chapter 2: i hate that you're happy

in which they miss and can't move on

cw: intentional and unintentional emotional manipulation, guilt, semi-bad parenting by non-parents, and unhealthy relationships

It had taken Gojou Satoru all his high school years to come to the realization that he finds his high school teacher kind of beautiful in an unremarkable kind of way, sunlight streaming through fall leaves, or ume blossoms at full bloom. It is not a thought that crosses his mind every time he looks at her, rather catching him off guard when it does, like finding his cell phone suddenly out of battery, or his bubble tea punch card finished.

He has never, in the nine-years he has known her, ever thought of her as hot.

Satoru does not like thinking of Yuna as hot. That isn't who she is: she is demure and professional, a receptionist at a five-star-hotel, a sales clerk at a luxury brand, pleasant but unassuming. She has always cared about her appearance, but only to ensure she is presentable, not noticeable. Now, Satoru can't help but think that she'd look hot in a sportscar, or riding a motorbike, or riding his—

"So." Shouko's smug voice breaks him out of his daydream.

Satoru turns to his tormentor with dread. He'd managed to avoid any confrontation in light of the emergency meeting Yaga had called, given nothing was as important as Suguru's declaration of war (obviously, Satoru knew that, of course he was distraught over his ex-classmate-slash-not-boyfriend's conversion to the dark side, but Satoru had had almost ten years to process that, whereas the green hair had given no warning). Satoru had been brilliant in the meeting. Employing exemplary leadership, Satoru had thoughtfully made eye contact with everyone in the room (even though they couldn't really make eye contact with him, blindfold and all): at Ichiji and his sweaty grip on his portfolio, at Mei Mei scribbling down her estimates for her contract, at Shouko who'd audibly yawned right when Satoru had proposed the first line of defense. Thank the gods for Kento, who had gotten the Kyoto School on the phone to add to the conversation. With the game "how-to-piss-off-Utahime-in-front-of-her-superiors" being the excellent distraction it always has been, Satoru could pay attention to everything and everyone else: except for quiet, green-haired, tattooed Yuna showing more skin than Satoru remembers her ever showing, like some desecrated, graffitied statue of Buddha.

The meeting had adjourned after a long hour of initial preparations, with the plan for Windows to scout through Shinjuku and Kyoto for signs of unauthorized Cursed Technique usage and for Ichiji to obtain city planning documents from the non-sorcerer government. Sorcerers had been tasked with recruitment; Satoru was supposed to formally extend the request to the Three Great Families, which he was planning to do via text.

Yuna herself had said very little in the meeting, other than to ask Ichiji to provide her a copy of Shinjuku's layout so she could plan Barriers around the area. The moment the meeting had adjourned, she had slipped out of the room before Satoru had decided what to say to her. Shouko intercepted him before he could knock on Yuna's door; Yuna had asked her to tell Satoru to give her a moment to refresh herself.

Satoru thinks Shouko has grown meaner after she's given up cigarettes, even though everyone else seems to think the resident physician of Tokyo Jujutsu Technical College is rather pleasant, if not reserved, in nature. It's the best con Satoru has ever seen pulled in his twenty-six years of living.

"On a scale from Seoul to Spain, how would you rate that interaction?"

"I thought it went fine," Satoru answers sourly.

Shouko drops her voice in mock imitation of his. "I don't like it."

Beside her, Kento coughs, which Satoru has long learned to recognize as Kento's laugh.

"Fuck you both," says Satoru without much heat. "It just took me by surprise, okay?"

"She looks good," says Shouko in a tone that makes Satoru think she's fucking with him. "America suits her."

Kento nods. "I was surprised by how well she'd adapted. She says the curse burden there is much lower, which makes the sorcerer community there a bit more egalitarian. There's more interest in the grander goal of getting rid of curses as a whole."

Satoru rolls his eyes, even though neither of them can see it. "Curses kill ten thousand people in Japan annually. Guns kill three times that in America. Maybe they should reassess their priorities."

"That's not even the point, Satoru. You're just unhappy she's happy without you."

"No one who dyes their hair that color is happy."

"Gojou," Nanami rubs his temples. "Just go say hi to her and stop talking about her hair. I'm sure she missed you too."

"I don't miss her."

Ten years ago, Shouko would have smacked him across the head. Now, she is too tired of him to really try, and instead says awful things to him that would cut a lesser man to his core. "I see you watering her bonsai."

