Chapter 5: Retreat

The hotel's lights disappear as they go away and Gojo, once again, places a hand on her knee. That gesture begins to become familiar, and as the minutes pass, it no longer feels so foreign. Miwa smiles, her heart racing tirelessly as she thinks about taking another step and dares to intertwine her fingers over the hand that clings to her.

The worst outcomes Miwa's young mind anticipated did not become reality as she put a stop; Gojo doesn't seem upset in the slightest, he's still as lively as ever and his promise to take things at her pace excites her. She wants to ask him the specifics of that agreement, but fears that her enthusiasm is unattractive. He is so cool and casual that she feels she should act in a similar manner.

She's happy, she's overly happy.

"Stop the car."

The vehicle brakes abruptly and pulls to the side. The hand Miwa was holding now restrains her by her chest, preventing her from hitting the front seat. Gojou's tone is stern, his expression grim, Miwa has never seen him like this. He approaches her before getting out of the car.

"There's something I need to take care of," he says and then smiles again. He doesn't need to ask her to know she's worried. "Go to college, I'll be there in a minute. Let me know when you get there."

Gojo pays the cab driver extra and gets out of the car.

"Okay..." Miwa replies, she is about to call him sensei but she knows what the driver who just picked them up from a hotel will think.

The door shuts and Miwa watches him walk off into the woods beside the road, he walks with his hands in his bags in the same way he does ordinarily, so carefree, so cool.

She wishes she could have had the opportunity to give him one last kiss before saying goodbye, but is content knowing that she'll see him again the next day.

As she returns to the College she's welcomed by the nighttime symphony of the crickets; they surround the campus in their full extent and the gentle spring breeze caressing her arms turns the night into something dreamy, it's been perfect.

She pauses in solitude and takes time to gently caress her lips, she can still feel them tingling from Gojo's touch. Her skin still burns, she was about to lie with him and her chest is suffused with an inexplicable warmth. She thinks he's been patient, thinks he's a gentleman.

"Right!" She whisper and grabs her cell phone in desperation.

'I'm at school,' she writes on her cell phone and sends.

And while she thinks she's all alone, she smiles like a child not knowing that from the roof of one of the temples she is being watched intently by a friendly eye.

Mechamaru has been waiting for her from the moment she left with him. He has a strange hunch that chokes him and hurts, and he can't sleep.

He always watches her, Mechamaru's expressionless face helps him to mask it, he contemplates her in the distance and dreams of one day being able to be by her side in the flesh. Effortlessly he has become aware of the dreamy state she has been immersed in since Gojo Satoru arrived at the school, he assumes Miwa believes she is doing a decent job of hiding her feelings, but she has always been an open book.

Kirimaru watches her smile through Mechamaru, stands on his two legs on the roof and magnifies his gaze on her. He wonders why she has come alone and from the prison that is his own body, he smiles with a hint of bitterness because he knows that something is being born before him, something that will die a premature and extremely painful death. He can sense it. But there is nothing he can do to stop it. The damage is already done, Miwa is in love with that man.

With that big jerk.

Miwa goes back to her room and throws herself on the bed, sinks her excited face on a pillow and holds back the screams that cries to come out of her soul. The happiness that overwhelms her feels uncontainable and she smiles, she can't stop smiling and thinking about him. She thinks of his hands and his kisses, his eyes and the tone of his voice.

This has to be a dream...

It is impossible for her to close her eyes without mentally returning to the hotel, without falling back into his arms. She tries unsuccessfully to sleep, but the turmoil between her mind and hormones won't let her. She sighs and whispers his name with endearing illusion, she feels so much warmth on her lungs, so much affection being born and radiating from within her.

At some point she wonders if he has returned, if what stopped him is a curse that she is unable to feel. She can't help but worry even though she knows he is the most powerful man in the world. Then she tries to come to her senses, Gojo Satoru does not need anyone's help, unlike her.

The sun rises again in what for her has been minutes and Miwa decides to get out of bed, she has something special in mind and dresses up in her uniform to go out. She grabs her wallet, she knows of a place that sells kikufuku. She wants to surprise him, to see his face happily eating one of his favorite treats. She leaves the College with illusion and walks at a fast pace, surely she'll be the first customer of the morning.

The blinds are just opening when she looks into the store and runs to greet the sturdy woman who opens her store.

It doesn't take her long to pay and she returns to the school as soon as possible.

