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It was a curse technique gone wrong really.
How could Gojo expect that he was going to be hit by someone’s technique when he had practically no choice but to put his barriers down?
But, alas, they were both caught off guard, and now, he and Utahime had switched souls.
“So, how long are we gonna stay this way?” Utahime asked in his voice. It was weird hearing his own voice in that tone.
“Oh my, Utahime, are you asking because you want to relish the time you have left in my body?” Gojo teasingly grinned as Utahime frowned, looking irritated.
Now, that was an expression Gojo never thought would see in his face. He always had a poker face on, never bothered by the little trifling matters that mere mortals would normally worry. But, his face showed a lot of annoyance, something he would say was very Utahime-like.
“Why would I even want to stay in your body? It’s so annoying,” she grumbled, tightening the blindfold covering the Six Eyes. “I can’t even relax with the blindfolds on. How can you go about the world with these eyes and not go crazy?”
Gojo chuckled. (He wouldn’t admit outwardly that he was caught off guard hearing Utahime’s voice when he chuckled, though.)
“I just learned to live that way.”
Utahime turned towards him, surprised from what he had just said. Again, very Utahime-like of her.
“I must say, it is weird that I am in your body,” Gojo walked towards the mirror, trying different expressions that he would rarely see on Utahime. He never saw her smile towards his way, so seeing her face smile directly towards him through the mirror might have done wonders to the heart. He had to remind himself that he was just in Utahime’s body and that was supposedly his reflection.
He tried to calm down his heartbeat when his wrist was suddenly seized by Utahime.
“Don’t you dare!” Utahime was clearly irritated, but Gojo didn’t understand why. Not having the Six Eyes was making her to be a more difficult puzzle than she already was.
“What do you mean?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Don’t you dare feel my boobs up just because you’re inside my body!”
Ah, that.
“Now, now, Utahime, relax. Don’t get too agitated, okay? You’re gonna give me wrinkles,” Gojo chuckled as he knew that Utahime felt the great urge to throw something at him. But, it just so happened that he was in her body. And she didn’t want to throw anything towards her body - regardless of who was inside.
She was very amusing, really. Whether she was in her own body or his, she was the most endearing person to his eyes. Has been one for more than a decade.
But, he knew that she had to face the reality of their current situation. So, he decided to point the elephant in the room.
“But, Utahime,” Gojo faked a gasp, an intentionally exaggerated look of surprise on, something Utahime never thought she would see would appear on her own face. “You do realize that we’d have to use the rest room once in a while, right?”
A manly voice echoed throughout the building they were in as Gojo chuckled inwardly.
See, she would never get him bored.
Shoko was laughing hysterically after they told her what happened. They figured it was best to call her due to her expertise in the medical field. However, she was laughing at their predicament, much to Utahime’s chagrin.
“Any chance you know how to undo this?” Utahime tried her luck as Shoko shook her head, wiping the tears at the side of her eyes.
“This is the first time I’ve seen this happen. Although I’m actually surprised this happened,” Shoko paused for a moment before turning to Gojo with an accusatory look on her face. She zeroed her eyes in on him as Gojo raised his hands.
This little interaction between the two Tokyo-based teachers went by unnoticed by Utahime, who was currently facing a big problem. She stared at the empty cup in her hands.
How could she forget and allow herself to consume a cup of tea so easily?
She closed her eyes, realizing that she could try to pretend that nothing was happening. It was all in the mind. All in the mind. All in the-
“Utahime, what’s wrong?” Gojo asked, noticing the funny look on his body’s face. Gojo never saw this look on his face, so he couldn’t figure out what exactly was wrong.
“Nothing!” She was obviously lying. He knew that he looked that way when he was caught eating candies at random times of the day.
“Utahime, just take care of it,” Shoko sighed, realizing what Utahime was trying to keep away from them.
“But-“
“It’s not like it’s the first time you’re seeing someone’s dick, right?”
Utahime instantly blushed, which Gojo felt was very weird seeing on his face. But at the same time, he felt it was very endearing of her.
“Shoko, I-“
“Go now and pee. I’m sure you know how it’s supposed to work since you’re a high school teacher. So, you should be fine,” Shoko assured her as Utahime scratched her head and left for the toilet.
