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Utahime takes one last look at her image in the mirror, dabbing her finger on her lips, ensuring her dark red lip tint spreads evenly. The long burgundy dress hugs her figure in a seductive yet elegant way. It is an off-shoulder dress with a slit that stops just below her thighs with a sweetheart neckline, accentuating her collarbones nicely. The dress is a little out of her usual style in that type of event, but it stretches that goes as far as to force her out of her comfort zone.
Her brother, Kanaru, surprisingly chooses Western theme for his wedding, despite their traditional upbringing. Their parents are as sweet and supportive as usual, letting her brother handle the wedding the way he wants, with an exception that they still ought to have their extended family along; all the good and bad ones.
She picks up a silk burgundy ribbon hesitantly, unsure if it will spoil her looks. The tip of her fingers sweeps through the silk ribbon admiringly, before she gives in and eventually brings the ribbon up to her low bun. She adjusts the ribbon on her hair and pulls a few strands of hair from behind her ears, framing her face and giving her a softer look. Utahime practices a small solemn smile once more, knowing damn well she might have to put it on more than she usually does during extended family gatherings.
She hears an appreciative whistle. Utahime catches a glimpse of a tall lanky figure reflected from the 7 ft mirror. Her junior looks slightly different than usual. Instead of his black blindfold, he has round rimmed sunglasses on. His shaggy tousled white hair is pushed back, bringing up his sharp handsome features more. He is wearing a simple yet expensive looking full black suit with black shirt and tie, complimenting his lean figure.
Utahime throws him a disapproving look. ‘Tch. Gojo Satoru.’
He rubs his shoulders together. ‘Wow, I can actually feel the chills,’ says the menace, amused. ‘My favourite senpai! You look absolutely stunning!’
She rolls her eyes, overly too used to his random compliments. For someone who teases her endlessly, he gives her as many compliments and Utahime is neither fazed nor swayed by his words. ‘Did you charm your way in, or did my senseless brother let you?’
‘Hey, it’s Kanaru-san’s wedding day. You should be nicer, Utahime.’
‘So it is him. I wonder why you’re even in the VIP guest list after all,’ she says warily.
‘What? It’s not my fault that I’m so adorable that your whole family absolutely adores me. Maybe they love me even more than you.’
‘Kanaru is fond of you because you’re as dumb, if not dumber than him. As for my parents, they’re just too sweet to recognise how much of a menace you are.’
He steps in front of her, blocking her exit. Beaming, Gojo takes her hand in his and lightly spins her around, giving her a twirl. Her arm and body move fluidly to his movement. Utahime catches his elbow when she realises she is almost thrown off her balance. ‘I was right. You can’t run in those shoes. Why do you want to hurt your legs anyway?’
She glares at him, though silently weighing his words. The heels are pretty uncomfortable, she has to admit. But it goes so well with the dress and they look so gorgeous on her. ‘Why would I need to run? It’s my brother’s wedding, not a mission.’
He merely shrugs. ‘Still, you need to walk. You must’ve had spares somewhere, don’t you? By the way, burgundy looks great on you. It’s unlike you to wear something like this in a wedding setting though. It’s you, but a more daring you.’
Utahime feels slightly alarmed how familiar he talks about her preferences and behaviours, as if he knows her that well. Which in this case, perhaps he does. She always keeps spare shoes during events in case her feet are killing her, or the shoes suddenly don’t fit her taste. ‘The dress is gorgeous. But if it pisses off my aunts and uncles that have too much say in a wedding that doesn’t concern them, then it’s a plus point,’ she says as she rummages through the shopping bags, finding her extra shoes. She finds a pair of champagne block heels; the heels aren’t too chunky to make the dress look cheap, and it is comfortable enough for her to move around and won’t kill her feet.
Putting on her heels, she takes a glance at him. ‘Surely you didn’t barge in here just to bother me and lecture me about shoes, why are you exactly here, Gojo?’
