soulmate first words au where Simon grew up with the words âoh my god, please, donât.â plastered across his arm in dark black ink. since the moment he could read, heâd been terrified of what that meant. heâd heard those words from him mother enough times when his dad came home drunk and swinging fists towards anything that moved, heâd heard them in back alleys while undercover, some poor woman being groped by a man twice her size, and heâd even heard it once or twice from the poor fucker heâd put a bullet in after interrogations gone wrong. Every time he flinches, wondering if that was his one shot at something good heâd just killed in cold blood. Fitting, for a bastard like him, or so he told himself.
It wasnât until a night off with the team in some sweaty, sticky bar that he runs into you. As much as he tries to ignore the girl on a shitty date who keeps pushing the manâs hands off her ass and fake laughing at his boring jokes, it grates at him for reasons he can quite grasp. Later, heâll catch the tail end of a screaming match outside the bar. One that has your date storming off, and you sinking onto the grimy concrete in your nicest outfit. Heâll watch from the shadows, flicking the ash off a cigarette before finally saying, âWant me to kill him for ya?â and when your eyes shoot up to the stranger in disbelief he tacks on, âfree of charge.â
He almost canât make it out through your laughter, wet with lingering tears. âoh my god, please, donât.â you chuckle, âi wouldnât last a day in prison.â between the burning on his arm, exactly where those dreaded words are, and the way the air feels like itâs been punched straight from his lungs, simon canât muster up a reply fast enough.
You, on the other hand, have a smile slowly forming as you rub your own burning mark. âDo you know how worried my parents were when they saw what this said? They put me in preemptive therapy and everything. Thought Iâd end up in a gang or something.â The man reaches a hand out, offering to help you stand. âYouâre not are you? In a gang I mean?â
Another puff of smoke leaves his lips in what you think might have been the beginning of a laugh. âNo, military. Close enough, though.â
Dusting yourself off, you sneak a closer look at the shadowed stranger. your soulmate, a voice inside flutters with childish glee. âWell damn, there go all my mob wife aspirations.â
He sighs, and steps closer to you, just within the light of a flickering street lamp. Now, you can make out his features. Scars cover every inch of exposed skin, twisting and mangling what might have once been a fair face. Under your gaze, he waits cautiously, âSorry to disappoint.â A double meaning you catch immediately.
You motion back to the bar the both of you had been in earlier, then close your fingers around his with a tug, âMake it up to me, then?â
Kiss Me Like You're Innocent á„«áĄ. Gojo Satoru x Reader
Inspired by MindFuck book series by S.T Abby
Click here for synopsis
Chapter 01
pairings - Serial Killer!Gojo x Investigator!reader
WC- 6.6k
⥠âËâ§ WARNINGS :: Graphic depictions of violence:: No use of Y/N :: Murder/serial killings:: Blood/gore :: Psychological manipulation:: Obsession/stalking:: Trauma/PTSD :: Dark Satoru :: SMUTT -> (more tags coming soon) :: ANGST!! ::Gaslighting:: Slow burn:: Grief and Loss:: NSFW:: (probably more to come!)
đŁČâïœĄË NOTES: Hi everyone! Thank you for all the support on the preview, I am so excited to continue this fic! A few disclaimers, this is my first time writing anything crime/law related. I tried my best to make it as realistic as I could but please don't judge me for any weird wording.. I tried my best. This chapter is mostly building for the ones to come, but you do meet Satoru! I hope you enjoy! (Semi-proofread)
đ§àŸàœČâȘâ.âźMUSIC RECS:
- Super adaptable this chapter. The Weeknd, Drake, anything chill really.
Chapter 01: The Assignment
The first thing you learn working in a district investigative office is that most of your job has nothing to do with investigating. It has to do with paper. Paper and coffee.
Stacks of paper. Misfiled paper, paper someone swears they handed in yesterday but definitely didnât. Paper you have to scan, copy, redact, staple, label, and then scan again because someone decided the original attempt âlooked weird.â
And coffee. Always coffee. A glorified barista is what you were, really.
You were currently balancing both. A cardboard tray with four cups dug into your palm as you nudged the office door open with your shoulder, the hum of fluorescent lights and overlapping conversations greeting you like always. Phones rang relentlessly somewhere down the hall. Linda laughed too loudly near the break room, her deep cackle sending wavelengths of unpleasant noise through the office. A printer spat out sheets with the slow, miserable determination of a machine that should have resigned on life years ago.Â
Same as every morning.Â
âCoffee delivery," you announced as you stepped into the bullpen. Detective Alvarez didnât even look up from his computer. âYouâre a saint.â
âI know,â you said easily, sliding a cup onto his desk. âBut saints usually get paid more.â
âOkay then, youâre an assistant,â he replied flatly.Â
â...Administrative investigative coordinator,â you corrected. He snorted in response.Â
You continued your rounds, handing off caffeine to the detectives who actually worked on cases while you hovered somewhere in the bureaucratic purgatory underneath them. Not quite an intern, but not really an investigator either. Technically, you helped with interviews, document processing, evidence logsâ anything that kept cases moving. In reality, that meant coffee runs, photocopying, and filing reports until your eyes crossed. You liked to think that without you, a lot of cases wouldnât be as easily solvedâŠafter all, how is a sleep-deprived detective going to notice clues without caffeine right? But the truth was your position was more disposable than a plastic cup, a supplemental role made to reach the governmentâs requests to employ more fresh-out-of-college skilled workers.
Which was ridiculous. Not because you were above it, but you knew you were capable of more.Â
Youâd spent most of your life devouring crime books, court transcripts, documentariesâ anything you could get your hands on. Your very concerned mother had sent you to therapy after catching you looking up âGory murder imagesâ on a random illegal website when you were six years old. Your college professors had called you obsessive in that half amused, half exasperated way, astonished at the pace at which you were able to dig completely through a case, more than often completing additional case study assignments just because you genuinely had fun doing it. You just called it pure curiosity, but unfortunately curiosity didnât outrank seniority. Which meant you were still stuck doing administrative grunt work while the real cases were only three desks away.Â
You set down the last coffee cup and turned toward your own deskâ an overcramped corner station wedged right in between two filing cabinets. A tower of folders waited for you there, along with a cat shaped sticky note reminder to finish transcribing yesterdayâs witness interview.Â
Thrilling.Â
You sat down, cracked your knuckles, and lasted exactly twelve and a half seconds before your attention drifted across the workspace to the conference room. The door stood slightly ajar. Inside, several detectives hovered around a spread of files laid across the table. You recognized the red tabs immediatelyâ major case.Â
Your chair creaked as you leaned back slightly, trying to angle your view through the gap. If you squintedâ
âStop being weird.â
You straightened instantly. Alvarez still hadnât looked up from his screen, but his lips twitched up into a knowing smirk. âIâm not being weird.â you replied.Â
âYouâre staring like a raccoon trying to break into a trash can.â
âIâm observing,â you huffed.Â
âObserving what, exactly?â
âProfessional investigative activity.â
âThrough a door crack.â
You shrugged. âWhat can I say? Iâm adaptable.âÂ
He shook his head, but you noticed he didnât technically tell you to stop. So you didnât. Inside the conference room, someone flipped open a folder. Photos.Â
You couldnât see clearly, but the glossy edges and black evidence markers were unmistakable.Â
A homicide case.Â
Your pulse perked up immediately and you leaned back a little farther. Someone shifted then, blocking your view. Damn.Â
You slid your chair two inches to the left. If you justâ
âHey,â
You jerked upright. Standing a few feet away watching you was your boss. Great.
He never came out to talk to supposed âassistantsâ, so you were dead. Definitely dead. Your brain instantly began cycling through your recent list of pettycrimes. Okay. Possibilities:
One: The donut incident. Two days ago, a box of freshly glazed donuts had been ordered to the conference room for a meeting with the top journalists of the city. Naturally, you had been sent to pick them up. What wasnât part of your assignment, though, is getting stuck in traffic for over twenty minutes as an individual with a notoriously low level of personal control. So, you had taken a soft, fluffy, decadent donut. Technically before the journalists arrived, technically before getting proper permission. But in your defense, you had been hungry. Still, getting fired over a donut was going to be extremely annoying.Â
You stood slowly. âUh,â you said carefully, âmorning.â
Your boss jerked his head toward the hallway behind him. âMy office. Now.â Oh god. Yep. It was the donut. You shot alvarez a quick look as you walked past his desk. He mouthed âwhat did you do?â you mouthed back âdonut.â he looked deeply disappointed in you.Â
The walk down the hall felt ten times longer than usual. Your bossâs office door shut behind you with a soft click. He didnât even sit, which somehow made the situation more tense. He leaned against his desk instead, arms crossed, studying you with the kind of expression that made people confess to crimes they hadnât even committed yet. You resisted the urge to blurt out âI can replace the donut!â
Finally, he said, âYou know about the multi-homicide case down the hall?â Your brain stilled.Â
â...yes?â Everyone knew that case. It had been dominating the office for weeks, media headlines, internal pressure from city council, and crunching time all pressing the issue forward.Â
Three deaths. All initially ruled accidents, then reopened.Â
Because of course they werenât accidents.
Your boss exhaled slowly. âIeiri quit this morning.âÂ
That took a second to land. Shoko Ieiri, the lead investigator of the most brutal, grotesque cases that came to the firm. She had been your idol the second you\ had walked through the windy doors of the office as fresh meat. And she had quit?Â
âBurnout,â he continued. âThe pressure of the media circus got to her.â He took off his glasses, chubby fingers rubbing the bridge of his nose.Â
You blinked. Okay. Unfortunate. But notâ
âAnd youâre taking over.â
Your brain stalled again, this time harder. â...Iâm sorry,â you said slowly. âWhat?âÂ
He pushed a thick folder across the desk, your name was already clipped to the front. You stared at it like it was fresh alien shit.Â
âBudgetâs tight,â he said. Mediaâs circling. I would give this case to one of the more experienced investigators because of its sensitivity, but theyâre all tied up in other assignments at the moment.â
He paused.Â
âI know you. Youâre hungry, insatiable. I know you have a real passion for this and will get it done, or at least give it your best attempt. Youâre obsessive, youâve been hovering around this office like a bloodhound since you got here.âÂ
You opened your mouth. Closed it. ThatâŠwas not entirely inaccurate.
âAt least cover for the first one or two months,â he said, âafter, another veteran detective should have a spot opened up. List down every small thing you may notice, no matter how insignificant it may seem.âÂ
You couldnât form words. You were pretty sure you were about to start foaming at the mouth. Your boss sighed. âYou want a real case,â he said.Â
Your heart started pounding. Yes.Â
âYes,â you admitted. He nudged the folder closer. âThen here it is.âÂ
For a moment you didnât move. This was ridiculous, you had spent months hoping, wishing, praying for exactly this momentâ and now that it was actually happening your brain felt useless. Finally, you reached for the bright orange file. It was heavier than you expected. Inside were photographs, police statements, medical examiner reports. Three different glossy tabs dividing the victims.
You had never seen anything more beautiful in your life.Â
You flipped to the first case. A man in his late fifties stared back at you from a blurry photo, crime scene marker beside his body.Â
Name: Daniel Kessler
Occupation: Real estate developer
Cause of death: fall from construction site scaffolding.
But then your eyes drifted up, focusing in on the red written ink at the top of the report:Â
HOMICIDE.Â
You turned the page to the second victimÂ
Name: Commissioner Mark Donnelly
Occupation: Retired police officer
Cause of death: Vehicle malfunction leading to fatal crash.Â
Also reclassified as a homicide. Your pulse quickened and you hesitated before flipping to the third tab, already starting to take mental notes.Â
Name: Aaron Pike
Hm.. no flashy title. A warehouse supervisor. Dead from what had originally been labeled as a gas leak in his apartment. Also re-ruled a homicide.Â
Three men. Three very different lives. Two high-profile and important, one ordinary. No immediate connection. You flipped through the reports faster now. Different neighborhoods, timelines, different methods. Your boss watched you silently as you read.Â
Finally, you looked up. âThereâs absolutely no pattern.â
âCorrect.â
âLike.. nothing. No shared business, no obvious financial overlap, no familial connections.â
âCorrect.â
Your brain buzzed. âBut youâre saying they were all staged?â
âYes.â
âAccidents,â you murmured. He nodded once. You looked back down at the photos of Aaron. Pudgy, simple looking, and a little greasy. Someoneâs husband. Someoneâs father.Â
Then, your eyes went straight to the dates of the kills.Â
February 3rd
March 3rd
April 3rd
Your head shot back up toward your boss. âThe dates,â you deadpanned. âTheyâre.. Exactly a month apart.âÂ
He nodded again. âYes. For now, thatâs the only evidence that points us in the direction of one single killer acting multiple times. It is possible that they were coincidences and executed by three different individuals⊠but given the style of the murders it seems highly unlikely.â
Something itched at the back of your brain. These werenât a gruesome act of rage or sloppy violence. Whoever had done this had taken their time. Carefully, deliberately.Â
You swallowed.Â
Your first real case. A serial homicide. And absolutely no idea where to start. Your boss pushed a pen across the desk.Â
âWelcome to the deep end.â
â----------------
By the time you left the office, the bullpen was mostly empty.
Most of the detectives had left hours ago. A few desk lamps still glowed in eerily quiet corners, but the usual noise of ringing phones and muttered arguments had faded into a low hum of printers and the distant echo of a janitor vacuuming down the hall.Â
Your boss had said you could take the files home, but you werenât sure if that was a display of trust or just a test. Either way, you complied. The folder sat heavy against your side as you stepped out into the evening air, the bustling city already deep into its nightly rhythm. Headlights slid across wet pavement, distant sirens bounced in between buildings, the smell of street food and marijuana hung in the cold air.Â
You kept replaying the same thought over and over. You have a case. You have a case. You have a case. Not someone elseâs job that needs formatting or a report that needs to be organized. Yours.Â
Your apartment wasnât anything special. Third floor of a narrow brick building that had definitely been renovated sometime in the late 90s and then hadnât been touched since. The hallway lights buzzed faintly overhead as you climbed the stairs, keys already in your hand.Â
Inside, it looked exactly how you had left it that morning. A small but cozy couch shoved up against the wall, a desk buried under books and papers. A whiteboard leaned against the wall near the kitchen with half erased notes from a personal research rabbit hole youâd fallen down a few weeks ago about wrongful convictions. Normal crime junkie tendencies.Â
You dropped your bag onto the table and stood there for a second, staring at the folder like it might disappear if you blinked. Then you sat down and opened it again, refusing to take rest when there was so much unknown. The paper smelled faintly like printer ink and rusty filing cabinets. You pulled out the three victim files and spread them across the table. Daniel Kessler. Mark Donnelly. Aaron Pike. Three men who had never met each other, at least supposedly.Â
You picked up Kessler's file first, the real estate developer. His photo was the kind people used for professional networking sitesâ expensive suit, cocky yet polished smile, and perfectly combed hair that probably took thirty minutes to do every morning.
The crime scene photo underneath it told a very different story. Heâd fallen from scaffolding at one of his own development sites. Twenty-three stories up. The report said that his body had hit a metal beam on the way down before landing on the pavement.Â
You scanned the coronerâs notes again. Broken ribs. Skull fracture with internal bleeding. All consistent with the fall, except for one line near the bottom.
Minor bruising on inner left forearm.Â
You leaned closer to the page. Inner forearm bruising wasnât something you got from falling off a building, it was something you got when someone grabbed you. Hard.Â
You scribbled a note on your pad. Possible restraint before fall?? Not proof, exactly, but it was something.Â
You moved onto Donnellyâs file. The crash report was thicker than the othersâ probably because of his former job as a police commissioner. His car had gone through a guardrail and down a steep embankment outside the city. Initial investigation had said brake failure, but the re-opened case file had a different tone. You flipped to the mechanical inspection report. The brake line hadnât failed from wear. It had been cut, cleanly.Â
You rubbed your eyes. That had to mean whoever did it had access to the car before the crash. Which meant planning. You kept reading. Donnelly had been driving home from a private club outside the city. The timeline said cameras had placed him leaving around 10:30 PM. The car crash had occurred at 10:48. A lot couldâve happened in those eighteen minutes. You checked the map included in the report and saw that the route between the club and the crash site was almost entirely residential. Quiet roads, not many cameras. Super convenient. You wrote another note. Routine was closely analyzed. Knew where he was going to be at what time. Check phone records.
You reached for the last file. Aaron Pikeâ the âcommoner,â as your boss had bluntly put it. Warehouse supervisor, thirty-eight years old, no criminal record or flashy connections like the others possessed. Heâd died in his apartment from a gas leak. You read the updated forensic report carefully. The gas line under the kitchen seemed to have loosened. You frowned. It was very difficult for the screws to be loosened over time without manual assistance due to the danger factors that could occurâ evidently.Â
The original investigator, Ieiri, had written a small comment in the margins. Tool marks present. Adjustable wrench likely used.Â
You leaned back in your chair slowly. Three different deaths, but all of them equally careful, neat. Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing. There wasnât even a question of an âaccidentalâ homicide or manslaughter. This was cold murder.Â
You pulled your laptop closer and started typing names into search engines, Kessler first. Articles popped up immediately. Luxury developments, city council meetings, fundraisers. A few mild controversies about zoning disputes. Nothing that screamed motive for murder, though.Â
Next was Donnelly. Old police commendations, retirement ceremony photos. A few older news articles about what heâd worked on. An article about him accidentally shooting an innocent bystander. Your eyes widened. Now that was motivation. You jotted it down, reminding yourself to research more about it tomorrow.Â
Pike took longer, You had to dig through social media and local directories to be able to find much at all. His life looked pretty⊠ordinary. Work, a few photos with friends and his family. A wife and two daughters, poor souls. The occasional post about sports.Â
No scandals or obvious enemies. You frowned.Â
Your instinct kept circling back to the same problemâ no overlap. No shared work relations or even external relations where they could have been correlated. Nothing. You sighed, rubbing your face. For a second, panic flickered.Â
You had just been handed a multi-homicide investigation. For your first case. You were twenty-three years old with exactly zero experience running a case, much less one this serious. Your laptop screen reflected your tired expression. Almost without thinking, you opened a new tab and typed: how to solve first homicide caseÂ
You stared at the search bar for about three seconds. Then you groaned quietly and slammed the screen shut. âJesus,â you muttered to the empty room. You were not going to learn investigative strategy from a google search like a high school freshman writing their first research paper. You had been trained for exactly this, you reminded yourself. A criminology and psychology double degree wasnât a puny feat to have completed. You were ready, you had to be.
You took a breath, then another. Okay. Start simple. Every case had the same basic questions: means, motive, and opportunity. The means were already clear; the killer could stage accidents convincingly, which meant intelligence and planning. Possible technical knowledge of law enforcement strategies as well. Opportunity meant access. Kessler at a construction site, Donnellyâs car in the middle of the suburbs, Pikeâs apartment. The killer had gotten close to all three somehow, which either meant some form of personal contact or hyperfocused surveillance.Â
Motive was the real problem. You looked down at the three photos again, baffled. What connected these men? You opened another tab, clicking on a new spreadsheet and starting to build a timeline. Dates of death, recent activities, public appearances. You were almost tempted to make a red string bulletin boardâ but remembered you were an actual detective and not a cliche actress posing as one. Right.. Let's get back to work.Â
Then you investigated travel records you could access through public sources and slowly, something started to stand out. Not a connection, but proximity. All three men had spent extended time in the same part of the city the couple months leading up to their deaths. Different reasons, different buildings, but all within a few blocks of each other. Consistent visits over an extended amount of time. You zoomed in on the map. The district housed several law offices, a courthouse annex, and a handful of journalism agencies. You scribbled another note: Check records of legal complaints/investigations involving all three If someone had a reason to target them, it might have started there.Â
You stared at the page for a long moment. Your first real leadâ small, but real. Your stomach growled loudly and you blinked. Right, food. Hunger. You stood and walked to the fridge, pulling it open. A plastic container of leftover pasta stared back at you. You grabbed it and shoved it in the microwave, hissing as you realized you almost turned the damn thing on with a metal spoon still stuck in the big tupperware.Â
You leaned against the counter while the food heated, your mind still half inside the case files. The microwave beeped. You ate straight out of the container at your small dining table, reading over your notes again.Â
Tomorrow, youâd start digging into legal filings and investigative reports tied to that district as well as looking into the courtâs ruling of Donnellyâs police brutality case. Someone had crossed paths with all three victims, you just had to find out who.
 By the time you finally closed the folders, it was past midnight. Your eyes burned from staring at paperwork and screens. You stacked the files neatly and slid them back into your tote bag, sighing. Your first real case. Your first real chance. As you turned off the lights and headed toward your bed, one thought repeated itself in the quiet of your apartment. This was your shot. And you were not going to waste it.Â
â----------------
The bell above the door chimed softly when you pushed it open.Â
Your favorite coffee shop smelled exactly the way you needed it toâ burnt espresso, warm sugar, the faint sweetness of vanilla syrup hanging in the air. The early morning crows hummed quietly around you, the laptop keys of corporate workers tapping, low conversations, the hiss of steaming milk. It was the kind of place where unordinary people came to pretend their lives were normal. You needed that illusion too, today.Â
You were running on four hours of uninterrupted sleep, two crime scene photos you couldnât get out of your head, and half a can of an aggressively neon energy drink currently clutched in your hand.Â
The barista called your name. âTriple espresso!âÂ
Of course it was. What else would you order?
You stepped forward at the same moment someone else did. Your shoulder bumped solidly into a chest that felt like it had been carved out of marble, the lid of your cup popping off slightly.Â
âWoahââ
âSorryââ
Both of you spoke at the same time. You looked up, and for a second your brain justâŠstopped.Â
The man in front of you was tall- easily six foot threeâ with broad shoulders and the kind of posture that suggested heâd never slouched a day in his life. Fluffy white hair fell messily across his forehead like he had run his hand through it one too many times this morning. But it was his eyes that caught you, bright, sharp. Blue in a way that didnât look real.Â
He glanced down at your hand first, at the bright pink can of the half-finished energy drink. Then at the coffee cup you were reaching for, then back at your face. One corner of his mouth lifted. â...Triple espresso,â he said slowly. His voice carried a warm amusement, making it sound like he was holding back a laugh.Â
You narrowed your eyes. âYes.â
His gaze drifted back down to the energy drink. âYou planning on seeing the future today or something?â
You snorted before you could stop yourself. âYou planning on minding your business?â Though your smile didnât match the curtness of your words. He laughedâ quiet, genuine. âFair enough.âÂ
His hand reached past you to grab his own drink from the counter. When he stepped closer, you caught the faint smell of expensive cologne and fresh soap. He looked like someone who had his life together, annoyingly so.Â
You grabbed your espresso, trying to move past him. And thenâ âHold on.âÂ
His voice stopped you and you turned slightly. He nodded toward your bag, specifically to the thick folder sticking halfway out of it. Your stomach dropped. You hadnât even realized it was visible. Across the top of the folder, in bold block letters:Â
HOMICIDE DIVISION.
He didnât react dramatically, just tilted his head slightly, studying you with an expression that was far too observant for someone youâd met all but thirty seconds ago.Â
â...That explains the caffeine. You were up late, hm?â he said, his voice sending shivers up your spine for some unknown reason.Â
Your grip tightened around your coffee cup and you slid the folder deeper into your bag. âOccupational hazard.â
His eyes sparkled. âSo youâre a detective.â
You lifted a brow. âI never said that.âÂ
He shrugged easily. âTrue. But Iâm pretty good at guessing things.â
âOh, really?â
âYeah.â He took a sip of his drink. âYouâve got the eyes of someone whoâs been staring at a screen all night. Your shoes are scuffed like youâve been walking around a lot, maybe even somewhere gross. And youâre carrying homicide files atâ-- he checked the watch on his wrist, which you noticed looked extravagantly expensive. ââeight in the morning.â
You stared at him, only one word coming to mind. âCreep.â
He smiled like heâd just solved a fun little puzzle. âSo,â he said lightly, âInvestigator.â
You exhaled slowly. âMaybe.â
His grin widened. âWow.â
âWhat.â
âThatâs cool.â
You blinked. â..Cool?â
âYeah.â
Most people reacted with either awkward curiosity or uncomfortable fascination when they found out what you did. Crime documentaries were a fun form of entertainment, but no one else you knew outside of work was able to fathom the idea of your everyday worklife consisting of looking into gruesome murders.Â
But the guy in front of you, he just looked impressed. He leaned casually against the counter. âSo what kind of homicide?â he asked. âSerial? Gang? Domestic?â
You studied him carefully. âYou always interrogate strangers over coffee?â
He grinned. âOnly the interesting ones.â
Your eyes narrowed. âAnd what exactly makes you think Iâm interesting?â
He thought for a second and looked at you. Not in a creepy way, not even flirtatiously exactly. He was justâŠassessing you.Â
âYou just look like someone who carries a lot in her head. And of course, youâre absolutely beautiful too.â he said.Â
Your chest tightened unexpectedly. You felt a warmth flush your cheeks. And then he ruined the moment by smirking. âAlso, the caffeine thing is fascinating.â
You rolled your eyes. âUnbelievable.â
He chuckled. âYou gonna answer the question?â
âNope.â
âWow.â
You smiled. âProfessional boundaries.â
âBoring.â
You turned toward the pickup counter where the barista was bagging pastries. âI like boring.â
He followed beside you, looking down at you and grinning, taking his bottom lip between his teeth for a second before releasing it. âYeah, I dunno⊠somehow I doubt that.â
You grabbed a napkin and wrapped it around your espresso to make it easier to hold. When you turned back, he was already pulling out his wallet. You frowned. âWhat are you?--â
He handed the barista his card. âAdd hers.â You blinked. âHeyââ
âItâs fine.â
âThatâs notââ
âRelax. Itâs just coffee.â
He glanced back down at you with that same easy confidence, like heâd already decided this conversation was going to go his way. You couldnât decide if it irritated you or made you want to take off your pants on the spot.Â
âI can pay for my own coffee.â
âIâm sure you can.â the corner of his lips lifted again. âBut I'm choosing to. Humor me?â
The barista handed him the receipt and he scribbled something quickly, stepping back then. âThere,â he said. âAll set.â
You stared at him. â..You didnât have to do that.âÂ
He shrugged. âI wanted to.â You opened your mouth to argue again, but he was already stepping toward the door. âWait.â you called out. He paused. You realized you didnât know why youâd stopped him. Then it hit you. â...Whatâs your name?â
He pushed the door open. Morning light spilled through the glass behind him, and for a second it almost made his hair look silver. He glanced back over his shoulder, the cocky smile returned.
âYouâll figure it out, detective."
And then he was gone. Just like that. You stood there speechless, holding your espresso, in a daze until the barista slid the receipt across the counter toward you. âYour friend paid.â
You picked it up. There was a name written across the bottom in messy handwriting.Â
Satoru Gojo.Â
And underneath it, a phone number. You stared at it. Then you laughed quietly to yourself.
 â...Unbelievable.â
â----------------
You tried to focus, you really did. But every once in a while your brain betrayed you by replaying the image of that idiotically tall man leaning against the coffee shop counter like the entire room existed solely for his entertainment.Â
The smirk, the impossible white hair (how was that even natural?), the way heâd clocked tiny details about you in mere seconds. Annoyingly perceptive.Â
You shoved the memory aside and forced your attention back to your screen. The city map glowed pale blue against the dim light of your office. It was late again, later than youâd originally planned to stay. Contrary to what you thought, the absolute gift of a case that had been put in your responsibility didnât mean your other duties were excused, nor did it mean a pay raise. Sure, you daydreamed about marching up to HR dramatically and expressing your views of the matter, but were honestly just grateful to have gotten the case in the first place. If you needed to supplement with a few photocopies and caffeine refills, then it was worth it for your dream, right?Â
Because of the additional work, you had just chosen to stay at the office instead of going back to the apartment. The sterility of your workplace helped you to focus in some odd way. You felt more professional this way.Â
Youâd spread the files across your desk in a way that would probably horrify the evidence coordination team. Sticky notes and highlighter streaks branded each of the copies and a notebook full of scribbled arrows and question marks sat at the edge of the table, just near ready to teeter onto the floor. Your laptop sat in the center of it all.
The map was zoomed far into the specific area you were looking atâ the Rutherford district. Individual building outlines were visible. Three blocks, thatâs all it wasâ three dense, boring city blocks full of beige office buildings and elegant signage. Yet, every victim had been there repeatedly.Â
You propped your elbows up on the desk, your head plopping into your hands as you peered down at the files, the words all blurring into mush in your sleep riddled brain. âOkay,â you muttered to yourself. âSo why the hell were you all here?â
Your cursor hovered over the first address you had reviewed: a glass fronted legal building. Youâd already confirmed the tenant list earlier, a few younger corporate law firms, two defense attorneys, a bankruptcy office, and one small legal advocacy group on the third floor that you hadnât been able to find much information about yet.Â
Then you clicked on the second location. A Courthouse with a recently added annexâ basically a government building that held mostly administrative hearings and walk-in court proceedings. The third building was a squat brick structure that housed two news and journalism agencies and the Verity Investigative Bureau, labeled as a private organization. That one had caught your attention earlier, mostly because independent investigative bureaus were either run by incredibly brave journalists or a bunch of paranoid incels.Â
Your pen tapped against your notebook. Tap. Tap. Tap. The rhythm helped you think. Your brain started assembling the pieces again, the way it always did when you fell into that quiet investigative zone.Â
Aaron Pike, a low income warehouse manager, with no criminal record. Yet he had started visiting Rutherford district, where every service was either related to public relations or law, none of which he had to do with. For six months before his death, every Thursday afternoon, religiously consistent.Â
Daniel Kessler, the real estate developer with enough money to buy a seat in city council if he wanted one. The pattern of his visits were different in that he didnât have oneâ random days, random times. But the security logs still showed him entering the courthouse through the annex multiple times in the two months leading up to his death.
