TIMELESS | SATORU GOJO X READER

211

"I can't tell if this is consensual or not," Nanami grumbled, swirling a cup of sake around in his hands. Haibara, on the other hand, was smiling dumbly.

"What do you mean you can't tell? Just look at them both - they're acting like an old married couple already!"

The cheery first year gestured to the scene in front of him, Satoru loudly sobbing in heaps of 'I don't want to lose you,' while you pat him on the back with varied consoling responses like, 'I'd never leave you!' 'Why would I leave you?' and 'you idiot, did you actually take me seriously?'

Nanami sighed back, putting his 24th shot of Sake down on the counter. "Not that. You can see it too, right? The curse that binds them together?"

Haibara made an open O with his mouth. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind.

"I wonder if she knows." Nanami closed his eyes, crossing his legs on the kitchen stool. "Satoru definitely sees it, but..."

"She'll know in time."

As the two first year shamans were chatting, Suguru finally popped in. That was of course after dealing with the mess that became of Shoko, who was now passed out comfortably on the couch. Wrapping his arm around Nanami, Suguru's half-glass of bourbon swirled around as the ice clinked the glass. "Either way, love is always a curse. It's a dangerous game for Jujutsu Sorcerers to play, but some find it's worth the risk."

Suguru closed his eyes. "But at least that ring is designed to help."

Time and time again Nanami recalls stories of sorcerers and love, but he couldn't conjure a single one with a happy ending. Love is a curse, and curses only bring misfortune. Countless special grade cursed objects spawned because of love that was too much to handle. But what could a ring do?

"Even stones have their own curses," Suguru explained, putting his bourbon down on the countertop besides the shot of Sake. "When something has meaning, and that meaning is widely adopted by the masses, it almost acts like a curse of itself on an object. Like how the Red Spider Lilly has been associated with death, so comes the curse of death of those who get too close. The paraiba tourmaline typically represents insight, voice, wisdom. By hand picking that stone, Satoru wanted her to be more independent. To not always be blinded by love... to be able to make decisions for herself, and if he's ever gone, the ability to move on."

"I've never heard of that before," Haibara gawked. "So rings can almost be like cursed tools, too? Cursed tools for the mind?"

"In a way, yes." Suguru chuckled. "Though some rings are much more poignant than others. Jujutsu tech is holding onto some pretty terrifying ones. Like the Okiku ring - that one ring that can turn someone into a curse. Satoru's joked about breaking in and stealing it to become a curse himself so I could swallow him. It's 'Gojo Satoru's Quick guide to become immortal!' Plan if ever he has enough of the Higher-ups, loses his sanity, or the most likely scenario - both."

Haibara awkwardly chuckled. Yep, that sounded like Satoru all right. "Hopefully Y/n could hold him back if he ever gets to that point."

"And that's what we're all hoping for." Suguru grimaced, closing his eyes. "His parents, his clan, myself, we're all hoping she can keep him at bay. Usually clans don't encourage finding love because of the burden, but Satoru's a bit of a special case."

Scratching the back of his neck, he muttered "Even I can admit he's scary on his own. So for as long as nothing happens to her, she might have a shot at grounding him. Love is dangerous, but it's also humanizing. Satoru needs that."

The three looked over to you, consoling a drunken Satoru on your birthday. This will probably be a moment Satoru's going to regret when he sobers up and can't remember a thing, but there's nothing they could do about it now. All the three shamans could do was bear witness to the future power couple of Jujutsu Society in whatever mess Satoru's spawned today.