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Once Gojo-sensei told him that, “There is no curse more twisted than love”.
Yuuta assumed at first that he was referring to Rika.
He never entertained the thought that Gojo-sensei experienced something like that firsthand.
It started with little things.
A crumpled picture falling from a pocket, quickly swiped from the ground.
Pink on the corners of eyes, puffy and tired.
Baking a birthday cake on February 3rd, refusing to say whom it’s for.
It sort of made him wonder.
How much does anyone really know about Gojo?
When someone describes him, it is always the same two things:
The strongest, and annoying as hell.
( Depending on who you’re asking, handsome can also be a trait )
Nobody really asks him questions, though.
⋆˚꩜｡
It’s a slow day at Jujutsu High.
The seven of them are currently walking outside, along the pathways, planning to enter a random, unused classroom to hang out.
After Yuuta returned from Africa, he’s been trying to reconnect with Toge, Maki, and Panda.
And since he’s never met the first years, it would probably be good to befriend them too.
Panda said that they’re a strong bunch this year.
Yuuta’s heard plenty about the Sukuna Vessel, Itadori Yuuji, and he knows that the girl with the Straw Doll Technique is Kugisaki Nobara, but he doesn’t know much about the Ten Shadows boy.
He fights the urge to ask him his name, but he probably should know this.
Panda said it once, but not enough times for it to stick.
At the time, it reminded him of someone Gojo-sensei told him of, but regardless, he has no recollection.
The boy stares at him as they walk, frowning slightly.
Did I kill his friend or something?
Oh, right. I actually did.
Itadori-san.
He starts to sweat.
In his peripheral vision, Maki glances at the Ten Shadows, but the boy only twists his head away from them and instead focuses his attention on Itadori.
He’s animately gesturing as he exclaims to Kugisaki-san about some sort of movie.
Yuuta doesn’t catch much of the conversation, only that her lip is curled upwards in an unappealing squint, and is occasionally interrupting Itadori with comments like, “Cinema is dead,” or, “I’d rather combust than watch that.”
Itadori, however, seems either uncaring, or concerningly oblivious to her.
The Ten Shadows is still watching, listening in. Contradicting his usual cold and sharp expressions, he observes the pair with a small crinkle in his eyes.
Like a tsundere.
Maki scoffs under her breath as if she heard his thoughts.
She leans towards Yuuta.
He stares at her a bit, she seems to have changed a lot since he last saw her.
Her hair is short now, wears a tank top, has burn scars, and broken glasses.
Has she always been this muscular?
He blinks.
She whispers, “That’s Fushiguro,”
She flickers her eyes towards the black haired sorcerer, who is now actually smiling, though it is close-lipped and soft. He’s still looking directly at Itadori.
“He’s… my cousin,” She continues. “He has some sort of… strange soft spot for Itadori.”
Yuta nods. “I… see.” He glances over to where Toge is walking.
Something in common already.
He might’ve stared for too long, Maki lets out a short, soft laugh and slightly tilts up her head.
⋆˚꩜｡
The classroom feels fuller than it ever has.
This school wasn’t made for this few students.
It probably would have had more if the circumstances were different.
It’s dusty.
Yuta dusts off a chair for himself, but Toge appears behind him.
He dusts off another for him.
He’s everywhere I turn.
Maki, he notices, chooses a seat next to Kugisaki, who flushes immediately.
Yuuta shakes his head, smiling. Maki is the sort that gets every girl in a ten-mile radius tripping over her own feet just by existing.
“Guys, let’s move some desks closer together.” Itadori says, all joyful innocence despite the scars that strain as he smiles, ones that remind everyone of the curse he must endure.
I can’t imagine being like him.
“Why would I want to be closer to you, freak?” Kugisaki rebuttals. Despite her harsh words, she laughs and pushes her desk towards his.
Fushiguro also shoves a desk towards him, but with surgical precision, and it wooshes past Yuuta.
The force from it swishes his hair. He sits in shock.
Fushiguro looks incredibly serious, to the point of being comical.
Toge quietly shakes into his hand. Cute.
Itadori, grins even wider, somehow. He bounces on the balls of his feet.
“Thanks Fushiguro!”
Yuuta watches the sorcerer. ( A tsundere confirmed!!! )
Kugisaki is holding her breath from the effort to stop laughing. Out of annoyance, Fushiguro lifts up her desk, right from where her elbows were resting, and aligns it with the others.
Kugasaki-san looks ready to throw her chair at him.
⋆˚꩜｡
The seven of them are sitting in their little cluster of desks in the middle of the classroom.
In this weather, Yuuta sure is grateful for air conditioning. After hours of talking, however, even the loud, clanky fans aren’t a match for the heat.
Eventually, he loses count of how much time has passed.
They take turns dozing off.
When Maki fell asleep on Kugasaki’s shoulder, she stiffened and blushed past her collarbones.
The next time he wakes up, the room is alive again.
It takes him a few blinks to regain full consciousness, but as soon as Toge brushes his arm with his elbow, tilts his head, and smiles, Yuuta’s mind has already continued spiraling.
“I mean it, Panda. There is no woman in this world like Jennifer Lawrence.” Itadori says, with a serious gleam in his eyes.
Of course the only thing he can be serious about is celebrity crushes.
Panda takes his turn, explaining why he thinks Megan Thee Stallion is the only correct choice.
Personally, Yuuta doesn’t have any celebrity crushes. If he were to date anyone in the world he wanted, it would probably be someone he’s already close with. Someone he can trust.