"I don't—"

"You're going to die sad and alone, Satoru."

(As if some part of Satoru doesn't think that's inevitable.)

August 16th, 2011.

When Yuna lands in Tokyo, nearly a full year since she'd left for Chiang Mai with Tsukumo Yuki, her phone rings with a number she does not recognize. Outside the airport terminal, she waits in line for a taxi, buffeted by a late summer storm that vociferously scatters rain all over her sneakers. It is appropriate weather to welcome her back to Japan after effectively, in Satoru's words when he is resentful, "ditching all of us and not giving a fuck."

Yuna answers in hopes that it is an auxiliary manager Yaga has sent to pick her up. "Hello?"

"Oh! Is this Morimoto Yuna-san?"

It is a voice she does not recognize, too weathered to be from an auxiliary manager. Yuna checks her watch. It is three p.m., and no one except for Yaga knew what time her flight was landing. "Yes, this is."

"This is Hasegawa Kaito, I'm a teacher calling from Saitama Urami East Elementary High. You are listed as the guardian of one of our second-year students, Fushiguro Megumi."

Yuna stares at her watch. "Yes."

"Sorry to bother you, but we tried calling Gojou Satoru-san but were unable to reach him. We were hoping Fushiguro-kun's guardian could come in to chat for a bit, we had a bit of a disturbance, see…"

Yuna rubs her forehead. She has never slept well on planes and had been hoping to take a short nap at her apartment in Edogawa before heading over to the School.

"This is Fushiguro-kun's second offense already even though school started only this month, and we are looking at suspension at this point given that he has had multiple warnings—"

"No, please wait," says Yuna, resigned to a change in plans. "Please don't suspend him. I'll come in. I can be there in an hour."

"That sounds wonderful, I look forward to meeting you."

Yuna chews the inside of her cheek. "Is Megumi-kun hurt?"

"No, he is quite fine! The boys he got in a fight with are in the infirmary, but from what I am told, no serious injuries."

"I'm glad. Do you mind putting him on the phone?"

The line shuffles as it exchanges hands.

"Yuna-san?" Megumi sounds surprised, if not a bit cowed. "Are you back?"

"I just landed in Tokyo, Megumi-kun."

"Oh." There is an uncomfortable pause. "Sorry to cause you trouble."

"No, it's…" She sighs. There is no point being upset with Megumi; it is not like he'd timed misbehavior knowing it'd be a terrible inconvenience to her. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Good. I'll be there soon."

Yuna texts Yaga to let him know that she will go directly to Megumi's school before hailing a taxi. She hopes she will be able to take a short nap on the car ride, but the rain lashes on the windows and the lightning sears through her eyelids. Being back in Tokyo makes her uneasy in general, but coming back to Saitama reminds her of the old, monthly trips she'd made for Toji—no, she corrects herself, those had been for Megumi in the end. She cares for Megumi now, independent of what she'd promised Toji, independent of what Toji deserved.

When Yuna arrives, the scene is familiar, nearly identical to the very first time she'd been called as Megumi's guardian, with Tsumiki and Megumi sitting on one side of the teacher's desk and a kindly man in his sixties sitting on the other. Outside, wind rattles the loose windowpanes and sky looms too darkly for the afternoon. Yuna bows deeply, apologizing for how she looks: in a soft gray T-shirt and jeans, drenched from even her short stint in rain, sneakers squelching in soggy socks, her makeup faded after a long flight. Tsumiki lights up when she sees her, but Megumi just stares at Yuna's suitcase and the giant training staff she is lugging around with her and then looks hard at his feet. He is getting too old to kick his legs back and forth like he used to.

Yuna takes a seat and listens to Hasegawa-sensei explain the incident: Megumi had not started the fight, but he had certainly been the one to finish it. None of the teachers are entirely clear as to why the fight had started, as none of the boys had admitted to anything, but there is suspicion of bullying, and maybe Megumi had gotten fed up in the end and lashed out. It bewilders each of his teachers as to how such a polite, thoughtful child can be such a troublemaker, but Yuna has her fair share of theories and understands the responsibility she must take when it comes to Megumi's behavior.

After Suguru, she knows better than to believe the politest, most thoughtful child is immune to causing harm.

Yuna listens attentively, despite doubting very much that anyone would bully Megumi. Even at his age, he radiates a fairly intense aura that even non-sorcerer children are attuned to. Still, Hasegawa gives Megumi plenty of opportunities to correct the story, but Megumi makes no effort to do so.

