*Author's note: Sorry for the late uploads guys! I got laid off and have been super busy trying to apply to new jobs and dealing with other stuff- thank you for your patience and staying with me through all this! This chapter's a bit shorter just because I ran out of time, but I'll try to make up for it next week! Hope you enjoy!

"Hold still." Satoru drew close to her finger, his lips practically caressing her skin, and whispered inaudibly. A white glow surrounded her finger and she gasped, witnessing the scab melt away, leaving unblemished skin behind.

Qian's eyes widened owlishly as she stared up at him, completely bewildered. She had only ever seen her mentor do Reverse Cursed Technique successfully. "H-How-"

"I got some practice in." He replied gruffly, lifting his eyes to meet hers. For a moment, they regarded one another in the moonlight. A stray cloud cast a shadow over the couple, and Qian faltered upon seeing his ice-blue eyes glowing in intensity. Her heart felt like it was about to break out of her ribcage as she desperately tried to suppress any straying thoughts. Calm down, calm down. This doesn't mean anything-

Panicking, thinking she was fantasizing or hallucinating again, she looked away, swallowing nervously. "T-Thank you." She coughed as she finally tugged her hand free, holding it close to her chest. "I-I really appreciate it, you've been most kind to me."

He blinked, as though he was broken out of some sort of trance. He then cleared his throat, straightening his back as he crossed his legs, resting his ankle on his thigh. "No problem."

Silence fell over the couple, with nothing but the soft rustling of the trees as the cool early autumn breeze blew through the garden, and the gentle splashing of the fountain's spout hitting the bottom basin. Unable to take the quiet much longer, Satoru glanced at the girl from the corner of his eye, noting that she seemed to be looking everywhere but him.

Not that he blamed her. What the hell am I doing?

However, this wasn't the first time he noticed her aversion to maintaining eye contact. Wanting to break the tension, he placed an elbow on his leg, resting his chin in his palm as he regarded her. "So, do you have issues looking at everyone in the eyes, or is it just me?"

The girl snapped her gaze back towards him in shock. "W-What do you mean?"

"I just noticed it, to be fair." He replied, regarding her curiously. "You seem to avoid holding my gaze for too long."

"I-I always had problems keeping eye contact, it's not just you!" She replied adamantly, waving her hands wildly in front of her. "I-I just get nervous maintaining people's gaze for too long, I start feeling self-conscious and panic. I think it's anxiety."

"Or maybe you just need practice." He turned his posture to face hers fully. "Here. Hold my eyes for thirty seconds straight."

Her eyes practically bulged out of their sockets. "E-Excuse me?"

"You heard me." He smirked and leaned forward, resting his arms on his thighs as he stared directly into her eyes. "Alright: one, two…"

Mortified, she squeezed her eyes shut and looked away. "I-I-I can't, this is too much!"

"No, no, no. Come on, if you're in a professional interview, you have to be able to make eye contact and hold it." His grin widened as he gestured for her to look back at him. "You can do this."

She shook her head once more and Satoru rolled his eyes. "Qian, you can't avoid eye contact forever. Especially if you want to become a scientist or doctor or whatever- you're going to meet a ton of different people and you'll need to make a good impression. Come on, just give it a shot."

She hesitated for a moment longer, but finally conceded, knowing the man was right. With a deep breath, she raised her eyes and met his gaze. "One, two, three, four…" With every count, he would raise a finger, his eyes remaining steadfast. And with every count, her face grew hotter, her pulse raced faster, and her ears started burning. "Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen…" She began fidgeting in her seat, breathing heavily as her stomach twisted and knotted in her gut. Unable to withstand his gaze any longer, she began to turn away.

"Ah, ah, ah." He immediately reached forward, grabbing her chin and forcing her to face him once more. She released a soft gasp as the movement caused her to fall forward, her hands instinctively falling onto his lap to brace herself. She started up at him helplessly, her cheeks turning dark red.

Satoru also paused, realizing the motion that he just made, but unable to pull away his hand. His brain completely froze upon seeing her face so close to his, a gentle scent of peach blossoms and lilac flooding his nose. He swallowed thickly, but he opened his mouth once more. "Twenty-eight, twenty-nine… thirty." He finally whispered, his eyes traveling from hers to her lips.

She couldn't breathe. All she could do was stare up at him in shock, her thoughts instantly traveling to his warm fingers that were still on her jaw. Was his thumb stroking her cheek? He seemed to draw closer, leaning down towards her. Her mind went blank. She barely heard his words and couldn't formulate a response. W-W-What is happening? Is he about t-t-t-to k-k-kiss-

DING. DING. DING..

