Chapter Text
1.
August in Tokyo is hot— much hotter than summers in the countryside. All the people crawling all over the place, the hot air rising from the concrete sidewalks, the car exhaust fumes from taxis idling in the streets. And worst of all…the humidity.
Kugisaki Nobara groans and runs a hand through her hair. Only been outside for about 15 minutes, and already starting to sweat in this hot damp air.
Humidity is a woman’s true enemy— unescapable, heavy, and clinging like a jobless ex-boyfriend only good for frizzing your hair.
Nobara sighs deeply, looking around the street. It’s Friday afternoon at Ochanomizu University, and everyone is milling about the school gates.
Nice-looking stylish college girls are huddled under the shade of the campus trees, their summer skirts fluttering in the breeze. The sheer color of the girls’ stockings shine in the sun, and the steps of their patent leather heels and clean sneakers blend seamlessly with their bubbly laughter. Somehow, there’s something special and fancy about Tokyo college girls, even when they’re just chatting about weekend plans.
It’s a women’s university, but there are more boys than Nobara might’ve expected— just random guys hanging around, interjecting themselves into the girls’ conversations.
No sign of Gojou-sensei, of course.
Nobara looks up at the sparse shade of the tree they’ve all taken shelter under. A small, slender tree on the sidewalk right in front of the steel school gates. Huddled between two groups of college girls waiting for friends, laughing at something on their phones.
Nobara pinches her brow. Beside her, Fushiguro taps noiselessly on his phone. A tiny drop of sweat rolls down his temple, completely at odds with the placid expression on his face.
On her other side is Itadori, who’s staring blankly into space. His arms dangle uselessly by his sides, and he’s already unbuttoned his uniform jacket, cheeks flushed in the heat.
Nobara sighs and smoothes down the box pleats of her skirt, digs out her phone from her pocket.
Here, in the rustling shade of a sidewalk tree outside the university gates, with the cicadas chirping and college girls giggling on a summer Friday afternoon— everyone’s waiting for someone else, it seems like.
The unfortunate thing is, of course, that she, Fushiguro, and Itadori are waiting for someone who is never, ever on time.
Nobara unlocks her phone, takes a moment to admire her new manicure as her home screen flashes. Her background is a picture of all of them after the Kyoto school event, rumpled and dirty in their baseball uniforms.
Her manicure is still pristine, even after four days. Sure, she heard that gel nails last for quite a while, but this is still impressive, given all the training and mission work that she’s been doing.
Nobara grins, curls her fingers a little more to peer at her nails. The summer sunlight glints on the glitter flakes and shines brightly on the thick gel polish. She chose an early-fall amber color this time, with a delicate marble swirl, glitter flakes, and ivory shimmer. An elegant, simple pattern and color that plays off the reddish-gold tones of her hair.
Nobara chuckles under her breath and checks her phone notifications. She clears her throat. “Hey, do any of you wanna call Ijichi-san and tell him to circle back? Sensei doesn’t seem like he’s coming anytime soon, so we might as well sit in the car air conditioning.”
“Air conditioning, huh?” Itadori sighs beatifically. “That sounds nice…”
“Ijichi-san probably won’t be coming back for a while,” Fushiguro says quietly. “Parking is too hard to find around here…and it’s a weekend…”
“Well,” Nobara grits her teeth, opens Twitter vindictively with a harsh tap of her finger. “Then are we just left to die of heatstroke then? Out here in the sun? Where the fuck is Gojou-sensei?”
Itadori sighs again, life sagging out of his bones. “Sensei said 1:30 in the afternoon, right? Right in front of the university main gates?”
“We should just add 30 minutes to all our meeting times,” Fushiguro grumbles, wiping at his sweaty face with the back of his hand. “That way, we’ll be closer to when he actually shows up.”
Nobara snorts. “Yeah, let’s do that next time.” She scrolls through Twitter, likes a few tweets on her timeline— random restaurant reviews, skincare product recommendations.
“Without telling Gojou-sensei?” Itadori runs a hand through his hair, grimaces at the sweat. “Isn’t that kinda…mean?”
“No,” Fushiguro deadpans.
“Not at all,” Nobara echoes.
“It’s already almost 2PM,” Fushiguro adds.
“Yeah, we’re just wasting time waiting for him,” Nobara grumbles. She pokes idly at the top Twitter trends of today, refreshes the page a few times—
“Holy shit,” Nobara whispers. She taps on a video clip, a trending tweet, lets the video play noiselessly. “Wow….you guys……….…”
2.
[TRENDING]
Tokyo Trends
1. #crazyharajukucouple
1.5M Tweets
Twitter Video: “A crazy couple’s breakup and reunion fight in Harajuku!!!”
Nobara swallows hard, throat dry. “You guys………come look…………..”
“…?” Fushiguro peers over her shoulder.
“What is it?” Itadori looks over, too, eyes bright and curious.
It’s the top trending tweet of today— a video tweet, with the hashtag #crazyharajukucouple, 1.5 million tweets.
Nobara pulls her phone a little farther away from her face, and angles it so both Itadori and Fushiguro can see the screen.
The tweet reads:
@xdlqp___9093 ・4h
Was cleaning through my old phone when I found this!! A video from when I saw this crazy couple’s breakup and reunion fight🤣🤣🤣 They broke the wall, and the floor!!!!! Seriously crazy!! It made me think - ah, if this is what it means to be in love, then I’m fine with being single forever www #crazyharajukucouple
[VIDEO: 2 min 20 sec]
💬 Comments 228.3K 🔁 Retweets 1M ❤️ Likes 1.5M
The video clip plays noiselessly, showing a tall, slender white-haired man, wearing sunglasses, clutching at another tall man— with long dark hair, half-tied up in a bun, wearing a pale yukata. The men are clearly shouting, arguing soundlessly in the Twitter video, their hands pulling harshly at each other.
