Work Text:
Gojo scribbles down a reminder for himself to book an appointment with the doctor to check his hearing.
“It was a great first date actually.”
He crosses it out with two harsh black lines, pen digging into the paper.
He didn’t hear wrong after all, the word ‘date’ really did come out of Utahime’s mouth from just outside his office walls. He can just imagine her casting her eyes down in slight embarrassment as her cheeks turn red and she touches her face automatically. He can hear it in her voice, the small smile that carries in her tone and the brightness in her relief that it was indeed a good date.
Finger to the buzzer, it could probably jam if he pressed just a little harder. Once. Twice. Three times without patience.
The sound of her shuffling rapidly suddenly fills the air, tripping slightly when her foot gets hooked onto the leg of the chair, and she quickly apologizes to whomever she was talking to.
The door swings open with a loud thud. And he’s suddenly met with the unamused face of his beloved secretary.
“I’m on my lunch break!” as if she doesn’t care that he is the CEO of the very company that pays her the salary that allows her to go on dates in the first place. But still she closes the door behind her before walking up to the table he is sitting behind.
She crosses her arm, eyes wide as she waits for his explanation. He echoes the sentiment, wanting the very same from her.
“And I’m your boss?” He says like it should be common knowledge, not understanding what she could ever be complaining about.
“I can report you to HR.”
“And then?” He watches as her eyes narrow, knowing that all HR would do was send a reminder that people shouldn’t be bothered on their lunch break. “What if I fire you?”
For a moment he forgets. That he’s mad at her. That he wants to know what the heck is going on. That he needs to find out every single detail of this date his secretary went on without telling him first and who this man is, find out where he is and possibly chloroform him or something. He hasn’t planned that far yet.
Instead he wants to grin at her reaction, wink and tease her just a little longer. Push all her buttons to get her cheeks red and her skin hot. He just wants her in his presence all the time, reacting to every word he says.
“Go on! I dare you!” Only she would be brave enough to have such fire in her words towards him. “You wouldn’t be able to get to the office without me putting all your schedules together.”
“That’s not true.”
“Yesterday you asked me how to add your signature to a PDF file.”
“No one knows how to edit PDF files, Utahime!” He raises his arms in defense.
She can only roll her eyes at him.
“What do you want, Gojo?” There is no mister or sir from her. Never has, never will. The one time he suggested it she scoffed and laughed without even trying to hide it.
“What did you do this weekend?” he says without missing a beat.
That makes her pause. She makes a face and steps back just a little, before patting down her black pencil skirt and pulling herself together to answer him.
“That’s none of your business.” she says with her shoulders pulled back, and her eyes not quite looking at him. Overcompensating for her need to sweep details under the carpet.
“Why not?”
“Why-?” Her question just clips in the air, like the shock has caused her to forget how to talk. “Did you call me in her just to … make conversation?”
On a normal day he would ask her point blank. But something laid heavy on his tongue. He doesn’t want to ask her to tease her, instead he wants to know how he didn’t ask her first.
“Maybe.”
“I guess Geto is out.” She says almost like she feels bad for him. ”Do you want me to call in Nanami or someone?”
“He’ll decline.”
“So you’re only asking me because I can’t decline?” She crosses her arms as she awaits his retort. But when all he can offer her is a shrug of his shoulders and the silence ringing in tandem with the ticking of the clock, Utahime turns without a second thought. “I’m leaving.”
He knows he should’ve stopped her and made something up. Keep her in the office for just a little bit longer for him to find the courage to ask her.
But all he can do is watch her walk out of his office, thoughts ruminating in his brain as he tries to find an alternative solution.
It’s Mei Mei. It’s always Mei Mei.
Somehow she got a picture of Utahime out on a date last Friday night.
A date on a work night. How dare she.
Gojo moves the picture to his tablet to be able to get a closer look. Zooming in and out of her face, trying to get the little details that he might have missed.
The reflection of the person’s face in her eyes, whether her smile is genuine or not, if she had to drink a few glasses just to make the night enjoyable.
