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nevermoresworld · 25 days ago

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stubborn heart ch. 8

yan!capitano x wife!reader

summary | or in which capitano is told he needs a wife. and he begrudgingly agrees.

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Wife,

The mission is going smoother than previously expected. Expect my presence to be back in the late evening.

You read it over again and again and again. For a moment, you even wondered if your mind was playing tricks on you.

He's coming back already?!?! It's only been two days!!

“What does it say?”

You looked to Atri, “he says he’ll be back tonight-“

Atri clapped her hands at the news, “how wonderful! You must be happy!”

“Happy..?”

“Well, originally he said he would be gone a week or two, yes? It must make you happy that your husband is coming home sooner than later!”

“O-oh well…,” your voice trailed off causing Atri to sigh.

“You know y/n, you have to start acting like a wife at some point. Typically, the wife is happy when her husband comes home, you know?”

“Right,” you said. I need to start acting like a wife!

“Also…”

“Hmm?”

Atri grinned mischievously, “maybe he can help you with your little problem in bed.”

“Atri!”

You lightly whacked her on the arm as she burst into fits of giggles. Your cheeks burned hot as you tried to calm yourself down. Honestly, this made of yours was going to kill you.

“Ignoring that last part,” you grumbled, “what does a wife do anyway? You know, to prepare for her husband coming home.”

Atri immediately brightened at your question as she took a hold of your hands, “I’m glad you asked! Come! We have a lot to do!”

You let yourself get pulled around as Atri basically scuttled about the manor in a frenzy. She fixed your hair, got you into a nice dress, and even took you to the kitchen so you both could help the head chef make a few dishes. You were glad for distraction because despite wearing the nice dress, it felt like you were working as a maid again in the Hearth.

By the time you both were done with your preparations, it was already late into the evening. Capitano would be home at any moment.

Atri was quick to take your hand and drag you to the front door when a carriage could be heard outside, A horse thumping it’s hooves against the ground.

“What’s next,” you asked with a bit of panic in your voice.

“You greet him, silly,” Atri giggled as she went to stand off to the side and bowed her head with her hands clasped in front of her which left you awkwardly standing in front of the door.

Greet him how?!

Before you could ask, the door opened. The hinges creeked, and the cool winter wind blanketed you instantly as a light snow fall started to cascade into the entrance of your new home.

Steadying your heart, you bowed to the harbinger who entered, the door instantly shutting behind him.

“Welcome home, husband.”

Your voice was shaky, uneven. It was obvious that you were nervous. Maybe even a little scared, but luckily Capitano didn’t comment on it. Instead, he reached for you and grabbed a hold of your chin, his gloved fingertips were cold to the touch as he lifted your chin, tilting your head back which was when you noticed how close he was.

And time seemed to stand still as he reached with his free hand to unclip his helmet before lifting it from his face.

You could feel your heart beat quicken when he leaned down towards you and slotted his lips against yours, but just like before he pulled away all too quickly.

“What- what was that for,” you managed to ask as he let go of your chin.

“A husband and wife greet each other with a kiss when one comes home. I am merely fulfilling that duty just as you had done greeting me at the door.”

Putting his helmet back on, he walked past you, and you stood there for a moment before Atri waved to you to get your attention.

Glancing at her, she jutted her thumb towards the direction of the dining hall where Capitano was headed.

Right. Dinner is next.

Like clockwork, you followed after the harbinger. Your legs barely being able to match his long stride as he made it to the dining room before you. And just as you made it to the table to sit down with him, he spoke to you again.

“Did you find any books you wanted?”

You were caught off guard, but calmed yourself quickly, “I found a few…”

“That edge in your voice says otherwise,” he stated causing you to flinch. Of course he would be able to see right through you.

“Well…, you see. I did find a few books that I really wanted, but I also did something quite stupid.”

Deep down you knew that you wouldn’t be able to hide it, and Capitano was the type to find the truth if you weren’t going to tell him everything. You could see it even with his mask on.

“Something stupid?”

“Yes…, I was recommended some books by the cashier, but what I didn’t realize was that she had actually recommended and sold me some.. uhm… dirty books…”

You felt absolutely terrible. To be honest, a part of you wished that you just up and tossed the books instead of keeping them.

“Wife.”

“Y- yes?”

“Not knowing something or making a mistake is not something you should feel embarrassed or ashamed about, especially if it is something you are not aware of or something that no one bothered to explain to you beforehand.”

His words echoed in your head as you finally picked up your gaze from your lap to look at his face.

“But-“

“I am not arguing you about this.”

Playing with your hands in your lap you spoke up anyway, “but what if I don’t know other things that I should know about?”

“Like what?”

It felt like he finally looked at you as if he wasn’t expecting you to talk back to him, but it wasn’t like you were, you were just asking a question.

“What if I don’t even know how to do the things described in those books? Or what consummating really entails?”

“Then I’ll just have to show you.”

taglist

@littlekohai77 @lvtuss @kreishin @floffytofu @nastylilcvnt @nas-ha @simp-simp-no-mi @emmathecouchpotato4583 @sendria @riotakire @mikoslightnovels @feral-childs-word @barbatoss-bitch @venicecherryblossom @squirrelboxer @temperamentupgrade @avalordream @immahuman @xavlyzn @greensunflowerjuna @sarah22447 @naviabestgiirl @nevermoresworld @depressedbearblogs @ppancakesforu @0vendettaself @lilyalone @mochiivqi @pbjts @chewwyaaa @c4xcocoa @ren-ren23 @tazuduck @atrebiusr @simpingbigtime @aryuunachigiri @judithregulus @crowleysthings @yns-sister @satori-runa @meowmeow999999 @beeskn3es @tamikahoshiko @shoyosdoll @ngadasblog @sugacor3 @xiana21 @melancholyae @jjkysnk @s1mppp @that1weirdshipper @himikoquack

some say "no blogs found" when I try to add them </3

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nevermoresworld · 2 months ago

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tumblr NUKES quality. anyways good morning, figured i'd design dragon arlecchino. bossform utc

closeups (vv)

spreading my snakecchino agenda.

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nevermoresworld · 2 months ago

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stubborn heart ch. 7

yan!capitano x wife!reader

summary | or in which capitano is told he needs a wife. and he begrudgingly agrees.

warnings | y/n tries something out from the book she read...

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For the rest of the day Atri had left you alone. That, however, didn’t stop you from worrying over the books you had gotten. And after dinner that night, you had finally decided to at least take a peek at what the books had to offer.

So, carefully sneaking into the library and pulling the first “spicy” book the cashier had recommended to you, you had retreated by to the safety of your room. Luckily you had already gotten to bathe and do your night routine (alone), so you could jump right into the warm covers and crack open to the first page. You doubted that you would see a sex scene in the first chapter of the book, but you were prepared to throw the book halfway across the room if need be.

Though, with how the first few pages were turning out, you doubted you had much to-

You paused as you read over a sentence again.

“To wind down and relax, I always took a bit longer in the bathroom. What would usually consist of a quick rinse and wash would result in me taking the much needed time to just simply take a moment and breathe. Typically, I wouldn’t be able to do this due to the men skulking about in the camp, but since they are out on their own missions, time permits me to take care of myself. After carefully rubbing the soap up my thighs, I let my fingers gently trail up. My fingertips slowly, lightly reaching up to tease my folds. I let out a small sigh. My head falling back against tub as I slowly pushed-“

You slammed the book shut, your face beat red. Truth be told, you never indulged in pleasuring yourself either. So, to read it so casually really sent your mind into a whirlwind.

You gulped as you reopened to the page you were on after calming your racing heart. You knew you needed to learn about this eventually so there was no backing out now! Though, of course, that didn’t stop you from slamming the book shut from time to time before going back to reading.

Arkan, please please give me more-

“M’lady?”

You slammed the book shut once again before glancing to the door. Why is Atri-? You looked to the other side of the room and noticed how the sun started to rise causing you to sweatdrop.

“Oh dear…”

“M’lady, are you up?”

Turning back to towards the door in a panic, you were quick to fumble around before rolling over to your nightstand, opening the top drawer and throwing the book into it, and shutting it tight.

“Y- yes! I’m awake!”

“Oh good! Breakfast will be done soon!”

“Thank you! I’ll be down after my bath.”

Atri was quick to dismiss herself as you let out a sigh of relief before getting out of bed and making your way to the bathroom. Though, once in there, you gave the tub a side glance, your mind going back and thinking of that first “scene.”

“Maybe I should try?”

You bit your lip; your mind was practically racing at the thought of trying it. The book made it sound like it felt good, so maybe…?

You went over to the tub and crouched down to turn on the hot water. It was worth a shot, right?

You tried to set everything up as the book had done. You knew you were alone, you tried to get as relaxed as possible, and you even already bathed yourself, which only left one thing to do. Though, as you recounted your memory and moved your hands and fingers as the book had described you found that it was not what you were expecting at all.

No matter how you rubbed yourself or how you pushed a single finger into your resisting cunt, you couldn’t get to the point of cumming like the female lead did.

It honestly got you frustrated. No matter how far your finger reached, no matter how you rubbed your inner walls, no matter how much you played with your folds or clit, you just couldn’t cum.

“Am I broken or something?! Oh archons, what if Capitano finds out I can’t cum?! What if I am unable to cum at all?1 He’ll kick me out as quickly as he married me,” you cried as you got out the tub. Your hands reaching for the towel as you started to dry yourself off, “what am I going to do?”

With a new problem on your hands, you got ready for the day.

“Oh dear, you look like a kicked puppy,” Atri said as she set your breakfast down in front of you and you could only give her that sad look from earlier.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well… so I read one of those books.”

“Mmhmm, and?”

“I tried out one of those scenes… where the female lead was,” you looked around to make sure no one else was listening or near you both before you leaned closer to her to whisper, “you know touching herself, and well…”

“What?”

“I can’t, you know, do it…”

“You can’t touch yourself?”

You shook your head, embarrassment already making its way across your face, “no, not that.. I can’t cum… you know, that word.”

“Ahhh, I see.”

“Is that all you have to say?! Why am I the only one worried?! I mean, doesn’t this mean I am broken or something like that?”

Atri giggled to herself before answering, “maybe you need Lord Capitano’s help.”

You immediately deflated, “yeah, but if he learns I can’t cum, won’t he just toss me out?”

Atri rolled her eyes before patting your shoulder, “you’re overthinking it.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

Before you could argue any more, someone cleared their throat causing you both to turn towards the entrance of the dining hall where a messenger waited by the door.

“Lady y/n?”

“Yes?”

“Lord Capitano has sent you a letter.”

You tensed up right then and there as the messenger walked over and gently placed the letter next to your breakfast.

“Thank you,” you managed to say.

The messenger bowed and took his leave, letting both you and Atri to stare at the unopened letter.

It’s only been a day, and yet he already sent you something. You really didn’t want to open it.

taglist

@nas-ha @simp-simp-no-mi @emmathecouchpotato4583 @sendria @riotakire @littlekohai77 @lvtuss @kreishin @floffytofu @nastylilcvnt @mikoslightnovels @feral-childs-word @barbatoss-bitch @venicecherryblossom @squirrelboxer @temperamentupgrade @avalordream @immahuman @xavlyzn @greensunflowerjuna @sarah22447 @naviabestgiirl @nevermoresworld @depressedbearblogs @ppancakesforu @0vendettaself @lilyalone @mochiivqi

some say "no blogs found" when I try to add them </3

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nevermoresworld · 2 months ago

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stubborn heart ch. 6

yan!capitano x wife!reader

summary | or in which capitano is told he needs a wife. and he begrudgingly agrees.

previous | next

“M’lady,” your maid bowed to you as she opened your carriage door. After getting ready for the day, you had quickly left the house with your maid following after.

“Thank you,” you said as your attention was soon brought to the bookstore. It was the best one that Snezhnaya has with a grand selection all around. Just thinking about what books you could get today excited you to no end.

“Back again,” the cashier said with a grin as you entered the bookstore. Smiling sheepishly at being recognized so easily, you nodded, “it seems I just can’t stay away,” you answered.

“Your patronage is always appreciated. If you need help finding anything, please don’t be afraid to ask.”

You pondered her words for a moment, before nodding to yourself, “about that. Do you think you can give me some book recommendations?”

The cashier immediately brightened at your words as she clapped her hands together, “I would be happy to! I have some favorites that I have just been dying to share with people, but its always hard to find people who are interested in the same thing…”

“Well,” you started, “I’ve been told that I would read just about anything. Back at the Hearth I would resort to reading cookbooks or how to manuals if I ran out my normal reading material.”

The cashier chuckled at your words, “well, not to worry, I won’t be recommending anything like that,” she moved from behind the counter and gestured for you to follow, “come on, I’ll show you where my favorite section is.”

When she turned to walk off you and your maid followed.