‘And complimenting you,’ he adds nonchalantly. ‘Well,’ he grimaces. ‘I might pick up curse residues on my way in.’
‘What?’
He puts his hands in his pocket, his face contorted to concern. ‘Strangely, the curse energy feels a little off. Curse user? I have looked through the crowds but I didn’t pick up the same thing. Is all your extended family here already?’
‘Do you think any of them might have brought in curses?’
‘Why? Do you have an idea who it might be?’
‘Well, to be fair my family isn’t exactly a favourite. But I can’t think of anyone that would go as far as to bring curse spirits to a family event. We don’t hate each other to that extent.’ Do they? She sighs, an incoming headache can be sensed from so far away. ‘I don’t mean to be rude, but why is something major always happening when you’re there?’
‘Can’t help it, babe. The downside of being the strongest.’ He cracks a grin, before turning serious. ‘There’s also a possibility that a curse user infiltrates the hotel. See any faces that you’re not familiar with?’
‘Don’t.. call me that. I don’t think so. Anyway, they won’t gather in the same room until it’s the time of the wedding. Alright. I have an idea. Let’s run through the itinerary. We’ll plan out where we can see and omit whoever that doesn't have the possibility to be involved.’
He manages a small smile at her. ‘Always a strategist,’ he teases.
Utahime proposes a brief plan and they go out of their way to find Kanaru, who is getting ready in the groom’s room in his white suit. Explaining the situation, while smoothing her brother’s shirt and fixing his bowtie, she remarks that she would need her brother’s help to stall the wedding for a little bit until she can kill whatever curse that is interrupting the wedding.
‘Easy. I’ll just say that you’re occupied with Satoru here. They won’t ask any more questions.’
‘Are you insane?’ She yells, looking at him in disbelief. ‘Word your sentence properly. I’m not giving mom and dad any ideas.’
‘What? It’s not as if they will oppose it. If anything, they’re going to be thrilled about it. I bet they already have baby names in mind in case you two get married.’ Utahime pulls a disgusted face and makes a gagging sound and Gojo almost looks offended. ‘You know, Uta-chan, you’ll have a harder time fighting our uncles and aunts off if you say you’re still single at a wedding. After me, they’ll come after your head.’
‘They already want my head on a silver platter since I inherit our family’s Cursed Technique,’ she scoffs.
He pulls her into a big hug with a dumb smile on his face and ruffles the top of her head endearingly, earning a groan from her though Utahime doesn’t make any effort to push her brother away. ‘My baby sister deserves to be the bearer of Iori clan cursed technique no matter what those empty headed elders said. Don’t worry about mom and dad or anyone. I’ll talk to Hina-chan too. You take care of what’s needed.’
‘And if you hear anything, or if something gets out of hand —‘
‘I’ll handle the crowd and tell them my baby sister will go on a killing rampage with her Satoru.’
Gojo scoffs, holding out a laugh. ‘Baby.’
‘Both of you are stupid. Come on, Gojo, let’s go.’
*
Following Gojo’s senses, they make their way out of the wedding hall and begin to search for curse energy’s residues. After almost half an hour of searching, he suddenly stops in his tracks and Utahime is completely alarmed. ‘Gojo, I’ll go after that one,’ she announced before taking off. She can hear his footsteps running towards the opposite direction to chase the stronger curse energy.
Her feet don’t hurt as much as she thought it would, though it is still a hassle to run in her heels but she braces herself, feeling herself getting closer to the source of energy. Strangely, it moves calmly and appears as if he is not trying to evade her. Utahime concludes that he tries to lure her to a place, hence her mind plays out all the possible worst case scenarios that could happen and how she can get out of all of them alive.
She enters another hall and the door behind her slams. Utahime grits her teeth and squeezes her knuckles, angry at herself for falling into a possible trap. The hall is lit dimly, but she can still see everything clearly; including the curse that sits at the centre on a chair.
