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“We need to talk.”
Gojo Homara bustled into Satoru’s apartment, not waiting for his response. He rolled his eyes and closed the door behind her.
“So nice to see you too,” he said sarcastically. He didn’t miss the way her dull blue eyes took in his messy living room, the trash piled on the coffee table and the general disarray of the place, and how she sneered slightly. He fought not to bristle at her silent judgment. Gingerly, she set down a large bag next to the couch rather than try to make room for it on the overflowing table.
She turned to face him, shoving her hands into her kimono sleeves, her posture perfectly straight. Her pure white hair was pulled back into a neat bun, like always, and the effect was that she looked startlingly out of place within his modern—and messy—dwelling. His aunt was always the picture of perfection, the head of the Gojo clan in all but name. Technically, he’d been the head since his father had passed but his aunt had taken over most of the head’s responsibilities until he was ‘ready’ to take over fully. For the moment, Satoru was happy to leave her the reins but that meant he had to deal with her random demands which was always annoying.
“You need to get married,” she said, her tone leaving no room for argument.
Satoru stared for a moment before breaking out into loud laughter. “What, is that all? I don’t know why you’d waste a trip just for that, but it was nice to see you, I’ll keep it in mind so if you’d just—“
“You’re in your thirties,” she interrupted. “Way past the time for when you ought to be engaged, let alone married. You are the head of the clan, you have certain responsibilities.” Satoru scoffed loudly and she spoke over him before he could launch into his own rant, “Your father has been dead for many years. It’s time for you to take over as head of household and by that, I mean procuring an heir.”
He waved a hand as if waving away the thought. “I have plenty of cousins that would be happy to fulfill that role.”
Nothing in her posture changed, but her eyes grew sharp and cold. “And yet it is you who is our head. Unless you plan on stepping down…?” She let her statement hang and he grimaced. Though he was generally disinterested in clan politics he was also unwilling to give up the title just yet. "Then you need children of your own."
Satoru had big plans after all, and he needed the connections his family provided him, loathe as he was to admit it. Still, he was happy enough to let his aunt keep the peace until he wanted to start making waves. He just had to get all the pieces ready first.
At his silence, Homara nodded. “And so, I have brought you some candidates. They’re from a reputable company. Look through them. Go on a few dates. Find a girl who you can stand for longer than a day.”
“And if I don’t?” Satoru asked, grinning, all teeth.
Homara didn’t rise to his bait. “Find a wife. Do your duty.”
He didn’t follow her to the door, and only when it closed behind her did he risk making a face at it.
Later that night, Satoru lay on the couch, the TV blaring in the background, though he wasn’t paying any attention to it. Boredom was a familiar enough itch under his skin and he was attempting to figure out some way to break it when his foot nudged something that made plastic crinkle.
He lifted his head just enough to see the bag his aunt had left sitting next to the couch. Swinging his legs to the floor, Satoru reached out to dig inside. He withdrew a large leather-bound book, but he also caught sight of something pink at the bottom of the bag. Probably some candy or other treat.
A bribe if he’s ever seen one. Still, Satoru can be simple at times, and he dragged the book into his lap to peruse. If nothing else, he could at least say he’d looked through it, even if he didn’t go on a single date.
Disinterested, he flipped through the pages quickly. All of the profiles had a photograph and about a page worth of information.
“Boringggg,” he drawled out. He was about to slam it shut and put it aside, never to be looked at again, when a loose paper fell out and fluttered onto the floor. Bending down, he picked it up and raised his eyebrows at the photograph.
It wasn't a woman, for one. But secondly, it wasn’t staged either. The others were quite clearly taken for this profile, all falsely perfect. This one was a candid shot, the sun shining on the man’s smile, so wide it showed off dimples in the corners.
He’s cute, Satoru thought, and couldn’t help the way he smiled back at the photo. It was infectious, that smile. Obviously, it was a mistake for—he read the name—Itadori Yuuji to be in there. Dear old Auntie wanted him to marry a woman for babies. He skimmed through the profile. Most of it was pretty standard but the ending was interesting.
