Tell The Moths In My Tummy To Relocate, Please

Tell the moths in my tummy to relocate, please

Synopsis: In which 40° weather grants you insight into Satoru’s powers Word Count: 2.0k

Story Content: Female reader, Fluff, Mutual Pining, Seemingly unrequited pining, Idiots in love but they don’t even know it yet, Slow-burn (doesn’t get anywhere), Crackfic, We learn the many ways in which Satoru can use his technique, Reader POV!

A/N: this is a celcius only household (kidding. but not really.) This has been in my drafts for a reaaaally long time im just glad its out honestly

GOJO SATORU is a frigid blast of cold air during a warm summer day. 

It’s surprising, considering his typical characterisation. People, yourself included, likened him to the sun. Bright and blinding. That’s how the pillar of the Jujutsu world should be, they’d say. He’s the epitome of sorcery. The honored one, they’d praise. 

Just to be clear, you thought of him as the sun for entirely different reasons. Reasons that you weren’t about to go into too detail about. But just as a tiny, small little hint: It had to do with his body temperature. And you were currently being quickly betrayed by what you once thought was fact.

“Am I a portable air-con?”

“Yeah,” you spit at him. Half in betrayal and half in fascination, you huff, gripping his elbows to keep him still as you tuck your body against him, forcing his technique over you with your own. 

The chill settles into your bones and makes you sigh sweetly. It almost makes you forget about how the sun was shining a little too brightly into your eyes. 

In the back of your mind, you can’t help but envy him and his thousand dollar shades. Did he bring a spare? Could you have them? 

Keep reading

FACE MASSAGE

You give your boyfriend a nice, relaxing face massage when Sukuna, being bored out of his mind, takes over Yuuji’s body.

Featuring: gn. reader x SUKUNA RYOMEN, ft. Yuuji Itadori Contents & warnings: FLUFF, Itadori is 18 and is a vessel for Sukuna

a/n: alrighty, this one I wrote randomly thinking of how the lines actually are quite a good guide for a face massage (also, if you never had face or a scalp massage, you're missing out!). i usually write Sukuna as his separate person, but here he's in a vessel. it's nothing but purely fluffed up piece of late-night babbling, enjoy <3

It was already late, the clock showed almost 11PM, but you were not asleep. Yuuji had just gotten home, taken a shower, and breathed out loudly, whining to heavens about how he had worked his butt off during the training session with Gojo. Your boyfriend came back all tired, and the hot shower didn't do much to soothe his strained muscles.

"I'm soooo tired," he whined again, and you couldn't help but smile at the adorable pout his lips had formed as he walked into the room you shared with him.

"'My poor thing," you cooed, kissing his forehead as he sat down next to you. "How about I give you a little face massage?"

"Yes, please," Itadori nodded vigorously and you giggled as you instructed him how to position himself and when you had his head comfortably over your lap, you warmed up a nice portion of face cream in your palms.

"Relax for me, baby," you told him, and he closed his eyes the moment your fingers made contact with his skin.

Yuuji loved the magic your hands performed upon his aching muscles, and he found head and face massages particularly relaxing, so it wasn't surprising when he began to doze off in a matter of moments. With him half-asleep, you could take your time to admire the boy who had shamelessly stolen your heart with just one of his wide and extremely kind smiles, and as you glided your fingers smoothly across his forehead, down his temples, cheekbones, and jaw, you fell in love all over again. At first you were extremely gentle, stroking along his features, warming the skin as you went, before applying more pressure to the knots under his skin.

You rubbed small circles across his forehead, paying a little more attention to the space between his eyebrows and near his temples before lowering your hands to work the lotion into the large muscles over his cheeks. Using your thumbs, you forced the tension away with enough pressure to make Yuuji purr softly. Then something unexpected happened. Black, tattoo-like lines appeared under your fingers and you slowed your movements, startled by the sight.

You knew that there is a curse living rent-free in your boyfriend, and you've seen Sukuna before, but he had never come out like that, for no reason, without a fight, without a single trigger, so you had no idea what to expect.

"Continue," he ordered, and you swallowed, pressing your fingertips back to his cheeks. Ironically, the lines that adorned his face made for a perfect guide for the massage, and you unconsciously followed them.

"Is there a reason for your appearance now?" you asked cautiously, keeping your fingernails away from the extra pair of eyes as you brushed over the bones beneath them.

"Nothing in particular," he replied lightly, looking up at you as his expression turned more serious. "Although I don't like you looking at me from above."

"You're literally on my lap."

"That's why I'll allow it, once. As for why," he relaxed his face again as you slid down his cheeks to work the muscle around his mouth and along his jawline. "Can you imagine how bored I am inside this brat?"

"I'm afraid not."

"You can't, that's right." A sigh left Sukuna's mouth. "What a pity, I'm bored out of my mind."

"I see, but please don't tire Yuuji any more, he's already exhausted."

"You should worry about yourself rather than him being tired."

"I probably should, but if you were to decide to kill me now, you wouldn't get to experience the wonders of my scalp massage, so if you're okay with such a loss..."

You were really pushing his buttons here, being way too brave for your own good, but he seemed comfortable with the situation, which gave you hope that you wouldn't be decapitated anytime soon.

"Proceed then, and I'll make my decision afterward."

You finished his facial massage with a few light strokes along his features and wiped your hands with a tissue to remove any excess cream that hadn't absorbed yet, before you sink your hands into his hair. "Could you flip over to your stomach?" Once that was done, and Sukuna turned almost too obediently as you guided his head back to your lap, you used your fingers to brush through his blush-toned hair, pushing it back and purposefully scratching the skin between the strands as you dragged your hands to the nape of his neck. Once again, you used circular motions and quite a bit of pressure to stimulate the circulation and relax the tense muscles. You knew it was pleasurable, you knew how Yuuji's body reacted to your touch and the fact that it was the King of Curses at this moment couldn't change that. The only thing different was the silence, which would normally be filled with constant mewling and whimpering from your boyfriend, but you couldn't expect those from Sukuna. Frankly, you'd be startled if he suddenly started purring.

As you worked your magic, the man remained calm, his cheek pressed against your thigh and his arms behind your back and around your legs, and it didn't really bother you too much. His touch was almost non-existent, he just kept his hands there because they had to go somewhere.

"Do you find this acceptable?" you asked quietly, lowering your fingers to graze the back of his neck. Your thumbs slid down the line of muscles that connected them to his shoulders, and he moved his arms down, giving you more access to that area.

"Acceptable is a good term," he muttered, exhaling deeply as you firmly squeezed the shoulder muscles, working out the tight knots there. Normally, this would turn Itadori into a whining mess, needy of affection and ready for endless cuddles, but for Sukuna, you put more effort into what you were doing. It felt strange. Technically, it was still your boyfriend's body that you had touched many times before, but somehow it felt like you were massaging a foreign man. Even though your fingertips knew the dips and curves of his silhouette, your mind found it hard to process.

Lost in thoughts, you let your hands go lower, onto the shoulder blades and near the spine, following the line down, working your palms into his toned back, only snapping back to reality when one of your hands brushed over the stitches. Oh yes, Yuuji had injured himself the day before and because of Shoko's absence, he had to have the wound stitched up. He shouldn't be training with that at all, but he's so stubborn...

"Sukuna?", you addressed him quietly, trying to sound as respectful and polite as possible.

"What do you want?" he replied, his voice indifferent, but he knew from your tone that you needed something from him.

"There is a wound on Yuuji's back. Could you heal it so that I can massage that area as well?"

“I don’t mind the pain. I don’t feel it,” he informed bluntly.

“But I can’t massage over stitches. I know it’s nothing for you, so pleaseee?”

"You're pushing your luck, you know that, right?" Sukuna laughed. Oh, how sneaky you were, he loved it, and it's only because he really enjoyed the massage that he granted your request. The sewn-up wound healed before your eyes and black stitches fell away. Your whole face lit up as you ran your hand over the spot.

"Thank youu," you smiled, and as if on autopilot, your body bent forward. You planted a soft kiss on the top of his head before you could think twice and only realized what you'd done when it was too late. Oh. "I'm sorry," you muttered quickly.

"You're so fucking clingy," he scoffed. "Humans..."

"Don't be mad, I'm just grateful," you cooed, returning your nails to his scalp to hopefully distract him from wanting to cut you to ribbons, and it seemed to do the trick as he melted over your thigh, relaxing his body once again.

In few minutes the black markings disappeared, your boyfriend was back and you were left confused but relieved.

[part one] trouble - takuma ino

word count: 7.5k warnings: swearing, canon typical violence (reader gets stabbed) summary: (y/n) only wants one thing- to be a grade one sorcerer- and she knows that forming friendships is the last thing that's going to get her that title. so why does takuma ino insist on trying to get close to her? contents: enemies/rivals to lovers semi-slowburn, gojo!reader

part one: "got so much to lose" ___

Being assigned a mentor that she idolized for a good portion of her life, (y/n) couldn’t have been happier the day she got the news.  She was certain that with her powerful cursed technique and his guidance she could be promoted to a Grade One Sorcerer in no time.

More than anything, all she’d ever wanted in life was to be a strong jujutsu sorcerer.  Being the strongest wasn’t exactly an available position, seeing as her brother had taken the title before she was even born.  Just because they got along well didn’t mean she couldn’t be bitter about it.  Surpassing Satoru may have been impossible.  But she’d give sorcery her everything in order to get as close as possible- until only his infinity kept her from taking the title.

The only thing that could’ve possibly thrown a wrench in her plans would’ve been having to divide Nanami’s attention with another sorcerer.  Which shouldn’t have been a problem.

And then there was Takuma Ino.

Bright eyed, quick witted, smart ass, Takuma Ino.

(y/n) had Nanami’s guidance to herself for one glorious week before he showed up and stole half of his time and attention all for himself.  She didn’t believe there could be a person more selfish than her brother, but Takuma was a close second.  Going to the higher ups himself to ask for Nanami to bestow him the honor of Grade One because of a childish adoration for him made (y/n’s) stomach twist the day he joined them.

She’d never met him before that day, never even knew of him or his cursed technique, but as strong as he allegedly might have been, she knew right off the bat there wasn’t a chance she could get along with him.  Not when he swooped in and stole her mentor.

On the other hand, Takuma Ino couldn’t take a hint.  Days turned into weeks and he had yet to break the ice with her in between assignments and training.  At first he didn’t think much of it, it only made sense for the other half of the Gojo siblings to be a little more closed off than her extroverted older brother.  So when every invitation to after-work drinks or questions about her personal life got brushed off or ignored completely, Ino tried to let it go.  Surely with time they would get closer, right? They were both working under Nanami together, so at some point time had to play a hand in things.

Or so he thought.

Weeks turned into nearly three months, and his positive attitude started to dim with hopelessness.  Even then, he’d made an effort with her.  This time though, rather than try to casually get closer, he addressed his thoughts exactly.