It’s hard to explain. Her brain turns to mush and she finds it is hard to concentrate. She can see he crosses his long legs, elegant long fingers drums his knees, leaning forward and tilting his head. His shoulders are broad and he is lean and well built. Though, she can’t make out the exact physical features of the figure. It keeps flickering and distorted, like a bad quality video. Mop of silvery white hair. Her head pounds just to make out his features. Her eyelids feel heavy, threatening to close. She hisses in pain and shuts an eye close, feeling a single tear rolls down her cheeks.
‘Hey. Stop being so stubborn. You only make it hard for yourself,’ says the voice, oddly overly too familiar in her ears.
She winces as she opens her eyes slowly. The figure doesn’t flicker anymore. The white she saw just now is apparently hair. She frowns.
Gojo Satoru?
‘Not bad,’ says the white-haired man in front of her. He admires his hand and lightly taps his torso, much to her confusion. He is wearing a comfortable black jumper with his khakis pants. ‘Not a huge fan of the dress-up, but eh. Not bad at all.’
‘You’re not Satoru.’
He merely shrugs. ‘Yes, and no.’
‘You’re not him. I have known the idiot for more than 10 years to know you’re not him.’
He chuckles. ‘I appear as one’s heart desires, so it’s not entirely my fault. Yours is a stubborn one, though. So many pent-up feelings, so many frustrations, so many tensions - ah, how delicious! So, tell me, love, how does your heart not burst?’
‘Urgh, you’re as loud and annoying as Gojo is,’ she groans. ‘What are you? Your energy is all over the place and it’s eerie. You’re obviously not a human or a curse user. You’re not exactly a cursed spirit. I’m not even sure if you’re a curse at all.’
He flashes a toothy grin, displaying a perfect set of pearly white teeth. ‘You sure about that? To some, I’m the most twisted curse of all. Apollo might agree.’
‘Why are you here?’
He sighs. ‘I have a few errands to do here. This is my gig, actually. But there have been some.. disturbances and I’m not fond of it. Sure, I want to talk. Maybe give a few pointers. It’s not exactly my intention to distract you.’ He winks.
‘Get over yourself,’ she snaps. ‘One Gojo Satoru is enough. I don’t need a cheap copy.’
‘My, my, I can understand why he’s feeling certain ways about you.’ His eyes twinkle. ‘Mother was right. It isn’t a waste coming all the way from Olympus. This has been particularly interesting so far.’
‘I beg to differ,’ she says, curling her fingers. ‘You have no business being here.’ Before she manages to gesture to do Domain Expansion, Fake Gojo moves at inhuman speed and grabs her hand, towering over her with an apologetic smile.
‘Right. You don’t want to do that. I’m not your enemy.’
‘Let go of me!’ She yells as she tries to wriggle her arm free. Fake Gojo lowers his head to meet her gaze. His cerulean blue eyes pierce into hers with a lilt of amusement. It’s strange and intriguing how familiar yet how different she feels. She is irritated, yes, but it lacks another emotion that she couldn’t recall.
Is he always this handsome? Is his teeth always this perfect, with a single fang at the corner of his lips? Does he always smell this good? Does her heart always beat this fast when he evades her personal space, which has been countless of times? Does she shudder this much when his skin brushes hers?
He flips her wrist. Without breaking eye contact, Fake Gojo eyes her predatorily yet endearingly under those heavy white lashes, he places a chaste lingering kiss inside of her palm, trailing up to her pulse and stops there. His lips hover a few mere millimetres from her skin. Utahime can feel his warm breath on her skin.
Her head swims, entranced. ‘S-stop.’
‘Why? Isn’t this your deep heart’s desire?’ he asks, voice as smooth as silk. Lustrous, yet dripping with sharp threatening edges. ‘Tell me, U-ta-hi-me,’ he says, pronouncing every syllable of her name as if he is worshipping her, and she has to fight every urge with every single will she has in her body to not fall and crumble in front of him. ‘What do you really want?’
