' made it all look painless, man am i the greatest? '
Reliance is a curse. Blood is worse than that. And love? Well love is the worst of all.
Satoru Gojo knew he was the strongest, but he never expected anyone to make him feel powerless. That was un...
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Amanai sits quietly beside me, hugging her knees. I half-expect another round of anxious questions, but instead, she exhales sharply. "As if they'd actually force me to stay here while they go off and play hero."
I don't respond right away. My focus is elsewhere, fixed on the narrow streets below where people weave through the crowd like a restless tide. My senses are on high alert, tuned for any signs of danger while Gojo and Geto retrieve Kuroi.
"She'll be fine," I say, more to myself than her. My gaze lingers on a man in the crowd for a moment, only to realize he's nothing more than a harmless vendor. "Gojo and Geto are the strongest people I know. You can trust them."
"Is that guy your boyfriend?" Amanai's sudden question blindsides me.
I blink at her, thrown off. "What? You mean Gojo?"
She nods casually, as if dropping a bombshell is no big deal.
I scoff, heat creeping up my neck. "Of course not. That's absurd." Just the thought is ridiculous. Laughable. Yet there's a tightness in my chest that I can't quite explain.
"Whatever his name is," she shrugs. "He wouldn't shut up about you earlier. It was all yap, yap, yap. He even has you on his Lock Screen. That screams relationship to me."
"Figures." I mutter the word under my breath, pretending to go back to scanning the streets. But my mind snags on her words like a thorn. He has me as his Lock Screen? What an idiot.
"When my teacher tried to give him her phone number, he pushed it away," Amanai continues, drawing my attention again.
I raise a brow. "He's pulling teachers now? What a playboy," I mutter, but my voice cracks, betraying me. What is that? Annoyance? No. Definitely not.
"He said he had a girlfriend," Amanai says, her gaze narrowing slightly. "I just thought it was you since he looks at you so much."
Her words hang in the air, pulling a bitter laugh from my throat. "He was lying. Gojo's just an idiot. Don't believe half of what he says, Amanai."
She tilts her head, her expression softening as if she sees something I don't. "Seemed pretty real to me."
I sigh, eager to shift the conversation. "Did you ever have a boyfriend?"
Her expression falters, and she shakes her head. "No," she says quietly, hugging her knees tighter. "But I wish I had one before... this."
The weight of her words hits me harder than I expect. She's so young. Barely had a chance to live her life, and now she's being forced into assimilation—for the sake of our world, no less. It's cruel.
Before I can respond, a familiar voice cuts through the tension like sunlight breaking through clouds.
