like how funny you are. sometimes i think you might genuinely be the funniest person i know. you find humor in things no one else does and you make me laugh even when i want to strangle you. but i think you should know that your pranks aren’t funny in the slightest and you really need to stop messing with ‘gumi and nanami”
“i think my pranks are hilarious” he protests. you hold up a finger to his lips to silence him.
“nope,” you say firmly, though there’s no real heat behind it. “your pranks are cruel and unnecessary. poor megumi just wants to live his life without you constantly trying to give him an aneurysm.”
satoru nips playfully at your finger, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin there. you yank your hand back with a gasp, swatting at his shoulder.
“i retract my previous statement. you’re not funny, you’re annoying” you grumble, though you can’t suppress the smile tugging at your lips. “quit messing around or i’ll go back to reading.”
“noooo,” he whines, “i’ll behave, i promise. cross my heart and hope to die. well, not really die. that wouldn’t be very fun” you glare at him, but you carry on regardless
“another thing i unfortunately like about you is how caring you are,” you hum, “you try — and fail — to hide it but anyone who truly knows you, knows that you’ve got the biggest heart in the universe.”
you shift, getting more comfortable, your fingers tracing the faint scar that starts at his neck and trails down his torso. he tenses slightly but he doesn’t shrink away. “and how selfless you are” you add softly, “the sorcerer killer was an asshole, but you’re still taking care of his kids. you took them in and gave them a home. you didn’t have to do that ‘toru. no one would’ve blamed you if you didn’t.”
you pause, your fingers still tracing his scar, “you could’ve walked away y’know ? after everything. you could’ve left it all behind and no one would’ve been able to stop you. but you put your own feelings aside and you stayed which leads to my favorite thing about you,” you say, and now your voice is barely a whisper. “the thing i love most about you is that you’re strong.”
you hold up a hand before he can make a remark about how that’s kind of his whole deal “and i’m not saying this because you’re the strongest. i’m not talking about your cursed energy or the six eyes or any of that. i mean you’re strong in here.” you reach out and gently tap his chest, right over his heart.
“you’ve been through so much, ‘toru. you carry the weight of this whole world on your shoulders, you’ve seen so much suffering. you’ve lost so many people. and you never, ever let it crush you. you’ve seen the absolute worst of our world, and yet you keep smiling every single day. you choose to find joy even in the darkest moments. and it makes me feel safe, makes me feel like everything might actually be okay.”
you feel your own eyes start to prickle with tears. “and i love you,” you say, the words feeling huge and overwhelming in the small, hot room. “i love you with my whole heart. every part of you.”
for a moment, he’s just staring at you, his expression unreadable. and then you see it. a shimmer in his eyes. a single, perfect tear escapes, tracing a path through the faint sheen of sweat on his cheek. and then he’s wrapping his arms around you, pulling you flush against his chest, and all his weight is pressing into you, pinning you to the old leather couch.
“satoru — get off me — you’re heavy—” you squeal, pushing at his shoulders to no avail. it’s like trying to move a mountain.“it’s like a sauna in here, get off !!!” he’s not listening. he’s burying his face in the crook of your neck, and you can feel the dampness of his tears against your skin as he peppers kisses against your jaw, cheek, and the corner of your mouth.
“i love you,” he’s murmuring between kisses, his voice thick with emotion. “i love you, i love you, i love you.” you’re still squirming, still complaining about the heat and his weight, but your protests are losing their steam. your hands, which were pushing him away, are now pulling him closer. his eyes are shining, and his smile is so wide it looks like it might split his face in half. the summer heat doesn’t seem to matter so much anymore.
𝓦ait, so your academic rival thinks you're amazing? nerdjo! x clueless reader!
“Wait, we hate eachother?"
“I mean–”
“When did that happen?” Satoru asked, surprised, turning to look at you blinking as if not believing the words you had just blurted out.
Heat crept up on your cheeks as you bit down on your lower lip, cursing yourself for saying that out loud in the flow of the conversation. But if not hate then what?
Oh god, was it only you competing with him all this time or what? Had it only been you keeping a check of everything? Every position, every class test, every semester exam.
This was even more embarrassing than it should have been. So, what he meant was that he didn't gloat in achieving first place over you? Hadn't taken some sadistic pleasure in beating you by a handful of marks every single time. You wanted to smack him, but you wanted to smack yourself more for bringing that up to him.
