Thankfully, Gojo doesn't try to teleport them close to any of the sorcerers or staff members on campus. Yoshi isn't windswept, she's disheveled . Like hell is she walking into the viewing room like this.

"Go on ahead," Yoshi grumbles, turning away from Gojo. "I'll catch up."

"Huh? Why?"

She fights back another eye roll. He knows why. "Leave," Yoshi says, undoing her ponytail.

He does not leave.

"Ohhhh, your hair?" There's a smile in his voice. "Sorry for that."

Yoshi doesn't bother answering, or even taking the time to glare at him. They both know he isn't sorry. He had no reason to dangle her over the edge of a radio tower besides his own dumb sense of humor.

"You should brush it," Gojo suggests, which is incredibly unhelpful. She can't quite tell if he's joking or if he's just oblivious about hair. Most Japanese people don't have any curl pattern in their hair, but Yoshi does and it's a bitch to work with. "Or use some gel for all those hairs sticking up. You're very puffy today," he observes, trying to touch her head.

On full reflex, Yoshi drops her hair to smack away Gojo's hand—successfully. He yelps.

"Ask before you touch, Satoru," Yoshi warns, speaking around the elastic between her teeth.

He gapes at her. "Since when is that a rule?"

Touching doesn't bother Yoshi. In fact, though she rarely seeks it out, Yoshi likes physical affection. Wendy and her mother greet everyone with hugs. Yoshi deals with sticky-fingered kids on a regular basis. There's no concept of personal space when you have to take a train during rush hour. If there ever was a time in her life that Yoshi was shy about touching others, she does not remember it.

Gojo reaches for her because he's just that type of person. And Yoshi lets him, because she isn't the type of person to pull away.

"It's different for hair," she tells him shortly. Normally Yoshi wouldn't bother to explain this, but that wouldn't be fair to Gojo. "I don't know. It feels like I'm being petted."

"Hm," Gojo pouts as she goes back to gathering up her hair, like he doesn't know what to do with himself if he's not allowed to tease her.

The peace lasts for all of five seconds.

"I lied earlier, your hair looks fine," he chirps. "Just keep your hood up all day. Or shave your head—eek!" Gojo darts out of the way when she tries to kick him. "Leave your hair down if it's such a hassle to put it up," he whines.

"I don't like it down," Yoshi grunts, combing through a tangled section. She's taking too long for this. Her fingers keep fumbling even though she's done this a million times.

Something about being watched while she fixes her hair is really embarrassing.

"What's not to like?" Gojo wonders. "It looks good when it's down."

Yoshi glances at him, perplexed. "I mean for work, I don't like it getting in my face." Loose hair is impractical.

He hums, cocking his head to one side like he needs to examine her from a new angle. Yoshi frowns at him again, sensing another impending joke.

"Fair point," Gojo reasons. Then he brushes over her cheek with the tips of his fingers, there and gone before she can react. "It'd be a crime to cover up that face," he concludes.

Sometimes he's just an ass, but then Gojo turns around and flirts like they've just met at a club. It's hard to tell what his aim is, if there's one at all. Yoshi doesn't know if it's okay to play along, or if she should discourage him—or if she's misunderstanding this entirely, and it's just more joking around. This would be easier if Gojo were a regular asshole for Yoshi to despise, like Naoya.

"This'll take forever if you keep distracting me," Yoshi states, brushing her bangs down.

"But I like distracting you," he insists, deeply pleased. "You're the highlight of my day."

"Whatever," she sighs, dropping her hands at last. Her hair is puffy today, so now it's in a low bun instead of a bushy ponytail. Whether or not it'll last the day is anyone's guess.

"Reaaady?" Gojo asks, drawing out the question.

Yoshi almost says yes, but then she pauses and really considers what she's walking into. "The Kyoto teacher. What's her name?"

"Iori Utahime." He doesn't miss a beat. "Now, we really gotta go, we start in five minutes," Gojo adds, already walking away without her.

"What?" Yoshi exclaims, quickly going after him. "Why didn't you say that sooner?"

"I'm saying it now—walk faster, Sensei!"

—/—/—/—

"I can't believe I didn't know her name was Reina . Why did Todo know about it before me?!" They're minutes away from the start of the goodwill competition, and Nobara is still sour about Yoshi-sensei.

Yuji turns to Megumi, quizzical. "Why didn't Yoshi tell you her full name?"

"She doesn't like it," Megumi shrugs.

"What?" Nobara snaps, aggressively tightening her belt. "Reina is a cute name!"