“Gojo, wait up,” 

He caught her one night after finishing up some paperwork later than usual.  The pair had gotten a bit caught up with a Grade One Curse that put them through a few more setbacks than usual, thus an extra lengthy report having to be completed before the end of the day.

To his surprise, she’d whirled around on the front steps of the school as soon as he called for her, completely frozen in place, and staring at his approaching figure with an expression he didn’t know how to read.

“Hey, weird question,” He started with an awkward smile, his hand reaching up to rub at the back of his neck with his nervous energy.  She didn’t say anything, just watched him fumble before her, tracking the nervous movements.  “But did I do something to upset you? We’ve just been working together for a while, and it sort of feels like you don’t like me” 

(y/n) blinks at him, remaining silent for just long enough to make his discomfort spike.

“Is that all?” She asks, furrowing her brow slightly at him.

“Wh- I mean, yeah, I guess,” He stammers over his answer, not quite understanding the question.  “It’s just… you never want to grab a coffee or talk much, and we’re gonna be working together for a while longer so-” 

“I don’t think so,” She shakes her head, her expression unwavering, and her tone just even enough to keep him from picking up on the animosity behind it.  “I think that our little partnership here will be over soon enough.  Once I’m promoted,” 

Ino doesn’t quite react to that, opening and closing his mouth once and then twice as he tries to figure out what he’s supposed to respond with.  (y/n) always carried a strong aura of confidence when on assignments, she was sure of herself when it came to the action and the tracking.  Even her reports were concise but held a perfect attention to detail.  But her confidence in herself now felt off somehow, definitely different from what he was used to.

“Does that answer your question?” She asks, waiting patiently a few steps below him.

A knot forms between his brows as he shakes his head back at her, slowly and unsurely.

“Gojo, I just want us to get to know each other bett-” 

“Well for starters, don’t call me by my family name.  I hate it.  Just call me (y/n),” She interrupts him, annoyance beginning to shine through in her voice.  “There, now you know something.  Happy now?” 

Ino can only stand before her in shock, never having had a conversation that wasn’t related to an assignment that lasted this long, and this certainly wasn’t the direction he wanted it to go.  But nothing could have prepared him for this.

“I mean, why do you even need me to like you? Isn’t Nanami’s approval enough?” The sudden question catches him completely off guard, and all Ino can do is stand in place and hear her out.  “Isn’t that your whole thing?” She adds with a scoff.  “Isn’t that why you’re here? Because you just had to have him as your mentor?” 

He was barely following the root cause of her aggravation, but she couldn’t possibly have been jealous, could she? It’s not like much changed, she wasn’t missing out on assignments or extra training time because he’d requested to work with Nanami.  So Ino was led to believe that the only possible source of distaste for him had to have been personal.

“Truth is, Takuma, I don’t care about drinks, and I don’t care about getting to know you,” She deadpans, completely unresponsive to the way the words clearly hurt his feelings with the way his face falls and his shoulders slump.  “My only goal here is to be promoted to Grade One, and I’ve known Nanami long enough to know he is the fastest route to that, you understand, right?” 

No, he doesn’t understand.  He understands the surface level of her goal, it was something he could relate to, hence why he believed they’d make an even better team if they strengthened their bond.  However, Ino couldn’t wrap his mind around the coldness that was her driving force of achieving that goal.

“I want that too,” He tells her honestly.  “I thought that make us better partners” 

“We’re not partners,”

The words are harsh, but her tone keeps that same annoying steady level, and it’s hard for him to be irritated with her when all he really feels is hurt and confusion.

“And it’s silly to try and make friends in this line of work.  You should be grateful enough to have a colleague” 

That was the end of the conversation.  Ino vaguely remembers a short wave of her hand when she left him on those steps and made her way home, but it wasn’t as clear of an image as the rest of their exchange.  In a twisted way, he had gotten what he wanted.  He learned a little more about Gojo (y/n).  He learned that she was a cold, uncaring woman that didn’t live for anything except being the strongest she could be.  Even if it meant shutting good things out of her life, apparently. ___

From that day on, Ino never tried to get close to her again.  He was as polite and cordial as was necessary, but there was an obvious shift in the way he treated her.  Even Nanami noticed in the first week after their talk on the stairs.  Ino was usually a chatterbox, so it would be impossible to not notice when he shut up.  

It took a good month or two before the older sorcerer felt a need to address it, and when he did, it certainly caught (y/n) by surprise.

She’d been sorting through hers and Ino’s reports of an assignment they’d gone on, debriefing Nanami on it while he nursed his second coffee of the day.  So when he cut off her explanation of when she’d applied her cursed technique to deliver the final blow and exorcize the thing, she looked startled.

“What happened with you and Ino, anyways?” 

Her lips remained parted, having been interrupted mid sentence, but she’s completely still for a few seconds as she processes the unexpected question.

“Nothing?” She replies with a tone of cluelessness.  “You know I don’t like to be interrupted” 

“My apologies,” Nanami says with a short chuckle that tells her he didn’t care much for her preferences.  “But something happened, he’s been acting differently, don’t you think?” 

She narrows her eyes slightly, sensing the thinly veiled attempts at prying.  Nanami was never one to get involved in interpersonal relationships, so he must have had good reason for asking her about this now, but she couldn’t dream of what could possibly be so intriguing to him.

“Yeah,” She shrugs in mock defeat.  “He takes it personally that I don’t want to get drinks every single night after work or something,” She tries to brush it off.  “You know that’s not my thing.  Anyways, back to this report-” 

“Seems like you were a little harsher than that,” Nanami interrupts again, setting his mug down to fold his hands together over his desk.  “Don’t you think?” 

(y/n) sighs, and finally drops the stack of papers on his desk.

“This is ridiculous,” She huffs as she stares at him with a bored look.  “It’s not like it’s affecting his performance, so what does it even matter?” 

“You’ve been burying yourself again” Is all Nanami replies with.

(y/n) clenches her jaw.  The downside of having a mentor that knew her so well meant that he could read her better than most people.  He simply sits and waits with all the patience in the world for her to say something, also knowing that she was just dying for him to move their attention back to the report.

When he doesn’t, (y/n) rolls her eyes.

“Okay, with everything going on with…” She trails off, not wanting to say Geto’s name out of habit.  She’d spent so long walking on eggshells around the subject that even now, without Satoru present, she finds her throat closing up before her mouth could even form the shape of his name.  “If this parade of his is really happening, then you and I both know that Satoru will finally have to kill him” 

Her words are still blunt, even without saying his name.

Nanami remains still, but she can tell his neutral expression is beginning to crack.

“I just don’t want to lose my focus.  I need… I need to be prepared for anything” She tells him surely.

Nanami’s known (y/n) since she was eleven years old.  Which is long enough for him to understand the complicated relationship she had with her brother.  While she loved him and respected him greatly, it was no secret that she felt inadequate in comparison.  Back then, at least, she wasn’t as good at hiding her feelings.  These days she was practically an olympic athlete at burying any emotions that weren’t helpful in getting her the Grade One promotion.

“You are prepared,” He tells her, not a bone in his body believing otherwise.  “But don’t push people away.  Especially not ones trying to be your ally, (y/n)” 

At the drop of a pin her expression was stoic again as she shook her head nonchalantly.

“Thanks for the advice, but truthfully, I don’t need an ally,” She tells him confidently.  “I only need a mentor” 

When she leaves his office, Nanami sighs in defeat.  He waits a few extra minutes before getting started on his reports for the day, too sidetracked wondering just how involved he was going to have to get himself to make his juniors get along better. ___

The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons was as gruesome and traumatic as it was expected to be.  As ready as (y/n) was in her station in Shinjuku, she couldn’t help the spike in her heart rate as the reality of the situation really set in.

For once, her carefully crafted expression began to tear away.  And even Ino could see the anxiety behind her eyes.  He’d known that there was a history between Geto Suguru and Gojo Satoru, but he wasn’t sure how close (y/n) might have been to all of it, or how involved with Geto she might have been seeing as he’d been her brother’s closest friend.

He could see the way she tightened her grip on the glowing blue double sided axe that had been one of her favorite weapons to conjure up with her cursed energy, and he knew that if she was on edge, then tonight really would be more of a challenge than they were used to.  Because he’d never seen such behavior from her before.

Ino considered saying something to her, something encouraging, like Nanami would say, but he struggled to find the right words, and before he could muster up the courage to wing it, Satoru was teleporting before the two of them, and Ino wouldn’t dare speak over the strongest sorcerer.  Not when he was her brother.

(y/n) doesn’t look relieved by his sudden presence, even when he grins and puts a hand on her shoulder.

“About time for a fight we can have side by side, heh?” He asks, looking all too eager despite what’s bound to come.

Ino watches as her grip flexes and relaxes, before she lowers her weapon to her side, and then it disappears completely.  She tilts her chin up at her brother, her stare cold the longer she holds it.

Seeing them so close to one another, Ino realizes the Gojo siblings really don’t resemble one another.  (y/n’s) significantly shorter than him, and most of her features don’t mirror her brother’s.  The lack of stark white hair being the most noticeable difference between them.  He realizes that if they weren’t known by their status, then standing side by side people wouldn’t even assume they were related.

“I hope you’ve prepared yourself, Satoru,” She tells him, and she’s not necessarily loud, but even from a few feet away, Ino can hear the sharpness in her tone.

Even with that cold demeanor, there’s an underlying guilt in her words.  He could almost mistake it for sadness.

“Because I have” She adds, quieter this time.  The implication in her words is too heavy to be spoken any louder than a whisper.  She keeps her stare on the white bandages, knowing that Satoru could see and feel every intent behind her eyes.

He doesn’t respond.  Simply nods his head and warps away again.

It takes her a few moments to recollect herself before she’s conjuring up her axe again, her cursed energy buzzing in the air like static electricity as the weapon is created in her hands seemingly out of nothing.

To Ino’s surprise, she speaks to him first.

“If he doesn’t kill him, I might have to,” She says, not looking at him at first.  Her eyes focused on her weapon.  Then, she lifts her head and turns to meet his eyes.

The way he’s staring at her now makes her blood run cold, and she has to fight the way a chill tries to shiver down her spine.  His stare is wide eyed, and she can’t tell if he’s alarmed by her words or if it was pure concern written all over his face, but it was out of character for him to look anything besides excited, or hopeful.  How he looks at her now is the way a child looks at roadkill on the side of the road.  She doesn’t like it one bit.

“I don’t know if he’ll show here, or in Kyoto,” She continued despite the growing lump in her throat.  “But this… this has to end.  Tonight” 

She means every word, there’s no doubt in Ino’s mind that she intends to follow through on this promise.  So there’s nothing for him to do except nod in understanding.

“I trust your judgment,” He says, and the way her eyes widen slightly doesn’t go unnoticed by him.  “I’ll help you” 

Not knowing what to say, (y/n) shuts her mouth and gives him a small nod of acknowledgement.  Her instincts nagged at her to keep him far, far away from Geto Suguru.  He wasn’t your average curse user, he was cunning, and it wouldn’t surprise her if he didn’t already have ulterior motives planned for tonight.  Deep down, she had a feeling that he wouldn’t be able to raise a hand to her brother, but no one else was safe.