“And here we are,” she stopped in front an aisle and walked into it, and as she would run her fingers along the spines of the book she stopped on a specific one, “this one was just too good,” she said as she pulled it out, but before she handed it to you, she hesitated.

“Something wrong,” you asked.

“Well.. how do you feel about romance books?”

“Oh! I like them a lot! It’s one of my favorites honestly.”

“And what about romance with a little… spice to it?”

Spice? You weren’t exactly sure what that meant…

“Uhm, sure. I’m fine with that too.”

“Perfect!”

Her hesitation was long gone as she handed the book to you, “Arkan is by far the perfect fictional man by the way, he’ll have you wishing you were in the book!”

You looked down at the title as she handed it to you.

Most of the romance books you read were short fantasy stories, and most of the time the main characters only had titles and didn’t have names. Like the book Capitano was reading to you. The princess, knight, and the prince didn’t have any names or stuff like that. So, having a romance book with characters who had actual names may be a good change of pace.

“Thank you! Do you by chance have any other recommendations?”

“Of course!”

Throughout the rest of the time you spent there, the cashier lady kept telling you the level of spice of a book which continued to confuse you, but not wanting to seem like an idiot you kept acting like you knew what she was talking about. Though, luckily, she did give you some books to buy that didn’t have any “spice” in them whatsoever.

“M’lady,” your maid said as you both finally made it back to the manor.

“Yes,” you asked as you helped her carry the many books you had bought today.

“You… do know what that cashier meant, right?”

“About what?”

“Spice.”

You two had made it to the library easily, the both of you quickly setting the books down to give your arms a break.

“Uhm… about that,” you said with a sheepish look on your face, “not really.”

Your maid seemed to blush lightly at your words as she reached for your hand, “then please excuse me, I don’t know how to tell you this but…”

“But what?”

“The amount of spice in a book correlates to the amount of sexual content it has.”

Your maid broke it down to you as if she was telling you that your pet dog died.

“Hah?”

It took a few moments for your brain to properly register what she had just told you, “HAAAAAAH?!?!?!”

You broke your hand free from her grasp as immediately slapped both of your hands to your burning hot cheeks, “what do you mean?!?!!? Are you telling me that I just b-bought- bought sex books?!”

“Well,” she said, “its not like every single page is specifically sex, but if its super spicy then I can guarantee you that there will probably be a lot of it…”

You crouched down to the floor, your hands falling from your red, hot cheeks as you went to hug yourself. You couldn’t believe this was happening.

You heard of sex, of course, but you never once did it yourself nor do you know how to do it. Hell, even when the other older girls in the hearth started talking about their “experiences” and even how they pleasure themselves alone you would always run out of the room. You always thought that that it was a topic you didn’t need to know, but of course that all changed when you literally got married a mere few days ago. Which, of course, is why you get so nervous every time the word consummate left Capitano’s mouth.

“M'lady?”

She crouched down next to you as she laid her hand on your back as if she was trying to soothe you.

“Yeah?”

“You shouldn’t feel embarrassed. You didn’t know.”

“I know, but if Capitano finds out then that will just be another dumb thing I did that he’ll add to the list… I haven’t exactly been giving him the best impressions you know.”

Your maid patted your back, “don’t worry, he doesn’t have to know.”

Once again, your mind took a few moments to comprehend what she said, “h- huh? You- you aren’t going to tell him that I accidentally bought these types of books?”

Your maid shook her head, “of course not.”

You sniffled a little, “should we- should we take them back?”

Your maid shook her head at that, “to be honest, I think reading about sex will be easier for you than asking someone about it. I mean,” she giggled, “you and Lord Capitano have to consummate the marriage at some point.”

You scoffed, “I can’t believe you’re laughing at me!”

“I’m sorry, but it is kind of funny!”

You huffed and looked away from her causing her to laugh again before patting your back once again, “but I am serious. Reading books like that can at least give you an idea of what to do.”

You sighed and thought it over. As much as you hated to admit it, she was right. You had no one to ask about how to properly have sex with someone and you definitely didn’t want to ask Father or Capitano about it. And you know you would be a laughingstock to the others at the Hearth if you asked them…

Maybe reading about it will help after all? Besides, it would be less embarrassing since it means you wouldn’t have to ask anyone, and as long as Capitano doesn’t find out about it, then you won’t have to crawl under a rock or try to explain yourself on how you accidentally bought some not so safe books.

“So?”

You sighed, “well, it would be better to read then ask about it, I guess…, but please. I’m being for real, don’t tell anyone about my screw up today.”

“Of course, m’lady.”

Right then and there, a new friendship bloomed. You learned that her name was Atri and in return you asked if she would stop calling you m’lady. She said she would, but only when no one else was around. To which you were you happy with.

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some say "no blogs found" when I try to add them </3

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nevermoresworld · 2 months ago

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There is No Law that Emperors Must be Fair

Emperor ! Jing Yuan x Princess ! Reader

Chapter 8 | An Aeon

Summary | You are set to marry the Emperor, Jing Yuan. In order to break the engagement, you stage an accident and fake having amnesia. But now, your own cruel, cold, and distant fiancé, who seemed to not want anything to do with you, is now acting all lovey dovey!

want to be a part of the taglist? then pls go to taglist ^-^

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When you wake up, your mind feels kind of fuzzy. Almost as if you were missing something.

“Something the matter?”

You felt your soul leave your body at the sudden voice causing him to laugh. Snapping your head to the side, you noticed it was the man from before. The one who erased your death- wait, your death? And that was when it hit you. You couldn’t remember how you died or the pain that you felt. It was like-

“It never even happened?”

You gave him a weary look, causing him to chuckle softly at both your expression and how you were acting.

“There is no need to fret, you know? I am not going to hurt you.”

“What- what are you doing here?”

You ended up ignoring his lighthearted words and gestured to the library. You were still on the couch, and the book you were holding had fallen to the floor.

The man mused to himself, his smile light and warm.

“I suppose it was quite rude of me to task you finding my name.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because my name hasn’t existed in the sense that you know of.”

“…I don’t understand.”

Sunday turned a little and patted his lap. Despite not remembering your death, you did remember how you met him. So you crawled to him, moving some of the cushions in your way and laid sideways, your head nuzzled comfortably in his lap which allowed him to run his fingers through your hair once again.

“My name is Sunday, and I existed not too long ago. However, my reign was short lived thanks to that Emperor. And to worsen my pride, he went and erased my very existence by taking out everything that had any relevance to me.”

“Sunday…?”

You let his name roll off your tongue. The name wasn’t familiar.

“So you fought and lost against the Emperor?”

“I did. I suppose I wanted to see if I still existed somewhere. Anywhere. Though, if I don’t even exist in the Emperor’s library, well, then my name wouldn’t be anywhere else.”

“Why did you fight against him?”

“For my own beliefs. Much like everyone else.”

“What exactly are you anyway?”

“I’m just Sunday. An older brother. A friend. A leader of sorts. And someone who failed in the end.”

“How are you here now then?”

Your voice was soft as you spoke and when Sunday looked down at you, you wondered how someone so angelic could look so sad but still have that soft smile on his face.

“I guess you could say I got lucky with how supposedly died… if shorter terms, I became an aeon.”

“An aeon…huh? And what was that kiss you placed on my forehead? Ever since you did it, I have been having trouble remembering some things.”

“A kiss on the forehead erases pain and misery, so I kiss your forehead, however, a kiss on the forehead can also erase memory. I suppose…, I just didn’t want you to remember the pain you felt when you died.”

“Why?”

Sunday smiled at your question, “because I wanted to, do I need any other reason?”

You hummed at his answer, your eyes glancing back to the library door. You don’t remember closing, maybe Blade did?

“So now that I know your name, what am I supposed to do now?”

“Well,” Sunday started, “you still want to go home, don’t you? Find a way to do that.”

“But how? I kind of died the last time I tried.”

Sunday shook his head as he tried to keep himself from laughing, “don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll find a way. And don’t worry about the rest. If you do die again, I’ll simply erase everything all over again.”

You nodded to his words, but yawned once more, despite sleeping for so long, you were still so impossibly tired which was when Sunday gently bent down to kiss both of your eyelids.

“A kiss to your eyelids, to erase your tiredness.”

And it was true, the sleep that was beckoning gradually left and just as you were about to say something to him, he was already gone. Your head was no longer on his lap and instead rested on a bunch of cushions, and just as you were about to sit up, the library door opened.

“You’re still lying down,” Blade said, an obvious hint of annoyance rested within his tone causing you to frown at him as you sat up.

“I was getting up,” you argued which caused Blade to roll his eyes.

“Whatever…, are you planning to stay here all day princess?”

Huffing at his attitude, you stood up while completely forgetting about the book you had been reading, “I get it, ok? I’m leaving right now.”

Stomping your way out of the library, Blade followed not so quietly after you.

“Woke up on the wrong side of the couch, did we?”

“Oh shut it you…,” your voice trailed off when your stomping slowly slowed to a stop as you looked out to the field where there were a few people riding horses.

A new idea soon forming in your mind.

“Blade.”

“What?”

“I want to go horseback riding.”

taglist pt 1

@danae-misfortune @frogsasfrogs @openthenyoor01 @zuhaine @ughlostmyotherac @joyfulnightprincess @thechibifoxcub @ceaether @satanisasofties @thetwinkims @yanrandom @honeybunbun @superdonkeypatroleggs @ohmyfinggod @baboon-milk333 @zareri @kclremin @rains-mae @yccoffeesimp @bloomiesty @moon-taffy @superdark-soul @pinkismyfavcolor @isa-l0v3r @its-astrotea-love @reapersan @junephantom21 @erisfayred @greyrain23 @justadekusimp @uzxotic @alisstaa @avalordream @unlivingdisaster @pix-stuff @sleepyxion14 @pillows-blankets @anicega @junni-berry @niaainthere @sorachitsuki @dyingsweetmackerel @rosariymchapter @immahuman @fluffy-koalala @momoniq @orphiclueur @insightedly

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nevermoresworld · 3 months ago

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I'll hope, you find some closure and quiet,

in that restless universe of your mind.

I'll wish you find the perfection in your own inperfection, to live and keep moving on with a glimpse of friction.

I'll pray for you, that you find the strengh to continue, for you are Important, and valuable.

- - -

Title; Perfection in Inperfection.

2023/07/30.

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nevermoresworld · 6 months ago

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sketch based off of @a11eya fic “lights will guide you home” ch 7 when they do the kitten photoshoot 🥹🫶🏼 mikan! and! bakugo! I’ve also never drawn ANY mha fanart so this makes me nervy that I haven’t portrayed bakugo the way I fully want to encapsulate him,, so much to work on!! this is my entrance into mha pls be kind LOL ;3

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nevermoresworld · 8 months ago

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HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR DASH ‼️ Regardless of whether or not you celebrate, I am wishing you all a prosperous year filled with joy and good fortune! I hope the year of the dragon is a wonderful one for all of us here ♥️🏮🐉🍊 🧨️🧨️🧨

btw if you are seeing this message please know that I am virtually serving you some long life noodles 🍜, peeling some oranges for us 🍊, and giving you hongbaos filled with chocolate coins and stickers of your fave !!!🧧🧧🧧:3c

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nevermoresworld · 1 year ago

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𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍

pairing: gojo satoru x reader summary: you contemplate gojo's existence on a roof, at night, alone (or so you think). wc: ~1.7k genre: mostly fluff, a tiny bit of angst at the beginning warnings: some jjk manga spoilers, talks about geto, talks about death i listened to "moon song" by phoebe bridgers while writing this so you could say it's loosely inspired

gojo satoru is the strongest jujutsu sorcerer alive.

that isn't an opinion, it's a fact so widely accepted that the higher-ups have begun sending him on increasingly dangerous missions. you're unsure as to whether it's an attempt to end his life or if they're just taking advantage of the fact that there is no curse strong enough to beat him.

a sigh escapes your lips as you lie down, your back pressed up against the ridged shingles of the school's roof. it's neither uncomfortable nor comfortable, but you don't know if it's because of the architecture or if you're just numb.

you've been feeling numb pretty often lately.

things have changed in the past few years. there's an emptiness that seems to live within you, created by geto's defection and somewhat filled in by the presence of fushiguro megumi. you hope that the more time you spend with him, the easier it gets.

(it's hard when he looks so much like his father).

you think about megumi in an attempt to stop thinking about gojo, and you wonder if he knows how it pains you to take the boy in. you also wonder if it's some sort of self-inflicted punishment for him; saving the son of the man he murdered. it sounds like something gojo would knowingly put himself through.

the moonlight is bright as you force yourself to focus on the sky, your eyes studying the stars scattered about in a weak attempt to locate the few constellations you know. you shut your eyes almost immediately, sucking in a deep breath as you remember it was geto who taught you everything you know about constellations.

you wonder if gojo thinks about him often. (you know he does).

there's a brief moment where you wiggle around uncomfortably before sitting up, your hair blowing in the soft breeze as you bring your knees up to your chest. sleep has been evading you for quite some time now, but it's always worse whenever gojo is gone. you claim your insomnia stems from a place of concern, but shoko argues that it's because you have some sort of codependent relationship with your blue-eyed friend. you wonder if she's right.

it isn't long until you notice his presence, and you know that he knows that you know he's there. he doesn't move for a few minutes, and neither do you, content to keep staring out at nothing. it isn't until a stronger breeze blows, making you shiver, that he finally comes to stand next to you.

