Chapter Text
The movie playing out on the laptop becomes nothing more than background noise once you notice the teens dozed off beside you on the couch, illuminated by the screen's light.
There's Ieiri on the end, slouched against the armrest with her legs tucked to her chest, a thin blanket loosely covering her. Beside her is Geto, upright and sleeping with his head tilted back, and Gojo is leaning towards him, his glasses off of his face for once.
They look so picture perfect that you would've been needlessly gushing if not for the fact that you're really tired right now.
This was meant to be a movie night, suggested by Gojo and you know it was strung together on a whim to ease the tension simmering under everyone's skin for the past few weeks. After Toji Fushiguro's infiltration of Jujutsu High to assassinate Riko Amanai.
Beforehand, you convinced Yaga to strengthen the security following her arrival with only minimal suspicion raised, which you deflected with a perfectly fitting and reasonable excuse, and alongside that, you somehow secured the permission to be in the Tombs of the Star when Geto accompanied Amanai in.
Satoru Gojo would've survived without you intervening, so you pretty much placed all of your focus on making sure she lives. And considering that meant you'd be up against the Sorcerer Killer, it automatically reduced your chance of surviving unscathed to nearly zero.
A quiet wince spills out from your lips when just thinking about it induces a phantom pain in your shoulder.
You raise your hand up to wrap around the affected area, muscles throbbing under your fingers as your gaze falls back onto them; their features that you admired so much from just a screen are even breathtaking up close—
Stop it.
Your grip on your shoulder tightens, hoping the self-inflicted pain would numb out the ache. The cursed technique you're blessed with allows you to cloak yourself and those physically in contact, concealing your presence to the point of nonexistence while simultaneously allowing you to create illusions that are able to carry cursed energy as a foolproof feign.
It's an incredibly beneficial technique if used correctly.
And you did, perfectly positioning yourself between Amanai and Fushiguro, who, now that you think about it, wasn't even trying too hard to hide. Just the absence of cursed energy resulted in his canon victory. The plan you had was plain stupid and a little suicidal, but you were sure that it would work.
To put it simply, you'd push and conceal Amanai just before the bullet goes off and replace it with the illusion of her getting shot and killed. The good news is that the plan worked, and you had a petrified and traumatized but very much alive girl by your side. The bad news was that you weren't quick enough to protect yourself and had a bullet lodged into your shoulder.
The adrenaline helped you bite down on the pain, but you had a bruised and bloody mouth as a result.
Many Grade 2 and 1 sorcerers were notified and on standby, and once news reached that someone had actually managed to get in the Tombs of the Star, everyone was dispatched immediately. It was more chaotic than ever compared to canon, with much more bloodshed, but in the end, Fushiguro was kept at bay until Gojo defeated him.
When everything tamed down, you watched from afar as Gojo and Geto reunited by enveloping each other in an embrace. Gojo still looked as high as he was in the damn sky prior, while Geto was much more open about his emotions. Amanai was muttering out hopes and praying right from within her soul during the whole ordeal, and when she started to squirm in your hold, you let go of her and watched her tackle the boys into a surprising, but not unwelcome, hug.
Geto looked so deathly pale seeing her alive that you believe he thought he was hallucinating.
You turned off your technique after a while too because, as it turned out, you didn't nearly have enough stamina to rival that of overpowered teenagers. The last thing you remembered before slumping against a nearby wall and passing out was praying that the two strongest sorcerers never see you like that.
Back in the present, you reach out towards the keyboard to pause the nameless movie before deciding to switch it off completely. The room shrouds in darkness as you close the laptop with a small click, standing up to stretch your arms until you hear a satisfying pop. Picking up your flip phone from where it was beside the laptop atop the table, you look around Geto's room, searching for something to cover the boys with before you leave for the kitchen.
Finding a neatly folded duvet on his bed, you fling it open and drape it over the two. While at it, you don't know what possessed you to push away Geto's hair from his face and angle Gojo's head so it's more comfortably resting against the former's shoulder.
