milk-colored-dream

[milk-colored-dream]

Hey! Satoru anon here! This man deserves all the happiness this world can give ! (why on earth is he so difficult for me to write though...) You have no idea how happy I am to learn that more Jujutsu Content is coming! I'll be looking forward to it! Thank you so, so much dear !

Hello, Satoru-Anon (hehe)!!!

YOU’RE RIGHT HE DEFINITELY DOES but also I understand the sentiment - he’s so hard to write!! Which is why I never write a serious fic for him, just fluff ‘til the end of the world because who knows how a person would act when they’re in love? 😉 But I’m sure you’ll do well!

Also I’d be happy if you link me to your fic someday!! If you’re OK with it of course! ♥

[milk-colored-dream]

Just passing by to send comfort: I hope everything is alright in your life at the moment, and that you are spending a wonderful day. Please stay safe darlling!

Huwaahh, thank you very much for the kind words! Good day to you too and please stay safe! (This is a very old ask I think I’m so sorry but you made my day!!)

[milk-colored-dream]

Aah, this Allen fic is so soft and fluff I can feel my heart melting~. You wrote it so well! As I thought, your writing is really light and pleasant to read. I loved the emotions and tiny gestures like hand holding and the overall atmosphere ;w; Please continue to share your wonderful work!

Thank you so much for the super kind message T_T!!! I love Allen so much I just want him to be warm.... warm... full of love... protected... and comfortable... I’m so glad you think so!! <3 <3 <3 I’ll work hard!!

[milk-colored-dream]

and then they were like, “Finally!”

word count: 1,490 words character: sugasano allen, with yeon hajun and anne faulkner as the bros note: I love me some shoujo plot <3 

“Ah,”

Not one more word could Allen utter before he fell down on the cold floor of his room. The last thing on his mind was her worried, upset voice, before everything goes dark.

“You’ll seriously collapse if you keep overworking yourself like this, Allen!”

_

“...Charity live?”

Anne blinked a few times as he put his bubble tea down on the table. Beside him was Hajun, wearing his usual smile, and in front of him Allen, who seemed a little bit awkward. It was clear to both Hajun and Anne that something was up, so they patiently waited for him to explain.

“Yeah,” Allen replied, eyes on his udon, “It’s to raise funds for the orphanages around here.”

He paused for a short moment, and moved his eyes slowly to look at Anne, then Hajun, then lastly the both of them.

“...Could we perform there as BAE?” Allen finally said.

“Why so suddenly?” Anne asked, but before Allen could say anything, he continued: “Ah, wait, let me guess!”

Anne put his hand on his chin in a thinking pose, and after closing his eyes for a second, he said, “Oh! It must be her~!”

Allen’s eyes widened as his cheeks turned a shade redder, “That’s—”

“I know Allen’s a simpleton, but for it to be this much...” Hajun trailed off, as he shook his head lightly.

“Look—”

“Don’t be shy~” Anne teased, “We all know how much you adore her!”

Not given any chance to reason, Allen decided to glare at his two teammates who were seemingly having the time of their lives. Seriously, whenever it comes to her, they’d never let him off the hook—Allen sullenly thought. Even so, the atmosphere surrounding them were warm, and he knew best that they were (and will always be) his number one supporters.

“So?” Hajun asked, after they’re done poking fun at Allen, “What’s the situation?”

Allen took a sip of his cola before continuing, “She’s part of the committee,” he explained, “Seems like they’re having a hard time finding people to perform.”

“Even though it’s a charity live?” Anne asked, a bit dumbfounded, “Don’t they already have like, a list of people they’re planning to invite?”

Allen nodded, “I heard more than half of them refused ‘cause of prior plans.”

“And now they’re looking for people to fill in,” Hajun remarked.

“Yeah,” Allen affirmed, “...It doesn’t have to be a phantom live.”

Anne and Hajun exchanged glaces.

“But I know you guys won’t be satisfied with just a plain old live, so I’m composing a new song. We could work with the stage production, the lights and stuff...” Allen trailed off, his eyes glistening with hope and expectations for his teammates.

“Pfft!”

Anne and Hajun burst into a laugh at the same time, and Allen couldn’t help but to tilt his head to the side in confusion.

“Wh-what’s with you guys?”

“Stop being so timid! It’s not like you,” Anne said, in between laughs, “If it’s something you want to do, then why not?”

“Even though it’s quite entertaining to see the simpleton so clinging oh-so-desperately—Anne’s right, it doesn’t fit you,” Hajun chimed in.

“We’ll do it,” Anne finally said, as Hajun nodded in agreement.

“Re-really!?” Allen leaned forward in excitement, “Thanks, you guys...!”

Anne and Hajun once again exchanged glaces, and then burst into another laugh.

_

“...”

Allen opened his eyes slowly as he felt something cold on his forehead. His head still felt heavy and he couldn’t completely focus, but he could still feel someone’s presence beside him.

“Allen?”

The familiar, worried voice prompted Allen to glance to the side. And when he saw who was there—her—his eyes widened and he immediately tried to get up, only to feel a sharp pain on his head. He pressed his hand on his forehead, trying to curb the pain.

“You—ouch...!”

“Allen, you should still be laying down!”

She hurriedly stood up and pushed his shoulders softly, getting him back to bed. When she did so, Allen could smell nice, soft floral fragrance engulfing him, giving him some comfort despite the throbbing pain.

Allen couldn’t help but to call her name, softly.

“Yes, it’s me,” she replied, “Are you feeling better?”

“...Yeah,” Allen replied curtly as he turned his eyes away from her worried face.

Ah, she’s making that face again... all because of me, he thought, as he felt a prick on his heart.

“I thought I told you to not overwork yourself,” She said, “And—oh, I’ll change your compress,”

She carefully took the now-lukewarm compress on his forehead and changed it into a new, cold one. It felt really good on his hot skin.

“...Why are you here?” Allen finally asked.

“Anne called me,” She replied curtly, “I thought my heart was going to stop when I heard you collapsed...”

Even though they’re used to it... Anne and Hajun’s being really considerate, huh.

He nonchalantly thought, as if it had nothing to do with him.

“...You were composing a song for the charity live, weren’t you?”

Allen’s eyes widened as he turned his head towards her, “How'd you—?”

“Anne told me,” she replied as she smiled softly, “Thank you...”

“...It was supposed to be a secret...” Allen muttered, not knowing how to respond to her sudden words of gratitude. Frankly, he couldn’t understand what warranted her ‘thank you.’ He was simply doing what he likes—and if it could help the person he cherishes, then all the more power to him.

“I’m grateful, but...” She reached for his hand and wrapped it in hers, her expression now stern yet strangely melancholic at the same time, “I don’t want you to push yourself too much... even more so if it’s for my sake...”

She paused for a while, and her cheeks reddened—it seems only after she said it did she realize how embarrassing her words were—and then she spluttered, “I-I mean I heard from Hajun that sometimes you just collapse after being in your composing ‘zone’, but I...”

She trailed off, and with an even deeper shade of red staining her cheeks, she said, in an almost inaudible voice: “I don’t want you to see you... in pain like this...”

Allen’s eyes widened, but before he could say anything, she pulled back her hand, “I-I made you some porridge!!” She said, as she took the bowl of warm porridge from the tray on the bedside table, “I’m not as good as Hajun, but I think it turned out pretty well...”

Looking at her, still blushing uncontrollably as she murmured, ‘I wonder if it’s too hot...’, Allen couldn’t help but to smile. His head felt light, but so does his heart - for some reason, happiness filled him to the brim, and peacefulness settled in.

And perhaps, because of the comfortable, warm, and fluffy atmosphere, Allen let his guard down and without even realizing, he had said those words - the words he’d kept in all this time, the swelling feelings he’d kept bottled up as to not break the comfortable relationship he managed to build with her, with the help of his teammates.

