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“One strawberry mochi. Thank you.” Gojo ordered.
“Here you go. It is 1080 yen.” The shop owner settled the strawberry mochi into a bag made of plastic and handed it to him.
”Alright.” Gojo replied, handing exactly 1080 yen to the shop owner.
”Thank you.” The shop owner thanked him.
”Good day.” Gojo said, exiting the shop as he held the bag in his hands.
He had just got back from a long and pain-sickening Special Grade mission that the higher-ups assigned him.
It was so gruelling to exorcise ten Special Grade curses after every five minutes. He felt extremely exhausted, he was completely depleted of energy.
He felt that the only things which could restore his energy back to its maximum were mochi and his beloved favourite student, Yuuji.
Gojo could hear the pounding rain approaching before he could even see it personally with his own eyes. The heavy clouds rained down, the sound of the rain was gentle, and their intentions were good as if praising Gojo for all he had done.
“Pitter-patter…” The sound of the raindrops was soothing, Gojo could truly feel the rain on his face. He smiled as the heavy rain continued to pour as he stood there with a sincere smile for the first time.
“Ah, this feels nice.” Gojo relished in the refreshing rain. Suddenly, he heard his name being called out.
The endless trails of “Sensei!” followed. Was someone calling for him? Was it an illusion? Was he going insane after killing ten Special Grades in one day?
“Sensei! You’re going to get sick!” Yuuji shouted as he noticed Gojo walking in the rain with a plastic bag in his hands and ran towards Gojo with an umbrella in his arms.
”I don’t need an umbrella, Yuuji. You can shield yourself from the rain with it, there’s really no need, Yuuji.” Gojo replied, chuckling softly.
“No. No matter how strong you are, you still need the umbrella! I don’t want you to get sick, sensei!” Yuuji responded, holding the umbrella much higher than before, making sure that it stayed above Gojo’s head.
”Oh, is Yuuji-kun concerned about me?” Gojo teased playfully and childishly.
”Yes, I am! Sensei, you have to start taking care of yourself better!” Yuuji retorted back.
After hearing what Yuuji said, Gojo stood rooted to the ground and was stunned to have heard that. Did Yuuji care?
”… Huh? What did you say, Yuuji?” Gojo asked with bewilderment, his eyes were slightly widened and he was caught off guard.
”I care about you, sensei! Please try to take better care of yourself!” Yuuji pleaded earnestly, with tears welling up in his pretty brown eyes and rolling down his rosy cheeks.
Gojo was at a loss for words. He had never heard that coming out of anyone’s mouth before. Nonetheless, after recovering from the shock, he used his thumb to gently wipe away the tears that involuntarily rolled down Yuuji’s cheeks.
Gojo had a lump in his throat, he could not find the right words so he apologised as he lowered his head in shame, “Okay… I’m sorry, Yuuji.”
”It’s okay.” Yuuji mumbled as he held the umbrella up high, always making sure Gojo did not get wet by the rain.
The deafening silence was unbearable to Gojo as he felt as guilty as a person who committed a crime.
Gojo broke the utter silence as he seemed to have noticed something strange.
”Yuuji, the umbrella is tilted.” Gojo commented, lips curling into a frown.
“What are you talking about, Gojo-sensei?” Yuuji pretended to remain oblivious and flashed a closed-eyed smile at him.
Gojo thought that Yuuji was acting dumb and felt weird as Yuuji, being a very honest and reliable student of his, simply does not lie to anyone.
Why did Yuuji purposely tilt the umbrella more to his side? Why not in the center? Did Yuuji do this with everyone when it rains?
Gojo brainstormed but could not figure out the reason behind Yuuji tilting the umbrella more to his side, making sure he did not get wet from the heavy rain.
As they walked back to the basement of Gojo’s house, Yuuji kept smiling at Gojo.
When Yuuji closed the umbrella and turned to face Gojo, Gojo’s heart absolutely sank as he saw that Yuuji’s shirt was drenched from head to toe.
“Yuuji,” Gojo uttered as he passed a towel to Yuuji who merely smiled at him.
”Hm? Yeah, sensei?” Yuuji replied, averting his gaze to Gojo.
“Why did you… Why did you deliberately tilt the umbrella more to my side?” Gojo asked, tilted his head slightly to the right.
”… Haha, sensei… You know, when it comes to love, you’re terrible.” Yuuji chuckled softly.
”… Hm?” Gojo replied, not quite understanding what Yuuji meant.
”… It’s okay if you don’t understand now, Gojo-sensei. You’ll understand sooner or later.” Yuuji added on.
What did love have to do with a tilted umbrella? Oh how wrong Gojo was. It had everything to do with that simple gesture of kindness. Why did Yuuji have to love him?
It was a symbol, a sign, a display of love. By tilting the umbrella more to another person’s side, it was care and concern so that the other person would not get wet while the rain poured.
It was an act of love. It was out of love. Love that made you foolish, love that made you do all the dumb things. Gojo finally understood now.
This deeply etched in Gojo’s heart, a tear rolled down his cheek as a voice said, “Gate close.”.
Gojo closed his eyes and succumbed to the darkness that so surrounded him.
”Yuuji.” Gojo mumbled as the darkness swallowed him whole. His eyes shut and everything turned dark.