You don't linger for too long after that; exiting the room while carefully shutting the door, you tread down the hallway, flipping your phone open, squinting against the bright light once the screen flickers to life.
02:47
You mindlessly go through it, and when there's practically nothing to do, you switch it off and mourn for the time when you had your actual touch-screen phone.
Man, you really shouldn't have taken that time for granted; life's so much worse when you're actively trying to avoid your favorite non-fictional people after doing things that are making the now you cringe so bad that you want to disappear off the face of the earth.
No wonder they were so weary of you during your first year; you're actually an unfiltered and downright bad simp.
You're rethinking all of your life choices as you step into the kitchen, opening a cabinet to grab a glass and fetch water. Your throat sighs in relief, and instead of heading right back to your room, you collapse down onto the couch a few feet away from the dining table, intending to go back in a bit.
You literally just settle down, eyes closing for just a fraction of a second before you're scooped up into steady arms.
"Holy fuck!—"
You almost scream, arms instinctively wrapping around the person's neck to stabilize yourself. One arm tucked underneath your thighs while the other supports your back. You look up at their face and don't have to even guess when you see electric blue irises lightly glimmering in the dark.
"Gojo, what the actual hell are you doing?"
He just tips his head to the side, pressing into the side of your temple. "You were gone for too long."
Goosebumps line your skin, but you're quick to counter back. "I wasn't, though?" You still have your phone in your hand and make quick work to open and show him the time—
03:33
You blink, bewildered because you swear you had your eyes closed for a nanosecond, but the numbers glaring at you aren't lying, so you turn it off with a small huff and lean your head back into him. "Don't you dare drop me."
You're pressed closer as a response, so close in fact you can feel each breath entering and leaving his lungs. By the time you reach the dormitories, something in your mind suddenly clicks, and then the realization hits you.
You're in the arms of Satoru Gojo.
Holy shit holy shit holy shit—
You bite down on the inside of your cheek as your body erupts in tingles, your skin growing warmer and your mind suddenly blank.
"Gojo," your voice comes out hushed, and by that time, you're already in front of Geto's room. "I can walk on my own; let me down."
He doesn't say anything, just pulls his head back to look down at you with those ethereal and captivating eyes. Your body catches on fire in real time as he shifts your entire weight in one arm to open the door, all while maintaining eye contact.
You break away from the stare first.
Unwrapping one of your arms from his neck, you bury your face in your hand and have to bite down on your tongue to keep in a mortifying scream. At this point, you're one hundred percent convinced you're dead because you highly doubt canon Gojo ever did this when Ieiri fell asleep somewhere.
Even though you're living every JJK fan's dream, you hope he'll just drop you on the couch and be over with it. This is extremely intimate, even by your level. Especially by your level.
Gojo struts into the room, and when he gently lowers you down, you expect to be placed on firm cushions, not a soft mattress. Your curiosity wins over shame, and you peek through your fingers.
Your other hand wrapped around Gojo's shoulder has his shirt in a literal death grip by the collar, the fabric bunched so tight you can feel your nails dig into your palm. Worst of all, there's no way he hasn't noticed his shirt tugged so far back it's showing off his collarbone, his flawless skin catching the faint moonlight pouring in from the windows yet to be shrouded by curtains.
When you finally look down and see yourself on a silky smooth black sheet, you're momentarily dumbfounded. You blink, once, twice, and before you can even think— big arms encircle your waist and gently take you out from Gojo's.
What the fuck.
Why are you in Geto's bed?
Naturally you try to pull away because you will not be embarrassing yourself again just for the sake of short-lived pleasure, but the more you squirm, the more you're prevented from moving.
"Where are you going?" and your ass is hauled into Geto's lap.
Not really, you're exaggerating, but your ass is hauled in the space between his thighs as he sits cross-legged, and your palms splay out on his knees to hold yourself up.
