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“Phew, I’m beat,” Satoru sighs out, and for once he seems like it, too.
This special grade curse really was a handful and Suguru is aching all the way down to his bones, so he figures it’s only fair that Satoru feels at least a fraction of the same.
Still, Suguru can’t find it in him to regret the most recent mission, because for once he and Satoru have been sent off together. That hadn’t happen in so long Suguru doesn’t even care to think about, but fighting besides Satoru, together with him, made it seem as if everything is still right in the world, even though it very much isn’t.
At least not in Suguru’s world.
“Wind down in my room?” Suguru asks and Satoru gives him his trade-mark grin, though Suguru can spot the exhaustion around his eyes.
“You know it!” he gives back and Suguru snorts softly when he spots a new spring to his steps as if just the prospect of lounging around in Suguru’s room is giving him new energy.
It’s certainly giving Suguru new energy, because it’s been too long since they both had post-mission time together and Suguru would take on three missions a day just for that.
Not that he’s going to tell Satoru that, lest it gets to his already big enough head.
They make their way over to Suguru’s room, eager to unwind for the rest of the afternoon when suddenly a portal shows up right in front of them.
Satoru and Suguru immediately fall into a battle-ready stance, but no alarms start to blare and no curse comes hurling at them. Instead between one blink and the next a man with a mop of shocking white hair and a blindfold shows up, raising his hand in greeting.
Suguru has a second to think that the man kind of seems familiar before he’s right there, pulling Suguru into a tight hug.
It feels as if everything freezes for a second.
“Hey, hey! Blindfold guy, where do you think you’re touching? What are you doing?” Satoru’s voice comes from behind Suguru and Suguru feels as if he’s experiencing the worst case of vertigo, because it can’t be.
He knows Satoru’s hugs, knows how his arms feel around him, and the person currently hugging him is most definitely Satoru.
But Satoru’s voice is still ringing out from a few steps behind Suguru.
“Let go of Suguru right now, or you’ll regret it!” Satoru warns and Suguru doesn’t even have to see him to know that he’s about to Hollow Purple this guy into the next life.
Suguru can’t let that happen, though, because who knows what will happen to his Satoru if this other Satoru gets killed.
“Satoru, it’s fine,” Suguru says, to his Satoru, really, but the one currently hugging him flinches. “Hey, it’s fine,” Suguru says again, more quietly this time and lightly pats Satoru’s arm. “Can you let go of me for a second?”
Satoru’s arms tighten around him for a moment, as if Satoru wants to hold on stronger in reply to that and Suguru frowns. Satoru has always been clingy with him, but never with this underlying desperation.
“It’s okay, I’m right here,” Suguru mumbles and while it was meant to be reassuring it only seems to make matters worse, because Suguru is hugged even more tightly.
“That’s enough now,” Satoru suddenly says, his voice now cold and serious, and there have only been very few instances where Suguru heard him sound like this.
And he never jokes around when he gets serious like that.
“Satoru, don’t,” Suguru calls out and then pushes away from the other Satoru.
He knows he only can because that Satoru allows it and he has barely taken a step back when his Satoru already pulls him to his side, shielding him as if he can protect him from another hug this way.
Suguru finally gets a good look at the man and it is Satoru, albeit older. At least ten years older, Suguru guesses and mentally shifts to calling him Gojo in his mind.
“Who are you?” Satoru hisses out and Suguru can’t help it, he has to snort out a laugh.
“Really, Satoru? He’s you,” he says with a nod to the white hair and as if to prove him right, Gojo reaches up to push the blindfold up partially.
His eyes are still the same unnerving, comforting blue.
“That’s not possible,” Satoru says and Gojo shrugs.
“You’re literally bending the limits of what is possible every day, it doesn’t surprise me you found a way to—what? Travel back in time?” Suguru says with a questioning look at Gojo, who shakes his head.
“You—didn’t travel back in time?”
Gojo nods, which makes this all the more confusing.