“Aah, as I thought,” Allen whispered, “I like you, a lot.”

“...”

“...?”

It took a few seconds before realization settled in to the both of them and she let out a high-pitched, “Eh!?”, face deep crimson and eyes wide.

“...!!!!”

Allen let out a gasp.

_

Time until their relationship change forever: less than a minute.

[milk-colored-dream]

Just read your Satoru drabble (again (for the fourth time)) and boy, this was the cutest thing I have ever read. It totally made my day! Could I hope to see more Satoru content, or Jujutsu Kaisen content in general? Please stay safe and have a lovely day!

Oh nooo, you’re making me blush...!

Thank you so much for reading (again and again!) I really love fluffy Gojou. I feel like he’s gone through so much I just... want to see him being mindlessly happy.

Once again, thank you so much for reading and yes!! I will /definitely/ write more Jujutsu content - I have some things in mind already! 

Please come again!~ 

[milk-colored-dream]

Cherish

word count: 530 words character: gojou satoru note: a rewrite of a gojou birthday fic i wrote like a year ago. Don’t call me out for writing something so sweet...

Gojou Satoru is in a... little bit of a pinch.

Scratch that; Gojou Satoru is in a rather big of a pinch.

Now before imagining a ridiculously strong curse - one that mankind's strongest shaman couldn't even take care of - perhaps there's a need to explain the current situation. After all, this 'pinch' had nothing to do with fighting, curses, or anything of the sort.

Gojou tried his best to stop himself from grinning: he kept his eyes closed, feigning slumber in front of, according to him, the world's cutest girlfriend ever. Still he focused all of his senses to feel the soft, warm hand caressing his head and cheeks, not wanting to let escape even a millisecond of the sensation. 

"Satoru-san, thank you."

Familiar voice tingled his ears, leaving a sweet echo behind.

"Thank you so much, for always staying by my side."

Now, through his well-toned arms that embraced her, Gojou could feel her moving ever so slowly, perhaps to not wake him up. She closed the gap between their faces, and in less than a moment Gojou could feel a soft sensation on his lips.

"I love you..."

Hold, hold, hold, hold it, Gojou Satoru.

"Satoru-san, Iー!"

You know what? Nope, there's no way I could hold myself in.

Before she could even finish her sentence, this time Gojou took the initiative and kissed her, as he tightened his embrace. 

"Sa-sa-satoru-san...!?"

Her eyes widened as surprise colored her face. Aah, as I thought, you're so cute.

Gojou grinned mischievously as he caressed his lover's cheeks.

"I'd like it more if you'd say that when I'm awake."

She blinked a few times, and pouted.

Honestly, each of her movements are always so cute! How could a creature be this cute...!?

"...You say that, but weren't you wide awake?"

As she said so, she got up, followed by Gojou. The sensation of warm sheets sliding through his body made him felt a mellow comfort: last night, just the two of them...

He'd always felt an indescribable pleasantness every time he woke up with her by his side, but today was exceptional.

Yet, with his usual lighthearted demeanor, he replied: "Eeh?"

"ーー!"

Once again, before she managed to utter words of complaints, Gojou stole her lips in another kiss - this time longer, and much more passionate.

And when he let go, he couldn't help but to smile: now deep red tinted her cheeks, as if a fully bloomed rose. For a moment she had a surprised look on her face, but then she smiled, ever so gently.

The two of them wallowed in the aftertaste of the kiss, looking at each other's eyes deeply, captivated by the sheer sight of the love of their lives. Gojou thought it'd be great if this blissful time would continue for an eternity, but then he remembered he hadn't said the 'words' - after all, she did, and it'd be unfair if he didn't.

And with a sweet, sweet, soft and gentle tone he couldn't believe was his own, he said:

"I love you, too."

And I can never live without you, my most cherished person.

[milk-colored-dream]

Seems like an outrageous person got his eyes on me.

word count: 1,758 words character: kiruma souichi/hachina naoki note: Is this a spoiler? I’ve finished reading the series so I’m not sure... In any case this has been sitting in my computer for a year so I guess here it is!

"I love you."

The only thing I could do was to look at the person clad in black suit in front of me in shock. This confession being surprising was part of the reason, but the biggest reason for my speechlessness was the two scary elderly gentlemen standing on the left and right of the said person. With their glares on full force, it feels like they’re trying to kill me just with their eyes - and God, with how intense they looked right now, they might as well succeed.

"...So?"

The person in front of me, calmly sitting on his chair expressionlessly - seriously, even as he confessed, his expression didn’t change at all! - asked, as if hurrying me to answer. Honestly, I could understand why he’s impatient (after all, a good five minutes have probably passed since his initial confession), but please, please understand how I can’t understand what’s going on in here with my natural-born slow processor of a head.

Anyways, all of this weird happenings started a few moments ago...

_

"I guess it’s time to close up!" I said to myself as I looked at the clock on the wall.

It’s a bit late for an introduction, but hello there! I’m the owner of this modest cake shop. Making sweets have always been my number one passion since I was young, so being able to open up my own shop is like a dream inside a dream. In any case, today has been quite busy, and almost everything sold out but two slices of chocolate cake. Such a huge success warrants a night full of gratitude and alcohol, I’d like to think.

Just as I was walking towards the door to flip the sign to ‘closed’, an elderly gentleman walked into the shop, looking around with apparent interest. With his neat, black suit, white slicked back hair and impeccable courtesy, he looked like one of those butlers in afternoon TV dramas. Can’t believe people like him actually existed!

"Welcome!" I said, as I corrected my relaxed posture, "We’re very sorry, but we only have two slices of chocolate cake remaining for today..."

"That is quite alright," the gentleman replied, as he approached the almost-empty showcase with the cake slices in it, "I’ll take both of them, please."

"T-thank you very much!" I replied in joy, "I’ll wrap it up just a second..."

As I said that, the gentleman smiled kindly. After finishing up with the payment and giving him his cakes, I was about to say thank you once again when I noticed the gentleman looking at me with a deep-meaning stare.

"...Uhm, is there anything I can help you with?" I asked.

"...Miss," he started, "You are going to close up after this, right? Is your place far away from here?"

Not quite understanding the meaning of his question, I replied honestly: "Umm, yes, quite. But I can still catch up with a train-"

"It’s dangerous for a young lady to walk by herself this late, is it not?" He didn’t even let me finish my sentence before replying again.

"Thank you, but it’s still very crowded outside, so I think it’s alー"

"No, no, letting a young lady go by herself this late hurts this old man’s heart," he said, "If you’d like, I’d very much be happy to drive you home."

His words were meant as a question, yet his tone and expression won’t let me say ‘no’ - he was a kind, courteous elderly person slash butler just then, but now everything about him seems so overwhelming I couldn’t bring myself to reject his... nice offer.

"Ah, uhー"

"Well then, I’ll be waiting outside, so please finish your preparations promptly."

Correction: he didn’t even let me say ‘yes’.

_

I was surprised to see a luxury black car outside of the shop, and even more surprised when I realised it was the gentleman’s car. Heck, I was too surprised to even realize he hadn’t even asked me where my house is, yet he’d already started the car and moved away from my shop... to God knows where.

And now here we are, in this place I’m not familiar with at all... seriously, where is this!?

"Answer him, young girl!" One of the two gentleman - the one who looked starkly similar to the one that had ‘kidnapped’ me a few moments ago, rushed me to answer, still with his unchanging death glare, "How dare this low-born girl make oyakata-sama wait like this."

80% scared and 20% surprised - did he just say oyakata-sama? - I straightened up my back and replied with a small voice, "I, uh..." I started, "I’m sorry, but I don’t even know who you are..."

The man sitting down on the chair looked surprised for a while.