Oh my fucking—
"On the couch, y'know, beside Ieiri." You say the sentence that had been ready on the tip of your tongue, but more importantly, why was his voice so velvety?
You're trying to shift away when Gojo lowers himself in front of you, long fingers reaching out to brush your hair back. You flinch, but he seems indifferent as he hums, low and still deep with remnants of sleep. Geto leans forward, his chest to your back, and your muscles refuse to cooperate with your panicking mind as he gathers your hair on one side and then props his chin on your shoulder.
His bangs tickle the underside of your jaw.
Never mind about your body being in flames before; it's growing icy cold in seconds now. Your gaze nervously flickers from him to the boy in front, unsure of what to make of the situation. "What... what are the two of you even doing?"
"We're gonna cuddle," Gojo interjects with his pink lips pulled up in a sleepy grin while his soft, unruly snow-white hair bounces with the movement of his head. "Just like you said in the beginning, remember?"
... what?
"If we're having a movie night, we should totally form a cuddle pile. Makes things more wholesome."
You weren't serious. Scratch that, you were half-joking, really, but they never went along with any form of stupidity that ever sprouted from your mouth. So why now? "Yeah—I don't think that would be convenient right now..."
The grin on his face doesn't fall, but the corners of his lips slightly droop, and your skin pricks in awareness at the slightest buzz of energy in the air. You don't get time to dwell on it before the tip of Geto's nose nuzzles behind your ear.
And you would've actually jumped if his arms weren't securing you in place because holy hell, canon Suguru Geto never behaved like this. Not even once.
"Hmm? But we're all already here, so why not?"
"Because Ieiri isn't here."
Seriously, how is she still asleep? Because you know these two are radiating bad energy right now.
Twisting your head in the direction of the couch, you have to grind down your teeth when the action causes Geto's face to be further nestled into you. He doesn't even shy away, and when you try to shrink back, it only causes you to lean more into him instead. Gojo draws closer too, fingers caressing your cheek as he inclines his head to the side.
You expect to see Ieiri's head propped up on the couch, but you don't. It's only when you try to focus on her cursed energy and find none that you realize she isn't in the room.
...
Fuck.
"Oh, Shoko? She left a while ago." Gojo grants you an answer, and he's so close your noses bump when you turn your head back. "Went back when we realized you wandered off on your own."
"Okay... well, Gojo, Geto, that's really nice of you to take what I said into consideration, but I think we can do this some other time." Your fingers dig into Geto's arm to remove them. They don't even budge. "... Y'know, when we're all together."
At this point, you're close to full-blown panicking because these two were never ever supposed to act like this. Reading fanfics might've made you a little delusional, but even you know this isn't something they'd normally do.
"I honestly think you both just need more sleep; need that rest to get the gears properly going—" You're trying to pry Geto's hands away from your abdomen, and you absolutely hate how you find yourself attentively focusing on the way his fingers are pressing against your covered skin.
"I know I spout out bullshit all the time, and I know how annoying it must've gotten. I always bother you two enough to last a lifetime, and I know how draining I am to be around, so I totally, totally get it—"
You're babbling nonsense at this point in hopes of convincing them to let you go, but the more you say, the less it seems to be causing any real effect. Geto snakes a hand up from your waist up under your jaw, and it's big enough to cover half of your face. His warmth seeps into your skin as he tilts your head back, offering you such a charming smile that it's effective in making your heart stutter.
"I—but... we shouldn't—I should definitely be going right about now—" you're stuttering so badly, but your reeling mind pays no attention; you just hope your desperation hasn't shown up on your face.
"It's okay, we won't bite." Gojo's teasingly suave tone flows into your ears, and when you turn your gaze to look at him, he's lying on the mattress with a hand outstretched towards you.