The video flashes to a perfect side view of both men, and—
One of them is clearly, obviously, Gojou Satoru.
“What the fuck is wrong with this guy,” Nobara grumbles.
“What? Wow, that’s……….” Itadori trails off, eyes glued to the screen. “Holy shit! Can you turn up the volume?”
Fushiguro just sighs, long and deep. “Yeah, that’s Gojou-sensei.” He pauses. “And that’s Getou-san, in the video.”
“Yeah, I know,” Itadori nods absently. “Kugisaki, can you open the thread? Let’s see if there’s more video clips—”
3.
“Wait,” Nobara frowns, switches her glare between the idiots on either side. “This other guy— you both know him?”
“Itadori,” Fushiguro blinks, tilts his head to stare at Itadori over Nobara’s shoulder. “…You’ve met Getou-san?”
“Uhhhh…..” Itadori trails off. He clears his throat. “Uh, yeah? Gojou-sensei asked Getou-san to help train me for the Kyoto sister school exchange event….?”
“…”
“…”
Itadori laughs nervously, hand coming up to tousle his hair. “Ah, but, it was really just a couple times! And, umm.…Gojou-sensei introduced Getou-san as his partner, so, yeah!”
“We sparred,” Itadori adds, unnecessarily. “And, uh, Fushiguro! You remember, what it was like, when I first met Gojou-sensei! Getou-san did the same thing too, basically.”
“What,” Fushiguro deadpans.
“You mean,” Nobara says slowly. “Like asking to spar with Sukuna?”
“Right!” Itadori chuckles. “Yeah, Getou-san was like,” Itadori clears his throat, pitches his voice deeper. “‘Ah, Itadori-kun? Satoru got 10 seconds, so can I get 20?’”
Fushiguro just sighs. “Yeah, that sounds like him.”
“Getou-san is tough, though,” Itadori recalls, grimacing. He rubs his shoulder idly. “Way more tiring than just training with Gojou-sensei. Getou-san lectures a lot more, too.”
“Okay, so…….” Nobara frowns. She lowers her phone and turns to look at Fushiguro, who seems to be slowly melting into the concrete sidewalk. “So………..who is this guy? Is he really Gojou-sensei’s partner? Actually, isn’t it weird that sensei has a partner to begin with?”
Itadori shrugs, and props his hands on his waist. “Sensei said they were high school classmates.”
Nobara pulls a face. “A high school couple? It’s a miracle that they’re still together.”
Fushiguro sighs again and wipes his brow despondently. “Getou Suguru, Special Grade, just like Gojou-sensei. Getou-san is a curse user, criminalized by the school many years ago as a third-year student. For killing, like, a hundred or something non-sorcerers.”
“A curse user?” Nobara raises her brows. “A criminal?”
“Ah, but,” Itadori chuckles nervously, waving his hands around dumbly. “Sensei said he’s mostly a cult leader!”
Nobara rolls her eyes. “How is that any different?” She runs a hand through her hair again— ugh, this humidity is seriously the worst. She checks her phone again, watches the video clip play on silently.
Fushiguro clears his throat. “As far as I know, Getou-san hasn’t killed anyone else after that. He mostly spends his time running his cult, collecting cursed spirits, and working with various sorcerers and curse users.”
“Oh, also,” Itadori pipes up, rubbing his chin. “Getou-san has, like, kids? This one time, he mentioned going to pick them up from Harajuku or something.”
“Technically, Getou-san is their legal guardian,” Fushiguro looks around the street, fishes out a small blue handkerchief to pat at his temples. “Hasaba Mimiko and Nanako— they’re a pair of twin girls that Getou-san rescued from that incident, when he killed a hundred-something people and got branded a curse user.”
“Okay,” Nobara drawls, holds up her fingers to tick off the information. “So, Gojou-sensei’s had a lover— a partner— this entire time, and said partner is his high school classmate turned curse user, criminal of the sorcerer society? And said partner helps Gojou-sensei train students, and even has kids of his own?”
“Getou-san is really, really good at martial arts,” Itadori adds. “He also helped me practice using Tozama— cursed tools, and stuff. And his cursed technique is really cool. He’s like, super strong.”
“No shit,” Nobara scoffs. “If he was able to kill a hundred something people and rescue a couple young girls when he was still a student, then of course he’s strong. And he’s a Special Grade, too, so— duh.”
Itadori shrugs. “Just saying. Apparently he’s super busy, too, just like sensei. But Getou-san meets occasionally with Gojou-sensei’s students to train together. Other than that, I don’t really know what he does, but he seems…nice?”
Fushiguro sighs once again. “Is he?”
Itadori hums, rubbing his chin in pretend-thought. “Well, he really is a good teacher, even though he’s not an official one or anything. He kinda reminds me of Nanamin a bit— ah, Nanamin is another one of sensei’s high school friends! Anyway, Getou-san seems like he knows what he’s talking about.”
“Isn’t that just because Gojou-sensei kinda sucks?” Nobara crosses her arms, shifts her weight from foot to foot. “Like, in comparison, anyone else seems responsible and prepared?”
Itadori laughs and fans himself with a hand. “That’s mean! But, yeah, I guess so! Getou-san really is more organized and prepared, but he also has like, this poker face?”
Fushiguro just nods silently, eyes shut tight.
“He always has this kinda suspicious-looking smile,” Itadori comments. “And he just leans like this—” Itadori leans back and crosses his arms. He squints and raises his eyebrows, spreads his lips into a creepy smirk. “‘Ah, Itadori-kun? You hesitated there for a second, didn’t you? Didn’t Satoru tell you that even a moment of hesitation can mean life or death?’”