"Morimoto-san," says Hasegawa, "it is to my understanding that Fushiguro-kun is an excellent student, but has had longstanding behavioral issues from even his first-year. I spoke with Fushiguro-kun's previous teacher, and though this…er, Gojou-san has been fairly responsive in the past, we worry that discipline is lacking and without more severe punishment, Fushiguro-kun's behavior will not change."

"I understand. Please give him just one more warning, Hasegawa-sensei. I will take responsibility for this incident and will discuss with Gojou-san about how best to discipline Megumi-kun moving forward. I promise we will take this seriously."

Hasegawa is just about to respond when the door bursts open with an obnoxious, familiar singsong,

"I'm here, what did you do this time, Megumi-chan!"

Satoru bolts in, grinning from ear-to-ear as if this is a regular bit that he and Megumi perform, only to freeze mid-note when he spots Yuna sitting next to the children.

"Yuna," he says, stunned, even though with his Six Eyes, he shouldn't be.

It has only been a year, but she has not seen Satoru since she'd left. He has grown taller and skinnier, his hair spiked up with product, dressed in a black T-shirt and black jeans and thin silver chains dangling from his neck like he's the lead of some punk rock band. She recognizes his sunglasses, circular ones with metallic gold wiring from a luxury brand in Europe; she'd sent them to him as a graduation present several months ago but had not received a response.

Their contact has been sparse, with Yuna skirting a different country across the southeast Asian continent every month with Yuki for the better part of a year. When she can, she texts Satoru mundane updates and he will reply in a similarly pointless way, until something in Satoru eventually snaps and he will send her blocks of angry, expletive-filled texts. It only takes an hour or so for a short, "Sorry, still adjusting" to be sent in follow-up, and they will move past the moment as if Yuna does not wear guilt like laurels anointed by Satoru's rage.

Hasegawa's gaze lingers on Yuna's suitcase and the trails of rainwater that its wheels dragged indoors, then looks up at Satoru who is struggling to say something beyond her name, then at the two children who stare awkwardly between them. The uncomfortable silence gives birth to a horrible misunderstanding.

"I see," Hasegawa says kindly. "We will grant Fushiguro-kun another warning, Morimoto-san, Gojou-san. Young parenting is hard, and separation is even harder. Still, children experiencing divorce can experience significant stress. As difficult as it is, it is important to be transparent with the children at home to help them cope with these changes, so they do not misplace their stress on others."

Yuna is not particularly talkative, but she also is not one to struggle for words. Now, however, she finds herself sputtering.

"Hasegawa-sensei—"

"Thanks so much for understanding, Hashimoto-sensei!" says Satoru gleefully, throwing an arm around Yuna's shoulders and pulling her rain-soaked body against his. It startles her, being so abruptly close to Satoru, as if the last year had not happened, as if he is not still full of unresolved resentment and Yuna not willing to bear the brunt of it. "You're right, co-parenting at such a young age is so hard! Yuna and I are really working on it, though, she needed to take a break for a bit but look, she's back and hopefully we can throw divorce out the window! Right, kids?"

Tsumiki, who is trying her best not to giggle, nods enthusiastically, but Megumi looks as horrified as Yuna feels.

"Thanks so much for understanding, seriously, Hashimoto-sensei!" chirps Satoru, his eyes wide and bright behind his sunglasses.

"Hasegawa-sensei," corrects Yuna, finding that it is the only semblance of sanity she can muster. "We will seriously talk with Megumi-kun. I apologize for this inconvenience."

Hasegawa nods, gracious in his vast misinterpretation of the situation, and guides them to the exit with the reassurance that the other students will also undergo the same conversation with their parents. Satoru chats animatedly with him until they reach the front gates, after which Hasegawa bids his farewell, leaving the four of them alone under an awning as the thunderstorm weakens to only rainfall.

"Man, seriously, Yuna, you showed up like out of nowhere!" says Satoru, his eyes brighter than Yuna remembers them to be, even though he doesn't look directly at her. "Wasn't expecting you at all!" He pulls out his phone and rapidly texts someone. "Gonna tell Yaga to send someone to pick us up, I warped over here from a mission the moment I got the voicemail, sorry Megumi, was in the middle of doing some major clean-up, but yeah, Yuna, you didn't tell me you were coming back, otherwise I would've picked you up, y'know, did you come straight here from the airport, where've you been, is that a new suitcase—"

"Gojou-san, are you okay?" asks Tsumiki.