"Do you often lose your memory like I do?"

"...Excuse me?"

"We’ve met a few times."

"...Really!?"

"...Do you really not remember?"

"I’m so sorry, I’ve been really busy recently..."

Wait, why am I even apologizing? I’m kidnapped here! I should be calling the police!

...But for some odd reason, I feel like not even the police would be able to help with my predicament...

The man in front of me look like he’s thinking - just for a short while - and then he looked like he’d just gotten a sudden insight. He reached for his hair and started brushing it with his fingers carelessly, destroying his perfectly neat hairstyle.

"...!"

"Do you remember now?"

Now he looked familiar. Isn’t he Hachina-san, the really, really, really, amazingly beautiful person who had came to my shop a few times a few months ago and suddenly disappeared!? Yes, yes he is! Come to think of it, his voice did sound familiar... and how did I fail to notice the Buddha-like mole on his forehead!?

"...Hachina... Naoki-san?"

His expressionless face didn’t change, but for some reason, to me he seemed glad - a bit happy, even, as he said: "Yes, yes I am."

"Oh!" I said, squirming and feeling a bit embarrassed I couldn’t identify him faster, "I-I’m sorry about that, Iー"

"That’s okay," He looked noticeably amused now, "More importantly, what’s your answer?"

What answer? I was about to ask, but then remembered what’s going on in the first place. So basically, Hachina-san ordered the scary elderly gentleman to kidnap me (now I feel bad using the word, it sounds so ominous) in order to confess his love to me. I understandーーwait, no, I don’t understand at all!

"Uhm, so, let me get this straight..." I started, trying not to mind the two glaring men, "Hachina-san, you, uh, wanted to meet me to..." I stopped for a while, feeling a bit embarrassed saying the word, "...confess to me, is this right?"

"Exactly," He replied instantly.

"Well, um..." I started, not knowing how to phrase the words correctly. After all, this is the first time somebody ever confessed to me! I know, I know that sounds sad - but it’s true. I was starting to think I don’t have any attractive feature as a woman. I continued, "I’m really, really happy to hear that, but... I don’t know you all that much, Hachina-san. And you, too, have only seen and talked to me a few times, right?"

Hachina-san stared at me, as if prompting me to continue. It takes everything I have to not lose all of the strength in my legs: after all, the two men beside him are really scary, and they look like they’re about to rip my heart out just a moment now...

"So... what about we start out as friends, first? We can get to know each other more, and maybe then I’ll get to know Hachina-san’s charms - or maybe you’ll change your mind first, who knows. After all, I barely know anything about you apart from your name, Hachina-san, and you, too, I think, only know a small part of me," I said, "But... I’d really love to know you more... if you’re fine with it, of course."

Without these two gentlemen death glaring me, preferably.

He stared at me - but for some reason the stare felt a bit softer now.

"I see, I see," He nodded to himself, "I guess it really was too abrupt."

"Well then, let’s start from being friends."

Hachina-san said again, and started to think.

"I wonder what it is a friend does. Hey, Touya-san, what do you think friends do together?" he asked the man beside him.

"Well, oyakata-sama, as far as I know, they go out to eat meals together and talk about useless things," the man answered politely. Well, he’s not wrong, but not 100% right either... I think...

"What about you, Jouichi?"

"Don’t friends fight all the time?" he said, as he crunched his fists.

S-stop it, gentlemanly Sir, if you’re the one who said it, it sounds like someone’s going to lose their life over petty fights on whose idol’s the prettiest!

"Really?" Hachina-san turned to ask me.

I gulped, "Well, no... I mean, yes, but not in that sense..."

"...I don’t quite understand," Hachina-san finally concluded, and called my name. "So I guess, I’ll just let you lead the way.”

Hearing him say my name in his beautiful voice - not to mention with that pure, beautiful face! - made my heart beat three times faster. It feels like my heart’s going to leap out of my chest... I bet my face is all red now.

"Uhm... I’m not sure I’m capable, but..." I said, "If you’re okay with it, then I’ll do my best, Hachina-san."

Honestly, I’m really not sure how this relationship will end, but might as well enjoy the ride...

Since I don’t think I’d be able to run away anyway.

[milk-colored-dream]

i'm reading your paradox live stories, i would love to see more of your characterization of them~ but ofc no pressure!!!

Whoah, thanks for reading it! I’m actually in the middle of writing Anne since like a month ago but it’s not finished yet... thank you so much for the motivation, I’ll get on to it! 😆

[milk-colored-dream]

this neighborhood has always been kinda off.

word count: 1,099 words character: ace trappola note: set after the protagonist managed to get back home. a series, hopefully. also, yes I uploaded this story somewhere else as well!

It's been around a little less than a month since the government issued an order for everyone to stay in their houses. Everything had been chaotic due to a certain virus spreading around the world, and it's safe to say almost everyone and their families are affected... including me, my cat, and my neighborhood.

"I wonder when this will end...?" I whispered as I looked out of the window. It was around 01:00 PM in the afternoon, and outside looked incredibly peaceful - almost as if there wasn't a world crisis going on... ah, I really want to go outside...

No, no, no! Do yourself - and all the health workers out there - a favor and stay at home...!

"But I'm super bored..."

I looked down to see my black cat looking up at me as if he's had enough of my ramblings.

"Meow."

He meowed, and honestly, he's a really, really strange cat. It always feels like I understand what he says. Even as I picked him off the street, when I was about to name him Coal, he meowed really, really loudly and for some reason, the words: 'I'm not Coal, I'm Grim!!' appeared inside my head. At first I was super confused, but now I just think that yes, I guess strange things do happen in real life, and yes, my cat is maybe, probably, most likely, a telepath. Oh, by the way, what he said just now was: 'You're so noisy'. He's really arrogant for a creature living on the canned tunas I bought him.

I was about to say something to him when suddenly, my doorbell rang.

Ding-dong!

"Comingー"

Ding-dong! Ding-ding-ding-ding-dong!

"This annoying way of pushing the doorbell... it must be him."

I sighed as I stood up (Grim had already jumped off of my lap at this point), and walked towards the door.

"Yeah, yeah, what do you want, Ace?"

I said, as I opened the door. As expected, the greeting me behind the door was Ace Trappola, one of my neighbors. He lives in a share house around two houses away from mine, along with his buddies. Sometimes he visits with Deuce Spade, his bestie-slash-rival, and the two of them (plus Grim) would make a mess out of my house... though, now that we're in quarantine, I have to say I miss their antics... by quite a lot.

"Hey!" He pulled down his mask (good children don't copy him! Keep it on, that's the whole purpose of the thing!) and grinned as he called my name. His smile has an inexplicable quality to it: it makes you want to smile as well... and truth to be told, perhaps what I need now is someone like him - someone akin to sunshine - to  make me feel better. And so, I smiled back, quickly forgetting my irritation of him pushing my doorbell five times in succession.

"What's up?" I asked, and then I noticed the two big grocery bags on his hands. "Just got back from groceries?"

Ace sighed, "Yeah, I lost the battle."

"Battle?"

"They were cheating!" He suddenly yelled, "We were playing a game where we each eat a Super Hot Extra Spicy Devil's Onigiri made by Dorm Leader and Trey-senpai and the one who gave up and drank water first lose," he explained.

There are so many things I wanted to comment on, but for your information, I've actually already asked him regarding his calling Riddle Rosehearts, one of his housemate, as 'dorm leader'. I mean, it's not like they're in a dorm, and dorm leader sounds very... school-ish of him (despite all of them being university students like me), so I got curious. He answered that it's just a habit he's had, since, you know, Riddle acts like a dorm leader. I'm inclined to agree with him, though, since Riddle's way of talking and behavior is very much like an upright class president.

"ーI bet they used Trey-senpai's magic and..."