Nobara snickers. “What the hell is that?”
Fushiguro huffs a laugh. “That’s a good one.” He pauses. “Itadori, you really are good at impressions.”
Itadori laughs, too. “Right! Getou-san really is like that!”
“Yeah,” Fushiguro sighs, stuffs his handkerchief back in his pocket. “Well, the main problem with Getou-san— and Gojou-sensei, for that matter— is that whenever they’re together, nothing ever gets done. They’re okay on their own, but when they’re together, they always start bickering, bragging, fighting, or just outright flirting.”
“Grown-ups are disgusting,” Nobara snorts. She pulls her phone back up and unlocks it, as the boys peer over her shoulder again. “Anyway, now I’m really curious— let’s finish watching the video.”
4.
Nobara taps to open up the tweet and plays the video, turns her phone horizontally as the clip loads. The boys lean over her shoulder, and Nobara turns up the volume, adjusts the brightness of her screen.
It’s a scene in a restaurant, a small cafe maybe, on a bright sunny day. Gojou, plus Getou, seem to be fighting in the small space, and the customers are frozen in shock. There’s a massive hole in the wall, the drywall crumbling in the background, obviously a recent casualty of their fight.
The video is a little shaky, but the camera focuses just enough to show Getou throwing a punch, almost too fast for the camera to catch up.
Gojou’s sunglasses fly off to crash somewhere in the room, and the camera guy exhales in astonishment, a soft “Whoa.” The customers gasp and murmur in the background.
The camera guy zooms in on Gojou’s face, his blurry side profile— Gojou’s desperate red cheeks and wild eyes.
“Suguru, why can’t you just listen!” Gojou’s tinny voice yells from the video. He ducks out of frame, and the camera guy hurriedly zooms back out to get both men in view.
Whatever Gojou says next is indistinct, as they start throwing punches and kicking at each other again— the video shakes a little more as the camera guy repositions his phone.
“I love you!” Gojou shouts, back facing the camera. His hair is so bright the camera has trouble focusing, a white hot flare in the middle of the frame.
In the small restaurant scene, the silence weighs down heavily. The two men have stilled, and the customers are astonished and rigid, barely visible in the sides of the video frame.
The camera guy zooms in slowly, shakily, to a closeup of Getou’s face. Getou is panting, eyes wide open, cheeks red, dark hair tumbling over his shoulders. The video is a little blurry, but Getou is clearly stunned, bewildered, and deeply flustered.
“Holy crap,” Itadori whispers. “That’s a confession…”
Fushiguro just sighs.
“Shh,” Nobara hisses.
The video is two minutes and twenty seconds, but the scene flies by fast. Gojou’s confession, loud and obvious in a cafe’s quiet space. His deep frustration and panic, his tight grip on Getou’s wrists, his pleas for Getou to listen, his voice cracking and desperate. And Getou is puzzled and frustrated, too, unable to look away from Gojou’s face.
It is obviously a profoundly intimate confessional, a deep-seated argument made public in an extraordinary, explosive way.
Under the main tweet, the video continues in another clip— Nobara plays the next video wordlessly. The video picks up in the same spot, and the boys lean in closer, their jacket sleeves rustling against Nobara’s shoulders.
There’s seven more video clips under the main tweet, each clip two minutes and twenty seconds long.
The very last video clip in the tweet thread is only one minute thirty seconds. Nobara plays that, too.
“There, do you think that’s enough?” Gojou’s smirking voice— the two men sprung apart from their embrace with a subsequent scuffle, Gojou obviously trying to grope Getou’s ass. Gojou is facing the camera now, smugly shaking out all the money in his wallet.
The crowd is, of course, stunned beyond words. The camera guy chuckles silently under his breath as he zooms in on Getou’s shocked expression, his wide eyes and flushed cheeks.
Itadori snickers. “Look at Getou-san’s face!”
Nobara clicks her tongue. “Rich people are crazy.”
Fushiguro sighs, once again.
In the last thirty seconds of the last video clip— Getou is joined by two small girls. The camera dips down for an instant, barely showing a glimpse of two little heads, before panning up quickly to focus again on the men. Gojou takes Getou’s hand, and the camera guy moves his phone to follow them down the staircase.
The cafe employee in the scene is clearly flustered and stammering as Gojou and Getou take their leave. Everyone else in the restaurant remains stunned and frozen in silence.
Offscreen, the camera guy clears his throat softly. “Good luck!” He shouts, and the video shakes a little, following Gojou and Getou as they walk away, backs to the camera.
Gojou raises a hand in a loose wave, his whole body turned towards Getou as they descend the stairs together. The camera guy zooms in for a closeup.
In the last few seconds, the last blurry image of the video— Gojou is smiling, gaze pinned on Getou, walking right beside him.
5.
“Wow………” Itadori murmurs. “That was.......…”
Nobara exhales, scrolls down further in the tweet thread. The original poster— the camera guy— also uploaded the whole thing on YouTube, too. Under the string of Twitter video clips are tons of comments, which mostly seem to be exclamations of surprise, emojis, and well-wishes in various languages.
In the time that they’ve spent watching the entire thread of video clips, the tweet has already gotten up to 1.6 million retweets.
Fushiguro leans back and crosses his arms. “Very public…” He says quietly. “But, not unexpected for Gojou-sensei.”
Nobara snorts. “I mean, I’m just surprised he cried.”
“Yeah!” Itadori exclaims, leaning back as well. He starts to shrug off his uniform jacket. “But, it does seem kinda…romantic? They made up and got back together, right?”