I’m used to taking care of myself and I’m working hard to graduate from college. I work part-time and don’t have a ton of time to spare, but if I’m really interested in someone, I’ll give them my all! You should know that I have some debt from my grandfather’s medical bills before he passed, if that would bother you please don’t bother to reach out. I want to take care of myself (and my future partner!) but I need someone who will understand that while where I’m at right now is self-sufficient for my needs, I’ll have to work my way up. I always try my best! And I’d like someone who does too.
It was terribly honest, was the thing. Straight-forward in a way the other profiles, even though he had just skimmed them, definitely weren’t.
Well, if nothing else, it would be hilarious to tell his aunt that he’d gone on a date and then watch her lips pinch like she’d swallowed a lemon when he told her it was a man from the profiles that she gave him.
Giggling already, Satoru grabbed his phone to make a phone call.
Two weeks later, Satoru made his way down the street. He was late but he was always late, so he didn’t bother to hurry himself along.
The agency hadn’t given him Yuuji’s phone number, he’d—annoyingly—had to do all communications through them, so when he’d had to set up a meeting time and place, Satoru ended up just picking a coffee shop, figuring this Yuuji would be disappointed by it. Surely, his aunt had listed his money somewhere, and plenty of people would recognize his last name immediately. He’d likely been expecting Satoru to pick something high-class and expensive.
Well, jokes on him. Satoru couldn’t wait to see his face puckered with displeasure. The puff of pink hair wasn’t hard to spot from a distance, already seated underneath the outside awning.
The younger man’s back was to Satoru, and he smiled with glee as he rushed closer. Yuuji was sitting at the edge of the waist-height barrier that separated the sitting area from the sidewalk. Bending down, he blew out a breath against the back of Yuuji’s neck, making the man yelp and whirl around as Satoru straightened, laughing.
“Hey there!” Satoru greeted, hands shoved into his pockets, looking like the picture of innocence. “Yuuji, right?”
Yuuji scowled, still rubbing his neck before he tilted his head, and looked Satoru up and down, his scowl dropping into something puzzled. “Satoru?”
“That’s me! Were you waiting long?”
“Not too long,” Yuuji lied; Satoru could tell by the way when he scrambled to his feet, his to-go cup fell onto its side, obviously empty. He'd probably come early and didn't expect Satoru to be, oh, almost forty minutes late. It was surprising to see that he stuck around. Yuuji fidgeted, clearly unsure what to do now that he was standing. He decided to spare the guy and gestured towards the coffee shop.
“I’m just going to grab something. I’ll meet you out here?”
“I’ll come with you!” Yuuji hastened to reply, and before Satoru could argue, he was already heading towards the door that led inside on his side.
Mentally, Satoru shrugged and opened the front door to see Yuuji coming up to him with a smile.
He really was cute. Yes, Satoru had been expecting it based on the photograph, but the picture didn’t do him justice. Yuuji was quite obviously fit, broad in the shoulders even if he was shorter than Satoru by quite a bit. The dimples in his smile were making something in his heart flutter as Yuuji slotted up next to him in the line.
“So, what did you get?” Satoru asked, deciding to pick something easy to break the ice as the line moved along at a snail’s pace.
“Eh, just a hot chocolate,” Yuuji said dismissively. “I’ll grab some water while you’re waiting.”
Satoru hummed. They descended into silence. From his height, Satoru could see from the corner of his eye the way that Yuuji kept glancing over at him before quickly looking away, shuffling his feet. He wasn’t blushing, but he seemed tense— nervous, perhaps.
Cute, Satoru thought again with a grin. Once they finally made it to the counter, Satoru took great pleasure in giving his normal long-winded order of something that sounded like diabetes ready to happen. Yuuji’s face started to look more and more aghast as it went on and by the time Satoru had paid, he looked vaguely sick.
“How can you consume that much sugar?” Yuuji asked. Satoru chuckled as he put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently and leading him to the side, away from the rest of the waiting patrons.
“It takes practice and an iron stomach,” Satoru explained. Yuuji snorted out a laugh and wow, was today just going to be spent thinking Yuuji was the cutest thing he’d ever seen? It sure seemed that way. “Make sure to grab your water.”
“Oh yeah.”