His last words piqued my ears as I tilted my head to the side, "Magic?"

He looked at me in horror for one second, before he switched back to the usual Ace, "U-uh, uhm, I mean, I bet since Trey-senpai's the one making the onigiri, he rigged it so I got the spiciest one!"

I eyed him in suspicion, but then decided to let go. Oh well, Ace and Deuce both tend to say weird stuff - especially Deuce. Though Ace always seems to cover for him when that happens.

"Ahaha, and I bet that's Cater-san's idea."

"You bet it is!" Ace grumbled, cursing under his breath. I think I heard him saying 'I'll get you when I'm back, damn yankee honor student!' (most probably referring to Deuce), but I'll just, uh, pretend I heard nothing.

"So? What brings you here?" I asked finally, after Ace calmed down a tad bit.

"Oh! Yeah, Dorm Leader asked me to give this to you," he said, as he handed me one of the bags he has on him. Different from the rest of his shopping bags, this one is red, made of paper and has a cute checkered pattern on it.

"What's this?" I asked, as I took it from his hand.

"Handmade cookies. Don't worry, Trey-senpai made it together with Dorm Leader so it should taste good."

"Trey-san's cookies...!" I looked at it, and then at Ace, in gratitude. "Thank you, Ace!!"

I smiled widely - oh, to eat Trey’s heavenly cookies again...! - as hugged the paper bag Ace gave me. However, for some reason Ace's face turned red... and his expression's kinda mixed.

"Stop that," He pushed his free hand on to my face, "It's distracting!"

"Huh!?" I jolted in surprise. "What's wrong!?"

"...Nothing," Ace replied with a pout, "Anyways, I'll be going home now. Can't make the tyrant dorm leader wait for too long."

"...?" I gave him a last questioning look, but then I nodded, "Okay, take care, Ace!"

"Yeah, see ya later! Don't die, 'kay?"

"Out of boredom, probably," I laughed, "But I'll do my best. Oh, and please tell Trey-san and Riddle-san thanks for the cookies! I'll make something in return tomorrow."

"Sure, sure," Ace replied, "'Kay, bye for real now!"

Ace gave me one last smile and turned around to go home. I sent him off from the porch, and then I went back to the house, grinning as I imagined myself eating the heavenly snack that was Trey and Riddle's cookies, and I closed off the door.

[milk-colored-dream]

are you planning on writing more 👉👈 i check this link every once in a while from your twitter to see if you have more stories~

Hello! Thank you so much for the kind message...!! ♥

I am still writing and plan to write more, of course! I’d really be happy to know which fandom I write for that you like, though 😊~ since you know, this blog is such a mess, haha.

[milk-colored-dream]

sweet, sweet.

word count: 864 words character: natsume ryuu, masaki hokusai, ando shiki note: a white day secret exchange gift for navy! it’s super short and simple but please enjoy. (not yume this time, just friendship between bros)

Natsume Ryuu is a capricious person.

And so, when he saw his dearest teammate Ando Shiki currently absorbed in working on something in Seven-Four’s kitchen, he couldn’t help but to want to interrupt. After all, teasing Shiki’s the funnest out of everyone else: Yohei would either ignore him or hit him depending on mood, while Saimon… Saimon’s busy, so even Ryuu knew not to bother him too much.

In any case, quietly, slowly Ryuu tiptoed towards the poor, poor boy, andー

“SHIKI~!”

ーcalled out to him loudly.

“Huwaaaah!?”

Shiki cried in surprise as his hand stoppedーgood thing he only has a whisk on his hand, instead of something dangerous like a kitchen knife.

“R-R-Ryuu-kun…!?”

Shiki turned around, his free hand grasping his own chest, trying to calm his insanely-fast, loudly-beating heart. If he were a little bit older than he was, he’d probably get a heart attack… for sure.

“Shiki~ what are you doing?” Ryuu asked, with his usual cheery tone. No air of remorse could be seen from him, but Shiki was more than used to Ryuu’s antics, so he hadn’t expected anything, anyways.

Shiki showed his large bowl, and said, a little shyly, “I’m making chocolates.”

“Chocolates? Why?” Ryuu tilted his head in confusion.

“It’s February 14 tomorrow… so…” Shiki trailed off.

“February 14?”

“What I mean is… umm, I’m making chocolates…” Shiki replied in a low voice, “For Valentine’s day… they’re all friendship ones, though…”

Shiki dared not say it was for the members of The Cat’s Whiskers, Ryuu included; and he hoped to God with all his might the capricious young man will not ask further about it.

“Oh!!!”

It seems Ryuu finally grasped Shiki’s explanation as he started to jump around, “Ryuu-kun! Ryuu-kun want to make one too!”

Shiki’s eyes widened in surprise, “You do? Who is it for?”

“Hmm… hmm…” Ryuu feigned a thinking pose, “Hokusai!”

“Hoku… sai?” Shiki asked, confusion still apparent on his face, “You mean, Akan Yatsura’s tall, hooded person… the one with the cat, Masaki Hokusai?”

“Yup!” Ryuu smiled in satisfaction, “Ryuu-kun wanna give Hokusai chocolates!”

***

In the end, Shiki didn’t ask more as to why Ryuu would want to give Hokusai, in particular, a home-made chocolate. After all, even if he’d asked he would probably not understand anyways… and he’d remembered Yohei once told him Ryuu liked to play out with Hokusai. Yohei’s particular words echoed in his mind:

“We’ll never understand their relationship anyways.”

Well, perhaps, considering how Hokusai treats everyone as if they’re some small animals, and Ryuu behaves almost always cryptically, that might as well be true.

Shiki looked at Ryuu, who’s currently pouring chocolate into the cat-shaped mould. Ryuu looked unusually seriousーthough his only work was to pour it in since Shiki didn’t want to risk the kitchen blowing upーand it somehow brought a smile to Shiki’s face. He feltーdare he say itーhappy that someone outside of The Cat’s Whiskers want to and did connect with Ryuu. After all Ryuu’s a bit peculiar and hard to follow, but it’s not as if he’s a bad person at heart… or at least, that’s what Shiki believed.

“ーki… Shiki!! Ryuu-kun’s done!!”

Ryuu’s yells snapped him out of his reverie, as he hurriedly approached the former.

“Okay, then the only thing to do is to put them in the fridge, and wrap them after!”

***

“Ho~ku~sa~i!”

Hokusai looked up from his sitting position in a certain dark back alley. He’s currently doing his usual everyday schedule: giving food to the stray cats. Incidentally, this place was also where he first met Ryuu… who was rolling on the floor impersonating the cats. But that’s a story for another day.

“Ryuu…”

Hokusai nodded in acknowledgment, but soon his gaze was stolen by the crudely-wrapped box on Ryuu’s hand. Ryuu grinned as he sat down on the empty spot beside Hokusai, with the box still in tow.

“This is for you!” Ryuu thrusted the box towards Hokusai, and only then did the latter realize the wrapping had a cute cat pattern on itーa detail that made him smile faintly.

“Me…?”

“Yeah!”

Ryuu seemed unable to suppress his excitement as he waited for Hokusai to unwrap the box.

Hokusai’s eyes sparkled when the contents of the box finally showed itself. “It’s… chocolate…”

“Yup, and it’s kitty-shaped!! Ryuu-kun’s amazing, right!?” Ryuu said proudly, as he stroked the closest cat to him. The cat let out a loud ‘meow~!’ sound as if agreeing to Ryuu’s words.

“Cute…” Hokusai commented as he took one piece and put it into his mouth, “Sweet…”

“Thank you, Ryuu…”

“Hehe~”

The two of them finally decided to eat the chocolates together and play with the stray cats. When it was time to part, Hokusai waved at Ryuu’s retreating form as he let his mind wander.