"Yeah, totally great! You should see the other guys," Satoru winks. "Damn, how old do you think that Hashimoto-sensei thinks I am! If I was Megumi's dad, I'd had to have had him when I was like, ten, that's crazy, and Yuna, you don't look that old either, do you think it's my hair, maybe he thought I was a grandpa or something, but super hot and youthful—"

"Gojou-san," says Megumi, alarmed.

"And seriously, Megumi, if you're gonna beat kids up in school, I'm fine with it but could you stop getting caught, like just punch, stuff in locker, run away, no one's the wiser—"

"Satoru." Yuna pushes the phone out of Satoru's line of sight and forces him to look at her. He finally stops talking, that incessant stream of consciousness without the barest semblance of punctuation. Initially, she'd attributed his chatter to nerves, but this is different. Something is off with his Cursed Energy, as if someone has grated it with finely milled sand; it's barely perceptible, but Satoru's control is typically so sophisticated that even the slightest disturbance feels dangerous. She has never noticed it before, because it theoretically shouldn't be possible for anyone to alter Satoru's Cursed Energy.

"Yeah?" he says, breathless, almost hopeful.

She gingerly reaches for his forehead to check his temperature, but her fingers never come into contact with his skin. She does not know if she's relieved or disappointed by the fact Infinity is still active, but when she withdraws, Satoru catches her hand in his and his touch is scorching.

"Hang on, hang on," he says, sunglasses sliding low on his nose and Yuna is hit with the full force of his Six Eyes, ocean surface shifting a bed of crystal. "It's okay, it's okay, I wasn't expecting you to touch me and it's been a while so I forgot, but it's okay now, I let it down."

"Gojou-kun," you shouldn't, she wants to say, but instead, she says, "you're really hot."

He shoots her a cheeky smile. "I know, right?"

She lets him hold her hand to his cheek. "What happened on this mission?"

"Nothing big, just had to hustle a bit, some Special Grade vengeful spirit sighting, but I was sort of racing Suguru to it because woulda been bad if he got it, but it's okay, I got it first, and exorcised the thing, was kinda tricky but real fun, y'know, it had a weird Domain and I'm still kinda working on mine so it took a while—"

"He hasn't replied to any texts in the last four days," blurts out Megumi.

"Megumi," whines Satoru, "why are you tattling, I made it here when I knew it was important, right?"

Yuna is not in the mood to scold him. She is freezing from the rain, but Satoru feels like he has a fever, and she does not think that should be possible. She has never seen him like this before, but remembers the times he would burst into her apartment early in the morning as if he had coffee instead of blood running through his veins.

"Have you," she says carefully, "not slept in four days, Gojou-kun?"

"I don't need to sleep, you know that, I just blink," he blinks hard, as if proving a point, "and that's like micro-sleep, a mini-nap, that's enough."

"That is not enough."

"I'm fine, does this mean you're back?" He tugs her hand so she stumbles close. His entire frame is a space heater that envelopes her. "You're done traipsing around wherever the fuck you've been and you're back for good?"

Yuna doesn't know what to say, but she knows better than to tell the truth to a Satoru who is slightly unhinged. "Language, Gojou-kun."

"Satoru!" A large black SUV has pulled up in front of the school entrance, and Yaga rolls down his window. He looks relieved to see them both. Something must have gone wrong if Yaga himself is on driving duty.

"Hey, Yaga-sensei!" waves Satoru.

"Get in the car," shouts Yaga. "You were supposed to check in days ago, not go rogue on your own! Do you know what I've had to do to keep the Higher-Ups off my back?"

"Let's get the kids in the car," says Yuna before Satoru retorts. "Tsumiki-kun, Megumi-kun, you first."

The kids climb into the first row, allowing Yuna to buckle them in, before she has Satoru climb to the back while she puts her luggage in the trunk. When she finally settles in the backseat next to Satoru, he immediately drapes an arm around her shoulder and pulls her against him so that her back is flushed against his chest and she is nearly sitting on top of him.

"Gojou-kun," she pushes against him, conscious that both kids are watching them and that Yaga could see with a simple turn of his head. She does not think anyone really knows the nature of her and Satoru's relationship—if she's being honest, she doesn't really understand it herself—but the last thing she wants is to field questions about it. When Satoru's fingers dig into her thigh, though, enough to hold her in place but not enough to be painful, Yuna stills so that he reciprocally stops applying so much pressure.