‘Gojo,’ she breathes, almost pleadingly. Her chest tightens and spirals. She gathers all her strength to look away from the hypnotising eyes but fails. ‘You brat.’ He traces his sharp nails on her skin, leaving Utahime feverish. Her body betrays her, unable to stop from leaning towards his touch, hungry and craving for more. His arm snakes around her, palming her waist for support. His other hand travels to her neck, palming her throat in choking motion, though he doesn’t apply any pressure there. His fingers slowly creep up and grazes her scar from the tip of her nose, to her cheeks, down to her jawline, and stops on her chin. His lips ghosts over her skin, and Utahime aches for his touch. She holds on to his neck for support. Her fingers brush the undercut in his hair.
‘Hmm? You were saying?’
She gathers the last ounce of her strength and brings her hand to his face, pushing his face away with all her might. He merely budges. ‘I say, piss off, Satoru.’
Their eye contact breaks. He covers her hand with his, still not letting her go. Grinning cheekily, he leans to her face, completely invading her personal space. ‘Ah, lovely. You’re not completely immune to my charm yet you don’t give in too easily. I absolutely love some spice! Wonderful, Utahime. You’re a tough, stubborn one. I admire you for that. However, I’m not here to crash your brother’s wedding or to do any harm.’
‘What the hell are you?’
‘I’m Love.’
‘What?’
He sighs. ‘I’m on a trip with Mother. We stop by here since she is attracted to how much love there is here. But we met with the.. songbirds. They aren’t happy in this type of setting.’
‘Songbirds?’
‘Deadly songbirds, to be precise.’
Her brain rakes for information she used to bury herself in and read in the library during school years. Utahime used to spend her nights reading on lores and curses all around the world. ‘Sirens?’ she whispers.
‘Beautiful and smart! I heard you can sing beautifully, can you? Apollo talked about you once, when he was on a visit here. He talked about how there is a human who can sing so beautifully that it almost moved him to tears. Also that you came from a family of beautiful singers that are comparable to Orpheus’ music. The ability is passed through generations and you’re currently the bearer.’
‘Why are sirens here? Aren’t they supposed to be stuck on an island far in Greece? How does Apollo know about me?’
‘Apollo knows anyone with a beautiful voice as yours. It’s his thing. Like love is my thing. That is a misconception on certain occasions. They move around, looking for new prey pretty often. It’s just a matter of luck if you come across one. Anyway, I think you’re a good match for them. If you are able to locate the creatures, I’m definitely keen to know if you can actually beat them.’
She eyes him suspiciously. ‘So, there’s more than one. How many are there? Why didn’t you do it yourself?’
‘Three, as far as I can tell.’ He smiles grimly. ‘Ah. You see. I’m bound to certain rules. Nature rules. We aren’t supposed to interfere or meddle with this matter. Or it’ll create more chaos.’
She weighs her options. Utahime surely won’t trust Fake Gojo but she doesn’t want some Sirens to disrupt her brother’s wedding, thus possibly endangering her own family in the process. Taking care of the problem lowkey is more appealing, she decides. Her head starts to throb.
All of the sudden, she hears an entrancing beautiful melody. It is hauntingly beautiful, almost making her sway, giving in to the sleepiness of the dark enticing tunes. Fake Gojo flinches a little. She focuses her mind and blocks out the melody completely; a trick she had learnt since she was a child when she wanted to block out certain melodies from her hearing. The singing dissipates slowly, completely blocked out from her mind. That is when it hits her. Sirens’ deadly lullaby, though she is conveniently immune to it, thanks to her hard practice. Her blood runs cold. If she can hear the song across the halls, that means there is a high possibility that everyone else in the hotel has heard it and fall into a trance.
‘As I expect, you barely have any reaction to Siren song. Ah, that would be your cue. You can do this, Utahime. Who knows, I might be generous and give your Satoru a little nudge he needs.’ He winks at her.