“And you, I have a lot of questions for you,” Shoko turned to Gojo who sat back and stretched out his legs.
“Gee, Shoko, I’m not sure if what else I can tell you-“
“How did you get hit by a technique? It’s very weird that you’d get affected by a curse. It’s also weird that you had your barriers down for once,” Shoko pointed out.
“Well, Utahime was falling down literally,”
“Okay, and?”
“I had to catch her, of course. Aren’t I such a gentleman?” He smirked.
“So, we’re going to ignore the fact you had your barriers down for Utahime?”
“Like I said, I had to catch her. And the enemy took advantage of that and escaped.”
“You were willing to put down the barriers you’ve always had on for a decade or so for Utahime?” Shoko pushed the question, a smirk on her face.
“Yes, I had it down,” he said, looking away. “I don’t get what’s the big deal.” He scratched his head as Shoko laughed.
“I can’t believe the Strongest Sorcerer in the world could be so stupid,” she fanned herself, realizing that she might have laughed too much. “But, wait weren’t you aware of his technique?”
“I knew that, of course. They gave us a situationer before we were deployed. My technique was most efficient for this.”
“And Utahime?”
“I dragged her along.”
“Don’t tell me you wanted this to-“
“I guess, I’m not that stupid, huh, Shoko?” Gojo smirked at the last part as the truth suddenly dawned on Shoko.
Gojo intentionally made it happen.
“And you think it’s gonna work?” Shoko asked, an eyebrow raised. She knew her best friend since high school, as much as he was the strongest sorcerer, he could also be very stupid with his feelings.
“What do you mean I think it’s gonna work?” Gojo chuckled, “It’s already working, Shoko.”
Utahime came back with a very embarrassed look on her face. She didn’t have to explain why she was embarrassed. The thought of touching Gojo’s- she shook her head, dispelling thoughts about someone else’s genitals. Fortunately, Gojo was distracted enough with his phone to tease her about it.
“Where’s Shoko?” She asked, realizing that the female doctor-slash-sorcerer wasn’t in the room anymore.
“You know she can’t stay outside of Tokyo too long. It was by chance that she could drop by here for a few hours before heading back,” Gojo reminded her, not even bothering to look up, as Utahime sighed, sitting down on the couch.
It was fortunate that they opted to stay overnight for the mission. It would’ve been very chaotic if they had to go back to their respective cities in their current state.
“Do you wanna eat out for dinner? I think we should try some of the local food here,” Gojo suggested, browsing through a list of restaurants on his phone.
“I think it’s not safe for us to go out. We don’t really have a grasp on the effects of the switch yet,” Utahime sighed, pouring herself a cup of tea. Since she already relieved herself once, it shouldn’t be an issue anymore.
“Oh my, Utahime,” Gojo grinned, seemingly amused by something, “You really want to spend time exclusively with me, huh? I never knew that you wanted to monopolize my time so bad-“
A splash of liquid was heard as Utahime threw her tea-filled glass towards Gojo’s direction. She really thought she could stop herself from throwing things towards her own body, but Gojo was inside her body. And there existed an impulse for her to throw things to his direction - whether it was her body or not.
Fortunately, however, he was somehow able to put up his technique on time as a barrier blocked the tea from splashing on her body.
“I see, so the technique follows the soul. That’s interesting,” Gojo concluded as he immediately placed down the barrier. He took a look at the body he was currently in as he turned to Utahime. “But, I suppose I really need those eyes.”
“I, too, would like to have my body back and return this body to you. Your eyes are making me feel like I’m seeing everything. It’s very annoying,” Utahime groaned at the last part as she tightened the blindfold she had on. Having the six eyes was quite distracting and irritating for her. She felt like she could feel and everything everything at that exact moment. No wonder Gojo had a blindfold on always.
“Welcome to my world,” Gojo chuckled, much to Utahime’s chagrin.
“Do you think we’ll be in this state forever?” Utahime asked as Gojo remained silent, quite unlike him. She inferred that he wasn’t sure of the answer. I guess that’s a yes, then.
“Don’t you think we should look for possible solutions to this?” She tried to ask him.
“You have some ideas, Utahime?” Gojo raised an eyebrow. Utahime knew that her face would contort that way when she was really clueless.