"Satoru," she whispers, looking straight into his frenzied eyes, "you swore me a vow."

Recognition flits through and he freezes. His palm is huge, covering the expanse of her thigh, and his grip is tight. He has pulled her so close that one of his legs is slotted between hers. She is glad that Tsumiki and Megumi are children and not teenagers who would find the position Yuna is in wholly compromising.

"Right," Satoru rasps. He releases her leg slowly and Yuna scoots off his lap as blood recirculates into her leg.

She does not want to dwell on what Satoru would have done if they'd been alone and Yuna had let her guilt get the best of her.

"How do you think you're gonna be a teacher at the School if you're going rogue like this?" snaps Yaga from the front as he turns onto the main road, unaware of what is going on behind him. "No contact from the strongest jujutsu sorcerer for four days—it's unacceptable! And you thought you were ready to have students! I thought you'd gotten this out of your system last year, but somehow you've gotten worse since you graduated—"

"Yaga-sensei," says Yuna. Satoru has let go of her thigh but buries his sweltering forehead into the crook of her neck instead. "Maybe we should do this later."

Yaga glances back at them from the rearview mirror. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," she admits. "Please make sure Shouko-san is on campus when we return. Gojou-kun?"

"Mm?"

"Is Infinity active right now?" she says to confirm, even though the heat radiating off him strongly suggests it is not.

She feels him smile against her skin. "I turn it off when I'm with you."

Yuna does not let her expression change, even though her stomach contracts and she feels horrible and happy and ashamed all at once. She curls her hand into his hair, and the character for "Sleep" glows a baby blue on her forearm.

"Okay," she murmurs. "Get some rest."

A gentle wave of her Cursed Energy pulses through her palm into Satoru, and he slumps completely against her. Yuna shifts, finding his dead weight much heavier than she would have expected, and readjusts them so that Satoru's head rests on her lap. From the front, Tsumiki and Megumi peer back at them.

"He's snoring!" notes Tsumiki happily. "Did you do something, Yuna-san?"

"Yes."

"Is he okay?" asks Megumi.

"I don't know."

Megumi looks down at his hands. "I got in trouble on purpose this time. I'm sorry. I didn't know what else to do."

"You did what?" Tsumiki says blankly.

"It's okay, Megumi-kun," says Yuna. "He came back. That's all that matters."

Megumi looks up at her morosely. "I didn't know you'd be back. I'm sorry, Yuna-san, I didn't mean to cause you problems again."

"It's okay."

"You can…" Megumi swallows. "You can ask them to remove you as my guardian, if you want."

Yuna's vision snaps up to him. "I do not want that."

"Oh." The poor boy looks so confused. "It's just…you left, so I just thought…"

Yuna does not know what to say. She is the one who left, even after Satoru had set the Higher-Ups straight and made it possible for Yuna to return to Japan without the threat of a trial. She never really explained it properly to Megumi and Tsumiki, despite knowing that it was unfair to them. Even now, she does not have the words, does not know if she wants to be back, confronted by all the broken things she could not fix and had left to fend for themselves.

Who the fuck cares? Yuki's voice says, they're not your responsibility. When the fuck have you ever been selfish in your life, Yuna?

Yuki still does not know about Fushiguro Toji, and so Yuna will never answer that question.

"Does that mean you're back to stay?" Megumi says hopefully.

Yuna looks down at Satoru, whose fever is burning even through her wet jeans, and rests her hand in his hair. She looks outside, where the rain has renewed with force and motorcycles skid and skew from the wind. Barcelona had been sunny and clear when she'd left.

"I don't know," she answers, because she does not want to lie.

November 4th, 2017

To: Fushiguro Megumi

[19:35] Hello, Megumi-kun. Sorry for the delay.
[19:36] Something unexpected happened at the School.
[19:37] I needed to attend a meeting, but will now visit Tsumiki-kun.
[19:38] If you haven't eaten yet, please do not wait for me.

[19:45] OK.

Yuna reads the single message from Megumi after she steps out of the shower. It makes her stomach prickle, but she does not want him to worry about the details of Getou Suguru arriving on campus to declare war. The Barriers around Tsumiki's hospital are fresher and stronger than the ones surrounding Jujutsu High, given they are concentrated around a single room rather than an entire campus, but Yuna will still replace Tsumiki's this evening—she does not know if Suguru even knows of Tsumiki's existence, but given he is likely still in the city, she does not want to risk it.