Then, Mark Donnelly. Since he was a retired police commissioner, youâd fallen into quite a rabbit hole reading about him earlier. He had a decorated career and was a media darling, praised for his commitment as the leader of the cityâs police. He was the definition of a hardline but âprincipleâ copâ until the shooting, that is.Â
You had pulled the archived articles and sat there reading them slowly. The victim, Jacob Herring, had been an innocent bystander to a bank robbery. He was twenty-two and unarmed. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time. A tragedy, really.Â
The case had been investigated internally and Donnelly had been cleared, the judge classifying it as a freak accident. You had stared at the old headline longer than you meant to, you couldnât help itâ something about it just feltâŠunfinished.Â
Your pen tapped harder against the desk. These three men were in professions that had no overlap, yet all had returned for Rutherford repeatedly. What could be the connecting piece? You leaned back again and opened a new tab. Then another, and then another.Â
Soon, the screen filled with business directories, different tenant listings as well as the company descriptions, archived local news articles, and court recordings.Â
You started with the easiest step, physical context. You pulled up the street view and began to walk the block virtually. Just like you expected, law offices, a coffee shop, a bank branch. The urban planning of the city had designated spots for each type of business; fast food was in one spot, dance and yoga studios in another, and law and journalism firms secluded to Rutherford district.Â
You had been here once before, for a mandatory jury duty, and it looked exactly like you remembered it. Bland, professional, and definitely not a spot you could come back to repeatedly without a purpose. But other than Donnelly, who had a clear reason for needing to speak with law firms, why were any of the others even involved with Rutherford at all? You supposed that maybe Kessler would have needed to review coding laws for construction of his building complexes, but with his basically CEO type position, you doubted that he would have done the dirty paperwork himself instead of just paying someone to get it done. And as for Pike⊠no strings matched up.Â
On the virtual walk, you noticed a narrow valley between the annex of the main courthouse and one of the largest news broadcast buildings. You paused there and zoomed in. The alley had a service entrance door. You clicked to rotate the view. There was a security camera mounted above it. Your brain filed that away automatically as you opened the notebook and wrote âCheck alley camera coverageâ.Â
You kept going, passing ground level bookstores, and then a print shop. Your brain snagged that, and you clicked the listing. It was a local business that mostly handed legal document printing, bulk copying, and media packages. You stared at the address for a second, then flipped through Aaron Pikeâs file again. Your finger traced the page of the track log. There. You leaned closer to the screen.Â
Aaron Pike had signed into the print shop building five times in the last month before he died. You blinked. âHuh..â That hadnât jumped out earlier, but still, you wrote it down. Then you checked the courthouse logs again. Daniel Kessler had paid a visit to the courthouse's records office for document retrieval. But.. what document? âInteresting..â you muttered to yourself as you worked. You pulled out Donnellyâs log again. Most of his visits had been to a defense law firm, which made sense. But onceâŠ
Your eyes narrowed. Heâd entered the news agency building, third floor. The Verity Investigative Bureau. You leaned back slowly. You assumed that since it was a privately owned service, it must be for personal investigations. Background checks, insurance frauds. What would a cop need that for? You marked it down to look into.Â
You opened another search tab and started digging into legal findings connected to Rutherford district. It took a while, since the database your investigative office used was clunky and slow. You had to try multiple times to search up relevant information, but eventually something small resurfaced. It was a complaint, filed three years ago and then withdrawn. Even with the deletion attempt, it still showed up in your archive. Impressive.Â
Your eyes scanned the summary:
By Anonymous
There were witness statements that contradicted the client's timeline during the actual events being investigated. Those statements were not included in the final case materials.Â
Several staff members raised concerns about accepting the case due to known misconduct but the decision was made anyway. Many suspect foul play or bribery.Â
Client also seems to have connections to individuals currently involved in ethical and legal disputes in the country. That overlap made some of us uncomfortable.Â
I cannot say anymore, but I believe the case review process was rushed.Â
You exhaled, leaning closer. You connected the office's algorithm to the source to find the date of publication and stopped in your tracks. It was three days after the ruling that determined Donnellyâs fate. And it was taken down two hours later. Your eyes widened and you cracked your knuckles in nervousness, quickly opening another tab to look into the IP address of the complaint. It had been filed through one of the law offices in the district. The same building containing the defense firm that backed Donnellyâs case.Â
You rubbed your temple. Opening a fresh page in your notebook and writing in big letters: WHO BENEFITS?? HOW??
You stared back at the names of the victims. You didnât know their connection yet, but you knew where the trail started. The district, buildings, records. And if someone had been digging into something there, it is more than likely someone else wanted it to stay buried.Â
You had a gut feeling that there was more to the story than just three innocent people being murdered. The calculation of each kill was impeccably crafted. There had to be a motive, a big one, and you had to find it.Â
Your eyes flicked to the clock. 10:47 PM. It was time to put it (and yourself) to rest for the night. You sighed, hesitantly getting up out of your desk chair and wheeling it back into your place before picking up your tote off the floor.
A crinkled sheet slipped out of the bag and landed on the floor, and you picked it up reflexively before you realized what it was.Â
Your receipt from the coffee shop this morning, neatly written handwriting of a phone number framing the overexpensive price total. You smiled softly to yourself, tracing over the numbers.Â
Would it be so bad to give your love life the attention it was so desperately begging for? You hadnât been in a relationship since your sophomore year of collegeâ and even that one had ended because of you constantly ditching him to work on your gory passion projects.Â
You shoved the thought away. No, you had more important things to focus on right nowâ things that were literally matters of life or death.Â
This was a responsibility you never thought would end up landing on your shoulders, and you sure as hell were going to prove that incessant coffee runs werenât all you were good for.Â
You crumpled up the receipt paper and shoved it back into your bag with the other documents before slinging it over your shoulder.Â
You had to focus. Remember that you werenât just chasing a sloppy killer, you were chasing a goddamn genius.
đŁČâïœĄË NOTES: And that's a wrap on chapter one! I know the cafe meeting was kind of cliche, but that's the point, it's so normal that she doesn't even bat an eye at Gojo, even though she doesn't realize her instincts are screaming at her. Please let me know your thoughts and I will see you next chapter! For those messaging me about The Roots of Us, I'm working on it and it will be out as soon as I get time to finish. Thank you so much for your support!
Current taglist for KMLYI/Long fics: @kittymeowxo @deartoru @theaggyspacekitty @lovebythuuu @ppnutz @gentlyflowing @darthasphodel @nr1gojomuncher @spookyeomgoose @nanamikento09
âyâthink i havenât been losin sleep over you?â he continues, dragging his mouth along your jaw. âthink i didnât cum with your name in my mouth last night, after you begged so nice n pretty fâme to fuck yâsenseless?â
sober you is a lot less bold, but simon is a man of his word. 18+. insane amount of dirty talk, reader afab, PIV. smut smut smut smut. size kink.
ââââââ-
the headache you wake with is devastating.
biblically so.
and not in the sunday service, waterâintoâwine sort of way. this is oldâtestament vengeance. locusts and brimstone and a hammer slamming the earth between your temples. divine retribution for every godless thing you said, every blurred line you crossed - like some higher power watched you drink yourself stupid last night and said let there be suffering.
and fuck, suffering you are.
youâre barely coherent, hardly sentient, when you squint into the cold morning light and find the realization of what happened last night dawning in on you in fragments. out of order, scrambled like eggs - simonâs arm around your waist. you calling him big. militaryâissued. ruinâherâlifeâinâaâsingleânight kind of hands. been into you for ages. god yes. please. yâdonât know what youâre askin for, sweetâeart. the way he said youâre makin me hard like it physically pained him.
practically moaning into his motherfucking palm.
wait - practically? no. you did.
you spend majority of the morning with your head buried under blankets and pillows mourning the death of your past self because you know your soul must be charred. burnt like the edges of hell where your feet are now firmly planted.
âyou, wakin up with my dog tags round your neck and nothin else.â
fuck sakes.
youâve known hangovers, youâve known embarrassment, but this - this is some divine hybrid of the two. a cocktail of humiliation and mortification laced with whatever residual high youâre still riding from him saying come say it tâme sober like a goddamn dare.
and of course it only gets worse when you finally make it to your feet - teeth brushed twice after two whole water bottles and a shower hot enough to burn the devil out of hell - and notice something silver glinting on the table by your door that most definitely wasnât there yesterday morning.
âohâŠgod.â your heart flips up into your throat.
his dog tags.
youâve known simon long enough to know what this is. he didnât forget them. he didnât misplace them. he left them there to tell you he heard every fuckin word you said and heâs not letting you off the hook for it. itâs a test. if you meant it - which you did - youâll bring them to him. youâll say it to him sober like he asked.
a man of morals. who knew war criminals had it in them.
you spend what has to be a full ten minutes just staring at them - like maybe youâre still drunk, maybe youâre seeing things and theyâll vanish if you focus hard enough. maybe you can unsay every devastatingly honest thing you said with sheer mental fortitude alone and theyâll magically fly back to him on their own.
spoiler alert: they donât move. because of course they donât. and it takes another ten before you finally stuff them into your pocket.
itâs probably best to just rip the bandaid off. bring them to him before you have to face him infront of the others in mess or briefing - damage control before the rest of the world finds out about the stunt you pulled. you donât even know what youâre going to say - sorry? thanks? letâs just pretend i never told you i fantasize about fucking you when i canât sleep?
fuck. it doesnât matter. you know you owe him the return. a peace offering, a penance, a silent white-flag kind of knock on his door.
and so you walk the hall like itâs the green mile. youâve never done a walk of shame but you imagine this has got to be as close as it comes. his door is shut when you reach it, and you stand in front of it like a coward for another unnecessary amount of time - complexion almost ill. ghostly. like you could float right through the fuckin wood if the wind blew hard enough.
finally, you knock.
itâs a moment, and then he answers, filling his doorframe with those thick shoulders stretching a tight black t-shirt, looking right as rain besides damp hair and bloodshot eyes.
you wonder, fleetingly, if he even slept. but then his gaze drops over the length of you and you busy yourself with fighting the urge to run for your fucking life.
you clear your throat. âcan i..uh. can we talk?â
he nods and pops the door open, gesturing for you to come in. you take a few steps into his room - dark, organized, rather sparse - and nearly jump out of your flesh when the door shuts behind you. the click of a cell door closing, announcing your sealed fate.
you spin to face him once his boots have stopped dragging across the tiles, and find him leaning back against his desk - ankles and arms crossed.
you swallow, and pull the tags from your pocket. âi um. i think you forgot these.â
his brow twitches, barely, as he takes a glance at your hand. a flash of something behind his eyes you canât name.
âdid i?â he doesnât move.
you shift your weight. the mortification could eat you alive. youâre certain it currently is.
âfigured iâd bring them back.â you add, quieter now, trying your fucking hardest to sound normal. like you didnât just spend the night saying all kinds of unholy things into the palm of his hand. âincaseâŠuh, you were looking for them.â
he still doesnât take them.
âstrange,â his lips tilt. the first sign heâs shown that he's enjoying this. âcoulda sworn i left emâ somewhere on purpose.â
your stomach flips. you try to laugh but itâs brittle. âright. sure.â
he shrugs. ânot the kinda thing i usually misplace.â
you bite the inside of your cheek so hard you think it might bleed, unsure how to respond to that. itâs hard to even breathe with the way heâs watching you - like heâs taking notes - reading everything youâre not saying in the line of your mouth, in the way your fingers tremble around the chain of his tags.
âshaky this mornin, yeah?â he says, just casually knocking the rest of the wind out of your chest.
âi-â
you falter, because what the fuck are you even supposed to say? no, iâm fine. iâm totally good, actually. i definitely didnât spend all morning curled fetal, praying to gods whoâve certainly damned me for a head injury so i can forget the mental car crash that was last nights events.
simon waits, eyes blazing like youâre a twitchy little experiment. trying to see which wire makes you spark the hardest.
you clear your throat. try again. âmâjust tired.â
âmm.â he hums with a lazy nod. âmusta been all that talkin you were doin.â
and there it is. here it comes.
âcanât really remember, but iâm sure itâs part of it.â you lie with a forced laugh. lie so awkwardly it hurts. âtequila. you know how it is.â
âdo i ever.â he replies, dragging a hand through his damp hair.
silence stretches thick, after that. itâs so thick it makes the walls feel closer, the floor feel further away. you avert your gaze, and realize almost immediately how big of a mistake that is because the motion pulls your eyes across his forearm - his bare, inked forearm, tendons flexing with the movement heâs making.
you remember that arm last night, wrapped tight around your waist. pulling you close before you moaned god yes and please beneath the big hand attached to it like fucking gospel.
when you flinch, he smirks. not even pretending like he didnât notice. âyâremember nothin from last night, then?â
your eyes snap up to his. you hate yourself for the fact that all of last nights confidence seems to be no where in fucking sight.
âbits.â he echos. nodding. âyeah. must be a shame.â
oh god.
âshame?â
âshame tâforget all that detail.â he lets the words sink in, watching your face as he leans a hand on the desk behind him. âpretty interestin things. real deep. could write a bloody novel, the way yâwere goin on.â
âoh.â you choke, again, and mentally slap yourself. get it together. âwell. thats-â
he hums again. âsuppose i could walk yâthrough it.â
âwalk me-â
earth tilts. he doesnât let you finish. âyâknow. help piece it together. fill in the gaps.â
âyou donât-you donât have to-â
he lifts a hand to gesture vaguely toward his bed. your pulse races to the moon.
âyour room, yâwere right there. lookin at me like i was gonna eat yâalive.â his voice lowers. you swallow and it tastes like sin. his finger shifts to the space before his bed. pointing at the edge. âand i was right there, tryinâ like hell tâbe a fuckin gentleman.â
you could laugh, maybe cry, or just absolutely combust right there on the floor because it all floods back in an instant. the way you moaned his name when he knelt over you to undo your boots. the way your thighs tensed as you told him you think about him. the way you stared at him while your brain short circuited and your mouth betrayed every secret you thought youâd die with.
part of you did die, you suppose. the part with your dignity. right there on the floor of your room, next to your boots he took off.
âlook, simon-â
he steps closer now. just a step. âyâsaid youâd been into me for ages.â
you blink, holding your breath.
âsaid yâthink bout me when yâcant sleep.â his voice is a rasp now, the muscle in his jaw ticks. âi asked yâa question, then. dâyou remember it?â
fucking hell.
âyes.â you exhale.
âwhat was it.â
your heart is a jackhammer, breaking through your sternum.
âyou-you asked if i think about you whenâŠâ you hesitate, and he cocks an eyebrow. ââŠwhen i touch myself.â
âyeah.â he says lowly. a breath, not a word. âthaâs right.â
your skin is burning and your limbs feel foreign, at this point. you feel nerve endings pulsing in place you didnât know you even had nerves.
âdâyou remember your answer?â he continues, taking another step toward you.
and itâs then that the anxiety takes over - you blink twice and bite down until you taste blood, shaking your head no. not because youâve forgotten - fucking hell you remember everything - but because saying it out loud feels like jumping out of a plane without a parachute.
he doesnât buy it.
âmm, sure yâdo.â he calls your bluff, says it so soft itâs almost a coo. âyâknow i know your tells - two blinks while bitin the inside of your cheek.â his eyes gleam as his lips twitch. âyâcanât lie tâme, princess.â
christ, you canât help but laugh at that. itâs exactly the reason why youâve been into him - heâs perceptive and cunning and cocky all at once.
this is the man youâve thought about fucking for months.
âyes.â you whisper in admittance. âi said yes.â
âgod yes.â he corrects with another step until heâs so close you have to kink your neck back to meet his eyes. his shoulders swallow the edges of your vision until all you see is him. ââŠstill true?â
you nod. a broken thing. âyes.â
âyeah?â his head tilts, the heat of him sweltering. âyâthink bout me when yâput hands on yourself?â
âsimon-â
he hushes you with a shake of his head, eyes dipping to your lips. âtell me.â
itâs then that you realize dragging this on is for nothing. whatever drunken confession you made last night clearly cracked open whatever restraint simonâs been exercising for months.
clearly whatever you feel, heâs feeling it too.
âyes.â you confess, as firm as you possibly can. nothing coy in it now. âyes, i think about you when im alone. when i touch myselfâŠdoesnât even feel right unless im picturing you. your hands. touching me.â
it all comes out of you in a rushed whisper, desperate and dripping sweet from your lips like itâs been saturating behind your teeth for too long. when he doesnât respond right away, you realize youâve stunned him, and pull on whatever courage you have left to press forward.
âiâve wanted you for so long ive stopped tryin to figure out when it started.â you murmur, lost in his eyes. âand you?â
his breath catches. just the faintest hitch, like he wasnât prepared for the edge of your honesty to turn and face him instead. itâs delectable, the slight composure tilt, but it doesnât last long. because slowly - slowly, his mouth curls into something wrecked. something that says fuckin hell, itâs on.
his knuckles come up to graze your jaw, he lowers his head until his lips find your earâ
âyâaskin if i think bout you when iâve got my fist wrapped round my cock?â you inhale sharply, then choke on it when his mouth brushes your lobe. âcourse i fuckin do.â
your hands lift timidly to find his shirt, curling into it, dog tags still clinking between your fingers.
âyâthink i havenât been losin sleep over you?â he continues, dragging his mouth along your jaw. âthink i didnât cum with your name in my mouth last night, after you begged so nice n pretty fâme to fuck yâsenseless?â
your lashes flutter. his free hand slips around your waist. âfuck, simon-â
âi know, sweetâeart.â he murmurs it, almost gentle, like itâs something you share. âthaâs what yâneed, ainât it? fâme to admit youâre not the only one losin mind here.â
you nod, partly frantic and partly delirious, and he exhales something strained - something from somewhere deep, catching on the parts of him dying to stay patient.
âgood.â his hand slides up the back of your shirt, while the other finds the one of yours still holding his tags. âyâreally come here just to return these, then?â
âno.â it chokes out of you instantly, mouth tilting toward his. âyou wanted me to say it to you sober. made a promise bout what youâd do if i did?â
something feral flashes over his face, at that. translated through the grip he tightens on your waist, the exhale he washes over your jaw.
âyeah.â he says, tight. âi did.â
his mouth is barely a breath from yours.
âwell here i am. sober.â you whisper. âwanting you more than i did while drunk.â
he makes a sound youâve never heard before. not a groan, not a moan, something deep and feral punched straight out of his chest.
âfuckin hell.â
and then heâs kissing you.
no more waiting, no more games. simonâs a man of his word and it shows in the way his mouth crashes into yours - hungry and bruising and impatient - teeth knocking, one hand fisting in the back of your shirt and tearing it off you while the other pulls you in. he spins you both so your ass hits the edge of his desk, and then breaks away - trailing spit slick lips down your jaw and throat, thick fingers working to tease the band of your sweats.
âtell me where yâwant me, sweetâeart.â he growls into your pulse.
you blink, dazed. âi-what?â
his teeth graze just enough to make you whimper, before his mouth drags back up beside your ear - ruinous in the inflection.
âtell me how youâve imagined it,â his finger tips slide under your waistband, just teasing. âwhat youâve pictured when youâre thinkinâ of me like this. right âere.â
âoh god, simon.â you moan by his words alone, too wound to be embarrassed, fingers cinched tight in the fabric of his shirt. âyour-your fingers. your mouth. your cock-â
that sound again. deep and devastated. restraint being ripped out by the roots.
âfuck. filthy thing fâme, arenât you?â he says, as two fingers slide lower, slipping under heat soaked fabric and finding your slit, pressing in no further than they need to before circling back up - spreading the mess youâve made just to feel it. âyouâre fuckin soaked.â
you whimper as he teases your clit. his mouth finds your throat again, teeth grazing where your pulse stutters wild beneath flushed skin. you donât trust your legs to hold you upright under the weight of it all - his touch, his voice, the feral gleam in his eye when he looks at you like youâre some prophecy being fulfilled.
âsâthis what i do tâyou?â he murmurs. âjust from talkin tâyou like this?â
you nod, a frantic little thing. âyes-god, yes.â
he exhales hard like it's kicked out of him, tugging your sweats down until they slide off your ankles before he lifts you back onto his desk and parts your thighs with hands so big they nearly span the entire width of them.
you fucking moan at the sight.
and of course it only fuels him - braces you back on your elbows, spine arched, breath caught in your throat as he steps in close between your legs. his eyes drag down to where you glisten in the dim light - slick, flushed, waiting - and he lets out a curse before returning his fingers to your aching cunt.
he presses in one digit slow, then adds another. knuckle deep until your eyes roll, hips jerking at the stretch.
âoh, fuck-â
he hisses through his teeth. âtight little cunt. fuckin meltin fâme.â
his thumb catches your clit in the same motion - rubbing soft circles, pushing you closer, dragging you toward the edge with every brutal curl of his fingers inside you.
âthat feel good?â he growls against your jaw. âtouched yâself in bed thinkin bout me between your thighs like this?â
youâre panting now. shaking.
âi-â you gasp. âyes, simon-yes-â
âyeah?â his thumb speeds up, his fingers pump deeper, your head spins. âand did yâcum like this? like youâre about to fâme now?â
you donât answer fast enough. he bites at your jaw.
âtell me.â
âno-n-never like thisââ
he growls something vile under his breath. âpoor thing. sâokay. iâve got you.â
your walls flutter around him, your thighs shaking where they frame his hips, and he feels it - feels the beginning of the end stutter through you.
âsimon-â you whinge.
he cuts you off. âlook at me.â
you do. barely.
âthaâs it,â he breathes. âcum on my fuckin fingers. show me what iâve been missin.â
youâre starved for it, beyond saving, and its only a couple more deep pumps before you break.
it floods through you - white hot and searing. you cry out his name as you clamp around his digits, trembling apart on his desk while he watches you like youâre art - jaw clenched, pupils blown - his fingers still moving, dragging you through it until youâre sobbing into his shoulder.
âthere we go.â when it passes and youâre limp, blinking up at him stunned - he withdraws slowly. âattagirl. sâfuckin good.â
you swallow, watching wide eyed as he brings those same fingers to his mouth and sucks them clean.
âbeen dreamin bout that taste, knew itâd be sweet.â he purrs as he leans down, wiping his spit slick digits over your cheek. âgonna need it proper soon.â
you donât even have time to question or respond to that, because then heâs unbuckling his belt.
when you finally look back up, his eyes are wild.
âsâthis what yâwant?â he murmurs, tugging leather through loops before undoing the button at his waist. âwhen you came tâme this mornin, all flushed and pretendin tâbe innocent. was this it? wantinâ me to bend yâover and take what yâfuckin offered?â
you choke as he tugs himself free - thick, leaking at the tip and throbbing - bigger than anything youâve ever seen, nevermind taken.
the nod that follows is compulsive desperation. âholy fuck-yes-â
he smacks light at your thigh. âstand up. bend over fâme.â
you do as youâre told without hesitation - legs shaking as you stand spin and lean forward over the desk - breath still stuttering in your chest, heart going a mile a minute. your hands barely meet wood before heâs on you - no preamble. no breath between. grabs your hips like itâs instinct, like his hands were molded to hold you like this, and yanks you back against him with a roughness that steals whateverâs left in your lungs.
you shudder when he slides his cock against your slit once - twice - dragging the head through slick and stalls notched just shy of your entrance, breathing hard like itâs killing him to wait.
âyâremember what else yâsaid last night?â
you barely manage a nod. your mouth opens, but nothing comes out. he exhales something like a laugh.
ânot compliments. not the fantasies. not the whining.â he drags through your mess again, slower this time. deliberate. âyou saidââ his hips press forward just enough to make you gasp. ââyou wondered if itâd hurt.â
you whine, embarrassed, but god it shoots straight through you. he bends low now, chest flush to your back, mouth to your ear.
âtruth is, it might.â his lips curl into a smile. âso donât fuckin run now.â
and then - only then - he pushes in. you gasp so hard your chest deflates on impact, thick head stretching sopping walls wide and dragging deeper than youâve ever imagined - too much and not enough all at once.
âohfuck-simon-â your head drops toward the desk, eyes stinging.
âmm. thaâs it.â he groans, loud, burying himself halfway before pausing there. âtightest fuckinâbloody hell.â
he presses forward a little more - just enough to make your knees shake as he steadies you with one hand at your hip and grits his teeth. he pulls out just to feel you clench, then shoves back in - hard enough to jolt the desk and feed you all of him before you can even brace for it.
âffffuck-ohfuck-â you wail, knuckles bloodless where they clutch the desk. âyou-youâre-â
âdeep.â he bends over you, grabs a fistful of your hair, and drags your head back to his mouth, voice hot on your skin. âi fuckin know.â
he thrusts once. hard. then again. slower. deeper.
âjesus christ,â he undoes your bra with his free hand, paws at your tits until it hurts. âwalked around this whole time with this cunt made fâme and didnât say a fuckin word.â
âfuck simon-â
âyeah.â he grits against your ear. âthaâs how you moaned it last night. just like that.â
itâs punishing, the pace he sets. each snap of his hips smacking against your ass drags stars down into your retinas - body rocking and cervix kissed with each thrust - his grip is bruising and his mouth works at your neck, forcing noises out of you loud enough to rattle the fucking walls.
it doesnât take long before your chest collapses onto slick wood, drool coated cheek pressed to the desk - vision bleeding white around the edges. heâs relentless - driven, brutal in rhythm, like heâs trying to fuck the memory of your voice out of his head, the memory of your thighs pressed together last night when he walked away instead of dropping to his knees and giving in.
he groans, open-mouthed, flushed everywhere. heâs not just fucking you. heâs wrecking you. dragging you across the edge by the throat and holding your broken pieces together with his own.
âmmf-fuck.â he snarls, burying his fist back in your hair. his palm cracks hard across your ass before snaking around your thigh to find your clit. devastating. âthis. this is what i thought of for months. you. fuckin boneless fâme.â
he pulls out slow with a shuttering exhale, just enough for you to whine before he roars back in - hard and fast, fingers never slowing.
you shriek, squirming with no where to go.
âyâgot no fuckin clue what yâdid to me last night.â heâs panting, fingernails burning your scalp. âsat there slurrin filth. darin me tâdo somethin bout it. tested every fuckin moral iâve got.â
your second orgasm is a charging tide - and god, you know he feels it. you know by the way he rolls his fingers faster to chase it, moans in your ear when your walls flutter around him, fucks you deeper and slower just to drag you over by your hair.
âcum fâme. give me another.â he grits. âlet me fuckin feel it sweetâeart.â
âff-fuck simon! yes-yes-â
you sob, and then it hits you - violent and wet and cataclysmic - like every single one of your fantasies brought to life, like every pathetic orgasm you gave yourself to the thought of him and his fuckin hands all combined to create this. itâs stratospheric depths of bliss, all the colours of the rainbow erupting behind your eyes as he fucks you through it, not stalling his fingers until youâre sobbing.
âmhm. messy little thing.â
he growls with it before pulling out just enough to slap his cock against your soaked cunt, watching the slick stretch, the way you whine and arch out of pure fuckin instinct.
âlook at this pretty cunt,â he rasps, teasing his tip over your clit. âdrippin. tremblin. fuckin cryin fâme.â
you try to say something, try to catch a breath, but that all falls void as he thrusts back in without warning - one brutal, complete thrust, pushing everything out of you. screams, his name, your fucking soul. he groans as his hand finds your jaw, forcing your head to turn just enough so he can see your face. cheeks flushed, tears caught in your lashes.
âshh. donât runâdonât fuckin run,â he growls against your mouth, arm cinched tight across your waist when your hips jerk away like itâs too much. âyâasked for this. said it tâme sober.â
âsi-simon. please.â itâs breathless, ruined, wrecked beyond meaning, your mouth falling open on another sob when his hips grind deeper, when the head of him kisses a spot that has your knees giving out entirely. âfuck. sâgood. sâm-much-â
âyeah?â he snarls. âsâgood, huh?â
you nod something pathetic, lost for words. broken around him.
âwant yâto think bout this when youâre alone.â his free hand drags down to your stomach, rests just high on your pelvis, feeling where heâs drilling. âhow deep mâburied in this tight little cunt. how good my name feels in your fuckin throat.â
another nod. another hiccuped moan dragged out of you. ây-yes-yes iâll think about it-mmff-â
âmhm,â he kisses you once. fleeting and viscous and hot. âgood. sâgood.â
a few more ragged thrusts and a sound gets torn from him, pulled from somewhere deep, feral and hoarse and ragged. his hips punch forward one final time, burying himself to the hilt, and thenâ
âfuckâfuck.â
he lets go.
he groans, voice breaking at the edges, forehead falling to the space between your shoulder blades. he pulses deep inside you, all of his pent up heat flooding you full until heâs spent, until heâs got nothing left to give and collapses against your back in one shuddering, boneless exhale.
and when itâs over, itâs just breathing - a long quiet moment full of everything neither of you know how to say before you register that heâs moving - leaning over you to grab at where his dog tags were discarded on the desk.
he slips them around your neck, and then pulls out.
âman of mâword, sweetâeart.â he whispers against your jaw. âthis isnât over.â
âHi Lieutenant Riley sorry to disturb your precious time, could you please take these documents because I am very terrified of getting yelled at and I cant be in two opposite sides of base at once!â You pace at your small little desk, trying to work out the wording of your request.
Well that just sounded like you had a grudge against everythingâ you couldn't possibly say that. And wouldn't you waste more of his time by yapping on for that long? No you needed convincing, maybe a sob story, potentially a tragic tale. Anything at this point, you just needed to get through this on time.
Itâs so close to the deadline and youâve completed every task so far except delivering them on time. They needed to go to three places, two on the western side of base and another all the way on the east side. Both were due for briefings in fifteen minutes. There was no way youâd make it in time.
No one else was free to help either, busy with their own things, and any soldier coming by refused to even spare a glance at the new girl in admin. Although, they all were perfectly happy to smile at the secretary on the other side, offering to grab her coffee. Oh to have pretty privilege.
Your last hope was Lieutenant Riley, whoâd walk through admin the same time he did every morning. It was the fastest way to his corner of base, so you naturally remembered every time he passed by. Still, he was a Lieutenant with probably a million other things to do, and youâve seen him snap at younger soldiers in the corridors or on the field outside the windows. Besides if any of the other soldiers wouldn't help you, why would he even?
The doors swing open and you realise heâs early by a few minutesâ how has that happened? Youâre not even prepared!
âHi Lieutenant Riley.â You squeak out before you can think twice and he slows his steps to nod at you.
âMorning..â He replies, though stopping to look at you strangely. âDo you.. need something?â
âWell uhâ the thing isâ the documents- two on the west side- one on the east and wellââ
âIâm going to the east, iâlll take those.â
âYes well the problem is I cant be at two places so if you could even just warn them that im late or not thats totally okay dont worryâ wait, what?â
He reaches forward, easily plucking the documents from your hands and reading the location you scribbled on the post it note. âIâll take them. You just had to tell me to and i wouldâve.â
And then heâs gone, walking off in his usual direction and disappearing. No questions, no groans or complaints, not even blinking twice.
What?!
â
âLieutenant, Iâm so sorry the timetables got mixed up do you mind..â
âThe power outage caused a small loss of data if you could resend the files..â
âUgh.. these boxes are so heavy, waitâ Lieutenant?â
Every time without fail, heâd follow your orders like you were his captain, and even if he couldnt immediately help he would he back later that day. You couldnt believe it; there was no need for any convincing or elaborate stories to make him pity your unfortunate life. Noâ he just did it.
And it wasnât like he had a thing for you either, bloody hell barely gave you more than a gruff nod most days, a few words on the rarer times.
It was so.. so strange.
âWhose this for?â He looks up at you in surprise when his outstretched hand is met by a gift bag instead. He was expecting another stack of documents, or heavy equipment that was just deliveredâ anything but the frilly bow and tissue paper. Why would you be giving this to someone?
âWell, read the tag.â You hum, and he flips over the little paper heart, not realising the flush on your cheeks.
âFor Lieutenant Riley.â is written in curly cursive letters. Confused, he opens the package inside, revealing two neatly packed boxes. Placing the bag on the nearest table, he opens one of the boxes, revealing different pouches, dark grey like his usual uniform and velcro.
âYou always fumble for your id cards in the morning and I saw this online. You can just clip it onto your belt and it blends in!â His eyes widen as you demonstrate for him, clipping the pouch onto him. Itâs barely noticeable as well, looking just like a style of cargo trousers if anything. There was even a large one for him to fit a water bottle.