Satoru watched him wander away to grab one of the cups that was next to the water dispenser, fill it, and then stand there as he pulled out his phone to start texting. He was so busy taking in the curve of Yuuji’s jaw that it took a few utterances of his name before he blinked back to himself and stepped forward to grab his drink.
They walked together back outside, the door shutting behind them locking away most of the noise from the gathered crowd inside, and sat across from each other at the same table that Yuuji had been waiting at.
Leaning forward with both elbows on the metal table, Satoru took an obnoxiously loud slurp from his straw just to watch the way Yuuji wrinkled his nose. “Want a taste?” Satoru asked, wiggling his eyebrows meaningfully, peering over his sunglasses at the other man.
“Actually, yeah, can I?” Despite himself, Yuuji looked intrigued. “Is it good?”
“They did alright. Some places can’t get it right.” Satoru pushed his drink closer to him, trying not to let his smile grow too wide. Yuuji took a sip and Satoru watched like a hawk as he made a noise in the back of his throat, shaking his head. After he choked it down, he made a loud gasp, sticking out his tongue as if wanting to scrape off the taste.
“That’s awful!!”
Satoru started cracking up and got a kick in the ankle for his troubles. “Ow!”
Yuuji glared, though his eyes were gleaming with good humor. “You deserved that,” he said haughtily before taking a large gulp of his water. Satoru stuck out his tongue in response and they laughed together.
“So, let’s get to it,” Satoru said with a cocky smile. “What do you do?”
“I’m in college right now,” Yuuji answered easily. “I’m training to be a nurse. What about you?”
“I’m in the family business.” Satoru waved a hand with disinterest. “It’s boring, I’m much more interested in you. Why a nurse?”
Yuuji wrapped both his hands around his small cup, turning it slowly, not meeting his eyes. “My grandfather had to spend a lot of time in the hospital, so the nursing staff got to know me pretty well. I guess I got inspired.” He cleared his throat before changing the subject, “I don’t want to take up the whole date just talking about myself though. What do you like to do?”
“Eat sweets,” he said, just to watch the way that it made Yuuji let out a bark of surprised laughter. He smiled and went on, “That’s hard to answer. My family would call me wishy-washy, always doing something new and never sticking with any one thing.”
“And what would you say?” Yuuji asked, pillowing his cheek against his knuckles as he leaned to one side of the chair, body language relaxed and casual, looking interested in Satoru’s answer.
Satoru pressed a finger to his chin in thought, humming loudly. “I pick up on stuff fairly quickly, so I like to do different things because it’s fun and I like learning, but I get bored since nothing ever stays a challenge.” He smiled ruefully. “It’s a constant struggle.”
Yuuji hummed with something like sympathy. "That does sound rough." Satoru shrugged airily.
"My family doesn't think so! They think I ought to just focus on what needs to be done. Ah, well, they're probably right," he said ruefully.
"Not at all!" Yuuji said so forcefully that Satoru flinched with surprise. Yuuji flushed a tad pink but rushed on, "I don't think they're right at all! If you're capable of learning so much, so quickly, isn't that a good thing? It sounds amazing! I don't think it should be something they make you feel bad about."
Internally, Satoru swooned. Yuuji was so earnest!! So adorable!! What a knight in shining armor!!
"You know what! You're right! What's the craziest thing you've ever done? Maybe I should try it!"
They chatted easily and Satoru was surprised to find that he enjoyed it. They meshed together well, the conversation flowing from one topic to another without issue. At times it felt like their words kept bumping into each other as they swapped between topics without finishing one and had to circle back to it.
It was fun. Time passed and Satoru shivered then looked around with shock to realize that it had been hours by that point, the sun on its last rays, making what was once a pleasant breeze into something that was downright chilly.
“Say,” Satoru said, interrupting Yuuji midsentence, though it didn’t seem like the other man minded as he quieted down immediately, “want to grab dinner?”
“Sure!” Yuuji replied eagerly, standing so fast that his chair squealed across the concrete, making him wince. Satoru giggled at the display before rising smoothly to his feet.