Utahime’s face flushes, immediately understands, and she scowls. ‘Don’t interfere with my business.’
She takes off her shoes immediately and hikes up her dress to her knees and starts running, following the trails of the song. She takes longer strides on the stairs, wishing her legs are longer so she can be quicker. Utahime snatches the perfectly placed blade on her thigh and brings it up under her chin as she slams the door to the rooftop open.
Taking careful steps around the premise, Utahime assesses the situation. She spots a Siren with its body half blown. Judging from the pattern of the blow, she is more than sure Gojo manages to blow the half woman half bird creature in time. Two to go, she calculates. She spots another Siren with a half blown lower body. Its face frozen in rage and pain, and it slowly dissipates into thin air like most curse spirits. One more. The song doesn’t stop there, so there might be a stronger and smarter Siren that manages to slip from the grasp of the Gojo Satoru.
She catches a glimpse of messy white hair. When her eyes finally focus, she can see that Gojo has a stoic expression on his face and he doesn’t move from the ground. The Siren continues singing, glaring sideways at her as she marches her way towards the creature, eerily calm yet furious at the sight.
‘What makes you think that will ever work on me?’ She says calmly. Her eyes bore into the creature’s soul. ‘Like hell I’ll let you take Satoru away from me,’ she says through gritted teeth.
She hums the melody of love as her hands reach out to Gojo, who is entranced by her singing still. She puts her heart and soul to the melody, singing of love and longing. He walks limply towards her and she beckons him to be closer. She empties her mind, something in her snaps. To be damned with the consequences later. Her eyes fixated on the sneering Siren, its eyes burning a hole in her soul. She pulls Gojo into her embrace, gently guides his head to her shoulder.
She motions her fingers. ‘Domain expansion.’
Serenity. Her domain expansion is an illustration of a beautiful garden filled with blooming flowers, reminding her of the garden she loved to visit when she was a kid with her late grandmother. In her domain, she can manipulate any voice coming through. Since the Siren is quite powerful - it is a creature of singing, she thinks grimly - she manipulates the projection of the voice of the Siren and counters its song. She begins singing of despair and hopelessness, her eyes never breaking contact with the creature. If anything she has learnt about Sirens back during school years when she was immersed in a mountain of books trying to learn about curses all over the world; that Sirens are vengeful, bitter creatures, lost and cast away from home. They can take the appearance of anyone, depending on the victim’s mind, so that was what probably lured Gojo in.
Her song shifts to a longing, melancholic, yet attracting tune. She sings of heartbreaks, and longing, and wanting. She seethes with rage, baring her teeth at her, while stepping reluctantly towards Utahime with her huge birdlike scaly feet. Tightening her grip on the blade, swiftly, she spins on her heels and pushes Gojo away and stabs the Siren in the neck and drags the blade that it cuts her pale throat, ending her suffering as soon as she could. The Siren lets out a blood curdling screech before the head bursts. She smirks at the sight of the now exploded head of the siren, feeling drained all of the sudden. Her song stops.
Her domain expansion ends. Utahime immediately searches for Gojo and almost crushes face first into his chest. He has a look of awe plasters on his face, captivated.
‘Utahime,’ he breathes her name, closing the distance between them, lips crushing desperately on hers.
Utahime feels herself melt into the kiss, a little overwhelmed yet she welcomes it. Her hands immediately find their way to his soft messy hair, brain processing it really is happening and whether this is all real, registering his scent and tastes, and wondering if he always tastes this good. He kisses her hungrily and passionately and her head swims in dizziness. He pulls away a second only to catch a breath before kissing her again deeply. His hand roams at the curve of her waist, trailing to the back to support her.
She suddenly remembers Eros’ words and her chest crushes with guilt. She holds a hand on his chest. ‘W-wait Gojo. This isn’t right. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I should’ve control — I’m sorry okay?’ She nearly screams in panic, face flushes a deep shade of red, unable to look at him straight in the eyes.