She towels off her hair, a limp green in the yellow lighting, and pulls on an old set of clothes she'd left from a prior trip. The pale lilac turtleneck clashes with Yuna's hair and does not flatter her current complexion in the slightest, but it is weather-appropriate and sufficiently hides the tattoo on her neck. She pulls on a gray pencil skirt and rolls up a pair of tights that cover the inked character of "Fly" inked on both her inner ankles. Shouko's makeup supply does not match Yuna; she is two shades lighter than Yuna, who has tanned significantly in the Los Angeles sun, and all her powder products are cool-toned, but Yuna makes do as best as she is able to. She blow-dries her hair and ties it back into a braid so that the green is hopefully less offensive, then steps out into her bedroom.

Yaga had left her old room fairly untouched, citing that space was never an issue at Jujutsu High given its perennially low enrollment, even though housing her is not something he advertises to the Jujutsu Higher-Ups. Yuna is grateful that the housekeeping staff had dusted and cleaned prior to her arrival. Her bed has fresh, white sheets and a worn sky-blue duvet, and there is even a new reed diffuser on the old nightstand saturating the small room with faint jasmine. Her high-school calligraphy—a decade old, now—hangs faded on the walls, and Yuna makes a mental note to replace them with new ones, though she does not mind the comparative elementariness of her younger self. On the windowsill is a bonsai, much larger than she remembers it, pruned carefully and still quite alive. She wonders if Shouko has been taking care of it. She cannot imagine Satoru has the patience.

Yuna does not have much to unpack, but stacks the important scrolls she'd brought in her carry-on in the appropriate places and takes a moment to plaster seals to the four corners of the room and erect a personal Barrier. When she is done, her phone chimes with an alert.

From: Gojou Satoru

[19:57] Heading to Tsumiki's?

[19:58] Yes.

[19:58] Want me to come?

Yuna's fingers hover over the keyboard, debating how to respond, but then someone knocks on her door. She slides open the door to find Satoru, who wrinkles his nose at the sight of her.

It has been over a year since she'd last seen Satoru, when he'd chased her down in Los Angeles. He feels taller each time she sees him, his Cursed Energy as refined as tempered glass. Each time he spontaneously reappears in her life overseas, it always feels a bit awkward at first, forced in its casualness. Satoru is pushier, as if he can't help but revert temporarily to his teenage self, and Yuna more reserved. Yuna knows the others make fun of him for it—she has seen her fair share of Satoru's absolutely absurd behaviors—but they do not see the aftermath, when Satoru's bravado withers into something softer and Yuna allows herself to remember that she does, at times, miss him.

Things are different when Yuna comes back to Japan. Tokyo is Satoru's home turf, and he has a reputation here: Gojou Satoru, head of the Gojou Clan, first-year-teacher at Tokyo Technical College, the Strongest Sorcerer the Higher-Ups know better than to cross lightly. He does not allow himself to soften, not when there are always eyes and ears, not when Yuna is already skating on thin ice with the powers at be and Satoru's cloak of responsibility is now stretched beyond just her and Megumi. Yuna has to hold her own here, even though Satoru says he is happy to hold her here too, but Tokyo is where Suguru is and Yuna knows that is a battle she will always lose. Tokyo exhausts her for more reasons than one, and she never stays for longer than she has to.

"You done showering, finally?" he says, bringing a hand up to her braid and jangling it like a jump rope. "Was hoping this was a temporary, wash-out thing, I guess not."

She knocks his hand away. "I'll dye my hair when I have time, Gojou-kun." She feels the judgment is rich, when he has switched out sunglasses for bandages as a blindfold and seems to exclusively wear a baggy tracksuit he claims as a uniform. It is a habit that annoys her deeply, similar to watching Yuki dress herself, marring their beauty in ugly choices, but Satoru does not need Yuna to fan his ego.

"Fine," he relents, stepping past her and sitting down on her bed without her permission. Yuna slides the door back closed. "So, how's Los Angeles been?"

His tone is flat and the question forced. Yuna arches an eyebrow. "Do you really want to know?"

"Nope. Not interested at all."

"Then why ask?"

"Isn't that what I'm supposed to ask when I haven't seen you in a year?" He brings his hands up in mock quotes. "Oh, it's been so long, how have you been, horribly boring."

Yuna hums, knowing that Satoru needs to get this supreme displeasure with her living overseas out of his system each time she returns. The snark lasts only a short while. "We do not have to do that with each other, Gojou-kun."

