Happy Holidays everyone! Wow, I can't believe another year is going by… and here I am, still writing this story! What a crazy year this has been, you have all been there with me through the most difficult months of my life: from going through a divorce, losing my job… honestly words cannot express how appreciative I am of each and every one of you for following and supporting my work. I know I keep saying it over and over again, but it seriously means so much to me and keeps me going through this rollercoaster of life. I also want to give an extra shoutout to those who take the time to comment and voice their feedback as well, because hearing from you guys has lifted my spirits and gotten me through my darkest days :) So huge thank you especially to these guys:

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And huge thank you to those who follow/favorite this story too! You are all amazing and I am so grateful for everyone! Without further ado, enjoy!

It was evening by the time Satoru landed before Le Ciel de Nippon. He immediately tore off his mask, storming up the path and reaching for the brass knob of the front door, almost ripping it off its hinges as he swung it wide open.

Adalaine gave an exasperated sigh upon hearing the crack of her beautiful oak splintering from Satoru's strength, taking several steps around the front desk to stand before him. Fortunately, the lobby was empty. It was the middle of the week, barely any customers had stopped by, so she decided to send her assistant home early.

Though, admittedly, that wasn't the real reason. The real reason was because-

"Where. Is. She?"

-Well, because it's him after all. His eyes were incandescent in fury, completely opposite of her pacificatory violet irises as she regarded him coolly. She folded her hands together over her abdomen before responding. "She's in one of the rooms resting. Satoru, take a breath before you-"

Before she could blink, he had already passed her. "Satoru." Adalaine fought the urge to roll her eyes as she jogged after him, trotting in her heels to stand beside him. "You need to calm down."

"I'm completely calm." He wasn't even looking at her, using his Six Eyes to discern which room she was being held in.

"She's very upset." The woman sidestepped in front of him as he tried to go around her. "I don't know what you did, but you need to give her some space- let her have some peace to think."

"I didn't do anything, she's being stupid." He used his arm to nimbly move her aside, stalking down the hallway.

Adalaine shrugged in defeat, shaking her head. However, she inwardly smiled to herself as she watched his back disappear around the corner. His reaction could only mean one thing: she was right several months ago.

The Gojo Satoru has developed a heart.

—-

There was a harsh series of knocks, causing Qian to peel her eyes open. Groggily, she clutched the satin covers of the bed as she remained curled up on her side.

The room she was in was modest, though still elegant, compared to her prior stay: a single queen-sized bed in the middle of the room, a small oak desk resting against the right wall, and a bathroom with a glass-enclosed shower. Next to the bed was a nightstand, a small antique clock sitting upright as it ticked away. The curtains were drawn, not that it mattered, since the colder season resulted in the sun setting quite early in the day. The only light illuminating the room came from the small flames emitted from a couple candles perched along the wall shelves. Even though exquisite soy paper lanterns hung from the bamboo ceiling, Qian chose to leave them turned off, morbidly basking in the darkness to reflect her own mood.

She reached over to glance at the clock, checking the time. She blinked, grabbing her phone to verify. Was it already that late? Last she remembered, she had changed out of her clothes, slipping into the comfortable fleece calf-length robe provided in the closet before sinking underneath the covers to cry. She must've fallen asleep afterwards. Her eyes burned with crusted, dry tears as the light from the device turned on. Only a couple of hours had passed since she spoke to Adalaine. Was it already dinnertime?

Qian rubbed her face tiredly and pushed herself to a seating position, quickly pulling back her hair into a low, side ponytail and smoothing down any tangled knots. Even without looking in a mirror, she could tell she probably looked like a terrible mess, but she didn't have energy to refresh herself. She slowly trudged to the door.

"Y-Yes?" She asked as she peered through the peephole, expecting to see the owner of the inn on the other side.

"It's me." Upon seeing his piercing blue eyes glaring back at her, she reeled back in shock.

G-Gojo- sensei?! She stumbled back to the center of the room, searching around as if trying to find a place to hide.

"I know you're in there." She faltered as she glanced over her shoulder. "Open the door."

H-How did he know I was here? How did he find me? She tried to take a deep breath, but her inhales turned into desperate gulps of air as she frantically tried to piece together her thoughts.

"Qian." Hearing her own name come from his mouth caused an involuntary shiver to course through her veins. His voice was eerily calm and she swallowed thickly. "Open the door."

Stay strong, Qian. He doesn't know why you're here. Act normal. Gathering what little courage she had, she squeezed her eyes shut and took a soft step forward. Inhaling slowly to compose herself, she placed a hand against the wood. You can do this. "S-Sensei…what are you doing here?"

"I will ask you one more time: open the door." He simply stated. She furrowed her brow, straightening her back to peer through the peephole. He appeared irritatingly nonchalant, a hand tucked in his pocket as he continued staring at her directly, his Six-Eyes obviously activated. He knew that she was looking at him.

