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Perhaps it was the chilly breeze of summer's evening that slithered into the chamber to rise the hairs of one's arm, blowing off the lit candles propped by the wooden pillars and basking them into an interim darkness. There was abhor rolling its way out of the old men's arid lips, if the temperature were to drop one more degree then they might be exhaling frost soon.
Or perhaps it was because of Satoru's eyes.
It took only one, simple glare to carry the gust of evening inside even from lidded windows, and all words fell silent upon it. Once a chorus of chiding, now merely an echo of what used to be voices of strife.
It was dim and cold.
Dim because Satoru demanded it that way, and cold because his eyes demanded it that way.
Gaze lethiferous akin to ice shards, for it was too keen and algid to be comprehended and avoided by others, and Satoru took pride in the frigidity of his eyes that could shut thousand lips at once.
No one should be able to see his smirk by now, askew and scornful. Not that Satoru would trouble it if someone spotted such an expression in his face. Berated by walking skeletons like them held little or no meaning at all to Satoru.
"Are we done now? Because it's really~ late and I want to sleep as soon as possible." In Yuuji's warm hold, his conscious added helpfully.
Of course, Satoru didn't wait for a response. He pivoted on his heels, blew a mocking kiss, and bid a goodbye to the old men who didn't even dare to move from behind their doors to stop him.
He was gone in a blink of an eye.
And in the next blink, he was back in his house.
Though, the term "house" wouldn't fit the circumstances of the building he abided in right now. For his "house" was used when Satoru was functioning alone beneath its roof, utilizing the furnitures and facilities built inside it to their fullest for a living in a short period of time, since he was nothing but a busy man with missions to accomplish and students to teach.
Now?
Satoru's single label was out of the window.
For he had Itadori Yuuji to reside under the same roof as him and inside his heart where his student considered it as a shelter of security and comfort.
Satoru arrived on the staircase of the basement out of habit, head tilting to check upon hints of lights from the television or the telltale cursed energy radiating off his student. Grim as a storm, yet benign as a kitten. A belated realization struck Satoru that it was currently ten in the evening and it eased a chuckle from him.
Ah right, how could I forget?
Usually Yuuji slept around nine so he could gather enough energy to undergo his training in the next day. That meant Satoru could find his student here.
"Sensei...?"
"Oh, Yuuji! Still awake, I see!"
Yuuji shifted slightly on the sheets to make a place for Satoru beneath the blankets to slip in, the action almost automatic and it warmed Satoru's heart. Discarding his jacket and blindfold without a care in a world to the floor, Satoru gladly slid into his rightful spot next to his students, asserting his giddiness by wrapping both arms around Yuuji's figure that the boy reciprocated.
His student sighed contently, breath tickling Satoru's jaw, and he smiled adoringly.
"Did you wait long?" Satoru asked as he gingerly stroked Yuuji's hair, feeling his limbs softening upon contact.
"Not really." Yuuji murmured, small yet lovely, and he lifted a half-lidded gaze to Satoru's still erratic own. From his infuriating meeting earlier or the excitement to case himself into Yuuji's embrace, Satoru wasn't sure.
Yuuji blinked rapidly as if Satoru's face was the most difficult question at the back of a test paper, sleepiness barely perceptible that it didn't seem he was snoring seconds earlier, and an imaginary question mark popped above Satoru's head. What was on his student's mind in the moment?
Yuuji inadvertently bumped his forehead with Satoru's as he leaned forward, sunrise thinning inside squinting eyes, but none of them voiced the proximity if it inconvenienced them.
It took another minute of silence that apparently pounded Satoru's ears by his frantic flux of blood, for he thought Yuuji was mad at him or something, since his student had never been the type to zip his mouth. He talked and chattered a lot, he was endearing and absolutely charming to hear, so this reposeful state crawled something unpleasant on Satoru's spine.
I didn't do anything wrong this week, did I?
I even limit my sweets consumption this week.
I haven't spooked him with sudden hugs lately.
I eat all the meals he made for me until the last rice.
Ehhh, did I come home too late to anger him?
