synopsis: satoru finds out you have a huge crush on suguru and is delightful because duh, it’s embarrassing! but whilst he teases you about it relentlessly, he doesn’t expect to develop a crush of his own.
miyan’s notes: yearning satoru? hell yea
gojo notices immediately. how could he not? you’re not exactly subtle about it either— you light up the second suguru enters the room, like the world has finally started spinning properly again. it’s embarrassingly obvious, the way your eyes search for him first, the way your voice softens when you speak to him, the way you always, always find an excuse to be near suguru. he thinks it’s the funniest thing in the world, watching you get all flustered whenever suguru so much as looks in your direction.
and it’s cute, really. painfully obvious, but cute.
so, naturally, gojo teases you. mercilessly.
“aww, look at you, trying so hard for my best friend! so cute. tragic, but cute.”
your reaction never disappoints—flushed cheeks, flustered stammering, a scowl that doesn’t quite reach your eyes because no matter how annoying gojo is, you’d never actually fight him. well, you would if you thought you stood a chance, but you don’t, so all you can do is glare and hope he gets hit by a stray curse.
but, of course, he doesn’t. he never does. if you try to sit next to suguru at lunch, gojo somehow beats you to it, throwing an arm around him like he’s marking his territory, all smug grins and winks as he says, “better luck next time.” if you bring suguru snacks, gojo snatches one before suguru can even react, popping it into his mouth and humming dramatically. “mmm, delicious. wow, you’re so thoughtful! i’m touched.”
if you’re staring at suguru a little too dreamily, gojo suddenly waves a hand in front of your face. “hellooo? earth to lovesick dummy? you’re drooling.”
you think he’s the most annoying person alive.
but what you don’t notice—what gojo himself doesn’t even realize at first—is that at some point, it stops being a joke.
it sneaks up on him, this stupid crush.
at first, he’s just having fun messing with you. watching you turn red and stammer whenever suguru so much as acknowledges your existence is peak entertainment. but then he starts noticing things he shouldn’t.
the smell of your shampoo mixed with a bit of sweet perfume. your habit of rolling your bottom lip between your index finger and thumb when you’re deep in thought. the lip balm that you always use and mindlessly offer to shoko before putting it back into your pocket. how pretty you look without the uniform’s jacket and your hair down.
how you push yourself during training, even when you’re exhausted, even when you’re falling behind. how you always make sure everyone else is okay before you worry about yourself. how your eyes sparkle when you talk about something you love, how your nose scrunches up when you’re frustrated, how you don’t treat him like the strongest, but just another annoying upperclassman.
and suddenly, teasing you doesn’t feel as fun anymore. because he’s the one getting all warm inside.
so gojo does what gojo does best—he competes.
if you compliment suguru’s hair, gojo immediately smooths a hand over his own, tilting his head toward you with a smirk. “what about me? mine’s fluffier.” if you call suguru cool, gojo immediately pulls off some ridiculous stunt—flipping midair during training, casting an overly flashy cursed technique, or just dramatically sighing and saying, “well, I’m the strongest.” even if the situation doesn’t call for it. it never does.
suguru, long-suffering and tired, just pats your head. “ignore him.” too used to his best friend’s antics to pay attention to the way you stare up at him, starry eyed.
but gojo doesn’t stop. he starts pulling you away from suguru whenever he can, coming up with increasingly ridiculous reasons.
“nah, nah, i’ll train them today, suguru! you go take a nap or something. gotta make sure my favorite junior learns from the best.”
“come sit next to me for lunch, i have important second-year wisdom to share.”
“why would you need suguru when you have me? i’m taller.”
at first, you think he’s just being his usual obnoxious self, but then you start noticing things, although, subconsciously pushing them into the back of your mind in favour of thinking about suguru.
he always steps in when you’re struggling, offering help before you can even ask. he covers for you when yaga scolds you for slacking off. he drags you along on snack runs with him, calling it “first-year bonding time”, but he always pays for your food without a second thought. sometimes, when you train together, he goes easier on you than he should—not enough for you to notice, but enough for him to know.
and sometimes, when you’re too focused on suguru, gojo gets quiet.
when you rush to suguru’s side after a rough mission, eyes full of concern, gojo stands a few steps away, hands shoved deep into his pockets, his usual grin plastered on his face like he doesn’t have a care in the world. but his fingers twitch slightly, and his usual quips die in his throat. when you talk about suguru with that dreamy little look on your face, he just leans back, watching you with unreadable eyes, his head tilting just slightly—like he’s memorizing the way you look when you talk about someone else.
gojo isn’t used to liking people like this—he’s used to attention, to people naturally gravitating toward him. he’s the strongest, after all. he doesn’t have to try.
but you? you don’t look at him the way you look at suguru.
and as much as he wants to be the one who makes you flustered, the one you look at with admiration, the one you chase after—he can’t bring himself to take that away from suguru. suguru is his best friend and even though he is pretty certain that suguru isn’t interested in you like that, he doesn’t get out of the boundaries of his usual behaviour.
so instead, he just hovers. grins too wide, ruffles your hair a little too often, and calls you “his favorite kohai” like it’s a joke, like it doesn’t mean anything.
and maybe, just maybe, he hopes that one day you’ll stop looking at suguru and look at him instead.