“Can you speak?”
A headshake.
“Were you able to speak before you arrived here?” Suguru asks, which is answered by a nod and Satoru stomps his foot at his side.
“Why are you trying to figure him out, he’s an intruder!”
“Who didn’t set off the alarms because he has your exact energy signature,” Suguru says to Satoru, still keeping an eye on Gojo, who still hasn’t looked away from him even once.
It would be unsettling if he didn’t seem so sad.
“Don’t you think we should be helping him figure out what’s going on, so he can go back home?” Suguru asks and now that three bright blue eyes are fixed on him he starts to feel slightly uncomfortable.
Gojo snaps his fingers, dragging their attention back to him, before he mimes sleeping, then jumps and makes jazz-hands.
Satoru frowns so hard at him that Suguru fears his face is going to get stuck that way, but Suguru can easily figure out what he’s trying to say.
He decides not to think too much about how well he can read Gojo.
“You fell asleep and ended up here?” he asks and allows himself a satisfied grin when Gojo nods. “Maybe you’ll go back to your time when you fall asleep again.”
“Why do you keep saying this is time-travel. Who knows what devilry this is. He could be a clone.”
“He’s clearly older than you, Satoru,” Suguru says with a sigh, pointing at—well—everything of Gojo.
Gojo points at them and then holds up ten fingers, before he adds another five and clearly, he’s asking for their age.
“Seventeen,” Suguru says. “We’re seventeen now.”
It’s only for a split second but Gojo’s face falls in a way that is hard to take for Suguru, though clearly Satoru didn’t even pick up on it because he continues to sneer at Gojo.
“How old are you, old geezer?” he demands to know and instantly, Gojo snaps back, showing them how old he is with his fingers again.
“28,” Suguru counts and it would make sense, with how he looks.
He elbows Satoru.
“At least you know you grow up one day, if only physically,” he teases him and Satoru looks Gojo over more critically.
There’s not much to see with the lose black uniform Gojo is wearing, but he’s taller than Satoru is now, and definitely broader in the shoulders.
Still as handsome as Satoru is now, though, Suguru thinks and avoids his eyes when that thought passes his mind.
Who knows what kind of techniques Gojo is capable of, after all.
“What is going on here?” Yaga’s voice rings out all of a sudden and Satoru and Suguru turn around to him.
“An intruder,” Satoru says and points at Gojo, who simply waves at Yaga.
“Two of you,” Yaga breathes out and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I can barely handle one of you. I am not going do deal with two of you. Geto, I put you in charge,” he decides before he turns around on his heels and walks away again.
“Me? Hey!” Suguru calls after him, because this is more than irresponsible, even if Gojo hasn’t made a move to attack any of them.
But clearly his situation must be figured out and he must be sent back to his own time, and a grown-up should definitely help with that, in Suguru’s opinion, though he has to admit that he’s probably the best option to handle Satoru, any Satoru.
“Fine, whatever,” Suguru mutters and turns back around to Gojo, who is still looking at him.
Suguru feels dread crawl up the back of his neck, though he bites his tongue.
“You said you fell asleep and woke up here, right?” he asks to confirm instead and Gojo nods. “Maybe you’ll get back if you fall asleep again?” Suguru suggests and Gojo shrugs, because it’s as good a guess as any.
It’s not like Suguru has any kind of experience with time travel and it doesn’t seem Gojo does either.
“Wait here,” Suguru says and then tugs on Satoru’s sleeve, moving them away from Gojo for a second, though he does keep an eye on him.
He doubts he can do anything should Gojo decide to attack them, but he doesn’t want to get caught completely off guard, either.
“Suguru, you cannot possible consider this! He might be dangerous!”
“He’s you,” Suguru gives back with a sigh and pinches the bridge of his nose.
He gets why Yaga does it so often.
“He’s not me! Who knows how he turned out, you can’t trust him!”
Satoru has a valid point, but—
“He seems sad,” Suguru says in a whisper and Satoru’s eyes almost fall out in his surprise.
