The Strongest | ɢᴏᴊᴏ ꜱᴀᴛᴏʀᴜ

Chapter 19

Sometimes, there are moments where time seems to stand still. Seconds stretch into hours, and I lose all sense of orientation. Looking at Gojo now is one of those moments. I don't know how long we look at each other, but it's long enough for my cheeks to heat up and my stomach to clench. His glasses slide down his nose just a little, revealing the mesmerizing eyes behind, and I don't even have the strength to look away.

I think we both know that this might be our last chance. We have to go home after breakfast, and we won't get a moment alone like this for a while. At least until our coworkers complain again and we get sent away again. We won't -

My heart might have stopped when Gojo leans down. He leans down to me often, but he usually does it to show how much taller he is and to make me feel extra inferior. But this isn't like that. He's leaning down to put our faces on the same level. There's just this tiny breath of a smile on his lips. I can't even control my own lips. I think my body is cramping up.

I stop breathing, stop thinking. I stop doing anything except anticipating the feeling of his lips against mine as his face comes closer and closer. I don't know what to do with my hands. Do I touch him? Where should I touch him? His waist? His neck or face? He's not touching me, so my hands stay limp at my sides.

"Good evening."

The voice of a woman followed by the muffled sound of footsteps on the carpet makes us startle apart, Gojo taking a big step back. My back hits the corner of my doorframe, and I grunt as pain shoots up my spine. We both look at the woman, who's heading for the door across from mine. She's smiling at both of us, clearly oblivious to what she just interrupted.

Even though I curse at her in my head, I give her a smile and incline my head. "Good evening."

Gojo says the same, clearly through gritted teeth, and from the corner of my eye, I can see that he's pushing his sunglasses up his nose with his finger. Shit.

After the woman closes her door, we just stand there, way too far apart. Until we both start to chuckle. Shit. Gojo turns to look at me, and his cheeks are just as red as mine feel.

"So..." he starts. "Breakfast at nine?"

Shit. I give him a smile. "Don't be late."

"I'll pick you up," he retorts. "Can't let you go down there by yourself, can I?"

My smile widens at the same time as my eyes roll. "I can find the way perfectly fine on my own," I say.

"I know you can."

With that, he starts to walk toward his door. Shit, shit, shit. I look after him like a pathetic idiot, dressed in my pathetic dress and pathetic shoes, and feeling pathetic. His hand rests on the doorknob for a moment, and my pathetic brain thinks he might have changed his mind, but then the door gives a chime. He opens it and vanishes into his room.

I sigh and go into my own room. "Shit," I say out loud even though I don't know why exactly. Shit that we almost might have kissed? Shit that we didn't? Shit that I even let it get this far? It's just all... shit. I peel myself out of the dress and throw it over a chair. My shoes and underwear end up on the same pile.

With a lot of effort, I make it to the bathroom even though my body is fighting me to go to bed, but I have to get rid of my makeup first. Completely naked, I rinse off my face and do my routine. Only after that do I put on my pajamas and climb into bed.

Shit.

When I wake up again, the room is less hot than yesterday morning, and it's a small relief. It takes me a moment to remember that right after breakfast, we're going back to Jujutsu High. If I tell Shoko what almost happened last night, she'll freak out. I don't even know if I should tell her. I don't know what that was.

Were we going to kiss? Just kiss, or would more have happened? What would his intentions have been? And what about mine? I try to remember the last time I kissed someone. Was it two months ago? Three? Some guy in a bar that my friends and I went to as a goodbye party. Would I have kissed Gojo just to kiss him or because I actually like him? This is infuriating!

Shoko and Utahime texted me a few times yesterday, but since I was too busy to open them, I do that now. My eyes sway to the clock on my phone, and I roll them when I see that it's almost nine. If we go to breakfast later, does that mean we can stay longer? While I type my replies to my friends, I contemplate not opening the door when Gojo knocks, but that would defeat the purpose, wouldn't it? That wouldn't give me more time with him, and he'd probably be upset.

So I hit send and put my phone away, then hurry into the bathroom. Getting dressed in my summer uniform feels familiar and comfortable. It's just the boost of confidence I needed. I just barely have time to tie my shoes when there's a knock at my door.

"Hey," I say absently, focusing on the button of my uniform.

When I look up, Gojo is smiling this annoying smile again, and his eyes are behind his white blindfold again. I almost roll my eyes, but just because I'm so annoyed with myself, not with him.

"Ready?" he asks, and I scoff but close my door behind myself.

Just when I want to say something, the door on the other side of the hallway opens, and the woman from last night steps out. I scowl and ignore her, and as we walk past her, I can tell that Gojo is doing the same. Well, at least he's mad at her too.

When the elevator doors close, I wonder if he's going to pretend that nothing happened yesterday. I mean, nothing did happen, but it could have. Either way, is he just going to ignore that? Does he want me to ignore it, too, or does he want me to mention it?

When we step out again, I still haven't decided.