“Obviously,” Nobara rolls her eyes. She copies the link to the tweet and opens up her messages. “Not sure about romantic, though. They were definitely going home to fuck.”
Fushiguro groans, screwing his eyes shut. “I agree with Kugisaki,” He sighs, pinching his brow. “Nothing romantic about a public confession like that. And the property damage—”
Itadori just laughs, slinging his jacket over one shoulder. “And the way Gojou-sensei paid for it!“
“Only he could get away with something like that.”
“This was an old video, right? I wonder how long ago this was. Fushiguro, was this around the time you met Gojou-sensei?”
Nobara tunes out the boys’ conversation. She pastes the Twitter link into their group chat, with the second-years.
🌹💫Kugisaki Nobara💫🌹[2:06 PM] :
EVERYONE LOOK !!!!!!!!!!!
[LINK] twitter.com/xdlqp___9093/status/1410047933001
“Twitter Video: A crazy couple’s breakup and reunion fight in Harajuku!!!”
The boys’ phones buzz accordingly. Itadori digs his phone out of his pocket, still talking with Fushiguro on Nobara’s other side.
Nobara taps back into Twitter, retweets the thread, and scrolls to read through the top comments.
“— isn’t that basically the same goal as the school’s?” Itadori is asking.
Fushiguro hums, also digging out his phone. He taps to unlock his screen. “Just goes to show you that the school is really not what it seems. Getou-san hasn’t done anything actually condemnable since that incident a decade ago.”
Nobara blinks, raises her head to look back and forth between the boys. “What are you two talking about?”
“Getou-san and the school,” Fushiguro says idly, scrolling on his phone screen. “Basically, the school branded Getou-san a serious criminal years ago, and officially there is still an arrest-and-kill warrant for him. But, it’s like an open secret now, that Getou-san isn’t much of a threat to sorcerers. And whatever he does with non-sorcerers is either minor or silenced, so no one can really do anything about him.”
Nobara taps her foot, frowning. “Plus, he’s sleeping with the strongest sorcerer in Japan, right?”
“Well,” Itadori taps on his phone. “Seems like they’re practically married. I think Gojou-sensei and Getou-san live together.”
“What?” Nobara chokes, nearly dropping her phone.
“Yeah,” Fushiguro confirms. “The two of them live together, and I think technically Mimiko-san and Nanako-san live with them too. They’re the girls, that you saw in the video.”
“So…….” Nobara repeats slowly. “Gojou-sensei is in a long-term, committed, public relationship with someone, and this someone is a Special Grade criminal sorcerer…?”
Fushiguro shrugs, and blinks slowly at Nobara, his uselessly long eyelashes fluttering. “Getou-san is kind of in a stalemate with the school, I think.”
Nobara frowns. “Oh?”
“I mean,” Fushiguro slips his phone back into his pocket. “Getou-san mostly spends his time running his cult, which is mainly for collecting money and cursed spirits. He also works with various sorcerers, and he helps train Gojou-sensei’s students too.”
“And he’s good at it,” Itadori adds, still tapping at his phone.
“Right,” Fushiguro rolls his eyes. “Well, if the school really cared about ridding the world of curses, they could negotiate some kind of deal with Getou-san to make sure he doesn’t cause harm, as long as he helps lessen the burden on the school’s sorcerers.”
“Would that work?” Nobara raises her eyebrows, props her hands on her hips. “He seems like the stubborn, proud type.”
Fushiguro shrugs again. “Maybe? Getou-san barely injures any sorcerers anyway. And in fact, he often turns over cursed users he doesn’t like, so that’s actually good for the school. But the school cares about appearances, and would never rescind the criminal punishment, so…”
“It’s a mutually beneficial situation,” Nobara drawls. “For the school to have Getou Suguru exorcise deadly curses, and turn over cursed users. And for Getou Suguru, he benefits from having a convenient place to dump over cursed users and, what, poach sorcerers from the school? Get information?”
“Getou-san’s technique is cursed spirit manipulation,” Itadori chimes in, shifts to tie his uniform jacket around his waist. “He collects curses, instead of straight-up exorcising them.”
“Right,” Fushiguro nods. “A lot of people from the school know Getou-san and keep in touch with him and his team. Getou-san benefits from the information about cursed spirits— that way, he doesn’t have to go out of his way to hunt for cursed spirits that turn out to be low-level troubles. Sometimes he shows up randomly on school missions if there’s an interesting cursed spirit he wants.”
“Okay…” Nobara trails off, brushing her hair off her damp forehead. The humid air hangs hot and heavy all around them. “So, you said he’s at a stalemate with the school. A stalemate for what? What’s the end goal?”
“Restructuring the school, I guess?” Fushiguro sighs and wipes at his forehead. His cheeks are flushed in the hot summer hair, and another tiny drop of sweat rolls down his temples. “Getou-san does a lot of work for students, actually. The reason why we have contracts for our work is really Getou-san— he lobbied the school administrators to provide binding contracts for students who work to exorcise curses.”
“That’s why we’re classified legally as student employees,” Fushiguro adds. “And we have rights in non-sorcerer courts as well.”
“He lobbied them?” Nobara raises her eyebrows.
“Well,” Itadori interjects. “Normally high school students have trouble getting employed, right?”
“Usually there are legal restrictions for employing minors,” Fushiguro recites slowly. “So that’s why our contracts have different start dates. It corresponds to when we are old enough to legally start working as underage students.”
Nobara’s phone buzzes— along with the boys’ phones, on either side of her. “Okay…” She trails off, unlocks her phone and taps on the notification.
Maki-san responded to the group chat. Nobara clears her throat. “We all started going on missions and getting paid right away, so does it really matter?“
“But, we get a set number of work hours per week, right? Based on our contract?” Itadori fishes out his phone again.
