Concern and Control | Satoru Gojo x Reader

Chapter 11: Unspoken Fears

Perhaps today was the day to draft your testament, considering you were likely now on Nanami's hit list, the noose of retribution ominously overhead. He didn't say anything specific yesterday, but you were sure he wasn't pleased about Satoru fucking a student. Satoru shouldn't be pleased he's fucking one of his students. And Megumi—

You and Satoru had agreed to keep things under wraps until he determined how to inform the higher-ups, ensuring neither of you encountered unnecessary trouble.

Megumi was a different story—he was your friend, and friends shouldn't learn about affairs through third parties or accidental alleyway observations. So, you promised yourself to tell Megumi today before anyone else could spill the secret in an undesirable manner.

After all, honesty was the best policy, right? And besides, if Nanami hadn't spilled the beans yet, maybe, just maybe, he was on your side in this whole debacle. And if not, well, you'd address that situation if and when it arose.

"Hey, are you listening?" Nobara's voice abruptly yanked you out of your thoughts.

You blinked, nearly spilling the warm soup in front of you. "Sorry, where were we?"

"Gojo's birthday!"

You sat there, the word 'birthday' floating around in your head, your face undoubtedly reflecting the shock that was slowly building up in your stomach. How could you forget Satoru's birthday?Or better said, why didn't he tell you?

Nobara took the lead in planning. "Look, Gojo is cunning. We need to be three steps ahead. Yuji, you're our first line of defense. Keep him away from here, maybe drag him to that ramen place he's always talking about?"

Yuji's fist thrust into the air. "Absolutely! Gojo-sensei won't suspect a thing from me. I'll talk his ear off about new techniques or something!"

"Okay, while Yuji keeps him busy, we need to work on decorations and a gift. Something he wouldn't expect."

Betrayal and confusion flickered in your mind as your friends excitedly discussed surprising the person who had deliberately kept his birthday a secret from you.

Megumi's voice pierced through your daze. "We don't have a lot of time, so we need to split tasks. I think that surprising him with a small celebration here would be the least suspicious."

"I'll handle the cake!" Nobara chimed in, her eyes already alight with the image of the cake she'd create. "That leaves you two on decorations and setting up the place. Can you do that?" She pointed a finger toward you and Megumi.

Without hesitation, Megumi nodded, willing to flow along with the plan.

"So for the present—" Nobara started, only to be interrupted as an all-too-familiar figure appeared behind her. 

Jack. 

The same Jack who once assailed you, attacking you with his cursed energy, which left an unsightly scar trailing down your back. The Jack who threw your once orderly world into unbridled chaos.

Instantly, Megumi shifted into a protective stance before you, his hand placed in front of you. His eyes locked onto Jack, an unspoken warning crackling between them.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing, just killing time in Tokyo," Jack shrugged nonchalantly.

"Tokyo's big, find another spot to kill your time," Megumi retorted.

"Ouch, that hurts," he quipped, leaning over the table to inch closer to you. "Just saying hello to my favorite Tokyo sorcerers."

You had to suppress the urge to lash out. "Back for round two, Jack?"