The Strongest | ɢᴏᴊᴏ ꜱᴀᴛᴏʀᴜ

Chapter 11

The first rays of sunlight on a summer morning always feel the best. I stretch and groan, then open my eyes to be blinded by the sun streaming in through the curtains. A smile crosses my lips before I check the time - almost nine a.m. - and my messages - three from Shoko telling me I should check my messages.

I type a quick text back to her, telling her I'm fine and I'll text her later. She even called me last night, but I was, well... busy. I feel bad about not keeping her updated, but there's only so much I can do. I'll tell her everything when we get back. Okay, maybe not everything.

Only when I'm in the shower do I remember: Gojo's keycard on my bedside table. I said I'd check on him. Why exactly did I say that? Oh, my head is buzzing. I can only hope he's already up and downstairs at breakfast. God, why did I say I'd check on him? What if I walk in there while he's in the shower? If he's anything like me, he will probably be right after waking up. Then again... why should he be anything like me?

I dry myself with a towel, then get to work on my hair. There's a big wound halfway across my left ribcage that's slowly fading into a scar as my cursed energy tries its best to heal it. Shoko would have taken care of it in two minutes, but I'm not good at reverse cursed energy. I can do what everyone else can: heal myself slowly, but it's tiring. Gojo can heal himself perfectly fine; I've seen him do it, but while I think he did the best he could on me, it's clear that he can't do it for other people as good as Shoko either.

With two fingertips, I trace the new wound, then an old scar on my right hip that I got during my own days as a Jujutsu student. I have another scar on my back that I can only feel and not see. That one I got from the cursed spirit I fought on my own as Gojo left me with it. Another cursed spirit that seemed intelligent enough to see me as a threat and recognize my weakness was exorcized by Nanami before it could slice me in two. I smile a little at my reflection in the mirror. All the scars and bruises I have tell a story. I like this much better than being flawless and smooth.

Since I wear my uniform on most days, it feels weird to get dressed in regular clothes. As I look at myself in the mirror - dressed in a skirt and T-shirt, with clean-shaven legs and polished nails - I feel like a normal person, and not like a Jujutsu sorcerer. I don't look like I'm a part of something bigger. I'm just... me. I don't know how much I like it.

As I stand in front of Gojo's door, his keycard in my hand, I try to remember that this is the last day of our punishment. We only have to get through today, and tomorrow, we can go back home. Only one more dinner face-to-face with him, and if it's anything like the dinner we had yesterday, it won't be all that bad.

I knock first, just in case he's already awake and undressed or something. I don't know why my mind keeps going there. But when I don't get an answer, my brain immediately oscillates between disappointment and relief that maybe he's already at breakfast. I hold the card to the door, which gives a little noise, and I open it. I stick my head in first, and when I see his feet, I enter the room completely. The more I step inside, the more I can see of him, and the less I can breathe.

Gojo is still asleep, buried under the blanket. I can't imagine how he's not sweating to death under there. His eyes are closed, and the blindfold that he must have taken off after I had left is discarded on the bedside table. His hair is ruffled and looks so soft that I almost give in to my desire and run my fingers through it. I want to feel it just once. But I don't move. I only stand there like a creep, a few meters away from the bed. I would probably die if he were to wake up now, and he would probably want me to. I was the one who looked at him weird when I thought he'd been watching me sleep, but that was at night, and he was taking care of me while I was wounded. What I'm doing... there's no real excuse for it, is there?

But he looks so peaceful. I think I'm just enjoying that. I'm enjoying the comfortable silence between us that doesn't occur when he's awake. The fact that he's silent and not smiling or laughing like an annoying asshole. The way his lips are slightly parted when he takes a breath and there are no words coming out of them. I think I'm just enjoying those things.

But I need to be normal, I realize that, so I step closer to the bed. What do I do? Do I shake him awake? Or do I whisper his name? Do I shout? How do I wake him up without touching him? Without risking the blanket slipping off his naked upper body? What do I do?

A grin spreads across my face when an idea comes to me. I grab the corners of the pillow his head is resting on and pull it out from under him. Gojo's head lands on the mattress, and he opens his eyes just in the last second before the pillow comes flying into his face. His Infinity was still off, so I finally managed to hit him. I laugh out loud, satisfied and happy with myself, and laugh even harder when he throws the pillow back at me, but I catch it.

"Get out," he mumbles, grumpy and annoyed.

My grin widens. "Good morning to you, too," I reply in a cheerful voice.

"Get out," Gojo only repeats and rubs his eyes with the balls of his hands. I walk over to the desk where a bottle of water is standing surrounded by two glasses. "I can't believe you woke me up like this," he says while I fill a glass.

A laugh escapes my lips, but I try to calm down. It's just so funny to see him lying there, tired and probably quite hungover. I kept telling him to drink water, but he didn't want to listen, so now he'll have to live with the consequences. Maybe that'll keep him from going to the city with me later. I doubt he'd want to go out in that weather in the condition he's in.

"Come on, take a shower and get dressed," I say and hand him the glass of water. "Breakfast ends in half an hour."

I think the decent conversation we had last night made me forget that I need to watch what I'm saying to him. The second the word "shower" comes out of my mouth, Gojo's eyes seem to light up, and a huge grin stretches across his lips. He sits up, and the blanket slips off his shoulders, revealing a bare chest that was surely sculpted by the gods themselves. My face turns red in the one second I stare at him before I pull my eyes away and look at the wall behind him.

"Gojo!" I snap at him. "Cover yourself!"

I can even hear his smirk when he says, "Why? I thought you wanted me to take a shower?"

It's so hard to keep my eyes focused on the beige wall instead of looking at him. He's an asshole. And then I can hear the sheets crinkle, and from the corner of my eye, I see him move. I take a step back and turn away from him with my whole body, so I'm far away and can't see him even if I wanted to.

He's standing now; I can hear his feet on the carpet. "Alright. Don't turn around now, I'm not wearing any pants." My face feels so hot it might explode soon. And then I can feel his head next to mine as he's leaning down to me from behind. My eyes flutter shut. "Take the keycard and now get out," he whispers.

I shiver, his head vanishes, and I hear the door to the bathroom close. Only when I'm alone in the room can I breathe out. I've never left a room faster than this one. I've never run down the hallway as fast as this one. I've never punched an elevator button as many times as this one.

When the doors close and I'm alone in the elevator, I lean back against the mirror and breathe. I have to remember to breathe. I can't believe he just did that. Why did he just do that? What is wrong with him? He just stood there, so close to me, naked. Why? What is wrong with him? On my way down, I contemplate checking in with Mira, my masseuse from yesterday, if she has an appointment free for me later today.