âThanks..â It slips out quieter than he intended, eyeing it as he moves some stuff from his overfilling pockets into his brand new pouches.
âArenât you going to open the other box..?â You remind him and he realises he completely forgot about, turning back to grab it. He clicks open the little box, revealing two iron on patches. One that has his full title, and the other smaller, bearing a similar pattern to his mask. A skull.
âThe one on my jacket has been rubbing off.â He mumbles, and you nod, having seen it get noticeably worse as the weeks passed. There was barely the rest of his name left. âThank you.â
âItâs nothing- really. I just wanted to say thanks.. for everything youâve done. No one else ever helps me as much as you do andââ
Heâs staring at you like youâve grown two heads, confused. âWhat?â
Huh? Was this all a hallucination or something? Damnit, did you need a psych eval orâ
âThat was the bare minimum, iâd barely call that helping i mean-â
âBut no one else is willing to..â You sigh and he looks genuinely disgusted by that thought, his narrowed brows making the mask scrunch up.
âPromise youâll always call me when you need help.â He suddenly says, so firm and insistent, stepping right forward to look you in the eyes.
Slowly you nod, before doing a firmer one when his eyes narrow. âY-yes sir.â
He eases, holding up the patch a bit higher, so he can look at the little details in the mask. It looks exactly the same, he doesnt know how you managed itâ bought or crafted.
Youâre sure heâs busy now, and will probably leave you for the remainder of the day until he leaves towards the barracks. Thatâs how this usually goes, everyone does that.
âCan you help me attach this tonight? Iâm not too good with an iron..â He admits having been staring at it intently before glancing up at you. Surprised, you nod quickly.
âI will!â
âAlright. Iâll order dinner.â
âO-oh, it wont take that longââ
âHm, guess weâll just have to do it extra slow then.â
Without another word he walks off, the patches still cradled in his hand, keys silent now they're contained in his pouch. You have no idea how happy of a man you made him.
ââââââââââââ-
buy me a coffee!
A/n: have some plans for another fic with this prompt. I thought this wass cute too tho
angst no resolution. he yearns. he does belittle u in this but he donât mean it lil twin
an imagine where satoru gojo finds himself falling for a weaker sorcerer⊠find more of my little fics here!
manga spoilers at the very end
you and satoru knew each other from jujutsu high. you wanted to be sorcererâ or really, you had dreamed of being one. a strong one like him.. but eventually you realized thatâs all it was and you wanted to move onto other things.
most of the time youâd see him it was in passing but you started to notice him peering at you through his glasses, analyzing you.
one day, he started to talk with you. maybe not in the most flattering way all the time but there would be moments. weird moments where youâd catch a look, his eyes lingering on yours for too longâ like now.
âhey,
satoruâs fingers wrapped around your wrist to abruptly get your attention, he held on firmly.
âquit being a sorcerer.â
in that moment, your heart had shattered at the brutal advisement, taking it as criticismâ satoru gojo thought you were weak. normally, you could take his playful banter or snarky comments, even keep up with him in that department at times but.. this felt different. did your heart feel achy at his words or the fact that it was him saying it? you snatch your hand away, eyes diluting only a little but he notices.
âface it,
he steps back, satoru didnât want to hurt you but what else could he do to save you?
âyou donât belong here.â satoru really didnât want to hurt you.. but your silence and very hurt look only frustrated and alarmed him in ways he didnât yet know how to handle. why werenât you saying anything? why did you look so scorned? he was only being honest.
âwhat?â satoru exclaims, sounding only more insulting and confused.
you didnât answer him, leaving him to watch as you walked away. satoru felt weirdly hurt. should he have worded it differently?
âitâs true!â
satoru looks over at his best friend, suguru geto. he sat across from him giving him a real judgy look. he continues, âi donât know why she looked so upset, someone had to tell her!â
geto groans closing the book he was so rudely interrupted from, âdude, i think itâs the way you said it. plus why wouldnât she be hurt by you of all people?â he stands up, âmaybe you should have let the school decide.â
satoruâs face scrunches in pure confusion. âthe school?! the school doesnât care about her! or maybe any of us in that capacity.â
geto raises an eyebrow, âand you do?â satoru freezes up, realizing how he sounds.
âcare about her âin that capacityâ i mean?â
satoru still says nothing causing a smile to crack on getoâs face. âwhat exactly is this âcapacityâ you speak of?â he laughs finally understanding why satoru was freaking out over something heâd assumed heâd never think twice about.
geto leans down gathering his book and phone into his hands, âi think you know how to fix this.â
the bells rings and geto scatters off throughly amused by the lost expression on his best friendâs face. was he really that clueless? were the two of you really the only ones who didnât notice?
satoru gojo was in love.
you and satoru hadnât spoken in about week now. heâd also never brought the topic up to geto again.
he noticed you were avoiding him. scurrying away when he was walking over to you and eating lunch with the girls instead of all of you eating as a group with him and geto.
was it really that personal? satoru still didnât understand, a more cowardly part of him wanted to dismiss you as âbeing emotionalâ but it was wrong, something inside felt off.
so he started making his mission to politely stop you, apologize and then everything would be normal again.
he started by just trying to stop you and when that didnât work, leaving you small gifts with notes but youâd just take the gifts. satoru didnât want to have to resort to forced proximity but.. here he was confining you into a classroom.
âi donât want to talk!â
âlisten, iâm not gonna let you leave until you stand still and listen.â satoru hadnât only confined you to a classroom but to a corner. his tall frame inching closer, pulling out his arms every time you tried to move and when you tried to nudge him away? welll.. those efforts were futile.
you were dissolving in anger. âi donât want to hear what you have to say, okay? you already said exactly how you feel about me!â
âi did?â satoruâs eyebrows raise, âthen why are you avoiding me?â
you sighed, your breath was shaky âiâm leaving!â
âi already told you iâm notââ
you groan interrupting him. âthis school, satoru.â
the room fills with silence and a strange feeling floods satoruâs heart: desire.
your eyes started to water staring into his face. you didnât want to be away from him
ât-that still doesnât explain why your ignoring me,â his tone is softer now, sounding defeated almost.
âiâm the one who told you to leave.â
you take your chances at his softened demeanor lightly pushing him, he only stumbles back slightly before his guard is up again. âyou think everything is about you! i-i was already planning to go.â
satoru keeps you in place by the side of your arms this time. âwerenât you going to tell me?â
you read the look in his eyes. why was he getting so frustrated? a tear falls down your cheek, why were you? âof course i was, before you basically cheered me off.â
âwhat are you talking about?â
the hold on your arms becomes tighter, desperate. âi didnât cheer you off-â
âreally?â your anger is apparent now making satoru feel like he was sinking. âso you being all smug and telling me i âdonât belong hereâ isnât you doing that?!â
âno?!â he bites his tongue.
âiâm trying to protect you!â
âwhy? when have you ever done anything besides hate me?â
âi donât, i just donât want you here!â your face drops.
âthatâs not what i mean?â
another moment of silent staring consumes him, the two of you kept searching for understanding in each otherâs eyes when his gaze accidentally slips to your lips, now tuning out the spouts of confusion falling from them.
he was entranced and with very very little thinking for once wanting be a victim to what his heart held. he leans in, closing the gap in between the two of you. satoru felt you gasp in shock against his lips before finally relaxing.
you trailed your hands up his sides hesitantly, youâd never been this close to him before. only quick touches, often in passing, not knowing the both of your hearts yearned for more.
feeling your embrace, satoruâs heart skips a beat. he moves his hands to cup your cheeks, pulling you closer he didnât want to let goâ but this was never going to be his fairytale and he had to.
satoru pulls away from you drawing a look of loss out of your tear stained face. he understood it now, all of the signs, heâd never felt so oblivious to something before.
how could he not see?
satoru felt a strong sensation in his chest. âiâve never felt this way about anyone.â what if you were a witch secretly casting some spell? he knew you werenât but this was just too dangerous to him, his goal was protecting you always.
âme either.â your soft voice comes as a gentle reminder:
satoru gojo canât afford love.
he backs away from you, looking panicked. âiâm sorry, he was. ây-you should leave.â
he never wanted to hurt you, just protect you from what was inevitable. âwhat do you mean? satoru, i understand what it all means now.â
satoru knew he was wrong. the danger he put you in with just one kiss. you werenât a possibility for him. just a taste of a life he couldnât have, you had to leaveâ so he puts on his best poker face.
âno, actually you were right.â
your eyes hook to his every word. âwhat?â
âi think youâre too weak.â he watches your face crumble slightly, but it wasnât enough, you had to stay away from him. âi mean, youâre more useless than shit.â
your expression is pained, âthen why did you just kiss me?â
for the first time, he wanted to run.
âisnât that what any guy would do in a moment like that?â satoru truthfully meant absolutely nothing by that but he had to get some kind of point across right? he turns away to head out the door, shutting his eyes at the sound of your composure starting to break.
he knew it was for the best. you were safer as a memory
satoru gojo will never forget.
inspired from this panel i loved but ofc a more romantic spin lol.. it was brutal of him yet so complex as he maybe really says it to look out for him in the moment and later claims Ijichi as âthe man he trusts the mostâ before his death! :(
those bicepsâpale, carved muscle with a single prominent vein tracing each arm like a roadmap of his strength. they flex with casual power, the kind that could pin you down, hold you steady, render you completely at his mercy. and his forearms? they could crush you between them and you'd thank him for it. you'd beg him to, actually, your voice tipping to a plea while he watches with that knowing smirk.
then there's his scentâcedar and aged wood, something primal that clings to the fabric of his clothes, seeps into yours, deep into your pillows until you can't escape it even when he's gone. you could press your face into the curve of his neck and inhale like you're starving for it, sniffing his pheromones like some wild dog in heat. and he'd chuckle, that low rumble of amusement, fingers threading through your hair as he encourages you to continue. go ahead, his body language says. take what you need.
his chest is a work of artâdetailed to precision, muscles carved like some greek god statue you'd admire once, then do a shameless double-take just to take it in again. that white happy trail peeks just above the waistband of his boxers (calvin klein, specifically), a teasing promise of what he's packing beneath. every line of him seems designed to make you ache.
and his hands. god, his hands. large and calloused from years of fighting, yet impossibly gentle when they touch you. they roam across your body like he's mapping uncharted territory for the first time, even though he's traced these curves a thousand times before. when he moves them through the airâthose elegant, casual gestures during conversationâyou almost feel betrayed that they're not on you instead. when they finally do settle against your skin, they cover at least half your body, claiming you with their size alone.
six foot five inches of pure presence. those long limbs stride with such careless ease, towering over everyone in the room, and he doesn't even seem to notice the way people have to crane their necks to meet his eyes. he moves through space like he owns it, because he does.
but your guilty pleasure? that back. broad and sculpted, muscles flexing beneath pale skin with every movement, just waiting for the drag of your nails. waiting for you to mark him the way he marks youâwith evidence of desperation, of pleasure, of need that can't be contained.
nia's notes: tbh, i just need him in my bed on me, crushing me with his weight, until i cant breathe and then i'd press my lips onto his and let him kiss me till i cant breathe, and we can nap together forever
or two times he almost proposed, and the one time he finally did.
pairings âËâč á° feel free to imagine your preferred f/o ( áŽÍËŹáŽÍ)àŽ
haikyuu kuroo, atsumu, iwaizumi, oikawa
jujutsu kaisen gojo, choso, sukuna
l&ds caleb & raf âĄ
word c. âËâč á° 1,400-ish
One
As soon as the stadiumâs speakers boomed with the announcement of the kiss cam, the sense of impending doom dawned on him.
âAw, this is my favorite part!â
He had to force out a smile when you turned to look at him, excitement obviously brimming from you, while all he could think was: when did the game reach the seventh inning?
Was this how it was supposed to feel? Like he was about to die?
He was almost afraid to peek at the screen and find you two already there. Thankfully, the focus was on an elderly couple, the man kissing his wifeâs cheek while the stadium awed.
It was only a matter of time, though (he had already paid the guy after repeating him five times the seats where you two would be in).
âOh my gosh!â your excited gasp had him smiling dumbly, his head turning to face you instead of the screen. The sight was better anyway with you next to him. âBabe! Itâs usâhey!â
And suddenly, you were frowning.
His head snapped back to the screen, his face pulling into a frown similar to yours when he realized the spotlight had been taken away from you.
How dare they cut his angel off?
âI wanted to kiss,â he heard you mumble, your head finding his shoulder as you pouted at the lost opportunity. âI couldnât even wave.â
âIâm sure itâll be back on us in a sec.â
That was the deal, after all. But as he slipped his fingers in his front pocket, making sure the ring was still there, he missed the way your pout morphed into a look of pure glee.
âNo fucking way,â the sudden curse leaving your mouth had his eyebrow raising, not understanding the need for such strong language. Your head left his shoulder and he mourned it for a second, none-the-wiser to what had you gripping his hand so tightly. âHe proposed!â
For the second time in less than five minutes, his head snapped towards the screen.
No fucking way, indeed. The cabin guy not only focused the wrong couple, but he failed to mention there was going to be another engagement?
âSon of aââ he cut himself off so he could exhale, refusing to lose his cool. It had to be a joke, right? A sarcastic smile took over his features while the whole stadium cheered for the couple, including you. Which, finally, made him realize you were far from sharing the sentiment he was going through. âAre you crying!?â
With his mouth agape, he watched you let out a shaky sigh, your fingertips pressing onto your eyes. It took you a few minutes to compose yourself, feeling a little silly at the whirlwind of emotions that had you sobbing over two strangers.
âThat was, like, super romantic.â
Strike one.
Two
A packed baseball stadium didnât work, but perhaps your first date spot (and your favorite spot, in general) could do the job.
The aquarium had a certain sense of tranquility that matched your spirit as you stared at the jellyfish swim. With your face illuminated by the sunlight that managed to cut through the waters, he didnât hesitate to snap a picture of you.Â
Unknowing, candid.
He let you marvel at the marine creatures, giving you space as he stood a couple of meters behind you, his fingers toying with the ring in the front pocket of his jeans.
After a deep breath, he figured it was time to execute his plan⊠until a kid no older than three suddenly approached you.
âYou love fishies, too?â his tiny arms clung onto a plushie, his head tilted back so he could look at you.
âHi! Yes, I do,â the plushie in the kidâs arms caught your attention, so you used it to make small talk with him. âIs that your favorite?â
His nod was eager and immediate, âyes, Nemo!â
âI see⊠Look!â your finger pointed at a small clown fish that was swimming by, âheâs right there!â
âWhere!?â
Seeing you interact with the kid had him grinning without even noticing, so he figured it would be best to keep watching from afar, letting you and your new friend chat.
âSweetie!â barely a minute later, a woman with facial features similar to the boyâs rushed in. âSorryââ
Her hands reached her sonâs shoulders, sighing a breath of relief while you smiled reassuringly at her.
âItâs okay. We were looking at the fishies, right?â
The kid eagerly nods, turning to look at his distressed mom with a look of pure awe, âMama, my fishie!â
With genuine smiles and eager goodbyes, the kid was dragged by his mom back to his family.
âThat kid was cute.â
He let you gush about your new friend for the rest of the day, figuring this time the kid won and, once again, his proposal had to be postponed.
Not like he was mad about it.
Strike two.
Three
âI'm gonna freeze my butt off.â
You're covered head to toe in ski gear, the cold air numbing the high points of your face within minutes.
He hugs you from behind, clinging onto you, and quietly whispers, âplease, don't.â
At this point, he needs to get the proposal out of his system. Not even a bear chasing you down the slopes could stop the inevitableâheâs proposing, now.
Granted, this isnât the plan he had hoped to go with. Itâs probably the plan c in his list of proposal ideas, but he figures it isnât so bad when your gloved hands settle over his as you tremble in his embrace.
âThat cold, huh?â he muses, smirking down at you. âMy little frozen penguin, you look adorable.â
Your suffering is mixed with excitement, of course. Because why would you complain about this winter wonderland of a holiday that he randomly planned? He went all Hallmark movie on you, heâs the adorable one.
âAre we skiing or not?â you grumble, worming out of his hug and taking a couple of steps forward. âI need you to hold my hand, though. I donât wanna smack onto a tree and break aâ babe, your hand.â
Between your nervous ramble as you eye the slope ahead and your free hand blindly searching his behind you, you frown at the lack of reply (and touch) from him, turning around to scold him for ignoring you.
But heâs on his knees.
Both knees.
Your hands go to your mouth in shock, your boyfriend looking up at you with the most genuine look of yearn and adoration while he offers a diamond ring and mutters:Â
âPlease, marry me.â
He feels as if a year goes by. Youâre not saying anything, just standing there with your mouth covered with your hands and watery eyes glancing between his face and the ring. The more the time goes by, the more strained his smile becomes until it turns into a grimace instead.
âSweetheart?â
He sounds so small, so unsure, that you finally snap out of it and launch yourself over him, successfully knocking him down into the snow with you on top of him.
âYes!â his fingers struggle to keep the ring from slipping from his hold while also wanting to squeeze you tight. âHoly shit, yes! Iâll marry you!âÂ
âOh, thank fuck,â he finally sighs in relief, the weight dumped off his shoulders once he feels your clumsy, frozen lips on his. âI love you, I love you⊠Fuck, that was torture, woman.â
The love rush has you giggling like a maniac, his hands fumbling to tear your gloves off so he can slip the ring where it belongs.Â
âYouâre such a dork,â you grin, the diamond gleaming under the sun rays, and you realize itâs perfect. The ring, the proposal, him. âI love it, I love you.â
âI love you, too, but youâre evil. Why did it take you so long?â
For now, you choose to ignore his whining and donât tease him about it because you are getting married! With him!
âJust making sure.â
The look he gives you is a mix of a nasty glare and a pout, but it doesnât matter because itâs gone in an instant. His eyes are more focused on watching you admire the ring on your hand, your smile worth every second of stress for the past few months.Â
Home-run, touch down, grand slamâthey all fall short to express the victory rush heâs going through because his bride, you, said yes.
âNow⊠slowly let go of the throttle,â Simon says, walking besides you in an empty parking lot.
Who had the bright idea of practicing on a goddamn R1? Oh, thatâs rightâ you! Thankfully, Simon had bought a Ninja 400 to start you out on (how kind! Itâs definitely not the fact that he fears for his R1 getting dropped- I mean you getting hurt).
Suddenly, you lurched forward, your pelvic hitting the gas tank as you almost toppled over until you caught yourself.
And you thought you could handle riding in the neighborhood; what a joke. Simon almost snorted at the thought. Instead, he stood there with his hands on his hips and his weight shifting to his right foot. âIt stalled,â he commented.
You snapped your head over to him and glared, âdonât you think I know that?!â you replied, starting the bike up again.
Simon didnât hold back a snort this time. He quickly put down his tinted visor to prevent you from seeing how his eyes brightened at your frustration. âPut it in neutral, then roll into first,â he says loud enough for you to hear.
You did as he said, slowly pulling the clutch to find the sweet spot until you hit first gear. Now, you were topping three miles an hourâ look at you go!
âThere yâgoâ Atta girl,â Simon says proudly, giving you a small clap as you continue to slowly go straight. He puts his visor back up and follows you. Gosh, heâs never seen someone sit so straight on a motorcycle before.
âHow do I turn?!â you shout over the engine. Your hands gripped the handles, leather gloves tightening around it as you stared straight ahead. You couldnât even look over at Simon in fear of steering it wrong and dropping.
No one ever told Simon that teaching someone how to ride a motorcycle would be like watching a kid ride a bicycle off of training wheels. âSteer whatever way you want sweeâheartâ the parking lots completely empty,â he replied, still walking besides you slowly.
âI donât know how!â you replied in frustration, all while still going three miles an hour. Maybe five now, who knows.
âAngle it!â Simon said, biting back a smile. He watches as you try to figure out how and slowly, stirred it left. âWoah, woah!â he shouts, taking a step back. âI said angle it, not hit me goinâ at a speed oâ a snail, you mad woman!â he says, throwing his hands up.ïżŒ
You donât bother to replyâ too embarrassed, frustrated and struggling to figure out how to put it in second gear. You finally felt the courage to look over at Simon (more like you were so frustrated, your body controlled on its own), âdonât tell me what to do!â
Just then, the front wheel of the motorcycle hit the curb, causing you to ram into the gas tank again. Your foot hit the ground before you slowly toppled over. Time felt like it had slowed down as you dropped.
Simon scrunched his nose up, watching you stand up. When he bought the bike, the previous owner said that the bike was never dropped⊠Now⊠Itâs a different story. âYou done here?â he asks, walking over to you.
You dusted off your leather pants and huffed while Simon picked up the Ninja. âNo. Weâre staying here until I say so.â
Simon puts the kickstand down and looks over at you. A small smile formed on his lips; he loved how you always kept trying, even when itâs hard. He grabs your hands and gently pulls you in, âwhatever you say,â he says, his gloved finger reaching up to pull your visor down.
the masses may or may not need a reincarnated!gojo x reincarnated!reader fic OR just a reincarnated gojo fic idkâŠ
A/N: The masses indeed need a reincarnated gojo fic! Enjoy Anon!
~1k words
Gojo Satoru does not remember dying. What he remembers is the moment after. The unbearable calm and silence of it.
No pain. No light. No memories flashing before you. Just the certainty that something essential had been taken from him.
When awareness returns, it does so violently. Breath claws into unfamiliar lungs. A heartbeat pounds far too loud in his ears. His vision swims, the world oversaturated, every sound too sharp. Like his senses were sharpened for a war that no longer exists.
This body is wrong for him. It was small, weak. Human in a way he hasnât been for a very long time. He cries, and the sound startles him more than the sensation itself. Cursed energy stirs instinctively, then falters. MutedâŠ..Distant and unfamiliar.
Itâs there, he knows that much, but it feels like reaching for the sky and finding only fog. The Six Eyes flicker once, just once before vanishing entirely, leaving behind a migraine that feels like grief pressed into bone.
Something inside him tightens. Not anger, not regret.
Just fact.
âI lostâŠ..â The thought arrives whole and unquestionable. And beneath it, quieter but infinitely worse,
âI left someone behind..â
He grows the way children do. Too fast for someone who once stood outside of time. Memories return in fragments instead of scenes. Not in snips or faces heâs know but feelings.
The smell of blood on concrete. A laugh too loud for its surroundings. The unbearable pressure of being relied upon.
A missing presence that his instincts search for before his mind can stop them. It takes years before he understands why his chest aches when he looks at the sky.
He meets you when heâs seventeen. You are not special at first glance, you were just like anyone else.
Thatâs what terrifies him. No overwhelming cursed energy, no immediate resonance. No spark that screams fate like books or movies depict.
You are just⊠familiar.
The kind of familiar that makes his stomach drop without warning. The kind that makes his Infinity twitch reflexively, as if his soul itself is bracing for impact.
When your eyes meet his, something ancient and exhausted inside him goes utterly still. You blink first, Gojo doesnât. You look around for anyone else staring, Gojo doesnât.
He doesnât smile, doesnât jokeâŠâŠDoesnât say anything at all.
Because for the first time since waking up in this life, the wrongness eases, even if itâs just st a little.
You donât remember him, not consciously at least.
You always had dreams of standing at the edge of something vast and terrible, calling out to someone who never answered. When Gojo looks at you, it feels like being seen by someone who knows how youâll die.
And how you already did.
He doesnât tell you who he thinks you are, he doesnât even tell himself. Because memory is dangerous, and Gojo Satoru learned too late, the cost of certainty.
Instead, he stays and watches the way you gravitate toward him without understanding why. The way your presence steadies his cursed energy when it spirals. The way his instincts once honed for battle, now exist solely to keep you close.
Sometimes, when you laugh, something behind his eyes burns. Sometimes, when you touch his arm, the world goes quiet in a way that Infinity never managed to achieve.
And on rare occasions you look at him with a sadness you canât explain and say,
âDo I know you from somewhere?â
Gojo never answers.
He just smiles, not the sharp, invincible grin history remembers, but something softer. Something earned.
âMaybe,â he says. âIn another life.â
âWellâŠ.could I know you againâŠ..in this life?â
Sylus becomes a regular at the cafe you work at and tips crazy amounts when you're on shift.
-
Something was wrong with this man.
You weren't the kind of person to ask customers personal questions, nor were you the type to tell customers the truth if they asked about you. In food service, that's just how it's supposed to go.
Especially for regulars like Sylus, you forced yourself to ignore the darkening stains at the edges of his sleeve or the fresh scrapes on his cheekbones. You took his coffee order and then directed him to the other end of the counter where his drink would be ready and where another worker could strike up a conversation about what happened to him, but not you, never you.
He was a big tipper, but he never paid in cash. When he had just begun to come in consistently, your curiosity got the better of you and you looked through the payment history on the register to see his $100 tip on a $9 drink. It was obviously a mistake your manager would have to deal with later. The guy would call about the charge on his card anyways so you didn't bring it up. But there was no call. And then it kept happening. Whenever he came in, you checked his transaction information and shook your head.
You didn't know if it was generosity or if it was him continually making the same mistake unknowingly. In any case, it must've been nice to have so much money you didn't have to worry about it. But you figured his line of work wasn't very.. traditional, to put it delicately. You had a bad feeling about it, but it wasn't any of your business, so who cared.
"Your hands are red," he said one day. You were snapped out of your thoughts at his deviation from your usual routine with him. You looked down at your hands, which were indeed stained a faint orange-red.
That weekend, you decided to take on a pottery class on your own. You wanted to start a new hobby, but you were honestly terrible at it no matter how many hours you spent at the studio. The stains weren't intentional, though, and you almost forgot that they were there until he pointed it out.
"Oh," you said. "Don't worry, we wear gloves when we're handling food," you reassured him as you rang up his usual large, iced americano.
His laugh was warm and deep, something that made your skin prickle upon first hearing it. "I wasn't worried. I haven't had a bad experience here yet." He held his card against the payment dock and smiled as he tapped on the payment screen, all while resting his gaze on you.
You smiled at him politely. "We'll have it out for you on the other end."
His eyes lingered on you for a moment before he moved towards the other end of the counter like you instructed him so many times before. When you checked the transaction history at the end of your shift, the tip grew to $500.
You told your manager about it immediately, which prompted another useless attempt at trying to get into contact with Sylus. You left his tiny workspace and told your coworkers about the whole situation, much to their delight.
"Ah, I knew he would come in today," one of them said.
"He always comes when you're working," another added.
You rolled your eyes. "So is he stalking me?"
They all laughed. "If he is, can he stalk you more?"
"He only tips well when you're on shift."
You frowned at that. "What?"
They shrug collectively. "It's true. If it's someone else, he only tips a few dollars."
synopsis â after reading about a book series that mirrored everything youâd loved about a past favourite, you were thrilled to find it in your college library. the copies were oldâworn enough to still have checkout cardsâbut what caught your attention was the same set of initials, G.S., scrawled across nearly every one. the same G.S. who had filled the margins with sharp, thoughtful annotations. you couldnât stop yourself from thoroughly enjoying the silly little comments written in the margins, leaving your own notes alongside theirs. it wasnât until much later that you realised G.S. wasnât some long-gone bookworm. it was none other than the man you had sworn to hate. gojo satoru.
pairing â nerd! satoru x reader
genre â academic rivals to lovers
word countâ 32k (oops)
warnings â sexual content (unprotected sex), swearing, mentions of not eating, slight angst.
small playlist i listened to while writing
"You all can come and grab the papers nowâdo not ask me for any re-evaluations, the mark presented on the paper is your final markâ"
You barely listen. The professor could be reading a grocery list for all you care. Your focus is already on the stack of midterms in his hands, your heart pounding like a drum against your ribs.
The exam had been brutalâ200 marks, covering classical mechanics and electromagnetism, some of the toughest material in your Physics II course. Past students had called it a horror show, a midterm designed to crush dreams and expose weaknesses. It was weighted heavily in your final grade, which meant every single mark mattered. The room is filled with a tense hum, a mixture of eager whispers and anxious murmurs. Some students hesitate in their seats, mentally preparing themselves before facing their doom. But you? You don't wait. You weave through the aisles, manoeuvring past people, determined to be one of the first to grab your paper.
And, of course, Gojo is right behind you.
"Jeez, you could at least pretend to be patient," he muses, his tone dripping with amusement as he strolls lazily down the steps, hands shoved in the pockets of his hoodie. You roll your eyes. "Not all of us have the luxury of cruising through exams without trying."
"I do try," he says, flashing you a grin. "I try just enough." Before you can shoot back a response, you reach the professorâs desk. Professor Takeda raises an unimpressed brow as he sorts through the papers.
"You two again," he sighs. "Half my life as a professor has been spent watching you bicker."
"Don't be dramatic, sir," Gojo says smoothly, resting an elbow on the desk. "It's only been three years." Takeda shakes his head, muttering something under his breath about headaches before handing you your paper. You grab it without waiting, fingers slightly shaking as you flip it over.
98.
The relief rushes through you instantly, so strong you canât help the triumphant burst of excitement. "Ninety-eight!" you blurt out, beaming as you hug the paper to your chest. Itâs a damn near perfect score, and after all those sleepless nights, all those hours of grinding through problem setsâyou earned this. Gojo, still waiting for his turn, glances at you with an expression you canât quite place. His usual smirk is still there, but thereâs something elseâsomething quieter, almost thoughtful, before he smooths it over with his usual easy confidence.
Takeda hands him his paper. Gojo flips it over, barely reacting as he reads the number at the top.
"Ninety-five." Your grin widens.
"You mean I beat you?" You practically bounce on your heels. "Me? The one you said was âtoo uptightâ and needed to ârelax and accept second placeâ? Me?"
Gojo exhales through his nose, shaking his head, as he folds his paper out of your sight. "Don't get too cocky," he drawls, shoving the paper under his arm. "Itâs just three points."
"Three points above you."
"For now," he corrects smoothly, nudging your shoulder as he moves past you.
Itâs been this way since freshman year. You and Gojo had ended up in the same introductory physics course, and from the very first midterm, it was clear: you were the only two truly competing at the top of the class. But while you poured everything into studyingâlate nights, flashcards, equations scribbled on napkinsâGojo seemed to barely put in the effort. Heâd show up late to lectures, half-asleep in sweatpants, glasses slightly skewed, yet somehow still aced every exam. He never took notes, never stressed, never seemed to break a sweat. It drove you insane. Because no matter how hard you tried, how much effort you put inâhe was always right there with you. Sometimes ahead, sometimes just behind, but never far enough to ignore.
And worst of all? He made it look easy. By now, the entire physics department knew about your rivalry. Professors expected you to fight over test scores. Study groups would take bets on who would score higher. Even during practical lab sessions, it was always a silent battleâwho could get through the calculations faster, who could figure out the trick questions first. You hated him. And now, after years of this, you finally had something over him. A small, almost imperceptible shift in the universe.