“Well forget I said that” you muttered, clearing your throat as you looked anywhere but at him. “We should finish this up quickly anyway, the bell would ring soon” you said, picking up the flask to shake the liquid which was blue, the same shade of his eye colour.
“Um, I don't–I don't know why you would say that but surely I don't hate you, I mean why would I, when you're so–” He stopped himself right there as if realising he was going to say something he shouldn't and gave a nervous, awkward laugh.
“Well anyways, you're right we should get finished with this, we have other classes to attend.” He continued rubbing the back of his neck, the tips of his ears red.
But you were not going to let him go that easily. You were what? What was he gonna say, if you didn't get to know it right now you would keep thinking about it later on and you didn't wanna think about him you already did enough.
“You were saying something right?” You said setting down the flask. “I am what, go on.” you said, raising your eyebrows, hands crossed over your chest, completely ready to hear something negative.
“Ah, haha…I meant that” he said, rubbing the back of his head, laughing a little too loud as if forcing himself to, looking nervously around the chemistry lab, trying to avoid your gaze as he fixed his glasses.
“I meant that you're really amazing, you know.” He finally said gulping, like the words were too hard to be spoken out loud and your jaw hit the floor as you looked at him gaping.
You were certainly not expecting this. So, this guy who kept snatching everything you wanted, always by the narrowest, infuriating difference while passing a smile at you, standing right just next to you as if he didn't do the few to just piss you off and see you fume and mop over it.
The golden boy, the one who never failed at anything he tried, thought you were amazing ?
Not even in your wildest dreams you could have thought that.
And what the fuck, why was he blushing at that.
You finally picked your jaw from the floor to speak, “So, um, hey I don't– well thank you. But I wanted to know-”
And that was exactly when the bell rang.
And boy were you after him with a knife or what, he immediately ran off before you could continue further as soon as the bell hit bidding you a quick goodbye.
Damn, he was better than you for nothing if he took classes so seriously, ugh you would have to pull your socks up for this semester exams again.
“If you want to be happy, you have to be happy on purpose. When you wake up, you can’t just wait to see what kind of day you’ll have. You have to decide what kind of day you’ll have.”
choso and his oral fixation cw. cunningligus overstimulation 18+
if there’s one quirk that you’d complain about your boyfriend having, it’d be his uncontrollable oral fixation. always putting something in his mouth like a teething puppy, clanking his teeth on the chain wrapped around his neck, or even chewing on the neckline of his shirt.
and if there was one, specific thing that helped soothe the ache inside of his mouth — it was you. choso loved the way your silk skin tasted on his tongue. he loved the little darkened marks that’d bloom across your skin whenever he suctioned his mouth just right. creating a slobbering mess all over body, especially your breasts.
the way he’d swirl his tongue around the areola, teasingly just to see the way your nipple would harden under against his mouth before flicking his tongue at it. your breasts sitting in his palms as he gives the glob of fat fondles, and squeezes while moaning with your nipple suctioning within his mouth.
choso’s dark eyes closed, rested in pure bliss as he sucks and sucks barely able to control himself as his hips rut against the mattress while groaning.
each flick of his tongue against your sensitive nipple sends a pulse to your throbbing clit, and only time will tell when choso’s done with his fill of your breasts before he’s moving down to your thighs… his favourite place right between your legs, his favourite way to be pacified — your clit.
his hands spread your thighs a part from each other, exposing the sight that made his mouth salivate from a mere glance as he leans down, his tongue already lulling out before pressing flush against your bud making you moan at the sensation.
he’s instantly lapping up the wet mess dripping from your hole. his tongue gliding in all the right places before he’s latching against your sensitive bud causing you to push at his head, making him bury his face deeper between your thighs.
the first way his cheeks hollow as he shakes his head side to side, pulling you closer against his mouth. he’s never unlatching his mouth off you, not when your clit is pulsing perfectly against his tongue and your thighs are locking his head in place. this is the sole thing that soothes the ache inside his mouth perfectly, so even if you’re an overstimulated mess underneath him — he won’t be stopping until that ache is fully gone.
Choso sat on the worn wooden porch of their modest home. The afternoon light filtered through the leaves overhead. He watched his mother tend to her small garden. Her hands moved with the same quiet precision he remembered from childhood. But now those hands showed the soft lines of age. He felt a deep pull in his chest.