"cold night," gojo comments, one hand in his pocket. there's a bundle under his other arm, and you barely spare him a glance as you answer.

"you're back early," you mutter, identifying the bundle as the woven blanket you tend to keep at the foot of your bed. "i thought it was a five day thing."

"you know how it is," he says in response. you hum in return because yes, you do know how it is for gojo. for him, a five day mission can be completed in a matter of hours if he really tries, and you're all of a sudden reminded of just how powerful gojo satoru is.

his birth changed the balance of the world and yet, the holder of the six eyes, user of the limitless technique, and master of infinity leans down to wrap a blanket around your shivering form. you feel his fingers brush against your arms.

you stare at him for a few seconds as he adjusts the blanket, the sunglasses perched on his nose making you frown. they look frighteningly similar to the ones he wore back then. you think they might actually be the same pair. there's little hesitation on your behalf as you reach out, gently grabbing them and plucking them off of his face. his eyes are trained on you the entire time, and without the protection from the sunglasses, you are forced to bear the entire weight of the stare from his six eyes.

as you stare into bright, endless blue flames, you think it's not so bad.

the satoru from back then was bright and bold, as unforgiving as the summer sun as he developed into a formidable sorcerer alongside his best friend. you think the one you're seeing now is more like the moon; still bright and impressive but just a little less intense. he's more bearable, slightly matured by the highs and lows of being a caretaker to a grumpy child, but just as out of reach as he has always been.

you presume geto's sun died the day he left.

nothing is said as gojo takes a seat next to you, his knee bumping against yours as he tries to mimic your position. next comes the brushing of his pinky finger against yours, and you wonder if something happened on his mission. the tenderness of his touches is unusual but not unwelcome. it's something you don't think you'll ever get used to.

"here," you say, unwrapping the blanket from around yourself and extending one arm towards gojo. he looks at you, bewilderment clear on his face. you don't do anything but send him a tired smile, motioning for him to scoot in even closer. "it's big enough for both of us."

gojo listens without complaint, pressing himself up against you until you're able to rest your head on his shoulder. there's something comforting about having you close, and he knows it's because you bring him a sense of relief that he doesn't think he's felt since geto suguru left him behind.

left both of you behind.

"do you think about him?" you ask, breaking gojo out of his thoughts. he stays quiet, but you know that he knows who you're talking about. you've started to avoid saying his name out loud but its all you can hear in your head as you wait for his response. geto, geto, geto.

it soon becomes abundantly clear that gojo refuses to answer, and you keep speaking in desperate hopes of trying to finally get rid of the emptiness you feel inside. you think that'll never happen.

"because i do," you admit quietly, your chest tightening as you trace random shapes on your knee. "i think about him all the time and i just wonder where i went wrong because we were so happy, satoru. i think about all those late nights where we stayed up with shoko, laughing and pretending for once that everything would be fine. we knew our lives were dangerous but when we were together it didn't matter because we were together."

gojo pretends not to hear the soft crack in your voice as you get increasingly louder, cutting yourself off with a gasp before taking a deep breath and continuing.

"why did he leave?" you ask quietly. your words ring loudly in gojo's ears and for once in his life, he doesn't have anything to say. "i keep thinking about that day and i don't get it. why didn't he come to us? there was no reason for him to have left us just like that, is there? i thought he loved us. i know he loved you. and i can't make sense of his actions wit--"

"is that what you've been losing sleep over? that's stupid, you shouldn't be concerning yourself over this. and he loved you too, y'know? a lot," gojo says softly, cutting you off before you can spiral even more. there's a pregnant pause as he reaches out, grabbing your hand and bringing it closer to him as he toys with your fingers. you look up at him when he intertwines his hand with yours, eyes widening when you see him already staring at you. his free hand comes up to cup your cheek, thumb softly stroking the area right under your eye. you're sure your eyebags are looking worse than normal. "and so do i."

it takes you a moment to process his words, the silence growing as you think back to what he had said before initiating physical contact with you. when you realize what he has admitted, that he's in love with you, you feel your face begin to heat up under his hand.

"what?" you squeak, eyes wide as you watch his face. you see amusement dancing in his eyes, the corner of his mouth pulling up slightly at your response.

"i am in love with you," he admits quietly, eyes darting down to your lips when they part open in shock. "and i would really like to kiss you right now."

gojo is rewarded with an answer when you lean forwards, your lips connecting in a clumsy kiss as you do your best to remain still on the roof. his hand disconnects from yours in favor of joining his other in cupping your face, deepening the kiss as he does so. your hands come up to grab onto his forearms, and you find yourself shifting onto his lap in an attempt to get even closer to gojo.

"in case it isn't clear, i'm in love with you too," you murmur softly once you've separated. your arms drop to wrap around gojo, and he lets go of your face in favor of hugging you close to him.

"well that's a relief!" he says in his usual teasing tone. it makes you happy to see him happy and for the first time in a long time, neither one of you are thinking about geto suguru in that moment. you giggle when gojo leans back, lying down on the roof as he forces you to cuddle him. you rest your face in the crook of his neck, letting your eyes drift close as he hums.

"you know you don't need to worry about anything, right?" gojo asks, his words uncharacteristically soft as he runs his fingers through your hair. "you have me, and i can do anything to keep you safe. in fact, i will to whatever it takes to keep you safe and happy and i hope you know i'd give you the moon if you really asked me to."

you snort at his cheesy words, your heart feeling lighter than it ever has as he joins you in your laughter. you lean up to press a kiss to his jaw before settling back into your previous position, wrapping the blanket more tightly around the two of you.

"i don't need the moon, satoru. i just need you."

he smiles.

reblogs are appreciated <3

1K notes · View notes

nevermoresworld · 1 year ago

Text

TITLE: lights will guide you home

PAIRING: Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

SUMMARY: Soul-lights aren’t as common in this day and age as they were in the past, before quirks, but they’re common enough that people do still find their soulmates.

At thirteen, you meet Bakugou Katsuki, and he lights up for you in orange and gold. You tell him he's your soulmate. He sneers and tells you that you aren't his. He makes your adolescence miserable until you part ways.

You meet again as adults, late at night, in a grocery store, over a pile of bok choy. He apologizes for how he treated you when you were children.

(In which you have a choice—to reject Bakugou's apology, reject him, or to let him show you the man he's become, to learn with him what it means to love and forgive.)

TAGS: soulmate au, trope inversion/subversion, slow burn, getting together, falling in love, fluff, aged up characters, pro-hero characters, eventual smut, mild bullying

STATUS: Ongoing; 9 of 14

NAVIGATION: Series Masterlist

Musutafu’s streets are just waking up around you, stores barely opening and the roads devoid of many cars. It’s early, so it isn’t crowded just yet. You spot a couple teenagers on their way to school across the road. You cross paths with a few harried-looking adults clearly in the middle of their commutes to work. But people are far and few between, and the sky is still the palest blue, barely tinged by the sun’s yellow rays, so you enjoy the peace alongside your morning drink.

You’re glad that for today, at least, you’re not joining the ranks of those in routine. You have a different agenda today: you’re on your way to Bakugou and Kirishima’s agency.

As you come to a stop just outside the building, out of the way of foot traffic, you pull out your phone and dial Bakugou’s number, humming a little under your breath as you wait. He picks up after a single ring.

“What?” he snaps, sharp and quick, and you’re taken aback at his tone.

“Oh, um. It’s me,” you say hesitantly. Maybe you’ve caught him at a bad time?

Tension colors his voice as he says, “What’s wrong?”

“What? Oh—nothing’s wrong!” It is pretty rare for you to call him so early in the day. Usually, your phone calls are in the evenings. Maybe the deviation from the norm is throwing him off and that’s why it feels like he’s on edge. “I was just wondering, are you at your agency right now?”

“Why?”

But he just sounds so terse, and his words are clipped, like he’s half a mind somewhere else. Your excitement fizzles out, like a sparkler running out of fuel, and you’re left feeling like an annoyance, a bother.

“Sorry… you sound busy. I’ll just message you later,” you say.

“The fuck? Just—”

You hear Bakugou exhale deeply, though it’s faint, as if he’s pulled the phone away from his face.

Voice even, he says, “It’s fine. What is it?”

You look down at the sidewalk, scuffing the pavement with your shoe. Maybe it was a bad idea, coming here.

“No, it’s nothing.” You glance at the drinks carrier in your hand. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Just spit it out,” Bakugou says, and you can practically hear his gritted teeth. “And don’t you hang up.”

Suddenly, you hear your name being called. You raise your head, looking around. Grateful for the distraction, you turn.

It’s Kirishima, in civilian clothes, and he’s coming out of the agency, jogging up to you with a grin on his face. “Hey, I thought that was you! What’re you doing here?”

He notices the phone at your ear, and his eyes widen.

“Oh!” He lowers his voice, looking apologetic. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were on the phone.”

“Gotta go,” you say quickly into the receiver. Bakugou’s voice peaks across your phone’s speaker, as if he’d shouted something, but you hit the end call button before you can hear what he has to say.

As you put your phone in your pocket, you bite your bottom lip. You really hope Bakugou didn’t hear Kirishima. You want to slink away before he figures out you’re here.

“All good. I was just wrapping it up,” you tell Kirishima.

He hesitates for a moment, considering you, before nodding and flashing you a grin. “It’s good to see you! How’ve you been?”

You smile back instinctively, feeling yourself relax. There’s just something about Kirishima that makes you feel at ease.

“Good!” you tell him. “Work’s been okay, can’t complain, and the kittens have tons of adoption queries! I’ve been excited for them to find their forever homes.”

“That’s great! I’ve seen the pictures you took of them and Bakugou. They look so soft.” He holds his hands up, cupped, as if to call to mind a soft kitten nestled there.

You laugh. “They are! But how’ve you been? It’s been a while, and I can never get Bakugou to tell me how you are beyond ‘He’s the same,’ which is very unhelpful.”

Kirishima grins. “He’s always been like that. Uncooperative! I think he does it on purpose. But he’s not wrong—I’ve been good! Same old, same old.”

His eyes slide down to the drinks carrier in your hand. One of the cups, clearly yours, is empty. The other is full, still warm.

“Is that for him? Are you here to visit?” Kirishima asks, eyes bright.

“Oh, um!” You falter. You could lie and say it’s for a coworker or something. But you’re not exactly in work attire. Maybe you could say the barista’d made a mistake on your first order so now you had two after they’d remade it? Whatever—you’d make something up, even if you feel bad about lying to Kirishima. You really should get going, anyhow. You’ve lingered too long already.

“Hey!”

You stiffen as you hear your name called for the second time in the span of ten minutes. Except this time, the voice is a familiar rasp that’s furious. Heated. A glance behind you confirms who it is: Bakugou, coming out the agency doors, a thunderous expression on his face.

His eyes lock with yours.

You panic.

You turn to Kirishima, shoving the carrier into his arms, saying, “That’s for you, actually, congratulations! Gotta go, bye!”

“Wait—” Kirishima starts, but you’re gone, you book it, heading in literally any other direction as long as it puts distance between you and Bakugou.

“What the fuck!” you hear Bakugou snarl behind you, and you speed up, gulping.

You have the presence of mind to be conscientious of attracting unwanted attention, so even though it slows you down, you swerve into an empty alleyway that you know leads out into a quieter street. You chance a quick glance behind you, praying you got away.

To your relief, Bakugou’s nowhere in sight. You slow your pace a little, sighing.

You turn back to face forward, but you slam into something—someone.

“Big fuckin’ mistake, brat,” you hear Bakugou’s voice rasp in your ear just as you feel an arm wrap around your waist and you’re suddenly shooting up, up into the air, the crackle of combustion muffling the strangled scream you let out.

You clutch onto Bakugou, holding on for dear life as he angles towards the roof of the building to your left.

Once your feet are on the ground, he releases his grip on you, only to get in your face, crimson eyes blazing.

“Why the fuck were you running?”

“I don’t know!” you exclaim. Your hands are up in front of you, held up defensively. He’s so close they’re almost pressed against his chest. “I panicked, I don’t know. You ran after me!”

“Only because you ran first!” he snarls.

“What was I supposed to do? Stop?”

“Yes, fuck! You’re so—” He makes a choked sound of anger and runs a hand down his face, covering his mouth.

