The Strongest | ɢᴏᴊᴏ ꜱᴀᴛᴏʀᴜ

Chapter 32

I get back, dripping blood and rainwater, and immediately go to see Shoko so she can fix me up. Her first reaction is rolling her eyes, but then she laughs and tells me to sit down. I wince a little when I sit down the cold metal, and a shock runs through my spine that's probably still sensitive from that spirit slamming me into the wall last week.

"You always take it too far," Shoko says while she gets to work on my bleeding knees.

"That's not true," I protest, but her look shuts me up. "Fine. Whatever."

Shoko presses two bandages to my knees and pats on them once before getting up, so we're on eye level. "Was it fun, then?" she asks, checking my wrists for any fractures.

I grin at her and nod. "It was. Yaga picked a good one for me this time."

"So, no complications?" I shake my head to answer her question, but she presses down on my wrist and makes me squeal. "What's this, then?" Shoko asks.

I pull my hand out of her grip and massage the aching part. "You being insane maybe?"

Shoko sighs, shakes her head, and takes my hand back more carefully. "This is a broken wrist," she lectures me, but she's already fixing that, too.

"That happens," I snap. "Don't baby me."

She always does this when I come back from a mission with more than just a small scratch, and I always tell her that injuries are part of the job. What does she expect? That everything always goes according to plan, and no surprises happen? Sure, maybe I do sometimes go the extra mile to make it more fun or exciting, but I do so willingly, so there is no need for her to treat me like a child. She sounds like Gojo.

When she's done, Shoko apologizes and hands me my jacket back. I sigh. "I'll go take a shower. Do you have time for dinner?"

She nods. "One of the third-years came back with a few injuries, but he should be fine in a few hours if he just lies down in bed. And don't mind the bandages; they're waterproof."

"Is Utahime still here?" I ask her, but Shoko shakes her head.

"She had to go back just after you left."

On my way to my room, I use the chance to check my phone. When I see the notification, I call my mother back and let her talk to me while I gather my clean clothes and head to the bathroom. There, I tell her I have to go and hang up. She doesn't call me often, but when she does, I never get a word in. That's the way it's always been with her. My father is different; he lets me talk more than he likes to talk himself. He's incredibly proud of me and always has been. My mother... well, she's difficult.

It doesn't make me happy to speak to her. Not the way speaking to my father does. But neither of them can be compared to the friends I made here or... Gojo. Recently. Today, more so than ever, I found myself checking my phone time and time again to see if he texted me. He hasn't so far, and it makes me wonder if I should text first. While I rinse the shampoo out of my hair, I wonder if he's still out on a mission or if he's back already, too.

As I look into the mirror, my eyes rush over every part of my face. My eyes, my nose, my lips, the fresh cut across my eyebrow, and the scratch on my cheek. I've always thought of myself as a very self-assured and confident person, so why can't I bring myself to pick up the phone and send him a message? Is it my ego? Do I want him to text first? Is that it? Or am I just too shy? No. I won't let myself be held back by something as ridiculous as fear. When you have the job I have, you can't have fear. Not for your own life, and not for anyone else's. You have to push the fear aside so you can do whatever it takes to protect your own life and anyone else's.

Still naked, I pick up my phone and open the chat with Gojo. It's a very short chat with only a few messages, and I stare at the last one for way too long. I just need to come up with something witty. Something that will make him roll his eyes when he reads it. Come on. I'm a witty person; this shouldn't be so hard for me.

One would think that becoming an adult and leaving your teenage years would make this whole thing easier. I'm not in school anymore, I shouldn't be this nervous about texting a guy.

I type, "How was your mission?" Then delete all of it again. I'm not his girlfriend, not even his friend, so there's no reasonable explanation as to why I would ask him this.

"Did you hear anything from Gakuganji?" is also too forward and sounds too business-like. I'm not texting him to ask about the damn job.

Why am I texting, then? Because I want to know what he's doing. I want to know what he's been doing all day, how his mission was, and if it was easier than mine. Did he get hurt more or less than me, and did he get just as much shit for that? Did he sleep well during the thunderstorm? I woke up twice. Has he had dinner yet, and if so, what did he have, and did he like it? Does he miss me?

My shaking thumb hits the button, and "Miss me yet?" has been sent. After that, I throw my phone into the pile of towels and get dressed. I can't think about this now; I have to hurry to dinner, or Shoko will get mad. Careful that I don't rip the bandages off my knees, I put on my pants.

Why did I send that? Oh, he's going to think I'm weird! I just hope he gets the joke. I'm not genuinely asking if he misses me, I'm just teasing him because I know that he doesn't. The same way I don't miss him. I don't miss his stupid face or his stupid laugh or his stupid long legs. I don't -

I shut the door to the bathroom behind myself and force myself to lock my thoughts behind it. No more of this. After dropping my clothes off in my room, I'm almost running to the cafeteria. When I get there, Shoko is still getting her food, which relieves me, and I join her with a grin.

Halfway through dinner, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out, and my eyes widen. "More than you will ever know, and still less than you miss me," Gojo texted back, making my face heat up in a matter of one second. I read it twice before putting my phone on the table with the screen down.

"Everything okay?" Shoko asks.

I nod back and continue eating so I don't have to tell her a lie because I most certainly won't tell her the truth. What is he thinking? Is that a joke on his part as well? Is he just messing with me? Stupid idiot.

We're deep in conversation when my phone vibrates on the table. I let it for a while until I realize this isn't an incoming message. I pick it up, look at the screen, and immediately shove it back into my pocket and pray that the buzzing stops. Why is Gojo calling me now? What does he want?

I have no chance of finding that out before I head to Shoko's workstation with her, and we start to clean. My phone buzzes three more times until I put it on silent and shove it away.