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Satoru remembers the moment when he exactly realized that he liked Utahime. Scratch that. He realized he fell for her when she screamed at him for disrespecting his elders after saving her and teased her if she was crying.
It sounds unrealistic, but his seventeen-year-old self knew it, with a secret grin on his face, that he desired no other woman than Utahime. She is the only one he wants to be by his side.
And for over a decade, he has been pinning for her while playing the waiting game. Now, twenty-eight and soon to be twenty-nine, he wasted time like the money from his bank account. There were many opportunities he could have told her, but in fear of rejection, he became a coward and backed out.
Satoru Gojo, the strongest sorcerer alive, is a coward when it comes to dealing with his feelings. Always running away and suppressing his emotions like the emotionally constipated bastard he is for Utahime Iori. The only woman who never fell for his charms and smooth, sweet words.
He quietly releases a sigh as he puts down his mug of tea on his lap. The rustle of papers moving, flipping, and being written on became the background noise to him.
“If you’re just going to sigh about your non-existent love life and not help with the paperwork, you can leave the room, Gojo-san.” Kento offhandedly states as he signed the paperwork on the coffee table in the faculty room.
The two of them were alone in the faculty room, stuck doing the paperwork of the previous missions they had earlier today. Though, it was mainly Kento who did the work while Satoru fooled around and took a break.
“I’m not thinking about Utahime.”
Kento raises a brow. “I didn’t mention Iori-san’s name.”
Aw, shit.
“But Nanamin~! I’m bored!” The white-haired man whines, trying to change the subject.
“Do the paperwork then.”
“No way~ I hate those things~” Satoru waves his hand and sips his tea.
“Then confess to Iori-san.”
Satoru almost choked on his tea by hearing those words. He puts down his mug onto the table as he coughs. Never had he thought Kento saying those words to him. He was sure that his blond junior never even bothered about the topic of love.
“Oh? Nanamin talking about a gossip?” Satoru feigns ignorance.
“It’s painfully obvious and the truth.” Kento continues, still not looking up from the paperwork. “For you, someone who looks insincere towards women, you’ve been faithfully teasing Iori-san for over a decade.”
“How rude I’m not insincere to women! I’ve always been a gentleman!”
“Not to Iori-san, though.” Kento deadpans. “You’re like a child acting mean to the person you have a crush on. Fitting for a man-child like you.”
Satoru couldn’t retort. He’s fully aware that he’s a man-child who bullies his crush. And he isn’t sure when he’ll stop playing the waiting game with her. Utahime doesn’t even notice his adoration towards her.
They trusted each other in their line of work, but other aspects than that, Satoru completely failed to gain her trust. And it’s his fault for not relaying his true intentions.
It’s his fault for being too patient. It’s his fault for always teasing her in the moments when he’s about to confess, breaking the romantic mood between them. And it’s his fault for being a coward for her rejection.
“I’m working on it.” He grumbles and takes a pen to do his part of the paperwork. “Now, where are the papers that I have to sign on?”
Kento, understanding that Satoru didn’t want to discuss the topic any further, gave him a stack of papers to sign. Then the two men work in silence, and only the sounds of pen and documents fill the room.
On his next day off, which luckily coincided with Utahime’s, Satoru comes to the baseball stadium that she frequents during the baseball season. He decided that he’d ask her out for a meal after the game she watched.
This time he’s not running away. He had been thinking about this for weeks already.
Among the sea of people going out of the stadium, he spots Utahime near a baseball team’s bus and in front of white-clad uniformed players. He calls out her name loudly as he comes up to her with long strides.
“Oi, Utahime!”
Utahime turns around at the sound of his voice, and judging by the look on her face; it’s obvious that she didn’t expect him to be here. “Gojo!”
“Yo!” He smirks as he takes in her appearance bit by bit.
She wore black off-shoulder long sleeves, showing off her smooth clavicles and swan-like neck, underneath the beige overalls that look adorable on her. Hanging from her shoulder is a red sling bag, and snuggly resting on top of her head is a violet cap that he once gave her in the past.