MAKI🌱[2:12 PM] :
Wow, did Satoru seriously cry??
It’s amazing how they weren’t kicked out of the restaurant
Nobara grins, starts tapping out a reply. “I guess even if our student employee contracts aren’t perfect, it’s good that we have them.”
“Yeah,” Fushiguro agrees, also tapping on his phone. “And you know how we have a flexible spending account for when we go on missions? In previous years, the only way to get compensated for expenses on the job was through reimbursement, like saving receipts and stuff.”
Nobara snorts. “Sounds slow, tough, and complicated.”
Itadori hums, pocketing his phone. “But we also have the staff members around, and they help pay for things too.”
“We often end up separated from the staff members,” Fushiguro says, wiping at the sweat on his temples. “So, Getou-san also helped students get a flexible spending account debit card that we can use for food, supplies, and lodging while out on missions.”
TOGE😇[2:13 PM] :
🌝🌝💦💦💫☁️
🌹💫Kugisaki Nobara💫🌹[2:13 PM] :
Maki-senpai, Inumaki-senpai, have you all met Getou????
MAKI🌱[2:13 PM] :
Ugh they’re both terrible, disgusting
TOGE😇[2:13 PM] :
😤😤💥💥🌈🌈
MAKI🌱[2:13 PM] :
I’m not homophobic!!!!!
That’s not what I meant!!!!!!
It’s just obnoxious and annoying how much they love showing off
They can never keep their hands off each other
Nobara sighs and rubs at her phone screen with her sleeve. “Special Grade cursed user, huh? Is he also like a politician or something?”
“Ahhhh, yeah,” Itadori chuckles, grinning at them. “Gojou-sensei calls him that too. Though Getou-san always responds in a long lecture—”
Fushiguro snorts. “Yeah, he does that.”
MAKI🌱[2:14 PM] :
Look, isn’t it weird that a couple that has been practically married and living together for like, the past 10+ years is still so lovey-dovey ALL THE TIME?!!!?!?!?!
And Suguru is also super annoying
🚀Itadori Yuuji🚀[2:14 PM] :
Aww, I think it’s sweet
Fushiguro Megumi [2:15 PM] :
Remember…this is Gojou-sensei.
It’s only logical to assume that any close friend of Gojou-sensei’s must also be just as insane, not to mention an actual long-time lover.
TOGE😇[2:15 PM] :
🤔🤔🤷🏼🤷🏼
❤️❤️❤️❤️
MAKI🌱[2:15 PM] :
Ughhhhhhhhhhh
If that’s what true love looks like, I can do without it
TOGE😇[2:16 PM] :
💫💫🔮🔮
✨🌸🌺🙆🏻🙆🏼🦋🎀✨
MAKI🌱[2:16 PM] :
Yeah, Mimiko and Nanako are nice. Their obsession with Suguru is weird. But overall they’re OK, most of the time
Fushiguro Megumi [2:16 PM] :
Agreed
TOGE😇[2:16 PM] :
🤗🤗
🌹💫Kugisaki Nobara💫🌹[2:16 PM] :
So…….I am the only one who hasn’t met Getou……………………….
MAKI🌱[2:16 PM] :
You probably will soon. Not like you missed anything
TOGE😇[2:17 PM] :
🍀🍀👍🏻👍🏻🙆🏼
MAKI🌱[2:17 PM] :
Yeah, good luck
🌹💫Kugisaki Nobara💫🌹[2:17 PM] :
Good luck with what……………..
TOGE😇[2:17 PM] :
🌝🌝🌝
MAKI🌱[2:17 PM] :
🌝🌝🌝
6.
“What are you all looking at?”
Nobara jumps, phone nearly slipping out of her hands. Beside her, Itadori and Fushiguro jolt in surprise, too, Itadori yelping as he fumbles his phone.
“Go-Gojou-sensei!” Itadori stammers, catching his phone in midair. “You’re here!”
Fushiguro just sighs so deeply he sags a bit. “………Finally.”
Gojou-sensei is, indeed, finally here. He’s grinning at them brightly, standing right in front of them. Tall and lean and otherworldly, looking refreshed and cool despite the humid heat. And…
Nobara’s jaw drops open. “You’re….………..” She trails off, glancing at Gojou’s flashy steel-and-gold watch, glinting in the sunlight. His pale yellow and beige jacket, tied neatly around his shoulders, in the way that Nobara’s only seen on fashion models.
Nobara stares harder, taking note of Gojou’s fancy white shirt with a silver zipper, perfectly matching the silver double-G logo on his black leather belt.
Clearly Gucci.
Nobara clicks her tongue, frowning. Feels like she could almost spit on the ground, maybe right on Gojou’s thin black slacks. Or stepping on his shiny leather shoes, the Gucci red and green trim obvious and bright in the sun.
Nobara clears her throat and takes a deep breath, feels the vein in her forehead throb a little. “Gojou-sensei…..you dressed up like that…….on a school work trip…..because you’re coming to a girls’ college…?”
Gojou just grins, gives a big thumb’s up. Eyes dazzling behind his sunglasses, vivid and vast like the summer skies above.
“It’s nice, right!” Gojou beams, does a supermodel spin, and strikes a pose with his watch right next to his face.
Gojou bats his eyelashes. “This watch was a present, you know! From the most wonderful, most beautiful person in the world!” He grins again, turns his wrist around and around to show off his watch. The steel and gold band flashes like a million little mirrors.
“Wow…..” Itadori claps slowly. “That’s nice, sensei! You look nice! Very stylish!”
Fushiguro rolls his eyes. “You’re late. Like, much later than usual.”
Gojou just chuckles and grins, propping his hands on his hips. The groups of college girls around them have started to notice, sneaking glances at them and whispering to each other.