“Well, we can’t just wait here and do nothing. We’d have to go back to our own cities soon. I bet the executives would be surprised if we asked for an extension without any valid reason,” Utahime reminded him. Gojo always handled a lot of missions from the higher ups and finished them immediately, regardless of the level of the mission. It wasn’t surprising, though, given his strength and prowess.
“Aren’t you very smart, Utahime?” He said with a sarcastic tone as Utahime did not hesitate, this time, to throw another cup of tea to his direction again.
The rest of the night was spent with them brainstorming for ideas to fix the switch. Fortunately, these were things they taught in school, so it was quite easy to gather information. It also helped that Gojo was a clan head. So they had a lot of database that they could access. Gojo was silent the whole time, but was oddly cooperative. Well, obviously, he had to work hard to find a solution.
Unfortunately, none of the techniques or spells they found seemed to work, much to Utahime’s annoyance. She was close to thinking that maybe what they taught in school wasn’t even effective anymore.
“Look, Utahime, I think we should call it a night. We’re not being productive anymore,” Gojo yawned, pointing to the wall clock. It was already four in the morning.
“But, maybe we’ll find the solution if we research a little bit more?”
She obviously did not want to give up.
“Utahime, my brain isn’t functioning anymore. Or your brain. I’m not sure. Also, in case you forgot, I don’t have the Six Eyes now, unlike you,” Gojo reminded her, while frowning with a face that screamed exhaustion, “Plus, I wouldn’t want us to be so tired, especially when we have to catch the crook tomorrow.”
Utahime paused for a moment, realizing that her own body was used to sleeping at normal hours. On the other hand, she didn’t feel tired because of Gojo’s tendency to stay up late: a fact she knew after she received a random call from a sober Gojo at three in the morning, in which she cursed at him before ending the call abruptly without even waiting for his response. The next day, she received a text message from him, apologizing because he forgot that weak people needed to sleep. She felt like strangling him at that exact moment, but fortunately for him, he was in Tokyo, while she was in Kyoto.
“Ah, yes. You’re right. Sorry,” she apologized as she got up from the sofa in Gojo’s room.
“Where are you going?” Gojo asked.
“What do you mean ‘where I’m going’? I’m going back to my room.”
“Bad idea. I think it’s better if we stayed in one room. It’s safer. We don’t know who’s out to get me when you’re in my body. You might have the Six Eyes, but you don’t have my technique,” he reminded her as Utahime scratched her head.
It was a universal truth that Gojo Satoru was the Strongest Sorcerer in Japan. However, that also meant that he had a lot of enemies. Assassination attempts weren’t new for him. And they sure, as hell, won’t stop just because they switched bodies. In fact, if his enemies knew, they would take it as a chance to assassinate the two of them.
“Alright. You have a point. So, I’ll just take the couch. You can take the bed,” she agreed with his suggestion as she settled herself on the couch.
“But, Utahime, you’re a girl. I can’t possibly have you stay on the couch, even if you’re in my body,” Gojo shook his head.
“But you’re in my body, which is obviously biologically female,” she pointed out, scratching her head.
Gojo probably realized she had a point as they both stayed silent. His next suggestion, however, made her choke, however.
“Why don’t we sleep together in bed then? It’s not like anything’s gonna happen if we sleep in the same bed.”
“W-What? Are you kidding me?”
“Let’s be real, Utahime. If something did happen between us while we’re in our current state, it’s gonna be tantamount to narcism.”
“Aren’t you narcissistic?” She raised an eyebrow.
Gojo laughed, “That’s actually a really funny joke, Utahime. Do you really think that I love myself too much?”
“Don’t you?”
Despite the way she was responding to him, Utahime was actually relieved that she didn’t have to sleep on the sofa. She wouldn’t normally kick a fuss with sleeping on the sofa, but Gojo was 6’ tall. Sleeping on the sofa while she was inside his body would be a literal pain in the back the next day.
Gojo turned off the lights before lying beside Utahime. She was facing the other way around, but he was staring at her back. He smiled, “I might love myself, but certainly, not too much. You do know we have to love ourselves, right, Utahime? You can’t give what you don’t have for yourself.”
Oh.
Well, he definitely had a point there, Utahime acknowledged his sentiments.