As they started walking together, their hands were so close they kept knocking into each other. Satoru gave into temptation and wrapped an arm around Yuuji’s waist, pulling the shorter man against his side and burrowing his hand into a front pocket. He gave him a shit-eating grin. “To keep warm,” Satoru lied with a knowing wink.
Yuuji smiled. “Of course,” he agreed sagely before there was a hand sliding over Satoru’s ass and into a back pocket where it stayed. Satoru fought to keep a smile off his face and not outwardly react. He could see the way the tops of Yuuji's ears were flushed a dark red and he didn't want to risk saying something that would make him pull away. But inside he was dying. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs that, YUUJI IS SO CUTE!!
There were a few seconds of peaceful silence before Yuuji chuckled unexpectedly.
“What?” Satoru asked. Yuuji shook his head and he pouted. “Come onnn,” he wheedled. “It’s no fair to keep secrets!” Especially when they were practically glued together.
“Ah, well.” Yuuji used his free hand to scratch awkwardly at his cheek. “I’m just surprised, I guess. None of my previous blind dates that my friend set me up on have gone so well. I was just about to give up. She had to really pressure me to go to this one.” Yuuji glanced at him before looking away with a small smile. “I’m glad I came.”
Meanwhile, Satoru’s own face had fallen. He tugged Yuuji to the side of the sidewalk, away from the pedestrians, before pulling Yuuji in front of him, dropping both hands onto his shoulders. He stared into wide, surprised brown eyes.
“Blind date? What blind date?”
“Er, this blind date?” Yuuji asked with obvious confusion. Satoru desperately tried to figure out why they seemed to be on two completely different pages.
“You’re Itadori Yuuji, right?”
“…Right. Satoru, are you okay—”
“And you were here to meet Gojo Satoru?”
Yuuji nodded, his brow furrowed. Satoru frowned.
“Then how is this a blind date? Didn’t you see my profile at the marriage thingy? They gave you one, didn’t they?”
“A what now? Marriage? What marriage?”
They both stared at each other, flabbergasted.
“I’m so confused,” Yuuji said, and internally, Satoru echoed the sentiment. Of course it just had to be going so perfectly that something had to be up. He could never get so lucky just to land someone as amazing as Yuuji because of a few happy accidents, right? “Can you explain from the beginning?”
Swallowing, Satoru did, skipping over the part about mostly going on the date for laughs and to rub it into his aunt’s face later.
Yuuji’s lips were pursed by the time he finished his story and Satoru’s heart felt like it had dropped to the floor.
“Can you give me a second?” Yuuji asked and numbly, Satoru nodded, turning his head to look across the street as Yuuji stepped away to pull out his phone to make a call.
There was a lot of frantic whispering that Satoru was just on the edge of being able to make out. Nerves ran rampant inside of him. What kind of mistake was this?
It’s not like they had to get married if Yuuji was expecting nothing more than a date. Though Satoru had started the day off ready to shoot the shit for thirty minutes at most before leaving to never contact the guy again, Yuuji was so incredibly cute and fun to be around that Satoru couldn’t bear the idea of letting him go.
Maybe it didn’t have to be marriage anytime soon, but you know, eventually would still be nice.
Satoru mourned the person he had been when he woke up that morning: A person so disinterested in the thought of marriage he scoffed at the very mention.
Here and now, he felt like he’d get on his knees and beg if it meant he could see Yuuji just one more time, let alone have the chance to wake up next to him every day for the rest of his life, a gold ring shining on Yuuji’s tan finger. Marking him as his.
It felt like the answer to every dream Satoru had been unaware he’d even had.
Yuuji turned and they locked eyes as he shoved his phone back into his pocket and walked back towards him.
His heart flew up from the ground to fly into his throat, making it hard to swallow past the sudden lump of it, his nerves making him feel uncharacteristically antsy as Yuuji came to a stop before him.
“Get it figured out?” Satoru asked, voice a tad raspy. Yuuji nodded, rubbing the back of his head.
“So, apparently my friend put my profile in at an arranged marriage place.” Yuuji blanched. “I didn’t tell her to do that or give her permission to do so. She said she didn’t expect me to get any real offers, she put the minimum income at something horribly high. It was more of a hail mary she said, to catch someone who—” His cheek pulsed like he was clenching his teeth. “—could take care of me and my debt,” he finished, through gritted teeth, like he was quoting someone.