Old Qian would've acquiesced and opened the door, not wanting to irritate him further. Old Qian would've allowed him to waltz in, allowing him to speak and say whatever he wanted. Old Qian would have been swept away once again.

But this wasn't the Old Qian anymore.

"N-No." She countered, shaking her head as she turned her heel to return back to the bed, seating herself on the firm mattress as she interlaced her fingers over her lap. She was so tired, so mentally and physically exhausted. "P-Please go away."

"Qian." His voice sounded deeper, almost like an animalistic growl, and a slow burn ignited in her chest. "Open this damn door, we need to talk."

Stay calm. She cursed herself- how her entire being seemed to react to the man. "N-No, we don't." She argued as she closed her eyes, grimly pleased by the strength in her voice, though she could feel the prickling of repressed tears behind her eyelids. "T-There's nothing for us to talk about."

Suddenly, an immense pressure fell onto her shoulders, causing her to cringe in her seat. The atmosphere- no, the air grew dense with a heavy oppression- the candles surrounding the room immediately blew out, leaving nothing but wisps of smoke only illuminated by the light from the hallway that shone through the base of the door..

A light that was mostly obscured by a familiar shadow.

She gasped for air, cold sweat formed on the back of her neck, before his voice suddenly seemed closer. "I will have to break this door down if I have to. I have no idea what the fuck you're on about, but youre being ridiculous."

Her initial panic was suddenly washed away by a tsunami of indignation. The burning in her chest froze as a freezing hot anger erupted from her gut instead, like a glacier bursting through a pristine white sheet of ice.

No, not this time. No more insults, no more of this… stupid… pain. She was done staying quiet. She pushed herself to her feet, scowling at him through the door. "I'm sorry, but excuse me?"

"You heard me, you're being stupid. And a coward."

The last thread of her usual timidity snapped. Blood roared in her ears as her throat constricted with rage. Her lungs and vocal cords swelled with a repressed scream of frustration. Before her mind and logic could stop herself, she had taken two strides forward, turning the lock and yanking open the door to come face-to-face with the man.

Satoru returned her glare with his own, his bangs brushing his lashes as he deactivated his ability. Upon seeing the bags under her swollen eyes and her sunken face, he swallowed thickly, a harsh twinge stabbing his chest.

"How dare you." She hissed, unable to control her fury as she jabbed his collarbone. "You have no right to speak to me like that, after what you said."

"What are you even talking about?" He swatted her hand away as he took a step forward, grasping her shoulders and softly pushing her backwards.

Shit. Qian suddenly realized his actions and tried shutting the door in his face, only to flinch at the loud 'BANG' caused by his hand slamming into the wood to prevent her from succeeding.

He let out a wry grin. "Like brother and sister." He muttered almost inaudibly.

She seemed to not have heard him, having changed her tactics to shove her palms against his shoulders in an attempt to push him out the door. "Get out. I have nothing to say to you."

But he didn't budge, instead frowning upon seeing her uncharacteristic roughness. "Well that's too bad, because I have a lot to say to you." However, she began pushing harder, even batting at the hard panes of his torso. His patience waning (plus his chest was getting sore), he grabbed her wrists. "Stop, Qian."

She struggled against his grip. "L-Let go of me." She silently cursed herself as her stutter returned, but his firm grasp seemed to burn into her skin, causing unwanted emotions to begin to simmer. "I-I said, let go of-"

He clenched his jaw and gently used his hold to push on her to take the final steps inside, kicking the door shut with his foot. He finally released his fingers, using one hand to turn on the lights and the other to click the lock in place behind them. The girl staggered backwards, rubbing her wrists as she turned away, blinking as her vision adjusted to the new influx of brightness. She bit her tongue, hoping the pain would stop her tears from being shed further.

Satoru ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "Now, maybe if you stopped behaving like a child, we can actually talk this out-"

"I-I have nothing to say to you." She snapped, turning her cheek away to stare at the carpet.

He crossed his arms. "Qian. What the hell is going on?"

Is he really going to make me say it? She sniffed, scrubbing the tears off her cheeks with the heel of her palm. She was so sick of these games. "I-I'm… tired, sensei. Please, just leave me alone."

"To do what, let your memories be erased?" Her head snapped up to regard him in shock as he eyed her shrewdly.

She gaped. "H-How did you-"

"Adalaine is an old friend of mine." He released an angry breath as he ran a hand through his silver locks. "Do you really think she wouldn't tell me?"

"S-She shouldn't have." Qian argued, rolling her fingers into fist as they balled at her sides. "It's my decision."

"Even if it involves me?" She couldn't help but recoil at his tone, averting her eyes to regard the floor once more.