‘No, no. Don’t think. Don’t use your brain. Kiss me again, Hime,’ he says stubbornly before leaning in, pecking her lips.
‘What? No! You’re entranced!’
‘Yes, yes. By you. Shut up and kiss me back.’
She places her hand, clamping his mouth shut. He groans groggily, brows furrow in deep frown. His sunglasses already fell when he roughly kissed her, but Utahime won’t let her mind wander there, not now. ‘You’re under Eros’ spell. You’re not thinking straight. This will go away.. I think?’ How long can a love arrow cast by a powerful Olympian as him last anyway?
He tries to talk in a muffled voice. Stubborn little shit, she thinks before releasing her hand. ‘What are you blabbing? What spell?’
‘I will tell you later. Now I’ll have to make sure no one is dead.’
‘But - ‘
‘I’m not listening to another word you say. We’ll talk later,’ she says firmly and walks past him, not even a glance at him. She picks up her phone and calls for Kanaru, knowing her brother would have little impact on the Sirens’ songs like her.
She barges in the bride’s room, heaving a sigh of relief. Kanaru is sitting by the bed with his bowtie coming undone and ends another phone call. His eyes light up in amusement and he purses his lips. ‘You uh… walk barefoot, Uta-chan?’
‘Well, I lost my shoes when I fought the final Siren,’ she grumbles at his teasing. ‘Are you okay, Kanaru? How’s mom and dad and Hina-chan?’ she asks, concerned.
‘Everyone is okay. I’m a little drawn to the song but I have higher tolerance compared to mom and dad. Thank you for everything. I know I can always count on you.’ He gets up and gives her a big hug, which Utahime accepts gladly. ‘What happened, exactly?’
‘Um, well, Sato-Gojo gets the credit for the other two. They already blew up by the time I arrived, but I did take out the last one though.’ She ties the bow neatly and pats his shoulders. ‘Get married first and I’ll fill in the details later. You have a wedding to attend. I’ll join you later. I need shoes.’
They head back out and Utahime’s cousin greets Kanaru as they prepare to go on with the wedding. She bumps into Mei Mei and Nanami, whom by the looks of it, is Mei’s plus one for the wedding. She raises an eyebrow before Gojo scouts Nanami, probably to annoy him, much to her relief. Mei has a sly smile on her face.
‘Trouble?’
‘Oh, the usual,’ she says dismissively as she heads towards her room. Mei follows her trail.
Mei fishes out a lipstick from her purse and hands it to her, smiling. ‘You need this.’
‘Huh? Why?’
Chuckling, she takes out a compact mirror and brings it up to her face. Utahime grunts and curses herself internally. She looks ridiculous. Her lipstick is smeared across her face, creating stains around her lips. How can she miss it? It’s partially her fault for refusing to meet his eye after that kiss. But, seriously? He didn’t say anything? And Kanaru? Not even her brother points out anything? What did she expect, the two menaces probably shared the same brain cell anyway, probably already plotting to use the mishaps against her someday. And oh no, Nanami. No wonder he looks a little perplexed. Or traumatised. Or both.
‘You should’ve seen Gojo. He looks like a kid with a goofy smile on his face, lips all smeared with your lipstick,’ she teases. ‘How adorable.’
‘I wouldn’t put Gojo and adorable in the same sentence.’ She can imagine Gojo, with shit eating grin plastered across his face, parading her lipstick smear on his stupid face.
Mei smiles sweetly. ‘You said you wouldn’t touch him before but you let him shove his tongue down your throat just now.’
‘Urgh, don’t be so crude. I’ll freshen up. See you in a bit.’
Mei bids her brief goodbye and Utahime goes straight to the makeup table. The lipstick smear is quite noticeable and she looks ridiculous. Sighing, she grabs for makeup remover and begins planning how she should cover the blemishes. Her fingers begin working on her dabbing and fixing her makeup with a bit of foundation and concealer and spray, and she finishes her touch with Mei’s lipstick, a beautiful shade of red that compliments her skin tone.