What should I do for Ryuu…? The chocolate was good...

Unable to think of anything, he decided that he’d just ask Reo and Satsuki later. They’re his dependable teammates, after all.

With a warm feeling and joy, Hokusai also started to make his way back after bidding good-bye to the stray cats.

Guess who will get a huge, almost one meter tall chocolate the next month?

[milk-colored-dream]

I just want to live in peace.

word count: 3,662 words character: yeon hajun note: all of the knowledge used in this piece is second hand from here. Poi is the name of the scoop used for goldfish scooping.

In this university, everyone’s rich.

Correction, almost everyone’s rich―the only exception is, I guess, me. After all, I’m here on a full scholarship including the dorms. If not, there’s really, really no way I can go to the same university as celebrities and rich half kids.

And so, with the sad social-economical status difference, I thought that I’ll just live my entire university life studying quietly, working hard to not get my scholarship taken away as I try to not gather too much attention. Yet, for some reason unfathomable to working-class people like me, I somehow caught the eyes of――

“Hey!”

I hastened my walking pace, trying not to turn around and answer the sickly-sweet, honey-coated greeting. The familiar voice sent chills down my spine―it was none other than the ‘prince’ of the university, Yeon Hajun. Rich, handsome, has a way with words... truly deserving of the title ‘No. 1 Lady Killer’. Not to mention his confidence... perhaps the only people that could rival his glittery, sparkling existence is his rap group mates, BAE members Sugasano Allen and Anne Faulkner. I may sound like I’m praising him a lot, but interacting with him is seriously the one and only thing I don’t want to ever do... again. ‘Again’, because I did interact with him once―out of my stupidity.

“Hey, are you ignoring me? That’s not nice.”

“...”

He called my name.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

“You’re really obstinate, aren’t you?”

I just don’t want to have anything to do with you, Yeon. Please.

It was almost the end of the corridor. Just as I prepared myself to run full throttle, a person clad in red showed up suddenly from the other direction. He seemed like he hadn’t noticed me as his eyes are on the papers he’s holding on to.

“Allen!”

“...Hajun?”

The person, none other than Yeon’s gang member, Sugasano Allen, looked up in surprise.

“Nice timing, catch her!”

He actually noticed I was about to run!? Yeon Hajun, a force to be reckoned...!

Sugasano blinked a few times, yet still caught me by the arm anyways. What’s up with this monstrous strength, I can’t move at all! Seriously? Even though he looks so lean!

“Good job, Allen,” Yeon said, as he scooted closer to us. Honestly, it probably looks like a picture of hell now―with Sugasano holding me by the arm, me still squirming trying to run away, and Yeon with his suspicious smile walking closer. And everyone’s looking at us, to boot! Good bye my peaceful university life... Hello my living hell...

“?”

Sugasano looked at Yeon, and then at me. And then back to Yeon. And then at me. In the end he decided to look at Yeon, and then tilted his head to the side out of confusion.

“What’s up?” He decided to ask. He probably couldn’t find any other words beside that.

“She’s running away from me, so I went after her,” Yeon replied blankly, as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. I looked at him with my most disbelieving look (at this point, I’ve decided to turn around instead of awkwardly making conversation―that I can’t dodge at this point―facing the other way).

“...”

Sugasano seemed like he shared my emotion at the moment and looked at Yeon in disbelief. After a moment of silence that wasn’t comfortable in any way, he turned to look at me, and immediately released my arm, “I’m really, really sorry about this,” he said, “I didn’t have time to process the situation so I just followed the first words I hear.”

Sugasano said, lowering his head. I immediately waved both of my hands, “No, no, it’s really fine. It’s not Sugasano-kun’s fault anyways.”

He looked up and blinked his eyes, “You know me?”

“I’d be living under a rock if I don’t know you!” I instantly replied without much thinking, laughing, “You’re Yeon-kun’s team member, dubbed the coolest guy in the whole university, the Sugasano Allen, aren’t you? There isn’t a day I don’t hear your name in conversations.”

Sugasano’s face reddened in embarrassment, “Eh- oh...” he responded, perhaps unable to find any words to say.

Sugasano fell quiet. He’s... actually pretty cute? I thought all members of BAE would be forceful like Yeon, but this guy probably has more common sense. Long live Sugasano! Hail hip-hop maniac! My oasis in the desert! I can’t help but to smile. To think that facing Yeon’s made me this exhausted...

Speaking of Yeon, he’s oddly quiet since some time ago...

I turned to look at Yeon, and I immediately regretted my life choices.

Yeon looked absolutely furious as he glared at me.

I-is he angry because I made conversation with his gang member!? I-I’m sorry for forgetting I’m of the lower status... I guess you’d find it annoying if some poor random girl talked with your good friend in such a casual manner. I’m really, really sorry. But since I don’t think I’ll get away unscathed if I apologized anyways, I’ll just take my leave as Yeon’s preoccupied with his own emotions...

“Well, that’s that so I’ll be going now. See you, Yeon-kun, Sugasano-kun!”

I said, very quickly, as I scurried away...

...Or, at least, tried to.

Yeon immediately caught me by the arm (this again!?) and pulled me closer to him. Oh no, oh no, oh no is this the end of me!? I’m sorry mother and father in heaven... your daughter is going to die today without properly finishing her studies... even though that’s the only thing you both wished of me...

“Thank you for the assistance, Allen,” Yeon said―is it just me or his words sounded like they’re laced with poison?―as he dragged me away from Sugasano. I turned my head to steal a glance at Sugasano, sending him S.O.S messages with my expression and nonexistent telepathic ability. Help, help, help me! Please, I can’t die just yet...!

Sugasano tilted his head to the side in confusion again, but in just a moment his expression changed to that of realization. He then nodded to himself, and looked at me apologetically.

What!? What did you realize, Sugasano!? I’m pretty sure whatever it is you’ve got it wrong! Sugasa―nooooo! Wait, don’t go!!

Alas, my pathetic pleas fell into deaf ears as Sugasano left the scene. Why...!?

***

Right now we’re at a very deserted corner of the university, in the garden out the back. I still don’t understand what it is Yeon’s trying to do to me. I hope he’s not actually trying to kill me or something... I mean, in here nobody would notice, and he probably has enough money to silence the police and anyone else who saw the deed.

“You know,” Yeon started, and cold sweat ran through my back. His voice was icy, below zero in temperature. “I was going to do this the nice way, but you’re not being cooperative at all.”

I looked at him in fear, “D-do what...?”

“...This.”

In that moment, Yeon pulled off his glasses, leaned down, and―oh, my God he’s so close...!?

It took me a rather long time to realize what’s going on: the only things I realized was that he smelled so good, his red eyes looked extremely beautiful, and that his whole face is just cheating. God gave so much to one person it’s unfair, honestly.

And only after that did I realize the soft sensation on my lips and how he’s not even an inch away from me.

“!?”

And then he pulled back. His left hand reached for mine, and his right hand reached out to my face.

“You look like an idiot.”

“!?”

“...I didn’t think you’d get this surprised,” he smiled softly.

“!?”

Wh-what an angelic smile...!

A moment later my petrification wore off. As I regained my composure, I willed myself to speak, “O-of course I’m surprised!” I said, “I-I thought I was going to get killed for real...”

“...Just what do you think I am?”

“A sadistic, rich and handsome guy with a penchant for murder?”

“...Sigh.”

Yeon put his hand to the back of his head, “I thought I was being really obvious already.”

I tilted my head to the side, “...About?”

Once again, Yeon heaved a long, long sigh, “That I like you,” he said, “Ever since that day.”

My head spun full speed hearing his words―the only ‘day’ I could remember we shared was the first time we actually interacted with each other... that hot summer night. Indeed it was during a summer festival that I directly interacted with Yeon Hajun for the first time.