Fuck, he’s right. You don’t know what you were thinking. You just—you really didn’t want to see him so soon after that conversation on the phone. But it was a really dumb move to run away, and just recalling Kirishima’s face as you took off makes you want to pull out a shovel, dig, and lie down in the hole you’d made.

Bakugou’s arms are crossed tightly over his chest, biceps bulging, and he’s scowling ferociously. He isn’t even in his hero suit, just in joggers and a shirt, but that does nothing to diminish the enormity of his presence. You have a little more respect for the villains in this district, for having the courage to still attempt crime when Bakugou’s around.

You inhale deeply, then reach out and touch his arm. “M’sorry. I was dumb. I shouldn’t have run.”

Bakugou grunts, looking down at your hand and away. You retract your hand quickly, hoping he wasn’t bothered by the gesture. He looks back at you and shakes his head.

“You can say sorry by telling me what the hell you’re doing here and why you called me.”

You feel your cheeks warm and close your eyes briefly. You really don’t want to tell him why you came here. But there’s no getting out of this; you literally have nowhere to go.

“I… I got you coffee,” you admit. “You mentioned that one place on the corner last time we talked, so. I wanted to surprise you!”

He’s just been looking so tired, recently. You recall the slope of his shoulders the last time you saw him, in his apartment—weary. Like a heavy weight rested upon them.

You rub your arm and continue, “But you sounded so annoyed on the phone, I figured you were busy. Didn’t want to keep bothering you.”

He regards you with an unreadable expression. You try to maintain eye contact, but it’s hard. You wish you could tell what he’s thinking.

“Dumbass,” he says, finally, dropping his arms to his side. “Sounds like someone made stupid assumptions and then ran away, like a loser.”

You frown, eyes sliding away, but don’t protest. “You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry.”

He rolls his eyes and reaches out a hand, flicks your forehead. You put a hand to the spot, making a face at him, and he gives you a mean little grin that makes you want to pinch him.

In the early morning sun, his lights are soft, blending with the warm hues that gild the world around you. Gold mixes with orange, and the ebb and flow of color lulls you with its familiarity.

You’re conscious of your body relaxing. You didn’t realize how tense you were.

After a beat, Bakugou asks, “Don’t you have work?”

“Nope,” you say, and smile a little. “I requested the day off! I needed it.”

Now that you have the chance to look at him, he doesn’t look any more rested than the other day. Worse, maybe. You can see that the shadows under his eyes have deepened, that there’s a furrow in his brow that wasn’t there the last time you saw him. Your hand is reaching up, fingertips lightly brushing against the skin under his eyes before you know what you’re doing.

“You look like you need a day off too,” you tell him. “Take care of yourself, okay? Let me know if I can do anything for you.”

He stares at you for a long moment. You gaze back at him.

You want him to know that you mean it. You want to be there for him. Bakugou doesn’t talk about work often, and when he does, he paints things in broad strokes, no details. But you get the sense that he’s busy with something, and it’s weighing on him.

Even if there’s nothing you can do about his workload, you want him to know that he can lean on you, if he wants. Whatever that’s worth.

Bakugou reaches out an arm to you. He telegraphs his movements and gives you plenty of time to step away.

You don’t, curious to see what he’ll do.

He wraps a hand around your head and pulls you against him. Surprised, you stumble a bit, a hand coming up to grasp at his shirt for balance. His hand slides down your head to the back of your neck, coming to a rest there.

He’s gentle with you, despite the initial jostling. You catch a whisper of whatever that scent is, his body wash, his cologne, and inhale. He’s so warm against you.

“You’re so fucking dumb,” he growls, and you can feel the reverberation of his words against your face, your chest—everywhere you’re touching. “Don’t pull this running shit again, y’hear me? And no more squirreliness.”

“Yes, Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight,” you say, voice muffled against his chest.

Bakugou huffs a startled laugh, raspy, and you grin against him. Part of you wonders what would happen if you looked up, tilted your face towards him.

But you don’t. He lets you go. The moment passes.

“C’mere, I’m taking us down.” He walks to the edge of the roof, and you go to him. “And if Shitty Hair drank my coffee, you’re getting me another one.”

You laugh. “That’s fair.”

He guides your hands to grip him so you’re secure when he brings you both down off the roof, and just as his arm comes around to brace you against him, a thought occurs to you.

“Is it okay if I come by again? Bring you coffee sometimes?”

Bakugou pauses, looking down into your face. He’s so close, pressed against you. It’s necessary for the descent down, but you suddenly wish you’d brought this up later. It’s too hard to think, this close to him.

“The hell? Don’t needa ask my permission for that shit. Why wouldn’t it be okay.”

You make a face at him. “Won’t people start to notice? If I start coming by to see you? Like your employees, or more people randomly taking pictures.”

His expression grows stormy.

“I’ve been involved in the hiring processes of all my agency’s employees. No dumbasses are gonna work for me,” he says.

While you’re reeling from this revelation that Bakugou’s a control freak who manages the impossible, because who has that kind of time on top of being a pro-hero, Bakugou continues.

“They got better things to do than gossip. And know better, too.” His expression darkens further.

“If they don’t, they’ll be looking for another job faster than they can press that damn button to take a goddamn picture.”

You shiver at the look on his face. You believe him.

So coffee becomes a regular thing. Bakugou gets around your concern of paparazzi or random people taking your picture at the agency’s entrance by giving you a pass that lets you enter through the secured and patrolled back entrance. You’re careful to make sure no one follows you, still a little paranoid.

“Is this allowed?” you ask as he presses the key card into your hand.

Bakugou rolls his eyes.

“I own the damn place,” he tells you.

It’s indicative of how much you like your soulmate that at least twice a week you wake up an extra thirty minutes in the morning to get his coffee and drop it off at the agency before heading into work yourself. You aren’t always able to give it to him personally, sometimes just having to leave it with the front desk receptionist whose name you finally find out is Takahashi.

“Call me Aiko,” she says with a bright smile. She’s a sweet girl.

But most of the time, Bakugou makes an appearance around the time you arrive. He usually spends a couple minutes with you, asks about the kittens in a roundabout way, demands to know what you’re eating for lunch that day if he hadn’t pre-prepared bentos for you that week.

The first time you bring a smoothie for Kirishima from the same place, attempting to hand it to Bakugou to pass along, he makes a face.

“The hell is this?”

“It’s a smoothie for Kirishima,” you say. You gesture for him to take it, but he curls his lip at it.

“He doesn’t want this shit. Just take it with you.”

“What?” you say, furrowing your brow. “How would you know?”

“He’s got one of those fancy-fuck blenders at home. Don’t waste your money on ‘im,” Bakugou says, rolling his eyes.

“Oh,” you say, crestfallen, frowning down at the cup in your hand. You rub your thumb up and down its side, spreading around the condensation that’s built up on it.

“I just wanted to do something nice for him, because he’s always so nice to me,” you say quietly. Sighing, you move to put the smoothie back into the drinks carrier the cafe had given you. Maybe Kirishima would like coffee? You’ll try to bring him coffee next time.

You don’t notice the flash of emotions that cross Bakugou’s face. He makes a disgusted sound and snatches the cup from you.

“Fine! I’ll give him your stupid smoothie. Now go or you’ll be late for work.”

He stomps off before you get a chance to say goodbye, and you’re left standing there, bewildered.

One day, a Saturday, you linger at the receptionist counter, and ask Aiko if Bakugou’s busy, or if he’s available for a quick chat.

“If you don’t know, no worries,” you say as she tilts her head.

She glances at the protein shake in your hand that’s very much not for you. You’re not sure how Bakugou can drink these things; he’d let you sip from it once and you made the ugliest face at the taste. He’d laughed at you.

“I’m not familiar with Dynamight’s schedule, but his manager is! Let me call him and double check for you,” she says, picking up the phone and pressing a button on it before you can protest.

“Hi!” she says into the phone. “I have Dynamight’s P1 here in the lobby, and we were wondering if he’s available for a quick meeting?”

P1? You eye her. What does that stand for? You make a mental note to ask later.

There’s a quiet moment as she listens to the reply, and then a longer pause as she’s seemingly put on hold.

You wince, thinking about the inconvenience you’re being. You really should’ve just waited until after Bakugou’s done with work today to talk to him. You could drink the shake yourself, even though personally you think it tastes like dirt.

“Okay! Thanks so much!” Aiko says into the phone, and then she hangs up. She raises her gaze to yours.

“Dynamight’s actually mid-workout right now! His manager says that you should come up to the third floor, and Dynamight will be in the second gym. The room numbers are next to the doors.”

“Oh! Okay, thank you for your help.” You pause. “Do you mind swiping the elevator for me again? Sorry to make you walk over.”

She blinks at you. “I was told you have a key card?”

“Yes? But I just use it to get inside from the back entrance.”

“May I have a look?”

You hand it over. She taps a couple keys on the keyboard and taps it against a scanner. Glancing at the screen, she smiles and hands the card back to you.

“That card’s high clearance!” she tells you. “You have access to most things in the building, like the elevator, the break rooms, the gym… And if you have any trouble getting into other areas, I’m sure Dynamight can adjust your access!”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” you say hurriedly. “Thank you, Aiko. I can take it from here.”

She waves as you scurry over to the elevator, scan the card, and push the button for the third floor.

You stare at the key card in your hand like it’ll bite you. What on earth was Bakugou thinking when he gave this to you? What if you lose it?

This thought prompts you to store the key card in your wallet, instead of chucking it carelessly into your pocket like you have been for the past two weeks. You’d almost washed it with your laundry a couple days ago.

After some poking around, you find the second gym Aiko had mentioned. You dither at the entrance for a moment, unsure whether to knock or not—but that’s weird, right? Who knocks on the door to a gym? You shake your head and walk through the doors.

Bakugou’s back’s to you. He’s at a piece of equipment, hanging onto a bar intended for pull ups. He’s in the middle of pulling himself up, biceps and lat muscles taut against the sweat-soaked shirt he’s wearing. He lowers himself slowly, and repeats the motion, every movement intentional and clean.

A little frisson of attraction runs through you, and you swallow. Sometimes you forget just how handsome he is.

Your eyes shift away from admiring him to the mirrors spanning the far wall, and you find that he’s watching you in them.

Your eyes meet, and your heartbeat picks up. You feel warmth rise to your cheeks. Had he noticed you looking at him? God, you hope not.

He drops, reaching for a towel laying on a nearby bench to wipe his face.

You breathe in and exhale. After regaining as much of your composure as you can, you walk towards him. It’s easier to push away the flustered feelings once you remember why you’ve come to see Bakugou today.

When you reach his side, he raises an eyebrow at you. You hold up the shake in your hand.

He ignores it. His eyes immediately narrow, zeroed in on your face. “What’s wrong?”

Startled, you furrow your brows.

“Nothing’s wrong,” you say, pushing the shake at him.

Bakugou takes it, but he raises his free hand, reaches up, and pinches your cheek.

“Ow,” you say, and he lets go.

“Don’t lie,” he says, and your eyes widen. You’re not sure how he’s able to tell you’re upset when you’ve tried your best to cover it up.

You sigh, crossing your arms over your chest. “Can you go back to working out? I didn’t mean to interrupt. I promise I’ll tell you when you’re all done. And don’t rush.”

Bakugou scoffs. “Don’t needa tell me that shit. I don’t rush.”

But he seems to accept your promise. He places the shake down onto the bench, and you sit beside it as he returns to his sets.

You get lost in his rhythm, eyes watching but mind elsewhere. You miss his entire cooldown and don’t even realize he’s finished until he’s stepping up next to you, tilting your chin up to look at him.

“Alright, enough,” he says. The crimson of his eyes is so bright under these lights. He’s flushed with exertion, sweaty.

He’s such a comfort to see. You resist the urge to press your face into his hand.

“What’re you thinking,” Bakugou says as he draws his hand back.

Nothing you want him knowing, at least of your thoughts of him from the past minute. You give him what your promise owes, instead, tell him what’s got you feeling so off kilter.

“Yuzu was adopted today,” you say softly, looking down at your hands.

After a moment, Bakugou moves the shake aside and drops onto the bench next to you. He’s radiating warmth like a furnace, and he grabs a fresh towel from his bag to wipe the sweat from the back of his neck, his face, his arms. He waits.

“I didn’t think I’d be so sad,” you tell him. You feel a sting in your eyes and will yourself not to cry. Ridiculous.

Bakugou flexes his hands. Looks at you.

“Well, what’d you expect? You had the fleabag—”

“Bakugou.”

“—furball for months. You got attached.” He glances at the slope of your shoulders, the downward tilt of your head. The unhappy curve of your lips. “They good people, the extras who got ‘im?”

“Yeah. This guy and his fiance adopted him. They fell in love with him, and as they should! Yuzu’s such a sweet boy. They sent me videos of him, and he was purring up a storm.”

You get a little teary-eyed once more. You’ll never get to hold Yuzu as he purrs ever again.