Satoru’s infinity always had a special layer that protected him from his one and only.  It didn’t extend to protect anyone else but him.  Hence her haste in putting an end to this cult of his.

With oncoming curses running rampant in the streets of Tokyo, there was no time to stand around and explain herself to Ino any more than she already had.  Even if she wanted to grab him by the elbow and make sure he stayed out of her way, he was already taking off after the first curse headed their way.

(y/n) had fought side by side with Ino for months now, and while she’d never admit it out loud, they did compliment each other well on assignments.  It was like all the time they spent training and taking on missions together subconsciously taught them to work in perfect synchronicity with one another.

If Ino faked left, she was following without second thought to throw off the alleged Grade Two, the axe made of her cursed energy lodging into the side of it’s large jugular with one heavy swing.  Spurts of purple liquid oozed out, staining both her weapon and her uniform, but the fresh blood was no bother to her as she used her momentum to swing downwards, dragging her axe along with her until the gash under it’s throat was lethal.  Just as she landed on the ground again, the beast crumpled to it’s death before dusting away as though it never existed.

No words needed to be exchanged as they took on the next curse, and the next, and the next.  Neither of them had ever dealt with an army of curses, and the more they exorcized the more difficult it was to keep their energy up, but neither would dare show it.

“Why did Nanami have to go to Kyoto!?” Ino groaned as he sent his fist through the face of a weaker curse, killing it on the spot.  

(y/n) scowled at the stains on her prized cursed weapon, flicking the head of the axe towards the ground to rid the majority of the blood.

“I wanted him to see that!” Ino continued to complain as he jogged to catch up with her, the pair eyeing the remaining curses on the street.

“Exorcize this huge one and I’ll vouch to him for you” (y/n) calls out, and Ino’s face splits into a beam as they both break into a sprint towards the eight legged curse trying to climb up a building.

“You’d do that?” He asks excitedly.  

She can’t help but roll her eyes, but a slight smile begins to play on her lips at the prospect of getting one step closer to the curse users allied with Geto.  Once they cleared enough of these curses, that is.  Her and Ino were more than capable of exorcizing a few measly curses, that much she was confident of.

With Ino’s mask over his face and (y/n’s) axe morphing into a kusarigama, they were on the curse in seconds.  She swung the chain wide, latching the blade into the nape of it’s neck and effectively having herself pulled off the ground as soon as it tried to scurry away.

She’s laughing as she swings through the air, her tight grip on the handle of her weapon the only thing keeping her from falling the twenty feet the curse had already pulled her.  Ino could almost laugh as well at the pure joy she clearly felt when it came to exorcizing curses.  For a moment, she almost reminded him of Satoru.  The crazed look in her eye, the uncharacteristic grin that nearly split her face in half, it was almost startling to see her so… feral.

But he can’t deny it excited him.  Her confidence in the field always boosted his own ego.  With their shared conviction, the massive arachnid-like curse was taken down and exorcized in near record time.

Heaving for breath and still grinning like a maniac, (y/n) was taking off again as soon as they hit the ground.  It took Ino a moment to catch up, trying to calculate which threat she was headed towards next.

“There’s a couple just a block ahead,” She called back to him just as he was gaining on her.  He pulls his mask up to uncover his face.  “We should split up to take them both, and then we go after him” 

Ino follows the direction of her finger as she points up to a curse user currently eyeing the fight happening between Satoru and Miguel.  He’s distanced enough that he’s almost hidden from the two, but it’s easy to tell that his prying eyes are focused on the hopes that Satoru would lose.

He’s a peculiar looking man, with long blonde hair and no shirt to show off the heart shaped pasties he had glued to his chest.  Ino couldn’t hide his peculiar expression as he eyed him from a distance.

Before he could comment on the odd appearance, a woman appeared beside him.  Ino’s quick to grab (y/n’s) attention again, but she’s already noticed the second curse user’s arrival.  Her jaw clenches.

“We need to hurry through these curses,” She warns.  “Who knows how long it takes until-” 

She’s interrupted mid thought, the sound of a flying object whizzing through the air right between the two.  The pair skid to a stop, watching with wide eyes as a swordstaff pierces into a park bench just to their left, after barely missing the both of them.

(y/n) clicks her tongue in annoyance, but doesn’t hesitate to grab the weapon by it’s hilt and pull it clean out of the metal bench effortlessly, eyes scanning the direction it had come from to launch it back.

“(y/n), the curses-” 

“You go after them,” She cuts Ino off before he could convince her to move forward with their original plan.  “I’ll be right behind you” 

He hesitates in place, hands twitching at his sides with uncertainty.  It aggravates her, the way he lingers, clearly worried.

“I don’t need your backup, Takuma,” She snaps at him.  “Now go!” 

He lingers for half a second longer, but from the sharp glare she sends him, he knows he’ll cause more harm than good if he sticks around.  So he gives her a nod of approval before he’s taking off again, his mask going back over his face before he reaches the curse.

Takuma Ino prided himself on his ability to trust his instincts.  Especially when it came to assignments.  Making snap decisions in less than a second could be the difference between life and death, and so far, he’d gambled correctly.  So he should have known that it wasn’t right to leave (y/n) to hunt down a curse user on her own.  He should have listened to the pestering voice in the back of his head and stood his ground, even if it would irritate her and go against her wishes, he should’ve trusted his own morality more.

After exorcizing both curses with only a little assistance from his Auspicious Beasts, he never would have imagined crossing paths with (y/n) again when she’s wriggling around on the ground surrounded by a pool of her own blood.  He doesn’t think he’s ever run faster in his life than he did in that moment.

The blade of a swordstaff is lodged between her shoulder blade and collarbone, so deep it went clean through, and at first glance he’s certain it’s pinning her to the concrete.  The wooden pole of the weapon was snapped and laying beside her in the blood, splintered on one end where she’d clearly broken it off.

“Holy shit,” He’s gasping as he falls to his knees, not caring about the blood staining the front of his pants as he worriedly assesses the situation.  “What happened? Did they get away? Did you kill them?” 

She groans in response, eyes fluttering behind closed eyelids as she tries not to think about the white hot pain coursing through her body.

“I roughed ‘er up,” her voice is strained as she tries to explain herself.  Ino almost tells her to forget it, but his curiosity got the better of him in the hopes that whoever did this was taken care of  “But Mei Mei got her” 

“And left you!?” 

He doesn’t mean to shout, but knowing she was left here to struggle and suffer through her injury makes his blood boil.  Had he been there, he wouldn’t have left her side, not once.  Fight as she might against it, they were partners, and that’s just what they would do.

“It’s fine,” She grits the words out through her teeth, not wanting to dwell on the unnecessary details right now.  “Takuma, I need you to pull this blade out” 

“What? You know I can’t, the bleeding-” 

“I can’t try and activate the Reverse Cursed Technique if it’s still in me,” She snaps at him, but her tone isn’t harsh.  It’s worse.  It’s desperate.  

She opens her eyes then, despite them being full of tears she looks up at him with nothing short of pleading written across her face.

“I can’t take it out myself,” She gasps through a strained cough, a thin trail of blood dripping from the corner of her mouth.  Ino watches in horror as it glides down to her jaw.  “You have to” 

“I won’t,” He’s the one to snap back at her now, ignoring the look in her eyes as he tries to assess just how trapped she is against the ground.  If he could at least get her off the street, he could get her back to Shoko, and she could perform her Reverse Cursed Technique.  “You haven’t even mastered it, there’s no telling if you’d be successful or not” He reminds her, making her grimace back at him.

“I would” She mutters back defiantly.

Ino doesn’t say anything as he carefully shuffles around her wounded shoulder, prodding at the blade to test how anchored it is to the ground.  She hisses in pain, her eyes squeezing shut again as she tries to clench her jaw to bear it.  She won’t tell him it hurts, and he doesn’t expect her to, but it’s too tall of a task to try and hide it.

“Take a deep breath,” He instructs, wrapping his hand around the broken hilt still attached to the blade.  “I’m gonna pull it out of the ground-” 

“No, take it out out” She barks back at him.

“If I do that you’ll bleed to death, you’re not thinking straight,” He grumbles.  “I can’t get you to Shoko if you’re impaled to the ground-” 

“You’re not taking me to Shoko!” She shrieks now, desperate to have him listen to her.  “I’m staying here” 

“You’ll die” 

His voice is eerily steady, but he knows if he raises it back at her she’ll only retaliate, and if she pushed him away he doesn’t think he’d ever forgive himself for whatever fate held in store for her.

(y/n’s) silent for a moment, teary, angry eyes locked on his as she weakly shuffled her legs about, as if there was any possibility of kicking herself away from him.  She’s a goner, and somewhere underneath the complicated layers of her carefully constructed personality, she knows that.

He holds her stare, hoping that his fear is written all over him, and he seems at least somewhat calm and collected in this moment of pure panic.  She neither protests nor approves of what he does next, but he knows she won’t.

So he takes matters into his own hands. ___

Jujutsu Tech won’t ever look the way it did when she was attending it as a student.  It will never look the way it did before Christmas Eve of 2017.

Then again, after that day just under a month ago, things will never be the same, either.  So maybe it’s fitting that it doesn’t look the same.

It’s too cold to stand around outside, but she can’t help but sneak out of the infirmary while Shoko’s distracted by a pack of cigarettes.  Weeks of being holed up in a stuffy room underneath the too-bright UV lights that flickered every twenty-six seconds were starting to drive her crazy.  Shoko didn’t want her pushing herself too much while her stitches were still healing what her Reverse Cursed Technique couldn’t- she’d claimed (y/n) was lucky to keep her arm- but as soon as she saw an opening to get herself out of the infirmary for the day, (y/n) took it.

At least she wasn’t still stuck in the scratchy paper they called a hospital gown.  But the pants and tank top from her uniform did little to keep her warm.  With all the bandages wrapped around her left shoulder and a part of her bicep, she couldn’t comfortably add any more layers.  But she’d happily choose goosebumps and shivers over sitting in that room for another minute.

Her own breath puffed out in front of her as she stared out at the destruction caused to the once beautiful grounds of Jujutsu Tech.  A small price to pay to finally have Geto Suguru dead, she supposed.

The thought was bitter enough to make her gnaw on the inside of her cheek.  In all the years since he’d defected, she’d wanted her brother to step up and own his title as the strongest and put an end to the terror his once closest friend had caused.  Never did she think about how things would feel once it was over with.

Hazy memories of being reluctantly babysat by the two were now tainted with an uncomfortable aura.  She hoped they didn’t cross her mind too often.

“There you are,” 

She doesn’t flinch when a quiet voice calls to her, despite not calling her by name, she knows Ino could only be addressing her as he steps out of the building and joins her at the top of the steps. 