***

It was summer, it was hot, it was incredibly noisy, and I was in a deadly bad mood. It was supposed to be a girls’ day out with my close friends from high school―and we even promised each other to wear full-blown yukata―yet all of them bailed out on me because of different reasons, like deciding to go with their newly-acquired boyfriend, forgetting a deadline, and other personal issues. Seriously, they could’ve told me a few hours before I actually got to the festival.

But it was too late as I, dressed in a yukata with full make up, now stood by myself like a lost sheep amongst the sea of people.

I contemplated to go home right there and then, but then a crowd stole my attention.

Some tens of meters away from me, there stood a tall guy surrounded by an ungodly amount of girls. I focused my sight on the guy and found out that he’s actually the famous ‘Smiling Noble’, the Yeon Hajun, from the university I’m attending. He’s also my classmate for one, two of my courses, but of course he wouldn’t remember me. Anyways, I guess it is hard being a famous person. He kept smiling at the forceful girls, but from where I stood, I could really see that he’s really exhausted already.

Good luck, Yeon Hajun, the person I never even talked to yet could strangely sympathize at this moment...!

I was about to walk away when he... suddenly waved at me?

What?

I looked to my left, right, and turned my head to look at who’s behind me, but nobody’s there. Was he really waving at me?

Before I could process everything, he walked towards me, closing the gap between us. When I came to he was already beside me, holding my hand, as he said, “I’ve been waiting for you! Where’ve you been?”

I blinked at him a few times. He turned at the shocked girls in front of us, and said, “She’s the one I had plans with, so I’m really sorry, everyone.”

――and then he pulled me away from the scene.

_

“Umm!!” I finally managed to let out a voice.

“?”

Yeon tilted his head to the side―gosh, he’s cute―as he looked at me with a questioning stare.

“I don’t remember making plans with you at all, Yeon-kun...?”

I said, and he blinked: “You know me?”

W h a t ?

“First, who doesn’t know you and your group, BAE? Second, I’m your classmate in one of your current courses in university, and third, why would you even do this if you don’t know me!?”

“I somewhat remembered you, even though I’m not sure from where. Oh, and I don’t know your name so...”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, and I’m alone anyway because Allen forgot his deadline and Anne’s currently out working―wait, what’s that?”

He suddenly dashed towards a certain booth, dragging me with him in the process.

Apparently, his question was directed at the goldfish scooping booth. The man in charge of the booth immediately greeted us with a cheery smile: “300 yen a try!” as he showed us the poi.

300 yen... I could buy a meal in the cafeteria with that much money...

I was about to say ‘no’ to the man, but then I stole a glance at Yeon and to my surprise, Yeon’s eyes were sparkling like a little child’s, as he glanced at the poi, the fishes, and back to the poi.

“...Do you want to try?” I asked, and he immediately nodded.

“I do!”

“Have you ever played before?”

“Nope, this is the first time,” he replied, “But I saw videos of people doing it online.”

I blinked a few times. How long has he been in Japan, again? How could he have not tried goldfish scooping!?

I guess it’s hard being a rich guy, too... (?)

“Okay then...” I replied, and I told the man, “We’ll play once.”

“Alright, here’s your poi, little miss and handsome guy!”

He handed us our respective poi and bowls. Yeon immediately squatted down to look at the fishes more clearly. I followed suit careful not to dirty my yukata―all the while still thinking of the 300 yen I just spent.

“So, what do I do?” Yeon asked, his tone full of excitement.

“Well, you just scoop the fish with that poi and put it into the bowl. There’s a trick to it though―”

Before I managed to finish my sentence, Yeon had already went in for the kill in faster than the light. He aimed for the huge gold fish floating in the middle of the small pool, and dipped his poi into the water.

...As expected, his poi teared due to the forcefulness.

“...It’s broken?” He tilted his head in confusion as he showed me his poi. It teared right in the middle, rendering it unusable.

“It is,” I nodded, “Of course it would, you’re being too forceful.”

“I didn’t know it was that kind of game,” he replied, “How do I even catch a fish with something like this?”

I grinned, “There’s a trick to it, you see.”

I searched for certain boxes in the booth with my eyes. And then I found my target: white boxes behind the man in charge of the booth. It said: ‘No. 5. Contains 200.’.

I nodded to myself. That’s not too bad.

“What are you looking at?” Yeon asked, curiousity written on his face.

“The thickness of the poi. Anyway,” I answered, “See here?”

I showed him my poi.

“The side where you can see the seam of the paper glued to the frame? It’s the back,” I said, and then I turned the poi, “And this one’s the front. You’ll have better chances of success if you scoop with the front side.”

Yeon looked at me in genuine admiration, “So it’s like that...!”

“Next, you have to aim for the right fish,” I continued, as I pointed at a fish, “See that one? It’s currently really close to the surface―means that it’s currently gaping for air. Fishes like that are on their weakest, so we should aim for them.”

Yeon let his sight wander around the small pool, “Like those?”

He pointed at a group of fishes near the surface, and turned to look at me.

“Yeah, that’s right!” I replied, smiling, “You’re getting better at this.”

“!” Yeon flinched and looked at me in surprise.

“...What’s up?”

“No, nothing,” He immediately replied, “Anything else?”

Something still smells fishy, but I decided to let it go. “Well, we just have to start scooping now.”

I pulled the sleeve of my yukata up to my elbow, “How many do you want?”

Yeon looked surprised, “How many?”

“Yeah.”

I pretended I didn’t see the expression of horror on the face of the man in charge of the booth. I’m sorry, but you offered a game to the wrong person...

“Then... I guess, three?” Yeon replied.

“Aight, leave it to the Legendary Scooper,” I said, and I concentrated.

_

“I could’ve got you ten, twenty more if you wanted.”

Yeon looked at the goldfishes inside the plastic he has on his hand, satisfied, “No, this is enough,” he replied, “After all, the person in charge looked like he’s going to faint if you continue playing.”

“Ehe,” I stuck out a tongue mischievously. In the end, Yeon tried around three times and finally managed to scoop one fish successfully. We decided to end our goldfish scooping adventure there and continued walking around the festival. He also paid for my share, though he pulled out one 10.000 yen bill and made both me and the man in charge look at him in surprise. It’s a good thing that the booth had change.

Honestly, playing games with Yeon made me forgot my bad mood towards those traitorous friends of mine. I’m actually somewhat grateful, although I could still feel piercing glares from all around the festival.

“Anyway―”

As I was about to say something to express my gratitude, Yeon had already scurried somewhere else―this time in front of a candy-apple booth.

“What’s this? Candy-apple?” He asked.

I smiled at his child-like behavior. The Yeon Hajun I knew from class looked so out of this world, so mature and full of composure, yet look at him now.

“It’s exactly what it is, a candy-apple.”

I followed his steps, closing in on him and the booth.

***

And after that we continued eating through the whole festival and dispersed―after finally introducing ourselves to each other, though it was more like me telling him my name.―without anything special happening, but...

“...You remember now?” He asked. It looked like he’d waited for me to finish processing everything.

“Um, the festival, right?” I asked, just to make sure. Yeon nodded, and I put a hand over my forehead, “How am I supposed to know anything from that!?”

Yeon looked at me in irritation, “I’ve been greeting you everyday ever since! I tried to talk to you, too, but you kept running away from me. The only place I could actually make a conversation with you was during group projects and classes!” He explained in exasperation, “How could you not notice? I kept taking the seats beside you, and even during group projects I was always the closest to you.”

“...You were?” 

I asked, and I swear Yeon glared at me for a moment there.

I looked up to him, “I’m sorry, I’m really, really sorry. I guess I was too preoccupied by the death glares of your fans.”

Yeon sighed for the nth time today, as his eyes looked straight into mine, “So?”