Nobara grits her teeth, feeling tiny drops of sweat roll down her temples. Gojou’s watch glints in the hot summer sun. The watch is a Rolex, its pale watch face shining iridescently in the afternoon light.
“Sensei……” Nobara clears her throat and tries again. “So, you’re dressed like that, to come on the job at a women’s college? Are you even thinking about work?”
Gojou laughs, loud and bold, running a hand through his pale hair. The college girls around them whisper a little more, glancing at him from the corners of their eyes, smiling behind their hands.
“Noooo,” Gojou grins, his whole face glowing with excitement. “After you all finish this mission today, we’re all going to dinner! A very special dinner, with the most wonderful, most interesting person in the world! You’ll get to meet someone new and amazing, who’ll also help train with you all!”
Fushiguro sighs, and Itadori hums curiously, shifting from foot to foot. Nobara opens her mouth to interject—
“And plus,” Gojou winks, snowy eyelashes fluttering behind his sunglasses. “Maybe you don’t know this, but whenever your lover gifts you clothes or jewelry, you have to wear it when you go on a date with them! It’s a nice way to show you care!”
Gojou shows off his watch again, pulls up his wrist right next to his supermodel face. His hair blows brightly in the summer breeze, his blue eyes sparkling. “This was a gift, for our one-year anniversary! And by the way, I gave a watch too, but Cartier! Ahhhh, we really are soulmates, you know!”
Nobara groans and pinches her brow. “No one cares!” She grinds her heel into the concrete sidewalk. “Everyone knows that a lover only gives you clothes and jewelry because they want to see you take it off!”
Itadori bursts into laughter, as Fushiguro sighs again, rubbing his temples despondently. Gojou just gasps in mock-surprise.
“Nobara…” Gojou shakes his head, tips his sunglasses in that smarmy way. “You’re too young to be so cynical. Have some faith in love, you know?”
Nobara rolls her eyes. “Whatever, I don’t want to hear all this from—”
“Sensei,” Fushiguro interjects. “Dinner tonight, you said?”
“Yeah!” Gojou grins, gives another thumb’s up. “After we finish here, we’re meeting up at Ikebukuro Station.” He makes a show of checking his watch, peering at it in mock-consideration. “At around…6:30, we said! Because the reservation is at 7!”
“A very special dinner,” Gojou repeats gleefully, whole face sparkling and mischievous. “With my very special, very wonderful, very interesting person who gives great gifts!”
“Getou Suguru, right,” Nobara deadpans.
“Ah, Getou-san!” Itadori exclaims, clapping his palms together.
Fushiguro just stares blankly into space.
Gojou’s eyebrows shoot up so fast they nearly disappear into his hairline. He frowns at Fushiguro. “Megumi, you told them?” Gojou points at Fushiguro in indignation. “You promised not to say anything!”
“I didn’t—”
“Sensei, Fushiguro didn’t—”
“You’ve gone viral on Twitter,” Nobara drawls. “Both of you— You and Getou Suguru.”
7.
Itadori bursts into peals of laughter, clutching his stomach. “Yeah! Right! Sensei, you’re Twitter-famous!”
“What?” Gojou blinks, body loose and face blank, eyes wide open.
“Congrats,” Nobara says snidely, tapping her phone to pull up Twitter again. She shoves the screen into Gojou’s face. “You and Getou Suguru are now social media-famous. Like, around the world.”
Gojou takes her phone gingerly, his long fingers wrapping gently around the soft silicone of her phone case. Gojou clears his throat and taps at the screen, sunglasses slipping down his nose. “This tweet?”
“Yeah,” Fushiguro says quietly. “There’s video, of you and Getou-san, in public. Fighting, and…………”
“Confessing,” Itadori pipes up.
“Crying,” Nobara adds.
Gojou doesn’t say anything— just stays silent, holding Nobara’s phone in his big hands. He’s staring hard at the screen, eyes trained on the tweet, gaze hot and fixed as the scene replays.
Nobara’s phone volume is still turned up, and the tinny voices of the video blare out from the speakers.
“Suguru, why can’t you just listen!” Gojou’s voice repeats from the video. “I love you!”
Gojou stands frozen to the ground right in front of them, his big hands clutched around Nobara’s phone, whole body curled around the small moment in time playing in his palms.
Itadori shifts uneasily from foot to foot, glancing at Nobara and Fushiguro from the corners of his eyes. Fushiguro shrugs silently, and Nobara shrugs too. They’re already behind schedule— if Gojou-sensei wants to watch a two-minute video, it’s not going to make much of a difference.
Fushiguro holds up his phone silently to show the time on his lock screen, his wallpaper a cityscape sunset. It’s 2:24pm, apparently.
Nobara sighs and looks down at her shoes, the well-worn leather of her penny loafers. The tree leaves high above them rustle gently in the light summer breeze, and dappled shadows dance on the ground beneath their feet. The college girls around them seem to have dispersed, ready to enjoy their Friday afternoon.
Nearly one hour behind schedule, huh?
Hopefully they can finish fast— Nobara glances back up at her teacher.
Gojou is still watching the video, eyes open wide behind his sunglasses, tall body hunched and frozen around Nobara’s phone. Noises from the video abruptly cut off, as the video clip ends.
Gojou blinks, moves a hand to tap at the screen.
“There’s a series of video clips,” Nobara says slowly. “Under the main tweet, there’s more tweets and video clips.”
“Right,” Itadori clears his throat. “They, uh, got the whole thing.”
“Like, the whole confession,” Fushiguro mumbles.
Gojou exhales deeply, then blinks open his eyes, pale lashes fluttering behind his sunglasses. His face breaks into a grin, brilliant and warm.