Bakugou sighs and shifts in his seat so his shoulder rests against yours.

“You did good,” Bakugou tells you when you look at him. “You took care of ‘im until it was time for him to go, and you made it easy for him to find a place to go. You did good.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

You close the sliver of space between you until he’s a line of warmth all along your side, from shoulder to hip to knee. Slowly, watching him for any signs of displeasure, you nudge your hand against his. He watches you. You take the leap and thread your fingers through his. His hand is so big around yours.

His hand squeezes yours softly.

Sighing, you lean against him and let your eyes drift closed for a moment.

The next few minutes pass, just like this. Your pounding heart slows. It’s hard not to imagine that his hand in yours, a kindness, means something other than friendship. Hard not to want it to mean more. You really, really like your soulmate.

You push those thoughts away and try to empty your mind; you don’t want to ruin this.

“Um, Dynamight, sir?”

At the sound of a stranger’s voice cutting the silence, you startle, eyes shooting open. You sit up. You drop Bakugou’s hand.

At the gym doors, a teenage girl stands, fiddling with her fingers. She’s doing her best not to look at either of you.

Bakugou narrows his eyes at her, growling, “What?”

She shrinks back a little, then stiffens, ramrod straight. She says, “I’m here for patrol! Red Riot told me to come get you.”

Bakugou squints, giving her a mean look. “Go get suited up, kid. And tell Red Riot to fuck off.”

The kid squeaks out a reply, but it’s so high-pitched you can’t tell what it could possibly be, and she scurries off, the door closing behind her.

“Who was that?” you ask after a moment, willing the heat in your cheeks to subside.

Bakugou runs his hands through his hair. He picks up the protein shake and sips from it before replying.

“A dumbass UA intern Ei picked up.”

You squint at him. “Don’t be mean, Bakugou. Picking on teenagers is super lame.”

He huffs. You tilt your head.

“Do you not like her?” you ask.

“...She’s got guts,” he says. “Potential or whatever. Saw her at the Sports Festival. It’s UA’s yearly event—”

“Oh, I know what that is,” you say. “Who doesn’t? I remember seeing the one from your second year. Looked fun.”

He scowls. “S’not fun. It’s a competition.”

“Competitions can be fun, Bakugou,” you say, rolling your eyes. A thought occurs to you, and you perch on the edge of your seat.

“Well, maybe not for you, especially that year,” you say, the glimmers of a smile teasing your lips. “Since Pro-Hero Shouto demolished you.”

He lunges for you, but you’re ready for it, and you take off towards the far side of the room that’s free of equipment, laughing.

Bakugou catches you embarrassingly quick, lifting you up off your feet from behind, effortless. He really is so strong.

“What’d I tell you about running?” he growls, and you shiver.

“Not to do it,” you say, trying to act unaffected despite being a little breathless. He sets you down, a hand sliding down to circle your wrist, as if he thinks you’ll run again.

You make a face at him. You add, “Don’t tell me what to do.”

Bakugou gets this glint in his eyes that you’re sure spells trouble. Prickles of anticipation rise in you and you get the urge to hold your breath.

But before he can say anything, the door opens. This time, it’s Kirishima standing in the doorframe. His eyes immediately catch on the pair of you, and you step away from Bakugou, feeling like you’d been caught with a hand in the cookie jar for the second time in the span of ten minutes.

Kirishima grins and says, “Bakugou, stop flirting and get suited up! We gotta get going.”

Bakugou’s lights flare up around him, a true lightshow, and he spins on his heel and points at Kirishima.

“Quiet, Shitty Hair. Go wait with the kid.”

You’re glad Bakugou’s facing away from you, and that you’re mostly hidden behind him, because you’re sure your expression is embarrassingly honest. Flirting? Have you been flirting? More importantly—has Bakugou been flirting back?

“The kid’s right here!” Kirishima pushes the door open a little wider to reveal their intern, standing behind him, looking as if she’s trying to become one with the floor. Turning back to Bakugou, Kirishima puts his hands on his hips.

“We’re waiting on you, bud, so get a move on!” Kirishima chides.

Bakugou growls, walks over to the bench to grab his things and the smoothie, and stalks towards the door.

He halts mid-step. He turns halfway to look at you.

“I’m off at six today,” he says.

“Okay?” you say. It’s good info to know, you suppose, since his schedule is rather erratic. You’re not sure why Bakugou’s shared it with you, though.

Instead of clarifying, Bakugou resumes his march towards the door and pushes Kirishima out of the way with a hand on his face. Kirishima sputters, tripping backwards.

You cover your mouth to cover up your laugh as the door closes behind them. Their friendship really is so endearing. You’re glad Bakugou has such a wonderful friend.

You’re home, clicking mindlessly around your computer, when an old urge arises.

You find yourself opening up a new tab, searching, like you’re thirteen again, trying to figure out why you can see Bakugou’s lights but he can’t see yours.

But the articles tell you the same thing they’d told you those years ago. Soul-lights are an under-researched phenomenon and poorly understood; it’s been difficult to obtain empirical research that explains the exact nature of soul-lights—why soulmates exist and how they work. It’s worse, now, that with every generation they’re becoming rarer and rarer.

Because only soulmates can see each others’ lights, descriptions of lights are subjective. Furthermore, descriptions of the nature of the relationships are subjective. No two soulmate relationships are the same. And though there have been instances of unrequited soulmate relationships, of those relationships, understandably, no one’s come forward to participate in interview-style studies for researchers to pick apart and analyze. At least not in any studies that you’ve been able to find.

You close out your tabs, feeling frustrated. What does it matter? You’re running yourself in circles for no reason. Isn’t it enough that Bakugou’s in your life? That you’re happy he’s in it? Bringing up old dreams is pointless.

Eerily, as if Bakugou somehow knew you’ve been thinking about him, your phone rings, his contact popping up on your phone. You pick up.

“Hey!”

“Hey,” he says. “D’you eat yet?”

You glance at the time on your phone guiltily. It’s a little past six. You have work tomorrow, so you really should get a move on if you want to make dinner and eat at a decent time.

“Not yet,” you say, and Bakugou grunts.

“Keep an ear out for the door,” he says.

“Oh?” You perk up a little. “Are you coming over?

Bakugou exhales, and it crackles the line. “Can’t. Staying a little longer at the agency.”

“Oh.” You try not to feel disappointed. “Okay. You eat too, yeah? And don’t stay too long. Or I’ll text Kirishima and tell him to kick you out.”

He snorts. “Like he could. And you don’t have his number.”

“How would you know?” you ask. You hear the doorbell ring and a couple knocks at your front door echo through your apartment.

“If it’s not you, who’s at my door right now?” you ask suspiciously.

“Go find out,” Bakugou says and hangs up.

You pull the phone away from your phase and squint at it. The doorbell rings again.

You hurry to the door. Upon opening it, you find a food delivery person standing there with takeout in his hands. Understanding dawns in your head as he says your name and you confirm.

“Thank you,” you say, taking the food from him. He nods and jogs back down the hallway.

You close the door and gaze down at the food in your hands. You can already tell from the smell that it’s from your favorite takeout place.

The food is good, as it always is. But it would’ve been better if Bakugou had been here, eating it with you.

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nevermoresworld · 1 year ago

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The Night We Met — g. satoru

this is technically a prequel to this but can be read as a stand-alone!

summary: gojo satoru does not believe in love, but he might make an exception for you.

pairing: clanleader!gojo satoru x fem!reader

cw: slightly suggestive at one point. misogyny + gender roles. angst. happy ending i promise. its really just about him falling first & falling harder lmao.

word count: 2k

gojo satoru does not believe in love.

he grew up with parents who never fully saw each other as anything other than business partners. even at a young age, he noticed how much resentment they held towards one another. which only conditioned him further into believing that love was not real. or it might be real but not for someone like him. love was a luxury that even someone with unlimited money and power could not afford.

satoru believed that love was entirely transactional. he knew that he would have to marry someone from another powerful clan that would strengthen their bond and bloodline. he accepted the fact that he may not love his partner but that he would just have to learn to coexist with her instead.

so when he meets you for the first time, he may not have noticed it then but his principles are already beginning to crack. he sees you for the first time at a clan meeting that consists of multiple different clans throughout japan. satoru can’t exactly pinpoint it but you immediately catch his eye, so much so that he finds himself letting his eyes linger on you more than he wants to initially admit.

satoru isn’t immune to a pretty face, so a part of him isn’t surprised at how he has taken an interest in you. what does come as a shock is how his mother has taken a liking to you. it seems as though he is not the only one who notices how you give your undivided attention when the elders speak and how your eyes light up if anyone speaks to you directly. it’s clear how you want to play a role in clan politics but you were never given the ability to and most likely never will. he wonders if his mother somehow sees herself in you. a woman with ambition stuck in a man’s world.

this then leads to his mother having the bright idea of bringing you around. she likes the idea of the new generation kicking out the old just like how her son dreams of doing. she wants to bring you under her wing and guide you in ways that will help shape the jujutsu world for the better. she sees potential in you and doesn’t want it to go to waste.

his mother disguises your meetings as merely tea time or gardening lessons in order to trick satoru’s father. who is an old-fashioned man who would never see a woman as someone who could be in a position of power, a belief that satoru deeply resents him for.

in the beginning, satoru doesn’t have the opportunity to exchange many words with you. It was only ever in passing when you would brush past each other in the many hallways of the gojo estate. but even then you rarely said much to him, you merely graced him with a warm smile which he never seemed to get used to no matter how many times he saw it.

out of the whole estate, satoru’s favorite spot is his study room. it’s one of the only places where he can do whatever he pleases in peace. the staff know not to ever bother him in this room, it’s his own little haven. but this room, in particular, is his favorite when you visit because it just so happens that his study room has the perfect view of the garden. the same garden that you coincidentally spend many afternoons in with his mother.

satoru is the opposite of self-conscious, he can be pretentious and egotistical, especially around women. but that doesn’t feel right when he’s around you. your presence makes him feel small and when you look at him, it’s almost as though you see right through his facade and it frightens him. so he is content with admiring you from afar.

as your visits continue, he also notices how happy his mother looks. he realizes that she's found companionship and she looks alive again. you take care of her as well as keep her busy so she is no longer alone at home all day. seeing her happy makes him feel a sense of satisfaction, knowing that he doesn’t have to worry about her as much.

“oh satoru, would you like to join us for tea?” his mother asks, as he walks past the two of you enjoying freshly brewed tea.

you shoot him a welcoming smile but it doesn’t reach your eyes. it never does.

“i'm busy,” he responds emotionlessly.

it isn’t until a few hours later that his mother runs into him with you by her side. “satoru, do you mind escorting our guest out? her ride should be waiting for her but i would hate for her to walk out on her own.”

he’s hesitant at first but obliges when he sees his mother’s pleading stare. as the two of you step outside, it is for the most part silent and although it isn’t a far walk it feels like it's miles long. satoru has never been this close to you before and he has to force himself to not stare for too long, but he finds it difficult when you’re practically glowing in the afternoon sun.

“it's rude to stare.”

“excuse me?”

“whenever i’m in the gardens,” you state casually as you turn to look at him, your eyes cold and hard to read.

he wants to say something, but he’s too caught up in his own jumbling thoughts. how did you know? he’s practically begging his body to react but the words get stuck in his throat.

so you take this opportunity to continue, “for a busy man you seem to have a lot of time on your hands,” your tone sends a shiver down his spine.

“i-”

“it looks like my ride's here, as always thank you for your hospitality gojo-sama,” you dip your head down in respect before turning around without even letting him finish his sentence. leaving him tongue-tied in front of his own estate.

for weeks nothing changes on your end after that interaction, on the other hand, for satoru he feels like he’s stuck in a one-sided game of cat and mouse. He’s trapped in a never-ending cycle while you refuse to even give him the time of day. but he notices that your demeanor begins to change after one particular afternoon.

“i wasn’t aware your son taught the students from jujutsu high,” you casually mention, your attention lingering back to where satoru is training two young boys in the courtyard.

his mother turns her head to follow your line of sight, “he volunteers his time every so often. satoru likes to offer his expertise in order to aid their growth as sorcerers. he has a lot of faith in them.”

“is that so?” you mutter under your breath, trying to ignore the overwhelmingly warm sensation in your stomach as you watch him patting their head endearingly.

you rarely ever see the gojo heir smile but in the presence of those two boys, the way he carries himself is completely different. the tender interactions between them only make your feelings more complicated.

after that, the two of you find yourself bumping into each other more often. this only leads to the two of you spending more time together. his reluctance to participate in your afternoon tea time with his mother eventually dissipates. he enjoys it more than he would like to admit, he’s able to talk freely about his own plans on how to change the order of the jujutsu world. but he especially appreciates when your real personality comes out. you're witty and strong-willed and you’re just as passionate about overturning old-fashioned traditions as he is. after spending just a few hours with you he understands why you’ve left such an impression on his mother.

one day, you arrive in a beautiful cerulean kimono and he can't take his eyes off you. when you’re inches away sitting next to him while sipping your tea, he can’t focus on anything his mother is saying to the two of you because he’s so mesmerized by you. so when you turn to him with a raised brow, obviously aware of his unwavering attention, he feels his cheeks heat up in embarrassment and his stomach doing somersaults.