Toge nudges his arm again.
Before his brain can load, Kugisaki groans. “Ughhhhhh. I want to be in love! No fairrrr.”
Maki grunts. “No fair who? Nobody here is in love either.”
Kugisaki just continues complaining, now adopting Maki as her victim.
Yuuta isn’t listening, though.
All he can think about is Toge’s elbow, touching him.
He still hasn’t pulled away.
Suddenly, the door bursts open.
Conversation dies.
Yuuta knows what everyone is thinking.
Mission? Is it another mission?
“Well hello, my lovely students!!”
Everyone continues talking.
Gojo-sensei pouts.
Only Itadori-san looks his way, and gives him a enthusiastic wave and a “Hiiiiiii!!!!!!!”
Gojo slumps down into his chair behind his desk, seemingly rejuvenated by Itadori’s greeting.
Makes sense. His words are almost always enough to lighten someone’s mood.
Not Fushiguro’s. He crinkles his eyebrows and narrows his eyes like the mere thought of Itadori speaking to Gojo-sensei was offensive.
He flies to the rescue, petting his friend’s forearm and softly asking him what’s wrong.
Yuuta’s no fool. He sees the satisfied gleam in the black-haired boy’s eyes.
Somehow, this topic has lasted fifteen minutes.
Somehow, even Yuuta’s obnoxious teacher gets involved.
“Hey Sensei, what do you think?” Itadori asks.
“About this whole love thing?” Kugisaki adds.
Gojo-sensei purses his lips. “What about it?”
“...”
Yuuta doesn’t know what prompted him.
Actually, he does.
He’s been thinking about what Gojo said at the hospital.
He supposes it’s nosiness.
He shouldn’t have asked.
“Have you ever been in love, Sensei?”
⋆˚꩜｡
The students lean in, closely.
Even if they would never admit it out loud, they are all equally as curious as Yuuta.
Gojo-sensei quietly lets out a long exhale.
He clasps his hands in front of himself, and hesitates.
“Well I guess it… depends,”
Kugasaki rolls her eyes, mumbling something under her breath.
Panda encourages Gojo, “C’mon, tell ussss.”
Maki cleans her glasses.
Yuuta waits.
“I don’t know,” Gojo says, enunciating each word, ensuring he says this slowly and clearly. “Sometimes people have different ideas of what love is,”
His smile returns, emptier than before.
Maki looks ready to leave. “Just tell us ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”
“Then yes. I have.” His teacher, the strongest jujutsu sorcerer, fidgeted with his blindfold. He’s still smiling, but he tilts his head down, almost unnoticeably.
Gojo-sensei has been in love?
Yuuta wonders, passively, what expression Gojo is making underneath the cloth covering half of his face.
“Ohmygodactually??” Kugisaki jumps in her seat. There's a newfound sparkle in her eyes.
Scary.
“Woooah. Sensei, that’s soooo cool!” Itadori grins.
“Salmon,” agrees Toge.
Yuuta still isn’t satisfied. “Sensei, what’s it like?”
The rest of his classmates and juniors jump in to agree.
“Yeah, Gojo-sensei. I want to be in love too!” adds Kugisaki.
At that, Maki lets out a sigh, pitiful enough for Toge to pat her shoulder.
“It’s not all that fun, actually,” Gojo says. He’s met with confused glances.
“I wouldn’t advise any of you kids to fall in love,” He holds up a finger and points at them.
“...Why, though?” Panda quirks.
“We’re jujutsu sorcerers. You never know what is going to happen.”
Quiet understanding settles over the classroom.
Yuuta’s eyes widen.
“So, the person you love… is one of us?” Fushiguro asks softly. He didn’t seem interested in the conversation at first. Yuuta sort of assumed Fushiguro already knew about this, because he was raised by the man. Perhaps even this is too personal.
“Mm.” Gojo-sensei nods. His mouth twists into a straight, thin line.
“Who?” Asks Maki. Her brow is scrunched.
“That person’s not really…around anymore. It doesn’t matter.” Gojo-sensei says softly.
Oh.
“...What were they like?” Kugsaki hesitates.
With this, Gojo’s smile returns again. It’s smaller, and softer. He looks lost in nostalgia.
“Ah.” He taps his chin playfully with his pointer finger.
“He was a bit like me.” Gojo reminisces. “He was very strong, at the time we were equal in strength.”
As strong as Gojo Satoru?
( There is also, the surprise of Gojo’s sexual orientation, but Yuuta’s never cared much about those sort of things. )
Gojo continues, joyful just to speak of how intelligent, handsome, and perfect this man was.
“He was tall, and had long, black hair.” He sighs dramatically, causing Kugisaki to pretend to gag.
But in an instant, the tone got melancholic again.
“He was the only one who has ever truly understood me.” Sensei says, almost a whisper.
Then, it’s gone.
⋆˚꩜｡
Gojo grins toothily. He clasps his hands once more and announces,
“Oh, right!”
He opens the drawer of the desk, pulling out a thick wad of paper.
“I’ve got some mini-missions for all of you!” He stands up, flipping through the stand in his arms.
Sensei starts to pass them out.
“Don’t worry, my dear students, these curses are low grade! They shouldn’t cause you any trouble at all.”
He continues speaking, something about groups and reports.
The seven kids exchange glances.
It’s clear the conversation is over.
Gojo-sensei’s even stranger than usual.
“There’s no curse more twisted than love.” -Gojo Satoru
“At least curse me a little at the end.” -Getou Suguru