“Shoko’s looking for you,” He tells her.  “She’s pissed, by the way” 

(y/n) doesn’t say anything in response.  She doesn't even give him a hum.  After passing out from the pain of her injuries, she couldn’t remember what happened, but she knew enough to know she hadn’t forgiven him.

Ino had tried to stop by her room in the infirmary to visit and see how her recovery was going.  The first time he came by was too early, and she hadn’t woken up yet.  The second time was a few days later, and she’d been awake enough to tell him she didn’t want to see him.  The third time he tried to come by, Shoko asked him not to go in and bother her.

He sighs now, sticking his cold hands in his pockets as a chilly breeze passes through.

“You can be be mad if you want, but you should know I’m not going to apologize for saving your life”

His words are sudden, and so blunt she could almost laugh, if she wasn’t holding onto such a large grudge.

“Saving my life,” She repeats his words with a scoff.  “Is that what you think you did?” 

Ino furrows his brows at her, but she doesn’t even spare him a glance.  He presses his fingernails into his palms in his pockets, trying to contain his aggravation.  It wasn’t right to let her get under his skin when she was still healing.  Physically and mentally.

“Seems like it to me,” He replies, eyeing her up and down.  She’s trembling in the cold, likely because there wasn’t a single layer protecting her arms from the January weather.  That paired with the bandages and her unusually messy hair, she almost looked pitiful.  “Since you’re standing here, alive and all” 

She turns to him then, and he’s expecting that sharp glare of disapproval, but he’s met with the same blank expression she’d worn all day.  Her eyes flicker over his determined features before she speaks again.

“I told you what I had to do.  And you said you trusted my judgment,” She reminds him, her voice quiet but not quite a whisper.  “And then you completely disregarded everything I said” 

“You might not know this, but I don’t exactly report to you,” Ino says with a humorless chuckle.  “What I did had nothing to do with keeping you from your backup plan.  And even so, Gojo seemed to manage just fine without you,” 

That had her eyebrow twitching, the first miniscule sign that he was getting under her skin.  He clenched his jaw before continuing.

“Maybe if for once you’d accept a little help we could’ve figured out-” 

“Don’t ever compare me to my brother again,” She cuts him off, louder this time, her voice strained with the rage hidden beneath her cold exterior.  “And don’t use me for your self righteous bullshit.  I don’t need to be paired up with a buddy to complete assignments.  I didn’t need you then, and I don’t need you now” 

His shoulders shake when he scoffs back at her, shaking his head and turning to leave.

“I’m still not apologizing,” He says as he walks away from her.  He doesn’t turn back, but he doesn’t have to in order to know her eyes are staring daggers at the back of his head.  “But I’m not putting up with your bullshit anymore.  If you want to work alone and die alone, so be it” 

He’s back inside before she can even properly react to his statement.  In all of her time knowing him, even after she’d shot down his advances at being friends months ago, she’d never seen him give the cold shoulder.

With a huff, she lowers herself to sit at the top step, wincing only slightly as she struggles to only use her right side for balance.  Yet worse than the mild pain throbbing from her shoulder and down her bicep, her chest ached.

In that hollow, dull pain that doesn’t go away even while she’s telling herself it was ridiculous to feel that way.  The more Takuma Ino removed himself from her life, the less of a workload was left on her shoulders.  After months of working to shut him out and push him away, it seemed he was finally taking the damn hint.

With the hand that wasn’t sore enough to raise to her head, she pushed the greasy tangled locks of hair back from her face and pressed her forehead into her palm, shutting her eyes as she sighed through that hollow feeling.

She’d finally succeeded in getting him to leave her alone, and she felt terrible about it.

So when Shoko finally found her and practically dragged her freezing body back to the infirmary, she let her.  She didn’t fight or protest once.  It was actually alarming to Shoko to have her comply and follow her wordlessly through the corridors. ___

It wasn’t long after being back on the field that (y/n) was healthy and back to her old self again.  Physically, anyways.  The scar  on either side of her shoulder would stay with her for the rest of her life.  And for those who really knew her, knew that things had taken a turn for the worse.

Nanami watched as day in and day out she stuck to a rigid routine.  Train, exorcize, report, train, and then home.  He’d tried to reach out, tried his damn best to lessen her workload or get her to see that this schedule of hers wasn’t doing her any favors.  But every attempt to help her was met with an excuse or a glare for trying.

He thought he was doing her a favor by talking to Satoru.

She’s on her way to the train when her phone buzzes in her pocket, and if it had been anyone else’s name on the screen, (y/n) would have ignored it.  But ignoring Satoru came with a consequence she didn’t have the time for.

“What is it?” 

“That’s no way to greet your big bro!” Satoru’s far too cheery for how gloomy of a day it was outside.  She sighed, tucking her phone between her cheek and her good shoulder as she neared the station.  “I was just checkin’ in.  You haven’t come by in a while” 

“Been busy.  Besides, I don’t like your place” 

“What’s not to like?” 

“Your furniture is obnoxious and it’s too white.  It’s weird” She lets out a short chuckle at the way he gasps dramatically.

“Whatever.  In all seriousness, you’ve been working a lot more.  Just want to make sure you’re… taking it easy” 

“Taking it easy?” 

“Yeah, y’know.  After Chirtmas Eve I just want to make sure you’re-” 

“I’m fine, Satoru.  Is that the only reason you called? To make sure I’m not pushing myself too hard?” 

“Woah, (y/n/n), I wasn’t trying to-” 

“Forget it, ‘toru.  What do you know about working for anything, anyways?” She huffs in annoyance.  Satoru’s silent on the other end for a minute, and she instantly regrets biting at him like that.  “I didn’t mean- I’m sorry, okay? I’m just…” 

“You’re overworking yourself,” Satoru says, his voice dropping it’s usual happy-go-lucky tone that gets on her nerves so much.  “I understand, (y/n/n).  I’ll just have to tell Nanami that a team outing is due!” 

At that her eyes widen, and she’s quick to snatch her phone in her hand again, her gip tight as she practically snarls into the speaker.

“Absolutely not, Satoru, that’s the last thing-” 

“I’m texting him right now” 

“Don’t you dare-!” 

“Aaaand done!” He cheers.  “When was the last time you had a proper break, hm?” 

“Satoru I swear-” 

“I can tell from how angry you are.  Like a feral cat, yeesh,” She can tell he’s rolling his eyes as he speaks, and she hates that it makes her roll hers, too.  “Don’t worry, this is just what you need!” 

“How would you know?” She snaps, but there’s no bite to her bark and he knows it.  

“You’ll have fun.  Make Nanami and that Auspicious Beasts kid buy your drinks” 

“Takuma,” She corrects him bitterly, glaring off at an innocent map of the train schedules.  “And neither one of them are exactly happy with me right now.  Not that you’d know that! You just like to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong-!” 

The bystanders patiently awaiting for their train awkwardly began to shuffle away from the girl in the strange black getup yelling into her phone without a care in the world, as though she’d forgotten she was even in public.  She hadn’t, and she was sure that if Satoru was here, they would’ve understood her aggravation.

“Who could possibly not be happy with you?” Satoru remarks with a sharp cackle of a laugh.  She grimaced, but found some relief in seeing her train finally arrive at the station.  “He’s only one person, how’d you manage to not get along with him?” He asks, like the nosy gossip he was.  She could hear the sound of plastic crinkling and would bet money he was eating sweets as he indulged in the topic.  “Seemed like a pretty chill dude to me” 

“He is he’s just-” She huffs, not knowing the right thing to say as she stepped onto the train and found a decent spot to sit, away from most other people so she could continue her phone call as privately as possible.  “He’s nosy.  Like you” 

“I’m nosy because I care? I’ll take it,” Satoru replies, sounding like there was clearly a piece of taffy in his mouth.  “That means you don’t like him?” 

“I didn’t say that,” (y/n) sighs, leaning her head against the window, watching the crowds of non-sorcerers go about their lives.  “He’s just… he’s too much, that’s really it” She shrugs at the lame answer.

Satoru thinks it’s lame too, and she can tell by the way he scoffs.

“What does that even mean? He tries to take over assignments or somethin’?” 

“No… no he’s fair.  The workload is always equal…” She explains, before her brows furrowed together.  “If anything I’m the one that takes over too much” 

“So you’re the problem? Shocker” 

“Fuck off” 

“Then what’s such a bother about him?” Satoru ignores her cruelty with ease.  He’d been doing it for years.  “Or is this that thing where the girl hates the guy but for no good reason, and she really just has a crush on him-?” 

“It’s most definitely not that,” (y/n) cuts him off, her voice so low she nearly growls at him.  “And that’s not even a real thing” 

“Well, sure it is,” He replied with a giggle.  “There’s more steps to it in the real world.  Usually she resents him for some silly reason, realizes he’s actually a pretty decent guy but can’t admit it once she’s stuck to her stand-offish attitude, then starts to fall for him more and more once she’s decided she can’t have him,” Satoru explained everything he’d learned from romantic comedies like he’d taken a class on crush behavior.  “He is pretty cute.  You sure you don’t like him-?”

“Can you act your age for once?” 

“That was textbook deflection-” 

“I’m not deflecting, I’m just not in the mood to explain the annoyance I have for interpersonal work relationships.  Why can’t everyone be like Nanami? We clock in, we beat up some curses, and we clock out.  Is that so hard?” 

“No,” Satoru replies.  “But it’s boring” 

“That’s how I like it” 

“And that’s why you haven’t made friends at work.  What’re you so worried about anyways? You used to have friends in school” 

“That was school.  This is my life’s work.  I don’t need distractions,” She deadpans.  “You’re distracting enough.  And I can’t get rid of you” 

“Sure can’t!” Satoru cheers.  “But you’re no fun at all.  You really need to loosen up.  Nothin’ wrong with making friends.  Since when did you get all gloomy?” 

(y/n’s) quiet for a moment, noticing a loose string on the side of her uniform pants and letting herself get distracted by it instead.  She pinches the small thread and tugs at it gently, not enough to pluck it out or unravel it, but just enough to pull it taut.

It was a complicated answer that wasn’t going to do her any favors and she knew it.  If she sat here and told Satoru exactly why she had no interest in getting close with her fellow sorcerers, he’d only be hurt.  And then he’d try to fix it and talk her out of it, which he was already unknowingly doing.

It was just better this way.  It had to be, because it was the only way she knew how.

“Don’t you ever think it’s… it’s harder to get closer to people in this line of work?” She asks, testing the waters just a bit to gauge his reaction.  

Satoru hums, thinking over her question for a solid minute.  A lump forms in her throat that’s difficult to swallow down as she awaits his response.  SHe starts to wonder if she’d let herself be too vulnerable, even if it was her brother.

“Sometimes,” He finally says, his voice quiet, and serious in that way that could be chilling when it comes to Satoru.  “But I think it’d be pitiful not to try, don’t you?” 

She nods, despite him not being able to see her.  He must understand that she was taking his words to heart, because he’s quiet on the line with her as well.