You beat Gojo Satoru. As soon as class ends, youâre practically floating out of the lecture hall, midterm still clutched in your hands. The second you step into the cafeteria, your eyes scan the room for your friend, and when you finally spot her at your usual table, you donât even bother with a greeting. âI got a ninety-eight,â you announce, sliding into the seat across from her with an undeniably smug grin. âAnd I beat Gojo.â
Her head snaps up from her laptop. âWaitâ Gojo Gojo?â
You roll your eyes. âAs opposed to what? Some other Gojo in our department?â
âOh my God, you actually did it?â she gasps, setting her drink down as she stares at you in something close to awe. âI thought that man was unstoppable.â
âWell, turns out heâs not.â You lean back in your chair, stretching your arms above your head. âGuess he finally met his match.â Your friend is still blinking at you in disbelief when a voice cuts in from behind you, slow and amused.
âOne good score, and you think youâre the shit.â You freeze. Then, before you can even turn around, Gojo is already there, stepping up behind you like a shadow that refuses to be ignored. You feel the presence of himâtall, lazy, entirely too smugâbefore you even lift your head to meet his gaze. Heâs leaning in just slightly, close enough to loom, his hands shoved into the pockets of his hoodie. That familiar, insufferable smirk is plastered on his face, condescending and infuriatingly amused.
You huff. âCanât a girl enjoy her victory in peace?âÂ
He tilts his head, that same damned smirk never wavering. âVictory?â he echoes, voice dripping with mockery. âYouâre getting ahead of yourself, arenât you? One midterm doesnât erase three years of domination.â You scoff, crossing your arms. âOh, please. Like youâve actually dominated me.â
âOh, you want me to bring out the stats?â Gojo hums, slipping into the seat beside you like he owns the place. He props his elbow on the table, resting his cheek on his palm as he begins, âPhysics I finalâ97 to your 96. Thermodynamics midterm? 95 to your 91. Electromagnetic Fields examââ
You groan. âJesus Christ, you memorized all of them?â
âYou think I donât keep track?â He arches a brow, eyes glinting with amusement. âItâs not my fault I have a consistent history of kicking your ass.â
Your friend snorts into her drink. âHe kinda has a pointââ
You shoot her a glare. Gojo, meanwhile, is clearly having the time of his life. He leans in, that imposing height of his making his presence impossible to ignore, his voice dropping just slightly, almost teasing. âBut sure,â he drawls, chin resting in his hand. âEnjoy your one win, (name). Iâll let you have it.â
You grip your cup so tightly the plastic crinkles. âLet me have it?â
âMmm.â He tilts his head, looking entirely too pleased with himself. âWouldnât want you to cry when I obliterate you on the final.â Your friend nudges you under the table, mouthing heâs so full of shit, but you barely register itâbecause the air between you and Gojo is charged in a way that makes your stomach twist. You wonât admit it out loud, but part of you wondersâ is this how he always talks to you?
So close, so taunting, like he enjoys watching you bristle. You hate how natural it feels, how effortless the rhythm of your bickering has become. But more than anything, you hate the way your heart stutters when he pushes himself out of his chair, hands still stuffed in his pockets, and grins down at you like he already knows how the next round of this fight is going to end.
âYou should really start studying,â he hums, walking backward toward the exit. âYouâll need it.â And with that, heâs gone, leaving you fuming at the table. Your friend watches him go, eyebrows raised. âSo, uh,â she says slowly. âAre we sure you guys arenât flirting?â You glare at her.
âI hate him.â She smirks. âMhm.â You seethe a little, realisingâwith a stab of annoyanceâthat yes, that motherfucker is actually leading right now in terms of grades and rankings. Itâs not even about the marks. Okay, maybe itâs a little about the marks. But youâve always been the smart woman in your course. The one who professors hold up as an example. The one whose name has been printed on merit lists and whose email is always flooded with internship offers and research opportunities. Youâve spent years perfecting your academic standing, earning every achievement through sheer effort and discipline. But for some odd reason, none of it ever seems to matter until youâve compared it with Gojo Satoru. You glare at his name on the leaderboard, one place ahead of yours. A single midterm shouldnât be enough to infuriate you, and yetâ
Your eye twitches. How the hell did you even get here?
Well.
Actually.
You know how. You just try not to think about it because, frankly, itâs one of the most mortifying moments of your entire academic career.
â
It was the very first week of freshman year, and you were, for lack of a better term, an insufferable know-it-all. Not in a bad wayâokay, maybe in a slightly bad way. But it wasnât your fault that you took your education seriously, or that you actually read ahead in your courses, or that you genuinely cared about learning. If anything, you were doing everyone a service by answering questions when no one else raised their hands. So, on that particular day, when your physics professor asked the class a question about vector components, you barely hesitated before speaking up.
âThe perpendicular components of a vector are independent of each other,â youâd answered smoothly, sitting up a little straighter as you prepared to elaborate. âThatâs why we can analyse them separately usingââ
âOhhh, wow,â someone cut in, voice dripping with mock wonder. âLook at that. We got a genius in the house.â The interruption had been so unexpectedâso audaciousâthat it completely derailed your train of thought.
And when you turned around, irritated beyond belief, there he was. White hair, round glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, an undeniably punchable smirk tugging at his lips. You had no idea who he was at the time. Just some tall, obnoxious guy slouched lazily in his seat, all limbs and arrogance, tapping a pen idly against his notebook as he stared at you with barely concealed amusement.
Your brows furrowed. âExcuse me?â
âIâm just saying,â he shrugged, âyou must be so fun at parties.â The class chuckled. Your jaw clenched. âWell, someone has to answer when no one else even tries.â
âRight, because weâre all just too stupid to understand vectors,â he drawled, stretching lazily in his seat.
âI didnât say that,â you shot back.
âDidnât have to,â he grinned, tapping his temple. âI could feel the superiority radiating from you.â You exhaled sharply through your nose, forcing yourself to turn back around before you said something that would get you in trouble on the first week of class.
âOkay, okay,â your professor cut in, looking thoroughly unbothered by the exchange. âLetâs keep the debating to actual physics concepts.â That should have been the end of it. But then you heard a low tsk from behind you.
âI bet she memorized the textbook cover to cover before the semester even started,â the white-haired menace mused under his breath to his friend with the long, black haired locks, who seemed disinterested in what his friend had to say.
You whipped around. âI did notââ
âDonât lie, nerd.â
âExcuse me?!â The class chuckled again. And when you shot a glare toward your professor, expecting some kind of reprimand, he just sighed and muttered, âGod, I already know you two are going to be a pain in my ass.â From that moment on, it had been war.
Your first set of midterms was when you realized he wasnât just talk. You walked into class with a 97 on your physics exam, feeling confidentâonly to glance over and see Gojo slouched in his seat, grinning as he casually flipped his test paper over to show a 99. He made eye contact with you as he tapped his fingers against the big red number. You nearly broke your pen in half.
And so it began.
Every exam, every assignment, every single class discussion became a battleground. You would argue over formulas, nitpick each otherâs solutions, and constantly try to one-up the other. You worked your ass off to close the gap, pouring hours into perfecting your work. And Gojo? Gojo barely looked like he was trying. That was what infuriated you the most. He never seemed stressed, never looked exhausted, never talked about pulling all-nighters. He just showed up, half the time looking like he hadnât even studied, and still somehow stayed ahead. Until now. Until your 98 finally beat his 95. A single win isnât enough. But damn, does it feel good.
â
You step into the lecture hall, already bracing yourself for the inevitable. Sure enough, Gojo Satoru is exactly where you expect him to beâsprawled out in his usual seat, legs stretched obnoxiously far like he has no concept of personal space. His sunglasses rest on top of his head, keeping his messy white hair from falling into his annoyingly pretty eyes, and the second he spots you, that familiar smirk tugs at his lips. Youâre already exhausted.Â
âYouâre early,â you mutter, slipping into your seat and pulling out your laptop.
âAnd youâre predictable,â he shoots back. âWhat, do you set an alarm just to make sure you get here before me?â
âYou wish.â
âNah, you wish.â
You pause, narrowing your eyes. âThat doesnât even make sense.â
He shrugs, propping his chin on his hand. âStill got under your skin, though, didnât it?â
You make a sound of irritation in the back of your throat, ready to tell him exactly where he can shove his smug attitude, but your friend plops into the seat next to you, completely unaware of the storm brewing between you and Gojo. You exhale sharply, forcing yourself to shift gearsâthereâs something more important than your ongoing war with him. Something much, much more important.
âOkay, so, I found this book series last night,â you begin, your fingers twitching excitedly as you pull out your phone. âI was going through one of those book recommendation guidesâyou know, the niche ones that arenât full of the same ten bestsellersâand this one just caught my eye.â Your friend hums in interest, booting up their laptop. âWhatâs it about?â
You practically buzz with excitement. âSo itâs kind of likeâugh, how do I explain itâitâs this really well-written like narrative, mystery, suspense, romance, but with, like, existential themes? And this insane world building? And apparently, no one talks about it because the publisher went under before it got the recognition it deserved, so itâs kind of a hidden gem.â As you speak, Gojo, who had been staring blankly at the front of the room, blinks. That sounds familiar.
âYouâre really selling it,â your friend teases.
âRight?! And apparently, itâs super hard to find, but I checked, and our library actually has a few copies.â You tuck your phone away, already feeling a rush of excitement. âIâm gonna borrow the first book after class.â Gojo leans back in his seat, eyes flickering with something unreadable.
Yeah, he thinks. Iâve definitely read that.
He doesnât say anything, though. Just rests his chin in his palm and listens as you keep gushing. Because now that he thinks about it, he really liked that series too. It had been one of those random books he picked up between classes, half expecting to get bored, but then something about it hooked him. The way it wove together philosophy and adventure, the quiet melancholy lingering in the proseâit was the kind of book that stuck with you. But he never finished it. Midterms had hit, and between exams, research papers, and group projects that made him want to rip his hair out, he just⊠forgot. He never went back to check out the last few books. He had meant to, but by the time he had free time again, his brain had moved on. And now here you are, unknowingly digging it back up.
His fingers drum idly against the desk, and for some reason, he canât shake the thought: Sheâs gonna love it. He steals another glance at you. Youâre still talking, eyes bright with excitement, flipping through your phone as you read off little details from the guide you found. The enthusiasm is contagiousâhe canât remember the last time he saw you this animated about something that wasnât academics. Usually, all your energy goes into perfecting equations, arguing with him over points lost on exams, and trying to one-up him in every possible way. This is⊠different.
And weirdly, he finds himself kind of liking it. Not that heâd ever admit it.
â
So after class finally finishesâthankfully, your professor had been going through a hard topic that he kept droning on and on about, emphasising how likely it was to appear in the final examâit was enough to sate even Gojo, who, for once, shut up and took notes diligently. You head out at lightning speed, managing a small âsee you laterâ to your friend before disappearing into the hallway. Honestly, ever since the new year of college had started, youâd barely had time to indulge in activities you actually enjoyed.
Sure, you squeezed in a few books here and there when you had the chance, but it was difficult finding ones that hit just the right wayâones with the same kind of engaging plot, the same writing style that kept you hooked. Youâd tried, but nothing had stuck with you the way your favorite books used to. It had been frustrating, going through these long periods without anything to read. But this time, you had a feeling it would be different.Â
Turning a corner, you step into the vast college library, its sheer size never failing to impress you. The high, arched ceilings, the rows upon rows of bookshelves, and the dozens of students scattered across large wooden tables, heads buried in textbooksâitâs an environment that should feel welcoming, yet all it does is remind you how much work you still have waiting for you. You shake that thought away.
Right now, youâre here for one thing.
You glance at your phone, rereading the authorâs name one last time before slipping it into your pocket and heading straight for the fiction section. Itâs tucked away in one of the quieter corners of the library, past the heavier academic texts, and while itâs not as large as the science or philosophy sections, it still has an impressive selection. The shelves here are a little dustier, the books a little more wornâproof that they donât get checked out as often as the physics or chemistry textbooks. You trace your fingers lightly along the spines, scanning for the title. When you finally spot it, you feel a flicker of excitement. There it is.
The first book in the series. The cover is simple yet striking, the title embossed in slightly faded silver lettering. You pull it off the shelf carefully, glancing around to see if the rest of the series is there. To your delight, every single book is lined up neatly in order. Some of them look well-loved, the edges softened from use, some even slightly bent, as if theyâd been carried around in bags, read and reread countless times.
You flip the book over and read the blurb. Even though you already know the gist of the story from your research, thereâs something about reading the official summary that makes your excitement spike. Itâs exactly what youâve been looking forâan underrated but brilliant story, the kind that feels like a hidden gem. Unable to resist, you take the book with you and settle down at one of the smaller, tucked-away tables. Youâre a slow reader, someone who likes to absorb every word, letting the imagery settle in your mind before moving on. But the moment you turn to the first page and begin reading, youâre immediately pulled in.
The writing is crisp and immersive, the kind that hooks you effortlessly. Within moments, youâre completely lost in the world of the book, eyes darting across the pages, flipping to the next before you even realize it. The characters are compelling, the descriptions vivid, and the dialogue sharp. You can already tell this is going to be one of those stories that sticksâthe kind that lingers in the back of your mind long after youâve finished. Just as you reach a particularly interesting part, your phone buzzes.
You blink, momentarily disoriented before glancing at the screen. Itâs a reminder you set for yourself. Right. You still need to study. A sigh escapes you. As much as you want to keep reading, you know you canât afford to waste too much time. With some reluctance, you close the book and stand up, making your way toward the borrowing counter. You check it out quickly, securing it in your bag, already planning when youâll carve out time to read it between your study sessions. Itâs something to look forward to, at least. And if you had known just who had been the last person to check it out before you, maybe you wouldnât be so eager.
â
The ringer from your Pomodoro timer goes off, its sharp chime cutting through the quiet of your dorm room. With a sigh, you drop your pencil onto your open notebook, rolling your shoulders back as you stretch in your seat, feeling the slight stiffness from hours of hunching over your desk. Lazily glancing at the glowing numbers on your laptop screen, a small grin tugs at the corners of your lips.
Four hours of focused work.
Good. Youâve finally finished studying for the night, trudging through a mountain of tricky concepts and endless equationsâjust enough to ensure youâll keep up with the next few lectures before the actual final exam looms over you. The weight of the work youâve put in settles in a satisfying way, a quiet reassurance that youâre keeping up. Yawning, you grab your phone, thumbing through a few unopened texts, sending half-hearted replies where needed.
Your mind is already half-tuned out, already drifting toward what you actually want to do now that your responsibilities are out of the way for the night. Pushing yourself up from your chair, you shuffle toward your bed, sinking into the softness of your mattress with a pleased sigh. And then, with an eager flicker of excitement, you reach for the borrowed library book resting on your side table, fingers running over the slightly worn edges of the cover.
Finally.
Opening it to the page you had left off, you settle deeper into the blankets, eyes scanning the words slowly, absorbing every detail. The prose is effortless, pulling you into the world woven between the lines. The atmosphere is rich, each description vivid and carefully placed, the characters full of depth. Thereâs a certain feeling you get when a book is just rightâsomething that clicks into place, the rare kind of story that makes the outside world blur at the edges. You donât rush through it.
You savor every word, taking in the dialogue, the intricate details of the setting, the careful unraveling of the plot. Then, just as you shift slightly, readjusting your grip, a small slip of paper flutters from between the pages. You blink, momentarily pulled from the trance of the story, watching as it lands lightly on your blanket.
Frowning, you reach for it, fingers brushing against the slightly yellowed, aged texture of the paper. Itâs rectangular, not quite as thick as a regular bookmark, with neat printed lines running across it in faded ink.
A borrowing card.
You stare at it for a second, a vague memory surfacing. Back during your university orientation in first year, you remember a librarian offhandedly mentioning that some of the older books in the collection still had checkout cards inside them, relics from a time before everything became digitized. But since youâd only ever borrowed course-related booksâones that were constantly replaced with new editionsâyouâd never actually come across one. Huh.Â
Your fingers trace the faded lines as you sit up slightly, eyes scanning the list of names scrawled across itâ
Except⊠there are no names. Just one. Or rather, just a set of initials, written neatly in blue ink
G.S.
The date beside it is from a while ago, though not too long. But the strange thing is, itâs the only entry on the entire card. You blink, flipping it over, checking the back. Nothing. So⊠no one else has borrowed this book? You hesitate, gripping the card a little tighter. Youâre supposed to write your name down now, right? Thatâs how these things work. Itâs a log of borrowers. But thenâwhy had this person only written their initials?
A weird feeling stirs in your chest. Not unease, exactlyâjust something you canât put a name to. Itâs probably nothing. Maybe this book just wasnât that popular. The only reason you found it was because of some obscure online guide, after all. Maybe no one really checked it out over the years, and the one person who did just didnât feel like writing their full name.
Shaking your head, you push the thought aside, grabbing a pen from your nightstand. Without thinking too much about it, you write your own name neatly beneath G.S., along with todayâs date. Then, you tuck the card back into its place and return to your book, letting yourself sink back into the story. A few more pages in, about a quarter of the way through the book, your eyes catch something that makes your brow furrow.
Are those⊠scribbles?
Your annoyance flares up immediately. Who the hell desecrates a library book? Itâs practically sacrilegious. Your fingers tighten slightly around the spine as you bring the book closer to inspect the crime against literature, fully prepared to be enragedâ
Wait.
Theyâre not just random scribbles. Theyâre annotations.
Your irritation dims slightly, curiosity piqued as you squint to make out the neat, slightly slanted cursive handwriting running along the margins. Some words are underlined, a few sentences circled, and in a crisp blue ink, a note is scrawled beside a particularly tense conversation between two characters:
âI can just tell heâs gonna be the one dead first. Heâs overreacting to everything.â
You blink. Then, despite yourself, a small giggle escapes. Becauseâokayâwhoever wrote this isnât wrong. You literally thought the same thing just a few moments ago. As much as you love a good, well-written novel, youâve read enough books in your life to recognise the telltale signs of an early death flag. And this character? Heâs practically begging to be taken out of the story. Your amusement lingers as you scan the page again, eyes flitting to more scribbles running alongside the printed words.
"God, she sounds so insufferable."
You smirk a little at that, suppressing a chuckle.
"I like this lineâthe quote kinda speaks to me."
Your gaze follows the arrow pointing toward a particularly well-crafted piece of dialogue. Huh. You actually like that line too.
"I take the previous statement backâno way did he say that entire motivational monologue just for him to throw his morals aside..."
A small, surprised laugh escapes you. You love when characters do this kind of thingâspend pages waxing poetic about their grand principles, only to completely toss them out the window at the first sign of trouble. Itâs frustrating, but also wildly entertaining, and you find yourself nodding unconsciously in agreement.
You shift slightly, adjusting your grip on the book as your initial annoyance starts to morph into something elseâsomething you donât want to admit is enjoyment. Because as much as you usually hate unnecessary markings in books, these annotations donât feel disruptive.
They feel⊠engaging. Like youâre reading with someone. Itâs a strange feelingâan unexpected, quiet kind of companionship in the margins of the book. You scan ahead, flipping a few pages forward, wondering if this mystery annotatorâG.S., you assumeâhas left their thoughts scattered throughout the entire book.
Oh. They have. Almost every page has at least something scribbled in the margins. Some annotations are sarcastic, others incredulous. A few are simple observations or predictions about the plot, and some are just random, dramatic reactions that make you snort.
"Oh my GOD, just kiss already!"
You huff out an amused breath, shaking your head.
"He is so painfully oblivious itâs almost impressive."
Honestly, you were thinking the same thing. Before you realize it, youâve started reading out loudânot the annotations, but the actual book. Itâs something you do sometimes when youâre alone, when a scene is particularly well-written or emotional. And now, with G.S.âs thoughts scattered alongside the text, it almost feels like youâre having a conversation with them. Like theyâre some ghostly presence in the book, reacting alongside you in real time.
You catch yourself before you say something back to one of the notes.
Which is insane. Because this is just a random personâs handwriting in a library book. And yetâ
You exhale through your nose, fingers absentmindedly tracing the edge of the page. You kind of⊠want to know who they are. Who is G.S.? Because if their annotations are anything to go by, they have the exact same thoughts as you while reading. The same exasperation, the same eye-roll-worthy observations, the same appreciation for the well-crafted lines. And you canât help but wonderâjust who was sitting with this same book in their hands, reading the same words, thinking the same things? Itâs an odd, fleeting curiosity, but you push it aside for now, shaking your head as you turn the page.
You settle deeper into your blankets, the book resting comfortably in your hands as you turn the page. The words on the paper blur slightly in the dim light of your bedside lamp, but you donât mindâyouâre too immersed now, drawn into both the story and the unexpected presence of G.S. in the margins. The next chapter begins, and you take a slow breath before diving in, eyes flicking between the printed text and the handwritten notes.
"Oh, I just know this is going to go terribly."
You glance at the line itâs referencingâa scene where the protagonist makes a bold, arguably reckless decision. Yeah, G.S. is probably right. A few more pages pass. The tension in the book rises, and youâre so absorbed that you nearly miss the next annotation.
"There it is. The classic âstaring at the moon in emotional turmoilâ scene. Authors love this one."
You snort. Okay, but theyâre right. You tilt your head, momentarily pausing your reading to stare at the note. Itâs a little strange, this dynamic youâve somehow fallen into with a complete stranger. You feel like you know them, or at least, their reading habits. Their humor. The way they react to the exact same things that pull at your attention. It's unsettling in a way thatâs not entirely unpleasant. You flip forward, skimming ahead to see if the notes continueâand they do.
"I KNEW IT. I CALLED IT. HEâS A TRAITOR."
You blink, pausing mid-sentence. Your gaze darts back to the text, where a major plot twist has just been revealed. Your mouth parts slightly, rereading the words to make sure youâre seeing them correctly. Damn. You did not see that coming.
You exhale, a small smirk tugging at your lips. Fine. Point to you, G.S. You keep reading, now almost waiting for the next annotation, like itâs a second voice in your head providing commentary as you go. And when the protagonist makes another questionable decisionâ
"Why are men in fiction like this?"
âyou laugh, shaking your head. It continues like that for pages. Every now and then, G.S. 's notes make you chuckle, or nod in agreement, or roll your eyes because come on, that was an obvious metaphor. And as much as you want to be annoyed by the interruptions, you find yourself⊠enjoying it. Maybe even liking it. At some point, you shift your position, getting more comfortable against your pillows, completely absorbed. The words feel alive, and not just the printed ones, but the ones scribbled in blue ink alongside them. Itâs a conversation you never expected to haveâone separated by time, by anonymity, by the unlikelihood of ever knowing who G.S. is. Your fingers brush over the ink of the annotations, slightly faded but still legible. Thinking back to the date listed on the library card from quite a while ago, you wonder if G.S. has even thought about this book since then. Or if theyâve forgotten about it entirely. You stare at the letters for a moment longer before shaking your head, pushing away the odd sensation curling at the back of your mind.
Itâs just a book. Just some random personâs annotations. It doesnât mean anything.
A reminder notification pops up on your phoneâone youâd set earlier to keep your study schedule in check. You sigh. Right. You should get some sleep soon. Reluctantly, you close the book, running your fingers over the cover one last time before placing it on your nightstand. Youâll finish it laterâbetween classes, between assignments, between all the little gaps in your schedule where you can steal a moment to read. And maybe, youâll keep an eye out. Because now, you kind of want to know if G.S. ever came back for this book.
â
By the time your next Physics lecture rolls around, youâve already finished the first book in the series. It had consumed your nights, pulling you in with its immersive world-building and gripping storylineâbut, if you were being honest, the experience had been made infinitely more enjoyable because of the annotations left behind in the margins. The presence of another reader, someone who had walked the same narrative path as you and left breadcrumbs of their thoughts along the way, had made the book feel less like a solitary escape and more like a shared secret. So, naturally, when you stride into class that morning, youâre already prepared to discuss it at length with your friend.
What you arenât prepared for is Gojo Satoru.
Not that you ever are, really. He has a habit of making his presence known, like some self-appointed force of nature existing solely to get under your skin. And today is no differentâhe walks past you with an easy, sauntering gait, the kind thatâs deliberately slow enough to be obnoxious. Thereâs a telltale smirk tugging at his lips, the glint of mischief in his strikingly bright eyes as he leans in, as if heâs about to say something insufferable just to throw off your morning. You pretend not to see him.
Your willful ignorance must be obvious because you hear him scoff under his breath as he passes by, but you donât give him the satisfaction of looking.
Instead, you beeline toward the row where your friend is already seated, setting your bag down with an eager bounce in your step.
âDude,â you start, flipping open your laptop with a flourish, âremember that book I told you about a few weeks back?â Your friend raises a brow. âThe one from that super niche book guide you were raving about?â
âThe very same one,â you confirm, barely able to contain your excitement. âI finally finished it, and oh my god, it was so good. The plot? Phenomenal. The pacing? Perfect. But you know what actually made it even better?âÂ
You donât notice the way Gojo hesitates just as heâs about to settle into the seat behind you. He freezes, fingers hovering above the keyboard of his laptop as his ears zero in on your conversation.
âYou found another book to obsess over?â Your friend teases, but you shake your head fervently.
âNo, no, listen,â you insist, your voice lowering slightly as you lean in, âsomeone left annotations in it.âÂ
Satoruâs fingers twitch.
âYou mean like, study notes?â
âNo! Like, actual thoughtsâcomments, reactions, opinions. And not just boring analytical stuff, either. They were funny. Snarky. They made fun of the characters at the exact moments I wanted to. It was like reading the book with someone, you know?â
A very distinct, yet invisible, sense of dread creeps into Gojoâs chest.
Oh. Oh, shit. The annotations. He had completely forgotten about those. He had scrawled them in the margins ages agoâmostly on a whim, partly out of boredom, and entirely because he physically could not read a book in silence. If there was one thing Gojo Satoru was incapable of, it was shutting the fuck up, even when he was the only audience for his own commentary. So, naturally, when he had found himself enjoying the book way more than expected, he had started treating it like a private conversation with himself, writing down whatever thoughts came to mind.
He never expected anyone to see them. And now, sitting barely a foot away, heâs listening to youâof all peopleâexcitedly gush about his stupid little scribbles, completely oblivious to the fact that the person you were praising, the one whose humor you found entertaining and whose insights you had agreed with, was him. He schools his expression, keeping his head tilted just enough to appear disinterested. But his ears are wide open.
âWhoever wrote those notes,â you continue, flipping your pen between your fingers, âhad some serious opinions. And honestly? I kind of love them. Like, I think we have the same brain.â
Satoru presses his lips together, biting back a grin.
You? Agreeing with him? That was new.Â
Your friend hums. âSo youâre basically having a book club with some anonymous person who read it before you?â You chuckle. âI mean⊠kinda? Itâs weird, but itâs nice in a way. Like, usually when I read, itâs just me and the book. But with the annotations, itâs like thereâs this extra layer of interaction. I get to see how someone else processed the story, how they reacted to the same moments I did.â
Satoru knows he should stop listening. He should. But he doesnât.
Because something about this whole situationâthe fact that you, of all people, had unknowingly connected with him through a bookâhas him equal parts amused and intrigued. You, who always huffed when he teased you. You, who rolled your eyes at his antics, who made a point to ignore him even though he knew you were hyper-aware of his presence.
You had spent nights poring over words he had written in passing. And you had liked them. God, if you knew, youâd probably strangle him on the spot.
âI actually wanna see if this person has read the rest of the series,â you muse, mostly to yourself. âLike, maybe they annotated other books too.âÂ
Satoru exhales through his nose, staring at his laptop screen but not actually registering anything on it. Well. This was going to be interesting.
â
You make your way to the library once again, the first book of the series clutched in your hands, ready to be returned. It feels weird, parting with it. As if youâre saying goodbye to something that had, for the past week, been a quiet companion during your late-night reading sessions. But not to worry, thereâs still like five more books in the series. Your steps slow slightly as you approach the return counter, fingers absently reaching into your bagâs open pocket for a pen. Without much thought, you flip open the book and scrawl the date of return onto the inside of the back cover, where the borrowing card is located. Your thumb absentmindedly drags across the faded blue ink of the initials scrawled in the row above where youâve signed your name.Â
G.S.
Whoever they were, they had made your reading experience infinitely better with their wry, sarcastic observations and strangely thoughtful insights. It was like reading alongside a particularly sharp-witted friendâone who, frustratingly, was just out of reach. Youâre lost in thought, mulling over the mystery of G.S., when you abruptly walk straight into something firm and unmoving. And warm.
Something that smells like sandalwood and fresh linen and something inexplicably, irritatingly familiar.
You barely have time to stagger back before a voiceâdeep, lazy, and dripping with its usual brand of smugnessâdrawls, âMy, my, pretending to walk around with your nose in a book so people think youâre more studious than you actually are?â
Your stomach sinks. You do not have the patience for this right now.
âFuck off, Satoru,â you mutter, not even looking at him as you try to sidestep. Predictably, he moves right in front of you again, blocking your path with that insufferable ease of his. Hands in the pockets of his impeccably tailored slacks, sleeves of a stupidly expensive cashmere sweater pushed up to reveal the sharp line of his wrists and veiny forearms, and his ever-present glasses glinting under the dim library lightsâhe looks as if he owns the place.
His head tilts, white hair falling slightly over his frames as he glances down at the book in your hands. That smileâall teeth and smugnessâspreads across his face like heâs caught you in something scandalous.
âOh? Reading a book that isnât course-related? Scandalous. What happened, got bored of being a try-hard? Or are you just begging to score lower than me on the final?â He exhales dramatically, shaking his head. âTsk, tsk. Not that Iâd expect you to actually be on my level, but itâs cute that you tryââ
You stop listening after that. Normally, youâd throw something equally sharp-tongued back at him, tell him to go get hit by a bus or something equally creative, but youâre too drained to bother. The exhaustion from back-to-back lectures, plus the fact that you havenât eaten anything substantial today, has dulled the sharp edges of your patience. A dull ache pounds at the base of your skull, and every word out of his mouth makes it throb even harder. Your expression must give away more than you intend because, for a split second, Gojo falters.
Itâs quickâbarely there. But you see it.
A flicker of something almost resembling concern flashes behind his glasses, like heâs actually noticed how drained you look. The moment is gone before you can process it. His usual smug expression slides right back into place, and you donât have the energy to care.
âI need to return this,â you say flatly. âGet out of my way.â
Instead of stepping aside like a normal person, he falls into step beside you, hands still lazily stuffed in his pockets. âOh? So now you acknowledge my presence,â he muses, voice light. âWhat, you didnât miss me in class today? I even waited for you to roll your eyes at me like you do every morning. Felt almost lonely without it.â
âI genuinely do not care,â you reply without looking at him. He presses a hand to his chest as if wounded. âOuch. Someoneâs moody today. Low blood sugar? On your period? Brain finally given up trying to keep up with mine?âÂ
You donât dignify that with a response, instead sliding the book into the return pile with a little more force than necessary. Gojo watches, his gaze flickering between you and the book.