There’s no trace of make-up on her face, but her cheeks were flushed crimson red even that not even the scar across the bridge of her nose could hide it, and her lips are too pink that he stares them for a second longer as he imagines what it would be like against his. He then meets her amber-brown eyes that were like honey—sweet and intoxicating. Beckoning him to drown into the depths of her irises.
Utahime is stunningly beautiful, and he’s hopelessly attracted to her.
“Why are you here?” She asks him, and Satoru snaps out of his daze.
“I came to pick you up~”
“Huh?”
However, before Satoru could say anything further, a good-looking, bespectacled man with deep golden-brown hair and eyes, and who’s an inch shorter, interrupts him. The man looked around his age and is dressed in the white baseball jersey and jacket of the winning team of the recent baseball match.
“Utahime, who’s this man?” The man calls out Utahime’s name softly and stands beside her.
Suddenly, Satoru is irked by just seeing him and hearing her name from his lips.
‘Where the hell did this man come from?’ Satoru thinks as he raises his brow. ‘And why is he calling Utahime’s name that way?’
“Ah, Kazuto, this is my colleague, Gojo Satoru,” Utahime tells Kazuto. “He’s the headteacher of the Tokyo Branch of my school.”
‘Just colleagues?’ Something twists inside of the white-haired man. ‘You also call him by his first name?’
“Oh?” Kazuto faces Satoru and points to Utahime with his thumb. A wide grin appears on the baseball player’s face, along with a teasing look. “Thank you for taking care of her. It must have been troublesome because of her fiery temper.”
Utahime growls and Satoru is hurt by how her eyes flash with anger, which was usually directed to him, to a different man. “I don’t have a fiery temper!”
“Anyways, I’m Kazuto. Nice to meet you, Gojo-san.” The brown-haired man ignores her protests and puts out his hand for a handshake.
“Nice to meet you too.” Satoru takes the baseball player’s hand and tries with all of his might not to break it with his strength. It hasn’t been a full minute yet, but he was already annoyed by Kazuto’s presence. “I didn’t know Utahime was friends with a baseball player. This is news to me.”
“Is that so?” Kazuto tilts his head to the side and gives another grin to Utahime. “Utahime, how come you’re not bragging about me? I’m hurt.”
It’s official. Satoru loathes the man’s grins towards Utahime. No one grins at her like that except him.
Utahime rolls her eyes. “You’re not worthy to be bragged about. You haven’t even beaten me in baseball yet. So why should I?”
“Ah, meanie~”
As Satoru watches the two’s banter, he bites the inside of his cheek. The sight in front of him made him feel annoyed, making him feel like a stranger coming in between. It was as if he wasn’t needed nor wanted.
“The two of you must have some important stuff to talk about before I interrupted you.” Kazuto says. “Utahime, I’ll wait for you on the bus.”
“No, not really. I’ll come with you.” Utahime shakes her head, and she turns to Satoru before leaving. “Sorry, Gojo, I’ll talk to you later. I’m busy right now.”
“Wait, I—”
He puts out his hand to reach out for her, but he misses as her figure gets further and further away. She goes on the bus and disappears when the doors close right behind her. Satoru then stands there in a daze at what just transpired.
Utahime left him all alone in a crowd of unknown faces. With another man at that.
Then and there, he wishes a black hole would appear beneath him to swallow him into the darkness. Alas, it never happens.
And all of his gained courage to confess to her is now lost.
Fuck.
Satoru hides his displeasure when he meets Kazuto in one of the cafés he’s been frequenting. The two of them settle down together in a secluded booth, and he adds five more sugar cubes in his coffee as he observes the baseball player in front of him.
He looked into Kazuto Yukimura after what happened last time.
The man was a famous catcher in the baseball league. He was scouted by the pros when he was just in middle school and is famed for his intelligence in the field. Not only that, he’s a powerhouse of strength that usually scores home runs during his turn to bat.
As of the moment, he’s twenty-eight years old and a bachelor. He has a die-hard fan base that cheers for him in all of his games. And with his looks, he was dubbed as the ‘Pretty Boy Catcher’ by women and peers.
‘Pretty boy, my ass.’ Satoru inwardly snorts. ‘I’m way more attractive than him. Why is Utahime hanging out with a man like this?’