“Wow…..” Gojou breathes, looking up into the cloudless summer sky, phone still clutched in his big hands. “This was almost six years ago, you know?” Gojou beams, cheeks pink and eyes shining as he hands back Nobara’s phone.
“Yeah?” Nobara takes her phone cautiously.
“Yup, almost exactly six years, since that was in August.” Gojou fishes out his phone from his pocket. “Nobara, can you send that to me?”
“Sure,” Nobara clears her throat, taps to share the tweet.
“Sensei, are you sure this is alright?” Fushiguro asks slowly, cautiously. “I know you and Getou-san never kept anything hidden, but this is…”
“Really public,” Itadori adds. “And sensei, you used a bit of your cursed technique, didn’t you?”
“Mmmmm,” Gojou hums, his phone buzzing as Nobara sends over the tweet. “I don’t think it’s really news to anyone who know us…” He trails off as he starts typing furiously on his phone.
“Well, for a non-sorcerer,” Nobara starts, propping her hands on her hips. “It’s a lovers’ quarrel that happened to be in public, you know? Like, an interesting and freaky couple’s fight, but it is just a couple’s fight after all.”
Gojou chuckles as he slips his phone back in his pants pocket. “That’s right!” He beams again, his grin brilliant and dazzling in the sun. “Besides, Suguru won’t care either!”
Itadori hums curiously, and Fushiguro sighs. “Alright, well, if that’s the case—”
“The mission!” Gojou exclaims, clapping his hands together. He’s still grinning with all his teeth, his whole face shining with excitement. “We’ll finish up this job super fast and head straight to dinner!”
“Ahhhhhh,” Gojou sighs. His cheeks are flushed pink, face tilted up to stare at the rustling tree leaves dancing in the wind. “Can’t wait to show this—”
“If we need to get to Ikebukuro by 6:30,” Nobara interrupts, sliding her phone away. “Then we really need to hurry!”
“It’s almost 2:30,” Fushiguro sighs. He shifts to move away from under the shade of the tree.
Itadori laughs and pulls at his jacket to sling it over his shoulder. “Won’t be a problem for us, though!”
Gojou grins again, as he turns away to lead them into the university gates. “That’s right!” He sings, nearly dancing on his feet, a spring in each of his long strides. “Now hurry up!”
8.
Gojou attracts attention everywhere he goes. But today, with his flashy clothes and the excited way he’s bouncing on his feet, all the college girls turn to look at him, smiling and whispering behind their hands.
Nobara grits her teeth and jogs after Gojou as he skips through the university gates. The boys trail behind, nudging at each other.
Inside the main gates, there are more college girls grouped into little cliques— everyone hiding under the shade of gingko trees lining the stone pathways. In the open-air plaza of the campus, all around them are tall gingko trees, huge green shrubs with pink hibiscus flowers, and convenience store booths built right into Victorian-style school buildings.
Here, among the trees and shrubs, the cicadas are shriller than ever, the heat and humidity relentless under the cloudless blue sky.
The college girls are turning their heads to look at Gojou, and glancing at Nobara and the boys, too. The girls’ curious glances feel solid and tangible, their attention just as weighted and heavy as the moisture in the air.
Nobara feels the hair on the back of her neck prickle and rise, and puts on a little burst of speed to catch up to Gojou’s side.
“Sensei,” Nobara pants out, sweating a little bit through the collar of her uniform shirt. “So— you and Getou Suguru are really together?”
“Mmm-hmmm,” Gojou hums, slowing down a little. He winks at Nobara in that way anime characters do, with a sparkly star and cheery sound effect. “We’ve known each other since high school, you know!”
“But you haven’t been a couple…” Nobara wipes her forehead. “For the entire time, right? That you’ve known each other?”
Gojou laughs, positively sparkling behind his sunglasses, the sun shining bright above him, lighting up his pale hair and blinding white smile.
Nobara squints. Too dazzling.
“Officially, no!” Gojou declares, still chuckling. He glances back at the boys behind them, who are following at a more sedate pace, whispering about something.
“It’s been almost six years now,” Gojou adds. He matches Nobara’s strides, and glances down at her. “Our anniversary is coming up, actually.”
“Oh really?” Nobara wrinkles her nose. This guy is even wearing cologne today. “How are you two celebrating?”
Gojou sighs, raises a hand to tousle his hair. “Well, it’s gonna be what we planned last year, I think. We didn’t really get to celebrate then, so we’ll have to make up for it this time around.”
Nobara hums thoughtfully, wiping at her sweaty forehead. The slight summer breeze ruffles the pleats of her skirt, blows gently at the light jacket tied around Gojou’s shoulders. The zipper on his fancy white shirt flashes bright under the sun.
“So,” Nobara begins, smoothing down her skirt. “What were you planning for last year, then? For your five-year anniversary?”
Gojou chuckles. He reaches into his pocket and fishes out his phone. “You wanna know?”
“I asked, didn’t I?” Nobara rolls her eyes. The boys have caught up to them now, walking behind Nobara and Gojou. Fushiguro has also unbuttoned his uniform jacket.
“Well……” Gojou trails off, tapping at his phone. “If you must know!”
He grins, beaming wide and brilliant, and shoves his phone screen in Nobara’s face. “I was going to propose!”
Nobara blinks, stops to clutch at Gojou’s phone. They all stop, right there in the middle of the paved stone path, huddled around Gojou’s phone in the middle of the campus plaza. Itadori elbows his way forward to look at the screen, too.
“Wow,” Itadori breathes. “That looks nice!”
Fushiguro peeks at the screen and grunts noncommittally.