“One night out,” She says after a minute of silence passes.  Satoru laughs through the speaker.  “And if it sucks, I’m making you pick me up, alright?” “It won’t suck,” He assures her.  “And deal”

idiots in love. | g. satoru

with a solemn expression and a heavy heart, you stand against the students of tokyo and kyoto jujutsu high.

“today, we mourn for the absence of gojo satoru.”

the tokyo jujutsu high students bow their heads as they pray for their beloved teacher. the kyoto students are confused.

mourn? absence?

“gojo satoru is a friend, teacher, and a colleague. but was he great being the three of them? absolutely not.”

“hey!”

you look at the ceiling, trying to stop your tears from falling. “sometimes, i can hear his voice and his presence. i wish he’s having a great time wherever he is.”

todo confusingly look at you. why are you crying? gojo-sensei is very much alive, though? he can see him waving his hands behind you.

“is it always like this?”

“just follow what [name]-sensei is saying. if gojo is dead, then he’s dead,” maki answers.

the kyoto students also bow their heads and clasp their hands as if they are praying.

you give a stern look to the students before you. “curses are everywhere around us. if you see someone impersonating him, exorcise it at all cost. okay?”

they nod.

the menace of society dumbly stare at you all accepting his fake death. he starts whining and tugging your arm.

“you’re so mean! i’m very much alive right now!” he pouts.

you glare. “because i told you that you’re dead to me the moment you eat my food. and what did you do? you ate my favorite food!”

he shrugs as if it wasn’t a big deal. as if your piercing glare isn’t penetrating through his soul. “well, if you marked your name on the food, i wouldn’t be eating them.”

“yeah? well, i put a stamp of my name on the plastic!”

“still not enough.”

the waiting listeners watch you bicker like an old married couple. you, pointing at satoru with the most heated eyes they have ever seen. him, being an idiot and trying to defend himself (even if he was the one who ate your favorite food) that he didn’t eat it.

“was it always like this?”

“salmon.” inumaki nods.

the next day, they will see you two clinging into each other as if you two couldn’t be worlds apart. what happened yesterday had been forgotten. with you smiling like the sunshine you are and him being the smitten man he is.

they also know that gojo buys you a dozen of your favorite food with your favorite dessert and your favorite cuddles.

home home where i wanted to go

[part two] trouble - takuma ino

word count: 9k warnings: swearing, drinking, slight harassment (a creep puts his hand on reader's waist for 0.2 seconds) summary: she's only agreed to one night out- and that doesn't mean anything at all. it also doesn't mean anything that a few drinks has her admitting that ino's eyes are actually quite pretty. contents: rivals to begrudged friends, gojo!reader, nanami leaves the function at his first oppurtunity, ino and (y/n) have an alcohol fueled breakthrough.

part two: "got so much to prove" ___

Gojo Satoru was nothing like his sibling counterpart, and she was dead set on keeping it that way.  Where he was overbearing, she was uninvolved.  Where he was obnoxious, she was reserved.  For most of her life she could recall trying to steer herself into the opposite direction Satoru was heading.  

That was, until it came to sorcery.

If it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t have needed to crawl up a ladder to claim the Grade One title.  If it weren’t for him, she could’ve made a name for herself rather than live in the shadow that was their family name.  If it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t be stuck in this too-loud bar throwing back too-weak drinks.

Nanami didn’t seem too thrilled about having his evening decided for him, either.  He was nursing his third beer and the alcohol still hadn’t loosened him enough to lose the look of pure disinterest on his face.  (y/n) couldn’t blame him, seeing as she didn’t want to be here either.

Takuma, on the other hand, was having the time of his life.  He’d eagerly ordered them a round of shots despite their protests, claiming it was a right of passage for their first outing together.

“I’m not taking a shot,” Nanami had pushed his glass to the center of the table, refusing it as soon as it was set in front of him.  “I have to be home by eight” 

“Eight?” Takuma gasped incredulously at his early retirement.  “But Gojo’s car won’t be here till eleven-” 

“Dibs” (y/n) plucks the extra shot off the counter, tapping it once against the table before throwing it back with ease.  

The other two are left to stare at her in shock, neither knowing how to react.  She’s quick to chase it down with her own shot in rapid succession, not a single flinch or twitch from the burning sensation left in her throat.  Nanami and Takuma share a quick glance, but it doesn’t go unnoticed by the young Gojo.

“What?” She asks innocently, propping her elbow on the table to rest her chin in her hand.  “Been a long week, no?” 

“It’s just… Satoru doesn’t drink” Nanami shrugs at the simple statement, leaning back against his chair.

(y/n) pauses, her brow twitching in the smallest of movements.

Even without him around, she was being compared to him.  And hearing it come from Nanami, whom she’d spent years looking up to, snapped her final straw.

“Right…” She drawls the word out slowly, and Nanami waits all too patiently for whatever she had to say next.  “Well since it is our first outing, let’s establish this once and for all, shall we?” 

And then she grins, which sends warning flags up in Takuma’s mind when she leaves the table and approaches the bar.  He turns back to Nanami with his worry evident on his face.

“That’s not good,” He says in a hushed voice.  “I’ve only ever seen her smile like that when exorcizing curses” 

Nanami only chuckles half heartedly, more than familiar with the way the Gojo siblings’ shared wicked grin.

Ino’s not so amused, but he does his best to get excited when (y/n) comes back with a stronger drink and another round of shots for the three of them.  Nanami refuses this one as well, and this time they let it sit on the center of the table unclaimed.

To his surprise, she taps her shot glass against Ino’s when he picks it up, eyeing the auburn liquid with uncertainty.  This would be his second shot in the span of only ten minutes, and it would be her third.  There had to be some ploy behind it, right? 

“Whatever it takes to prove to you both I’m not my brother, name it,” (y/n) announces before throwing back the shot.  “It can be like a game!” She decides, eyes lighting up with the idea.  If she notices the way Nanami and Ino seem unsure and uncomfortable with the sudden swing in behavior, she doesn’t show it.

“A drinking game?” Ino asks, not quite following her train of thought.

“Sure,” She nods at him.  “Like a truth or drink sort of thing? That works” 

“I’ve got one, then,” Nanami leans back onto the table, suddenly joining the conversation.  His pupils seem surprised, but both excited in their own way to have him participate  “That Grade Two at the playground, last week, did you lie in your paperwork?” 

A more authentic looking beam stretches over (y/n’s) face, and she laughs as she considers taking a drink, but she supposes he’d have his answer if she did, so she might as well fess up.

“About the swingset being torn apart?” She asks with a raised brow.  “Yes, I lied about that” 

“You lied in your report?” Ino gasps in shock.  “What’d you say?” 

“She claimed the swings had been torn away from their posts before she arrived on the scene” Nanami explained with a huff.

That earned another gasp from Ino before he turned back to (y/n) with wide eyes and an awkward sort of smile, like he was excited to have caught her in something, even though she’d admitted to it herself.

“You chopped down a children’s playground?” 

“It was a swingset,” She corrected.  “And it’s structural integrity was fine.  The city could afford to replace the swing itself.  It’s practically just rope” 

Nanami shakes his head, although he’d already had an inkling her report on that assignment was less than truthful.  He had stopped by to take account of the damage done, and it seemed to him like the scraped metal of the playset’s structure could have only been chinked up by a large blade.  Like an axe.

A few more random questions come up between the two, most of them work related.  The questions are all over the place however, with Nanami trying to get her to admit to more discrepancies in her paperwork, and Ino trying to learn anything and everything he could.  So she never quite knew what was going to be asked of her.

More often than not, Nanami’s questions led to her drinking.  Whereas Ino’s…

“Do you have any tattoos?” 

She wants to laugh, and ask him if he’s sure that’s what he wants to know.  But Nanami’s already got her another two drinks down, so she finds herself lifting up the hem of her shirt, just enough to put her hip bone on display, earning shocked looks from both men as they stared holes into the ink on her skin.

“When did you get that?” Nanami asks, his eyebrows nearly to his hairline when (y/n) looks up at him with a lazy smirk.

“I was sixteen, and you weren’t around at the time” She states matter-of-factly.

Ino’s laughing, and maybe cheering as he throws back the rest of his drink and makes his way to the bar for another.  (y/n) wouldn’t admit that she was having a good time, but it was quite entertaining to watch their reactions.

“That’s enough insight for tonight” Nanami sighs before getting up from his seat.  (y/n) watches as he lifts his jacket from the back of his chair, loosely shrugging it on.  A small knot forms between her brows.

“You’re actually gonna leave?” She asks, and if he didn’t know any better, Nanami might think she’s frowning because she’s disappointed to see him leave.  

“I’ve already stayed later than I planned,” He answers dryly.  “But you should stay, Ino too,” He adds, nodding to the sorcerer at the bar desperately trying to get the bartender’s attention.  “Make your brother pick up the tab” 

“He said it was on you” (y/n) replies with a shrug, before taking a sip of her drink.  

Nanami rolled his eyes as he turned to go, grumbling something about how a Gojo could be trying to pass off the bill.  (y/n’s) laughing as he leaves, and he’s almost compelled to stay, just for the sake of watching her open up more than he’d seen in years, but he supposes he’s not the one who needs that tonight.

Ino’s surprised when he comes back to the table with a fresh drink and hand, only to find Nanami missing.  He glances at the empty seat with a furrowed brow before turning to (y/n), who shrugs.

“Guess he wasn’t kidding about turning in early” She muses, pushing the ice in her glass with her straw.  Ino seems to pout at that.

“Too bad, I thought we were having a good time” He says as he takes his seat across from her.

(y/n) regards him with a slight tilt of her head, as if he were a stranger she were noticing for the first time.  As always, his mask sat on top of his head, posed as a beanie, and as he turned away to glance across the crowded bar, she’d never noticed before, but the curve of his cheekbones were defined.  Sharp, even.  Her gaze continued to linger, noticing the same detail about his jawline.  Had she really never noticed before, or was the dim lighting doing him a favor by putting his facial features on display? 

“Is this your idea of a good time?” She asks suddenly, and his attention is swiveling back to her.  Even with the lights shifting across his face, the defined features still stuck out to her.  “Going out somewhere crowded and noisy?” 

Ino laughs at that, every part of his expression lighting up with his delight, and once again (y/n) wonders if someone’s purposefully messing with the lights to put a spotlight on him.

Her brother’s words from their last phone call start to penetrate her thoughts against her will.  She tries to shake them off, but it’s hard when his brown eyes gleam like honey when he looks at her.

“Well, drinks are a pretty important part.  This wouldn’t be fun without ‘em,” He says, and she shrugs in non-committed agreement.  “But it is fun.  I’m having fun, at least”

“It’s not…” She starts to tell him this wasn’t her ideal night out.  In actuality, she was more of a stay in and relax on the weekend kind of person.  Satoru did enough partying in his younger years to turn her off from it early on.  But Ino perks up as he awaits her response, and it didn’t feel right to tell him the full truth.  So she changes direction and tells him a half-lie.  “It’s not terrible” She finishes.