But whomever she was on a date with luckily gets covered by a waitress passing by. Gojo has become skilled in the art of understanding Utahime’s emotions, sighing as he knows that the smile is one of real joy. And the glass she’s holding is only halfway done, meaning she’s taking her time and not wanting the alcohol to overtake her too quickly.
He doesn’t know how Mei Mei got the picture, whether she was there herself or someone else had sent it to her. Either way Gojo had to pay some good money to get it.
Do you know who it is?
He watches as the ‘read’ receipt appears, impatiently waiting for her answer.
Maybe
Is all she answers. Gojo can’t help but groan at the sentiment, knowing that this means she wants a bigger payout.
Tell me something!!
The desperation is palpable.
Fine. He works here.
He can feel his skin burning at the information. Whoever Utahime went on a date with was walking the very same halls that he did. Possibly passing by Utahime’s table daily and offering her a smile. All on his payroll.
He needs more answers, and he knows they won’t come for free.
How much?
It’s not that he minds, he’s good for it and much more. It’s just he would rather give her a flat fee and the answer in one go. None of this cat and mouse game where she has the power to constantly dangle the carrot right above him.
Triple
There’s no need for her to expand her answer. It’s an all or nothing situation that she knows he’ll give into without a second thought. He takes the bait.
Fine.
His fingers could make holes into his phone with how roughly he’s typing out his answers. Desperation is making him weak. Bullets of sweat running down his face with how stressed he’s getting looking for the answer.
Sending across the proof of transaction and the confirmation that she’s read the message.
But she doesn’t reply straight away. Not a thank you and even a thumbs up emoji.
A minute passes, then five, then suddenly it’s been half an hour.
So?
The double text of doom. But still no answer.
He attempts to call her but the call is declined at the first ring.
I’ll tell you once I get back from my PTO.
He checks the company calendar, quickly scrolling through to find Mei Mei’s name put down for a 2 week vacation.
He can’t trust Mei Mei. Not when she can easily turn this situation against him and continue to tease him. He has to take matters into his own hands.
But he thinks himself a genius when he comes up with his next plan.
In the guise of a one-on-one performance review with their CEO, Gojo tells Utahime to set up meetings with people he thinks would possibly be brave enough to ask his secretary out. The jury however is still out on whether the list is believable or if he just thinks that everyone is interested in Utahime.
With random pieces of string and photos he’s printed off of his phone, he puts together a web of questions and potential clues against a whiteboard he asked Utahime to wheel into his office.
Shoko Ieiri.
‘ Utahime’s best friend, but also my childhood friend. Shoko does however like to dote on her senpai, could it be more than friendship?’
“So you’re like really stupid, huh?”
Shoko says as she stares at the board, somehow managing to uncover it the moment she stepped into the room. Gojo didn’t even have time to stop her or explain anything to her. Or pretend that he wants to ask her about her performance at the company. Shoko has known him for too long to put up with any of his games.
“You know who Utahime went on a date with?” Gojo is suddenly on the edge of his seat, ignoring her previous insult like it’s nothing new to his ears.
She spins around to face him, the expression she wears only telling him that he shouldn’t be asking stupid questions.
“Of course I know. I wouldn’t be able to call myself her friend if I didn’t.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“Who is he?”
For a moment he thinks that he might actually get the answer. Find out what he’s been looking for all this time.
But instead she only shrugs.
“Find out for yourself.”
Suguru Geto.
‘CTO. Best friend. Likes to join me in teasing Utahime. Maybe a little too much?’
He would hate it to be Geto.
But he does have a smile that women swoon over. Paired with the jet black hair he ties into a bun, making his jaw line even more pronounced than it already is.
“So, Utahime, huh?” is all Geto says as he enters the room, raising his eyebrow as he makes himself comfortable in the chair across from Gojo. Leaning back into as he awaits his friend’s reply.
Gojo doesn’t question how he knows what the real topic of this meeting would be, sure that Shoko must have texted him about it as soon as she walked out of the office door.
“Oh thank god it’s not you.” Running his hands through his stark white hair, as if brushing out some of the stress that had accumulated.
“I didn’t say it wasn’t.”
Gojo doesn’t know what stops him from jumping across the table and forcing the truth out of Geto. Instead he just grips onto the armrest a little too tightly.