The two of them immediately leapt apart, Qian gasping for air and Satoru fumbling with his pockets for his cell phone. Finally finding the device, he briefly glanced at the caller ID before placing it against his ear. "What is it, Shoko?" He practically growled.

The poor girl was slapping her cheeks, smoke practically floating out of her head. Bad Qian, bad! Stop those ridiculous thoughts!

"I'm outside. No, I didn't run away. Relax." She peered at the man beside her through her fingers. He ran a hand over his face. "Alright, I'm hanging up. Bye."

He pressed the red button and stuffed the device back into his coat pocket before glancing at Qian, coughing uncomfortably. "See… that wasn't so bad… right?"

The girl nodded violently. "R-Right! T-T-Thank you for the practice!" She forced a nervous laugh, playing with the fabric of her dress.

He clenched his jaw, crossing his arms as though the gesture would somehow control his urges. What is wrong with me? He's been feeling drawn to her, constantly wanting to touch her… could this be because he hasn't gotten a release lately? He's definitely been too busy to see any of his female… friends. The silence between them was almost unbearable as his heart continued beating erratically in his chest.

"Don't mention it." He replied gruffly, rubbing his neck. "See? You just need some more practice, or maybe surround yourself and try talking to more people, soon you'll be able to maintain eye contact and maybe pick up on some social habits as well."

Qian nodded, her face still hot. It would do some good to hang out with her friends more often, or just surround herself in public spots-

Hang on. Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in her mind. "W-Wait, you just brought up a good point." She tapped her chin, thinking back to her research. "W-What if I surrounded the cursed user's cells with other cells that have cursed energy? Like growing them with a Jujutsu sorcerer's cells?"

Satoru blinked upon her sudden change in subject. "I'm not sure?"

She furrowed her brow as she thought back to her notes, her brain rapidly formulating a new experimental design. "T-This might actually work… I already have everything prepared, I just need to mix the two cell types together. It'll be so easy! But I need a sample… I already used up all of Ieiri-sensei's cell sample just by comparing hers with the cursed user's… so I'll need to ask her for some next week. But she's so busy…" She bit her lip, feeling impatient and disappointed. "I-I would be able to see the results so fast and finally progress with something! But I feel bad- maybe I'll ask Yuji-san… " He always asks if needed help after all, it would be perfect timing. But I feel bad-

The man crossed his arms. "I mean, you can use mine?"

His voice shook her out of her thoughts and she snapped her gaze at him in shock. "O-Oh, really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I don't care." He shrugged his shoulders, thinking back to how his student hurled himself at her earlier. The thought of the pink-haired teen and her being alone, in that small lab, brought a bitter taste in his mouth.

"O-Oh, thank you so much! That would be a huge help!" She bowed her head deeply in gratitude before popping back up, her eyes wide in excitement. "T-This is so great, all I need to do is write an experimental proposal for Ieiri-sensei…" She groaned. "B-But I have to use the lab's computer… I hate typing things up on my phone…"

She then pulled her legs out of the water, shoving her feet into her heels. "I-I'll be right back."

Satoru quirked a brow. "What? What do you mean? Where are you going?"

"I-I just need to go to the lab quick and type this up while it's still fresh in my head!" Qian lifted her dress to hook the straps around her ankles.

"You have to do this right now?" He regarded her in amusement as she hopped on one foot, struggling to place the other foot inside the heel.

"Y-Yes, otherwise, I'm going to forget it all by Monday!" She straightened her back as she blew her hair out of her face. She dipped her head down politely before turning away. "T-Thank you so much for your help tonight, sensei! Enjoy the rest of your party!"

"Wait, why don't I come with you?" She almost tripped in her step, peering over her shoulder incredulously. He blinked. "What?"

"N-No, nothing I… Are you sure?" She tilted her head quizzically. "T-The party is much more fun, I don't want you to miss out on anything."

He smirked, rolling his shoulders as he stretched his arms. "Nah, I've been to enough of these. Besides, if I fly us, we'll get back faster before your family notices."

She hesitated for a moment before acknowledging he had a point. Her parents needed her help, it would be rude if she was gone for too long. She let out a grateful smile. "O-Okay, I'd appreciate that, thank you."

She then peered around. "S-So how do we-"

He took a step forward, wrapping an arm around her waist. Her cheeks immediately flushed as he smirked down at her. "Hold onto me tightly."