(Though with Yuuji's nature, the last seemed unlikely)
But then Yuuji spoke again, in the softest, most fascinated tone Satoru had ever heard from him that it made him sound breathless.
"Sensei's eyes are so warm."
It was Satoru's turn to blink, brain short-circuited.
"How so?" He managed to croak out.
Yuuji giggled, the noise even more melodic than forest's whistles Satoru used to revel in when he needed a place to unwind (a place that wasn't his Yuuji's lap). "It's like the clear summer sky. Vast, very blue, and undoubtedly warm. It shines so brightly too, just like a sunny afternoon. I love them."
Satoru's eyes were said to bring forward the chillest of nights and the sharpest of knives, to see and unravel everything bare of its confines, but none of them, not even a single soul of a human or a curse, had ever told him that his eyes were warm.
Yuuji yawned again, his impromptu explanation forgotten as he curled himself close to Satoru. His lips found the crook of Satoru's neck, planting a chaste kiss on flushed skin as his eyelids fluttered shut. "Okay, let's go to sleep now, sensei. Love you, good night."
Satoru watched Yuuji sleep, until he was certain he didn't wake Yuuji up with his icy gaze. Instead, Yuuji's fingers fumbled for the back of Satoru's shirt, gripping it firmly and pressing their body even closer together while being unconscious, like a human blindly seeking fireplace in midst of a raging storm, dependant on their senses alone.
Seeking for warmth Yuuji was, and he found it inside Satoru and his cold, cold eyes.
Satoru covered the said eyes with the back of his hand, and heaved a barely audible laughter.
God, I love Yuuji so much.
"Uwaaa... It's so nice..."
Yuuji seemed to slump within the lukewarm water of the bathtub, evident by how his shoulder dropped low and his breath rolled for a couple of seconds longer as he leaned onto Satoru's chest. Satoru chuckled, pleased by the response as he winded his arms around his student.
"I'd like to bring you to an onsen, Yuuji, but I can't risk the chances, can I?"
"It's alright, sensei! Don't worry! As long I have sensei with me, everywhere is fine!"
So pure, Satoru hesitated whether he wanted to have a nosebleed or just faint on spot.
The truth was, Satoru didn't want to bring Yuuji out of his house at all (unless the situation called for a necessary action). Sure, a bath in the hot spring did sound really great. They could choose an open spring that would grant them the scenery of the glittering night sky, the pool of hot water would swat away the autumn's ticklish breeze, and there would be much more space for Satoru to put his long, gangly legs onto. They could try to swim as well, to see how fast and smooth Yuuji could navigate through the waters as Satoru studied him from the edge.
That was, if the loud splashes wouldn't alarm the owner and cause them to be banned from the place.
That would be hilarious, but Satoru didn't want to.
Satoru's exact want was to have Yuuji for himself. He wouldn't allow the moon and stars to behold the sanctity embodied inside Itadori Yuuji, bathed in pellucid, misty waters that enhanced his sun-kissed skin to sublimity.
That was a privilege to Satoru alone.
They shared lots of things on that bathtub. Splashes of water, shampoo and soap, transparent bubbles, damp cuddles, noisy kisses, and each other's warmth. It was the most relaxing Satoru had in the week, he didn't think he wanted to go out the bathtub at all, spending his evening with Yuuji over the waters as if a beaver thriving to find the perfect place by the river to settle down.
Alas, they eventually had to get out, for their skin began to grow wrinkles and whilst it was funny to see it happen to Satoru's skin, he knew it was their cue to finish their bath.
"Sensei was being decent for once." Yuuji murmured as he slipped into the soft pink pyjamas Satoru bought for him (yes he knew Yuuji's size, so shush) on the side of the bed, and Satoru arched an eyebrow.
"Elaborate?" He chirped, and Yuuji blushed, gaze snapping onto Satoru's. Oh, did he not intend to say it out loud? So cute~.
"Uhh... I mean, it's... Uhm, just forget it..."
"Yuuji~, you know I'll keep nagging you if you don't tell me. You can tell sensei anything~."
Yuuji puckered his lips, muscles unfurling. Perhaps out of billions of life upon Earth, only Itadori Yuuji who would fall into Satoru's round, doe, and sparkly (and warm, as Yuuji said once) eyes without further complaints. It was so easy of him that it made Satoru worry sometimes. He ought to work on that.