“Don’t worry, I know she’s off limits.” Geto says with a smirk, knowing exactly how to push the CEO’s buttons. “But do I wish it were me?”
The laugh that comes out teases Gojo a little too much.
“Maybe a little.”
Nanami Kento.
‘Too serious but many of the juniors seem to take a liking to him. He is always more respectful to Utahime than most. Maybe he secretly has feelings for her?’
He’s always been suspicious at how nice Nanami is to Utahime. Always opening doors for her. Always bowing to her whenever they pass by each other no matter how many times Utahime tries to tell him that it isn’t necessary.
The horn rimmed glasses and the low voice don’t help his case either.
He’s a little too good looking.
“I think my work has been sufficient.” he says the moment he’s in the chair. Not taking his eyes off of the tablet in his lap as he swipes through documents, as if he has no time for Gojo and his usual antics.
“I haven’t said anything yet.”
It’s only then does Nanami raise his head. “And I am trying to cut the time I have to be here.”
“Stop being so serious Nanami. Relax. Have fun.” Gojo attempts to throw across a stress ball, but the blonde only moves his body slightly to let the ball pass by his shoulder and fall lamely to the floor. “What were you doing last Friday after work?”
Nanami stiffens for a second, before blinking back and getting his words together. “I don’t think that’s the business of you or the company. I get off the moment I stop getting paid.”
“We pay you for overtime.”
“I’d rather have none.”
Gojo points a finger at him in an acustory manner. “So you’re saying you could have been out on Friday meeting a lovely lady friend for a drink.”
“I do not admit or deny-”
“SO IT WAS YOU?!”
A new hire might be scared. Worried they might have upset the very man that pays his salary. But Nanami only groans, not wanting to be in the room with Gojo and his wild accusations any longer.
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“Were you with Utahime last Friday night?”
The sudden name drop catches him off guard.
“Utahime-senpai?” Nanami presses the bridge of his glasses up securely onto his face. “No. No, I was not.”
“So you’re saying she’s unattractive? That you wouldn’t date her.”
“What? No. Gojo, I would never-”
“So you do find her attractive?”
The only reply he gets is the sound of the chair scraping against the floor as Nanami gets up and heads towards the door.
“I think I’ll leave now.”
Ryomen Sukuna.
‘ CEO of a subsidiary company. Suspicious in general. Probably would and has tried to ask Utahime out on a date before.’
He’s seen him bare his teeth towards Utahime. Gojo almost smashed a glass door once after seeing the man look Utahime up and down like he could ever have a chance with her.
“I don’t work for you.”
“Then why did you come in?” Even in the moment Gojo regrets ever puting his name on the list.
“Curious is all.” his voice is so dark against Gojo’s. “So you want to hear about our performance?”
“Not really.”
“Embarrassed that our numbers are doing better than yours this quarter?”
“I know for a fact that they are not.”
“I’ll cut to the chase.” Gojo doesn’t even have the energy to roll his eyes at the man. “Did you ask my secretary out?”
The smirks Sukuna wears are always so sinister, carved into his face like only he could pull it off. It makes Gojo want to gag.
“Are you saying she’s free? I’ll ask her on the way out if-”
“No.” Gojo is already pushing the man out of his room. “That will be all.”
Gojo pokes his head out of his office to watch Sukuna walk off, making sure he doesn’t stop at Utahime’s table before he reaches the elevator.
Naoya Zenin.
His name is scratched out before Gojo can even finish spelling it. Utahime would never go that low.
Maybe a private detective is going too far.
In many ways, Mei Mei is usually his private detective in all matters concerning Utahime. But his secretary is getting suspicious and Mei Mei won’t be back for a while. And while this next move is an act of desperation, he wouldn’t deny that he is anything but exactly that.
So desperate that he pulls out a number of a private detective he got a hold of a few years back. Pulled out of his rolodex of name cards and held it between his fingers with nothing short of anticipation.
Atsuya Kusakabe
A business card he had been given through a friend that wanted dirt on a rival company’s CEO. Gojo laughed at the very idea, not thinking he’d ever stoop so low. And yet here he is, staring at the plain piece of paper in one hand as he leaned into the speaker pressed against his ear, waiting for someone to pick up the phone.