Once in the temple her heart skips a beat, she is going to see him again and that thrills her more than humanly possible. She goes straight to the room where Gojo must be sleeping and knocks a couple of times. But she gets no answer.

He must have fallen asleep... Miwa thinks and knocks again.

"Oh, Miwa-san...?"

Utahime's voice takes her by surprise and she turns in her direction. She blushes in anticipation, gets an extreme idea of what she might think of seeing her knocking on that door and mumbles something that her sensei doesn't quite understand. Utahime walks up to her, furrows her eyebrows and a slight wrinkle accentuates between them.

"Are you looking for Gojo Satoru?" She leans a little closer and takes a look at the bag Miwa can't hide. "What's that? Smells good..."

"Uhm... kikufuku..."

"Ugh... Don't tell me... That inconsiderate Gojo sent you to buy kikufuku for him. I shouldn't have told him that you would be at his disposal, he tends to take that kind of thing extremely to heart..." She sighs with obvious exhaustion, in fact, she is relieved by what she says next. "He already left, the student arrived early and Gojou didn't even allow him to take a seat... He didn't even get out of the cab. They already left for Tokyo."

"Oh... Right... I guess he must have been very excited to have a new first-year student..."

"How much did you spend? Let me pay you back, that Gojo is... I'll have a serious talk with him as soon as he sets foot in Tokyo."

"N-No! Please!... Don't scold Gojo-sensei, I'd be too embarrassed... Take it! Enjoy it, don't blame Gojo-sensei, he must have forgotten, it's nothing serious. Please accept it sensei."

Miwa feels a terrible sorrow for lying to Utahime, and the feeling doesn't leave her even when she receives that gift and smiles at her.

Gojou left without saying goodbye...

The knot returns, the happiness that left her static a few hours ago slowly fades away and is replaced by another embarrassing feeling.

She looks at her cell phone and the double blue check mark over her last message makes her uncomfortable. Gojo saw her message and said nothing. He could have said something, a short explanation would have been enough for her.

A horrifying thought begins to poison her mind... Would he be avoiding her because of what happened the night before? He seemed so chilled out, so at ease with the idea of giving her her time that she can't believe that's the reason for his absence.

She looks at her mobile once more and wants to write to him again to ask him if everything is okay, but refrains from doing so and puts the mobile in her pocket before starting her daily activities.

Gojo is new to this department. Rejection doesn't sit well with him, he's not used to dealing with that shameful feeling. In fact, he never feels shame. It's a strange, uncanny feeling that makes him uneasy and at the same time spurs him on to reach the goal with much more determination than he could have ever imagined.

Everything comes so easily to him in life that nothing thrills him anymore, few things fascinate him and he has lost interest in anything outside of his work for the same reason. Being a prodigy has its disadvantages.

Miwa wants him, he knew it the very instant he laid a hand on her and felt her shudder. It's written, Miwa desires him, her body confessed it, but for some reason she didn't give in to her own urge and drew an unbreakable boundary for him. And the challenge appeals to him more despite having frustrated him so much...

But when she held his hand on the way to school something stirred inside him. Miwa's hands became chains that for a moment made him feel bonded to something else, an obligation that came to suffocate him and he was forced to stop the car with a convincing excuse.

He is not that kind of man. He gets bored extremely easily, he knows that. But Miwa intrigues and excites him. Disgruntled, he stopped in the middle of the forest and let out a sigh.

He's getting into unfamiliar territory and he's either not mature enough, or he's too selfish to give up.

He still wants her.

What's the worst that can happen?

His cell phone rings on the way back and he looks at it, Miwa has arrived. He dislikes worrying, Miwa is weak. But she has potential.

He's been pondering a theory ever since he read her horrendous file and something vibrates inside him, the same excitement he gets from the interesting things he comes across in his line of work. If he's right, Miwa may turn out to be more powerful than she herself imagines.

He has to help her let go, let it all out.

As he arrives at the college the sun is beginning to rise and he happens to see a cab parked right in front of the temple entrance. He recognizes him immediately, he is the new student.

After a quick introduction he looks at the clock, if they get in the cab they can get to Tokyo on the next train. And despite the complaints of the boy who has already been traveling for a whole day, he ends up convincing him.

The only thing left for him to do is to get his things before leaving...

'Are you running away, Gojo Satoru?' suddenly asks an intrusive voice inside his mind, stopping him in front of the door of his narrow room. He can't possibly be running away from Miwa Kasumi... not a man like him, not the most powerful man in the world.