Nobara tilts Gojou’s phone against the glare of the sun. It’s an image of two identical platinum rings, nestled in two Tiffany turquoise velvet boxes. White ribbons are draped carefully around the open ring boxes, posed daintily on a smooth wooden table.
The rings have a thick platinum band, with a shining diamond set in the center. Nobara pinches her fingers to zoom in on one of the rings.
The diamond is emerald-cut, rectangular and scintillating. Dazzling and neat, perfectly aligned within the thick platinum band of the ring.
“Hmmmmm,” Nobara hums, shoving Gojou’s phone back. “Not bad.”
Gojou beams, cheeks pink. “Right!” He glances down at his phone, big hands gentle as he taps at the screen, starts walking again. “So, that was my plan last year.”
“Marriage after five years, huh?” Nobara smiles, glances at the boys out of the corner of her eyes. “I guess that sounds about right.”
Gojou just chuckles, and they all follow him deeper into campus. They walk past the gingko trees, shade from the little green leaves dancing at their feet.
“But, sensei…” Itadori says tentatively. “With the video made public, and with the school……Does that......…”
“Change anything?” Nobara adds. “Make anything….more difficult?”
Fushiguro stays silent, but he’s gazing curiously at Gojou, too.
Gojou throws his head back and laughs, the sound of his laughter bubbly and bold.
“Ahhhhh Yuuji,” Gojou grins, peering at them from behind his sunglasses. “Let this be a lesson to you— and Nobara, Megumi, too!”
Nobara narrows her eyes. Beside her, Fushiguro sighs softly and wipes at his temples.
“Men,” Gojou announces grandly. “Are scared and intimidated by perfection!”
“…”
“…”
“Uhhhhhhh…..” Itadori trails off, shoots a panicked look back at Nobara and Fushiguro.
“They never go for their ideal!” Gojou exclaims, beaming and gesturing while he walks. “Like, the strongest, most beautiful, most perfect person in the world! They think it’s unattainable, an ideal they can never reach! And so, they settle for whatever they think is the easiest around them—”
“Disgusting,” Nobara spits.
“Right?” Gojou laughs again.
Fushiguro sighs. “Gojou-sensei, we should—”
“But I’m not like them, you know!” Gojou interjects. He grins and gives a thumb’s up, blue eyes glimmering, white teeth shining.
“…Yeah,” Itadori manages. He glances at Nobara and Fushiguro again, scrunches his face up in a question. Nobara shrugs.
“Noooo, not me,” Gojou repeats slowly. He exhales, and glances up as they make their way past a modern-looking building, a tall stone grey tower with a FamilyMart at the entrance.
“I saw the moon, high up in the sky,” Gojou smiles, and nudges his sunglasses up his nose. The summer sky flashes bright on his dark lenses, a vivid blue reflection. “And it was the most beautiful sight in the world.”
“I realized I love everything about it,” Gojou murmurs, voice deep and sweet, like he’s sinking into a dream. “This one and only moon, high up in the sky. And I wanted it to shine only for me. So…I reached out, and made it my own.”
Nobara blinks. Opens her mouth, and pauses. Tries to think of something to say.
The boys are silent beside her, too, as they all walk together on the winding stone path. Weaving around the school buildings and making their way deeper into campus.
Here, away from the main gates of the university, the crowds of students have thinned out completely, with only a few people lingering around. The cicadas ring loudly all around them, echoing among the trees and buildings. Away from the crowds and here among the trees, the heat and humidity feels only slightly less oppressive.
Itadori gapes openly at Gojou as he stumbles along. Fushiguro tousles his hair and ducks his head down, shoves his hands into his pockets.
“Well, everything is easy for me, anyway!” Gojou grins, turning to them abruptly, the shift in his mercurial moods sharp and jarring.
“…”
“…”
“Right,” Fushiguro sighs, massaging his temples.
Gojou laughs again, the peals of his laughter loud and effervescent. “So I don’t care about going public, or whatever the school wants to say! The lesson is, don’t be afraid to reach higher!”
Itadori clears his throat. His wide eyes dart between Gojou, Fushiguro, and Nobara. “Wow, uh— yeah!”
Nobara grins— can’t help but chuckle a bit, too. “There’s no hardship too difficult, right? Something like that?”
“Yup!” Gojou beams. He comes to a stop in front of a squat, Victorian-style building with white walls, brown brick arches, and scalloped terracotta roofs. They all stop in their steps, too, following Gojou’s lead.
There are rose bushes, with thorny branches and big green leaves, lining the cobblestone pathway leading to the building entrance. The entrance is a set of heavy double wooden doors with fancy glass panels.
Nobara shields her eyes and cranes her neck to peer at the little signpost by the building doors.
Gojou clears his throat and grins widely at them, his teeth sparkling in the sun. “Now, we’re here at the site— let’s hurry up and finish!”
—
Footnotes:
1. I wanted to try a list format with small sections for this story, like a list of Nobara’s current concerns.
2. Gojo’s profile says he has a habit of being late, but not to the degree of being scolded for it. But I think if he’s meeting with his students, he probably wouldn’t care all that much about how late he’s gonna be. And especially if he needs to take time to dress up for date night with his one and only!!!!!!!
3. Ochanomizu University is a highly ranked national women’s university in Tokyo. I made up the buildings and overall campus setting. Japan does have labor restrictions for minors, such as total working hours & time frames for work.
4. Itadori’s profile says one of his special talents is doing impressions, and so I think he’d do a fun impression of Suguru, haha!! I am assuming Inumaki can write words, but I thought it’d be cute if he just uses emoji on purpose.
5. The moon imagery about Suguru is from Part 2. I wrote some notes in the last couple chapters over there. The video that they’re all watching is based on events from Part 1, of course.
Mood board (link):