He’s grinning again, as though she’d just told him she was having the time of her life, and she can’t help the confused knot in her brow.  Could he really be so pleased over simply having a few drinks together? 

“I knew you’d have a good time if you just came!” He cheered, reaching his glass across the table to tap it against hers.  “You should’ve just accepted the invitation months ago” 

She takes a long drink, stalling to try and find the right thing to say.  She doesn’t want Ino to get the wrong idea, she’s not about to make this a regular thing.  No, this was a one time occurrence.  She stood by what she said all those months ago.  It was silly to make friends in this line of work.  She’d witnessed first hand, one too many times, just what companionship could cost.  One night out couldn’t possibly change that.

Something twists in her chest before she can remind him of that, and it prevents her from saying anything of the sort.  Instead, she changes the subject.

“Can I ask you a truth or drink question, now?” She leans forward in her seat a bit, resting her elbow on the table once more as she studies his eager expression.

“Shoot!” He agreed excitedly, and she can’t help the short laugh that escapes her.  She blames the alcohol.

“How do you stay so positive all the time?” She asks the question that had been nagging at her for longer than just the past couple hours.  He shakes his head slightly, not quite following the meaning of her question.  “Even on assignments, and doing your reports, you’re always…” She wiggles her fingers in front of her as she tries to find the right word to explain it.

Ino chuckles, before full on laughter takes over and his shoulders are shaking as he grins from ear to ear, almost proving her point before he could actually answer.

“I love what I do?” He answers like it’s a question, like he’s unsure if that’s what she’s even looking for.  “I’ve been working towards one goal my entire life, I might as well enjoy it, right?” 

She’s stunned silent for a minute.  There was a time where she would’ve said the same thing, when she was young and naive and thought her and her brother would take the jujutsu world by storm, side by side.  Before she realized that her entire life would be spent under the shadow cast by him owning the family name almost all for himself.  It was a large, infinite shadow.  And the longer she’d lived in it, the more her joy for her work turned into a necessity.  Until now, she hadn’t even realized just how much she’d come to despise every step it took to move forward in jujutsu society.

Ino took her silence to mean she was thinking too deeply about what he’d said, and a question of his own came to mind.

“Do you not enjoy it?” 

Her gaze rises from where she’d zoned out looking at her dwindling drink, finding Ino across from her looking almost concerned.  The longer she didn’t respond, the more his expression reminded her of the night he’d found her injured.

She clears her throat before opting out of answering, instead drinking down the last of the contents in her glass.  He raises a brow at her choice.

“Did you not want to tell me your answer, or did you not know the answer?” He asks.

“Is that another question?” She asks, a small smirk forming on her lips.  “Because I’ll have to order another drink” 

Ino laughs, and despite her trying not to, she can’t help but laugh with him.

“Another round?” He asks, and she thinks about it for a minute, before nodding, and getting up from her seat.  To her surprise, he follows her up to the bar, even though there was still a good quarter of his drink left.  She doesn’t comment on it.

They have to squeeze between bodies to stake a place at the bar, the two bartenders already quite busy with the amount of people waving at them for their attention.  It’s bound to take more than a couple minutes before they would get to place their order.

“Guess everyone had a rough week” (y/n) mumbles absentmindedly, and Ino glances down at her.

This wasn’t the first time he’d taken notice of her height- or lack thereof- but with having her so close she was nearly pressed into his side, it was hard not to notice.  About a head shorter than him, he had to tilt his head down to properly look at her, which he was only doing now because the alcohol buzzing in his system lifted the barriers of his anxiety.  Had he been sober, he’d have been far too weak to stare at her so blatantly.

Luckily due to the drinks they’d both had, (y/n) didn’t realize he was staring at her for a whole minute or so.  She’d been too focused on trying to catch eyes with one of the bartender’s to feel his eyes on her.  Even without being caught, he felt a flush creeping up his neck.

In another life, or hell, another universe, Ino wonders if things could have been different between them.  If she would’ve been less closed off, or maybe he could’ve been more laid back and met her level of reserved.  He wonders if they would’ve been closer friends, or maybe even something more than that.

Truthfully, when they’d first met, he’d instantly had a bit of a crush on her.  He’d never met the younger Gojo before the day he started working with Nanami on his promotion, but as soon as he’d laid eyes on her, he thought his heart was going to go into cardiac arrest and he’d die right there.  She was quiet, but he could tell behind her calculating expression that she was thoughtful, and cunning.  And so, so beautiful, that he’d stuttered all the way through introducing himself, even his own name he’d struggled to get out.  Looking back on it, he still felt embarrassed, but he was sure she’d long forgotten the interaction.  It wasn’t long after their meeting that she’d made her disinterest in him explicitly clear, and the sparks of feelings she’d ignited in him were stomped out into ash.

He felt like a fool for feeling that spark ignite again just standing beside her in this congested bar, but he couldn’t be imagining that things were different tonight, right? He was sure that she was opening up more of herself than he’d ever seen before, and maybe the alcohol played a part in that, but either way, he couldn’t get enough of it.  She was giving him crumbs of her life- an impulsive tattoo, her hopes to have a pet some day, a few reckless acts on assignments- and he was eating it all up with gratitude.  He couldn’t help but want to learn more, wanting to press further until she couldn’t possibly deny that she enjoyed confiding in him as much as he enjoyed being in her company.

He knows he can’t be imagining things, because when she finally feels his stare and looks up at him, she doesn’t scowl, or spit out some cruel comment about it.  Her brows twitch slightly, drawing together in a confused expression when he doesn’t immediately look away like she would’ve expected.  He’s close enough that he can see the way a ghost of a smile hovers at the corners of her lips, and the way her cheeks warm up with color.  It makes that microscopic spark of old feeling in his chest burn a little brighter.

A nervous laugh falls from her lips, and it’s so uncharacteristically cute that he’s smiling now, and he feels like an absolute dope for staring at her and smiling like an idiot, but it can’t be helped.  He can’t be helped.

“What?” She asks, breathless and curious, her eyes shifting between his as though trying to find the source of this behavior, but instead she only finds warm pools of brown that almost resemble the rum and cokes she’s been enjoying all night.

And then all at once it’s almost too much.  She’s suddenly aware of how close she is to him, their arms brushing together, or if he tilted his head just a little further down he could easily push his nose against hers and-

Her eyes widen at the derailing of her train of thought, the soft expression of surprise on her face more recognizable than she would’ve liked, and she could tell that it doesn’t go unnoticed by Ino, as he’s now regarding her with intrigue, wondering what was going through her mind.

The idea of him knowing she’d nearly gotten lost in thought at the idea of kissing him made her chest ache, and she badly wanted to tear her gaze away from his, lean over the bar and demand to be serviced so they could get away from the crowded space as quickly as possible.

What an idiotic, drunken thought to have.  Kissing a colleague, how much more foolish could she possibly be? She tries to shake it off as a pesky intrusive thought.  Nothing more than the alcohol pressuring her into making a reckless decision.

But she’s frozen before him, her eyes locked on his like she was stuck in a trance, trapped by her own nerves.  The eye contact was going to kill her, especially with how soft his gaze was.  It wasn’t like anything she was used to.  It wasn’t setting her on fire from it’s heat.  The way he looked at her made her feel like she’d just cozied up in front of a fireplace after a cold day.  It almost scared her how warm it made her chest feel.

She’s opening her mouth before she even settled on what she needed to say.

“Takuma, we should probably get go-” 

She’s interrupted before she could finish telling him they needed to leave.  It almost saves her, seeing as she didn’t have a very decent excuse as to why they needed to end the night early, but there’s little time for relief when the unwelcome hand of a stranger settles on her waist, stealing her attention away from Ino’s.

“You waitin’ for a drink, sweetheart?” 

She vaguely registers that the stranger with the breath that reeked of booze was speaking to her, before she’s reacting on instinct.

The grabby hand on her hip is pried off with ease, her strength easily overpowering his in less than a second.  No amount of alcohol would be enough to hinder her reflexes.  The stranger cries out in shock and pain as she twists his arm back behind him, likely spraining his shoulder with how fast she pushes it into an uncomfortable position.  The sly expression on the man’s face is contorted into one of great pain, and only when he begins to cry out for her to stop does she stop pushing.  Her desire to feel the bone snap under her strength starts to melt away when she sees tears in his eyes.

“You’re lucky I didn’t break your hands so you’d learn to keep your mitts to yourself” She mutters, releasing him with a slight shove.  The drunken stranger stumbles backwards, still sniffling and gawking in shock from the whole ordeal.

The woman he’d tried to pick up is still scowling, and she looks like she’s still undecided in letting him go, the way her lip curls into a snarl and her eyes seem to pierce right through his soul.  The man beside her looks no different, rage evident in the way his brows furrow and his jaw is clenched, teeth grinding together roughly.  He has one hand on the edge of the bar, as close to where she stands as he could get without pushing himself against her completely.  His knuckles are paling by the second, gripping so hard one could almost assume he was about to rip a chunk of oak clean out of the counter.  His other hand is on his head, roughly grabbing at the edge of his hat.  

Even the non-sorcerer that was this stranger got a bad feeling emanating from the two, and he scurried off without another word.  (y/n’s) eyes rolled dramatically at the pathetic display, but as she turned back to Ino, she could almost laugh at the sight of him ready to pull his mask over his face.

“Are you alright?” He asks, and there’s not a crack in his expression as he glances over her with concern pouring out of every pore.  

He loses his grip on the bar, hand hovering over her shoulder but not quite touching her, not knowing if physical contact would be a comfort right now.  It’s odd, feeling like for once she was the Gojo with the shield of Infinity.

“I’m fine,” She tells him, and she means it, but she can tell he’s not so convinced.  “But just out of curiosity, what was your plan here?” She asks, cracking a smile as she flicks the edge of his mask, still bunched up at the top of his head.

“I- I don’t know,” Ino answers sheepishly.  “If he didn’t leave you alone I guess I was just gonna wing it” He admits.

She regards him for a moment, letting the answer sink in.  Her smile widens a bit when she laughs softly, almost fondly, as she really thinks about it.  She softens again, just like she had moments ago, before the creep ruined it.

“Well, for what it’s-” 

“Hey, you two need to leave,” 

The pair or sorcerers do a double take when one of the bartenders finally gives them their attention, but not for the reason they’d wanted.

“What?” (y/n) asks, certain they had the wrong patrons.

“We weren’t doing anything?” Ino’s brows furrow as the bartender looks them both up and down.

“I don’t care for the details.  We can’t have a commotion like that in the bar.  If you’re going to cause trouble, do it somewhere else” 

“But the guy was the one who-!” 

Before Ino could finish his explanation, the bartender was shoving a finger towards the door, an expectant look on their face that told them not to argue any further, unless they wanted to cause more trouble.