“i like this color on you,” he states as he gently tugs the sleeve of your blue kimono.

“do you?” you ask, surprised at his compliment.

he nods and places a firm hand on the small of your back as he escorts you to the car waiting to pick you up in front of his estate.

from that day forward, he only ever sees you wear a shade of blue making it even harder for him to stay away.

“are you relieved that your father has named you his successor?” you ask him unexpectedly one afternoon, the two of you alone in his study room.

the tea had already gone cold and the conversation had grown stale but he didn’t mind because he enjoys your company. he glances up from the paperwork he is trying to finish to see you staring at him intently.

“what is there to be relieved about? he chose me because i’m the strongest, there isn’t much else to it. they wouldn’t care about me otherwise,” satoru says, trying not to come off as bitter but you instantly see right through it.

since the day he was born, he has never been seen as anyone but the strongest, and at this point, he has convinced himself that without that title he was nothing.

“satoru” you call out to him, he looks up at you again.

“you are a fool if you think that your power defines who you are. you may be the strongest sorcerer in the world, but you are also gojo satoru. the same gojo satoru who wants to use his strength to help others and change the jujutsu world. you are defying our outdated traditions in order to protect others. to me, that is what makes you the strongest.”

prior to that day, he had convinced himself that it was merely a physical attraction, infatuated with the idea of seeing you in his bed. but as your words sink in things start to change and he begins to wonder if there is more to his feelings for you.

he doesn’t fully recall what happens next because it all feels like a dream after that. what he does remember is leaning over his large mahogany desk to cup your face in his hands to bring you into a kiss. although it is your first kiss together he’s grasping you like it's your last, afraid that if he lets you go you’ll slip through his fingers like water.

he thinks that everything is worth it. all the loneliness and all the pain was worth it because being with you made it all disappear. everything just feels so right in that moment and if this was all a figment of his imagination, he didn’t want to wake up.

your relationship becomes more than a companionship and turns into something deeper. it’s so blatantly obvious but neither of you want to acknowledge it. but as the days continue to pass, satoru finds it harder and harder to bury a persistent desire that continues to gnaw his insides.

one summer night, months after your first kiss, only solidifies his suspicions when you’re in his bed crying out his name like a prayer. he knows that there’s no one else but you. you were made just for him and he exists for you. but then when you let ‘i love you’ slip for the first time, he doesn’t respond and so in the morning when he wakes up and you’re already long gone, he feels empty again.

things start to take a turn after that when you start to outwardly avoid him, embarrassed by your one-sided confession. you don’t come around anymore; if you do, it is strictly to see his mother only. If by the chance of the gods you do run into each other, you merely smile at him without another word. but satoru can’t help but notice how distant your eyes are when you look at him again as if you put up an impenetrable wall that even he could not break.

satoru doesn’t like a chase. he is repulsed at the idea, he’s used to things being handed to him. when you avoid him like the plague, he almost doesn’t even know how to react. he’s infuriated at first, burying himself in his own work. so it comes as a surprise when you enter his study room out of the blue. he stands up immediately when he notices your presence, his heart jumping out of his chest at just the mere sight of you.

“satoru, I have news.”

“what is it?” he asks, suddenly feeling the severity of your tone. there is a moment of silence, you’re standing so still and it's almost as though you are still trying to swallow down what you are about to tell him. but there is no amount of time that could have prepared him for what you say next.

“i am betrothed. i will be married before the new year.”

he sees your mouth moving but he doesn’t hear a single thing you’re saying. he’s too caught up in the feeling of his world crashing in on itself. he feels like he’s stuck in a nightmare and this time he’s begging to wake up but he sees no end to it.

“so I think we need to stop this, whatever this is.”

“is that what you want?” he asks quietly, still in a daze.

“yes.”

so he keeps his distance, and he comes to the conclusion that caring for you also means respecting your decision, no matter how much he hates it. but as the wedding date creeps closer and closer, he feels as though everything he does has lost its meaning. his mother is the first to notice his sudden change in mood and how secluded he becomes.

“sometimes love is worth the risk. she needs you, just as much as you need her,” she tells him one evening. she wants to tell him how lucky he is because she would kill to experience the same type of love. she dreams of breaking the cycle of a loveless marriage and that she hopes satoru is the one to do it.

but she doesn’t get the chance to say all of that because he’s already gone.

satoru is a man of honor. but for you, he was willing to put everything on the line. even if being with you meant giving up everything then he would without even a second thought. he knew it from the moment he met you, he was just too willfully ignorant at the time to come to terms with it.

so when you hear relentless pounding on your door in the middle of the night, satoru is the last person you expect.

“satoru? What are you doing here?” your eyes wide in shock, afraid of the implications that would come about if anyone saw gojo satoru at your front door at midnight.

“don’t marry him.”

“what?” you whisper breathlessly.

“i don’t want you to-” he starts to say as he reaches out for your hand but you take a step back trying your best to get out of his reach. but every step you take is matched by him and you’re so overwhelmed by his presence you can hardly breathe.

“stop!” you yell, taking him by surprise. he’s never seen you lose your composure before but there you are standing in front of him, your eyes already welling up with tears and your lip quivering. “you’re being selfish.”

“call me selfish,” he nearly begs, cupping your face in his hands. “say whatever you want but that doesn’t change anything.”

“what are you trying to say,” you whisper in defeat, hypnotized by the way he’s now holding you against his body.

“what i’m trying to say is, i’m in love with you and i don’t want another day to go by without you by my side.”

gojo satoru doesn’t believe in love until he meets you.

author's note: this took me so long and i'm not even really satisfied with it im sorry!!!! anyway, let me know what you think! im always open to ideas! i feel like this will just become a series lmao...

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nevermoresworld · 1 year ago

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cherished moments — g. satoru

summary: even with gojo's short temper, when he's with you he's putty in your hands.

pairing: clanleader!gojo satoru x fem!reader

cw: slightly suggestive but nothing serious really happens. sub!gojo vibes. he's just a simp for his wife leave him alone okay?

word count: 1k

satoru lets out an exasperated sigh as he runs his fingers through his already tousled white hair in frustration. another useless meeting with even more useless elders, wasting his time that could be spent with his precious wife instead. the meeting ran an hour later than expected, which aggravated him even more.

he slides the shoji door to the front of his house, only to be met with the sight of his home bustling with servants. they all immediately halt their tasks and bow in unison, acknowledging his presence. he brushes past them, not even sparing them a glance because right now he’s only in the mood to see one person.

he walks throughout the house in search of you but to no avail, the little patience he has left is starting to wear thin. satoru is about to turn the house upside down when he finds a group of servants in the hallway, trying to diligently clean the floor. they immediately stiffen at the sight of him, bowing out of respect as he approaches them, too frightened to look him in the eyes. they could tell that his usual cold sapphire eyes were now burning with fury.

“where is my wife?” his voice now booming throughout the house.

for a moment it is completely silent, they are too terrified to open their mouth, afraid that at any moment anything could set him off even more.

“t-the gardens…gojo-sama” one mumbles softly.

without a second thought, satoru starts walking towards his wife’s said destination. as he makes it to the garden, he notices you almost immediately, all the anger built up is suddenly gone.

you’re kneeling in the middle of a patch of dirt surrounded by more than a dozen different species of flowers that you had diligently taken care of over the years. and from the looks of it, you're planting a new bundle of white lilies that satoru vaguely remembers you mentioning the week prior.

“you’re late,” you call out indifferently, your back still facing him.

“so this is how you punish me?”

“it’s called gardening, satoru,” you bite back, making him grumble in dissatisfaction as he takes a few steps closer to your kneeling form.

“we have servants for that.”

“must you be so hard on them?” you ask, referring to his previous interactions with them before finding her. how you knew about everything that happened in their home was beyond him.

“i can’t help it when it comes to you.”

“oh? not so strong after all, hm?” you tease.

“not with you,” he confesses comfortably.

everything comes easy with you. he doesn’t have to pretend to be someone he’s not. when he’s with you, he’s not the head of the gojo clan or the strongest sorcerer in the world, he’s simply just gojo satoru. which is one of the many reasons why he cherishes you so much. you make him feel like he doesn’t have the weight of the world on his shoulders anymore. he can finally be himself.

“well they are very important to me,” purposely ignoring his previous confession.

“are you trying to make me jealous?”

“depends. is it working?” he can practically hear the smile in your voice, making his heart melt instantly.

“come here, i want my wife. i haven’t seen her all day,” he commands, which you obey without a fight.

he watches you stand up from the ground, wiping your hands against the expensive silk fabric of your kimono, trying to brush off the remaining dirt that clung onto you. your hair is no longer in a perfectly slicked-back bun, instead, it's a disheveled mess with tiny hairs poking out in every direction.

but none of that matters. to him, you look perfect. he could care less about your dirty kimono, messy hair, or even the dirt that sticks to your skin.

“so demanding today,” you say, continuing to poke fun as you step closer to your husband.

“would you rather I beg?” he asks with a raised eyebrow, suddenly feeling bold.

“only if you get on your knees doing it", you purr in response, shattering all the confidence he had built up.

you reach out for him, your hand slipping past the neck of his kimono, letting it wander over his chest. you effortlessly loosen the tight fabric, slightly pulling it open to place gentle kisses on the countless scars scattered on him. his breath gets caught in his throat at the feeling of your soft lips against his skin. he feels like a teenager again, you always make him feel like his self-control is dangling by a thread.

“don’t tease,” he lets out a shaky breath, grabbing your waist for support.

“who said anything about teasing?”

“my love..” he lets out a strained whine.

“it’s nothing you can’t handle, gojo-sama” you whispered with feigned innocence, looking up at him through your lashes, your hand slowly trailing lower and lower already passing the obi of his kimono.

he moves his hands to your face, cradling your cheeks and hovering his mouth dangerously close to yours. he wants to tease you, make you break. he wants to so desperately make you understand how you make him feel. he wants to make you lose control.

standing up on your tippy toes, you close the distance and bring him into a kiss. he almost moans immediately at the feeling of how perfect your lips feel against his. he’s about to give in entirely as he feels your tongue teasingly lick his bottom lip when he hears a tiny voice behind him.

“papa? mama?”

you’re the first one to pull away, leaving your husband in a lovesick daze. it takes him a moment to fully recover and come back to reality. but it’s easy once he turns around and sees you swiftly move past him to pick up your daughter, resting her on your hip with ease.

“hi my sweet girl,” satoru greets lovingly as he brings her hand to his lips, their daughter’s giggles getting louder with every kiss.

“papa, I missed you,” she whines with an adorable pout, something she definitely learned from you.

although she inherited every single prominent physical trait from him, including his white hair and bright blue eyes. he always tells you he's convinced that she got her charm from you, because there is no other logical reason why he's as smitten with her as he is with you.

“i’m sorry to keep you waiting little one,” he apologizes profusely as he leans forward to blow raspberries on her chubby cheeks, earning another loud giggle on her end as well as yours. the sound of your combined laughter is music to his ears.

he smiles, completely enamored at the sight of the two of you, praying that this moment will never end.

author's note: this was really fun to write! tbh, i saw that fanart and was immediately inspired. i think i'm just obsessed with clan head gojo...

anyway, i hope you enjoyed and let me know what you think!

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nevermoresworld · 1 year ago

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Chapter Preview:

Red Strings Chapter Eight: To Kyoto

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nevermoresworld · 1 year ago

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄

pairing: geto suguru x gn!reader summary: geto doesn't know if you've been looking for him or not, but he does know that he can't look you in the eyes after your last mission together. genre: friends to lovers, angst to fluff, hurt/comfort notes: reader lights a cigarette, doesn't actually smoke it. reader was previously injured on a mission (description of the incident), no actual timeline fit but kind of an au in my head where geto stays at tokyo jujutsu high wc: ~3.2k

Geto pauses when he walks through the entrance to the school grounds, stopping in his tracks when he sees you sitting on the front steps of the dorms.

He's silent as he observes you, one of your legs bent at the knee while the other remains stretched out, your body twisted slightly as one of your elbows rests on the step behind you. Your head is ducked down slightly as you fiddle with something in your hands, and when you toss your head back in what he can only assume is boredom, he sees the cigarette dangling from the corner of your mouth.

Your head perks up when you hear his footsteps approaching, and you give him a lazy smile before straightening up, hunching over slightly before patting the empty space next to you. He does his best to avoid looking at your left arm, hanging limply in a sling because of him.

