[cinnamonssatoru]

— satoru x reader ♡

When your static-muddled voice hit Satoru's ears, the overbearing weight of the day seemed to disappear.

"Miss you, Toru," you muttered into the phone, words slurred and sleepy. "Where are you?"

"I miss you, baby. I'm near the coast. It's pretty here. You'd like it."

You hummed in response, the sound settling more of Satoru's nerves. One might think that sitting on the beach with the sun departing in orange and pink hues would be the thing to calm him, but nothing was ever as good as you—even when you were half asleep and barely coherent.

"Home soon?" you stumbled out. He heard the rustle of your sheets and felt himself physically ache to be next to you.

"Home really soon. There were a few more curses than were reported, but it's nothing I can't handle."

You made a grunting sound that made him crack another smile. "Need't be careful. I could—" a yawn interrupted your lecture "—come help you. I'd be good."

"You'd be the best," Satoru agreed, voice impossibly warm in a way few got to hear. "But I got it. Promise, baby."

"Miss you."

"You said that already."

"Come home then. Lonely here."

That did him in. Satoru had planned on taking it easy for the night and finishing the job in the morning, but he couldn't have you lonely. And, honestly, he had changed his mind about that plan as soon as he heard your voice. You always did that to him, making him feel homesick when he'd only been gone a couple of days.

"How about this—" Satoru began, rising from his seat on the sand and repositioning his blindfold. "You go to sleep, and I'll be there when you wake up, okay? We can sleep in and get brunch and I'll watch you get your hair done after. My treat."

Sounding more awake than before (but still very much asleep), you posed, "Will you wake me up as soon as you get home?"

"It might be really late, baby."

"I love waking up in the middle of the night to see you."

Satoru hid his smile from no one, a blush tinting his sun-kissed cheeks. "Alright, I'll wake you."

[cinnamonssatoru]

— satoru x reader ♡

Satoru Gojo doesn't know how to love in halves. He thought he did—thought he could love you sometimes. When he needed to. When it was private or safe or secretive. You came into his life and he knew that you were something to protect. To covet.

But falling (and continuing to fall) had never been the plan. He was supposed to love you from far away. He was supposed to admire you and let the infatuation pass. You were supposed to stay out of reach, an effervescent image that he could only grasp in the misty array of his fleeting thoughts. But then you materialized, driven by quick passes of your fingers along his shoulder and bumping arms in the hall.

Satoru realized you were getting close around the same time he had decided it wasn't a good idea. But that didn't matter. Nothing really mattered other than the way you pulled him into your arms each time he came back from a mission.

He was fine. He was always fine as the strongest, and no one but you seemed to want to check on that. The first time you ensured that the blood on his collar wasn't his, he knew that loving you in halves, in secret, was never going to work.

"'S not even my blood," he had said, laughing off the tension that had blanketed the school courtyard.

"I still wanted to make sure," you had worried, folding his collar back and biting your lip in the way he soon would himself—in a few months. In a few more passes of your concerned eyes over his impenetrable body.

No one ever checked on him like this, worried for him like this. Got angry for him when he was sent away on back-to-back cases with little sleep. He looks at you, and something in him feels protected in such an intrinsic way, he wants to hide from it.

Satoru doesn't know how to love in halves, so he stays away. Tries not to get close. But the pull to you, to loving you, doesn't allow that.

[cinnamonssatoru]

— satoru x reader ♡

"Do you think we would ever have a baby?" you mumbled, words pressed against the material of Satoru's thick sweatshirt.

The hand on your head paused its motion through your hair. "Do you want a baby?" Satoru carefully asked.

You hummed, the throes of sleep tugging on each of your senses. Satoru had plucked you from your office downstairs only minutes ago, the all-nighter you had pulled making you delirious and hardly effective in your work.

"Maybe," you relented. "I think if it looked like you."

"I think my baby's a little tired," he teased, moving his hand down to rub circles in your back.

"Not any more than you. You never sleep."

Lips met your hairline, pressing several kisses across your skin. His actions worked in tandem to lull you to sleep, a tactic that always worked—one he had honed over the many years of your relationship.

"Deflecting," you accused.

Satoru breathed a barely-there laugh close to your skin. "I don't hear you complaining."

He kept going, interwining his legs with yours on the bed. His hands shifted from your back, along the skin of your arms, to your head, a clock somewhere in the room making your eyes droop further.

When the pull of sleep became too difficult to resist, you gave in to the darkness and the weight it brought, retaining enough consciousness to feel lips on your cheek and the soft admission, "I'd give you anything."