“Ah.” Satoru waved his hands around, unsure of what he was trying to express with them. “That’s not—I didn’t think that. I liked your profile a lot, I thought it was really honest.” He winced. “Though I suppose you weren’t the one who wrote it.” There was a beat of silence and he plunged on, desperate to get the terribly pained expression off Yuuji’s face, “I really enjoyed our date though! I was having a great time. I, uh, wouldn’t mind continuing if you still wanted to?”
The ending was clumsy, far from his usual unflappable self, but Satoru was beside himself with worry that this might be the last time he ever saw Yuuji. He couldn’t let him go without a fight.
Yuuji’s brow furrowed. “Can I ask, why are you even using a service like that? You don’t seem like you need it.”
Satoru’s face puckered. Of all the questions, that was perhaps the only one he didn’t want Yuuji to ask him; the truth wasn’t flattering, but he couldn’t bring himself to lie either.
“My aunt thinks I need to be married like, yesterday. As head of my family, I’m expected to pop out a bunch of kids and all that nonsense. She came over and basically shoved a bunch of profiles at me demanding that I find myself a wife. Yours happened to be in the pile…” he trailed off. Yuuji’s eyes bored into him, silently urging him to go on, and he sighed. “I decided it would be amusing to go on a date with a man that she’d accidentally put in there. I thought you were cute though!” Satoru hastened to defend himself. “And like I said, the profile was good. I didn’t expect us to actually hit it off though, I was mostly doing this to say I did it and then I could go back to ignoring her.”
Taking a chance, Satoru reached out and grabbed one of Yuuji’s hands, clasping it in both of his. “I really meant what I said though, I was having a great time. I’d like to get to know you better and, to be honest, if I thought you’d agree, I’d already be asking you on a second and third date.”
Yuuji’s mouth dropped open. “Wait, really? We haven’t even had dinner!”
Satoru pressed Yuuji’s hand against his chest. “Really, really. Dinner wouldn’t tell me anything I wasn’t already sure of, but I wouldn’t say no to more time spent with you.” He was sure his expression was pleading but he couldn’t help it. He gave his best pity me eyes, hoping that might win him some favors though Satoru had never met someone who fell for it after spending a day in his company. Yuuji chewed on his bottom lip.
“I mean… I was having a really good time too,” Yuuji confessed slowly. Satoru perked up, something like hope rising within him. “And I guess, if you don’t mind someone like me—”
“I don’t mind! Rather the opposite really!” Satoru interjected.
“Then I would really like to get dinner with you,” Yuuji finished with a small smile. Satoru whooped and wrapped his arms around Yuuji, pulling him into a tight hug, ignoring his cry of surprise.
“YAY!! I’M SO HAPPY!” Satoru shouted and Yuuji laughed, pushing at his chest. They separated enough to look at each other, twin smiles shining on their faces.
Caught up in the moment, Satoru barely noticed that he was leaning forward, his eyes going half-lidded until a finger was unexpectedly pressed against his puckered lips. He blinked and went a little cross-eyed to stare at it before looking back at Yuuji, who was blushing fiercely.
“Dinner first,” he said sternly. Yuuji’s stomach growled loud enough to be heard, even amidst the general noise of traffic and people walking past them. He flushed harder. “I’m starving and I don’t want to be distracted.”
“Ma’be l’ter?” Satoru asked hopefully around Yuuji’s finger, still pressed against his mouth. Yuuji took it away with a laugh.
“Yeah. Try again later,” he said with a smile. “Let’s get going?” Yuuji gestured to the sidewalk and waited until Satoru started moving before falling into step with him once again. Satoru grabbed his hand and threaded their fingers together, smiling so hard his cheeks hurt.
Yuuji squeezed his hand at the same time that Satoru felt his heart squeeze.
This would be the start of something great, Satoru decided right then and there. He was never letting go of this man, not for anything. They’d be stuck together forever after this.
He smiled impossibly wider.
Forever sounded pretty good to him.