“You’re right, Gojo-san. This place has the best coffee.” Kazuto smiles as he places his mug down to the table after taking a sip of his beverage. “I’d visit this place again next time.”
‘Great, now I’m never going back here.’ Satoru thinks. “Then you should try their chocolate cake next time.”
“Ah, I’ll pass on that one. I’m not that fond of chocolate.”
“That’s too bad. You’ll love it if you try it.” Satoru sips his overly sweet milk coffee, the sugar blessing his taste buds. ‘Tsk. Tsk. Too bad you don’t have any taste, unlike me.’
He creates a scoreboard in his head, counting all the points he has against the catcher. And so far, he’s leading by an infinite amount of points. He secretly smiles smugly. He already won against the catcher.
“I’ll think about it then,” Kazuto says. “Maybe I’ll also ask Utahime to join me too.”
Wait. What?
“Utahime?”
“Yup! We’ve planned to meet up soon, but we haven’t decided on the place yet. So your advice to me today was quite helpful! Thanks, Gojo-san!”
Satoru sits there in shock, and his eyes blinked owlishly. Then it takes a moment for him to realize that he just helped his rival for a date Utahime! What the hell? It wasn’t supposed to be like this!
How come did this four-eyes score a date with Utahime first instead of him? The greatest sorcerer of all time, Satoru Gojo, who had the ability to defeat all curses with just a snap of his fingers. But no, she chose some slightly popular man, who’s far beneath him and less attractive than him to date!
Inside of him is a brewing storm ready to be unleashed into the world. It contained with a fury that would even make the deities in the heavens cower in fear. His blood even ran cold in his veins, and his temples throb with irritation. He hated this.
It was a sick feeling that he didn’t like to feel—jealousy.
He’s jealous of the man in front of him because the only love of his life will have a date with someone who isn’t him.
Satoru tries to reign in his bitter feelings, his secret smug smile wholly gone now and replaced with an intimidating scowl. Somewhere in the background, the light flicks due to the sudden fluctuation with his cursed energy.
He gives Kazuto a fake smile, trying to look cheerful. “Oh, is that so? That’s good then! Don’t feed her too much, though. She’d get fat and complain later that she’s ugly.”
Kazuto chuckles, a soft emotion appears on his face, and he leans on the back of his chair. “Even if she’ll complain that she’s ugly, I’ll tell her that she’s still beautiful. Utahime, after all, is an important person to me.”
During his day-off at home, Satoru glares at the picture that appeared on his phone’s screen. It was a photo of Utahime and Kazuto in her apartment. The catcher just posted them earlier today while the white-haired man stalked his social media account.
And Satoru hated it down to the core of his humanity.
It meant that the pretty boy spent the night at her place based on their appearance in the picture. Utahime was wearing a dark hoodie that was three times bigger than her size, and her hair tied into a low ponytail, and Kazuto, who was wearing a simple white shirt, had a smirk on his face as he placed an arm around her shoulders.
That sickening feeling called jealousy came up to Satoru again as he stared at them. It infested his whole body and mind like a parasite, and he feels his control over his cursed energy slipping as his emotions desperately wished to run some havoc.
He clenches his jaw and closes his eyes as he takes deep breaths to calm down. There were no marks on Utahime’s skin, so it also meant that nothing happened between them. Though she may also be hiding it, Satoru still stands by his conclusion until he sees any proof of their possible relationship.
Suddenly, Shoko sent a message with a link embedded onto it, and to ease his frustrations away, he reads it.
SHOKO IERI
—sent an embedded article link
gojo, hav u seen dis???
-READ-
When Satoru clicks on the link, his eyes widened in surprise, and he stands up from his chair in disbelief as he sees the bolded title of a gossip article title.
“KAZUTO YUKIMURA IN A RELATIONSHIP”
Baseball superstar, Kazuto Yukimura also dubbed as the Baseball World’s ‘Pretty Boy Catcher’, was spotted being intimate with a woman in a café yesterday afternoon. He had been denying being in a relationship for the past years due to being busy with work. However, this time, he is clearly caught in the act in the middle of a date. So far, there is no word on this released by his team, but just this morning, he posted a picture on his social media with the same woman from the café. She wore his trademark hoodie, and he had his arm wrapped around her shoulder.