“I don’t get sad!”
It’s not even true; Satoru gets sad so easily, he’s just normally very good at hiding it behind fake cheer and an even faker smile. Suguru got pretty good at looking through him, on picking up on the minute changes to him so he knows that Gojo is not only sad but downright miserable.
Something must have happened in his time and with the way he’s looking at Suguru, he guesses this might be about him. It would explain the almost desperate hug, too.
“Listen, I’ll just take him to an empty room, get him situated and wait until he falls asleep. He’ll pop back to his time, case closed,” Suguru says, weariness already creeping in because this is so not how he wanted to spend the afternoon.
Not when Satoru is finally here at the same time, but Suguru guesses this is very on brand for him lately. It’s not as if he ever gets what he wants, anymore.
“And if he doesn’t?” Satoru asks, clearly still wary of Gojo and this entire situation.
“Then we’ll figure out our next steps in the morning,” Suguru tells him and bumps their shoulders together. “Come on, don’t you trust me?” Suguru asks, though the words taste like ash on his tongue.
Satoru is so busy these days, is growing so much, and it’s not as if he needs anyone. Suguru isn’t even sure anymore if Satoru still wants to trust him.
“Of course I do,” Satoru says instantly, without any hesitation, making Suguru’s heart stumble in his chest and then Satoru reaches out to grab Suguru’s arm. “I know you’re strong, but who knows what this guy has up his sleeve. Promise me you’ll be careful. Promise me, Suguru,” Satoru insists, his eyes burning into Suguru’s and Suguru sighs.
“I’ll be careful. Besides, we’ll just be a few doors down your room, so if something should happen, you’ll notice, alright? I’ll be fine, Satoru.”
“Like you were fine a few weeks ago when I asked you if you are alright and you lied straight to my face?” Satoru snaps at him and then lets out a deep sigh.
Suguru didn’t know that Satoru noticed his lie back then, but it undoubtedly warms something in his chest.
“Look, I’m just saying—”
“You’re worried, I know,” Suguru cuts him off and leans a bit more firmly against Satoru. “But I promise, until tomorrow, I’ll be fine.”
Suguru can’t promise anything after that, though, not with the way his thoughts have spiralled these past few weeks.
“You better not lie to me again, Suguru,” Satoru gives back. “I’ll keep an ear out and if I hear anything suspicious—”
“You have permission to teleport right into the room,” Suguru finishes for him and Satoru slumps in relief.
“Just be safe.”
“I will be,” Suguru promises, because he feels like he can.
Gojo might be older, but he’s still Satoru. Suguru doubts that he has anything to fear from any version of Satoru.
“You,” Satoru then calls out and points at Gojo, who has been watching them all this time. “If you do anything to Suguru, if you hurt him, I will kill you before you can vanish to your own time, and no, I don’t care what that means for my future!”
Gojo stands to attention, saluting Satoru in a way too serious manner for a threat like that, but Satoru seems satisfied nonetheless.
“Fine,” he hisses out and then promptly walks away from them, as if he can’t wait to put this entire thing behind him, though Suguru knows that Satoru won’t close an eye the entire night.
He’ll probably move into the room next to them and listen to them with an ear pressed to the wall and Suguru can’t even find it in him to mind that.
“Fine,” Suguru agrees and turns his attention back to Gojo. “Follow me,” he says, and it’s almost unnerving how happily this grown-ass man skips after him, though it is also very on brand for Satoru.
Suguru braces himself for Gojo to drape himself over his back, just like Satoru always does, but instead Gojo only lightly puts his hand to Suguru’s shoulder, before he grabs it more firmly, as if he was testing if it would hold for a moment.
Something really must have happened to Suguru in Gojo’s time, Suguru thinks, his heart sinking in his chest.