She had always been more than just mom to him. She was a woman with dreams that life had gently set aside. Raising him and his siblings demanded everything. Choso understood that sacrifice now in ways he never had before. He loved her with the same fierce devotion he held for his brothers. Yet this love carried an extra layer. Care. Appreciation. A need to give back what time had taken.
"Mom," he called softly. His voice carried across the yard like a gentle breeze. "I found something online. A pottery class downtown. Starts next week."
She looked up. Her eyes sparkled with surprise and something brighter. Curiosity. "Pottery? At my age? Choso, you spoil me."
He stood and walked over. His tall frame cast a protective shadow. "You're never too old to try new things. I want you to explore. Not just as my mother. As you."
She wiped her hands on her apron. A small smile tugged at her lips. That smile always warmed him. It reminded him of quieter days before curses and battles claimed so much of his world.
Weeks later they boarded a plane for their first trip together. Choso had planned it carefully. A small coastal town in Italy where the sea met ancient stone streets. His mother had always spoken of wanting to see the ocean in different lights. He made it happen.
They walked along the cobblestone paths. Her arm linked through his. Choso matched his steps to hers. Slow and steady. He carried her bag without complaint. The sun warmed their skin. Vendors called out in melodic Italian. She stopped at a small market stall filled with handmade scarves.
"Look at this one," she said. Her fingers traced the soft blue fabric. "It reminds me of the sky back home after a rain."
Choso bought it immediately. He draped it around her shoulders. "It suits you. You always loved colors that felt alive."
They spent days like that. Exploring museums where she lingered before paintings of mothers and children. Not with nostalgia for her role. But with fresh eyes. She pointed out brushstrokes. Whispered about the artists' lives. Choso listened. He asked questions. He saw her not as the woman who raised him. But as an individual full of wonder.
Evenings found them on a terrace overlooking the water. They shared simple meals. Pasta and wine for her. He stuck to tea. She laughed more freely here. Her inner child peeked out. The one buried under years of responsibility.
"Remember when you were little?" she said one night. Her voice soft against the waves. "You used to draw pictures for me. Always with so many colors."
"I remember," he replied. His hand covered hers. "But now I want to see what colors you choose for yourself."
Back home the pottery class became a ritual. Choso drove her every week. He sat in the corner of the studio. Watching her hands shape wet clay. She was clumsy at first. Laughing when the bowl collapsed. But she kept trying. Determination lit her features.
"You don't have to stay every time," she told him once. Clay streaked her cheek.
"I want to," he answered simply. "This is your time. I just like being part of it."
After class they often stopped at a nearby museum. Small local exhibits. Photographs. Sculptures. She moved through the rooms with renewed energy. Choso walked beside her. Pointing out details she might have missed. She did the same for him. Their conversations flowed easily. About art. About life. About the beauty in simply being.
He noticed how her posture changed. Straighter. Lighter. As if the weight of motherhood had eased. Not gone. But shared. He wanted her to feel free. To rediscover the girl she had been before everything.
One afternoon she shaped a small vase. Imperfect but full of heart. She gifted it to him later that evening.
"For all the trips you plan," she said. Her eyes misty. "So you remember I was here. Really here."
Choso held it carefully. His large hands gentle around the fragile clay. "I always will."
The trips continued over the years. France for lavender fields. Japan for quiet temples where she found peace. Each journey another thread in their growing bond. Choso documented everything. An old Polaroid camera became his constant companion. He captured her laughing in a sunflower meadow. Her focused expression in a cooking class. The way she danced awkwardly but joyfully during a street festival.
"You don't need to take so many," she teased. Wind tousling her hair on a beach in Greece.
"I do," he said. Snapping another. "These are for later. When I need to remember how bright you shine."
She found her inner child on those adventures. Running her fingers through tide pools. Trying new foods with wide eyes. Arguing playfully with him over the best gelato flavor. Choso cherished every moment. He saw her as complete. Not defined by her role as mother. But as a soul who deserved joy. Exploration. Freedom.
Illness came eventually. Slow at first. Then undeniable. Choso stayed close. Adjusting plans to shorter outings. Home-based classes. Quiet museum visits nearby. His devotion never wavered. He cooked her favorite meals. Read to her when her strength faded. Held her hand through doctor's visits.