‘Aww, you ruined your makeup.’ He pouts, her lipstick mark is still evident on his face. He has his sunglasses back on.
‘You look ridiculous.’ Scowling, Utahime pulls his hand and makes him sit down and pumps the make up remover a little too aggressively on the cotton pad and nearly shoves it to his face. She dabs the stain, ensuring that all traces of her will fade from him.
‘No, we look cute,’ he protests, trying to dodge her hand.
‘Keep still!’ Utahime chides. ‘Don’t start spouting nonsense. We look ridiculous and you don’t even let me know that I have lipstick marks all over my face!’
He snickers at that. ‘Well, you did tell me to stop speaking. And.. I’ve always thought you’re beautiful, Hime.’
‘Stop making fun of me,’ she hisses.
‘I’m not. Okay, then let’s talk about the kiss. You said we can talk about it later.’
‘I have my brother’s wedding to catch up to. It’s not a good look having his only sister missing from the ceremony.’ She purses her lips. ‘Besides, you were in a trance. I’m sure the effect will wear off sooner or later. We can have Shoko check it out.’ She feels a pang in her chest and dismisses it as quickly.
Pushing his sunglasses to the top of his head, he stares into her unblinkingly. ‘Really? Then how do I remember vividly that you kissed me back?’
‘You remember that?’ She asks, bewildered.
‘It’s cute if you think that your cursed technique has that much of an impact on me. I’m 100 percent sane just now.’
‘You don’t understand. It’s the effect of Eros.. he says he’ll do something about you. Don’t you feel a little different?’
He hums, tapping his chin. Utahime motions him to follow her, anxious that she will miss anything for the wedding. Gojo is silent for a good minute before speaking up. ‘Then the one I met was Aphrodite, no doubt about that. When you look at Eros and the Sirens, who do you see, Hime?’
‘Huh?’ she turns her head quizzically. ‘Eros… we’ll talk about that later. Sirens can shapeshift?’
They stop in front of the wedding hall. He holds out his arm with a knowing smile on his face. ‘We have a wedding to catch. Talk later?’
Not wanting to waste any time, she takes his hand reluctantly and enters. The wedding is just about to start. Gojo stands by her side as she watches her only brother get married to his dream girl. Her chest tightens, genuinely happy for Kanaru. Gojo squeezes her hand for support. After the ceremony, she greets her other relatives politely, relieved that she doesn’t have to fill in the details of the minor incident since Gojo has told Kanaru what the important details are. She dances with her brother, father, and Gojo on the dance floor. She talks to Mei for a bit, telling her the description of Eros while Nanami and Gojo bring their food.
Utahime, Gojo, Nanami, and Mei bring food to a secluded table at the corner in the hall and fill each other with more specific details of their encounters. She describes some trivial things regarding Sirens and the Olympians, with Nanami helping a little here and there. Gojo tells his part of the story where he follows Aphrodite to a room, ready to kill her, before they are interrupted by the real culprits. Aphrodite flees as soon as Gojo gets his hand occupied. The bird-women strategise a group attack, hence why he didn’t notice the third Siren. Mei probes Utahime on the appearance of Eros, remarking from the stories that he is an alluring being.
‘He takes the form of a guy. He’s extremely gorgeous. Tall and lean, but not lanky. He has sunglasses on, but I can still see his eyes. White hair and I think his eyes are really blue.’ She bites her tongue when she realises she slips up more than what she intends to. Clearing her throat, she proceeds. ‘I think I know why they are here. So he was telling the truth.’
‘What?’
‘It makes sense. They’re at weddings. They are hard to look at. They don’t feel like cursed spirits but they’re definitely powerful. Goj-I mean, Eros said they are strolling and a little captivated by the atmosphere here, so they want to do a little visit. They meant no harm, but they also didn’t expect the Sirens to be here. Can always count on Kanaru to pick a venue.’ She grunts at the last sentence as she cuts through her food.