“So...?” I questioned, unable to understand what he meant.

“So will you date me or not?”

Before I could say anything, he reached his free hand towards me and pulled me in closer for an embrace.

Honestly, even if I say no he’d probably still chase after me.

Yeon Hajun’s that kind of guy, after all.

***

“That was my first kiss you oh-so-naturally stole, by the way.”

“Really? No wonder you were bad at it.”

“...I swear, Hajun...”

“Oh, that felt nice. Call my name again.”

“...I hate you.”

“I love you too.”

[milk-colored-dream]

[milk-colored-dream]

[milk-colored-dream]

[milk-colored-dream]

[milk-colored-dream]

to feel, to feel.

word count: 3,286 words character: itadori yuuji, gojou satoru as support note: soft.

Itadori Yuuji left Sendai for Tokyo.

His departure was decided rather quickly―too quickly, even, with his grandfather’s recent passing.

However――

If he had one attachment to Sendai, it was most certainly his best friend since middle school, a soft-spoken yet determined girl, with a smile akin to a sunflower.

***

“You’re moving to Tokyo?”

“...Yeah, real soon.”

Itadori spoke in a rather weak voice one wouldn’t expect from him. He kept rolling his yakisoba bread between his hands, fidgeting non-stop. In stark contrast, beside him, his friend continued to eat her lunch box, relaxed.

“How soon?”

“...Like, tomorrow.”

Her hand stopped as she turned to look at him. Itadori felt like turning his eyes away, but he knew that if he were to do that, he’d regret it for the rest of his life.

“Tomorrow.”

“Yeah, tomorrow.”

***

Itadori had always known that her intuition was, most of the time, eerily on-point.

Even during the incident at school with Fushiguro――

“Sasaki-senpai, Iguchi-senpai, Yuuji-kun, please be careful,” she said, just two days before it happened. Those words came out without any preface: it took a moment for everyone in the room to actually process what she had just said. They were just chilling in the Occult Club room (although she’s actually part of the Tea Ceremony Club) with the two seniors of the club, doing occultically(?) productive activities.

“What’s wrong?” Itadori asked, as he put down the supposedly haunted, antique ouija board they spent all of their meagre club funds on.

“Yeah, that’s a bit too sudden,” Iguchi chimed in.

“Is it one of your ‘gut feeling’ thing?” Sasaki inquired, her voice filled with childlike excitement. After all they’re the occult club, and the girl’s extraordinary intuition certainly piqued her occult sense―which was why she half-forced Itadori to ask the girl to come to the club room whenever she’s free. Who knows if they’d found themselves the perfect research subject?

The girl in question looked down, “I... I think so,” she replied weakly, “Please refrain from doing anything dangerous, okay? Especially you, Yuuji-kun.”

Itadori pointed at himself as the two seniors turned their gaze towards him, “You’re being super specific...”

“But you know what, I understand the sentiment,” Iguchi remarked, “He totally looks like he’d jump from a fifteen-story building if it’s to, you know, save a kitten.”

“You’re telling me you don’t do that!?” Itadori looked at Iguchi in disbelief, “I mean, it’s a kitten! Kitten!”

Sasaki sighed, “Just let those two be,” she said, as she moved her gaze from the two who kept on arguing over how far they’d go to save a kitten, “Do you have a... more concrete advice?”

“Concrete?”

“Like, maybe your intuition is like a low-level version of clairvoyance, you know?” She explained, “Who knows if you could level it up so it doesn’t end up as just a vague gut feeling?”

The girl put a hand on her chin, thinking, “Hmm...” she started, “I’m not really sure... But I’ll try to ponder on it at home.”

Sasaki smiled, “Yeah, you do that. By the way, you’re not going to the tea ceremony club activity today?”

“Eh?” She glanced at the wall clock and immediately shouted, “Ah!! It’s already this late...!!”

She immediately tidied up her belongings and left the room after giving a polite good-bye.

***

――In the end, the incident happened before she could report on the results of her pondering, but for sure she felt guilty about the incident. Despite the incident being masked as something else altogether (curse explanations don’t really fly in the modern society), she must have felt responsible. After all, she could have done something, like stopping the seniors from doing a visibly, obviously dangerous thing like breaking into the school at night and opening the seal of a visibly, obviously ominous object like Ryomen Sukuna’s finger (although to be fair, at that time they wouldn’t have known it was the finger of the King of the Curses, of all things).

“Though she really shouldn’t beat herself up this much... after all, the seniors are safe now,” Itadori thought, as he briefly observed her features, “...She’s as small as ever.”

Since they first met, Itadori had always thought that she looked pretty. She’s not beautiful in a flashy way, but looking at her makes you feel at peace―especially her smile. Itadori thought that her smile looked kind of magical: it makes your chest feel warm and nice. She’s also humble and kind to others, although Itadori does think that sometimes she really needs to be more assertive. All in all, in the three years he’s known her, she had always been a good friend.

Though, of course it’d be a lie to say that Itadori has never held negative feelings towards her.

Especially when she’d show her warm smile to other guys, he―

“―Yuuji-kun?”

“Huh? Oh!”

His reverie was cut short as the girl looked at him in curiosity.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m super fine!” Itadori made exaggerated gestures to further prove his point, “So―”

“So I asked if your moving has something to do with the incident a few days ago...” She said, her voice lowering with every syllable until Itadori could barely hear the last words. Her voice trembled, and she wouldn’t look at him in the eye.

“...” Itadori hesitated to reply for a short while, “No. I mean yes, but no... I mean,”

The girl looked up to see him, and waited patiently for him to elaborate.

“I... when my grandfather died, I was told to help people. As many as I can,” he started, “And I found it.”

“You found... what?”

“I found the way to do it. I found... something I want to do.”

“And it’s in Tokyo?”

“Yeah.”

The girl paused, thinking. It took her a few seconds to finally look at Itadori straight in the eye, and said, “I understand.”

“I’m really happy for you,” she continued, “I’m glad you’ve found something you want to do.”

Itadori couldn’t avert his eyes from the girl’s sad smile and her glistening eyes.

“But I really wish you’d tell me earlier... stupid Yuuji-kun.”

He couldn’t help but to reach his arms towards her and pull her into a tight embrace.

***

Itadori died.

Gojou Satoru’s anger seeped out of him as he walked through the deserted hallways of the technical school.

Everyone who knew Gojou would, in unison, say that he’s a mysterious person. Fundamentally unserious, he always has his trademark frivolous smile on at all times―even when he’s up against a special grade curse, one that a normal sorcerer would call ‘impossible opponents’. Yet, today, just by looking at him you’d be able to feel his rage as it ran through the air, intimidating everyone in sight.

He had just gotten the information of Itadori’s passing from Fushiguro―and the only thing he could think of was, fuck the sorcery world. He’d understood how rotten the higher-ups are firsthand, yet he couldn’t believe that when he’s out finishing a job for them, they’d dare execute their shitty agenda against his cute students.

Only a moment ago he had kicked open a certain office room and retrieved all of Itadori’s belongings that was taken away by the school’s officials―and now he’s on his way to the morgue to see Itadori’s dead body firsthand.

Suddenly an unfamiliar tone rung from the bag he has on his hand, the bag filled with Itadori’s belongings.

“...?”

He rummaged through the bag and fished out a smartphone―certainly Itadori’s―and looked at the screen.

On it was written a caller name―a name unfamiliar to him. Perhaps Itadori’s friend in Sendai?

Gojou weighed on his options. Should he answer the call? Surely the caller would be surprised: after all, it wasn’t their friend on the other end, but an unknown man. Depending on the person, they’d perhaps even call the cops on him. ...That wouldn’t be good.

Yet, he once again looked at the caller tag.