“Whatever,” (y/n) huffs.  “This bar’s a dump anyways” 

And before the bartender could react, she was grabbing Ino by the arm and pulling him away from the bar.  She was on a mission for the door, eager to leave a place if she wasn’t wanted.  All Ino could do was silently follow along, his mind barely processing the whole ordeal until they were outside, where it was significantly quieter.

It was darker than he’d expected, although he was well aware of the time, it was a shock to be out on the dark sidewalk with the stars on full display above them.  He glances up at the sky to admire them for a moment, until realization strikes him and he’s whirling around to look at her again.

“What about our tab?” 

(y/n) blinks back at him, her expression unwavering.

“Guess we won’t be welcomed back, either” She says, and Ino stares at her in shock as he processes the statement.

“Well then we better get moving” 

(y/n) hadn’t intended to end up at another bar.  In fact, before the handsy stranger made things weird, she’d been looking for an excuse to end the night early.  However, her words betrayed her when Takuma suggested another little dive not far down the street, and that’s where she found herself now.

This place wasn’t as crowded as the last, so she felt comfortable walking in and claiming a small corner booth.  By the time someone came by for their order, she’d already stretched out across the length of the leather cushion, back pressed to the window comfortably.  Ino had chuckled at how cozy she’d made herself, but didn’t comment on it.

Once their first round- at this establishment- of drinks came around, he’d excitedly started up their previous game again.

“Would you have really broken that guy’s hands?” He asks, and (y/n) doesn’t even lift her drink to pretend she wouldn’t answer.

“Without a doubt,” She hums, spinning the ice in her glass with her straw.  “Sometimes lessons have to be learned the hard way, right?” She asks him with a mischievous grin that tells him she might’ve done worse had the moment felt right.  “My turn?” She asks, and he nods, crossing his arms over the table as he gave her his undivided attention.  “Which little beast of yours would you have summoned?” 

“Kaichi” 

He answers with so much bluntness she raises her brows at him, surprised by his complete lack of thought before speaking.  She hums, nodding her head in quiet agreement that impaling the stranger with one of those horns would have been the best method of defense.

“Has that… happened before?” 

“The random guy hitting on me part? Or the part where I threatened a man’s hands?” She asks, and Ino doesn’t seem to have the proper clarification for her question, so she shrugs, and doesn’t drink to the question.

“No, that’s never happened before” 

She takes a few sips after she’s answered, hoping to keep up the buzz she had going.  Ino’s fingers tap rhythmically against the table as he processes her answer.  He seems unaffected at first, but slowly, confusion begins to seep into his features.

“Wait, so you’re saying no one’s ever hit on you, either?” 

“You already asked that one”

“Well then I’m asking again” 

(y/n) begins to pull her glass towards her, ready to take another drink, but maybe the alcohol gets on top of her a bit as she answers the question before she could evade it.

“No, I’ve never been hit on.  I don’t think, anyways.  But I think I’d probably know if I was” 

It comes out like word vomit, babbled out like her thoughts were on a direct pipeline to being voiced.  She doesn’t mean to share so much, but she finishes with a shrug of her shoulders, and raises her glass to sip some more.

“You really never go out, huh?” He asks, taking a drink as well.

“What, getting hit on is the true price you pay for going out?” She asks with a short laugh, not following the connection between the two.  Ino nods his head from side to side, indecisive in his response.

“Not always, just, y’know, figured it’d happen a lot if you didn’t stay in all the time”

By the time he realizes the implications of that statement, it’s already too late.  Ino nearly chokes on his drink when (y/n) tilts her head at him, realization slowly flickering over her features.

“You’re saying people would hit on me a lot if I went out more?” She asks skeptically.

He considers pulling his mask over his face in order to conceal the growing heat in his cheeks.  Not that it would help, the damage had already been done with his loud mouth.

“I didn’t mean it like that-” 

“Well how did you mean it then?” She asks, suddenly swiveling her legs to sit upright against the table, plopping her chin in her hands to study him properly.  

She always had a way of looking at him with calculation in her eyes, as if she was sizing him up like a curse.  Right now, he doesn’t know what to make of the way she stares at him.  There’s that familiar look in her eyes that makes him wonder just what it is she’s looking for, but the softness in her smile was unfamiliar territory, and Ino didn’t have the slightest clue of what to make of it. Was it amusement? Did she take sick joy in watching him fluster and stutter? Or could it be the alcohol to blame? Perhaps it was loosening her up, and any semblance of delight was merely the booze entertaining her.  The most outlandish reason would have been fondness, but there simply wasn’t a chance in the freezing depths of hell that she was actually growing fond of his company, was there?

“I just meant, y’know,” He gestures his hand towards her, pathetically trying to explain his thought process.  She shakes her head in a small motion, not understanding his poor attempt at reason in the slightest.  “Like, you… you’re… you know”

Ino would really rather be anywhere else right now, preferably somewhere that wasn’t so hot his collar was sticking to his neck and his throat was closing up, but then (y/n) begins to laugh, and he huffs out a sigh in aggravation, and ultimately decides to take a long drink.

“Fair enough,” She muses at his choice.  “It’s not a terrible assumption to make, I suppose.  My brother is acquainted with every eligible man and woman in the city, after all” She says, only half joking.  Ino seems to find a great deal of amusement in that, grinning and laughing, although he can’t say he’s that surprised.

“For the record, I wasn’t comparing you to him in that assumption,” He says.  “I just figured you’d… attract your own attention” He says.

There’s an undeniable flutter in her chest, and she wished she could say she hated the way it spread a tingle of warmth throughout her entire body.  It wasn’t like she’d never received that sort of attention from others, but it had been so long since she entertained the idea that it was starting to feel a little foreign.  And having Ino of all people assume that there were a line of suitors out the door waiting for her hand had her insides turning with the near unfamiliar sensation of butterflies.

Her silence is making him anxious, his fingers tapping against the table no longer playing a steady beat.  They mimicked the rapid increase in his heartbeat.  Wild and unsteady and with no sign of relaxing.

“That so?” When she finally does speak it’s soft, nearly a whisper, as if she didn’t quite believe him.  “Are you an expert in that field, then?” 

She catches the way his eyes land on his drink, which was now empty, so there wasn’t exactly an out for the question.  When his gaze shifts back up to hers, he finds she hasn’t looked away from him yet.

“What field?” He plays dumb, and her smile curls into a slight smirk.

“Flirting, courting, whatever you want to call it” (y/n) answers with ease, fiddling with the straw in her drink as she impatiently waits for his answer.  He eyes his empty glass once more.

“No, I’m no expert,” He huffs, a deep frown on his face for having to admit something so embarrassing.  “You timed that on purpose” 

“I did not!” She argues, but her nervous laughter gives her away.  She’s not as good at lying when she’s drunk apparently, and he might just have to store that information for later.

“My drink was empty! That was a trap!” 

She has to cover her mouth to try and suppress the giggles coming out of her uncontrollably.  He’s still embarrassed, but her laughter was contagious.  Anyone passing by or glancing over at the loud laughter pouring out of their booth would assume they were having nothing but a good time.  And for a few seconds at a time, Ino could pretend they were, too.

To keep things fair, (y/n) finishes the last few sips of her drink, before sliding both glasses to the end of the table.

“Alright, your turn then,” She says, a small hiccup punctuating the offer.  “You must have something good saved up your sleeve?” 

He thinks about it for a moment, folding his arms over the table and subconsciously leaning over it to get closer to her.  With his eyes wandering the bar as he racks his brain for a good question she couldn’t avoid answering, she was able to properly gaze at him without getting caught.  Just like at the previous bar, she gets a little lost in thought as she maps out every feature of his face.  There was nothing forgettable about Takuma Ino, but she found herself trying to commit it all to memory anyways.

That flutter in her chest hadn’t gone away, and the longer it prevailed the more she began to sink into the feeling.  It’s relaxing, the way time slows down, and the buzz sends goosebumps prickling up her arms.  She would have never thought she could find this much comfort in this setting, but to her, this booth was the only thing in her world.

“Would you do this again?” He finally settles on a question, and it’s clear that it’s not what she expected, judging by the way her eyes slightly widen from being caught off guard.

Her mouth opens, but nothing comes out right away.  It’s as though he’d wiped her mind completely blank, not even a weak excuse coming to mind.  The fuzzy feeling in her chest turns to static, sharp and cold before disappearing completely, leaving behind nothing but an emptiness that stings as it lingers.  Her smile slowly falls as reality begins to seep back into their booth, reminding her of why she’d kept him beyond arm’s length all this time.

Deep down, she wonders if she always knew this would happen.  She wondered if self preservation took over as soon as she met him because if it hadn’t, she would’ve let him get too close a long, long time ago.  Guilt claws it’s way up from her gut to her throat, strangling her to keep her from saying the wrong thing first.

Ino’s sure he already has his answer when she doesn’t say anything right away.  It’s written all over her face, the way she winces, and shuffles uncomfortably in her seat.  Disappointment doesn’t begin to cover what he feels as he looks away from her, trying and failing to keep his face neutral.

“Got it” He mutters, catching the eye of a passing server and signaling for the check.  (y/n) frowns.

“Takuma, I…” She starts, but her throat still burns, and she struggles to find the right thing to say that won’t make things worse.  “I tried to tell you that tonight was just-” 

“I know,” He replies.  It makes her blood run cold, the way his voice lacks it’s usual chipper tone.  Now it holds nothing.  He’s so painfully emotionless that she almost wishes he would just get angry with her.  “You made that clear” 

They’re completely silent when a server comes back with the check, the tension turning awkward as soon as another person enters their bubble.  They must pick up on it, because they’re quick to bid them a good night before rushing away.

(y/n) drops the money on the table, and Ino’s out of his seat and headed for the door before she could even stand.  She huffs as she follows after him, although he stops just outside the door.  His heart was too good to leave her completely stranded, even though he wasn’t sure he could take another minute of being around her.

“Takuma, look, it’s not like it’s personal-” 

He scoffs, his hands in his pockets as he looks down at her.  She’s shocked to see the glare on his features, and if he wasn’t so irritated, he might’ve noticed the hurt on her face from the sharp look.

“If you tell me one more time just how not personal it is, I think I’m going to scream, (y/n),” He snaps, and in all the times she’s had this conversation with him and butted heads, she’s never heard him talk like that.  All she can do is stand there pathetically and accept it.  “Because it’s bullshit.  You know it, I know it, shit, Nanami knows it” 

“It’s not,” She mumbles, shaking her head.  “It’s not bullshit, I just-” 

“You don’t care about anything but becoming Grade One, I know,” He finishes the statement for it.  “You don’t care about drinks, and you don’t care about me.  Trust me, I remember,” 

A pout settles on her lips, and for the first time in a long time, she wants to cry.

“You know I actually-” Ino pauses to let out a humorless laugh, eyes fleeting across the busy streets as he finds twisted amusement in the way he’d fallen for this whole charade.  “I actually thought you were having a good time, I actually, stupidly believed that maybe you-” He stops again, not wanting to sound more idiotic than he already did.  