âWhat book were you returning, anyway?â The question is so casual, so offhanded, that you almost donât clock it as strange. Almost. You narrow your eyes at him. âDidnât take you for someone interested in my life.â
His lips curl into something unbearably smug. âOh, Iâm not.â He rocks back on his heels, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. âI just like knowing what my rival is up to outside of class. You know, studying your weaknesses. Gathering intel. The usual.âÂ
You stare at him. âYou are so full of shit.â
âI really am,â he agrees cheerfully. You exhale through your nose, patience wearing thinner by the second. âShouldnât you be off somewhere being a general public nuisance?â
âThis is me being a general public nuisance.â He grins. âAnd youâre the lucky victim of the day.â
âGod, I hate you.â
âAww, thatâs cute. But you should be honest with yourself,â he says, following you as you make your way toward the exit. âI think youâd miss me if I suddenly disappeared.â
âAbsolutely not.â
âYou so would.â
âI would thrive in your absence.â
Gojo makes an exaggerated show of wiping away an imaginary tear. âHow cruel. And here I was, thinking we had something special.â
You push open the library doors, stepping out into the crisp afternoon air. Finally, freedom. But, of course, Gojo keeps following you.
ââŠWhy are you still here?â you ask, tiredly. He hums. âDunno. Walking this way.â
âYou donât even know where Iâm going.â
âExactly,â he says, grinning. âA mystery. How exciting.â You consider throwing your bag at him. You settle for walking faster. You quicken your pace, hoping Gojo will get bored and wander off. He doesnât. Of course he doesnât. He easily keeps up with you, long legs making it effortless, his stupid grin never fading.
You give him a deadpan look. âYes, Satoru. Thatâs exactly what Iâm doing. Weâre all going to sit in a circle and ritually sharpen our pencils while whispering incantations about final exams.â He gasps dramatically. âI knew it. I bet you have a shrine dedicated to good grades too. And, like, a little altar where you sacrifice people who get higher scores than youââ
âI donât need to sacrifice anyone,â you cut in, dryly. âBecause I get the highest scores.â His grin widens. âNot all of them.â
You bristle, and he knows it. You both know that you and Gojo have been locked in a constant academic battle since the semester started. Itâs maddening how often you end up in the top two spots. Even more maddening that he acts like he doesnât even try. You exhale slowly, trying to focus on literally anything else. âIâm going to get food. Why donât you go fuck off somewhere, like, I donât know, ruin someone elseâs day?âÂ
âYou wound me with such crass language,â he says, clutching his chest like you physically struck him. âIâm just being a good friend.â
âYouâre not my friend.â
âWow.â He sighs dramatically, as if genuinely offended. âAll this time weâve spent together, and you still call us enemies? Iâd like to think of us more as⊠frenemies.â
âI would like to think of us as strangers.â
âAnd yet,â he says, smirking, âyou still talk to me.â
You roll your eyes. âOnly because you wonât shut up.âÂ
âGetting a drink too?â he asks, peering over your shoulder.
âWhy do you care?â
âMaybe I wanna know what fuels my biggest competition,â he says, tone exaggeratedly thoughtful. âWhatâs the secret? Triple shot espresso? Pure willpower? The tears of your academic rivals?â You give him a look. âYouâre projecting. You probably run on the suffering of others.â
âObviously,â he says easily. âBut I like to mix in a little sugar sometimes. Keeps me balanced and shit.â Youâre about to tell him to go bother someone else when the barista glances up. âNext?â You quickly place your order. Just as youâre about to pull out your wallet, Gojoâs voice rings out:
âIâve got it.â
Your head snaps toward him. âWhat.â
âIâm paying.â You stare at him, genuinely baffled. âWhy?â
He grins. âBecause Iâm so generous, obviously.â You narrow your eyes. âNo, really. Whatâs the catch?â
He puts a hand over his heart, feigning offense. âYou think Iâd trick you? Iâm hurt.â
âYes.â
Gojo just laughs and hands his card to the barista before you can argue further. You glare at him. âThis better not be some elaborate scheme to hold this over my head later.â
âOh, it definitely is,â he says cheerfully. âI plan to bring it up all the time.â
âOf course you do.â Your drinkâ tea to be specificâ is ready a moment later. Begrudgingly, you take it, mumbling, âThanks.â Gojo gasps, eyes wide. âDid you just thank me?â You exhale. âNever mind. I take it back.â
âNo, no, itâs too late, you already said it.â He grins. âYou like me.â
âI hate you.â
âYou adore me.â
âI tolerate you at best.â Gojo sips his drink, looking entirely too pleased with himself. âThatâs basically the same thing.â You groan and turn to leave.
Thankfully he doesnât make the move to follow you this time.
â
Your⊠somewhat friendly interaction with SaâNo, Gojoâwas forgotten by the time the next week rolled around. Not deliberately, of course. But between your physics assignments, math problem sets, and an unrelenting pile of lecture notes to review, your brain had simply discarded the memory. College had a way of pushing everything that wasnât directly necessary for survival to the furthest corners of your mind. Currently, you were in the library, hunched over a thick textbook, your fingers curled into your hair as you skimmed the same paragraph for what felt like the tenth time. Nothing was sticking.
You groaned, tilting your head back against the chair and letting your gaze drift to the high ceilings of the study space. It was quiet, save for the occasional rustle of pages and the rhythmic clicking of laptop keys. Your physics notes sat in front of you, covered in a desperate sprawl of formulas and diagrams, but the more you stared, the more meaningless the symbols became. You needed a break. Your eyes flickered toward the fiction section.
It wouldnât hurt to get another book.
A moment later, you were standing in front of the shelves, fingers tracing the spines as you searched for the second book in the series. It didnât take long to findâit was positioned neatly with the rest of the series, the cover slightly fading due to how long it had probably been there. As you turned to leave, your thumb brushed against the inside cover, where the borrowing card was located.
And there, scrawled in the same faded blue ink as before, were the initials:
G.S.
You paused. Your mystery commentator had been here before you. Again. You traced the letters absentmindedly, your mind flickering back to the first book. Their annotations had been witty, sometimes mocking, but always sharp. You had enjoyed themâmore than you expected.
You flipped to the borrowing card. G.S. had checked out this book multiple times. At least three dates next to their initials. A strange feeling settled in your chest. Who were they? You shook your head, pushing the thought aside as you made your way to the borrowing counter. It doesnât matter. Itâs just some random person. Still, as you returned to your study space, setting the book beside your untouched notes, your fingers itched to open it.
You triedâreally triedâto focus on physics. For maybe ten minutes. Then, with a sigh, you slid your textbook aside and cracked open the novel. This one picked up right where the last had left offâthe protagonist, an ambitious scholar, now forced into an uneasy alliance with a rogue historian, both of them hunting for a long-lost manuscript said to contain the secrets of the universe. Their journey took them through ancient libraries, shadowy alleyways, and grand halls of academia filled with intrigue and suspense that you thoroughly enjoyed.Â
It wasnât long before you noticed the annotations.
"What an idiot. Why would you trust someone who literally betrayed you three chapters ago?" You huffed a quiet laugh. It was scrawled in the margins of a tense conversation between the protagonist and the historian, who had indeed been suspiciously untrustworthy.
Another note, a few pages later: "This argument is painfully dumb. If they just communicated, we wouldnât need three more chapters of tension." You found yourself smiling. Whoever this was, they were blunt, maybe a bit cynical, but entertaining.
Then, another annotation caught your attentionâthis one different. It was scribbled beside a passage where the protagonist was deciphering an ancient mathematical equation, trying to understand the patterns behind the manuscriptâs code. The handwriting was just as casual, but the contentâ
"This is basically just Fourier analysis but dressed up in fancy old-world academia. If the author actually wanted to be accurate, theyâd at least mention waveforms. But nooo, we get poetic nonsense instead."
You blinked. That was⊠oddly specific. And not the kind of thing your average literature enthusiast would comment on. For a fleeting second, you wonderedâ
Does G.S. study physics?
The thought was strange, lingering in the back of your mind even as you continued reading. Minutes turned into hours. Slowly, students trickled out of the library. The rustling of papers faded, the soft murmur of whispered conversations disappearing into the silence of the near-empty study space. You didnât notice.
Not until the overhead lights dimmed slightly, signaling that the library was closing soon. With a sigh, you shut the book, stretching your stiff limbs. Physics could wait a little longer.
â
A few days later, you found yourself in yet another grueling lecture. The classroom was buzzing with low chatter as students filtered in, some sleep-deprived, some over-caffeinated, and most looking like theyâd rather be anywhere else. You were somewhere in the middleâtired but functional, flipping through your notes with half-hearted interest as you tried to prepare yourself for another two-hour session of mathematical physics. You adjusted your laptop screen, took a sip of your tea, and just as you settled in, you felt a presence.
A familiar, irritating presence.Â
âMorning, rival,â Gojo Satoru said cheerfully, dropping into the seat next to you with all the grace of an avalanche. You didnât even look up. âGo away.â
He tsked. âIs that any way to greet your favorite classmate?â
âYouâre not my favorite classmate.â He grinned, propping his chin on one hand.
âDonât lie. Youâd miss me if I wasnât here to make class interesting.â
You ignored him, resolutely staring at your notes. The professor arrived a moment later, quickly settling into the dayâs topicâwave equations and their applications. The discussion meandered through standard examples, Fourier transforms, and the different methods used to break down complex waveforms.
You barely registered the name of the theoryâjust a fleeting recognition of something familiarâbefore you were back to jotting down notes. At first, you were focused, diligently taking notes and absorbing the information. For the first thirty minutes, you managed to avoid paying him any attention. You scribbled down notes, underlined important formulas, and even managed to listen without feeling the urge to slam your head into the desk.
But thenâof courseâGojo had to open his mouth.
âSo, hypothetically,â he mused, voice carrying just enough to be heard by the surrounding students, âif we were to apply this to a broader model, say⊠nonlinear oscillations, wouldnât that meanââ
You immediately frowned. He was already trying to sound smarter than he was.
âThatâs not how that works,â you cut in before the professor could even acknowledge him. Gojo turned to you, looking far too entertained. âYeah, it is.â
âNo, it isnât.â You shifted in your seat, twisting to face him fully. âYou canât just apply Fourier analysis wherever you want and expect the results to be useful. Nonlinear oscillations donât break down the same way because of the introduction of chaotic behaviorââ
âOh, come on,â Gojo scoffed, waving a hand. âItâs not that deep. Sure, chaotic elements make things messier, but that doesnât mean the framework is useless.â
You let out a sharp breath. âIt means the entire assumption of the analysis changes. You canât approximate a nonlinear system with linear components and expect the results to hold upââ
âYou can if you use a perturbative approach,â he countered smoothly.
You almost growled. âA perturbative approach only works when the nonlinear term is small relative to the linear system. If the nonlinearities dominate, your entire model collapses.â
âNot always,â Gojo shot back, shifting in his seat with that insufferable smirk. âIt depends on how well you construct the higher-order termsââ
You threw your hands up. âAt that point, you might as well scrap Fourier analysis entirely and just use a different decomposition method!â A few students had stopped taking notes. Some were watching out of curiosity; others, out of sheer amusement.
Gojo, completely unbothered, shrugged. âBut that wasnât the question, was it? The point is that Fourier methods can still be useful, even if the system isnât perfectly linearââ
You gritted your teeth. âUseful doesnât mean accurate, dumbass.â Gojo gasped dramatically. âDid you just call me a dumbass? Right here? In front of our professor?â
âMaybe I wouldnât have to if you stopped saying objectively incorrect thingsââ
âOh, please,â he drawled, leaning back in his seat. âYouâre just mad because Iâm right.â
Your jaw clenched. âYouâre not right.â
âI am right.â
âNo, youâreââ
A loud cough. You both froze. Slowly, you turned toward the front of the room, where the professor was staring at you both, unamused.
"Would you two care to bring your literary debate outside of my physics class?" You swallowed. Gojo scratched the back of his neck, looking entirely unbothered.
"...No, sir."
"Good," the professor said flatly. "Then kindly stop interrupting the lesson." You resisted the urge to sink into your chair. Gojo, of course, had the audacity to look amused. As the lecture resumed, you shot him a glare.
"This is your fault."Â
He winked. You swore you were going to strangle him one day. As soon as class ended, you were out of your seat, shoving your laptop into your bag with slightly more force than necessary. Behind you, Gojo was taking his sweet time, stretching like he hadnât just spent the past two hours actively making your life worse. âMan,â he sighed dramatically. âThat was a great discussion, donât you think? Nothing like a little intellectual sparring to keep the brain sharpââ
You spun around so fast he almost bumped into you. âDiscussion?â you repeated incredulously. âThat wasnât a discussion, that was you talking out of your ass like usual.â
Gojo placed a hand over his heart, feigning offense. âWow. You wound me. You know, I feel like I say that phrase a lot. Would you prefer it if I said thee painfully wrench mine own heart with such careless wordsââ
You rolled your eyes and stormed out of the lecture hall, weaving through the crowd of students. Of course he followed, long strides easily keeping pace with yours. âIâm just saying,â he continued, completely ignoring your clear irritation, âitâs kind of funny how you always shoot me down but never actually prove me wrongââ
Your jaw clenched. âI do prove you wrong. Every time.âÂ
He smirked. âDo you, though?â
âYes!â You turned on your heel, walking backward so you could glare at him properly. âJust because you talk like you know everything doesnât mean you actually doââ
Gojoâs smirk widened. âSo you do think I sound smart.â Your eye twitched.
âThatâs not what I said.â
âSounds like thatâs what you said.â
âGo kill yourself.â
âOnly if you join me, sweets.â
âDonât call me that!â
âWhy, you donât like being called sweets?ââ
You groaned, turning back around and quickening your pace. You werenât going to stand here and let him twist your words into whatever self-indulgent nonsense was brewing in his head. Gojo, naturally, kept up with ease. âYou know, itâs weird how you always get so mad at me. Maybe you should work on that anger problem of yours.â
âOh, I have an anger problem?â You spun around again, narrowing your eyes. âYouâre literally the most aggravating person Iâve ever met.â
âReally?â He tilted his head in mock thought. âI dunno, you seem to get pretty riled up over nothingââ
âYou are nothing.â
Gojo laughed, the sound bright and infuriatingly genuine. âDamn, that was actually kinda good. You been practicing comebacks in the mirror?â
âLeave me alone, for the love of god, before I strangle you, bastardââ
âOooh, kinkyâ.â
Before you could actually commit violence, someone stepped between you. âAlright, enough,â a smooth, tired voice interrupted. You looked up to see Suguru Geto, Gojoâs ever-patient best friend, standing between you with the exasperation of a man who had dealt with this before.
âSatoru,â he said, dragging a hand down his face, âleave her alone.âÂ
Gojo pouted. âBut we were bonding.â
âWe were not bonding,â you snapped. Suguru gave you a knowing look. âAnd you,â he sighed, âstop encouraging him.â
You scoffed. âEncouraging him? Iââ
A hand suddenly clamped down on your shoulder. You glanced up to see your own friend standing beside you, looking just as exasperated as Suguru. âCome on,â she muttered, tugging you away. âWeâre going to lunch before you actually try to kill him.â You didnât resist, only because the temptation was strong. But as you turned to leave, you caught a glimpse of Gojo flashing that stupid, insufferable grin at you.
You stuck your tongue out at him. Gojo only winked again in response. Why did he keep winking at you? It made you wanna puke. You definitely needed lunch. Maybe something very, very spicy.
â
You're sitting in your dorm again, cross-legged on your bed, laptop open in front of you, but your mind is elsewhere. The textbooks and notes are pushed to the side of your desk, proof that at some point you had every intention of being productive tonight. A third empty cup of tea is perched precariously on your nightstand, and the finished second and third books of the series stacked besides your laptop.Â
It had been a slow burn, working your way through them between lectures and study sessions, but now, the empty feeling of finishing a book you enjoyed is settling in. Worse yet, it's late at night, which means you can't borrow the fourth book until tomorrow. The thought alone makes you sigh as you shut your laptop and flop back against the pillows.
You flipped open the third book, fingers brushing over the slightly worn borrowing card tucked inside. The neat, slanted initials âG.S.â were there again, written in blue ink. And just like before, the pages had been marked with the same sharp, and sometimes frustratingly perceptive annotations that had made you laugh, scoff, and evenâon some particularly well-argued pointsâbegrudgingly nod along. Your mind drifts, replaying some of your favorite annotations from the books.
There was the one where G.S. had written, "Oh, he's totally gonna betray them," followed by a later note that read, "I CALLED IT. WHEREâS MY PRIZE?" That one had made you laugh out loud in the middle of the library, earning a few disapproving stares. Another one of your other favorites from the third book had been an annotation scrawled in the margins of a pivotal scene:
âThe irony of this moment is almost painful. She sees herself as the heroine, but the real tragedy is that sheâs just another character in someone elseâs story.â
You had reread that line about five times before closing the book and staring at the ceiling, feeling somewhat existential. Another annotation had been pure sarcasm:
âYes, because when faced with adversity, the best solution is always to run directly into danger. Genius.â That one had also made you laugh out loud in one of the study halls located in some part of your university, earning a weird look from the girl across the hall. But the annotation that had really stuck with youâreally made you pauseâwas in the third book, written in response to a section that delved into the intricacies of time and choice:
âIf you think about it, this entire dilemma can be broken down into a fundamental question of physics. If time is just another dimension, then isnât every choice we make just another coordinate on an already-existing map? So is it really âfree willâ if weâre just tracing a path thatâs already there?â
That one had thrown you for a loop. It was the kind of thought that lingered, weaving its way into quiet moments when you least expected it. And, you hated to admit, it made you thinkâwhoever this person was, they were kind of brilliant.You sighed, snapping the book shut. You needed to get the fourth one. Now. But a quick glance at your phone reminded you that it was almost midnight, and the library had closed hours ago. You groaned, letting your head submerge deeper into the pillows. You grabbed your phone, scrolling mindlessly, until your eyes flicked to the messages her friend had sent earlierârecommendations for movies sheâd been meaning to watch. You scrolled absentmindedly, not really expecting to find anything interesting, until your thumb hovered over one title:
Whisper of the Heart.
Something about the name tugged at your memory. Wasnât this the one with the girl who loved books and a mysterious boy who shared them? On a whim, you pressed play. The soft hum of the opening scene filled the quiet of her dorm, and soon, you were drawn in. The gentle storytelling, the warmth of the animation, the way the main character, Shizuku, slowly became obsessed with the name written in all the books she borrowedâ
Oh. Oh, shit.
Your face grew hot as you sat up straighter, eyes darting to the books stacked beside you. You weren't doing that. Right?
âŠWere you? Because if you really thought about itâif you really thought about itâwerenât you kind of doing the same thing? You buried your face in your hands. This is so embarrassing. And yet, as you peeked between her fingers at the screen, you couldnât help but draw the comparison between Seiji Amasawa and your mysterious, faceless G.S. Seiji had been intriguing, a presence felt long before he actually appeared. Just a name scribbled in books, a person she hadnât met yet but somehow felt connected to. And wasnât that exactly what G.S. was?
You groaned, flopping back onto your bed, kicking your feet against the mattress. âI need to stop,â you mumbled into your pillow, but your shoulders shook with barely contained laughter. It was stupid. This whole thing was stupid. You didnât even know this person. For all you knew, G.S. could be some forty-year-old professor or a girl who just happened to find the same series as you on the niche book guide you were on. And yet, there was this tiny, ridiculous, completely unserious part of you that wanted to believeâ
What if it was some guy? A guy with sharp wit, someone who thought deeply about things most people glossed over, someone who liked this series enough to leave behind thoughts for others to find. A guy whoâ No. Nope. Nope. You were not about to mentally script herself into some shoujo romance anime over marginalia.
But the damage was done. Because now, your brain had latched onto the idea, spinning daydreams faster than you could stop them. Some dramatic, cinematic first meeting. Some passing moment where youâd reach for a book, and a handâslender fingers, ink-stained maybeâwould brush against yours, and youâd look up andâ
You shot up again, shaking your head violently. God, this is pathetic. But even as you scolded herself, you couldnât wipe the stupid little smile off your face. You were allowed to have a little fun, right? Just a tiny bit of harmless romanticising? You collapsed back into the pillows, eyes drifting back to the ceiling as the movie played on. And as Shizukuâs voice echoed through the room, musing about stories, destiny, and the people we stumble upon by chance, you thoughtâjust for a secondâMaybe, maybe, you kind of liked this. The idea of it all. The way life sometimes felt like a story waiting to unfold. Maybe itâs silly, maybe itâs unrealisticâbut right now, in the quiet of your dorm, with the soft glow of your laptop screen and the remnants of Whisper of the Heart playing in the background, you donât really care.
â
Satoru Gojo had always been considered a prodigy. A genius. Someone born with an innate brilliance that set him apart from others. It had been that way since he was a childâwhere other kids had to struggle and study, he breezed through school without breaking a sweat. It wasnât just academics, either. He was quick-witted, sharp, and effortlessly charming in a way that made people gravitate toward him. But when you grow up with everyone expecting greatness from you, it becomes suffocating.Â
So he learned to play the fool.
It started as a maskâbeing overly cheery, always teasing, never taking things too seriously. It was easier that way. No one could see the weight of expectations if he always had a grin on his face. And at some point, the mask became second nature. Satoru Gojo, the carefree, insufferable genius. The only person he could ever drop it around was Suguru. His best friend, the one person who could keep up with him, who understood what it meant to carry something too heavy to put into words. Then, freshman year of university, he saw you.
He had noticed you beforeâhow could he not? You were diligent, meticulous in a way that fascinated him. You always sat at the front of the class, always had color-coded notes, always took everything so seriously. And maybe that was what caught his attention first. You were everything he wasnât. Where he coasted through life, you worked hard for it. And for the first time in a long time, he didnât quite know how to communicate with someone. So he did what he always did. He teased.
âThe perpendicular components of a vector are independent of each other,â youâd answered smoothly, sitting up a little straighter as you prepared to elaborate. âThatâs why we can analyse them separately usingââ
âOhhh, wow,â he cut in, voice dripping with mock wonder. âLook at that. We got a genius in the house.â He had meant it playfully. A joke. But the way your expression hardened, the way your eyes flickered with irritation, made something click in his brain. You didnât like him. And yet, he couldnât stop teasing you. Even when he knew it annoyed you, even when he knew you hated him. Maybe it was because you challenged him. Maybe it was because, for once, someone didnât look at him like he was untouchable. Or maybe it was because he liked you.
Not just because you were prettyâthough you were, infuriatingly soâbut because you were determined. Because you cared about things deeply. Because you fascinated him in a way nothing else did. He found himself watching you more often than he cared to admit. The way you bit your lip when you were concentrating, the way your eyes lit up when you finally understood something, the way you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear when you were nervous when results came out. It was all so... endearing.
And maybe thatâs why he finds himself watching you sometimesâwhen youâre scribbling furiously in your notebook, when youâre biting the end of your pen in deep thought, when youâre rolling your eyes at something he says but still, still responding. He watches, because for the first time, someone makes him want to understand more than just equations and theories. And if the only way to keep your attention was by being your rival, then so be it.
â
The next morning, you had a practical class, a hands-on session designed to reinforce the theory youâd been learning. Since it was held in a laboratory, students were sorted into small groups to share lab tables. Unfortunatelyâor fortunately, depending on how you looked at itâyou werenât grouped with Satoru, but by some cruel twist of fate, his group was at the same table as yours. The setup was simple: four students per group, two groups per table.
A long, clean expanse of black lab benches stretched across the room, each one covered with neatly arranged equipment: a set of metal ramps, photogates, a timer, and a set of small carts. Todayâs experiment was a classic: measuring acceleration using a motion sensor. Each group was supposed to release a cart down a ramp and use the photogates to measure velocity changes over time. Simple, right? Satoru, of course, had already started causing trouble before the experiment even began.
âYou know, itâs kinda unfair that I wasnât put in your group,â he mused, leaning against the lab bench with a smirk. âWouldâve been fun watching you pretend to know more than me.â You didnât even look up as you adjusted the height of the ramp, focusing on making sure it was aligned properly. âOh please, Gojo, you wouldâve just copied all my calculations and then taken credit for my hard work.â
âI wouldnât do that,â he said, feigning offense. âIâd let you take, like, fifty percent of the credit.â Your lab partner snorted beside you, shaking their head as they double-checked the photogate placement. Satoru, undeterred, watched as you bent over to place the cart at the starting position. His group was still setting up, which meant he had time to bother you before he actually had to do any work.
âI bet my groupâs results will be more accurate than yours,â he declared. You rolled your eyes, finally sparing him a glance. âYou do know accuracy depends on precision and minimising errors, right? Which meansââ you motioned to his group, where one of them was currently struggling with the timer, ââyour chances of that happening are slim to none.âÂ
Before he could retort, your professor called for everyoneâs attention, signalling the start of the experiment. Both of you fell into your respective tasks, measuring, calculating, and recording values with practiced ease. You got so caught up in fine-tuning your results that Satoru didnât get the chance to throw more taunts your way. That was until, while waiting for your next trial to begin, you turned to your friend beside you, excitement bubbling over.
âOh my god, I finally watched Whisper of the Heart last night,â you gushed, voice dropping into that high-pitched, dreamy tone reserved for things you were completely obsessed with. Your friend gasped, clutching your arm. âStop. You did not.â
âI did.â
âDID YOU CRY?â
âOBVIOUSLY.âÂ
Satoru, who had been focused on adjusting his groupâs ramp, stilled slightly. He knew that movie. More than that, he could predict exactly why you were talking about it. Casually, he glanced over, pretending to check his photogate readings while shamelessly eavesdropping. Your friend squeezed your arm excitedly. âI told you it was perfect. The vibes, the music, the slow-burn romance. Tell me you loved Seiji.â
âOh, I loved Seiji,â you sighed, eyes sparkling. âLike, the way he was so ambitious but still so soft? And the way he believed in her? And the fact that he left little signs for her without even realizing how much theyâd mean?â You could feel yourself getting lost in the emotions of it, and your friend was right there with you, nodding along enthusiastically. âIt was so romantic,â she said dreamily. âThe idea of someone quietly believing in you and pushing you forward. Itâs justââ
âSO good,â you finished for her, and the two of you squealed quietly before catching yourselves and trying to focus again. Then, almost absentmindedly, you added, âHonestly, I feel like Iâm in Whisper of the Heart right now.â Your friend perked up. âHow so?â
You nudged her lightly. âBecause of G.S.â
Satoru, who had been handling the cart for his next trial, fumbled slightly. Your friendâs eyes widened knowingly. âNo way. You mean your G.S.?âÂ
You groaned. âDonât call him that. But yeah. The whole leaving-annotations-in-the-books thing? And how I keep borrowing them? Itâs totally giving Seiji and Shizuku. Like yeah I kinda sound corny right nowââ
âNot really honestly, I get itââ
âExactly! See? I knew I wasnât crazy. Imagine G.S is like Seijiâ scratch that, imagine heâs better, like some sweet, studious, hot book nerdââ
Satoru swallowed, suddenly feeling warm despite the sterile chill of the lab. You thought he was like Seiji? More than that, you thought G.S could perhaps even be better than Seiji? That wasâthat was something.
âAnd next week,â you continued, stretching your arms over your head, âafter I finish studying, Iâm going to borrow the next book.â
Satoru barely heard the rest of the conversation after that. His brain had latched onto one horrifying realisationâ
The last four books werenât annotated. Oh, shit. He hadnât really expected you to grow this attached to his stupid thoughts scribbled on the edges of the frayed pages, hadnât expected you to burn through the series so fast. He completely forgot that he didnât bother annotating the last few books because he had gotten so busy with work. But you had just sat there, eyes sparkling, gushing about his notes like they were some grand romantic mystery. You liked them. You liked his words. Not just the books themselves but the tiny, scribbled thoughts he had left behind. Satoruâs stomach did a weird little flip. It seemed to be doing that a lot every time his nosy ass overheard you talking about his writing.
You really liked his writing. The writing youâd been gushing for about two weeks now. You really found it special. You liked it so much that the thought of continuing the series without it made his chest ache. Because what if you borrowed the next one and found nothing? What if you flipped through the pages, searching for his voice, only to be disappointed? No. No way. That wasnât happening. Initially he had done it as a way to, yâknow, simply yap, maybe desecrate the pages of a book from a library with his oh so superior commentary. But now? He was going to do this for you. Because the way you had talked about Whisper of the Heartâthe way your face had gone soft and dreamy, the way your voice had gotten all excitedâhe wanted that. He wanted to hear you talk about how much you enjoyed the little quips that made their way into his head every time he read something. He wanted to be the reason you spoke like that again. Maybe it was pathetic, but he wantedâ really wanted to once again be the reason why your cheeks slightly went pink when your friend called him yours. Even if they were his initials, they were his, and it insinuated he belonged to you, right?
The second class ended, Satoru bolted. There was no time to waste. He had four books to annotate, and he didnât care if it took him all night. If you wanted G.S., then G.S. was going to be there.
â
Satoru burst into his dorm, heart pounding as he dumped his bag onto the floor. His fingers fumbled with the zipper as he yanked it open, pulling out the four books you were inevitably going to borrow next. He stacked them on his desk, staring at them like they were some kind of urgent missionâbecause they were. You liked his notes. You liked his notes. That thought alone sent a weird, warm feeling blooming in his chest. He flopped into his chair, running a hand through his hair as he exhaled sharply. This wasnât just about keeping up the act anymore. It wasnât about maintaining the mystery of G.S. or feeding into some casual curiosity you had. No, this was about you. About the way your eyes lit up when you talked about the books. The way you had called himâunknowingly, of courseâyour own Seiji. The way you were so excited to continue the series, fully expecting to find more of his little thoughts nestled between the pages. He wasnât going to let you down.
Satoru grabbed the first book off the stack and flipped it open, his pen poised over the margins. He scribbled his initials in the borrowing card in the same blue ink that he always usedâ he always thought the blueness of the ink was much better than any other pen colour out there. Before he started reading, he did this in all the library cards, and made sure that the date corresponded to the previous datesâ so you wouldnât think it was suspicious that the last remaining books were all borrowed on the same day. He then started readingânot just skimming, but really reading, more carefully than he ever had before. Thankfully he did remember the plot of the first three books, so catching up with what was going on wasnât too hard. Every sentence was weighed, every line considered. What would make you pause? What would make you smile?
When he hit a particularly poetic passage, he underlined it and wrote in the margin: Bet whoever is reading thisâ I just know this made your heart do that stupid fluttery thing.
He smirked to himself. If only you knew.Â
A few pages later, he found a scene with the protagonist staring out a train window, deep in thought. The description was vivid, full of melancholic longing. He tapped the pen against his lips before jotting down: Ever feel like this? Just existing, watching life happen? He could already imagine you reading it, tilting your head slightly, considering his words. Would you reply in your head? Would you wonder what kind of person wrote something like that? The thought of it sent a thrill through him, and he leaned in closer, more invested than ever. Hours passed, but he barely noticed. The desk lamp cast a warm glow over the pages as he worked, annotating with a mix of teasing, sincerity, and the occasional cryptic remark just to mess with you. In the fifth book of the series, there was a passage about finding comfort in routineâabout how little, familiar things could feel like home. He thought back to all the times during your early morning classes, how youâd bring a steaming thermos filled with a tea of some kind, something to sip on while you reviewed the lecture slides before the professor started the lecture. The half cold tea in that same thermos, heâd seen you nursing it outside the exam hall before a midterm while your eyes furiously scanned your meticulous, colour coded notes. Satoru probably guessed that it was a habit of yoursâ to have a warm comforting drink while you readâ lecture notes, physics textbooks, or fiction.