"For once, sensei kept your hands to yourself." Yuuji answered timidly but also amusedly. To escape Satoru's knowing, broadening smirk, he rushed to the wardrobe to snatch a new towel and splay it over Satoru's hair. "Now, please dry your hair, sensei. It won't do you any good if you go to sleep with your hair still dripping wet."
"With a towel? I prefer a hair dryer though." Alright, Satoru would spare his student this one time. Satoru held his hands back on purpose during bath since Yuuji must be tired from today's training, you know. To think he wondered about the lack of intimacy, regardless of their constant frolicking on the bathtub that included some exclusive skinship, Satoru couldn't help but to gush about his precious student inwardly.
I'll pamper him with more hugs next time, and deeper kisses, Satoru planned with an inner devilish grin, imaginary red tail swinging to the side.
Yuuji frowned as he dried his drenched strawberry locks with another towel, occasionally squeezing it in order for the remaining water to seep into the cloth. "It's not good to use a hair dryer often, sensei. It'll make your hair too dry and easier to fall out. At least, that's what Grandpa told me."
Satoru found himself smiling at the reason, bits of rhapsodic and bits of wistful. He didn't have the heart to break the little trust Yuuji clutched of his grandfather's advice, even for the smallest of things.
So Satoru took the towel from the top of his hair and handed it over to Yuuji.
"Dry my hair for me then, honey?"
Yuuji blinked, and the wide, earnest smile that curled on his face moments after was enough to make Satoru decide to throw away his hair dryer in the next morning.
And that was how Satoru found himself sitting on the floor, back leaning to the bed as his body was encased between Yuuji's sculpted legs. Yuuji settled on the edge of the bed, Satoru's head between his thighs as he worked ever so carefully to squeeze the water out of Satoru's hair with the towel.
Satoru felt he could doze off to sleep with how Yuuji's fingers nudged and bent his skull with the smoothest, gentlest of prods. The nerves jointing and crumpling in his brain was unknotted beneath Yuuji's touch of admiration and reverence, even through the thick, now soaked towel Satoru still could feel the unrivaled warmth of his fingers.
It felt exceptionally nice.
After five minutes or so, Yuuji discarded the towel from Satoru's hair, the action almost went unnoticed if it wasn't for Yuuji's fingers that found Satoru's hair once again, this time direct and tangible. His fingers stayed, only to touch and feel and venerate. His fingers stayed, to give Satoru comfort and joy he thought he had lost. His fingers stayed, with affection radiating from the tips. His fingers stayed, and so did the both of them.
Satoru creaked his eyelids open as his crown met a press of mellow pads, and he tilted his head upwards to meet Yuuji's awed gaze and slightly agape lips, sunset shimmering a divine gleam in his eyes.
Wonderful.
"Sensei's hair is so beautiful." Yuuji breathed out before Satoru could voice his thoughts.
He grinned by the compliment. He got that often enough to be bored of it, but the feeling was never present when it was from Yuuji. "Oh yeah? Like the snow, isn't it?"
Yuuji's hum prolonged, ruminating. "It looks like cottons to me, though. Pretty, fluttering, soft, and really white. I like touching sensei's hair because of that, hehe."
Satoru was a weak, weak man to Yuuji's chuckles.
He dug his palm onto his own face, trying to his damnedest to not scream his love for Yuuji to the whole Japan and the world.
"Sensei? Are you alright...?"
"No."
"Ehh? Why?"
"Because Yuuji is too cute for my heart!!"
There was that chuckle again, abashed but cheery, and Satoru might as well become one with the floor since he felt like melting.
Autumn approached them fast, clement air sauntering its way through the walls as the leaves fell languidly to the ground outside. The neighborhood was reposeful, not a single person was seen by the road as the looming street lamps flickered, night moths surrounding the bulb as if starving for food, since it was Satoru's intent since long to find a serene environment for him to live in. And tonight was still freezing even if he had already turned off the air conditioner.