Below the article are two pictures. The first one is a picture of Utahime and Kazuto in the café that Satoru frequented until he encountered the brown-haired there. The two of them sat across each other, but they seemed to be having fun talking, giving off an intimate vibe. The second picture was the same picture that he had seen earlier.
For the past few days, Satoru didn’t have the same energy he had in interacting with others. Compared to before, he’s now tamed and almost lifeless. He kept on taking multiple back-to-back missions to the point that everyone around him was worried. Even Megumi and Kento asked him if he was alright. And those two usually don’t pry to other’s businesses.
All of that time, Satoru agonized about why he played the waiting game with Utahime. He should have already confessed to her earlier. If he did that, she would have been in his arms already, and they’d be in a relationship that he had been dreaming of for over a decade.
But no, instead of confessing, he teased her mercilessly. He hid his feelings with painful words, bullying her like a child to his crush. Through all the years, he thought he won. He did, though, but it was only the battles and not the war.
Now, she belongs to somebody else that isn’t him.
That somebody had the same interest as her and cherished her properly like the way she’s ought to be treated. And that somebody also who got his feelings returned by the greatest woman that ever existed.
Fuck.
Satoru was late to notice anything and is now suffering the consequences of his actions. He hated himself more than anyone in the world. For the first time in his entire life, he had lost — lost the most important person that mattered.
With a heavy heart, he climbs up the cobblestone stairs leading to the technical college’s building. He had just returned from a mission, and he has to report first before he could resume his class with the first-years later.
“Gojo!”
A familiar, heavenly voice calls out his name, and he stops climbing up. He lifts his head to see Utahime with a serious expression on her face on the last step of the stairs. She donned her usual traditional miko outfit and white ribbon, and with the sun casting an ethereal glow around her, she looked like a goddess before him.
“U-Utahime…?” Satoru stutters her name like a fool.
“You idiot! You’re late!” She screams at him with her cute angry face. “Now we’re late!”
“Huh?”
“I was suddenly assigned in a mission with you! Of all people, you !”
He’s dumbfounded at her words. “What?”
“Do I have to repeat myself?” Utahime eyebrow twitches.
“Um…”
She sighs and crosses her arms over her chest. “Listen up, bastard. You’ve ruined my day-off. I’m supposed to be watching my cousin’s baseball game right now!”
“Cousin… who?”
“Who else? It’s Kazuto.”
Satoru blinks, and his mind stops working to input the sudden information. Kazuto Yukimura was her cousin? Wait, what? Then what about the article he read of them dating? Was that article false then?
“I thought you two were dating.” He says. “It was in a gossip article.”
“Some paparazzi thought I was his girlfriend when we went out for food, though his PR team already resolved that issue,” Utahime explains. “And besides, the Iori family never practiced incestuous relationships. That’s not even allowed. So why on earth would I date my cousin?”
Suddenly, as if a weight has just been released from his body, Satoru felt lighter. Utahime clearly stated that she was not dating and single. And with this fact, his heart races faster than usual.
He hasn’t lost anything at all. He still had a chance with her.
“Oh,” Satoru rocks on his heels, his hands in his pockets trembles, and he bites the inside of his cheek. All of his despair and self-loathing were suddenly gone by her words, and he couldn’t help but feel giddy.
“So, now can you please hurry up? We have a briefing to do first.”
A wind passes by, blowing her violet tresses in the air, and Satoru watches her with fascination. Utahime was beautiful. She takes his breath away every time he sees her, adores her reactions no matter if she’s angry or not, admires her personality and her kindness to others, and most of all, when she’s not around, he always thinks about ways on how to make her smile when he sees her again.
And it has always been like that. Even before the day he saved her and knew that he completely fell for her.
“Hai Utahime~” A wide knowing grin forms on his lips as he comes up right behind her.
Maybe this was a sign of the universe telling him to hurry up and not fuck up his confession? To warn him that if he waited too long, he’d surely lose her? He doesn't exactly sure if it's a sign, but all he knows is that he’s never going to let go of this second chance.
He’ll confess to her for real this time. Soon.