He hesitated for a second before writing: Hope anyone who ever reads this is reading this with a warm drink. Tea, in my opinion, is the best kind of beverage to drink while reading a book series like this.Â
Would you pause when you read that? Would you glance around, suddenly hyper-aware that maybe G.S knew you? That someone had been paying attention? Or maybe youâd think heâs just like you? The thought sent a rush of satisfaction through him. By the time he reached the second last book, his hand was cramping, but he didnât care. He stretched briefly before diving back in. This one had more banter between the characters, something he knew you loved. He played into it, adding sarcastic commentary in the margins. When the heroine had a particularly dramatic internal monologue, he scribbled: Relax, youâre not in a soap opera.
And a few pages later: Actually, never mind, maybe you are.
He could already hear your reaction. The annoyed little huff, the way youâd roll your eyes but secretly love it. You always did have a tendency to refute things first, only to realise you enjoyed them later. Heâd sometimes see it in the way when youâd roll your eyes or let out a disapproving noise at Satoru plainly criticising one of the professors under his breath during a lectureâ but Satoruâs eyes were sharp, he never missed the smallest twitch of your lips as soon as youâd finished your melodramatics. The last book was the longest, and by then, the city outside his window had gone quiet. His dorm was dim except for the glow of his lamp, and his body was buzzing with a mix of exhaustion and excitement. He was too far in now, too absorbed in the thought of you reading all of this soon. This book had a recurring theme about missed chancesâabout words left unsaid and moments that could have changed everything if only someone had spoken up. It hit a little too close to home, but he didnât let himself dwell on that. Instead, he carefully underlined a sentence: Sometimes, we donât realise what we mean to someone until itâs too late.
Beneath it, he wrote: I hope this never applies to y̶o̶u̶ whoever is reading this.
And thenâ and then he wrote another little thing, but it felt a bit too intimate, a bit too revealing so he neatly crossed it out. His pen hovered over the page for a moment. That was the most honest thing he had written all night. Satoru exhaled, rubbing his eyes before sitting back, staring at the stack of books now filled with his thoughts. He had done it. You wouldnât get a single blank page. Youâd find him in every single one.
â
Satoru strolled across campus with a tote bag slung over his shoulder, weighed down by four thick novels. The booksânow thoroughly marked up, pages lined with his messy scrawlâfelt heavier than they should have, but maybe that was just him. Heâd spent the entire night annotating them, barely stopping to eat, sleep, or think about anything that wasnât you reading his words. Now, all he had to do was return them before you got to the library. He wasnât about to let you see him checking them in like some lovesick idiot. He carefully managed to place them back on the shelf after scanning them as âunborrowedâ. He was a few steps from the library doors when someone rounded the corner, and before he could reactâ
Bam. The collision wasnât hard, just enough to jostle him off balance, and he barely had time to reach out and steady you before you could stumble back. âDamn, could at least pretend to watch where youâre going,â he drawled, glancing down at you with a smirk. âOr do you just like running into me?â
You scoffed, adjusting your bag over your shoulder. âYeah, I totally planned that. Just desperate to bump into you of all people.â
âOh, come on,â he teased, stepping aside so you could walk past him. âIf you wanted an excuse to see me, you couldâve just said so.â You rolled your eyes, clearly unimpressed. âPlease. Iâm actually on my way to the library, unlike some people who just loiter around.â
His grip on his tote bag tightened for half a second, but he kept his expression easy, unreadable. âLibrary, huh?â
âYeah,â you said, brushing a stray strand of hair behind your ear. âI finished this book from a series Iâm actually enjoying, so I figured Iâd borrow the next one today.â You didnât even know why you told him that, but you figured it was an improvement from the usual bickering you two always had going on. He hummed, nodding slowly. âOh, okay. WellâŠâ He took a step back, flashing a lazy grin. âHave fun with that.â You narrowed your eyes at him. âWhy do you sound weird?â
âI always sound weird.â
âYeah, but more than usual.âÂ
Satoru shrugged. âDunno what youâre talking about.â You stared at him suspiciously for another second before shaking your head. âWhatever.â And with that, you pushed past him, making your way toward the library doors. Satoru watched you go, fighting the smug grin threatening to take over his face. He could already picture itâthe way youâd flip through the pages, expecting plain text, only to find the familiar, scrawled handwriting in the margins. He wondered if youâd smile. If youâd talk about it again the way you had in class. He shook his head to himself, finally turning away. Yeah. He was so in trouble.
With your drink beside you and your phone silenced, you flipped the fourth book open, eager to dive in. You didnât even bother to check the borrowing card this time, neither had you written your own name in it yet, heart beating a little faster as you childishly hoped that the familiar cursive scrawls were still present in the weathered pages. You had barely made it past the first few pages when your eyes caught something in the margins next to one of the more romantic lines.
Bet whoever is reading thisâ I just know this made your heart do that stupid fluttery thing. You blinked. Your stomach did an odd little flip, completely unprovoked. Honestly speaking, your heart did that little flip more in regards to the familiar blue handwriting rather than the line on the page. You knew exactly whose handwriting that was.Â
G.S. had struck again. A slow smile pulled at your lips as you traced the ink with your fingertip. You had gotten so used to these notes, the little jokes, the occasional deep thoughts, that it almost felt like a conversation now. Like you werenât reading alone, but with someone who understood exactly what youâd linger on, what youâd pause to appreciate. And yet⊠something about this one felt slightly different. You glanced at the ink again. It looked a little⊠darker? Not as faded as some of the earlier notes in the series.
You frowned slightly but shook the thought away. Maybe it was just your imagination. You kept reading. A few pages later, the protagonist stared out of a train window, lost in thought. The description was melancholic, vivid, and all too relatable.
Ever feel like this? Just existing, watching life happen? You exhaled sharply through your nose. Yeah, you thought. All the damn time. You tapped your fingers against the table, feeling that same strange connection as before. Whoever G.S. was, they had a way of making their presence knownânot just through the words they chose to underline, but in the little thoughts they left behind, the questions they posed, the moments they chose to comment on. It was like they could hear your thoughts before you even formed them, like they knew exactly where your mind would linger on the page.
Your luck today had been astoundingly awful. The first sign was your hairâa complete disaster from the moment you woke up. Brushing it down did nothing. Water made it worse. Mousse? A grave mistake. You finally resorted to tying it up, accepting defeat. Then came the sharp pain on your forehead, a telltale sign of a forming pimple, because of course your skin had decided to betray you too. But the true betrayal came from your kettle, which, after years of faithful service, had chosen this morning to stop working. No tea. No caffeine. No hope. And now? Now, as if the universe hadnât already tested you enough, you were seated next to Gojo Satoru, his chair pushed obnoxiously close, his long legs stretching out under the desk like he owned the place. His expression was insufferably smug, like he had personally orchestrated all of this just to get under your skin.
Have you ever mentioned that you shared more than one class with Gojo? Sure, you were both in the same physics course, but once again, your luck with picking extra subjects was nothing short of terrible. Thatâs how you ended up in psychologyâa field that couldnât be further from the world of physics you were so deeply immersed in. You had figured it would be a nice change, to explore a different kind of science.Â
Unfortunately, a certain white haired freak seemed to share the same thought process.Â
You exhaled sharply, crossing your arms. âWeâre not choosing your dumb topic.â Gojo gasped dramatically, placing a hand over his chest. âExcuse you, my brilliant topic.â
âYou want to write about the psychology of humor.â
âExactly! Itâs fascinating.â He grinned. âWhat makes something funny? Why do people laugh? Why am I so naturally hilarious?â You pinched the bridge of your nose. âWeâre in a psychology class, Gojo, not a stand-up workshop.â
âAnd yet, humor is deeply psychological.â He leaned forward, eyes twinkling with mischief. âMaybe if you had a better sense of humor, youâd agree with me.â You scowled. âI have a perfectly fine sense of humor.â
âSure you do,â he teased, âin the same way a brick has mobility.â Your jaw clenched. âIâm not doing a research paper on why people laugh.â
âAnd Iâm not doing one on cognitive dissonance,â he shot back, drumming his fingers against the desk. âItâs been done to death.â
âItâs interesting,â you argued. âIt actually ties into real-world behavior.â
âSo does humor.â You stared him down. He stared right back, his lips curving just slightly, like he was having the time of his life getting you riled up.
A muscle in your jaw twitched. âRock, paper, scissors?â
Gojo snorted. âWhat are we, five?â You held out a fist. He sighed, then did the same.
Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Your scissors to his rock. Your eye twitched. His grin was downright gleeful. âLooks like weâre writing about humor.â
âYou are insufferable.â
âIâm a visionary,â he corrected, stretching his arms behind his head. âYouâll thank me when we get a great grade.â You grumbled something under your breath, flipping open your notebook to at least try and plan the assignment. You werenât about to let him ruin your GPA over jokes. But Gojo wasnât looking at the notebook. He wasnât even thinking about the project anymore. His gaze lingered on the way a few wisps of hair had escaped your ponytail, framing your face. He wasnât used to seeing your hair tied backâit made your features more striking, somehow. It made him notice the little things, like the way your brow creased when you were annoyed, or the way your lips pursed slightly when you were trying really hard not to snap at him. And it was funny. All morning, youâd been looking at him like he was a headache, while he⊠well. Heâd be lying if he said he wasnât kind of enjoying himself. He propped his chin in his palm, watching you jot something down in your notebook.
âYou know,â he mused, âfor someone whoâs so against my topic, you sure do make me laugh a lot.â You shot him a suspicious look. âWhat is that supposed to mean?â
Gojo smirked. âJust an observation.â You scoffed. âAn annoyance is not the same thing as amusement.â
âTell that to your cognitive dissonance.â You rolled your eyes, but before you could fire back, something distracted you. A shift in the air, a fleeting scentâsomething clean and warm, like cedar and the lingering spice of cologne. You blinked. You didnât know why you noticed it now, of all times, but the way he smelled was⊠oddly pleasant. You shook it off, focusing on your notes again. Only, now you were very aware of other things, tooâlike the fact that his hand, resting casually on the desk, was a lot bigger than yours. His fingers were long, his knuckles prominent, and his nails were annoyingly well-groomed for someone who clearly put zero effort into most things. You clenched your jaw, forcing yourself to refocus. Itâs just Gojo, you told yourself. Heâs just being annoying. As usual. Iâm probably ovulating or something. Gojo, meanwhile, had caught the way your eyes flickered over to him, how you quickly looked away after.
He tilted his head. âSomething on your mind?â
âYeah,â you muttered, deadpan. âHow fast I can finish this project so I donât have to deal with you.â Gojo chuckled, and despite yourself, you felt the sound of itâlow and amused, like he found you far too entertaining. âOh, sweets,â Gojo drawled, his voice lilting with amusement, âno way in hell am I gonna let you finish this project fast enough to escape me. Câmon, in our three beautiful years of rivalry, youâve never once tried to get to know meââ
âLetâs just start the project,â you cut him off, already pulling out your stationery and notebook, flipping to a fresh page with more force than necessary. You barely resisted the urge to groan at the topic glaring back at you. Humour. Ugh.
Gojo, of course, noticed immediately. He didnât even have to tryâhe just always noticed things. The way your lips pressed into a thin line, how your fingers fidgeted with the cap of your pen, how your shoulders tensed slightly, like you were already resigning yourself to suffering through an assignment you hated. His smirk fadedâjust a little. And then, before he could think about it too hard, he sighed.
âYou know what?â he said, nudging his notebook aside. âScrew it. Letâs do your topic.â
You blinked, pen hovering mid-air. âWhat?â
âYou heard me,â he said, waving a hand. âCognitive dissonance, weird little psychology experiments, all that jazz. Itâs fine.â
Your eyes narrowed. âThis feels like a trick.â
âWow, you think that low of me?,â he said, clutching his chest in mock betrayal. âI am capable of compromise, you know.â
You gave him a flat look. âSince when?â
Gojo rolled his eyes but didnât argue. Instead, he leaned forward, elbows propped on the desk, watching you with a lazy kind of curiosity.
âSeriously, though. If you hate my topic that much, letâs just do yours. No big deal.â
You stared at him, suspicious. Gojo Satoru? Giving up? It felt wrong.
âWait,â you said suddenly, narrowing your eyes further. âWhatâs the catch?â
âThereâs no catch,â he insisted, but the way he said it, all breezy and casual, made you even more suspicious.
â⊠You want me to owe you a favor, donât you?â
He gasped, scandalised. âSweets, I would never manipulate you like that.â
You scoffed. âYou absolutely would.â
âOkay, yeah, I would,â he admitted easily, grinning. âBut this isnât that.â
You hesitated, drumming your fingers against the notebook. Then, you exhaled, shaking your head. âNo. Weâll do humor.â
Now he was the one taken aback. âHuh?â
âI donât want to hear you complain about how boring cognitive dissonance is for the next two weeks,â you said, scribbling down a rough outline. âAnd youâre actually interested in humor, so weâll get it done faster.â
Gojo just stared at you, like he couldnât quite believe what he was hearing.
âHold on. Youâre giving in?â
âDonât make it weird.â
âOh, Iâm definitely making it weird.â His grin was slow, teasing, like he had just won something. âThis is, like, a historic moment. I should get it framed.â
âGojo.â
âI mean, imagine if people knewââ
âGojo.â
ââthat you actually care about my interests? That youâgaspâwant to make me happy?â You kicked him under the desk.
âOw!â He laughed, rubbing his shin. âThat was uncalled for.â
âYou deserved it.â
âBut really,â he said, still grinning, âthis is kinda nice.â
You quirked a brow. âWhat is?â
He shrugged, tilting his head. âUsually, weâre arguing for ourselves. This is the first time weâve argued over, like, whatâs better for the other person.â Your lips parted slightly. You hadnât thought about it like that. For a moment, neither of you spoke. Then, absurdly, a little laugh slipped out of you. Just a small one, but it was enough to make Gojoâs eyes flicker with amusement. And before you knew it, he was laughing, too. It wasnât even that funny, but somehow, the realisation of how ridiculous this entire thing had beenâbickering for fifteen minutes over who should get their way only to insist on the oppositeâhad you both quietly shaking with laughter in the middle of the library.
âOkay, okay,â you finally said, breathless. âLetâs get this outline done before we completely fail this class.â
âIâd never fail,â Gojo said, flipping open his notebook. âIâm naturally brilliant.â
âYou would if I werenât here keeping you on track.â
He grinned. âSee? You like being my partner.â You rolled your eyes, but as you both started drafting the project together, something about thisâabout working with him, actually workingâfelt⊠nice. And even though he was still Gojo, still distracting, still annoying, still insufferably smug, for once, he didnât feel like an opponent. He just felt like Satoru. Not Gojo, but Satoru. Of course, the moment things got too productive, he ruined it.
âYâknow,â he mused, leaning back in his chair, âI am gonna make sure our humor project includes at least one joke at your expense.â
You deadpanned. âThen Iâm making sure our references include an article on the psychological effects of annoying classmates.â
Gojo gasped. âI would love to read that.â
You smacked his arm with your notebook. And, as usual, he just laughed. You two managed to get a lot of the work doneâ not just a solid outline of your project, but the finer details too. Gojo suddenly shoved his chair back, standing up so abruptly that you startled. âI need to do something,â he announced, brushing imaginary dust off his clothes. You frowned, confused. âWhat? Where are you going?â
âJust wait here,â he said, already turning on his heel. Your brows furrowed. âWaitâwhat? Gojoââ
âJust wait!â he called over his shoulder before disappearing down the hallway. You stared at the empty space where he had been, utterly bewildered. What the hell was that about? For a moment, you debated packing up your stuff and leaving just to be petty, but curiosity got the better of you. Huffing, you tapped your pen against your notebook, drumming your fingers impatiently. Three minutes passed. Then five. Thenâ
Gojo reappeared, striding back toward your table with an obnoxiously triumphant grin. In one hand, he held two drinks, in the other, a small paper bag. He set them down in front of you like he was presenting some kind of grand prize.
You stared. â... What is this?â
âSnacks,â he said, like it was obvious. âI see that,â you said, eyeing the drinks. One was clearly milk teaâyours, probablyâbut the other was some sugary monstrosity topped with whipped cream, which was obviously his. âBut why?â
âWell, weâve been working,â he said easily, plopping back into his seat. âFigured we deserved a break.â You blinked, then looked down at the tea again. It smelled⊠exactly how you usually ordered it.
Suspicion prickled at you. âDid youâdid you get this on purpose?âÂ
Gojo took a sip of his own drink, unbothered. âYeah?âÂ
Your eyes narrowed. âHow do you even know what I drink?â
Gojo shrugged. âDunno. Guess I just noticed that one time when I ended up paying for it.â
You paused. The thought of Gojo Satoru noticing anything about youâremembering how you liked your tea, going out of his way to get it without even askingâmade your brain short-circuit for a second. You werenât sure what to do with that information, so you just focused on unrolling the top of the pastry bag, peering inside. There were two croissantsâone chocolate, one plain.
â⊠Okay, but the pastries?â
âI didnât know what you liked, so I got both.â You squinted at him. âThat doesnât make any sense.â He smirked. âSure it does. If you like chocolate, I got it right. If you donât, more for me.â You stared at him, then at the pastries, then back at him.
âUnbelievable,â you muttered, shaking your head.
âUnbelievably thoughtful?â he supplied.
âUnbelievably annoying.â
Gojo grinned. âThat too.â Rolling your eyes, you took the chocolate croissant anyway, breaking off a piece. The tea was still warm when you took a sip, and you hated that it was perfectâhated that Gojo Satoru of all people had somehow memorized exactly how you liked it. He propped his elbow on the table, chin resting in his hand as he watched you. âYâknow, for someone whoâs been roasting me for the last five minutes, you seem to be enjoying that a lot.â
You shot him a look. âDonât push it.â He only laughed, reaching for his own pastry. âNo promises.â
â
Over the next week, you and Gojo fell into an oddly stable rhythm. It wasnât immediateânothing with Gojo ever wasâbut slowly, the sharp edges of your interactions dulled. The bickering still happened, but it felt different, less like clashing swords and more like an inside joke neither of you wanted to drop. Your study sessions were always in the same corner of the library, where Gojo insisted on pushing the limits of how far back he could tilt his chair before it inevitably crashed to the floor.
(âGojo, if you fall and crack your head open, Iâm not calling an ambulance.â
âNah, you totally would.â
âI wouldnât.â
âYes, you would, sweets. You like me too much to let me die like that.â)
Youâd grumble and go back to your notes, but a traitorous part of you was starting to find his antics almost⊠endearing. Your actual progress on the project was steady. It surprised youâGojo mightâve been infuriating, but when he actually focused, he was sharp. He had a way of cutting through useless information, pinpointing the most interesting angle on a subject, making connections you hadnât considered. Begrudgingly, you kind of understood why he was always neck to neck with you in grades.
(âSo, humor as a psychological coping mechanism?â
âMhm.â
âAnd you want to include self-deprecating humor as a subsection?â
âWell, yeah,â he said, twirling a pen between his fingers. âItâs like, prime material.â
âYou literally never make fun of yourself.â
âI make fun of myself all the time.â
You scoffed. âOh, really?â
He smirked. âYeah. I mean, look at meâsix-foot-three, gorgeous, built like a godâmy life is so hard, yâknow?â
You stared at him. âThat was not self-deprecating.â
âNo?â He shrugged, leaning in slightly, his voice dropping just enough to make your stomach do something weird. âMaybe I just want you to compliment me.â
You threw a balled-up piece of paper at his head.)Â
There were⊠moments. Small, fleeting things you didnât know what to do with. Like the time your pen rolled off the table and he picked it up, spinning it between his fingers before handing it back to you, and you noticedâreally noticedâhow big his hands were. Or how, sometimes, when he was reading something on your laptop, heâd lean in too close, and youâd catch the faint scent of his cologneâfresh, clean, but with something warm underneath. You ignored these things. Obviously.Â
But then came the gym. You were only there because you needed to de-stress. The project had been long, your classes demanding, and you just wanted to move your body and clear your head. You werenât expecting to see him there. At first, you didnât even realize it was Gojo. You were just filling your water bottle, minding your business, when your gaze flickered to the squat rack and landed on a very tall, very shirtless figure. And then your brain short-circuited. Because it was Gojo.
And Gojo wasâ
Built.
Like, really built. You had known he was tall. You had known he was in shape. But knowing and seeing were two different things. His usual oversized hoodies and button-ups had hidden the fact that his entire torso was carved like a damn statue. Broad shoulders, lean muscle, a defined chest, abs for days andâ
Your gaze dropped lower.
âHappy trail. Something inside you malfunctioned. Because, okay, fine, sureâobjectively speaking, Gojo Satoru was attractive. You had always known that. But this? This was different. This was some kind of cruel joke. This was the universe personally handing you a vision of a half-naked Gojo and saying, Hey, enjoy struggling with this one! You were staring. Oh, god, you were staring. You needed to leave. You were about to spin on your heel and get the hell out of there, but that was when he noticed you. His gaze locked onto yours in the mirror, and something slow and amused curled across his lips.
âYo,â he called, turning around fully now, like he knew exactly what he was doing. You were so close to pretending you hadnât heard him, but there were only so many places to run. You forced yourself to walk over, as if this was normal, as if your brain hadnât just imploded from seeing Gojo Satoru shirtless. âYou work out?â he asked, wiping sweat off his forehead with a towel, and you hated that even that was distracting.
âYes, Gojo, I work out,â you said flatly, crossing your arms. He grinned. âHuh. Never wouldâve guessed.â You narrowed your eyes. âWhatâs that supposed to mean?â He just shrugged, all easy confidence and knowing smirks. âYou donât exactly look like the gym type, sweets.â
âBecause I donât look like I can deadlift a hundred kilos?â you shot back.Â
He tilted his head. âCan you?â
â⊠No.âÂ
He laughed, tossing the towel over his shoulder. âThen I rest my case.â You scowled. âYouâre annoying.â
âAnd youâre staring,â he quipped, and your breath caught in your throat. Your face heated. âIâI am not.â His smirk deepened. âSure you arenât.â
You clenched your jaw, trying to school your expression into something neutral. You refused to let him know he was right. But as you turned on your heel and all but stomped to another part of the gym, you could still feel his gaze on you. And the worst part? You didnât hate it.Â
The next day, you almost considered canceling your study session. Not because you were avoiding Gojo. Obviously. You were just busy. Lots of work. Essays. Big academic responsibilities. But you werenât a coward. (And okay, fine, maybe a tiny part of you was curious to see if things would be normal again. Not that things were weird, butâwell. Whatever.) When you arrived at the library, Gojo was already there, feet kicked up on the chair across from him, lazily flipping through his notes.
âLook who decided to show up,â he said without looking up. You dropped your bag onto the table with a little more force than necessary. âShut up.â He smirked. âFeisty today, huh?â You ignored him, pulling out your laptop. âDid you actually get any work done?â
He held up a single, crumpled page.Â
You groaned. âGojo.â
âHey, hey,â he said, leaning forward, âin my defense, I was busy yesterday.â You knew exactly what he was referencing. You refused to react. Instead, you snatched the page from his hands. âWeâre never finishing this at this rate.âÂ
Gojo leaned on his hand, watching you with a lazy smile. âMaybe I just like dragging this out so I can keep seeing you.â
Your fingers twitched around your pen.
He was messing with you. Obviously. That was what he did. But it was getting harder and harder to pretend you didnât notice the way his gaze lingered sometimes. Or the way your stomach dipped when he said things like that. You cleared your throat, forcing yourself to focus. âWeâre getting this done today, whether you like it or not.â
âBossy,â he murmured, still watching you. You gave him a look. And then you got to work. And as much as you hated to admit it, your study sessions with Gojo had started to feel⊠comfortable. It was weird. In some ways, nothing had changedâyou still bickered, still teased, still rolled your eyes at each other every five minutes. But there was something different underneath it now, something you couldnât quite name. And you werenât sure you wanted to. Not yet.
â
The lecture hall was packed, the dull hum of students settling in filling the air as you pulled out your notes. Todayâs topic was something about fluid dynamicsânot that you were paying too much attention. Mostly because you were tired. And, maybe, because there was a certain someone sitting behind you. You donât know when or why it had startedâ maybe it was the fact that youâd, well, always been deprived of male attention (since you were hyper focused on academics instead. Those men wonât bring you scholarships, but your GPA will!), or the fact that you had seen him multiple times in the past weeks without feeling the urge to rip his head off, or maybe you actually were ovulating, you hadnât checked your cycle on your period tracking app yet but it was likelyâ
You had been doing your best to ignore it, to ignore him, but Gojo had a way of making his presence known. Even when he wasnât doing anything, you were now even more hyper aware of himâthe occasional shift of his chair, the absentminded tapping of his pen against the desk, the quiet sighs of boredom that you knew were dramatic. And then, just as you were finally starting to concentrate, you felt it. A presence leaning in behind you, the faintest brush of breath against your ear.
âSweets,â Gojo whispered, his voice low, teasing.
Your whole body went rigid. âWhat,â you hissed, barely moving your lips, keeping your eyes trained on the professor at the front of the room.
âThereâs a fatal flaw in this lecture,â he murmured, his voice laced with amusement. You refused to turn around. âGojo, I swearââ
âI mean, really,â he continued, like you hadnât spoken, âhow can they expect us to focus on physics when youâre sitting right in front of me?â Your grip on your pen tightened. Your face was definitely heating up. Slowly, finally, you turned your head just enough to glare at him. âAre you seriously flirting with me in the middle of a lecture on fluid dynamics?â
Gojo grinned, chin resting on his palm, looking utterly unrepentant. âIâm not flirting. Iâm just⊠yâknow⊠testing like behaviourism, or whatever.â
You inhaled sharply, willing yourself not to react. Noticing your silence, his smirk grew.
âOr,â he whispered, tilting his head, âis the idea of me flirting with you not so bad?â Your brain short-circuited for half a second. Then you turned back around, focusing very hard on your notes, pretending you hadnât heard him, pretending your heart wasnât doing something very annoying in your chest. Behind you, Gojo chuckled softly, and you could feel his smirk.
You hated him. You hated him. Nah, you didnât. You just⊠now mildly disliked him.
â
By the time the physics final rolled around, your life had been reduced to a frantic cycle of cramming formulas, flipping through notes, and barely surviving on caffeine. The psychology project with Gojo had taken up way more time than you expectedânot just because of the work itself, but because of him. His constant presence, his insufferable teasing, the way he somehow made long study sessions more bearable with his antics. It was irritatingly easy to fall into a rhythm with him, and by the time youâd turned in your joint paper, you were too mentally exhausted to even think about anything else. Which was probably why you forgot about book five. When you finally let yourself have a break, that you found it tucked away in your bag.
Hope anyone who ever reads this is reading this with a warm drink. Tea, in my opinion, is the best kind of beverage to drink while reading a book series like this.
Your breath caught in your throat.
Okay. That was⊠oddly specific.
A chillânot unpleasant, but strangeâcrept up your spine. It wasnât just the words themselves, but the fact that G.S. knew this about you. It was as if theyâd noticed your habit of your love of tea. But it was probably a coincidence. I mean, tea is enjoyed by millions of people in the world, right? You exhaled slowly, shaking the feeling off as you flipped a few more pages. The wittiness of the quips grew, and you eagerly read through each one with heightened interest. In about forty five minutes, you had managed to finish the fifth book with ease. Since you had some free time to spare, you started on the second last book.
The first note you came across was pure sarcasm, scrawled beside a particularly dramatic inner monologue from the protagonist.
Relax, youâre not in a soap opera.
And a few pages later: Actually, never mind, maybe you are.
You huffed a quiet laugh, rolling your eyes. The teasing was familiar, familiar enough to imbue a sense of relaxation in you. The annotations drew you in, the ink curling across the margins like whispered thoughts meant just for you. It was easy to imagine G.S. sitting beside you, their presence warm and familiar, flipping through the pages with quiet amusement. Someone who knew exactly which passages would make you pause, who understood the way certain lines lingered in your mind long after youâd read them.
Your fingers traced over the words they had left behind, and for a moment, you let yourself daydream. You imagined meeting themâG.S., whoever they were. The two of you sitting in some hidden corner of a library, books stacked high around you, the world outside fading away. Maybe their voice was soft, thoughtful, the kind that made you want to lean in a little closer. Maybe they smiled when you argued about a particular passage, when you pointed out something theyâd written in the margins.
Maybe they would look at you like you were something worth understanding.
The thought sent a strange warmth curling through your chest. It was silly, this little fantasy, but you let yourself indulge in it anyway. And that was when your brain betrayed you.
For a brief, horrifying moment, the faceless idea of G.S. wasnât faceless anymore. The image of Gojo flashed into your mind, unbidden and unwanted. But it wasnât just him reading beside you, wasnât just him scrawling out these notes with his long, annoyingly pretty fingers.
It was him kissing you.
Gojoâs lips brushing against yours, lazy and confident, like it was the most natural thing in the world. His hand sliding up your spine, the heat of him pressing against you, that teasing voice of his murmuring something you wouldnât quite catchâ
Your entire body froze.
No.
No, no, no.
You tried to shake it off, tried to focus on the book in front of you, but the words blurred together, unreadable. Your mind was stuck, caught on the vividness of the thought that had just invaded it.
Gojo.
Not just Gojo sitting across from you, running his mouth like he always did. Not just Gojo tossing a wadded-up paper at your head or poking at the end of your pen when you were trying to write. Noâyour brain had conjured up something else entirely. Gojo leaning in too close, his breath warm against your lips. The weight of his hand pressing into the small of your back, fingertips splayed across your lower back, your waist, your sides. The slow, unhurried way he would kiss youâbecause of course heâd be like that, because he was always so damn self-assured. Because he never did anything halfway.
And worseâworseâyou could almost hear him. That stupid teasing voice, low and amused, murmuring something between kisses, something only meant for you. Your fingers twitched, and you slammed the book shut.
No. Nope. Not happening.
Your pulse was erratic, your skin burning like youâd been caught doing something you shouldnât. You blinked rapidly, as if that alone could erase the thought from existence, but the sensation lingered, the imagined heat of him refusing to dissipate. It was just stress. Thatâs all it was. You were exhausted, overworked, and had spent way too much time in Gojoâs orbit lately. Of course your brain was short-circuiting. You exhaled sharply, forcing yourself to reopen the book. Back to reality. Back to G.S.Â
Back to anything that wasnât Gojo Satoru and the absurd, fleeting idea of what kissing him might feel like.
â
Gojoâs deep voice cut through your thoughts, pulling you back into the present as he tapped the end of his pen against the open physics textbook in front of you both.
âAnd thenâare you even listening to me?â You blinked, realizing youâd been zoning out. âYeahâyeah,â you mumbled, scrambling for something relevant to say. âProfessor Takeda can be an ass sometimes, even if heâs awesome at teaching.â Gojo grinned, apparently satisfied with your response, and continued yapping as he absentmindedly worked through some small equations on the paper in front of you both. His handwriting was quick and fluid, annoyingly neat for someone who acted like he never took anything seriously.