He quickly enters his room and dresses in his classic Gojo-sensei clothes and as he does so he smiles to himself remembering Miwa uttering his name in whispers during that wet dream. How he would have loved for her to say it to him last night while he was fucking her. And now that he thinks about it, that idea of going at her pace sounded a bit complicated. He got himself into a pickle.

Well, what are you going to do now?, he says to himself in amusement.

He'll think of something.

A ride to the train station with a frustrated teenager, a train ride where he falls asleep and is awakened by the same boy, an official vehicle of the Tokyo Metropolitan Magic Technical College. Satoru takes advantage of that last stretch to take another look at Miwa Kasumi's file. He rereads the most tragic paragraphs of her story and notices the name of the one who abandoned her.

Isao Miwa.

Yuji and Fushiguro go down the steps of the entrance of the school, it's the perfect occasion to start the introductions. Yuji Itadori is friendly, it will be perfect for the new boy to chat with him to get an idea of what campus life is like. Gojo gets out of the car and greets them.

"Gojo-sensei!" Yuji greets him with a big smile.

"My favorite students," he says and hears Megumi whisper the same thing he says to everyone, but pretends not to hear anything. "Let me introduce Ito Noboyuki, he will be the new first year student."

"Welcome Ito."

Megumi never seems excited about anything, he has mastered the art of I don't give a damned. However, he smiles, walks over along with Yuji who quickly asks him where he has come from and how his trip has been.

This is the perfect moment. He turns to Ijichi who still hasn't gotten out of the car and looks out the window.

"I have an ultra-confidential job for you."

"Ultra confidential?"

"So confidential that if you breathe a word of this to anyone I'll have to kill you." Ijichi's face breaks down, he's so easy to scare that Gojo can't help but laugh. "Just kidding... but yes, I will kill you."

"Well, what is it?"

"I want all the information you can collect on someone, I want his address and everything he's done in the last twenty years."

"Who is it?"

"Isao Miwa."

Ijichi pauses over the name and seems to be connecting the dots, though he then turns to look at him and decides not to ask any more questions.

"I'll see what I can do."

After taking Noboyuki to the principal and watching the same scene repeat itself for the tenth time, he reminisces about his time as a student and at the end accompanies the boy to his room.

He has slept very little, although he is not tired. His cell phone vibrates and he smiles, he has just received a message from Utahime. Gojo sees the picture she just sent him and can't understand it. He even thinks she has the wrong contact.

Yoshinobu Gakuganji holds a cup of tea and eats edamame and cream kikufuku, in front of him on the table there seems to be another cup, he assumes they are both having tea.

'Are you trying to make me jealous of the old man,' he sends in reply. 'You succeeded,' he then sends and stares at the screen while Utahime types a reply.

'I hope this is the last time you abuse Miwa like this,' Gojo reads and remains motionless. 'The poor thing went out first thing to buy this for you and you left without taking it with you, inconsiderate as always.'

He didn't ask Miwa to buy anything for him, however, it doesn't take him long to get an idea of what might have happened. He looks at the picture again, the kikufuku that was for him being eaten by that decrepit old man.

Something stirs inside him, he is the one who usually brings the souvenirs and the occasional treat. And this reminds him again that he has forgotten about Miwa; he opens her conversation and hovers there, looks at the time of her last connection, only a few minutes ago, and deliberates what to say to her. But he can't think of anything.

He'll think of something.

Kasumi stares at the screen of her phone, her eyes fixed on the last message she sent him and he hasn't answered yet. She counts the hours, he must have arrived in Tokyo by now. And he still hasn't said a thing to her.

She rests her cheek on one hand, looks at her mobile again, then puts it aside to continue writing a paper. The door bangs, Mai's voice is heard on the other side, her tone is unfriendly as usual and she is almost sure why she has come.

"Come in," she invites her without getting up from her desk and turns to see her enter with slight disinterest.

Mai carries some books in her hands and puts them on the bed.

"That's all," she says as if it wasn't at least two months of backlogged work. Miwa sighs.

'What have you gotten yourself into?'

"Well?" Mai asks, Miwa is quick to detect the hint of mischief in her tone. He sees her quickly leave in the direction of the door, check the corridors and then close it again. She sits down on her bed and folds her legs. "Tell me everything."

Everything?, Miwa fears, her body starts to feel stiff and she quickly remembers Gojo's caresses. No, she can't tell her everything.

