Deep Blue Sea

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ

I'd like a strawberry shortcake to take away please. I'd like a strawberry shortcake to take away please.

You repeated the words inside your head for who knows how many times as you lined up. Fiddling with the hem of your cloth, you glanced at the person in front of you.

It's okay, she's probably gonna take a long time-

She left immediately just as the thought appears. You could only watch her leave helplessly while screaming internally.

I HAVEN'T REVISED THAT LINE FOR 163 TIMES YET-

"Good morning, which cake would you like to buy?" the cashier smiled.

It's okay, you can do this, You reassured yourself, if I succeed, this could be a life-changing moment, you can almost hear the crowd clapping and cheering for you if you manage to speak the right words, someone might even hold a ceremony for you too. One small step for man, one giant step for humanity, everyone will be celebrating for you and-

"I'd like a take away to strawberry shortcake, please."

Ah, time to change my identity and move to another country.

Sighing in relief as you stepped out of the store, you looked around for any traces of your utmost liable teacher. Unironically, he is nowhere to be seen even though it is already twelve in the afternoon. It's not like anyone would know you're actually late for twenty minutes. But hey, you were only late because you expected Gojo to be late-

"Guess who has been waiting for way too long?" someone suddenly covered your eyes from behind and spoke in a playful tone.

Okay, maybe not this time.

"Every student that you've taught," you retorted before removing his hands, only to see Gojo's pouting face.

"I came early just for you, and this is how you treat me?" he whined.

"Yes, yes, I'm very honoured, your majesty, " you said in a mocking tone and bowed, "I deeply apologize for my mistake, " then you shoved the boxed shortcake towards his, hoping to catch him off guard.

Unsurprisingly, he caught the box with ease before ruffling your hair, "Apology accepted," he grinned and pretend that he didn't notice your taunting tone.

Gojo dragged you to a nearby bench impatiently like a 190cm tall child, eager to take a bite of the sugary food. Opening the box with incredible speed, you almost hoped that he has the same speed when it comes to arriving on time. Upon seeing the cake, he raised a brow (you could only assume since he was wearing his blindfold).

"Hm? There's only one?" he inspected the box and even looking under it, "I thought you would like this kind of stuff," he suddenly paused and squealed like a schoolgirl, "unless, you wanna share with me-"

"No."

"Aw, come on," Gojo chuckled and moved the fork in front of your mouth, "say ahhh- hey, stop with that look, I'm being generous here."

You simply sighed and pushed his hand away, "I ate breakfast today, so I'm not hungry."

"Really?" he pinched your cheek and gave you a look of a kicked puppy, "you've gotten so much skinnier though, is it because you miss me so much-"

"I ate today," you snorted, slapping his hand lightly.

"So does that mean you didn't eat yesterday? Or any other day?" Even though Gojo's tone changed just a little bit, it is enough to make you avoid his 'eyes'.

You both fell silent, even though he has a smile on his face, you didn't feel any warmth from it. Then he sighed and let go of your cheek, then pulled down the collar of your shirt to reveal a choker on your neck.

He paused to inspect it before saying, "I can take this thing off easily, you know?"

You're so used to the choker that you forgot about its existence before he brought it up, the slight suffocating feeling returned along with the reminder.

"I know," you sighed before removing his hand from your collar, "but I don't want to risk losing control of myself."

During the Hyakki Yakou, your body absorbed approximately thirty cursed spirits with eleven of them being higher grades. You were originally seen as a curse and w sentenced to death, but Gojo pleaded them(most likely threatened) to spare you. So they have decided to make you wear this chocker to stabilize your curse energy and contain the curses inside you. One downside is that it greatly limits your curse energy, so much that you could barely use your jujutsu without blacking out almost every time. To be honest, you couldn't remember much from the Hyakki Yakou, the most vivid memory is just...

Shaking your head to prevent the memory from resurfacing you then gave him a reassuring smile, "Don't worry about it, I don't feel it at all."

Not saying anything in return, his lips are now pressed into a flat line. You both know that it's a lie. Despite his blindfold covering half of his face, you could imagine the scowl and his sharp stare. Your reassurance was like throwing a cup of water into a volcano to stop it from erupting, it doesn't do anything but at least you tried.

Right when Gojo was about to open his mouth, a phone call cut him off. You quickly stood up and walked away from him as you picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Is this (name)?" the voice of good ol' Ijichi rang.

"Yes, this is (name) speaking, " You looked back at Gojo to send him a warning glare so that he doesn't do anything stupid, but instead of pouncing at you to threaten Ijichi as usual, his gaze bored into you.

"We received a message that you've exorcised the grade one cursed spirit, correct?"

"That's correct," you didn't dare look back at Gojo.

"Alright, you will be assigned with a new mission that takes place in Chiba Shi, well will send you the details, please be careful," with that, he cut off the phone.

You sighed softly before making your way back to Gojo.

"It's fine, really. I can handle this," you gave him a smile, but it doesn't take a genius to notice the tiredness that lingered on it.

Just as you finished your sentence, he sighed loudly and threw his head back in defeat.

"Give that to me," he snatched the phone out of your hand.

"Don't bully Ijichi-san-" you shrieked desperately in hopes to defend Ijichi, but Gojo cut you off by waving the phone screen with the digital map opened in front of you.

"You're going to this place right?" he pointed at a red dot on the map.

"Yes-"

"Alright let's go now, " he slung an arm over your shoulder and pulled you closer to him.

"But-"

"No buts."

Your whole body jolted in shock when a different scenery pops up in front of you, making him snicker. You could never get used to his teleportation skill.

"We're here, I still have something to do, " he ruffled your hair roughly and shoved the forgotten cake back at you, "I don't feel like eating this anymore, so finish this for me."

The motion of his hand suddenly came to a halt, then he said with a soft voice, "don't push yourself, just run if you need to."

"I get it, Gojo-sensei-"

"Stop calling me sensei, I'm not your teacher anymore, " he cried out childishly while messing up your hair and pulling hard on your cheek, somehow he reminded you of an angry cat. This is the most peaceful way for him to release his frustrations, so you just let him do whatever he wanted.

"Sorry, just an old habit," you laughed, which made him huff, "and thank you, Gojo-san," you then patted his hand while offering him a warm smile, making a last attempt to calm the large feline.

His warm hand stayed on your head for a moment before taking it off, "just call if you need me."

"By the way,"

"Hm?"

"My belongings are still in the motel..."

"...whoops."