You didnât quite know how it had happened, but after the two of you had finally submitted the psychology project, something between you shifted. It wasnât spoken aloud, wasnât even acknowledged outright, but it was thereâan unspoken understanding. You still bickered, still argued over trivial things, but there was something else now too. A companionship. A quiet, reluctant camaraderie that neither of you had actively sought out but somehow settled into with surprising ease. And now, you were in the library with him, ironically revising for the upcoming physics final, less than a week away. You werenât sure when he had become your unofficial study partner, but here he was, scribbling down formulas as he complained about Takedaâs obsession with fluid dynamics.
âYouâre still struggling with Bernoulliâs principle?â you teased, shifting your chair slightly to get a better look at his notes.Â
âStruggling is a strong word,â he said, twirling his pen between his fingers. âI prefer âstrategically choosing to ignore it until I absolutely have to care.ââ
You scoffed, but before you could argue, your eyes landed on the book beside your bagâthe sixth book in the series youâd been slowly working through, the second-to-last one before the finale. You had completely forgotten about it. You were pretty sure you had hit the maximum borrowing period, and at this rate, you were lucky the library hadnât sent you an overdue notice.
âI need to go return this,â you muttered, grabbing the book and standing up.
Gojo glanced at it, tilting his head slightly. âThat again?â
You blinked at him. âWhat?â
âThat series,â he clarified, nodding towards the book in your hand. âYouâve been reading it forever. Whatâs the deal?â You hesitated for a moment, not really sure why you felt the sudden urge to explain, but then the words slipped out before you could stop them.
âI⊠I donât know. Itâs comforting, I guess,â you admitted. âItâs one of those series that just sticks with you, you know? And itâs not just the storyâitâs the annotations.â
Gojo raised an eyebrow. âAnnotations?â
You shifted your weight from one foot to the other. âYeah. Someone else read these books before me, and they wrote all these little notes in the margins. Some of them are funny, some are insightful, some are just straight-up teasingâbut they make the whole experience feel⊠shared, I guess.â For once, Gojo didnât say anything. He just listened, head tilted, watching you with an expression you couldnât quite decipher.
You coughed, suddenly feeling self-conscious. âAnyway, I should go return this.â You turned before he could say anything else and made your way to the libraryâs return sectionâonly to find the drop-off shelves completely blocked off with construction tape. A small sign informed students that book returns had to be made manually at the front desk. With a sigh, you made your way to the librarianâs desk. She smiled at you as you set the book down.
âReturning this?â she asked, flipping open the cover to check the borrowing card.
âYeah,â you said, nodding. She hummed, scanning the barcode. âYou know, someone else borrowed this whole series a while back.â
No way.
No way, no way, no way.
Is this how you were going to finally find out who the faceless stranger you had grown attached to was? Your heart skipped a beat. You forced yourself to keep your voice casual.Â
âOh? Can you recall who?âÂ
She paused, tapping her chin as if trying to recall. âGive me a moment dear. Heâs a maleâŠabout the same age as you, actually. Well I think he might be the same age as you. Hmm, he was tall, quite tall, had this head of brilliant white hair, and glasses. His eyes were startlingly blue too. I canât remember his name but you twoâd get along, he seemed very interested in these series too!â She chuckled, taking the book from you to store it under one of the accompanying shelves.
Your blood ran cold.
She continued, oblivious to your internal panic. âHad this little keychain on his bag too. It tinkled a lot when he came in to borrow the books.â Your mind flashed back to the small jingling sound of Gojoâs keychainâ a digimon one. The one that always made a tiny noise whenever he slung his bag over his shoulder. Oh my god.
Your grip tightened on the desk. âRight. Thanks.â
Somehow, miraculously, you managed to return the book without your hands shaking. But the moment you turned away, the weight of the realization slammed into you like a tidal wave. Your breath hitched, your vision tunneled slightly, and for a second, you werenât sure if your legs would carry you back to the table.
Gojo.
Gojo was G.S.
The knowledge settled in your bones with a dizzying clarity, making the library around you feel unreal, like you were wading through a dream you couldnât wake up from. The notes, the teasing comments, the underlined passagesâit had all been him. The same Gojo Satoru who drove you insane with his arrogance, who somehow wormed his way into your study sessions, who made physics revision bearable with his endless chatter. And he had never said a word about it. By the time you reached the table, your emotions were tangled beyond recognitionâembarrassment, frustration, something dangerously close to hurt. You dropped into your seat, a little too forcefully, the noise drawing his attention.
Gojo barely glanced up from his notes. âYou okay? You look like you just saw a ghost.â
You swallowed, pulse thrumming against your ribs. Your fingers curled into fists against your lap. You felt like you were standing on the edge of something sharp, something that could cut you open if you werenât careful.
âItâs you,â you said, your voice barely above a whisper.
He finally met your gaze, his pen stilling against the page. For a secondâjust a secondâthere was nothing but blankness in his expression, as if he truly didnât understand what you meant. But then, recognition flickered in those bright, unreadable eyes. And slowly, like he had been waiting for this exact moment, he grinned.
âTook you long enough.â
A sharp breath escaped you, like the wind had been knocked from your lungs. Something twisted in your chest. He knew. He had known. You exhaled shakily, trying to hold onto your composure, but your voice wavered when you spoke again. âYouââ You swallowed hard. âYou knew it was me reading those books, and you justââ
He didnât deny it. Didnât even try. You hated the way he was looking at you, like this was funny, like this was just some game he had been playing all along. Like he had been waiting for you to connect the dots, to put the pieces together while he sat back and watched. Something inside you cracked.
âYou were just messing with me.â The words came out quiet, but there was something raw beneath them, something unsteady. âThatâs what this was, right? Just another one of your games?â
For the first time, his smirk faltered.
âThatâs notââ
But you didnât let him finish.
You stood up too fast, your chair scraping loudly against the floor. A few heads turned, students shooting you mildly annoyed glances, but you couldnât bring yourself to care. You felt like the library was closing in around you, like you needed to get out before you drowned under the weight of it all.
âForget it,â you muttered, voice tight. You grabbed your bag, barely able to look at him. âIâll see you in class.â And before he could stop youâbefore he could say something that might make you stayâyou turned on your heel and walked out of the library. Your pulse roared in your ears, your face burned with humiliation, and your heartâGod, your heart was a tangled, aching mess you werenât ready to unravel yet.
â
You didnât talk to Gojo for three days. Not once. Not in class, not in the library, not even in passing. If he was in a group conversation, you found an excuse to leave. If he tried to sit next to you, you conveniently needed to be somewhere else. And if you caught even a glimpse of him from across campus, you turned in the opposite direction before he could call your name. It wasnât out of pettiness. At least, you didnât think so.
You were hurt.
The weight of it had settled deep in your chest, a slow, heavy ache that didnât fade no matter how much you tried to distract yourself. You felt stupid, looking back at all those late nights spent tracing the loops of G.S.âs handwriting, at the way you had let yourself get caught up in the fantasy of someoneâsomeone you thought understood you. Someone who had felt just as deeply about those books as you had. And the whole time, it had been him.
Had he just been laughing at you? Watching you get wrapped up in his words, in him, while he sat back and waited for you to figure it out? Had it all just been some kind of joke? You didnât know what answer would hurt more. Gojo, however, wasnât making your avoidance easy.
He noticed, of course. The first day, he seemed ashamed. You saw it in the way he frowned when you brushed past him after class, in the way his gaze lingered when you sat on the opposite end of the library instead of your usual table.
The second day, he got annoyed.
âAre you serious right now?â he had muttered when you blatantly ignored him outside the lecture hall, your fingers tightening around your books as you sped up. By the third day, his frustration had given way to something elseâsomething quieter, something bordering on concern.
He caught your wrist as you passed him in the hallway that morning, his grip loose enough for you to pull away if you wanted.
âHey,â he murmured, his voice uncharacteristically soft. âAre weâ?â He hesitated. âDid Iâ?â
You looked at him then, really looked at him, and for the first time in years, you saw itâuncertainty.
Gojo Satoru was scared. But you werenât ready to talk. Not yet. So you shook him off and kept walking.
He let you go. For the rest of the day, you tried to pretend like it didnât feel like a mistake. That night, unable to sleep, you reached for the last book in the seriesâthe one you had borrowed before you found out. You had been meaning to return it. The thought of flipping through those pages again felt wrong after everything that had happened. But something about the weight of it in your hands made you pause. Before you could talk yourself out of it, you curled up in bed and opened to the first page.
And read.
At first, it was mechanical. You skimmed. Skipped paragraphs. Let your eyes pass over the words without really taking them in. But thenâsomewhere along the wayâyou found yourself slowing down. The story was familiar, but it felt different now. The annotations were there, just like before. The same small, thoughtful notes in the margins. The same underlined passages, the same occasional sarcastic remark scribbled beside overly dramatic monologues.
And it still felt intimate.
Your chest ached. Gojoâs handwriting had always been a little messy, but now, you could hear his voice in it. The playful quips, the teasing corrections, the occasional rambling thoughts that trailed off mid-sentence. He hadnât just read these books. He had shared them. With you. But it wasnât until you reached the end of the book that you froze.
A note, scrawled beneath a passage about missed chances. About how sometimes, you donât realise what someone means to you until itâs too late.
To whoever is reading this, I⊠really hope that this never applies to you.Â
And then, right underneath it, you spot a small sentence. Your eyes narrow as you lean in, catching the faint blue ink beneath the initials G.S., nearly lost beneath the hurried strike-through. Itâs messy, almost like he had written it in a rush, then panicked and scratched it out before anyone could see. The ink is slightly smudged, the letters not quite as crisp as they should be. But you can still read it.
Your breath catches. The frustration twisting in your chest falters, cracking under the weight of what youâre seeing. This wasnât just about G.S. This wasnât just about some stupid rivalry, some elaborate, long-running inside joke only he was in on. He had liked you.
All along.
The truth of it presses against your ribs, turning your anger into something elseâsomething hot and unbearable and aching. Because of course Gojo Satoru wouldnât have just let you take that book without noticing. Of course he wouldnât have just been some faceless mystery behind the initials. He had been right there, all this time. Watching. Waiting. Never saying a damn thing. You press your lips together, gripping the book tighter, torn between wanting to shove it in his stupidly smug face and the overwhelming realization that thisâthis whole thingâhad never been a game to him.
Not really. Your fingers tighten around the edge of the page, heart pounding. You should be mad. You are mad.
But now? Now you donât know what to do with the way your chest is clenching, your stomach twisting, the words replaying in your head over and over again. He really, really liked you. And he had been too much of an idiot to say it.
It wasnât just a game. It never had been. Your fingers curled around the edge of the page, heart hammering against your ribs. And in that moment, without a second thoughtâ
You didnât hesitate.
You barely registered slipping on your shoes, grabbing your jacket, heading across campus toward the dormitories. Your pulse roared in your ears as you climbed the stairs, the weight of the book heavy in your bag. You remembered the way heâd joked about it onceâhow it was almost too easy to find his dorm because the boysâ rooms were stacked directly above the girlsâ.
("Itâs like fate, babe," heâd drawled, slinging an arm over your shoulders. "Youâre literally sleeping right below me."
"Donât say it like that," youâd deadpanned, shoving him off.
Heâd only grinned, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "What? Itâs true. If you ever get lonely, just know Iâm right thereâ" he pointed up dramatically "âin room sixty-nine."
Youâd groaned at that. "Of course itâs sixty-nine."
"Oh, absolutely." His smirk had been positively insufferable. "The universe practically insisted on it.â)
And now, here you were. Standing in front of his stupid door, his stupid room number glaring at you, mocking you, reminding you of how easily he had wormed his way into your life. You knocked. There was a pause. Thenâfootsteps. The door cracked open, and Gojo blinked down at you, disheveled, his glasses slightly askew. He was in a hoodie and sweatpants, and for once, he looked genuinely caught off guard.
âWhat the hell are you doing here?â he whispered sharply. âWhat if the dean catches you? Itâs past curfew.â
You ignored him. âExplain.â
Gojo stared at you. Then, with a sigh, he opened the door wider and let you in. His dorm was surprisingly neat, save for a few open textbooks on his desk. He ran a hand through his hair, exhaling before leaning against the edge of his bed.
âYou want an explanation?â Gojo muttered, rubbing his temple as if trying to collect his thoughts. His voice was uncharacteristically hoarse, lacking its usual teasing lilt. He exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair before meeting your gaze.
âFine.â
And thenâsomething shifted in his expression. That raw, unguarded look returned, cracking through the facade of the cocky, untouchable Gojo Satoru.
âI liked you this entire time.â
Your breath caught. His words were quiet, but they landed like a stone in your chest, sending ripples through every assumption you had made about the past few months. Noâlonger than that. Yes, you had gathered from that scribbled annotation that he had liked you, but hearing it was different from reading it. The weight of what he was saying pressed down on you, curling around your ribs, making it hard to breathe. He swallowed, his Adamâs apple bobbing. His gaze flickered away for a second, like he was considering taking it back, like he was still terrified of saying it out loud. But then, with a short breath, he pressed forward.
âIââ He licked his lips, shaking his head slightly. âWhen I overheard you talking about the books, about G.S., I thought⊠I donât know. At first, it was funny.â He let out a weak laugh, but there was no humor in it. âYou, of all people, getting caught up in my annotations.â
A pang of hurt flared in your chest at that, but Gojoâs face twisted almost immediately, like he regretted saying it that way.
âI donât mean it like that,â he murmured. âI just meanââ He sighed, dragging a hand down his face. âYou always had this way of looking at me, like you had me all figured out. Like you already knew what kind of person I was. And I guess⊠part of me thought it was funny that I got to be something different in your head for once.â
Your fingers curled at your sides. You werenât sure how to respond to that, but Gojo wasnât done. His fingers flexed at his sides, like he wasnât sure what to do with his hands. His eyes darted back to you, searching, waiting for you to interrupt, to tell him he was ridiculous. When you didnât, he exhaled sharply through his nose, like he was bracing himself.
âBut it wasnât just the books,â he admitted, voice quieter now. âIt wasnât just some joke to me.â His lips pressed together for a moment before he continued. âBecause the truth is, Iââ He hesitated, then finally met your eyes again, his own brimming with something raw and unguarded. âIâve liked you since freshman year.â
The air between you shifted. Your fingers curled at your sides as his confession settled in. You wanted to say somethingâanythingâbut all you could do was stare at him, pulse pounding in your ears.
He let out a breathy chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. âYeah. Long time, huh?â His voice was softer now, tinged with something almost self-conscious. âIt sounds stupid when I say it out loud. But I did. I do.â
Your mouth felt dry. âSince freshman year?â
His lips twitched, like he wasnât sure if he should smile. âYeah.â
Your mind reeled. Freshman year. That meant before the rivalry, before the teasing had turned sharp, before you had convinced yourself that he was just some cocky, insufferable show-off who loved to push your buttons. Before you had started believing he only saw you as an opponent to one-up. Gojo sighed, dropping his head back slightly, staring at the ceiling for a moment before looking back at you. âYou remember that first day of class?â
You blinked. âWhere we had to introduce each other to the class?â
He nodded. âYou were wearing that stupid oversized sweater that practically swallowed you, and you kept tugging at the sleeves like you wanted to disappear. I justâ at first I thought you were just so cuteâ His lips quirked slightly at the memory. âAnd then you opened your mouth when we argued for the first time in classâ remember? When you answered that question on vector components and I poked fun at you or something, and when you responded back to me, you had this⊠fire in you. You wouldnât let me get a single word in edgewise, like you had something to prove.â
His expression softened, something unbearably fond flickering in his gaze. âAnd I just remember thinkingâshit.â
Your breath hitched.
âI wasnât supposed to like you,â he murmured, like it was a confession he had never meant to say out loud. âBut I did. And when we started arguing all the time, when it turned into this whole thing between us, I thoughtâfine. If I couldnât have you the way I wanted, then Iâd settle for getting under your skin.â He huffed a quiet laugh, shaking his head. âAnd trust me, I tried to stop thinking about it. About you. But I couldnât. And then you started borrowing those books, and it was likeââ He exhaled sharply, like he didnât even know how to put it into words. You swallowed hard, heart hammering.Â
All this time.
Every argument, every smug grin, every lingering glance across the roomâhe had liked you this entire time.
âBut then you kept reading them.â His voice had softened, like he was talking to himself now as much as to you. âYou kept flipping through those pages, talking about how much you liked G.Sâ and god, who am I to deny you when you speak like that? When you speak like that about my thoughts, my feelings, spilled onto the pages of those stupid books? And suddenly, I was waiting for you to borrow the next book. Waiting to see which parts youâd pause on, which annotations youâd react to. Waiting to hear what youâd say about G.S. So Iââ
He exhaled slowly, his fingers tightening around the fabric of his hoodie.
ââ I borrowed the remaining four books or so. I annotated every last one of them, annotated them so maybe, maybe Iâd get to hear that gorgeous voice of yours talking about it in class again. Iâd get to see that giddy smile when youâd refer to me as your Seiji Amasawa again. As your G.S. And honestly, it was worth the entirety of the long night I spent, just so Iâd see you fucking smile throughout the day and snap less at me because G.S. wrote something that made you think he was similar to youâ because in reality, with the way you viewed meâ entirely my fault by the wayâ it would never be possible.â He took a deep breath after saying that.
âAnd I realisedââ He paused, just for a second, like he needed to steady himself. âI liked it. I liked you. Not that I didnât already like you, butâ but I was falling. Like really deep.â
Something inside you twisted painfully. Your lips parted, but you couldnât force out a response. You had spent the past three days agonizing over the idea that he had been toying with you, that this had all been some elaborate joke, but thisâthis was different. This was Gojo Satoru, stripped of his usual bravado, laying his feelings bare in a way that felt like it might physically hurt him.
âThen why didnât you tell me?â you asked, your voice barely above a whisper.
Gojo let out a sharp, humorless laugh. He looked away, shaking his head as he rubbed the back of his neck. âBecause Iâm an idiot?â he said dryly. Then, quieter, âBecause Iâm Gojo Satoru, and I figured youâd never take me seriously?â
Your chest tightened at that.
Before you could process that, he spoke again.
âI know I was arrogant. I know I still am arrogant,â he muttered, his lips curling bitterly. âI push too hard. Iâm too much. I act like I know everything, and maybe I do most of the time, butââ He swallowed thickly. âThose annotations⊠they were the only time you ever saw me.â His voice had dropped lower now, almost vulnerable, and something about it made your pulse stutter.
âNot the dumbass you argue with in class. Not the rich kid with the perfect grades. Not the guy who has to prove heâs the smartest person in the room.â He let out a slow breath. âJust⊠me.âÂ
The silence between you stretched, thick and charged.
Gojoâs hands clenched at his sides, his knuckles going white. He looked like he was bracing for impact, like he had just thrown every last piece of himself at your feet and was waiting to see if youâd step on them. Your fingers trembled slightly as you reached for him.
Thenâ
You stepped forward. Gojo stilled the moment your fingers brushed against his hoodie, his breath catching in his throat. He stood up, towering over you, an unfamiliar glint in his cerulean eyes. You hesitated, your fingertips barely grazing the fabric before curling into it, fisting it lightly like you needed something solid to hold onto. His whole body went tense under your touch, his usual easy confidence absent now, replaced with something far more uncertainâfar more vulnerable.
âYou really are an idiot,â you whispered, your voice barely more than a breath against the space between you. His lips twitched, like he wanted to smirk, wanted to tease, wanted to be Gojoâbut he didnât. Instead, he just let out a shaky breath. âYeah?â
You swallowed hard, your fingers tightening against his hoodie. âYeah.âÂ
The word hung in the air between you, weighty and full of something neither of you had the strength to name. And thenâbefore you could second-guess yourself, before doubt could creep inâyou surged up onto your toes and kissed him. Gojo made a startled sound against your lips, his whole body going rigid for half a second, like he couldnât quite believe what was happening. But thenâslowly, desperatelyâhe melted into it. His hands found your face, cupping it with a tenderness that made your heart twist. His palms were warm, his grip firm, like he was terrified youâd slip away, like he needed you to know this wasnât a joke to him. That it had never been. He kissed you like a man making up for lost timeâdeep, searching, like he had been waiting for this moment far longer than even you had realized. When he tilted his head, his lips pressing more firmly against yours, you felt itâall of it.
Every unspoken word. Every missed chance. Every moment that had teetered on the edge of this but never quite fallen. His fingers slid into your hair, his thumb brushing softly against your cheek, like he was memorising the way you felt beneath him. Your heart was a wild, unsteady thing in your chest, thundering against your ribs as you pressed yourself closer, your hands sliding up from his hoodie to clutch at his shoulders. Gojo let out a quiet, almost desperate sigh against your lips, like he had been holding back for so long that finally getting to kiss you was unraveling him.
And maybe it was.
Because as much as you had spent the past few days convincing yourself that this had all been a game to him, thisâthe way he was holding you, the way his fingers trembled just slightly against your skinâtold a different story. Gojo Satoru didnât play games with things that mattered. And youâsomehow, impossiblyâmattered. When you pulled back, slightly breathless, Gojo just stared at you, like he couldnât quite believe you were real.
Then, slowly, he grinned. âSo,â he murmured, his thumb tracing your cheek. âDoes this mean Iâm forgiven?â
You rolled your eyes, but you didnât step away. âDonât push it.â Gojo laughed, bright and real, before pulling you back into his arms.
âGod, do you know how beautiful you fuckinâ are? It drives me insane,â he mutters, his voice low and rough, sending a shiver down your spine. His breath is warm against your lips before he swoops down, capturing your mouth with his own again, his large hands grounding themselves against your waist as if heâs afraid you might slip away.
You giggle against his lips, trying to push him off, but he refuses to budge. âS-Satoruâwait!â Your protest is muffled, barely audible between the kisses he keeps stealing, his lips soft but insistent against yours.Â
He lets out a quiet, needy sound, almost a whimper, his grip tightening on your hips. âShut up,â he murmurs breathlessly, squeezing lightly at your waist as if that alone will silence you. âBeen waiting to kiss this pretty mouth for sooo fuckinâ long⊠Let me get my fill, yeah?â You barely have time to respond before his tongue swipes across the seam of your lips, coaxing them open. The second you allow him in, he kisses you deeplyâdesperatelyâhis tongue sliding against yours, tasting, claiming. The soft little noises you make against him seem to spur him on, his fingers pressing firmly into your sides as he tugs you even closer. His legs bump against the edge of the bed, steadying you between his parted thighs, and the world around you fades, leaving only the two of you tangled up in each other.
A surprised squeak leaves your lips when his thumbs slip just beneath your shirt, brushing against your bare skin. His hands are cold, the contrast against your warmth sending a jolt of electricity through you. He laughsâa quiet, smug chuckleâand then the bastard has the audacity to bite your bottom lip in amusement. âShh,â he teases, lips brushing against yours. âDonât wanna get caught sneakinâ into my dorm after hours, do you?â
Before you can even process a response, his hands move to the backs of your thighs, gripping firmly as he lifts you off the ground with ease. A gasp leaves your lips, legs instinctively wrapping around his waist as he manoeuvres you to the bed. He turns smoothly, lowering you down onto the mattress before climbing over you, his movements slow, deliberate, eager. And this time, you donât hesitate. Your hands fist the front of his hoodie, yanking him down in a clumsy rush to kiss him again, your breath mingling with his as your noses bump. His glasses shift slightly from the movement, and with an annoyed huff, he pulls them off, setting them aside carefully before his gaze returns to youâhungry. His mouth is back on yours in an instant, moving with a mixture of urgency and something softer, something deeper. His lips trail from yours to your jaw, to the delicate skin of your neck, to the dip of your collarboneâhis hands following the path his lips leave behind, fingers toying with the fabric of your open jacket. He pushes it off your shoulders tentatively, almost testing, waiting for you to stop him.
You donât.
A pleased hum vibrates against your throat as his confidence grows, his hands sliding over your arms, your waist, memorizing the shape of you beneath him. Your arms wrap around his neck, tugging him impossibly closer, like you could mold yourself against him if you just tried hard enough. The kiss is more than just the heat of the moment. Itâs more than just the weeksâmonthsâof built-up tension. Itâs the culmination of years of frustration, of stolen glances, of biting words laced with something deeper neither of you had wanted to acknowledge until now.
And maybe, maybe, itâs also the weight of finally realisingâfully understandingâthat the only person who had ever been able to keep up with you, to challenge you, to drive you absolutely insane, yet make you feel like this⊠was him. Satoru groans against your skin, nipping at your neck as his hands slip beneath your shirt, his fingers splaying across your waist. But even in the heat of the moment, heâs calculated. His lips map out a path of possessive little marks just below your collarboneâplaces that can be covered easily. Even now, heâs thinking things through. Your breath hitches when his fingertips skim the skin of your hips again, this time firmer, testing. Your cheeks burn, and the words slip out before you can stop them.
âYou canâyou can take it off.âÂ
Satoru goes very, very still. You swear you can feel the exact moment he processes what youâve just said, the exact moment he realizes that you mean it. His hands tighten slightly against you, his breath coming out a little shakier than before. And for once, for onceâhe doesnât have some cocky remark ready to go. Because this? This is real. And for the first time, Gojo Satoru doesnât want to ruin it with a joke. He gently tugs your shirt up and over your head, eyes eyeing the new expanse of skin that has just been made available to him.
âMy gorgeous girlâŠâ
He whispers out, before heâs back to lavishing your skin with attention, paying close attention to your breasts, lips lovingly, reverently moving across your skin with gentleness you hadnât thought possible by him. You donât know what possesses you, but something suddenly clicks and shyly, you unclasp your bra, leaving your entire upper half bare, making Satoruâs breath hitch. And then, in a moment that takes you completely by surprise, he does something that makes your heart both melt and swellâif that was even possible.
Because instead of his usual teasing, instead of his cocky grin or some flirtatious remark that would make you roll your eyes, Satoru simply looks at you. Really looks at you. His intense blue eyes donât dart downward like you half-expected, donât darken with some unchecked hunger. Instead, they stay locked onto yours, unwavering, all traces of playfulness and impulsive need fading away. What replaces them is something quieterâsomething gentler. A tenderness that makes your breath catch, your chest tighten.Â
Satoru, who always had a joke ready. Satoru, who always teased and never took anything too seriously. Satoru, who could have had anyone but had spent years bothering you insteadâstaring at you now like you were something fragile, something precious, something he wasnât sure he deserved to touch. His throat bobs as he swallows, and then, carefully, softly, he speaks.
âAre you sure you wanna⊠do this?â His voice is quieter now, laced with something that sounds an awful lot like uncertainty. Like heâs terrified of ruining whatever this is. âIâm notâpressuring you or anything, am I?â His fingers twitch slightly at his sides before he hesitantly lifts a hand, reaching out toward youânot to pull you in, not to take what youâve offered, but to tuck a few strands of your hair away from your face. His touch is featherlight, barely there, but it sends warmth spreading across your skin.
âI justââ He exhales, gaze flickering between your eyes, searching, as if trying to read your thoughts. âI donât want you to feel like you have to. If me kissing you made you think you needed to⊠yâknow, do anything moreâthen Iâm sorry.â The words leave his lips like a confession, like the idea of you feeling obligated to be with him hurts him. And thatâthat simple factâmakes something inside you ache. Because Gojo Satoru, for all his arrogance, for all his relentless teasing and larger-than-life presence, was standing before you now with uncertainty in his eyes. Not because he didnât want thisâGod, did he want thisâbut because he needed to be sure that you did too. For a moment, you just stare at him, your heart pounding so hard you can feel it in your fingertips.
Because this isnât how you thought this moment would go. Not with himânot with Gojo Satoru. You had braced yourself for teasing, for him to say something infuriatingly smug, to grin like he had won some long-fought battle. But instead, he was looking at you with quiet hesitation, with care. With something that felt like love. Your throat tightens.
âSatoru.â His nameâ his first name, not Gojoâ leaves your lips in a breath, barely above a whisper. His handsâso sure and confident only moments agoâremain frozen where they rest against your sides, like heâs afraid that if he moves, youâll change your mind.
âI want this,â you say, and you make sure there is no room for doubt in your voice. Your fingers curl around the fabric of his hoodie, grounding yourself in the feel of him. âIâm not saying it just because you kissed me, or because I think I have to. I want this.â His lips part slightly, but no words come out. His grip on you tightens just a fraction, like heâs trying to make sure youâre real.
You take a breath, steadying yourself, because you need him to understandâreally understand.Â
âIâve wanted this for longer than I want to admit,â you confess, a nervous laugh bubbling up in your throat. Your fingers flex where they rest against his chest, feeling the steady thud-thud-thud of his heart beneath your palm. Heâs warm, impossibly so, like heâs radiating heat just for you. âAnd it scares me, Satoru. You scare me.â His brows furrow, the corners of his mouth dipping slightly downward. âScare you?â
You nod. âBecause you make me feel things I donât know how to deal with. You drive me crazy. You make me want to strangle you half the time, and the other half Iââ Your voice catches, and you swallow thickly before continuing. âI want to be near you. I want you to look at me the way youâre looking at me right now.â His hands slowly slide up your sides, not rushing, not pushingâjust holding. His thumbs brush against your ribs, barely ghosting under the underside of your chest, but even that light touch sends a shiver up your spine.
âYou have to know this isnât just some impulsive decision for me,â you tell him, voice softer now, filled with something you canât quite name. âI donât do things just because theyâre convenient, or easy, or expected. I do them because I choose to.â You reach up, cupping his face between your hands, feeling the warmth of his skin beneath your palms. His breath stutters when you stroke your thumb over his cheekbone, and for the first time since youâve known him, he looks completely lost. âIâm choosing you,â you whisper, staring straight into those brilliant blue eyes. âNot because you kissed me. Not because of some annotations in a book. But because I want you, Satoru. I want this.â
A shaky exhale leaves his lips, and for a second, you swear he stops breathing altogether. His grip on you tightens just enough for you to feel it, his fingers pressing into your waist like heâs holding himself back. Then, slowly, so slowly, he leans in, forehead resting against yours. His breath is warm against your lips when he speaks.
âYou canât take that back now, yâknow,â he murmurs, his voice low and almost reverent.
âI wouldnât dream of it.â
In a flurry of kissing and movement, his hands roamed over your breasts, fingers pressing and kneading with a slow, deliberate touch that sent shivers down your spine. Every brush of his palm left a burning trail in its wake, making you arch into him, craving moreâneeding more. His lips never left yours for long, only breaking away to breathe, to murmur your name against your mouth like a prayer, before diving back in, desperate to claim every inch of you. Your own hands found their way under his hoodie, fingertips exploring the firm ridges and planes of muscle beneath. He was all taut sinew and warmth, his body solid beneath your touch, the faintest tremble betraying just how much he wanted this too. Heat pooled in your lower belly, a slow and delicious ache, as you pressed your palms flat against his stomach, feeling the way his muscles flexed under your touch.