Because he wasn't strong enough to protect you, he reminds himself.

"Are you just gonna stand there looking constipated or what?" you asks, your smile widening as you take in his pinched expression. He looks uncomfortable, a pained frown on his face as he shifts his weight from one foot to another and looks around.

"Does Yaga know you snuck out of the infirmary?" he asks, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he kicks a stray rock. He ignores the way you giggle at his question, refusing to look at you even though that's the only thing he ever wants to do when you're around.

"I was released. Does he know you snuck out of the school?" you shoot back in response, eyebrow arching as you pat the space next to you once again. "C'mere, Suguru. You're acting weird."

Geto is stiff as he takes a seat next to you, leaving a ridiculous amount of space between the two of you as he brings his knees up to his chest. He tenses even more when you shuffle closer, and he resists the urge to flinch away when you fix him with an unreadable stare.

A faint clicking catches his attention, and he lets his gaze wander down to your hands. His eyebrows furrow when he sees the pink lighter held tightly between your fingers, your thumb playing with the spark wheel absentmindedly.

"Isn't that Shoko's?" he asks, recognizing the lighter as the one that always seemed to be lost. He thinks about the way Shoko always rummages through her bag, her voice tired and exasperated as she constantly asks her friends if they've seen it. His question earns a laugh from you, and you nudge him with your shoulder before replying.

"Yeah, and so is this."

He can't help the way his eyes immediately drift to your mouth, and he stares intently as you purse your lips to wiggle the cigarette in a teasing manner. He gives a half-hearted huff, eyes still burning into you as you raise the lighter to your face.

The lighter sparks to life at the first touch of your thumb, the soft, orange light of the flame dancing across your features as you bring it to the cigarette. You look ethereal, the shadows dancing across your face and highlighting the bridge of your nose, the curve of your lips, and the sly shine in your eyes as you cup it with your injured hand to shield it from the wind.

Geto feels his heart ache with want.

A hum of content leaves your lips when you see the end of the cigarette burning, and you tuck the lighter back into your pocket before turning to face Geto. His eyes are still fixed on you, eyes dropping down to your lips every few seconds before he suddenly leans forward.

You feel your breath stutter slightly at his close proximity, studying the slope of his nose and barely sparing a glimpse at his eyes before he presses even closer and your own eyes flutter shut. A moment of silence passes before you feel the cigarette being pulled out of your mouth, his fingertips brushing against your lips before they pull away.

It's embarrassing to admit that you're waiting for a kiss that never comes, so you awkwardly clear your throat and straighten up as you hear more than see the way Geto crushes the cigarette under his shoe. The same one that he had just pulled from your lips.

(You try to ignore the way you can still feel his touch, instead deciding to focus on the fact that you had just lit the cigarette up).

"Hey! I didn't even take a single drag!" you complain, lips pursed in a pout and eyebrows furrowed as you nudge him with your shoulder once again. There's a soft look in his eyes as he turns his head to look at you, and you find yourself softening slightly before you roll your eyes and lean away. "It took me forever to steal that from Shoko. She never lets those things out of her sight."

"They're bad for you," is all Geto murmurs in response, his foot still absently grinding down on the cigarette. You see the way his eyes flicker down to your arm, all softness in his gaze having been replaced by something akin to guilt. "You got enough problems as is. We don't need you having respiratory issues on top off everything else."

"It was one cigarette, Suguru," you argue, rolling your eyes before waving your arm around. "Besides, this is healed thanks to Shoko. In fact, hold on."

Geto watches as you remove the sling, tossing it behind you as you wave your arm once again.

"Put it back on," he says with a scowl, reaching behind you to grab the sling. The close proximity causes the both of you to freeze, and you stare into his dark eyes before turning away, refusing to have a repeat of the earlier incident. You feel Geto's hand cup your cheek, and your eyes slightly widen as he turns your head back to face him.

He holds your gaze for a few seconds before he lets the sling drop into your lap. Neither one of you backs away, and Geto's eyes drop to your lips when he sees your tongue darts out to wet them. He leans forward slightly, the hesitance in his eyes clearly visible as he stops himself mere inches away from your lips.

That same hesitance is nowhere to be found in you when you surge forward, your lips connecting with Geto's briefly before he jerks away from you. His hand separates from your cheek as you scramble backwards, your hands scraping against the stone of the steps as you try to put as much distance between you and him as possible.

"I-I," you stutter, clamping your mouth shut and shaking your head before stumbling to your feet. Your actions send the sling tumbling to the ground and you do your best to suppress the sob crawling up your throat as you look down at the ground. "I'm sorry."

Geto is still frozen in place, hand hanging limply in the air as he stares at the spot in front of him. There's a conflicted expression on his face as he turns to watch you, mouth parted slightly in surprise and eyes shining with a mix of elation and grief as he lets his hand fall back down to his side.

"I'm going to bed," you say, your voice much more composed than it had been mere seconds ago. You clasp your hands behind your back, nodding your head diplomatically and avoiding Geto's gaze as you turn around. "Good night, Geto."

It's the use of his last name that has Geto scrambling to his feet, so unused to the sound of his family name coming from your lips. (The same lips he's been aching to kiss for more than a year. The same lips he pulled away from no more than a minute ago.)

You do your best to ignore the approaching footsteps, hastily wiping away the stray tears falling from your eyes as you start walking faster. You flinch when you feel Geto's hand close around your wrist, gently tugging you back as his other hand comes to rest on your waist in an attempt to keep you in place.

Your free hand lands on his chest, and you briefly struggle against him before you manage to break away from his hold, stumbling back a few steps and giving him an undecipherable look.

"Don't," he mutters, shaking his head lightly when you give him a puzzled look. "Don't apologize. For kissing me."

"Why?" you ask quietly, your hands clenching as you make a sound halfway between a laugh and a sob. "Why, Geto? I don't get it. You give me all these soft looks and tender smiles and give me signals that make me think you like me but whenever I try to take a step forward, you take five steps back."

Geto's heart aches in pain this time, and he breathes in shakily as he watches you blink back your tears desperately. Your shoulders slump as you run a hand through your hair, and your tone sounds defeated when you address him once more.

"If you don't like me, just tell me. But please don't keep making me think you do."

You raise your head to watch him silently, your face deceivingly calm as you nod and finally turn away.

"I couldn't protect you."

His words make you pause, and you turn back to face him with squinted eyed. He can see the way you softly shake your head, silently mouthing his words to yourself before straightening up and squaring your shoulders.

"What?"

"I couldn't protect you," Geto repeats, taking another step toward you. His face softens when you don't move away, and he takes that as an invitation to walk up to you. "This mission with Gojo, when you were trapped I was the first to arrive, but I couldn't help you. Gojo had to step in and save you."

He gets lost in thought as he thinks about the mission, down to the very moment he realized you were missing. One minute you were smiling prettily at him, your hand brushing against his as you shot a teasing remark at Gojo, never once looking away from Geto even as Gojo turned to give you a hurt look. The next, you were gone, Geto's hand unnaturally cold in your absence as Gojo scanned the area around them.

Loud calls of your name had escaped both of their lips as they checked the neighboring rooms, eyebrows pinched together in worry as they heard no response back from you. A minute of silence had passed before they heard a sharp shriek, and they had exchanged panicked looks as your screams rang out.

Gojo's entire body had tensed while Geto's hands started shaking, his breath catching in his throat as he tried to pinpoint where your voice was coming from. He had shot off like a bullet, Gojo hot on his heels as he sprinted through the halls. It was easy for him to track down your voice, and he had burst through the door of a room at the end of a hall to find you suspended in the air, a humanoid hand tightened around your neck as the curse they were hunting held you tightly.

It was hard to ignore the way your left arm hung limply at your side, your elbow twisted at an unnatural angle as it swayed ever so slightly. Your choked gasps filled the air as you fought against the curse, your right hand holding tight onto the curse's arm as you channeled raw cursed energy in order to injure it.

Geto's brief moment of stillness, his eyes darting around as he assessed the best way to deal with the situation, had allowed the curse to dig its nails into your throat, causing weak rivulets of blood to stream from the small cuts it left. That brief moment of hesitation had allowed Gojo to come in, easily separating the curse from you and grabbing you before you fell to the ground.

"Make sure it's dead," Gojo had said, motioning towards the curse with his head. "They need to get to Shoko immediately."

Geto had wasted no time in making sure the curse was dead, his footsteps heavy as he immediately followed after you and Gojo. The last thing he remembered was not being allowed into the infirmary, with Gojo and Yaga holding him back as they told him to let Shoko help you. To let Shoko heal you.

That had been mere hours ago.

In the hours that followed, you had been healed and released from the infirmary, fretted over by Gojo, and searching nonstop for Geto. Geto had instead shouldered past Gojo and Yaga, ignored all their calls and questions, and left the campus as fast as he could, hoping that putting distance between you and him would help divert his thoughts.

It didn't.

All he could think about was the way you looked in the curse's grip, feet dangling and eyes wide and panicked as you did your best to survive. He had flinched when he felt his nails digging into his palms, and he had let out a sigh before running his finger through his hair, ruining his bun in the process.

How could he proudly call himself a jujutsu sorcerer if he hadn't even been able to protect the person he cared about.

"Geto?"

The soft murmur of his name draws him back to the present, to this moment where you're healthy and breathing and alive and standing right in front of him, giving him a concerned look. You hand (the left one, he notes silently) is halfway raised, fingers moving slightly as if to rest on his arm. There's hesitation on your face and Geto watches quietly as you let your arm fell back down to your side instead.

His hand darts out to grab yours before it fully lowers, pulling it up and pressing his hand to yours. His gaze is still lowered, and he presses his hand closer to your urgently, palm to palm and fingers lining up before he decides to intertwine his fingers with yours and pull you close.

A soft gasp escapes your lips as he pulls you into him, hands still intertwined as his other arm comes to wrap around you, pressing your head to his chest as he wonders if you could feel how fast his heart is beating.

"I don't deserve you," he murmurs, nose brushing against your hair as he whispers into your ear.

"Geto, what do y—"

"You should be with someone like Gojo," he says, interrupting your words and refusing to let you go. "Someone strong enough to protect you in the way I couldn't. I'm not even strong enough to protect the person I love."

"Geto," you begin, your voice small and shaky as you use your free hand to push yourself slightly away from him. He's still holding you to his chest, his hand flat and warm against your back while the other is still enclosed around your own. "Did you mean that?"

"What?" he asks dumbly, confusion glinting in his eyes as he looks at you questioningly.

"What you just said," you explain, your fingers digging into his shirt as you look at him imploringly. "You said 'I'm not even strong enough to protect the person I love'. Ge— Suguru, do you love me?"

A breathless chuckle leaves Geto's lips, and you can feel the way his fingers tense against your back as his eyes widen in realization. The use of his name, his first name, makes him feel a little woozy, and he lets his head drop to the curve of your neck when you make no move to pull away.

"I did say that, didn't I?" he asks rhetorically, exhaling deeply and causing a shiver to run down your spine when you feel his warm breath against your skin. The two of you stay wrapped up in each other for a minute, and you only move when you reach up with your free hand to toy with Geto's hair.

"You know," you begin, prompting Geto to raise his head when he hears the teasing tone in your voice. "Gojo's cute and strong and smart and all, but I'm more into the broody, mysterious, devastatingly handsome, deceivingly strong, cares-too-much-for-his-own-good type of guys."

"I'm not broody," Geto shoots back, his lips perked up in a half-smile as he sees the mirth dancing in your eyes.

"Who said I was talking about you?" you ask, your fingers weaving through the silky strands that tumble down his back. Geto chuckles at your words, pulling you back in closely to his chest as he studies you.

"Just a hunch," he whispers, squeezing your hand to get you to look up at him. The two of you stare at each other for what seems like hours, and it isn't until your gaze hardens that his smile falls.

"Suguru," you start, pausing and resting your head in the crook of his neck, much like he had done to you earlier. He finally lets go of your hand, raising it up to join your other around his neck before letting his own settle around your waist. The embrace feels a lot more intimate, minimal space between the two of you as clasp your hands together behind his neck and pull yourself closer to him. "You are strong, y'know? You're a special grade sorcerer for a reason."

Your words are hushed and whispered against his neck, and you can barely feel him shake his head before he goes to speak.

"You saved me," you say, cutting him off before he can even begin to talk down on himself. "You are the one who located me. You led both yourself and Gojo to the room I was in and that's the only reason I didn't get fatally injured. It may sound mean, but I don't think Gojo's could've pinpointed where the sound of my voice was coming from. Besides, I’m not stupid. I could see you looking for an opening to attack. Gojo just happened to step in before you could, without thinking I might add. You would’ve saved me regardless.”

You chuckle softly at your own words before raising your head, coming face to face with Geto's soft expression.

"If I have to hear the person I love talk badly about himself one more time, I might have to kick his ass," you tease, a pretty smile on your lips as you watch the way Geto's eyes widen at your words.