[cinnamonssatoru]

— satoru x reader ♡

Satoru thinks you're so pretty. Unbelievably pretty. Like he can't even look at you in brief glances because he gets caught up, kind of pretty. He gets distracted every time you open your mouth to speak because then he's looking in your direction and he can't just look away.

"You're staring again."

"Huh? What? No, I'm not staring at anything," he would refute, scoffing in Suguru's direction even though he was definitely staring.

It's just—your hair always looks so pretty when you sit by the window, and you always laugh the most when he's acting like an idiot and, god, he can't get over that lip gloss you've been wearing recently. He thought about getting you another one at the convenience store when he was off on a mission, but he didn't want to be weird. Well, he did want to be weird enough to make you laugh again, but not weird in the way where you looked around uncomfortably and gave him a forced smile.

You'd done that before—to that guy at the hot pot place that wouldn't leave you alone. Satoru had thrown him about a dozen dirty looks, but he honestly couldn't blame the guy. You were so pretty, and he knew everyone else could see it.

"You should tell her," Suguru prompted, casually flipping his phone open and scrolling through the pre-saved songs taking up his limited storage. "Never know how long you have before..."

"Before what?" Satoru perked up, tearing his eyes from your pretty smile that wasn't directed at him, he would like to add.

"You know."

Satoru's eyes got wide from behind his glasses, and then he was glaring at Nanami—the one you were smiling at.

But silly Satoru. He didn't exactly have to worry. Because you thought he was just as pretty. Obviously.

[cinnamonssatoru]

— satoru x reader ♡

"What do you think about this one?"

"Very pretty, baby."

"Ugh, Toru, you said that about the last three."

"s'not my fault you're so pretty," Satoru stated as if it were fact, crossing his ankle over his knee as he leaned back in the awkwardly shaped bench. High-end stores had a terrible habit of procuring the worst seating.

"This is important," you stressed. "And expensive if I get the wrong one."

"I'd just buy you another one."

"Satoru."

"Okay, okay," he relented, kicking up from the terrible bench and capturing your face in his big hands. "Why're you so stressed about this, huh?"

"That's such a stupid question. I'm meeting your family. What if they hate me?"

Satoru cocked his head to the side, the ghost of a smile lingering on his face. He released your face in favor of your hand, bringing it up to his lips to kiss the ring glittering there.

"I already put a ring on it. What can they do?" he almost taunted. "This is more of a formality, sweetheart. An excuse to show you off and get them to stop calling."

"I should have met them sooner," you huffed, face flushed and defeated.

This was the Gojo Clan. And you were just... well, you.

"Nah," Satoru brushed off, taking your cheeks in his palms once more. He touched his forehead to yours. "I wanted to keep you to myself for as long as possible. You're mine."

And then, just when the air felt a bit too heavy, Satoru peppered your face in dozens of kisses, only drawing you forward the more you squirmed away.

"Toru, this is a store. Stop it. Stop it!" you laughed.

"Um, are you two finding anything to your liking?" you heard over your shoulder, the meek salesgirl definitely uncomfortable as Satoru didn't even acknowledge her.

His eyes were still glued to you as he replied, "Oh, definitely."

[cinnamonssatoru]

— satoru x reader ♡

Satoru'd been wearing that same chain around his neck for the past 10 years. It was usually almost impossible to see, but the students had caught glimpses of it from time to time. In the middle of exorcising a curse, on a particularly hot day, when he was wearing that ridiculous shirt Yuji had made for him—but they could always see it most when Satoru was sitting alone. Quiet. He would reach up towards his neck and fiddle with the chain until it fell from the neckline, the pendant never visible due to his fingers rubbing it incessantly.

His face would always relax when he did it, the same way it seemed to relax whenever the admin girl from across the school's campus swung by. There were rumors about you, that you were in school with Satoru and were one step away from being a special grade sorcerer before the accident. None of the students ever had the courage to ask you directly, and they were always too distracted by the baked goods you loved to offer them to remember their train of thought. Satoru would smile when you came in; his shoulders would soften and his hand would find a home at your lower back that no one could see.

Megumi could see. Megumi knew all about you, though. He knew about you before and after the accident, and he knew what you meant to Satoru. He would never tell the others that many of the treats they so eagerly scarfed down, he had actually helped to make. And he would never tell them that he knew exactly what had happened to you. That was something he would keep forever.

On a random Tuesday, Nobara asked about the chain.

Satoru paused his fingers over the pendant—stilled for a moment before an easy smile crossed his face. "What, this old thing?"