It doesn’t take long for the detective to meet with him. In a trenchcoat and with a sullen look on his face, it’s as if he was made for the occupation. It takes even less time for the man to come to the office with proof in his hands, to which Gojo takes like a child to candy.
Gojo can’t stop flipping through the images. Printed out in A4, handed to him in a manila folder like they do in the movies. As per his personal request, of course.
It’s a face that he thinks he’s seen before. Or maybe his mind is trying to convince him that he has, filling in blanks in his memory he previously did not have.
He looks over the picture, staring down at Kusakabe who’s casually leaning back into his chair. Lollipop in his mouth as he scrolls his phone for something.
“So he really does work here?”
The detective only nods, causing Gojo to scowl at the confirmation.
Working right under his nose and yet this mysterious man still dared to ask Utahime out. Gojo knew he should’ve put it in everyone’s contracts that Utahime is forever off limits once they sign.
But this man must be so insignificant that his name doesn’t even ring a bell. Maybe just someone that passed by Utahime in the halls and thought she was cute, confident enough to somehow get a hold of her number and ask her out.
Gojo can’t help but wonder why Utahime would say yes to this man. The pages crease in his hands as his grip on them gets tighter and tighter as he continues to flip through them. By the end of it, the edges had been completely crinkled.
His mind is so occupied that he doesn’t hear the door open.
“Oh!” It’s Utahime, freezing at the door, words no longer coming out of her mouth. “I didn’t know- I don’t have anything in your schedule at this time -.”
“I can leave.” It’s Kusakabe that offers.
“No! I’m sorry, I didn’t realize there was an appointment.” still she decides to come in, closing the door behind her as she swiftly jumps to the side of Gojo’s table. “ I just wanted to give these to you.”
It’s a folder filled with papers for him to sign off on. It is always work with her.
Gojo wishes she would just come in and talk about her day with him or something more casual. He wants nothing more than to roll his eyes and maybe grab her but the collar and pull her onto his lips.
“So sorry but you need to see-” she does a double take, from apologizing to the strange figure in the room to looking down and then quickly looking back up at the face. “Kusakabe?”
“The one and only.” he does a little bow in the chair. “How are you doing, Utahime?”
“I’m well, thank you-” she can’t help but smile, “Wow. It’s been so long. How are you?- What are you doing here?”
“Well actually-”
Gojo hates whatever is going on already. His eyes shoot back and forth between the two as laughter starts ringing in the air.
“What is happening?”
Utahime waves her hand in the air as if to ignore her boss.
“Kusakabe is an old friend of mine. We go way back-”
Gojo begins to shake his head to himself. The smile she is currently wearing on her face should be for him. She should be laughing at the words he says. She should be happy to see only him.
“You know him too? Fuck, I really can’t trust anyone.” slumping into his chair as he gives up on life.
“Gojo?” There is almost a genuine concern in Utahime’s tone, as she’s taken aback by sudden foul mouth.
He is unsure what happens next as he sulks in his chair. Laying his head on the table and pouting for no one to see. Eventually Utahime takes Kusakabe out and he’s left alone to wallow in his own man-made sadness.
“Gojo.”
He turns his head from where it lays against the table, one eye peeking out of his tantrum to face his secretary. She’s hunched over just a little to get to his level, a concerned look in her furrowed brows.
It takes him a second to realize how close she is to him.
“You’ve been acting weird all week.” She tilts her head slightly, “Weirder than usual.”
Suddenly the back of her hand is against his forehead, checking to see whether or not he’s warmer than usual. He almost whines once she concludes the health checkup and her hand is back by her side. “Are you alright?”
He wants to say no. Explain to her that he’s been losing sleep over the thought of her potentially marrying someone else. Breaking tablets from gripping onto them too hard at the image of her laughing at another person’s jokes. Grinding his teeth flat whenever he hears any other name escape her lips.
“Utahime.”
His tone takes her aback. Soft and gentle. Like he’s handling her name with the utmost care, kept close to his heart. His eyes are so blue looking into hers, and in that moment she feels as though they were made for only her to look at.