"I don't think the blanket alone will be enough..." Yuuji pondered, head tilting to the forefinger tapping on his cheek. He was clad in the thickest shirt he could find in Satoru's house, the way it slid down from his shoulders due to its large size and flowed down until his thighs, and Yuuji's occasional movements to adjust it back, fingers sinking beneath its sleeves, caused Satoru's heart to leap inside his ribcage.
He looks so tiny and adorable.
"Shall we cuddle like we always do? Sensei will warm you up~." Satoru prompted, his smirk snarky as he walked towards the bed.
Yuuji nodded, a bit too fast, a bit too believing.
"That sounds great, sensei-- EHH WHY ARE YOU TAKING YOUR SHIRT OFF?!?!"
"Why, you ask? So my warmth will transfer itself easier to you, Yuuji. I couldn't possibly afford my student to freeze himself to death, could I? Come here~."
Yuuji's face seemed to boil at the sight of Satoru reclining leisurely on the bed, bare and chiseled chest out for his eyes to linger at. Yuuji's cheeks were drowned in a lovely shade of cerise, deeper than that of his hair, and a trail of sweat broke down his temple, moreso when Satoru ran his tongue across his own lips and patted the empty space on the bed for Yuuji to take.
"Yuuji~." Satoru sang, enjoying the flustered state of his student. "Come lie down with me here, darling. I'm freezing without you~."
Yuuji spluttered under his breath, but he complied nevertheless. He let Satoru snake his arms around his albeit smaller figure, but no less firmer, after he crawled into the bed. Satoru shivered at the ticklish sensation of his skin greeting Yuuji's shirt, but he discarded it off if it meant he could warm Yuuji up better.
"How is it?" Satoru asked softly, slowly tightening his hold around Yuuji.
Yuuji bumped his heating cheek against Satoru's thumping chest, gaze locking onto his collarbone as to avoid seeing Satoru's twinkling own. "Sensei's really warm." He settled, partly timid partly bemused.
"Glad to hear that~. Now let's get to sleep, Yuuji. I have a schedule prepared for you for tomorrow, and it'll be tiring as heck, I can guarantee you that. So get lots of rest, okay?"
"Okay, sensei."
Satoru closed his eyes, grey walls of his bedroom merely morphing into a murky blur that he could decipher even in his sleep, rested the lower half of his face in midst of Yuuji's strawberry locks, and tried to be motionless as Yuuji trailed his hand on Satoru's body, the touch light and feathery, bereaved of desire but just plain wonder that felt warm, like a summer's breath.
The tip of Yuuji's fingers skirted through the swell of Satoru's pectoral, of sinews bulging from raw strength and honed power, nail grazing ever so subtly as his exhale swept the skin, a passing gust of affection that Satoru gladly embraced. His touch lingered right in the center of Satoru's chest, dipping with the most fleeting of press that could only be described as a dread to hurt.
Before Satoru could think of a reason behind that simple press, Yuuji's touch had marveled south, still absent of salacious intentions, to feel the sturdy composure of Satoru's abdomen, the firm of his skin alluring him in as if to worship. It eased Satoru's thoughts, someway or another, reducing them into a vast lull of blue with hints of sakura petals on its surface.
(Satoru liked to see Yuuji that way.
Like the falling sakura petals.
Like a newly birthed spring.
Or like a novel beginning, to both of them)
Like a professional ice skater over the thin ground of ice, familiar and one with their surroundings, Yuuji's fingers danced upwards. From the ups and downs of Satoru's upper body, never once losing the tenderness of his touch, until the bridge of his collarbone, the protruding planes of bones that Satoru took pride on, and up again until Yuuji brushed the back of his knuckles on Satoru's cheek.
A small shift over the sheets, the fraction of Yuuji's legs against Satoru's own, another arm that perched itself over the hill of Satoru's upper arm, and Yuuji earned himself a kiss on the palm as he brought his hand to feel Satoru's glossy, plump lips.
Yuuji froze at once.
Oops, Satoru shouldn't have done that.
Because Yuuji's embarrassment was flaring hot even from the brunt of his palm alone.
"Sensei?! You're still awake?!" Yuuji half-yelled, half-whispered.
Satoru had to hold back a laugh.