"Yeah, sensei," Yuji spoke up. "You're wearing it all the time. You always mess with it when you're deep in thought."

"Do I really?" Satoru posed, bringing a hand up to his jaw. The chain was already tucked back into his collar. "I can't remember doing that."

"What? You do it all the time! Doesn't he, Fushiguro?"

Megumi only tsked. "Shut up, idiot."

Satoru's smile turned knowing. Megumi only rolled his eyes.

[cinnamonssatoru]

— satoru x reader (angst) ♡

“It’s killing you.”

“No, it isn’t.” 

Satoru let out an indignant huff and yanked you back by your shoulder, forcing your chin up when you faced him. “It is. You think I can’t see it?” 

It was a futile argument to debate what he could see. Satoru could see everything, and it was just a matter of time before your technique caught up to you. You just hadn’t expected him to care so soon. 

“I have it under control. I’m managing it,” you assured, eyes hard as you stared up at his uncovered gaze. 

Satoru only laughed—a sardonic sound accompanying his tightened grip on your chin. “Managing it? Is that what you call this?” 

You tore yourself away from him, taking a large step back once you were free from his touch. From the other side of the entryway, Satoru’s chest rose and fell with effort. His skin was flushed with frustration and his fists were curled up at his sides, the hand that had held you now wracked with a tremor. 

“I don’t remember asking for your opinion on how I use my technique,” you finally spat out. Your anger was unprecedented, uncalled for. It still fueled your every word. 

“My—my opinion?” Satoru practically shouted. “You don’t think I’d want to know if something was hurting you? Killing you? That my—” 

“Your what?” A pause. Satoru opened and closed his mouth, several emotions flickering across his face. “Right, exactly. You can’t even put a title on this and you expect me to tell you about the intricacies of my life?” 

Something crumbled in him. Satoru’s shoulders dropped, and his fingers released their tight hold. He was supposed to come inside, but instead, he took a step away from your door. “It’s killing you,” he croaked. “I can’t watch you do this to yourself. Stop using it.” 

Didn’t he know you were doing this for him? Didn’t he know that because he was the strongest, you couldn’t be any weaker than you already were? 

“I can’t,” you replied, and Satoru went to reach for you. But you’d already left. 

[cinnamonssatoru]

— satoru x reader ♡

Right, wellll, Satoru might be one of the loudest, most obnoxious people on earth (according to some people), but imagine the surprise in the room when his wife walks in (no one has even met his wife, also) and he's lowering his voice?? His smile gets all soft and genuine, kicking up from his desk with a slow ease once thought impossible from the man, and no one can hear what he's saying as he kisses your cheek and mumbles something against your skin. You're flushed like crazy, embarrassed by all the sudden attention, but Satoru doesn't even notice. He's used to having attention on him, yes, but the moment you enter his field of vision, he's gone. All pretenses and vibrant speeches are thrown out the window in favor of the quiet conversations he loves to savor in the air between you.

Satoru knew you were quiet when he married you. He knew you were more shy than he was, more reserved. He loved it. It made him feel like everything was private. Like everything he shared with you would stay with you. He was never exhausted around you, never afraid that more eyes, more people, more responsibilities would be hammering him down. You whispered that you loved him, and the soft sound kept him afloat for hours. For days, when the missions were long. Private smiles, small gestures, low voices—God, he would never get tired of the peace you brought him.

"That's his... wife?" Yuji subtly asked, mouth covered with his hand as he leaned toward Megumi.

The other boy only rolled his eyes, hiding his blush as you caught his gaze and offered him a small wave. "Duh, genius."

[cinnamonssatoru]

— satoru x reader ♡

Satoru would be obsessed with taking care of you. Literally obsessed with it. Because it doesn't mean what it means in every other corner of his life. Taking care of you is soft and domestic and he gets to come home after being all rough and tumble and press kisses to your face and brush your hair back with calloused fingers (he could RCT the callouses away, over time, but you said you like the way they feel). Satoru loves that he wakes up next to you and gets to tuck you further into bed before he leaves, and you better believe that he loves that you try to reach out for him even while you're sleeping. It means he's doing something right. It means that, finally, something he has control over is at peace.

He's still the strongest when he's with you. He'd burn down the world if you needed him to. But, most of the time, you don't need him to. You just need his soft touches in the kitchen and his hands hoisting you up to reach the top shelf that he could have just reached himself. You ask for his voice when he's away for longer periods and latch onto the pictures he sends throughout the day—of him, of the kids, of the small, random animals in whatever town he's in. Satoru loves taking care of you because it means he's allowed to be soft. And that, in being soft, someone still chose him.