"It was good," she says, pressing her lips into a smile.

"Just good? Wow, doesn't sound like you had much fun. I told you he was an idiot, but hey... I guess it's better than doing absolutely nothing on your birthday. I guess you must have settled for pining after him like a little girl."

Mai laughs, unaware that she actually stabbed her in the chest. Miwa fears she hasn't been woman enough for him, chokes on the thought and suddenly feels like crying. She looks away from her homework and laughs with Mai.

"Y-yeah, we just sang and ate. It was good... it was fun."

She doesn't lie when she says that, she really could have sworn she was having the best night of her life up to that point. But now she hesitates, she doesn't know how she should feel or what she has done wrong.

"I almost forgot!" Shhe opens her desk drawer and takes the lipstick Mai gave her the previous evening, holds it out to him and she looks at it sideways.

"Keep it, it's not my color."

"Oh... thank you."

"Well, I hope you finish my homework quickly," she says, standing up while Miwa makes a gesture of annoyance that she doesn't see. "And I'm glad it was all PG last night, good girls like you have nothing to do with guys like Gojo Satoru.

"Guys like him?"

"Womanizers, Miwa," she laughs again. "You don't want to be part of a man like that's rap sheet."

"Of course not..." she forces a smile again and Mai leaves. When she hears the door close she collapses on her desk. She slams her forehead against the table again and again.

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Can it be true? It can't be true. It can't be that Gojo is that kind of man. He's so warm and nice, he's so funny and understanding.

Her cell phone suddenly rings and her heart immediately jumps. She picks it up with the fear of encountering something she doesn't expect, something that will hurt her.

My grades.

Disappointed, she looks at her brother's message and opens the attachment. His grades are somewhat average, at least he has passed all his subjects.

You can do better.

Miwa looks at the emoji Kano sends her, a little face rolling his eyes. She smiles to herself, she misses him. She hasn't seen her siblings for quite a while and before too long the curses will start to emerge again. She fears for the state their home, the one the College has given to them, must be in.

How's Sochi?, she asks him and almost instantly receives a picture of him playing video games on an old-fashioned console. Miwa smiles again, this time more calmly.

Several days fly by, the new student has passed the director's test and trains with him daily. He likes him, he's a quiet boy, somewhat whiny, but he learns quickly and that excites him. He gives him some basic lessons and when he's alone he continues to meditate. Miwa hasn't texted him again at all, which he finds strange. He has received other messages that he almost completely overlooks and finds himself staring at the screen thinking what to say to her, five days late in answering a message is not unusual for him, he's used to doing everything when he pleases. But in this situation he feels an obligation to say something.

'How are you?,' he writes and then deletes, 'What are you doing?,' he writes and also knocks on the door and Ijichi's unsure tone of voice sounds from the other side.

"Gojo, may I come in?"

"Go ahead."

Ijichi comes walking in with a few papers in his hands. He hands them to him with an exaggerated bow and Gojo raises an eyebrow without fully remembering what he had asked for. He looks sideways at the sheets of paper and suddenly gets excited when he reads Isao Miwa's name. He had almost forgotten it.

"He had three children with Akiko Azumi: Sochi, Kano and Kasumi Miwa... He spent five years in a correctional facility for theft and has several reports of domestic violence. His current address is on the last page, he still lives in Kyoto," he says as if in an exam.

Gojo looks up, surprised by what he has just heard. Does Isao Miwa still live in the same city as Kasumi? He finds this finding slightly disturbing. He turns his face to Ijichi's report and dismisses him with a wave of his hand. When he withdraws he begins to read further.

Apparently Mira's mother reported cases of violence on at least five occasions, according to the reports Isao was in a drunken state, but justice released him again and again. Fortunately for the whole family, he decided to leave for some reason two years after the birth of their last child. Which further motivates the theory he's been forging in his mind and he gets up without much thought. He looks at the time on his cell phone. He has time to catch the last train if he leaves right now.

As he rides the train to Kyoto he continues reading. Isao robbed a liquor store, assumes he is an alcoholic and looks at his mug-shot with slight contempt. He is currently unemployed and makes a living by selling narcotics underground. So it won't be long before he's caught by the police... Outside of his criminal record there's not much information about him, he's just an ordinary human.