“What about you, Utahime? Do you love yourself, too?” He asked her, surprising her that he was still talking to her.
“I love myself, too, once in a while. But, sometimes, it can be a struggle when the universe doesn’t cooperate,” she murmured at the last part.
Things certainly didn’t come easy, especially when you were a female sorcerer. However, Utahime often threw a middle finger to everything that stood her way and did what she could do within her limits. Sometimes, her limits made her hate herself, especially when the rejection came from others, but it made her realize her the most important things in life.
“But, I’m trying,” she added, as if she wanted to reassure him. “I’ll sleep now, Gojo,” she said, as if wanting to escape from having a more rigorous conversation with him about things that were outside their jobs.
It wasn’t exactly the first time she had this kind of conversation with Gojo. For some reason, conversations when nobody was monitoring them or they were outside their jobs meant mind-boggling questions. It didn’t help when his glasses/bandages/eye mask was down, showing his bright blue eyes as if they were staring straight at her soul.
But, for now, even when she had his eyes, she still felt like he could stare into her soul and see things she already sealed at the back of her head.
“You’re beautiful, Utahime. Outside of jujutsu, you have a lot of things that I don’t have. You’re weak, but at the same time, you’re strong. I hope you know that.”
Surprised by what the younger teacher said, Utahime turned to Gojo, but the man was already asleep. She smiled to herself and whispered, “Thank you, Gojo.”
She returned to her former position and slept. It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep deeply.
The smaller figure on the bed took this as a chance to get up from the bed. He stretched for a moment before camping on the sofa with a smile on.
“Rest well, Utahime. I’ll always be here watching over you,” Gojo whispered. She didn’t have to know that he was planning to stay up for the two of them. He felt obviously tired, since he didn’t have his Six Eyes to help him out, but he wanted to be sure that she was safe.
There were some things in life that would never change even if they switched bodies. One of those things is how he wants her to be completely safe, even if he knew he was at a disadvantage at the moment. And second, that he has always loved her even now after more than a decade.
When Utahime woke up, she was dismayed to see Gojo still in her body. Some part of her expected that they would have exchanged bodies while they were asleep. But, she surmised that the curse technique didn’t work that way.
Utahime went to the restroom and took care of her business. After being in Gojo’s body for more than 12 hours, she had grown accustomed to it anymore. And she no longer cried inside. She stared at her reflection which showed Gojo’s face. For some reason, she felt embarrassed, remembering what he told her last night.
That she was beautiful.
That she was strong.
She felt butterflies swarming around her belly. She took a deep breath before she heard Gojo calling her that their breakfast was already served.
Utahime went outside of the bathroom, trying to keep herself calm. She decided to temporarily forget whatever she was feeling right now. They had a mission to finish. Whatever she was thinking or feeling had to wait.
Utahime was already halfway her breakfast when she realized that Gojo was still on his phone. It was as if he was replaying a video. Oddly enough, she could hear her own voice.
“Gojo Satoru is my most favorite kohai! He’s definitely the best!”
Of course, she would hear her voice. It was Gojo in her own body saying that exact sentence. And it was as if she, herself, was telling the world that he was her favorite kohai.
“Gojo Satoru!”
Sure enough, the hot coffee was thrown towards Gojo’s direction. Fortunately, he could set up a barrier right on time. (He won’t tell her, however, that he was just testing if he had enough juice in him to immediately raise a barrier.)
“Come on, Utahime. You know that’s never gonna work,” Gojo grinned as he put his phone down and joined her for breakfast.
Screw those feelings. Utahime was sure that it was just an illusion of sorts.
Due to their current circumstances, it took them almost the entire day to find the sorcerer responsible. Even when she had his Six Eyes, she wasn’t accustomed enough to use it the way Gojo could. Fortunately, this time, they were more efficient and they were able to seize the sorcerer and seal off his technique.
Normally, when sorcerers were seized and their techniques were sealed, the effects would cease.
But, it did not cease. They were still in their current state.
Were they going to stay like this forever? Utahime groaned inwardly as the horrifying idea dawned on her. She didn’t want to be in Gojo’s body for the rest of her life. This was tantamount to lifetime punishment.
“You know, Utahime, I forgot to mention that there was one more way to break the curse,” Gojo broke the silence, earning Utahime’s attention.