"Yuuji, when you're touching me all over like that, it's hard to not be awake, you know?"
Yuuji's breath stammered, and so did his words. Satoru opted to take mercy on his student, sustaining his chuckles and ruffling his hair into a greater mess in midst of the darkness instead. Yet, he could picture Yuuji's pout clearly in his mind, and it was nothing short but cute.
"It's alright, Yuuji. You can touch sensei whenever you wish and to your heart's content. I won't trouble it~."
Yuuji didn't look so convinced, much to Satoru's amusement. Yuuji moved his palm from his lips (begrudgingly, he noted) to tread it down Satoru's chest, an imperceptible force pulling him back there, and Satoru let him be. His student's own lips parted in a silent muse, Satoru's Six Eyes internally contemplating what to elucidate the quaint glints in Yuuji's eyes as.
"Sensei's skin is so bright."
Yuuji said, his voice again a whisper of reverence that stroked Satoru's skin.
And Satoru lately noticed that Yuuji began to point out things like these. It wasn't like Satoru resented it, no. He knew he got gorgeous features that most people fawned crazily at, and he eagerly accepted any kinds of compliments thrown at him, because of course, he deserved them. The ever so dashing Gojou Satoru, mouthed by appraisals left and right to further solidify his charms and vanity as he walked forth.
But Yuuji's appraisals were different.
(Yuuji was different. Yuuji was not "most people")
Yuuji complimented Satoru and told him a piece of his mind regarding of what he thought about his looks. Just as Satoru thought he knew what Yuuji compared his features as, for the same imageries could bestow over lots of other people too, his student outdid Satoru's assumptions.
Yuuji had thrived through many of Satoru's expectations.
Power? Check.
Determination? Check.
Kindness? Check.
Physique? Check.
Both hard and soft skills? Check.
The human being within Satoru's hold, the individual in the name of Itadori Yuuji, was a breath of ascending dawn and descending sunset for Satoru. Fresh and welcoming, and now Satoru would like to know what Yuuji had in mind regarding of his skin.
"Is that so?" Satoru didn't want to presume things first, he preferred Yuuji to express his thoughts openly instead of refuting Satoru's remarks like before.
Yuuji seemed to catch his motive, for he continued with a voice sounding so close yet so far for Satoru to relish.
"Gojou-sensei who has gone through a lot of things, but still manages to have a skin this bright and unblemished. You're so strong, aren't you, sensei? I hope I wasn't hurting the old scars there even if sensei had healed them. I can't see them, but I can feel them.
The struggles and fights sensei underwent in the past... I think those are what I like from sensei's skin. For despite everything that happened and scarred sensei in sensei's deepest place, sensei's skin still manages to shine this brightly. I wish mine can be like sensei's too, sometime in the future--"
The rest of Yuuji's words was history, for Satoru had closed the book which was Yuuji's lips with a searing kiss that Yuuji whimpered at.
To think you like my skin just because of the nearly forgotten scars there, you really hurled my expectations out of the window, Yuuji.
The chill air of autumn skidded into their kiss, lowering its intensity but not its feeling. Satoru was pulled back slightly by the wind, Yuuji chasing his lips right after with a hazed gaze as thick as honey drips. Satoru's lips gladly met Yuuji's once more as Yuuji's fingers brushed Satoru's nape and nestled themselves within Satoru's forest of white, bodies slotting with each other's in manners similar to destined puzzle pieces.
Satoru stilled his lips to not part, for he needed no tongue to intercept this.
Satoru might've exchanged lots of kisses with Yuuji, stole it in the ungodly hours of the night or in the sleepy shifts of the morning and reduced Yuuji into a putty in mere seconds of it, but Satoru's favourite would always be this one.
Just a gentle greeting between two yearning lips.
No heavy push, no prodding tongue, no gnawing teeth, no stammering whines nor whimpers, no scurried huffs of Yuuji's breath, nothing more but a gentle peck.
Yuuji appeared to fancy it as much as Satoru did, for his finally evened breath tickled the tip of Satoru's nose and he could feel the joyful tilt in midst of their kiss. Satoru tasted a pint of hot chocolate from their late night drinking session earlier, rich of saccharine and cocoa, lingering long enough to savour.