Arriving in Kyoto he looks at the address and asks for a new cab. The neighborhood he lives in is unpleasant, the streets dark and dirty, an ideal place for a scumbag like him. He climbs three floors in an apartment building corroded by the passage of time. Gojo smells the urine impregnated on the walls of the corridors, looks at the stains of dubious origin stained in the corners and walks up to 3B, knocks on the door and after no one answers the knock he uses a tiny percentage of his cursed energy to open the lock and makes his way in.

Inside the room everything seems even more decayed. There is nothing but a mattress wrapped in dirty sheets and a table with two different chairs. On one side there is a small refrigerator and a are several bottles of sake strewn on the floor and an intense stench of dirty laundry that forces him to wrinkle his nose.

The idea that someone as pure as Kasumi would have such a close relationship with a guy like that surprises him.

He checks the drawers, the fridge, the bathroom, but finds nothing. And when he hears the doorknob squeak he grins mischievously and remains hidden in the darkness.

Isao soon realizes that someone has been inside his apartment. He enters cautiously and takes out a knife from his jacket, which he holds tightly in his left hand. He turns on the light and doesn't find him, which only means that the intruder is inside the bathroom. He walks slowly to the door frame and jumps in, slinging his knife, but is surprised to find nothing. He puts the knife back into his jacket and turns to close the door, but is startled to see the six-foot-two-inch Gojo Satoru standing there.

"I'll do you a favor and close the door," he says with amusement. "It's a dangerous neighborhood."

"You're in the wrong place, kiddo," he replies confidently.

The photo Gojo had seen of Isao doesn't do justice to the actual man. Miwa's father is bulky, the years in prison must have forced him to look more intimidating. He has a deep scar on his cheek and a cut ear.

"I won't be here for long, I just came to ask you a few questions. I have some doubts that only you could clear up for me."

Isao quickly pulls out his knife and lunges unsuccessfully at Gojo, but in the blink of an eye he is on the other side of the room.

"Wh-what?" He mutters incredulously and looks for him until he finds him a few meters away.

"Let's not make things more complicated than they should be, the smell is really unbearable here..."

"Little shit," he says and launches himself again, but this time Gojo is behind him and after a light blow with his right hand he leaves him on the ground.

Isao trembles, his whole body is submerged in extreme tremors. He can't get up, he can't move his hands or legs. He looks over his shoulder and barely manages to see a part of Gojo's face.

"Ah... I told you, didn't I?"

"What... what are you?" He asks with great effort.

"You're no match for me, so stop trying..." he replies in an annoyed tone and crouches down in front of him. "All you have to do is answer a few questions and I'll leave."

"What do you want?"

"I want to know about Akiko Azumi."

"She... she died."

"I know. Tell me about her."

"Akiko... she was crazy. She kept talking about... horrifying creatures. She said... she saw things, things that... weren't there."

Gojo smiles. He's hit the nail on the head.

"What about Kasumi?

"Ka... Kasumi? She was also... insane. I couldn't stand them... them and their stories... the things they saw... That girl... that girl... I hated listening to her."

As he speaks, Isao begins to move his arms; both of them shake like two leaves in the wind and he tries to get up from the ground. But what he just said feels like a sharp thorn in Gojo's flesh. He suddenly feels like shutting his mouth. His smile is completely wiped off and he stands up without taking his eyes off his hideous face. He rests his left foot on Isao's back and stomps hard to put him back on the ground.

"Kasumi is not insane," comes out of his mouth as if spitting out the words.

Isao laughs, he has no idea before whom he is prostrate. Gojo glares at him under the black band protecting his gaze and presses harder to wipe away his smile.

"Did you hit her?" He asks in a soft tone.

"It's none of your business..."

"You're in no position to tell me what's my business. Haven't you figured it out yet?"

"If you're going to kill me, do it."

"Nah... Killing you is too easy. You're weak, beating women and girls? How disgusting..."

Gojo hears him complain as he presses his shoe on Isao's back.

"Coward..."

"Do you want to die?"

After asking that question, he releases him. He watches him as he starts to get up and crawls over a corner. He hits some empty bottles that fall to the floor. Gojo looks down at the ashtrays littered with cigarettes, the dirt on the carpet and then back up at him. Isao gasps and sweats.

"I'm ready to die..."

"Well, it's not your lucky day."

Isao watches him turn his back on him, walks out the door and closes it behind him, leaving him all alone.

N/A: I hope you like this chapter, I have taken a lot of time to translate it and I hope you can see an improvement. Thanks for reading!