The caller name wasn’t your usual formal name. It was a nickname―a rather cute one to boot―and through the notification panel Gojou noticed that the same person had called over around three times. Must have been someone rather close to Itadori. After another ring, Gojou finally decided to pick up the call whilst continuing on his tracks to the morgue. He slid his thumb over the screen, and after a second of silence――

“...Hello? Yuuji-kun?”

To Gojou’s surprise, a soft feminine voice welcomed him the next moment.

A girl... could she be Itadori’s girlfriend? But he’s never told Gojou anything about leaving behind a significant other in Sendai.

“Hello,” Gojou decided to reply.

“...Eh!?” A surprised voice rang out from the other end, “This is Itadori Yuuji’s number, right?”

“Yeah, yes it is,” Gojou said, “Sorry to surprise. I’m Gojou Satoru, his teacher.”

“Huh!? Teacher!? I-I’m really sorry for my rudeness! But――”

“You know, Yuuji left his phone in the classroom, so I’m about to give it back to him,” He cut in with his usual light-hearted tone, “He’s such a forgetful kid sometimes―”

“―I’m very sorry to interrupt,” her tone turned into a grave one, Gojou noted, “But are you not telling me the truth, Gojou-sensei?”

Gojou stopped walking in surprise.

“...What makes you think that?”

“...” The girl on the other end paused, “I’m sorry for being rude. It’s just that I can feel it.”

“Feel?”

“I don’t know how to explain. It just.... felt like something bad has happened to him. Please, tell me the truth...”

Her voice was weak, desperate, even. Gojou felt his interest piqued: she’s very sharp, too sharp even, for an ordinary person―although it might have been a coincidence. For a mere gut feeling, she sounded very confident and determined. Yet, there’s no way he could tell anyone outside of the school, much less Itadori’s friend back in Sendai, that Itadori has died. Once again he could feel boiling anger rose from the pits of his stomach. Gojou calmed himself down.

“It’s true,” He decided to reply, “He really did left his phone in the classroom. He’s currently out doing some field work, so...”

“...Really?”

She still sounded like she’s not convinced.

“Really!” He said, “You know, maybe he just tripped somewhere.”

“Tripped?”

She sounded genuinely surprised.

“Yeah! Sendai might be different, but you know, tripping is a really huge thing here in Tokyo,” he said, “Everywhere’s full of people, so wherever you trip and fall you’d feel super embarrassed since lots of people will turn to look at you. It’s really, really bad.”

“I... see...?”

“So that’s why, there’s no need to worry.”

“...Okay, thank you very much, Sensei...”

“No problem!”

Gojou was about to cut the call before she said something else.

“Please take care of Yuuji-kun well. He’s a really kind person.”

“...Yeah.”

The girl cut off the call, and Gojou could feel rage seeping out from each and every pore on his body.

If the situation allows, he would really be ripping the necks of those stinky grandpas up top right now. Honestly, fuck them to hell.

***

Itadori was, miraculously, resurrected back to life.

Ryomen Sukuna truly is something, Gojou thought as he led the way towards the underground movie room, where Itadori’s secret training will be held in. To regrow a whole human heart like that.

Some things still feels wrong on his mind, yet since there’s no way to make sure of anything, he decided to keep observing Itadori from now on.

“Gojou-sensei?”

Suddenly, the student beside him called, and Gojou reflexively turned his head towards him.

“What’s up?”

“Do you have my belongings?”

“Ah.”

In the midst of the confusion, he’d forgotten to give the boy his belongings back. He immediately handed the bag still on his hand, as he said, “Here you go.”

“Thanks!”

Gojou observed as Itadori rummaged through the bag. Finally he fished out his smartphone and after unlocking the phone, he immediately tapped the contacts icon on the screen. Itadori scrolled and scrolled until he finally found a rather familiar contact name: it was the girl calling for him some time ago, the one that Gojou spoke to.

Itadori weighed whether or not he should call her. After all, he’s supposed to be dead (and the only people to know his ‘resurrection’ as of now is Ieiri, Ijichi, and Gojou)―he let his fingers glide over the call button before he finally turned at Gojou and asked, “Sensei, can I――”

“Yeah, sure,” He replied, before Itadori could even finish his words. Itadori smiled brightly and tapped on the call button. After he put his phone on his ear, Gojou asked in a teasing tone, “Your girlfriend?”

“Wha-, huh!?” Itadori’s face turned redder by the second, “She’s just――”

However, before he could finish his sentence, it seems that the girl on the other side has picked up the phone. Itadori immediately corrected his posture, called the girl’s name and said, “Uh- umm, hello?”

“...Yuuji-kun?”

“Huh? Yeah, it’s me.” Itadori found it weird that she’d ask such a question. After all, it was his phone number.

Gojou quietly observed the exchange between Itadori and the mysterious girl on the other end of the call. Itadori narrowed his eyes fondly as he talked with her, perhaps unconsciously, showing his pure feelings towards her. You show this kind of expression and you said she’s not your girlfriend? That’s harder to believe, Gojou thought.

“I swear I’m really fine!” Itadori said, “It’s just that I know your intuition must’ve told you something, so I called.”

“...Yeah. What, you called me more than three times already?” Itadori’s eyes widened, “Gojou-sensei picked up the call?”

Itadori immediately turned to look at Gojou, but the latter has already resumed walking, rather innocently, towards their destination. Itadori hurriedly followed after him, still talking on the phone.

“Huh? Oh, yeah! Yeah... yeah! Gojou-sensei’s right!” Itadori immediately said, “I fell over on Shibuya Crossing. You know how it’s really crowded there, right? Yeah... It was really embarrassing!”

Itadori followed through Gojou’s white lie. After all, there’s no way he could tell her he had just died. She’d probably pass out from shock.

“You know what, you should visit Tokyo and we’ll have a day out together! I’ll have mastered the ways of the capital by then.” Itadori said, smiling widely, “Yeah, and we’ll have lots of good food. It’ll be fun!”

After a few moments of chattering, Itadori finally cut off the call, despite being a little reluctant. Right after, Itadori turned his head towards Gojou, with confusion clear in his eyes.

“Gojou-sensei, what’s with――”

However, before he managed to finish his question, Gojou cuts in with his usual frivolous smile: “Smoothly making date plans... aren’t you quite the guy, Yuuji?”

Itadori’s face turned deep red in a twinkle.

“D-d-d-d-date!?”

“I mean, what else is it but a date?” Gojou reiterated, “Two people walking ‘round Tokyo just the two of them. That’s literally the text book definition of date.”

“No, but we’re not even dating, so it’s――”

Gojou decided to just let Itadori go on his denial charade without interrupting. Yet again he thought of the rotten hearts of the sorcery world’s higher ups, trying to―and actually succeeding once―arbitrarily extinguish the flames of a youth’s life. Itadori Yuuji’s life―and love life―has just started. There are still a lot of things he’d experience in his lifetime to develop his own sense of self. Gojou swore he won’t let anyone bother his students’ growth.

And now, to protect his students, he has to do his part, too.

Finishing off his thoughts, he stepped down the rather narrow stairs with Itadori following behind him.

“I wonder what I should get for dinner. I guess I’ll go get some cakes from Aigre Douce today.”

***

“You know what, you should visit Tokyo and we’ll have a day out together! I’ll have mastered the ways of the capital by then.”

“Day out... together?”

“Yeah, and we’ll have lots of good food. It’ll be fun!”

“...”

“Hello?”

“Oh... Oh, sorry! It’s just that I’m really, really happy.”

“Happy...?”

“...Just by thinking of seeing you again makes my chest feel light...”

“Wh-wha...”

“I really miss spending time with you, Yuuji-kun. I can’t wait. It’s a promise, okay?”

“...Yeah, I miss you too, so much. It’s a promise.”