Satoru liked it.
Of course, he liked Yuuji's lips too.
And of course, he loved Yuuji too.
Yuuji chased after Satoru again as they parted, but it was his eyes rather than his lips. Yuuji's stare followed the way Satoru's tongue coated his lips in a light sheen of saliva, seemingly boasting the shade and shape of Satoru's plush lips. Satoru didn't miss it, surely, and he smirked rakishly.
"Liking what you see, Yuuji?"
Satoru asked with a purr, and Yuuji pouted again, cheeks ablaze. He was probably thinking how did they get from a wholesome moment into this. Well, in Satoru's defense, it was Yuuji's touching words that drove him this way. So don't blame Satoru.
Yuuji drew a sharp breath as to collect himself together, yet he still stumbled with his upcoming sentence.
"Sensei's lips are so... so... so captivating!"
This time Satoru was helpless to stop his laugh.
"Aww, confused in choosing your words, honey?"
"Sensei, don't tease me! When sensei kisses me with those pillowy, damp, and sweet lips, of course I'm confused! Sensei is just so handsome, it's not good for my heart!!"
Maybe if they weren't on bed, Yuuji would've flailed his arms around to pronounce his distress (?). Maybe Satoru's beautiful face would get smacked by the frantic movements of his hands too. Who knows, right? With Yuuji's sprightful, vigorous personality akin to that one of a golden retriever, he could do many things.
Yuuji was named to do many things ever since that day, Satoru knew it. It was the instincts of the strongest jujutsu sorcerer and a teacher. And Satoru would very much love it if he were to be present in each step and turn Yuuji took.
To be together with Yuuji everywhere he went, how delightful it sounded!
"Easy there, love, you're so adorable too that it's not good for my heart either." As to emphasize his means, Satoru placed his hand over his chest, right atop of Yuuji's own, sensing the piston of Satoru's heartbeats as it addressed the warmth they emitted. "Can you feel it? It's so loud because of you~."
Yuuji blushed for the umpteenth time tonight, and Satoru honestly thought it was lovely.
But then Yuuji flipped his hand over, calloused palm facing Satoru's, and he laced their fingers together in a firm, bold grip, blooming a sheepish grin as he did so.
(Gojou-sensei blushed for the first time tonight, and Yuuji honestly thought it was lovely)
"I love sensei so much."
"I love you more than you do, Yuuji."
"Sensei!" Yuuji blushed, but he threw a playful jab to Satoru's arm as he laughed bashfully.
And Satoru ruffled his student's hair in the most adoring of caress, obnoxious guffaws that were nothing short but amused echoing off his lips. A sprout of sakura tree under his palm, and Satoru would make sure this tree grew to become the tallest of other trees and the strongest against all kinds of winds.
For if Yuuji could exceed Satoru's expectations, then a valorous future should've been waiting for him.
A future with Satoru in it to fall his steps beside Yuuji's in tandem, as to remind his student that wherever Yuuji went, Satoru's heart shall linger on him and him only.
Because I love you so much, Satoru thought as he bent down to capture Yuuji's lips in his, ignoring Nobara's surprised shriek and Megumi's tired sigh nearby.
"DON'T MAKE OUT IN CLASS, YOU PERVERT TEACHER!!" Nobara yelled, shining hammer and nails out in warning.
"Release Itadori at once or I'll summon my rabbits to take him away from your lecherous hands, sensei." Megumi stated, hands already rising to call his shikigami.
Tucking Yuuji's boiling face onto his shoulder, littering noisy smooches while he was at it, Satoru bid a peace sign to his other students and teleported from the class, their yells saturating by the changes of scenery.
Maybe he really ought to find some privacy before claiming Yuuji's lips like that, because with his student blazing brighter than the sun yet never too hot for he had no intention to douse Satoru in flames at all, Satoru's thread of control tended to snap at that.
Since well, who was Gojou Satoru to reject such a beautiful, gallant human being?
Though, Satoru figured he was never the strongest whenever he was with Yuuji. After all, he was nothing but a busy man with missions to accomplish, students to teach, and a lover to love.