"You can try," Geto whispers back, his eyes narrowing slightly when he sees the way your gaze drifts to his lips. "I'm sure you'll succeed. I can't see him putting up much of a fight against someone as beautiful as you."

"Just shut up and kiss me," you grumble, half-laughing as you look at him with stars in your eyes.

And as you pull him down into a gentle kiss, Geto Suguru finally believes that everything might be okay.

rbs are appreciated <3 ty for reading!!

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nevermoresworld · 1 year ago

Text

Red Strings [Chapter Eight] To Kyoto [Satoru Gojo]

Tag list: @nevermoresworld @pumpkindudeishere @illyrian-moonswarrior

Warning(s): family drama, mention of death, teasing, Gojo being Gojo, soulmate au, female reader insert, training.

I'm sorry, Satoru. This is much harder than I thought it would be.

You ignore the comments the best you can, listening to Naoya mouth off about you to one of his younger brothers as you walk past them; an inconvenient nitwit whose name you can not remember. The former barely knows him either, but given the chance to mock you to someone, he will fake tolerance for anyone. It's the sort of brat he is.

With an uneasy breath, you round the corner of the main house and hurry down the engawa toward your father's workroom.

It just keeps getting better and better around here.

Not only did the clan not show concern for your well-being, but some of them even chose to disregard the entire incident. Out of sight, out of mind. This is what the Arima Clan meant to them now that their leader had been locked up. One of them had escaped, Satoru had mentioned, but Naobito did not care to listen.

That was yesterday, after you had returned, and today, your father wants something of you.

At his door, you hesitantly knock. He invites you in moments later, and as you walk in, you notice two bowls of steamed rice, miso soup, and a plate of salt-grilled fish sitting on his desk.

"Sit," he orders, motioning to the area in front of him. "Have some breakfast."

You consider turning him down, you have plans for the morning, but given the circumstances of your plans, you decide it would be best to eat something first.

"Were these extras?" You ask in curiosity, sitting down.

Your father grunts in response. If not, he could have at least called for you a drink. You sigh and begin to eat. As nice as this is, it is a bit strange. You feel only resentment toward your father at the moment, but you are curious as to what is going through his mind at this moment.

Years ago, you would have looked forward to this moment.

With a confident air, you swallow the bit in your mouth, then smile.

"I can't stay too long, but I appreciate this."

Your father raises a curious brow but says nothing. He lifts a chunk of fish to his mouth and takes a bite, watching you. It's honestly unnerving and the longer you sit, the more awkward it feels. The silence is deafening.

Sitting down your chopsticks, you sigh.

"I am meeting with Satoru soon. I know that you did not ask me to join you because you wanted the company, so I must insist that you tell me what it is you want."

Your father narrows his eyes in irritation.

"Do not think, child, that because your soulmate is gifted with cursed energy you can disrespect me or the Zen'in. Satoru Gojo is a pest."

"And unlike you or the Zen'in, he has not turned his back on me," you snap, opting not to remind him that he allowed you to be abducted. "But that is just how it is, isn't it? The Zen'in are incapable of morals or love. It's power and nothing more."

Warm tears blur your eyes, but you blink them away. It hurts to admit this about your family, but it's true. Your father used to know love; he left the clan for your mother but upon the awakening of your Innate Technique, he had thrown her away for power. It scares you because you fear the hold it has on you too. Are you capable of turning so wicked?

Ignoring the tightness in your throat and the jitteriness of your body, you stand from the table.

"Please…do not waste your voice if you brought me here to talk about Satoru. I don't want to hear it."

You do not want to deal with him anymore, so you turn to leave, but his voice interrupts you.

"Be grateful, brat, that Naobito-san is turning a blind eye to whatever it is that you are doing with that pest. His generosity will not last forever."

You tighten your jaw and toss him a heated look over your shoulder. Is he so cruel? You are not a puppet, you should be allowed to live your life as you want.

"You can share my thanks when you grovel at his feet later," you remark sharply.

Where did this come from? A weight feels like it's been lifted from your shoulders; you feel like a human again. A wide grin pulls at the corner of your lips and before your father can scold you further, you leave the room, hurrying to the front gate.

The cool breeze pulls at your hair and clothes as you venture further away from the compound. It's like the air is cleaner and more breathable. At the closest bus stop, you sit on the bench, resting for a moment. The short bout of defiance you displayed had your heart pounding.

I can't wait to tell Satoru.

Closing your eyes for a brief moment, you do not notice someone walking up on you until they are behind you. The heat of their breath on your ear makes you shiver, and as your name leaves their mouth in a sing-song manner, you leap up in fright, turning to face Gojo. He laughs in response.

"That wasn't funny," you argue.

"You should see it from my side," he retorts with a grin.

Tossing him a heated glare, you finally notice that he isn't dressed in his uniform. He's wearing torn jeans and a black t-shirt with the front tucked in. On his back, you notice a guitar case, but you opt not to ask why he has it.

"I don't think I have ever seen you without your uniform on," you point out.

Gojo hums and slides his sunglasses down his nose.

"I know, you like it."

Heat spreads across your face. You do like it, but damn. Does he have to call you out on it?

"I mean…you do look handsome."

Gojo lifts his hands to his face.

"You're gonna make me blush."

You snort in response. He's so full of himself. Remembering the morning you have had, you narrow your eyes.

"Handsome or not, this whole play nice crap you want me to do is a lot harder than you might expect. The Zen'in Clan is so hard to tolerate. I don't know how much more I can take."

"But you are doing so well," Gojo argues. He walks around the bench and joins your side. "Look on the bright side…you get to spend the morning with me."

He is right about that. You sigh and retake your seat on the bench.

"Training right?"

Gojo agrees with a hum.

"We're going to Kyoto for that."

Kyoto? You don't understand. Why does it matter where you train? So long as non-sorcerers see then it should be fine to train in Tokyo. There is no reason to travel to another district.

"Why are we going to Kyoto?"

Gojo grins and presses a finger to his lips.

"It's a secret. Wait and see."

You have a bad feeling about this.

For the next 2 hours, almost 3, you and Gojo ride from Tokyo to Kyoto via the metro. When you at last arrive, he takes you to a gorgeous park near the river with an open field to the right; nestled between them is a narrow walkway with a park bench sitting by its side.

And on the bench rests a woman with blue-tinted silver hair pulled in a high ponytail. Her sharp dark brown eyes turn to you, glancing you over as you approach. Who is she?

"Mei-san! It's good to–"

Before Gojo can finish, the woman lifts a finger and opens her phone. A grin pulls at her painted lips and she closes the phone.

"I was checking," she states. "It came through as you said."

"I told you I was good for it," Gojo whines.

You raise a brow, not sure what they are talking about. The woman stands and faces the two of you.

"Are you not going to introduce us, Gojo?"

The said man grins.

"Is that needed? You already know who she is Mei Mei."

She does? You widen your eyes, glancing between them.

Mei Mei laughs.

"When you hired me to train her, I looked up her information. She is a Zen'in but has no combat training. I am going to have my work cut out for me with this one…but as long as you pay my fee, you have nothing to worry about."

This is just great. Your bad feeling doesn't seem so ridiculous now.

"I'll be over here if you need me," Mei Mei states, pointing a finger toward the open field. "Take your time."

As she saunters away, you glance at Gojo in concern.

"I thought you were going to train me."

"I can't help you much on this part," Gojo mentions. "I was given a mission by the school and I won't be around for a few days."

You hum, earning a laugh from Gojo.

"Don't look so sad. I'll take you out for lunch when I get back if Mei-san doesn't drain my bank account before then."

"I'll hold you to that," you agree with a grin.

Taking an uneasy breath, you glance toward Mei Mei, who is leaning down unlocking a large case.

"What exactly am I doing in terms of training?"

"There are two simple tasks that I want you to work on while I'm gone," Gojo explains as raises two fingers. "The first is to learn how to use that cursed tool that I gave to you. It's going to be your main source of offense and defense. Mei-san can help you there. The last has two conditions. I want you to work on creating more manifestations as well as reinforcing them."

You frown, not sure it's possible.

But that's not true, is it?

Your cousin Jinichi can conjure giant fists with cursed energy. Each construct of his is unbelievably strong as if they are a part of his body.

You had learned recently that your Innate Technique was not as useless as you had thought. The dead are not the only ones it works on.

"I think I can do it," you utter. "My 'Yokai' technique is a reinforced construct with the ability to share a person's final memories with me. It eats both the living and the dead, so long as there is cursed energy present. If I work on my output and imbue more into them I should be able to make them stronger."

"That's my girl," Gojo praises.

Heat spreads across your face, but you avert your eyes to avoid looking directly at him. He certainly has a way of making you feel like a hot mess.

With a sigh, you nod.

"I'm ready to start."

Gojo motions toward Mei Mei and hesitantly you walk into the field, standing across from her. She grins and raises two fingers in front of her.

"Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure."

Before your eyes, a gob of darkness appears in the sky and ebbs down around the three of you. Glancing over at Gojo, he grins and removes the guitar case from his back.

"It's just a curtain. No worries unless you are a cursed spirit."

He sits the case down on the grass and unzips it, removing the cursed tool he took from Yuudai. You assume he expects you to tote it around like this when you are in front of non-sorcerers. It is a clever ruse.

Taking 'Squall' from him, you extend the blade, holding the shaft tight in your hands. Gojo clears his throat and points to something over your shoulder. You turn and notice Mei Mei is holding a giant battle ax. A feeling of dread consumes you.

"Do you expect me to be able to keep up?"

"I expect you to block," Mei Mei answers.

She spins the handle and then rushes at you, swinging the blade at your head. Is she out of her mind? You do the only thing you can and jump to the ground.

"Block or die," Mei Mei orders.

She raises the ax above her head and brings it down toward you, however, you roll to the side and dodge it. The aftershock tosses your hair and showers you in soil, but you manage to get back onto your feet before she strikes at you again.

Gojo is no help. He stands to the side, cheering you on despite the fact Mei Mei is trying to kill you. Shooting him a glare, you turn your eyes to the woman to see her swing the blade at your side. Out of fear, you bring the scythe up vertically beside your body to block. It works, however, the strength she puts into her swing knocks you off your feet and onto the ground.

For a moment, the air leaves your body and once you can breathe again, you cough in protest.

Mei Mei stands above you and grins.

"That was a good reaction. Keep it up."

You groan. This woman is going to kill you.

For an hour, you do your best to block Mei Mei's swings. A few you can, however, you always end up on your ass afterward. It's obvious she is strong; you can barely keep up with her.

When at last she calls for a break, you are happy to accept. You remain on your back, looking up at the masked sky since the curtain is still up. A shadow covers you and you turn your eyes to Gojo who is hovering over you with a smile.

"Baby steps…but you're showing some progress," he states.

You glare at him.

"Why can't you train me?"

"If you think I'm bad, there is no way you would survive Limitless," Mei Mei mentions.

You raise a curious brow.

"What is Limitless?"

"It's one of my inherited techniques," Gojo explains. "It brings the concept of infinity into reality."

You have never heard of an ability like this before. It sounds godlike.

"It's quite interesting," Mei Mei mentions.

You watch in horror as she swings at Gojo with her ax, but before it hits, the blade stops inches from him.

"There is no way that's possible," you utter in disbelief.

You have seen sorcerers who are fast enough to dodge strikes and those strong enough to block them, but never someone who could not be hit.

Gojo grins and raises his arms out.

"Come on. I know you want to."

Heat spreads to your face, but you get up onto your feet, approaching him. Raising your hand hesitantly, you make contact with something in front of him.

"That's an aspect of Limitless," Gojo declares. "The ability to bend space around a designated area at will. I'm not stopping your hand, just slowing it down."

You hum.

"Can you activate it or deactivate it whenever you want?"

The space around him gives and he walks forward, wrapping his arms around you.

I guess this answers my question. He has been deactivating it when he touches me.

Heat spreads across your face. Why would he do this for you? Allow you to get close to him. He's untouchable, to a point. It makes sense to you now what he meant when he fought Yuudai Arima. His scythe, 'Squall' can disable the flow of cursed energy, but without his Innate Technique, he could not land a hit on Gojo.

It's impressive. No wonder the Zen'in don't like him.

"You are–"

Before you finish, a burning pain shoots up your arm, originating from your hand. You cry out and step away from Gojo, glancing at the soulmate mark. The pain quickly fades, however.

What?

"That's never happened to me before," Gojo mentions.

You widen your eyes, watching him shake his hand, the same one with the mark on it. Did he too feel the same burning sensation as you had?

"That's peculiar," Mei Mei utters with a hum.

No kidding. You glance down at the mark on your hand to see that it doesn't look any different. Whatever caused the pain, is gone now.

"Can we call it a day?"

Gojo nods. For once, he doesn't remark, lost in his thoughts.

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