"I wish we had more time," she whispered one evening. The vase she made still sat on his shelf.
"We made the most of it," he replied. His voice steady despite the ache. "You got to be you again. That's what matters."
After she passed Choso sat alone in their living room. The house felt larger. Emptier. Yet filled with her presence. He spread the Polaroids across the table. Dozens of them. Her smile in Italy. Her focused hands on clay. Laughing under foreign skies.
Tears slipped down his cheeks. He didn't wipe them away. The grief hit hard. But gratitude wove through it. He had been there. Truly there. Appreciating her individuality. Her dreams. Her quiet strength. He had given her space to be free. To find that inner child before the end.
Choso picked up one photo. Her standing by the sea. Scarf fluttering. Eyes full of life. "Thank you," he murmured. "For letting me see you. All of you."
He kept the vase she made nearby. Filled with fresh flowers every week. A reminder of their shared journey. Of love that went beyond blood. Beyond roles. A devotion rooted in seeing someone fully.
In the quiet moments he still planned imaginary trips. Places she would have loved. He carried her with him. In his heart. In those captured memories. Choso Kamo had been the son who cared deeply. Who understood. Who made sure his mother knew she was more than mom. She was everything. And he was forever thankful.
you and choso have been friends since the start of your second year at college, with him being an art major and you being one of his only friends it's no surprise that over time you began to take up half his sketchbook.
he's always insisting you have a face made to be put on a canvas. you don't quite see it nor have a good understanding of what exactly that means, but it makes you feel good.
sitting on the art studio's uncomfortable chairs isn't so bad when he finally reveals the finished product. the way he draws you—it's like he's drawing your soul too. you've never felt prettier than when you see yourself through his eyes.
"well, can i see?" you ask, noticing he finally put down his sketchbook.
"it's not finished yet, i have to go over some of the shading—but you can take a look while i clean up a little." he picks it up between two fingers and stretches so you can reach it without any difficulty.
before standing he speaks again, "i know you've got a busy couple days coming up so i'll do my best to paint it without you here." in truth he would do just fine without you here. he has the sketch, has the colors he'll use planned out in his head—hell, he could draw you from memory at this point. but you don't know that.
you furrow your brows, "you sure?"
"positive."
"kay, just let me admire it for a sec and i'll go."
the second your eyes hit the page you start smiling, its beautiful. it always is. you don't have words for him, you haven't for a long time. there's nothing you can say that he hasn't already heard.
while choso's busy cleaning you decide to look through the rest of his sketchbook, flicking to the very first page. at the top right-hand corner of the page he has the date marked in red pen—which is nothing out of the ordinary for him, but you take note that it begins just a few weeks into his first year.
you turn the pages and smile, noticing how his current art-style seeps into his older drawings, but the next page is something you didn’t expect, something that makes your heart drop.
it sinks lower and lower every time you carefully slide the pages between your fingers. its you—they’re all you. they date back to a time you hadn’t even heard of his existence.
you sitting on a bench, you with your friends who’s faces haven’t been drawn, you reading a book, you listening to music, you—
a/n :: i deadass might make a little part 2 for geto hehe. art by @to00fu and dividers by @uzmacchiato and @angeliicide
Satoru wasn't your typical nerd.
He didn't care about math or history, and he definitely didn't care about the syllabus for a single class that didn't involve a keyboard, a computer, or a snare drum. The guy barely scraped by in anything that wasn't music theory or coding, not because he wasn't smart — he was, annoyingly so — but because he refused to put in effort for anything that didn't already have his attention. His attention, once caught, was a spotlight. If it hadn't caught you yet, you didn't exist.
He spent his free time exactly three ways: behind his drum kit in Suguru's garage, buried in a Digimon rewatch he'd already seen four times, or three hours deep into a raid with a headset clamped over messy white hair, screaming at Nanami through the mic to actually heal him this time. His dorm room looked like a Best Buy had a baby with a comic shop — string lights, a wall of figures still in their boxes because "they lose value if you open them," and a corkboard covered in setlists for a band that had, generously, played six shows.
Satoru always knew that if he fell for someone, it would be a nerd. He just never pictured it looking like you.
You met him because of a spilled iced coffee and absolutely nothing more romantic than that.