"U-Um, wait-" Too late, he shot them into the sky as she released a scream.

—-

Moments later, he slowly lowered them to the center of Jujutsu High's campus. Once they touched the ground, the girl immediately stumbled forward, bending over as she took deep breaths, trying to stabilize her jellified legs. "O-Oh my goodness." She gulped, grateful to feel the solid earth beneath her feet once more. "I-I don't understand how you can do that all the time."

"You get used to it." He smirked as he dusted off his shoulder, adjusting the collar of his suit. "Well, lead the way."

She straightened her back with a nod and walked towards the direction of her lab. There was a comfortable silence between them as wind blew around them, rustling the trees that had begun to turn into shades of gold, ruby, and orange.

Qian was the first to open her mouth. "S-So, what made you decide to be a teacher?"

Satoru glanced at the girl, who stared up at him curiously, before shrugging offhandedly. "I was tired of the old geezers at the top of the Jujutsu world doing whatever the fuck they wanted. It was time for a change- I tried to do it alone, but the only real way to instigate a revolution is raising the younger generation."

She blinked before turning her gaze back towards the path, her brow knitted in thought. "I-Is the administration really that bad? Did they do something wrong?"

"Not just something, everything." A grin tugged at his lips upon seeing her incredulous expression. "They're always trying to control everything, 'for the sake of the greater good' they call it, even sacrificing people to achieve their goals. 'The lives of many outweigh any one' they would say."

Qian paled, her eyes wide in horror. "T-That's terrible, I don't think people should be used as tools like that."

"That's just how they are, that's how the Jujutsu world is." He stretched his hands above his head. "That's why I think it's time for change."

"W-Well, good." She clenched her hands tightly to her chest as she paused, turning to face him in resolution. "I-I know it doesn't mean much but, I think you're doing the right thing. I'll support you in any way I can."

His lips twitched. "Thanks, I guess."

"A-At least I'll try." She let out a bitter smile as she began walking once more. "B-Besides doing research, I'm not really good at anything else."

"What got you involved in research anyways?" The man asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Like why do you want to go into this field?"

"W-Well, I've always been good at science throughout school. But then, in the beginning of high school, my grandpa passed away from cancer. Since then, it kind of just stuck with me, like why him, how could they have saved him, why was the treatment not enough…" She trailed off, her eyes glossing over at the thought of her favorite relative. She then shook her head before peering up at him. "H-How about you, why did you decide to become a sorcerer in the first place?"

"Family obligations." He stated plainly, raising his hands behind his head. "Didn't really have any options for myself."

"O-Oh, that's so sad." He gazed at her in bewilderment. Sad? He stared back down at the path they were taking. No one has ever described his life as 'sad' before…

The entrance to the lab appeared in the distance as she sighed. "Y-Your family shouldn't control your life like that."

A grim smile tugged at his lips. "Well, I didn't really have a choice then."

She glanced at him before tilting her head. "B-But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try."

He gave her a confused look. "Try what?"

"T-To do what you wanted to do." She offered, her eyes shining with inspiration as they approached the door. "W-What is the thing you always wanted to do, or be?"

"I'm… not sure? I never really thought about it." Satoru rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly at the thought. "It was always laid out for me."

"W-Well, it's never too late. Maybe it's something to think about for the future." She replied with a bright smile, before pulling out her car keys. After shifting through the metal pieces to find the correct key, she grabbed the doorknob, causing the door to immediately open ajar. She narrowed her eyes. "T-This isn't right. Something's not right."

Satoru immediately straightened his back. "You always keep this door locked?"

She nodded vehemently. "A-Always. And I never forget because I always jiggle the knob after I lock it to make sure."

There was a rustling noise from the bottom of the staircase. Without another moment of hesitation, Qian quietly began to descend the staircase.

"Qian!" Satoru hissed before quickly following suit. He grasped her shoulder. "Let me go first."

She peered up at him before nodding, allowing him to go in front of her. He took off his sunglasses, tucking them into his back pocket as he activated his Six-Eyes to discern the darkness.

The two of them reached the floor and saw a hunched figure, holding a flashlight, rummaging through the walk-in fridge. A human male. He furrowed his brow.

"Stop what you're doing." He commanded, holding his two fingers up before him, ready to cast a wordless spell.

The man turned around, dropping his flashlight in surprise. Qian immediately reached for the light switch, flicking it on.

"N-Nii-san?!" She yelped incredulously.