“You’ll be staying here for the night. If you’re not gone by tomorrow, we’ll figure something else out,” Suguru tells him and Gojo nods, though he doesn’t take his hand back. “I’m not leaving. I’m on babysitting duty, so to speak,” Suguru adds and it still doesn’t do anything to the tight grip Gojo has on him.
“I’m—no longer around in your world, huh?” Suguru asks and Gojo freezes before he waves Suguru off, one of his many fake smiles plastered to his face, and even though Suguru has to admit that he clearly got better at them over time, Suguru can still read him like an open book.
“Did I leave?” Suguru can’t help but to ask, because the thought has stolen into his mind more than once since Riku died.
Gojo grows still at his side, his face serious and sad, before he pulls Suguru into another hug.
Suguru allows it, even slings his own arms around Gojo, which feels strange now that Gojo is that much taller than him.
He can still feel the same desperation from Gojo, as if he could prevent whatever is going to happen to Suguru like this and Suguru can feel his eyes burn.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers out. “I probably left around this time, right?” he asks because he still remembers the way Gojo’s face fell when he told him their age and in response Gojo only holds on to him more firmly.
Suguru doesn’t dare to think about what it means that Gojo seems to miss him so much, seems to be so deeply saddened by his absence, but of course it’s hard not to imagine what it could mean.
“Can you—get me back?” Suguru wants to know, too scared to ask outright if he’s even still alive in Gojo’s time but he knows he has his answer when Gojo shakes his head.
Suguru thinks that nothing but death could keep him permanently from Satoru.
“I’m sorry,” he helplessly says again and certainly doesn’t mourn the loss of contact when Gojo pulls away.
Gojo still waves him off, as if it doesn’t matter, as if he doesn’t seem weighed down by grief, and Suguru presses his lips together.
“Are you—doing okay in your time?” Suguru can’t help but to ask, because he needs to know that at least.
Gojo seems sad, sure, but Suguru has to know that there are good times for him anyway.
Gojo gives him a thumbs up, with a small albeit genuine smile and then he imitates Yaga in a creepily accurate way.
It throws Suguru off for a moment but when he gets it he laughs.
“You’re a teacher?” he asks and Gojo nods. “That’s great. You always wanted to be one,” Suguru adds and Gojo shrugs bashfully, as if he isn’t used to people knowing things about him anymore.
Suguru desperately hopes that isn’t true.
“Do you have someone you can trust in your time?” Suguru whispers out and Gojo still for a moment before he nods.
Suguru wants to let out a sigh or relief but then Gojo points at him.
“But—I’m not around anymore,” Suguru protests, because he doesn’t want to imagine how lonely Gojo must be, but Gojo simply shrugs again, as if it doesn’t matter, as if he doesn’t care.
Suguru knows it’s a lie.
“I’m so sorry,” he gets out again and bows his head in shame.
His eyes burn again when Gojo pats his head as if to tell him that it’s alright, that it doesn’t matter, or maybe that he forgives him, but it doesn’t stop Suguru from feeling like crying.
Gojo lets out a loud sigh when Suguru won’t look at him, and he startles when he’s suddenly pushed to the door.
“Hey, what are you doing?” he asks, craning his neck to look at Gojo, who mimes sleeping at him again. “I’m supposed to keep watch,” Suguru argues and plants his feet firmly in the ground.
It’s almost funny to see how Gojo stumbles when he meets real resistance and Suguru frowns at him.
“I keep telling you that you have to train more. You can’t neglect your hand-to-hand combat just because you’re ridiculously overpowered and virtually untouchable. One day even you’ll get into a situation where you can only win by punching your opponent in the face.”
That makes Gojo laugh, and it’s still the same bright and happy sound Suguru is so used to from Satoru, so maybe not everything will turn out horribly in the future.
“Come on, now, sleep. I’ll be here, alright?” Suguru asks and Gojo’s face goes soft again as he nods.
He doesn’t hesitate to go to the bed, doesn’t hesitate to pull Suguru along with him until he’s sitting on the bed, Gojo’s head in his lap. Satoru has fallen asleep like that more than once before and Suguru reaches out to card his fingers through Gojo’s hair on auto-pilot.