It was the first week of the semester, campus still humid and overcrowded, and you'd been power-walking across the quad with a garment bag over one shoulder and a stack of sketchbooks under the other arm when a very tall, very loud boy backed directly into you without looking. Your coffee went down his band tee — some faded shirt with a logo you didn't recognize, letters half peeled off — and his drumsticks clattered onto the pavement.
"Oh my god," you'd said, mortified, already fishing napkins out of your bag like you kept a small pharmacy in there. Which, to be fair, you kind of did.
"Don't apologize," he said, grinning down at the stain like it was the best thing that happened to him all week. "This shirt was already ugly. You just gave it character."
You blinked at him. He was obnoxiously tall, silver hair falling messily over startling blue eyes, and there was a confidence radiating off him that didn't match the drumsticks or the Digimon keychain clipped to his backpack. He didn't carry himself like the guys you'd catalogued back home — the shy ones who blushed and stammered over a group project. He looked at you like he already knew the ending of this conversation and thought it was funny.
"I'm Satoru," he said, sticking out a hand like this was a business meeting and not a crime scene of oat milk. "Drummer. Certified genius. Currently drowning in caffeine that isn't mine."
"That's on you for walking backwards."
"I was doing a bit for my friend." He jerked his thumb toward a guy with a long black ponytail standing several feet away, watching the whole thing with the weary patience of someone who had clearly done cleanup duty for Satoru before. "Suguru doesn't think I can walk and talk at the same time. I was proving him wrong."
"You were proving him right."
That got a laugh out of him — a real one, loud and delighted, like you'd said something far funnier than you meant to. "Okay. I like you." He said it so easily, like liking people was a decision he made in real time and didn't think twice about. "What's your major?"
"Fashion design."
"Perfect." He picked his drumsticks up off the ground, twirling one between his fingers with the kind of muscle memory that only came from years of doing it. "You can redesign this shirt. Character and all."
You should've walked away right then. You had a class in eleven minutes and a stained blouse of your own to deal with. Instead you found yourself saying, "I don't do charity work," and watching his grin widen like you'd thrown down a gauntlet instead of an insult.
"We'll see about that, coffee girl."
You didn't expect to see him again. Campus was big, your circles didn't overlap, and you'd mentally filed him under loud, cute, forgettable the second you sat down in your first lecture. Except campus, as it turned out, was smaller than you thought, and Satoru Gojo was apparently everywhere.
He was in your general ed elective, three seats over, doodling little digital monsters in the margins of notes he wasn't taking. He was at the campus coffee shop your roommate dragged you to, holding court at a corner table with three other guys — the ponytail one, a stoic blond who looked like he paid taxes for fun, and someone with tattoos creeping up his forearms who kept flicking Satoru in the back of the head every time he got too loud. He was at the party your friend Utahime insisted you go to, standing on top of someone's coffee table doing an impression of a professor that had half the room in tears.
And every single time, he found you first.
"Coffee girl." He'd taken to calling you that instead of your actual name, which you found insufferable and, somewhere you weren't proud of, kind of charming. "Fate keeps throwing us together. I think the universe wants me to fix my fashion sense."
"The universe wants you to stop backing into people."
"Same thing, honestly."
It became a rhythm you didn't ask for and didn't stop, either — him dropping into the seat beside you before lecture with some ridiculous opener, you rolling your eyes and answering anyway. He asked about your sketches once, actually asked, leaning over your shoulder close enough that you could smell his cologne — something warm, a little spiced, nothing like the Axe body spray you'd assumed a guy like him wore.
"You drew that?" He was looking at a half-finished dress design, all sharp lines and asymmetric draping, like it was something out of a museum instead of the back page of your notebook.
"It's not done."
"It's sick. You're actually insane for this." He said it with none of the performative flirting from before — just plain, unguarded awe, like he'd forgotten to be cocky about it. "I can't draw a stick figure that doesn't look like it's having a medical emergency."
"I find that hard to believe. Aren't you obsessed with Digimon? Don't you have to draw those?"
"I collect them. Different skill set." He tapped the page. "This is actual art. What I do is scream into a headset until Nanami mutes me."
