"Say it again."
"I'm sorry."
"Again."
"I'm sorry."
"Okay, now get on your knees and say it again."
"Kinky now, aren't we?"
Gojo Satoru, inheritor of the Limitless and the Six Eyes, doesn't kneel for anyone. If anything, the world should kneel before him, worship him, and pray that he doesn't decide to annihilate the planet on a whim. His birth rebalanced the scale of power in the world and raised the bar of what was possible.
He looks at you in your hospital gown and your bandages and thinks that you are supposed to look vulnerable and weak. You did get cut up like a piece of bread just a week ago.
But the look in your eyes tells him otherwise. For the first time in a year, you are able to breathe. And pride be damned, if he can see your face again every day, he is going to do whatever it takes to make you forgive him.
You watch with mild fascination when he actually gets down and mumbles an 'I'm sorry' under his breath.
"Woah," you say and hold up three fingers, "that must be the first time you ever apologized to anyone. And I made you do it three times."
"Don't get used to it," he grumbles and stands up, his Limitless preventing the ground from touching him. He still makes a show of dusting his pants off.
"You were an asshole, though."
"It was nothing personal," he protests.
You narrow your eyes at him. "It felt like that when you kissed me because Suguru hadn't before. You would've hardly done the same to anyone else. What did you call it? 'One-up him one last time'? I'd call that personal."
"At least we both enjoyed it?"
You are not going to allow Satoru to kiss you again for petty reasons. The memory still makes you uncomfortable. Thinking how his hands slid across your body, his knee rubbing between your legs...
"It's never going to happen again," you say in the most deadpan tone you can muster.
You sit up with a whimper and prop your pillow against your back. When you draw your legs up and wrap your arms around your knees, Satoru promptly sits down on the space you created at the end of the bed.
"So," he sings, drawing out the 'o', "now that this is out of the way, will you come back to Tokyo?"
"No."
"Whaaaat? Why?"
"You think coming here and apologizing is going to make me go back? I've built a life here."
He furrows his brows. "Do you have a boyfriend?"
"No," you growl, already feeling like he got too comfortable with you way too soon.
"Well, then there is nothing holding you back. I promise I won't make you angry again."
"That's absolutely impossible. Your mere presence enrages me."
His eyes crinkle in mischief. You lean forward and place your thumb and index finger on his eyebrow and cheek, lightly pulling the skin apart to reveal more of his eyes.
"Don't look at me like that. Where is your blindfold?"
"In my pocket," he obediently, innocently answers. "How am I looking at you?"
"Like you can't wait to get back to the way we used to be. I still haven't forgiven you."
"Time heals all wounds, love."
You let your hands fall at your side and smile at him sadly. "Not all of them."
Your bond with him is salvageable, you can already feel your heart soften for him. But Suguru – you don't think that you can ever forgive him and his crimes. By the look on his face, Satoru is thinking the same thing.
"Even after all he has done, I still want to talk to him again," you whisper, feeling guilty for breathing life into that thought by speaking it out loud.
For a while, the higher-ups suspected that you and Satoru were going to join Suguru's cause if only for the reason that your friendship was publicly known. They couldn't afford to lose two of the strongest sorcerers to the other side, so you were thoroughly interrogated. To not get into more trouble (or worse, get assassins thrown your way), you had to defend yourself fiercely, proving your loyalty by taking on mission after mission. It fit your coping mechanism, so you barely resisted. But talking about Suguru, expressing that he isn't completely dead to you? You haven't done that since he annihilated an entire village. Didn't allow yourself to think about him too much unless you wanted to hear the sound of your own heart breaking.
He ruffles your hair. "I think I have just the right thing to celebrate our reunion."
Seems like he avoids talking about him as much as you do.
"You do?" you perk up at the suggestion. If Satoru was anything besides arrogant and impulsive, it was fun.
"A mission! Just like old times."
You sink back into your pillow, a finger to your chin. His eyes come alive again when he leans forward and puts his arms around your legs, propping his chin on your knees.
"Come on! I've been sitting here for a week now and I'm bored out of my mind. I'm sure you feel the same."
"I can't get out of bed for at least another week if you haven't forgotten."
"If you let me teleport you to Tokyo, Shoko can fix you up faster than that."
You flick his forehead. "Don't pretend like you're not the reason I don't get any visitors other than you. How many people tried to get in but were held up by your Limitless?"
He has the decency to look guilty.
"You are unbelievable," you sigh and close your eyes.
Missions with Satoru are always quick and straight to the point. You would never say it out loud, lest you boost his already gargantuan ego, but he is the strongest sorcerer alive right now, so there are few missions that he couldn't handle all by himself.
Which means that he plans to do more than just a job. How long has it been since you relaxed?
You open one eye and take a glance at his blue ones. It's hard to ignore his stare, not when they are glowing this bright, looking at you like he is going to sweep you off your feet the second you ask him to.
"Fine. We leave for Tokyo tomorrow."