The Strongest | ɢᴏᴊᴏ ꜱᴀᴛᴏʀᴜ

Chapter 12

When he shows up for breakfast, I don't look at him. He puts his plate down across from me and sits down, all while I'm staring at my food like it's the most interesting thing I've ever seen. I can almost feel him grinning, which is making my face heat up. He doesn't say anything and just starts to eat, so I pick up my chopsticks and eat, too.

It goes like this for a while. For too long. But every time I consider looking up at him, my brain reminds me of his eyes. Those ocean blue eyes that rob me of all my senses whenever he looks at me. I try to remember that I don't even like him because he's an annoying idiot who's been making my last month harder than it needed to be. And I know that I don't. I know that I don't like him, but damn, do I want him.

"You know, you're really not hideous when you're blushing," Gojo says.

My eyes snap up to his face and immediately narrow. See? Idiot. There's nothing for me to blush about. His eyes are safe behind his blindfold, and his face reminds me of why I don't like him. Even though he's not grinning or smiling, I still roll my eyes and shove a cherry tomato in my mouth just so I don't have to reply. He's not hideous either, but the problem is that he knows it, too. He loves that he's good-looking. I hate that.

"You should go to the gym after breakfast," I retort. "You're looking a bit bloated."

Now he grins, and I regret having said anything. "I'm sure having you hunt me through the city will be enough of a workout."

I try my best not to show my surprise. To be honest, I'd thought he would just pretend never to have suggested that in the first place. "Oh, no, you're not coming with me," I reply and shake my head. "I'm not letting you ruin my day with your presence."

I swear his smile falters for just a moment, making me frown a little, but it's so infinitesimal that I think I just imagined it. "I said I'd come with," he states.

"Well, yes, but you didn't give me a chance to tell you no."

"Really?" His tone is seeping with sarcasm. Gojo leans forward a little, and I lean backward even though the whole table is between us, and he's nowhere near me. "There wasn't a chance when we were standing in front of your door?"

My face feels about a hundred degrees. Oh, he didn't. That's another thing to despise about him: he finds the one thing he knows you're not comfortable talking about and then proceeds to talk about it. And he's incredibly good at that.

"I remember there being a long silence," he continues. "Don't you? I'm pretty sure you could have said something then."

Balling my fists under the table, I put on a calm facade even though my blood is boiling. Yes, he could have kissed me then, and yes, I probably would have let him, but he would have kissed me then. He would have been just as much at fault as me. There is no way he can pin all of that on me. Even though he was pretty tipsy and I wasn't...

I wonder what would have happened if we had kissed. Would he still be saying this right now? Would he still mention it to use it against me? Would we even be here together right now? I probably wouldn't have come to check on him this morning, and I most definitely wouldn't have shown up for breakfast. But what would he have thought about it?

It takes me a quarter of a second to remember that I don't care. I don't care what he would have thought about it. I don't care what he thinks about it now. I just don't care. It didn't even happen, yet I'm still sitting here, obsessing over it.

"Yes, I could have," I finally say to Gojo, who's been watching me over our breakfast. "I just figured I could let you carry my bags."

"So I'll do that," he replies without missing a beat.

Sometimes, I wonder if he means the things he says or if he has some sort of hidden agenda. Because what would his reason be to go with me? Surely he could find something else to do so he wouldn't get bored. Surely a good movie would do the trick, too. Or he could go to the city by himself. But why would he want to come with me? To annoy me? Is it that much fun for him to make me miserable? I guess it is for me, too, but...

"Why would you want to?" I just ask instead of contemplating all possible options in my head.

The white blindfold creases when he frowns, and instead of answering, he picks up his chopsticks again and focuses back on his food. "I don't want to," he says, looking down. "But I also don't want to lose my job because of you. I quite like my job, and it's not worth losing it over you."

Without another word, Gojo starts to eat again, and I can tell that the conversation is over for him. He's right. I like my job too, and endangering it just because my ego is too big to play nice with him is stupid. I could at least give him a chance. He wasn't all that bad yesterday, was he? We argued a little, sure, but we had a decent time nonetheless. So I guess...

"Fine," I sigh, defeated. "We'll go together. You wanted a new shirt, right?"

Gojo looks at me, and even with his blindfold on, the surprise is written all over his face before his lips twitch into a little smile, and he nods. "Yes."

I nod back once. "Okay. So, we go together then."

He points his chopsticks at my food, and when he speaks, his voice seems more uplifted than before. "Eat. You're going to need your strength."

It makes me laugh against my will, and even though I roll my eyes, I shove a bite in my mouth. "So do you," I reply, then pick a piece of fruit from his plate. Gojo purses his lips but doesn't argue.