"I- It's necessary." She bit out, taking a couple steps backwards to stand at the foot of the bed. "I-I need to focus."

He watched her movements carefully. "You were able to focus perfectly fine before. What changed?"

You. Me. Everything. She crossed her arms, as though the limbs would create a barrier between them to protect herself. "I...I realized that my feelings were a burden."

"How so?" She practically felt a tendon in her neck snap as she whipped her chin up to face him, glowering at his simple question.

"A-Are you serious?" She clutched her biceps so tightly that her knuckles turned white, her fingers leaving marks in her own skin. "Y-You told Vivian that I meant nothing to you."

His initial irate expression faltered a bit as he raised his brow quizzically. "How did you-

"I-I heard everything." She gritted out as she glanced away, taking a step to place a hand on the back of the desk chair nearby before she forced herself to meet his gaze once more. "A-And it's very clear that you two are close to each other, so-"

"Close, as friends." Bullshit. She spat internally to his retort. "So what?"

Qian, for the first time, felt a muscle twitch in her temple. Never had she felt such vexation… such aggravation. Ever since she met this man, she seemed to have all sense of logic and self-control. Her blood felt like it was boiling under her skin as she released her hold.

"S-S-So go be with her!" She threw her hands up in exasperation, turning around to palm her forehead in exasperation. "J-Just leave me alone."

But Satoru remained fixated on her, his eyes not leaving her for a single second. "...how does that mean that your feelings are a burden?"

Part of her wanted to fling the chair at him. Is he really that dense?! Instead, she chose to grip the edge of the wooden handles once more, diverting her attention to scrutinize the items on the desk surface in an attempt to distract and placate her frustration. There's a pen, a piece of paper, a miniscule paper lamp, a box of tissues… Her eyes burned with suppressed tears. Don't let them fall, don't…

Satoru, on the other hand, gritted his teeth, but forced himself to patiently wait for her response. The clock continued to tick from the side of the bed. Unable to take the silence any longer, she finally sighed in defeat. "S-Sensei… how else does it mean? I saw you two. You could've just told me about her, you didn't have to string me along like that. I…" She tried to swallow, the familiar lump had begun to form in the back of her throat. "...my feelings are obstructive to the school- especially to you, so I'm doing what I need to do."

She could feel his scrutiny burning into her skin and she finally raised her head. A traitorous tear had begun to slip down her cheek. However, unlike before when she was curled up in bed, when her entire core burned in agony, she now simply felt empty inside. Numb, like there was a gaping hole inside her chest.

She no longer had the energy to think about her words, to ponder over how to express them…let alone verbalize. Fuck this. Fuck all of this. She had nothing to lose. "I'm so…so sick of these games. Do you have any idea how much this hurts, sensei? I wasn't expecting anything from you. Stupid me was just happy to stay by your side. But because of these, ridiculous, fatuous feelings for you, I can't stop thinking about you. I can't stop wanting to see you. I can't even… do my fucking job… without associating it with your feedback, how you'd respond to my results, your approval."

She raised both hands to cradle her face in her palms, a soft hiccup erupting from her throat. "Sensei…I can't focus. I can't figure out how to solve this curse. I can't save these people as long as I have these feelings for you. I need to let you go."

He didn't respond and Qian inhaled deeply, her bangs shadowing her face as she ruminated, reflecting on her aberrant behavior. Honestly, how could she blame him? She was the one who fell in the first place. He never actually responded to her feelings. He was simply doing what any other lonely person would do in his situation. "I-I am sorry, I yelled at you. None of this is your fault at all." She lowered her hands, her blurry vision remaining downcast on her feet. "T-This is my own fault. Please just go. Leave me be so I can fix myself, and finally do my job."

The air was almost suffocating as the two of them stood there, completely still, in the center of the room. It was utterly soundless, save for the faint ticking of the clock beside the bed and her shaky breathing. Her words hung in the air as the silence stretched on.

"So you really think that forgetting me is the answer." He sounded unfazed, his tone monotonous.

"Yes." She whispered, without hesitation. "If I forget you, my feelings will go away, and I can finally move on. I'd be able to find a way to save these people.'

Upon meeting silence once more, Qian exhaled slowly, resolutely. "Goodbye, sensei." Her mind felt torpid as she slowly raised her head to glance at his chin, careful not to look at his face. He was standing between the wall and the mattress, blocking the path to the door.

She stepped forward and tried to sidle her way past his shoulders.

"...I missed you." Her muscles froze midstep, her eyes widening in shock.

Also I've been thinking of uploading sneak previews on instagram as I'm writing- let me know if you guys think it's a good idea (or if you'd just rather me upload them onto here)! I sometimes will post random stuff (like pics of my cats lol) but would love to connect with you all, my username is alili_arts !

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!