Megumi shrugs again, lowering himself into a stretch. "I'm just guessing. It's a little pretentious. Can we focus on the competition now?"

"I can multitask!" Nobara cries, doing a final check of her equipment. "Pretentious? What kanji does she use, huh? Yoshi never spelled it out or anything!"

She does not get a reply. Megumi continues to stretch as if he never heard her.

"FUSHIGURO YOU KNOW I'M INVESTED IN THIS—!"

"Shut up," he groans, leaning away from the short demon girl. "I'm not talking about kanji, I mean Reina. R-e-i-n-a. It's a Spanish name."

Yuji looks between his classmates, lost. "I thought Yoshi was American, not Spanish."

Maki cracks her weapon against the top of Yuji's head. "Stop being stupid, Itadori. She's American, but she speaks Spanish. From her dad's side."

"Oww," Yuji whimpers, rubbing his head. "Hitting me won't make me smarter…"

Megumi rolls his eyes. "Can we move on?"

"You KNOW I won't let you," Nobara kicks Megumi in the shin.

"You're so nosy ," he grouses, moving to Yuji's other side to avoid Nobara's hellish gaze.

"You're the one that looked up her name as soon as you heard it!"

Nobara has a good point, and Megumi clearly hates it. "Reina means Queen," he explains sullenly. "Just seems sort of self-important. I don't know, I think 'Yoshi' fits better."

—/—/—/—

"Tch, Gojo, where have you been?" Iori snaps as soon as they arrive. "We're about to start, you need to announce it to the students!"

"Uh, obviously it was a secret Tokyo-teachers-only meeting," Gojo scoffs. "What, do you feel left out? Rethinking your career choices, Utahime-sensei? We're not hiring."

Iori looks pissed off already, but she just grits her teeth and says, "Just get down here and start the event!"

"Alright, alright! No need to get so mad…" Gojo throws himself in the seat next to Iori, chatting about how much cooler his students are than hers.

Yoshi lingers by the door for a moment as the other teachers bicker. There's a spot on Gojo's other side, but she has to walk down past Naoya to get to it. Or go the long way around, which would put her near the Kyoto principal. It would also be very obvious that she's avoiding Naoya.

"Alright, we're starting in one minute," Gojo drones into a wired palm mic. " And now, a few words of encouragement from Iori Utahime-sensei…"

"Huh?!"

Yoshi takes the shorter route—but then she stops on the step just above where Naoya is seated. She looks down on his blonde head, following the defined edge of his jawline. He has high cheekbones and thin eyebrows, but they suit his face well. If Yoshi's being honest with herself, her first impression of Naoya was entirely positive. He's a good-looking man.

"Um…" Meanwhile, Utahime stammers into the microphone. "Some degree of injury will be unavoidable…"

His hair is a bit longer. He's growing it out to cover his missing earlobe.

Yoshi only gets to look at him for a few seconds before Naoya notices. He turns around in his seat and looks up at her with narrowed hazel eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Time's up," Gojo cuts off Iori, ignoring her protests. "Now, then…"

"Nothing," Yoshi replies, eyebrows raised imperiously.

"Let the sister school exchange event…"

She's careful to speak just loud enough for him to hear, looking down and memorizing his face. "I just think you look better from this angle," Yoshi concedes.

He's baffled for a moment, before it hits him.

He really does look more handsome. Beneath her.

"—STAAAAARTTTT!" Gojo screams into the microphone. Oh, his timing is flawless today.

Yoshi continues down the last few steps and immediately sits down without turning back. She can hear it when Naoya gets halfway out of his seat to follow her before stopping himself.

Iori, meanwhile, stands up to yell at Gojo about respect. No one's paying attention to Naoya.

A few more seconds pass before Yoshi determines that he's not going to make a scene… She presses the back of her hand over her mouth. If she weren't surrounded by people, she'd be laughing out loud. God, it's so easy to piss off Naoya. She thought she was done with the pettiness, but Naoya has a knack for bringing it out of her. Just one sentence. What a loser.

Yoshi's mood dampens a little bit when she glances to her right and sees Gojo beaming right at her, chin resting in one hand.

"What?" Yoshi asks, wary. There's no way he overheard her taunting Naoya.

Gojo hums, tipping himself towards her. "Nothing," he says in a low tone, almost a purr. Yoshi is automatically on edge again.

For once, she doesn't need to worry. Because Gojo opens his mouth, yet he doesn't ruin the moment when he whispers to her, "I just think you look good from this angle."