What?
“You should’ve mentioned it earlier!” Utahime groaned. Inside, she was relieved, however. Since the suggestion came from Gojo, it should be effective, right?
“So, what is it?” She asked.
Gojo broke into a smile.
“True love’s kiss.”
What the fuck.
“Don’t you think that’s one option we haven’t tried?” Gojo asked as Utahime looked at him in a state of disbelief.
She can’t believe she even expected that his idea would work. They’ve already seized the sorcerer, but the switch has yet to end. It couldn’t seriously be just true love’s kiss that would fix the solution between them.
And how sure was he that it was gonna work?
“Are you seriously out of your mind? That won’t work. We don’t even love each other. You don’t even feel that way towards me.” Utahime turned around, feeling conscious as Gojo shook his head.
“That’s what you think,” he murmured as Utahime snapped her head back towards him, unsure if he really said what she thought she had just heard. She had the Six Eyes, which should give her superb perception and immense brain processing power. So, it couldn’t have been a mistake, right? She felt her chest about to burst, wondering if it was from Gojo’s body or her own soul making his heart beat so fast.
“Come on, let’s try it, Utahime,” Gojo’s voice as she snapped back to reality, while he grabbed on to his body’s collar.
Utahime was skeptical and nervous, seeing her own face going nearer as Gojo went closer.
“Come on, close your eyes.”
Utahime instinctly followed, but as soon as she closed her eyes, she felt like she was now standing on her tiptoes all of a sudden.
Wait a minute. She wasn’t supposed to be standing on her tiptoes because Gojo’s body was taller.
However, she suddenly felt her lips being brushed gently with another person’s lips. It lingered for a few moments before pulling back.
Utahime instantly opened her eyes only to find Gojo back in his body, a smirk on his face as he held her in his arms. Since they were back in their respective bodies, it wasn’t surprising that she was on her tiptoes.
“Didn’t it work?” Gojo asked her with a satisfied tone, a smirk on his face present.
“‘Didn’t it work????’ We already exchanged bodies before you even kissed me! How could you sa-“
Just like any movie cliche, he instantly shut her up with his own lips, kissing her ardently as any thoughts of killing him ceased from Utahime’s mind. He pulled her close against him, making her gasp in surprise, as he took it as a chance to let his tongue explore inside her mouth.
At first, Utahime was apprehensive, but she decided to — whatever, I’ll think about this later! — and reciprocated his kiss. His smirk broke into a smile as he realized that she was kissing him back. They only stopped when they both needed air, as Gojo kept smiling at her before he kissed her forehead this time.
“What do you think of that solution? True love’s kiss?” He asked, still holding her close towards him.
“True love?” She asked, a surprised look on her face.
“On for more than a decade on my side, don’t you know that?” He asked, feeling oddly smug, as if he didn’t just confess his feelings for her.
“I don’t know. I don’t have the Six Eyes anymore. I’m not exactly that keen to figure things out on my end,” she turned around and broke away from his hug, deciding to tease him for once. It wasn’t often that she would get a chance to do this. Fortunately, the sorcerer they caught was knocked out the whole time. Otherwise, it was going to be very embarrassing.
“Since I’ve been doing this for more than a decade now, doing it for a lifetime shouldn’t be surprising anymore at this point, right?” He grinned as he immediately walked towards the sorcerer to teleport him back to Tokyo.
He turned back to her as he finished the spell and the sorcerer disappeared from his former position. Gojo checked his phone, only to receive a notification that the sorcerer was already in Tokyo.
“What do you think?” He asked, waiting for her response.
Utahime was caught off-guard once again. She wasn’t sure if he was proposing or something. He was being too casual about it, that he was even completing their mission, but she knew that she could not see herself in this situation with anyone else.
“I’ll have to think about a lifetime, but I think I’m okay with your decade-long affections,” she smiled, a serious look on her face.
He grinned inwardly. See, Shoko, it was definitely working.
“Why don’t we visit and check the list I was going through last night? It would be such a waste if we don’t visit them. Let’s grab dinner?” he asked, showing to her the list he compiled while she was asleep.
“Yes.”
Little did Utahime know, it was going to be the first of the many yes' she was gonna tell him for the rest of their lives.