After tonight, as soon as they part ways, things would go back to the way they were, and she’d probably pretend nothing ever happened.  He’s not sure he was going to be able to survive that, even after all of this time accepting that she had no interest in him.  Ino doesn’t think he could go back to the way things were.

But fuck it, if this was going to be the last time she talked to him, he wasn’t going to lay back and take it.  He was going to put all the cards on the table.

“You know I care about you, don’t you? You have to know that.  Even if you can’t be friends or partners you- you have to know that.  You’re not dumb, (y/n), so don’t act like it,” 

She has to curl her hands into fists at her sides to keep control of the tears in her eyes.  She couldn’t dare let them spill over.

“But you’re so so stubborn, I’ve never met anyone like you,” He huffs, and the smile on his face is conflicting with the way he spits the words out like poison.  “You’re nothing like Satoru.  I’ve never thought so.  All these walls you put up to keep people from getting close to you so you don’t happen to stumble on the same path he did- because that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? You’d rather shelter yourself from everything than risk getting a little hurt?” 

Her bottom lip wobbles with emotion, and she turns away so she doesn't have to look at him.  She wished some mysterious force would suck her away from this moment and land her in the safety of her bed where she never had to face the consequences of her actions.  It was childish, but she couldn’t bear to argue with him right now.

“You’re drunk” She mumbles to the sidewalk.

“You’re drunk,” He repeats incredulously, his hands flying outward.  “You think I don’t know you because you won’t, just once, let someone get close to you,” He rants, “But you know what the worst part is, (y/n)? You’re only going to get hurt anyways.  And you have,” He gestures to her shoulder, making her defensively hold a hand over where the scars are hidden beneath her clothes.  Her brows furrow as she opens her mouth to argue, but he beats her to it.  “And then- while I was worried about you, because damn it there was so much blood, I thought you might die, you took it out on me! You got mad at me and pushed me away, again.  Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?” 

It’s only when his rant starts to die down that he realizes she’s barely looking at him because her eyes are glossy, and he knows damn well that she’s fighting every urge to cry.  He doesn’t know if she’s emotionally on edge because of him, or the alcohol making her sensitive, but either way, he sighs in defeat, and his shoulders slump from the weight of all of the thoughts he’d been carrying for the last few months.

“I- I know that you care,” She says weakly, her voice more strained than she would have liked.  “I just don’t get it, okay? It doesn’t make sense.  You don’t make sense.  I don’t- I- I can’t-” Her stutters come out in a whimper and she’s looking away again, desperately trying to compose herself before she could do something embarrassing.  

There were still people out and about even this late into the night, more than enough people to overhear their argument in the middle of the sidewalk.  Normally, she’d call her brother’s driver and leave without putting up with this argument.  But she can’t bring herself to do such a thing right now.  Not with the way he’s looking at her like she just destroyed the moon and all of it’s stars.

“My whole life has been wasted trying to prove something that I- that just isn’t possible,” 

The admission comes out in a shaky whisper.  She’s never voiced it before, but now is as good a time as any of he’s really so desperate to understand why she was wired this way.

“I don’t even understand why I was born, Takuma.  My parents had no interest in me.  They already had Satoru.  For as long as I could remember, I was only around to follow behind my big brother while the entire world bent over backwards to give him everything.  Attention, money, fame, candy apples- that’s what’s bullshit,” It comes out bitter and nasty, her nose wrinkling as she thinks back to every event she was forced to dress up and go to, only to be ignored, cast aside, and forgotten about completely while Satoru skipped around and received everything he could ever want.  “And I just can’t- can’t understand what anyone could ever want from me, I have nothing,” 

She hadn’t noticed the tears leaking from her eyes until there’s a pair of warm hands cupping her face, thumbs gently pushing them away.  She doesn’t want to look at him, not with all of the shame she felt just being comforted by him, but a stronger part of her can’t help but stare at him.  She hadn’t expected such sudden gentleness from him, and she hadn’t realized just how long it had been since someone had last comforted her.  When was the last time someone wiped her tears? Or touched her so softly that even in the frigid evening brought warmth to her skin? 

“Explain it to me,” She pleas quietly.  “Why- why would you possibly want to be around me?” 

Her eyes shift between his, but he’s too focused on clearing away each tear rolling down her cheeks.  She sniffles, and her hands reach up to grab his wrists.  Ino thinks she might yank him away, but she doesn’t.  She simply stands there with a solid grip on him.

“You are drunk,” He says quietly, just a hint of amusement in his eyes as he finally meets her sorrowful gaze.  “Don’t cry, (y/n), I didn’t mean to make you cry,” 

But it’s too late, she can’t stop the tears from streaming down her face now.

“I told you, I care about you, we’re partners, yeah?” He offers, but her expression is unrelenting.  “Have you considered maybe I don’t want you to get hurt, either?” 

Tears stick to her lashes when she blinks, and she has to bite down on her cheek to keep her lips from trembling.  He’s so close that he’d be sure to notice, but he also notices the clench in her jaw.

Every instinct she’d trained herself on is telling her to push him away.  Even if it meant physically shoving him off of her.  He’s too close in every sense of the word, breaching every wall she’d built brick by brick.

But something else nags at her, something far more sinister and cruel.  It pushes her forward, and has her clenching her hands around his wrists tighter as she stands before him in all of her pathetic glory.  Tears still pouring down her cheeks and her lower lip still wobbling, she swallows her pride.

“I’m sorry,” 

It’s quiet, but not because it’s ingenuine.  In fact it’s the opposite.  With a raw throat came a strained voice, so full of emotion she couldn’t possibly raise her voice any louder than the murmur that came out.

Ino blinks, his eyes widening in the slightest as he stares back at her in shock.  The entire night had been full of surprises, but now it had certainly taken a turn and set him on a path where he could see no clear ending.

“Takuma, I’m- I’m so sorry,” She continues, eyes glossing over again.  “I shouldn’t have pushed you away, I shouldn’t have said all those terrible things to you I- I didn’t mean any of it,” 

She’s shaking her head so rapidly it makes her a bit dizzy with the alcohol still in her system, but she doesn’t care if she sways a little.  She only wants to convey to him just how serious she was, and how important it was to her that he understood that.

“I think… I think you’re one of the greatest people I’ve ever met,” She continues, and slowly, the tears come to a stop.  “I’ve never known anyone as… as caring as you,” 

Her voice softens, a nervous shyness creeping in for admitting something so vulnerable.  But she wasn’t sure if she’d ever work up the courage to say something like this to him again, so it was now or never.

“And I know you’d never hurt me, b-because I’m… I’m the one who was hurting you,” He opens his mouth, likely to argue with that statement, but she was quick to keep going before he got the chance to interrupt.  “But I don’t think you understand that… that losing you would mean hurting me, too” She finishes, brows pinched together as they both sit for a moment to process it all.

Ino sighs, his thumbs wiping away the last of her tears, yet he keeps his hands cupped around her face.  A part of him was paranoid that if he let her go now, she might slip away once and for all.  The other, louder part knew that with the grip she had on his arms, neither one of them were going anywhere.

And so he tells her just that.

“I’m not going anywhere,” He assures her, a confident smile stretching across his face.  “You’re not losin’ me.  Promise” 

She snorts at that, the tiniest of laughs escaping her in a mere breath.

“You can’t promise something like that,” She scolds.  “In this line of-” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Ino shakes his head dismissively.  “Too late.  Already promised.  So it’s set in stone,” 

She stares up at him with wide eyes, so lost in trying to understand him in his entirety that she doesn’t even know what to say next.  Had he forgiven her so easily? How could he say such a thing with as much assurance as he did? 

“As long as you can promise to drop the tough guy act and just… be the tough guy you already are,” He says, only half kidding, “Then I can promise that I’m not leaving you” He offers, tilting his head to the side as he gazes down at her fondly, admiring the way the corners of her lips begin to twitch into a smile.

“Okay,” She whispers, so quiet he only knew she said it from the way her lips moved around the word.  “I promise” ___

From that day forward, (y/n) worked more and more to loosen up around him.  It wasn’t easy at first, and the first day was the hardest.  The Monday back at work was a bit awkward, after she’d spent an entire weekend nursing a hangover, with an overbearing brother pestering her for the details.  Ino had brought her and Nanami coffee that first morning, and she’d made an effort to eat her lunch with him every day that week.

Then the week after that she began to accompany him on his coffee runs as well, spending the extra time chatting mindlessly and getting to know one another better.

A few weeks after that the two of them went out for drinks one evening, until that too became a part of the routine.  Once a month or so they’d go out to any new bar Ino could find and waste away as much of an evening as they could.

Slowly but surely, partnership grew into genuine friendship- something (y/n) hadn’t felt for a long, long time.  And Ino made sure to never let her forget it.  Whether it was remembering her favorite drink order, or watching an entire series she’d said she liked one time, he took her companionship seriously.  The more she got to know him, the harder he made it not to fall for him.

But, god, was falling for him one of the easiest things that’s ever come to her in this life.  It was unavoidable, unstoppable, uncontrollable.  No matter how much she tried to fight it, the way her heart raced whenever he was around was distinct to feelings only he could spark.  And the way her eyes searched for him first in a crowd was more than enough proof that her fondness for him had grown well past platonic.

It might have been silly to be surprised by her feelings when she’d finally realized that’s what the swell in her chest was all about.  After the incident that was their drunken night out where she’d torn herself apart at the seams before him- they don’t talk about that night, and she can’t help but wonder if he’s doing it out of favor for her, or if he’s just as embarrassed about it as she was- she found herself getting lost when thinking about him more often.

It ranged anywhere from how his eyes were their prettiest when they would leave Jujutsu Tech in the early evening.  With the sun low in the sky, rays of light caught them just right and made them appear to be the most brilliant, shining amber she’s ever seen.  

Satoru loved to brag about his baby blues to anyone who would listen, throwing his shades off with dramatic flare as he’d bat his eyelashes at unsuspecting victims.  Ever so full of himself, he loved the attention he’d get for the outrageously bright blue hue of his eyes.  When directed at her, (y/n) tended to scoff and tell him that his Six Eyes was far more worthy of bragging about than the damn color of them.

More recently, she’d shrugged her shoulders before directing her attention elsewhere.  “I prefer brown eyes” She’d told him carelessly.  At the time he’d pouted over it, whining about how his little sister thought he was ugly.  But ever since seeing her grow closer to her partner, he had a sneaking suspicion he knew who’s brown eyes she was talking about.

As much as she indulges herself in these thoughts- wondering how soft his lips were, remembering how gentle his hands had been when he’d touched her- she knows she can’t act on them.  Not after everything she’d already put him through getting their working relationship this far.  If she were to admit to him now that she was catching romantic feelings for him, it would be humiliating.  And she was humiliated enough as it is.  So she swore to herself they would remain hidden deep, deep down, under a lock and key- with said metaphorical key being thrown into a fire and melted down into a clump of misshapen chunk metal.   Then she threw that metaphorical chunk of metal into a metaphorical ocean. ___

xoxo ~ jordie