Gojo lets out a content little sound that almost makes Suguru blush and then he goes boneless against him.
It’s not long before he falls asleep and just like they suspected, between one blink and the next, Gojo is gone again, leaving Suguru alone and feeling vaguely cold.
He takes a few minutes to gather his thoughts, before he gets up, having made a decision.
From Gojo’s reactions, what he managed to convey without words, it’s clear that something goes wrong around this time and Suguru can guess what that his.
It’s not hard to imagine that he makes a decision, something that will change things how they are right now, because Suguru is lost and he’s tired and most of all he’s hopeless. He’s been trying to deal with all of that alone, tried to keep it to himself, but maybe that’s not the way to go.
His decisions made Gojo unhappy, and ultimately ended in Suguru’s death, that much he’s certain about so maybe, just maybe he should try to change something. And if it hadn’t been for Gojo showing up like that Suguru wouldn’t have ever considered telling Satoru any of this, so maybe that’s the path he’s supposed to take now.
Maybe it’s time he trusts Satoru in return.
~*~*~
Suguru finds Satoru asleep on his stupidly expensive chair and he lets out a fond sigh. Suguru is of the firm opinion that the chair is uncomfortable as hell and so Satoru has taken to napping in it, as if he has to prove to Suguru that he’s wrong about that.
Suguru has never mentioned the fact that Satoru has been complaining about backpain ever since he took that up, though, because Satoru is old enough to see the errors of his ways on his own, thank you very much.
“Satoru,” he calls out, pointing over his shoulder when Satoru startles and pushes one side of his blindfold up as if he even needs to do that to see. “What are you doing? Our students are waiting f—” Suguru cuts himself off in surprise because—“Are you crying? What happened?” he asks, and watches in horror how another tear makes its way down Satoru’s face.
“Haha, nothing, just a bad dream,” Satoru sing-songs out, clearly trying to pretend as if everything is normal, briefly scrubbing a hand over his face and Suguru stills.
If he’s being honest, he has waited for this moment—or for his death—ever since Gojo vanished back then and they are about the right age now. At least Satoru is.
“Did I get it right, then?” he softly asks, and cards his fingers through Satoru’s hair. “Did I make it better?”
Satoru takes in a shuddering breath before he shoots up and hugs Suguru close.
“Thank you for trusting me back then,” he whispers and Suguru wishes he could claim credit for that but he really can’t.
He knows himself well enough to know that he would never have admitted anything to Satoru if it weren’t for Gojo showing up.
“Thank you for traveling through time to set me straight,” Suguru gives back, pressing a kiss to the side of Satoru’s head. “I would have hated to miss all of this.”
“I would have hated to do all of this without you,” Satoru mutters and Suguru wants to say I know because he could see that in Gojo.
Instead of doing that, though, he asks “Do you remember your life here, or do I have to catch you up to speed?”
“I—gimme a moment,” Satoru says, slightly moving away from Suguru, but not breaking contact, as if he can’t quite bring himself to let go of him yet.
If Suguru had his way, he’ll never have to let go of him ever again.
“I think I remember,” Satoru unsurely says and Suguru wonders if things are overlapping in his mind right now.
“Remember enough to get through class and then we can compare notes, alright?” Suguru asks, because now that he knows he changed things, he’s dying to know what happened in Satoru’s version of this life.
“Sounds like a plan,” Satoru says and then sways forward as if he wants to kiss Suguru before he flinches back. “I’m sorry, I don’t know about this. Are we—”
“Happily married?” Suguru asks and holds his hand up, showing Satoru the ring. “We sure are.”
“Thank the gods,” Satoru breathes out and then he does finally kiss Suguru.
It feels a little bit like their first and for all that Suguru knows for Satoru it might be like that and Suguru loves it all the more for it.
He vows that this time, they are going to get it right.