She swallows dry as she tries her best to reply in her usual tone. “What?”
The air suddenly feels so heavy. Utahime wonders if it's only her, or if he feels it too.
“Why did you go on a date?”
The words cause her to step back. She expected anything other than that to fall out of his mouth.
“What?” is all she can repeat.
“I know you went on a date.”
“So?”
“So?!” His eyes are the size of the moon. As if he had just been betrayed by his beloved secretary. He gets out of his chair in his adrenaline rush. “It’s been eating me alive!”
“Why?” she laughs once again. It’s a nervous one, one where she really can’t understand what is coming out of her boss’s mouth. As his tall demeanor hangs above her, she looks up to look him in the eye.
But suddenly his expression turns serious. Suddenly she realizes just how close he is to her.
“Because I want you.”
She is frozen at the words. Gulping down the shock that was about to escape her, feeling so small as she tries her best not to break eye contact.
“I don’t want anyone else to touch you. To look at you. To even think of you.”
She can feel his breath on her cheeks.
“Only I can do that.”
Suddenly she’s backed into a wall, his face just centimeters from her own. The heat from his chest radiating off of him and onto her own.
“Do you know what you do to me?”
“No.”
She allows him to take her hand, wanting him to take it and do whatever he wants with it.
Gojo places her open palm against his chest. His heartbeat jumping out of his skin with how fast it is going.
When she doesn’t pull away or break their eye contact, Gojo tentatively pulls her hand down, lower and lower until it meets his hardness. He can feel the shiver that goes through her skin, but she doesn’t pull away.
“What do I have to do to tell you?”
“Use your words.”
“Fuck.”
She would be lying if she said she’s never thought about how his lips would taste. They’re always so pink and soft. Grinning at her like he knows exactly what to do to push her buttons.
And now they’re on her.
Tasting like sugar and sin.
Her mouth moves on its own. Accepting his plea to slip his tongue between her lips. She can feel his hands moving up her body, holding her close like she’ll slip away if he doesn’t.
She won’t. She promises that she won’t.
Melting into him as she whines in approval. Meeting his tongue with her own.
In an attempt to lift her leg up to hook around his waist, the fabric of her pencil skirt rips ever so slightly. Causing Utahime to yelp against her boss’s lips. But the rush of it all only makes it all the more exciting for him, capturing her mouth and swallowing her breath. Ripping the skirt further as he presses against her.
She tries to say his name, but the hunger doesn’t give them time to breathe. His hand snakes past the hem of her shirt as his palm meets the warmth of her skin, gripping onto her tightly, bound to leave marks that will last until the morning.
Utahime echoes the sentiment as she holds tightly onto his thick forearm, her fingernails digging into his skin as he allows her to make as many marks on him as possible.
As they finally come down from the high, eventually needing to take a breath instead of inhaling each other’s oxygen, Gojo gently peppers Utahime’s face with soft kisses. Pressing his lips against every inch of her skin, her cheeks, her temples. Down her neck where he attempts to suck a hickey to mark her as his.
“I’ll push everything off the desk if you want.” He whispers against her skin. She can feel the smirk he’s wearing.
“Gojo!” she pushes him off of her and scrunches her nose in disapproval. Glaring back at him. “It’s still work hours.”
“So you’re saying if it were 6:01 you’d allow it.” his thumb swipes against her lip to rub off her smeared lipstick. Knowing she’d appreciate it more than he’d love to send her out into the hallway looking disheveled.
“Shush, you.”
But he leans against the table and pulls her into him, arms around her waist as he gets used to the feeling of her body. Wanting to savor the shape of her and cement it into his own.
“So will you go out with me instead?” Another kiss on her cheek.
“You make it seem like you were always an option.”
“I was?” He says with real confusion.
“So I was just supposed to ask my boss out on a date then?”
“You don’t treat me like a boss.” He pouts as he puts his head on her chest, wanting to be as close to her as physically possible.
“No one treats you like you’re the boss.”
“Well I’d rather you do when we’re alone.”
The wink and grin he offers her only makes her groan and think twice about her life choices.