Gojo clicks his tongue. ‘According to legends,’ he begins. ‘Eros and Aphrodite don’t have an actual ‘fixed’ physical form. They appear to you as the person you desire or love the most. The one you find the most attractive.’
Utahime hates the tone of his voice.
‘My, my, isn’t this interesting,’ Mei cooes. ‘Uta-chan, by any means, are you describing Satoru?’
‘No way in hell,’ she answers a little too soon.
‘But you didn’t see the Siren’s shifting?’ Nanami interrupts.
‘No. Maybe because I am not affected by their singing, so I only see their true form.’
‘And Gojo sees whose form exactly of the Siren?’
He chuckles. ‘Oh, you know. Just a familiar face. You may know her, Mei-san.’
Mei grins. ‘So, Uta-chan. You mentioned you met with the handsomest guy you’ve ever seen. Tall, white hair, dazzling smile —‘
Utahime blushes furiously. She waves her hand dismissively. ‘That’s okay, Mei. All is done. We don’t have to dwell —‘
When she fails to probe another reaction from Utahime, she turns to Gojo. ‘Then how does Aphrodite appear to you, Gojo?’ Nanami suddenly asks.
Gojo shrugs. ‘Oh you know, gorgeous. Dark hair with ribbon. Very short. Notable bangs.’ He snickers. ‘But at least she’s not tempramental —‘
‘Like hell I would believe that,’ she sneers. He chuckles. He cocks his head, chin resting on his palm and looks into her eyes.
Mei clears her throat and sips some wine. ‘Nanami-kun, another dance?’ She holds out her hand and shoots Utahime a knowing look. Nanami sips his wine before taking her hand and they head to the dance floor once again. The wedding hall is almost deserted since they go for an outdoor photoshoot.
‘Why do you find it so hard to believe that I desire you, U-ta-hi-me.’ Gojo leans towards her seat, his voice is sultry. ‘Tell me. I can show you more if you would like to.’
‘That’s just the after-effect talking,’ she mumbles. ‘Even if you feel certain ways, it must’ve been Eros’ meddling. I read that the effect will wear off after certain times. I didn’t shield you enough from my song, and Eros must have tampered somewhat.’
He lets out a hearty laugh. Utahime stares at him incredulously. ‘Oh Hime. If you think your weak cursed technique will have that long effect —‘
‘Respect your elders!’ He keeps snickering as her pounding fists hovers over him. ‘Fine, let’s say for argument’s sake that you’re not enchanted by my songs or Eros’ arrows. Then what?’
‘Then, this.’ He swipes his thumb on her chin and places a soft, gentle kiss on her lips, unlike their previous ones. Utahime curls her finger on his chest, pulling him closer. ‘No curses. Just me,’ he breathes, as they break apart. ‘Stop looking over Mei-san and Nanamin, they know how to put the two and two together and stop looking for your parents, it’s not as if they disapprove of little ol’ me.’
Utahime rolls her eyes. ‘You know,’ she says softly. ‘When I thought it was Eros’ doing when we..kissed.. I almost got sad that it wasn’t real.’
He nods. ‘But it’s not and I’m here,’ he reassures. ‘You can let Shoko dissect me alive if that’s what it takes for you to believe me, Hime.’
She smiles at the remark. ‘No, no, I think I want to believe you.’ He takes his hand and rubs her thumb in circles. Gojo returns the affection and kisses the back of her hand, smiling endearingly, almost gleeful like a little puppy.
‘One more dance?’ He suggests. She doesn’t let go of her hand as they make their way to the dance floor.
‘So,’ he pulls her in, talking gently in her ears. ‘The handsomest guy you’ve ever seen huh?’ His smile turns downward as he yelps in surprise, her sharp stiletto heels stomping on his feet.
‘Maybe,’ she says cheerfully.