He snorts. "Right. You don't want me to come with you to see Tsumiki?"

"I did not say that."

He points to her phone, where her reply to his offer still dangles. "You hesitated."

"It's not you." She stows it into a spare purse she'd rummaged from the closet. "It's Megumi-kun. I was trying to decide if it'd be better if we met alone first."

"Of course it's better to have me there for comparison: me, the guardian who didn't abandon them, compared to you, the guardian who did—"

"Gojou-kun," says Yuna tightly.

Satoru grins. "Relax, Yuna, I'm kidding. Megumi doesn't think of you that way."

"The fact that you're bringing it up means he does."

"Relax," he repeats, "Megumi doesn't think that hard."

They both know that's a lie—Megumi thinks harder than any fourteen-year-old should be allowed to think. Yuna lets out a long breath, wishing desperately to sleep after her flight, but Tsumiki's Barriers are her first priority.

"You shouldn't be here, Gojou-kun," says Yuna. She wishes he would have given her the space she'd asked for, but then realizes that the fact he wasn't already sitting on her bed when she'd come out of the shower was a relative improvement. "Did someone see you come in?"

"Why would I care if they do?"

"You know—"

"You're gonna be here a while this time, Yuna," cuts in Satoru. "I'm not gonna hide around and avoid you like you always want me to when you're back. This whole thing with Suguru is a big deal, and every functional sorcerer is gonna be involved." He points at her. "You included, whether the Higher-Ups like it or not."

"My being involved does not require you sneaking into my room in the middle of the night."

He smirks at her. "Don't make it sound so scandalous. We haven't even eaten dinner."

"I don't want people to think—"

"You wanna get pasta after you see Tsumiki and Megumi?" he yawns, ignoring her completely. "I found this new place, it's a nice date spot, according to Nanami."

"We are not…" Yuna's stomach growls loudly, interrupting her indignation.

Satoru laughs. "Maybe we'll go before."

"No." She ignores the way her ears burn. "It's fine. I'll just eat a snack on the way there. You should go rest, Gojou-kun, I'm sure it's been a long day."

"Yuna." He stands up and draws closer to her, looming over her in a way that would have frightened her years before, but that she has now gotten used to. "Relax. It'll be fine. I'll come with you. I can get you there faster than the subway."

Yuna hesitates. Satoru brushes her hand with his thumb and she realizes that Infinity is off. She wants to chastise him, but she remembers a rainy car ride back from Saitama and instead, she simply nods. She shoulders her bag with the necessary seals for Tsumiki's room and moves to grab the training staff resting against her nightstand, but Satoru blocks her.

"You won't need that," he says lightly. "I'll be with you."

She looks up at him, wishing not for the first time that he'd take those ridiculous bandages off. Satoru's expression has become harder to read over the years, especially when he is serious.

"Right," she exhales. "Okay."

Satoru loops his arm around her waist, even though Yuna knows he needs only the barest bit of contact for side-along teleportation. She rests her face on his chest and lets out a deep breath. Satoru has changed his cologne several times in the last few years, but it always has the same citrus base.

"You must be tired, huh," he remarks.

You don't let me hold you like this otherwise.

"It was a long flight. And a long meeting."

And I like your cologne.

"Yeah." His fingers pad her sides. "You all right?"

Yuna glances up at him. "I'm fine, Gojou-kun. Are you?"

His lips quirk. "I see Suguru more than you. The shock wears off."

Yuna does not push him for details, but she can't help but frown and pull away slightly. Satoru presses tighter against her hip bone, holding her in place, almost in warning. It's a topic they will broach another day, not on her first night back, not when neither feels like putting up more of a fight. Instead, he rests his chin on top of her head, indulging in two breaths worth of time, silence and hellos and welcome back and maybe I've missed you sandwiched in between.

"Consent," he says at last, "just in case?"

She breathes in orange and smoke and maybe at the end of the day, the torrential sunniness of Los Angeles was too much to bear for her cold, callous heart. She closes her eyes and holds him back, even though she does not need to.

"I consent."

free talk

this chapter feels different. i want to jump back to scenes that occur in the time skip but want it to be clear when the scenes change. hope the pre and post-time skip POVs and characters are distinct.

this sequel also has a slightly different tone from gmm that i'm experimenting with, so let me know what you think! love hearing from y'all. thanks for reading xoxo