You found out, slowly and against your will, that he wasn't just loud confidence stacked on top of nothing. He knew music theory cold, could break down a chord progression on the spot, had strong and extremely specific opinions about which Digimon partner was objectively the best (Angemon, he'd argue this until sunrise) and an even stronger opinion about video game soundtracks being "criminally underrated as an art form, coffee girl, I will die on this hill." He talked with his whole body, hands flying, volume climbing, and then every so often — rare, unexpected — he'd get quiet. Almost shy. Usually right after he said something too honest.
Like the day he asked if you wanted to come watch his band practice.
"It's just Suguru's garage. It's not glamorous." He rubbed the back of his neck, and for a second the cockiness dropped clean off his face, replaced by something more nervous, more real. "You don't have to. I just — thought you might want to hear it. Since you've never actually heard us play anything."
You said yes before you'd fully decided to.
The garage smelled like reverb and stale energy drinks. Suguru — Suguru Geto, you learned, the guy with the ponytail — was tuning a guitar with the focus of a surgeon, occasionally throwing dry commentary at Satoru that made the whole room laugh. Shoko sat cross-legged on an amp, painting her nails an unbothered black, bass propped against her knee like an afterthought even though she was clearly the best musician in the room. Nanami — tax-paying-energy Nanami — adjusted his keyboard stand with military precision and gave you a polite nod that felt like the most normal interaction you'd had all week. And Sukuna, tattooed and terrifying in a way that made you instinctively step half a foot closer to Satoru, sat behind a second guitar looking like he was personally offended by the concept of being in a band.
"This is coffee girl," Satoru announced, flopping down behind his kit like he owned the room, which, in fairness, he kind of did. "She's here to witness greatness."
"She's here because you wouldn't shut up about her," Suguru said, not looking up from his guitar. "For two weeks."
"Slander."
"Documented slander," Shoko added without looking up from her nails. "He has a note in his phone."
Satoru's ears went pink. It was the single most satisfying thing you'd seen all semester.
"Play the song, Satoru," Sukuna said flatly, "before I lose the will to be here."
They played. And you understood, watching him, why he never took his classes seriously — because this, clearly, was where all of it went. He wasn't just loud behind the kit, he was precise, locked in with Shoko's bass in a way that looked like something they'd built over years, sticks a blur, head bobbing, completely unselfconscious in a way you hadn't seen from him anywhere else. There was no performance in it. No bit. Just him, fully present, grinning like an idiot between songs when he caught you watching.
After, while the others packed up, he sat down next to you on the busted garage couch, sweat-damp and buzzing with adrenaline, close enough that his knee brushed yours.
"So?" He tried for casual. Missed by a mile. "Verdict?"
"You're actually good."
"Actually good, or good-good?"
"Don't push it."
He laughed, and something in his face softened, the cocky mask slipping sideways just enough that you caught the boy underneath it — the one who kept a note in his phone, who got shy about the things he cared about most, who'd apparently been talking about you for two weeks before he worked up the nerve to invite you here.
"Hey," he said, quieter now, no audience left to perform for. "I know I'm — a lot. Loud. Whatever. I don't really do subtle."
"I noticed."
"I'm serious about this, though." He gestured vaguely between the two of you, and for once he wasn't smirking. "I don't want this to be a bit."
You should've had a witty comeback ready. You always did, with him — it was half the fun, the back-and-forth, the way he pushed and you pushed back just as hard. But something about the way he said it, stripped of all his usual bravado, made the words catch in your throat instead.
"It's not a bit," you said instead, quiet. "For me either."
The grin that broke across his face then was different from all the others — not performing, not for the room, not for a bit. Just for you.
"Good," he said. "Because I already told the guys you're my girlfriend. Retroactively. As of two weeks ago."
"Satoru."
"What? I was manifesting."
You shoved his shoulder, and he caught your wrist on the way, lacing his fingers through yours like it was the easiest thing in the world, like he'd been planning exactly this move since the coffee spilled down his shirt. Across the garage, Suguru caught the two of you and rolled his eyes so hard you were fairly sure it hurt.
"Finally," he muttered.
Nobody in that garage was surprised. Apparently you were the last one to figure it out — that the loudest, cockiest, most insufferable nerd on campus had quietly, embarrassingly, been falling for you since the first day you soaked his shirt in oat milk latte and told him he deserved it.
You figured it was fair. He'd been sneaking his way into your life for weeks without asking permission for that either.