And then you felt itâthe thin trail of hair below his navel, soft against your fingers, leading downward. Your breath hitched at the realisation, a flush creeping up your face as your hands lingered there, tracing along his happy trail. The sensation made him shudder, his breath stuttering for just a moment before he let out a low, breathy chuckle. âYouâre teasing,â he murmured against your lips, his voice rougher now, his grip tightening slightly where he held you.
You shook your head, though your fingers betrayed you, still trailing feather-light touches just above the waistband of his sweats. âJust exploring,â you whispered, emboldened by the way he reacted to your touch, the way his muscles tensed as if he was barely holding himself back. His entire body felt heavier now, weighted with desire as he sucked in a slow breath. His fingers twitched against your sides, like he was restraining himself, before he finally gave in.
With one fluid motion, he pulled his hoodie over his head and tossed it aside, leaving his torso bare. The sight of him knocked the air from your lungs. He was beautifulâlean but strong, his chest rising and falling with uneven breaths, skin warm and golden in the dim light. The definition of his abs trailed down to his happy trail, disappearing beneath the waistband of his sweats. There was something intoxicating about seeing him like this, vulnerable yet utterly self-assured, the usual cocky glint in his eyes replaced with something softer, something just for you. You traced your fingers lightly over his stomach, watching the way his muscles tensed beneath your touch. His breath came a little heavier, his hands gripping your waist like he was holding onto the last thread of his restraint.
"You're staring," he teased, though his voice was lower now, rough around the edges.
"Maybe," you admitted, dragging your fingertips just a little lower, reveling in the way his breath hitched. His lips curled into a smirk, but there was a heat in his gaze now, something dark and wanting. âCareful,â he murmured, voice barely above a whisper. âI might start thinking you like what you see.â
Your pulse thrummed wildly, heat licking at your skin as you met his eyes.
âI do.â
He gave you a full-blown grin, the kind that made his eyes crinkle at the corners, his canines glinting in the dim light of his dorm room. It was a look you had seen a hundred times beforeâmischievous, teasing, effortlessly confidentâbut now, there was something else underneath it. Something softer. Something real. His hands, warm and slightly rough, hesitated at the waistband of your sweats, fingers grazing the fabric as if waiting for permission. His touch sent a shiver down your spine, anticipation coiling tight in your stomach. But despite the heat in his gaze, despite the way his breath was uneven and his chest rose and fell just a little too fast, he didnât move forward. Not yet.
âAre you sure?â His voice was lower now, quieter, cutting through the thick silence that had settled between you. His usual bravado was nowhere to be seenâno teasing remark, no cocky smirk. Just Satoru, looking at you like you were something delicate, something he wasnât sure he was allowed to have. Like he was terrified of doing something wrong, of ruining this moment before it could fully begin. You could feel his hesitation in the way his fingers flexed against your waist, could hear it in the way his voice wavered just slightly, as if he was bracing himself for you to change your mind.
It made your heart ache. You reached up, cupping his face gently, your thumb brushing over his cheek. His skin was warm under your touch, and he leaned into it instinctively, like he couldnât help himself. His breath hitched, just slightly, and you saw the way his lips parted, the way his lashes fluttered when your fingers traced along his jaw.
âSatoru,â you murmured, voice steady despite the way your heart was hammering against your ribs. His eyes flickered to yoursâdeep, cerulean, searching.
âIâm sure,â you whispered. âI want this. I want you.â For a moment, he didnât move, like he was letting the words settle, like he needed to make sure he heard you right. And thenâ
He exhaled, something tight and heavy leaving his chest, and his hands finally gripped your waist properly, fingers digging in just a little, grounding himself in the reality of the moment.
âGod,â he muttered, his forehead pressing against yours, his voice almost shaky. âYou have no idea how much I fucking love hearing you say that.â
He gently coaxed you out of your sweatpants, hand finding itself atop your underwear, breath hitching at the dampness that was present. Seems like this fueled his ego a little bit too much, because the next thing you knew, the Satoru you knew was back.
âDang youâre wet as fuck.â
You gave him a pointed look and he faltered, the smirk on his lips morphing into a grin as he ushered out apologies. Your hands clutched the sheets when his fingers began to gently touch you, your bottom lip caught between your teeth as you eyed his hand with need. You couldnât stay mad with him for long the way his fingers tugged the flimsy material down and began to work his hand between your legs. He grinned, experimentally probing around, ocean eyes half lidded.
âThis is where youâre weak, right?â He murmured sensually, fingers finding your sensitive nub, eyes flickering up to watch your reactions, his pretty pink lips parted open in pleasure as he watched you come apart under him. He was precise with his fingers, circling you, teasing, pinching and rubbing, before thrusting in all the right spots, reaching places your own hand was unable to take you. Before long you had to let out muffled whimpers into his big palm that he had slapped gently across your lips; it covered almost the entirety of the lower half of your faceâ you were a bit loud.Â
Unable to take it anymore, you finally reached your breaking point, squirming underneath him as you came all over his fingers. Your chest was heaving, rising and falling in rapid succession, your breath coming in short, uneven pants as the aftershocks of pleasure rippled through you. Every nerve in your body felt like it had been set alight, over sensitised and trembling in the lingering warmth of his touch. Your skin was flushed, heat radiating from every inch of you, and the room felt impossibly small, like it was holding the weight of everything that had just passed between you.Â
Hungry for more, you made quick work of his sweats, sliding them and his boxers down (pokemon boxers but you were too needy to make fun of him for it). Satoru loomed above you, shakily guiding himself to your entrance, pale lashes fluttering as he looked down at you. He was hardâ had been hard the moment you two had started kissing, pressing up against you in a needy manner.
âSuâSure you can take it? Donât need a break?â He breathed out, referring to the fact that you had practically jumped at the opportunity to take things further right after having an earth shattering orgasm thanks to his lanky fingers.
âSo fucking sureâ please, Satoru.â You flutter your eyelashes up at him, and he swears he almost comes from the sight. He nods, leaning down to kiss your lips gently, all the while he ushers himself inside you slowly.Â
Now you knew he had meant you not being able to take it because you might have been tired after your first orgasm, but now it felt more like he was warning you, because he was long, pressing inside of you deliciously. Once he had buried himself to the hilt, he halted in his tracks, giving you time to adjust. His face was screwed in pleasure, likely trying not to give in the urge to move. After a few minutes, when you deemed the feeling of him inside you as highly pleasurable and not the slight uncomfortableness that you initially felt while being split open in two, you murmured out a small âIâm ready,â and that was all it took for Satoru to start moving.
He kept up a slow, steady yet deep pace, his muscular form looming over yours, and for a moment, all you could do was look at him. The dim light of his dorm cast shadows along the sharp lines of his body, emphasizing the taut muscles in his arms, the sculpted contours of his chest, and the way his abdomen flexed with each controlled movement. His skin was flushed, a faint sheen of sweat glistening over his toned physique, catching the light in a way that made your breath hitch. His broad shoulders framed his lean build perfectly, his biceps taut as he braced himself above you, his fingers curling into the sheets as though restraining himself from losing control entirely.
And then there was his face. Messy white hair fell into his eyes, strands sticking to his damp forehead, and his lipsâGod, his lipsâwere parted, slightly swollen from kissing you breathless. His sharp jaw clenched subtly, his throat bobbing with a swallow, and when his gaze flickered down to meet yours, you felt like all the air had been sucked from the room.
His usual cocky grin was nowhere to be found. Instead, his expression was intenseâraw, focused entirely on you, like nothing else in the world mattered. His impossibly blue eyes, darkened with something deep and consuming, dragged over your face, your body, drinking you in like you were something precious, something his. âSatoruââ you breathed, voice barely more than a whisper, but it was enough to make him groan, his grip on your waist tightening as he dipped down, pressing his forehead against yours.
âFuck,â he muttered, voice rough, strained. âYou have no idea how good you look right now. How good you feel right now.â He moved his hands from your waist, his fingers trailing over your skin as he shifted, bracing his forearms on either side of your head. The new position brought him even closer, his body pressing against yours, heat radiating between you as he continued to move within you. His breath was heavy, mingling with yours, and for a moment, it was all-consumingâthe feeling of him, the weight of him, the slow, deep rhythm that sent shivers down your spine. When you had imagined being with Satoru like this, youâd thought it would be⊠different. You had expected teasing, cockiness, maybe even some ridiculous commentary, because that was just who he was. You thought heâd smirk down at you with that usual self-assured gleam in his eyes, crack some joke between kisses, whisper something infuriating just to make you blush. You had even braced yourself for the possibility of him being downright kinky, because he was Gojo Satoru, and he loved pushing limits.
But this? This was something else entirely.
This wasnât just cocky flirtation or the result of years of pent-up rivalry and tensionâthis was intimate. It was raw, real, and so incredibly him, stripped of bravado and playfulness, leaving behind only the man in front of you. The one who had been waiting, wanting. The one who had loved you quietly, even when you didnât know. His movements were deliberate, his touch reverent, his normally mischievous eyes dark with something softerâsomething deeper. When he leaned down, his lips ghosting over your cheek before pressing to the corner of your mouth, it wasnât just a kissâit was a silent confession. A plea. A promise. His fingers threaded through your hair, brushing over your temple, before trailing down to cup your jaw with aching gentleness. âYou okay?â he murmured, voice hushed, almost breathless. You swallowed, overwhelmed by the warmth in his voice, the concern laced into every syllable, and you nodded, reaching up to lace your fingers through the soft strands of his hair. âYeah,â you whispered. âI just⊠I didnât expect this.â
A small, knowing smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He tilted his head slightly, pressing another lingering kiss just beneath your jaw, his breath warm against your skin. âDidnât expect what?â
âFor it to feel like this,â you admitted, voice barely above a whisper. âFor you to be like this.â
Satoru stilled for half a second before exhaling softly, lowering himself further so his chest was flush against yours. His nose brushed against yours, lips hovering just out of reach, and when he spoke, his voice was almost fragile. âI donât think you realise how long Iâve wanted you,â he murmured. âIt was never just some passing thing, yâknow? It was always you.â Your chest tightened, your fingers gripping his hair just a little harder as his words settled deep within you. The air between you felt electric, charged, as if the weight of every unspoken feeling had finally caught up with you both. He kissed you againâslow, deep, purposefulâand you melted into him, your hands roaming over his bare back, nails lightly dragging along his spine. He let out a shaky breath, his forehead pressing against yours as he moved, his body fitting against yours so perfectly that it made your heart ache. There was no rush, no urgencyâonly the quiet, lingering touches, the shared breaths, the whispered words against flushed skin. It wasnât just about desire or need anymore. It was about something much more.
And before long, you were coming again, whispered cries of his name leaving your mouth as you tightened around himâ and if he had indulged in the feeling a second longer, he would have finished inside. He splattered on your stomach, hissing at the feeling, pale eyes fluttering shut. After a few seconds of basking in the afterglow, he quickly went into his bathroom, grabbing a warm washcloth to wipe your stomach down. Your breath came in quick, unsteady gasps, each inhale failing to steady the trembling in your limbs. A slow burn lingered beneath your skin, every nerve alight with the remnants of his touch. The air felt thick, pressing in around you, charged with everything that had just transpired. Heat clung to you, pooling in the spaces where his hands had been, leaving you adrift in the aftermath.
Your fingers curled into the sheets beneath you, gripping them like an anchor, like you needed something to steady yourself against the dizzying sensation still coursing through your veins. A shuddering breath escaped your lips, and you swore you could still feel the phantom imprint of his hands on your skin, the way they had mapped out every inch of you with a reverence that made your chest ache. Satoru was watching you.
You could feel his gazeâheavy, intense, something unreadable flickering behind those endless blue eyes. His hands hadnât left your body entirely, his fingertips still resting against your hips, warm and grounding. There was something in his expression that made your breath catchâa mixture of awe and something softer, something tender. Like he couldnât quite believe what had just happened, like he was committing every second of this moment to memory. He swallowed, his own breathing uneven, before he leaned down, pressing a kiss to your shoulderâslow, lingering, like he just needed to feel you. His lips brushed over your skin again, trailing up toward your jaw, soft and unhurried, as if he had all the time in the world.
â
ââThe room was bathed in the dim glow of his bedside lamp, casting long shadows across tangled sheets and discarded clothes. Your body still hummed from the aftermath, warmth pooling in your limbs as you lay half-draped over Satoru, your cheek pressed against his bare chest. His heartbeat was steady beneath your ear, grounding you in a way you hadnât expected. For a while, neither of you spoke. His fingers idly traced shapes along your spine, the touch featherlight and absentminded, while his other hand rested lazily on your hip, holding you close. You could still feel the heat radiating from his skin, the aftershocks of everything you had just done settling between you in the form of comfortable silence.
It was intimate, more than anything. More than the way he had touched you, more than the way he had moved inside youâthis moment, the stillness, the way he exhaled softly like he was content, was what made your chest tighten.
Then, of course, he ruined it.
âSo,â he drawled, breaking the peaceful quiet. âWould it be weird if I rated that experience a solid twelve out of ten?â You groaned, weakly smacking his chest, but he only laughed, the vibrations rumbling beneath your palm. âOh my God, Satoruââ
âI mean, I am the strongest,â he continued, completely undeterred, stretching one arm lazily above his head. âSo it makes sense that Iâd be great in every department.â
âYou have got to be kidding me.âÂ
He grinned, tilting his head to peer down at you. His hair was a mess, white strands sticking out in different directions, and his lips were still kiss-bitten, smugness radiating off of him in waves. âOh, donât worry, sweets, Iâd never joke about my performance in bedââ
You smacked him again, this time harder, and he let out a dramatic oof, clutching his chest like youâd wounded him.
âYou were being so sweet just a second ago,â you muttered, pouting as you nestled closer against him. âWhy do you have to ruin it?â Satoru chuckled, his arms wrapping securely around you as he pulled the blanket over both of you. âCâmon, you wouldnât want me any other way.â
You sighed, exasperated, but deep down, you knew he was right. He shifted slightly, rolling onto his side so he could face you properly, one long leg tangling with yours. His hand came up to brush a stray strand of hair from your face, his touch softer than you expected after all his teasing.
ââŠWas it really okay?â he asked, voice quieter this time. Almost hesitant. Your heart ached at the sincerity laced in his words, the way he was still Satoru, even after everything. Still checking in. Still making sure. You smiled, cupping his face in your hands as you pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. âIt was perfect.â
A slow, almost shy smile spread across his face, and for a moment, the cockiness was gone, replaced by something softer. Something real.
Then, of courseâ
âPerfect, huh? So you are saying Iâm the best youâve ever hadââ
âGOJO SATORU, I SWEAR TOââ
His laughter rang out through the dorm, loud and unfiltered, and despite yourself, you couldnât help but laugh too, the warmth of it curling around your heart. The warmth of his body, the steady rhythm of his breathing, the lazy way his fingers traced along your spineâit was all lulling you into the kind of peace you hadnât felt in a long time. The teasing had settled into something softer, something quieter, and as sleep tugged at the edges of your consciousness, you thought that maybe, just maybe, you could stay like this forever. Satoru shifted beneath you, his hand sliding from your hip to your waist, pulling you just a little closer. His lips brushed your temple, his breath warm as he murmured, âHey.â
You hummed in response, not quite opening your eyes. His fingers tapped against your skin, hesitant. âBe my girlfriend.â
That woke you up. Your eyes fluttered open, your head lifting slightly to look at him. âHuh?â
He huffed out a soft laugh, like he couldnât believe he had actually said it. The Satoru everyone else knew was loud, arrogant, untouchable. But right now, he was just a boy with messy white hair and sleep-heavy eyes, holding you close like he was afraid you might slip away.
âI mean,â he continued, clearing his throat, âweâre already doing all this. And I like you. A lot. SoâŠâ He exhaled sharply, his thumb brushing over your waist. âBe my girlfriend.â Your heart clenched at the quiet sincerity in his voice, at the way he was looking at you like you were the only thing that mattered. It wasnât a joke. It wasnât just another one of his playful remarks. This was real. A slow smile spread across your lips. âWow. That was kind of romantic.â
He groaned, tipping his head back against the pillow. âDonât make this harder than it needs to be, sweets.â You giggled, shifting to prop yourself up on one elbow, fingers threading through his hair. âYou really like me?â
He turned his head back toward you, his eyesâthose striking, endless bluesâsoft in the dim light. âYeah,â he said simply. âI really do.â Your chest felt too full, your heart racing faster than it should have been after everything youâd already done tonight. But it wasnât nerves or fearâit was excitement, warmth, the dizzying rush of knowing Satoru Gojo, of all people, wanted you in a way that wasnât fleeting.
âOkay,â you whispered, leaning down to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. âIâll be your girlfriend.â He grinned instantly, arms wrapping around you as he rolled you onto your back, settling half on top of you with a triumphant look. âTook you long enough to say yes,â he teased, but the relief in his voice gave him away.
You laughed, shaking your head. âI hate you.â
âLiar,â he murmured, kissing you again, slow and deep, like he was trying to seal the moment in time. And maybe he was. Maybe you both were.
â
Getting into a relationship with Gojo Satoru was like being swept into a whirlwindâone that was loud, chaotic, and entirely consuming. Everyone around you had the same reaction when they found out: About time.Â
Shoko had rolled her eyes, exhaling smoke from her cigarette as she smirked. âHonestly, I thought you guys were already dating. Youâre both just that disgusting.â Nanami had simply given Gojo a long, knowing look before shaking his head, muttering something under his breath about finally. Even Getoâbefore everythingâhad grinned, clapping Satoru on the back and saying, âI was starting to think youâd never get your head out of your ass.â
Satoru, naturally, took it all in stride, tossing an arm around your shoulders and grinning like heâd won the lottery. âWhat can I say? She couldnât resist me forever.âÂ
Your life since then had been⊠a lot. In the best way possible. Because being with Satoru meant being at the center of his world, whether you liked it or not. And he was obsessed with you. Absolutely obsessed. It was the way he always had to be touching youâhis hand warm on the small of your back, his fingers playing with yours, his arm slung around your shoulders. It was how he looked at you, like you were the most fascinating thing in existence, eyes always following you, filled with nothing but admiration. It was the teasingââI get it, babe. Iâm super hot, but please let me study for five seconds without you getting distracted by me.â
It was the sweetnessâbringing you your favorite snacks when you were stressed, pressing kisses to your temple when he thought you werenât looking. Intertwining his large hand with yours and placing it in his coat pocket And, well, it was also the other thingsâ
âSatoru, we have a lecture in twenty minutesââ
âPlenty of time, sweetheart. What, you donât want to study with me?â
âThis isnât studying. Youâve been making out with me for the past ten minutes. And you really do need to stop. What if someone catches you in my dorm?â
âCâmon, I canât resist youââ
âSure you can, âToru.â
âBut you love me.â
You did. God, you did. And he loved you. He never let you forget it. Youâd studied together for your physics final, working hard side by side. Even though Satoru acted like everything came easy to him, he did work for it. And so did you. You spent countless nights pouring over equations, bouncing theories off each other, fighting over who got to use the good highlighters.
And when results day cameâ
âOh my God,â you whispered, staring at your score.
100%. Your hands trembled slightly as you clutched the paper, the weight of all those late-night study sessions, the stress, the endless debates with Satoru over formulas and theoriesâeverything culminating in this moment. Pure, unfiltered pride swelled in your chest. Before you could fully process it, a loud whoop filled the air.
âYES! I knew it!â
Suddenly, you were lifted off your feet, spinning in a dizzying circle as Satoruâs wild laughter bubbled over. His strong arms wrapped around you, keeping you pressed to him as he twirled you around the hallway like an overexcited kid.Â
âMy babyâs the smartest person in the world!â he crowed, not caring about the amused stares from your classmates. âGeniuses bow to you! The world kneels before you! Einstein weeps in his graveââ
You were laughing breathlessly by the time he finally set you down, his hands still firm on your waist as he grinned down at you. Your heart swelled at his excitement. âYou did well too, right?â
âPfft, of course.â He flipped his own paper up dramatically, flashing his score.
99%.
âI mean,â he sighed, shaking his head with mock sorrow, âyou totally obliterated me, absolutely wrecked my pride, but itâs fine. Matter of fact, I think it was the fact I didnât revise Bernoulliâs principle enough that resulted in me getting only 99%-â
In another world where he wasnât your boyfriend, you would've smirked and gloated about beating him, and he wouldâve snapped back with something equally smug. But instead, all you felt was prideâpure, unrestrained pride for him. You threw your arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. âIâm so proud of you.â Satoru melted into you, his arms encircling your waist as he hummed into your shoulder. âMmm, say it again. I like hearing that.â You chuckled, pulling back slightlyâjust enough to see the sheepish grin creeping onto his face.
âActuallyâŠâ he started, rubbing the back of his neck, his eyes glinting with something suspicious. You frowned. âWhat?â He exhaled dramatically. âYouâre probably gonna kill me when you hear this.â Your eyes narrowed. âSatoru.â
âOkay, okayââ He raised his hands in surrender, before leaning in like he was telling you a juicy secret. âTechnically, I got a 99 on the midterm.â You blinked. ââŠWhat?â He grinned. That smug, trouble-making, up-to-no-good grin. âBuuuut you looked so beautiful when you were all happy about your score, so I lied and said I got 95 last minute.â
Your mouth dropped open. âYouâWHAT?!âÂ
Gojo Satoruâthe cockiest, most competitive man you knew, the one who never let anyone forget how brilliant he wasâhad lied about an exam score for you? He burst out laughing at your expression, reaching out to ruffle your hair. âDonât go feeling all bad about it, sweets. This final weighed more than the midterm, so technicallyââ he booped your nose, ââyouâre better than me.â
You were still reeling, warmth spreading through you as you realised he had lied to see you happy. âYou changed your answer for meââ
âYeah, yeah.â He waved off your shock, smirking. âIâm the best boyfriend in the world. You can say it out loud, babe.â You rolled your eyes, exasperated, before tugging him down into a kiss.
He instantly responded, his grip on your waist tightening, his lips warm and eager against yours. The teasing faded for just a second, replaced by something softerâsomething real. When you finally pulled back, he looked way too smug.
ââŠStill smarter than you, though,â you teased, just to knock him down a peg. Satoru gasped, clutching his chest dramatically. âOh, you absolutely crushed my heart and then ate itââ
Before you could react, he suddenly straightened, towering over you with a wicked glint in his eye. His large hands slid around your waist, ushering you closer until your bodies were flush against each other. His voice dropped, suddenly deep and velvety, amusement laced with something more sensual. âGuess youâll just have to make it up to me in bed, huh?â
You groaned, immediately shoving at his chest. âYouâre the worst.â
âYour worst.â He waggled his eyebrows, entirely unashamed. You shoved his face away, laughing as he grinned, easily catching one of your wrists in his hand. Instead of saying anything else, he simply lifted your hand to his lips and pressed a lingering kiss to your wrist, his lips warm against your skin.
â
Later that night, you were curled up in his dorm, forcing him to watch Whisper of the Heart. He had grumbled and groaned, saying heâd already watched it way back in high school and that he "totally got the whole love and dreams thing," but you still made him sit through it. He spent the first twenty minutes sulking, arms wrapped around you from behind, chin resting on your shoulder like a spoiled cat.
âIâm way better than Seiji,â he huffed after a particularly sweet scene. âLike, a million times better.â You snorted. âJealous of an anime boy, Satoru?â
âIâm just saying,â he drawled, tightening his arms around you. âIf I was in this movie, she wouldnât even look at him.â
âUh-huh.â You leaned back against his chest, enjoying the warmth. âSure, babe.â His fingers absentmindedly toyed with the hem of your sleeve, and for a while, you both watched in silence, the glow of the laptop screen painting soft shadows over the room. Halfway through the movie, you reached into your bag to grab your laptop, but something tumbled out and hit the floor with a soft thud. You blinked at the familiar cover of the last book.
âOh crap,â you muttered, picking it up. âI forgot to return this.âÂ
Satoru turned his head, eyes narrowing. âWaitâŠâ He plucked the book from your grasp, flipping through the pages with an expression that immediately made you suspicious. âYou didnât return this yet?â You nodded, smiling sheepishly. âGuess I kinda forgot.â His fingers slowed as he reached the back cover, eyes landing on the borrowing log where the name âG.S.â had been scrawled in blue ink.
For a moment, he just stared. His thumb ran over the initials like he was absorbing the weight of them, of what they had meant to you before you knew the truth. His usual teasing expression softened, something almost nostalgic flickering in his eyes. Then, in a slow, deliberate motion, he grabbed a pen from his desk, twirled it between his fingers, and, without saying a word, carefully crossed out âG.S.â
You watched as he replaced it with something elseâhis full name, written neatly, in the same familiar shade of blue ink in the column beneath the crossed out G.S. He paused, then handed you the pen. Understanding settled between you like an unspoken promise. Without hesitation, you leaned down, pressing the tip to the page to the column under his name, adding your own in smooth, looping letters.
The same date. The same ink. Together.
Satoru stared at it for a long moment, his usual cocky grin nowhere in sight. Then, slowly, a smile spread across his lips, something softer, something fonder. He looked at you with that unreadable, almost reverent gazeâthe one that always made your breath catch. And then, with absolutely no warning, he grinned and yanked you straight into his lap.
âSooo,â he murmured, lips brushing your ear as his arms locked around you. âHow does it feel to know youâve been fantasising about me this whole time?â You groaned, swatting at his arm. âSatoruââ
He just laughed, effortlessly dodging your weak attempts at smacking him. âNah, nah, donât try to deny it! I knew you had a crush on me.â
âI did notââ
âG.S.,â he sing-songed, his breath warm against your skin as he nuzzled into your shoulder. âYou thought I was some mysterious, tortured genius. Bet you used to daydream about me in class, dâyou think I showed up as some mysterious faceless guy in your wet dreams?ââ You grabbed a pillow and shoved it into his face. His muffled laughter rang through the room, and when he pulled the pillow away, he was still grinning. He kissed your shoulder, lingering there for a beat longer than necessary.
And this time, you let him gloat.
a/n: summary of this entire fic basically (art creds to su2kuna on đ)
sorry if there are error/grammar mistakes or slight plot issues uni is lowkey gnawing at the folds of my brain and a girl gets sick of reading 32k words over and over again.. but i hope you all enjoyed reading this because i really enjoyed writing it :) huhuhuhu much love
Satoru has made it abundantly clear very early on in your relationship that whatâs his is yours. The sudden weight draped around your shoulders mixed with hints of citrus and amber makes you turn your head to him. âWhat kind of boyfriend would i be if i let you catch a cold?â He asks rhetorically with that smirk on his face.
âI will be a little late, i have somethingâs to take care of at work but go in and make yourself at home. Iâm texting you the passcode.â Satoru hums through the line as he stands over a curse he just demolished. âare you sure? Youâre not even homeâ you ask chuckling softly parked in his driveway. âIm positive, i shouldnât be too long and I pinky promise to pick up some sweets on the way back- oh and those chips you like.â he smiles to himself thinking of you sitting on his bed in your pajamas munching on snacks mean while a curse desperately tries to get to him.
Standing in line with Satoru for your ice skates as you rub your gloved hands together, cringing at the gust of cold wind as while the line moves along. Looking up at him as he applies his strawberry lip gloss, looking off into the distance as the snowflakes fall, complimenting him even more you smile to yourself not expecting him to catch you. That glint in his blue eyes means he was pleased to catch you staring âMmm.â He hums rubbing his lips together that turns into a smile âwant some?â He questions briefly before leaning in to kiss you softly leaving behind the taste of strawberries and mint.
The dim lighting of this fancy restaurant makes satoru look more tempting than usual, being knocked out of your thoughts as you set your glass of water on the table. Satoru holds out a matcha piece of mochi with his chopsticks âhere try, its really good.â He beams after just trying his own piece; making note to come back here together for this mochi.
Rushing around your boyfriends apartment to get ready for work after spending the night, making sure you have everything for todays meeting as you look through your bag. âHey babe can you get my keys off the counter?â You call out slipping on your shoes by the front door before opening it. A still groggy satoru meets you by the door with his matching hello kitty pajama pants, rubbing his eye a little; handing you the keys. Looking at them then up at him âmy keys toru these are yoursâ you chuckle a little. âTake my car i donât have to work today.â He murmurs before giving you a hug and a kiss atop your head. âDonât forget to pull the seat up so you can reach the pedals short stuff.â He teases with a sleep smirk on his face before shutting the front door before you can protest.
Although that isnât the only time satoru has done something like that; standing in front of his bathroom mirror brushing his teeth while you dry off. You asked him to grab your bag from the living room with your clothes; he brought you his boxers, grey sweatpants and shirt. âThis is not what i told you to grab.â You state looking to him with the fluffy white towel wrapped around you, watching you through the mirror as you come to stand next to him. Turning to you with his toothbrush in hand âweird I mustâve heard you wrong. Just wear those.â he says playfully with a wink and tint of pink on his cheeks.
Simon Riley had known he was a clairvoyant since he was 10, and heard his father's thoughts about the woman he cheated on his mother with.
He quickly learned to never tell anyone about his ability, he was labeled a kook, insane, he even got thrown into a mental hospital when he was fifteen.
The only people who did believe in him, were his teammates. His Captain laughing in awe when Simon tells him exactly what thoughts were going through his mind.
But when you joined the team, he was skeptical whether or not to tell you of his ability. That didn't stop him however, from hearing you think about riding him on the desk during a meeting. That may have been the most awkward boner of Simons life.
It didn't stop there. You'd walk into the gym while Simon was working out?
"Jesus Christ I want to bite down on those sweaty fucking biceps while he fucks me dumb." Simon nearly dropped the dumbbell on his foot.
Simon licked the lid of a yoghurt container?
"Long tongue, thick too. Wonder how it would feel fucking me."
Simon was sparring with Johnny and was standing up after pinning him?
"Pin me like that, don't let me up from under you and overstimulate me until I'm in a damn wheelchair."
John laughed loudly when he realised Simon was sporting a boner, knowing exactly what was going on.
After a while it seemed you started to pick up on Simon. Not genuinely, but everyone has the 'can someone read minds?' thought when they're thinking of something dirty. Especially when Simon was staring at you from afar, having to listen to your thoughts about choking on his cock after a mission.
Simon knew women had dirty thoughts, hell he'd heard most of them. But you were a different breed. Fucking hell, you had a whole bag of dirty things.
You thought about tying him up, him tying you up, sucking his cock after a mission, you care if he was sweaty, in fact you'd like it.
But Simon didn't just use your thoughts to get a fill of his ego or to get off, he wasn't a total douchebag.
It seemed you were on your period one week, you didn't tell anyone, despite the cramps apparently feeling like hell in your guts. You merely snapped at anyone who pissed you off.
And you near cried when Simon placed a hot water bottle on your lap, with a bag of treats. And strangely, a take out box with some sliced steak and a delicious smelling sauce. He grumbled something about you needing something with high iron, before leaving.
Simon finally couldn't take it anymore when you were sat in mess hall, playing with your food as your mind went elsewhere. "Wonder how big his cock is...He's big with an even bigger fucking ego, probably a good seven inches. Maybe he's circumcised..."
"Eight and a half inches, and I'm not fucking cut. You'll see tonight in my barracks" Simon growled in your ear. Leaving you aroused and horrified as he walked away. Gaz and Johnny laughing at your reddened face.
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