That's not the fuckass problem you—
Next you're handed over like you weigh nothing and deposited beside him. Your head hits the soft pillows with a dull thud, eyes scrunched up when you're dragged closer to Gojo. There's a bit of shuffling behind you before a blanket is dragged up your body.
You're stuck in between them, facing Gojo while your back is to Geto, and you'd be lying if you said you feel good. Your nerves are buzzing with anticipation, and this is the first time you're questioning your safety in their presence.
If they want to cuddle, they can do that with each other like they should have done in canon all along.
"Guys, I think we're really pushing it right now—" you're relentless, trying to push yourself up while simultaneously attempting to loosen Gojo's grip. One moment you're wrestling for freedom, and the next second a hand is firmly grabbing your jaw, and you're staring straight into Geto's pretty amethyst irises.
"It's okay," he begins, his tone so soft and sincere it has you lightly leaning in his palm. He notices and offers you the very smile you vowed to protect. "You don't have to keep pulling away; you can be honest with us."
"I am being honest, and that includes me wanting to leave—"
"You've been distant." Geto cuts you off, words phrased as a statement rather than an opinion. "The past few weeks have been hard for all of us, but that doesn't mean you have to face it alone. And you've been so formal too."
His eyes go half-lidded. "You don't even call me handsome anymore."
Your body actually shudders in humiliation, cursing out your old self as the tips of your ears grow heated till you can't even feel them anymore. Your muscles tense up, and everything grows so unbearably warm that it clings to you.
You turn your eyes away first, looking around in hopes of finding any openings to fucking leave when the grip on your jaw tightens.
You bite back a wince as you drag your gaze back to meet his.
"Okay—fuck, fine. You want me to call you Suguru now, or what?"
It feels so strange to finally say it out loud. There used to be a time when you were looking forward to calling them all by their given names because with only four of you, it'd be difficult to not become close friends, wouldn't it? But now it feels so wrong, so forced.
His smile stretches further as he leans in, his forehead pressed to yours. "Mhm."
He's so close that if you moved just a tiny bit, your lips would brush against each other.
Well, unfortunately for you, it almost does happen when Gojo decides it's the perfect time to place a kiss on the back of your shoulder.
Goddamn it, you forgot this guy was behind you—
You don't get a chance to scramble for escape because Gojo is tightening his arms around you and then places his forehead on the same spot, which takes you an embarrassingly long time to piece together is the place where you were shot at by Fushiguro.
"C'mon, sweetheart," the nickname falls naturally from his lips, surprising because he's calling you that for the first time. "Call me by my name too."
You don't know how you managed to fuck up this bad. The two of them never looked like they were open to a polygamous relationship in the anime; heck, you highly doubt they were open to relationships in the first place.
Everyone who ever watched the series naturally knew both the men's minds never really wandered to that topic after they went their separate ways; they cared too much for each other to seek love from someone else. For fuck's sake, they called each other their one and only best friend.
You being in the middle would contradict their feelings for each other.
"You both aren't thinking straight," you muster the strength to whisper out. "You seriously don't need me here; let me go, and we can figure this all out in the morning with an open mind."
You should've just straight up gone to Kyoto's school instead of interfering with canon events. Canon Geto and Gojo were literally soulmates; either platonic or romantic, they cared for each other more than they did for themselves. Why were you so desperate to meet them in the first place?
Right... You found them attractive. And it's come to bite you in the ass now.
When Gojo leans more of his weight on you, you unfortunately aren't able to stop the sharp inhale as your muscles throb in protest.
You feel the energy emitting from both of them lick sparks at your skin, the shift in their moods so subtle, yet it presses onto you like a tangible weight. You didn't die, and you didn't even lose a limb or two, so why have your eyes gone misty in such quick succession?
You're acting like such a sore loser right now. You know Ieiri healed you shortly after you passed out ("That bullet was just short of making its way out the back. I may have healed it, but your body will definitely remember its impact, so try not to push yourself too hard, okay?"), and she's the person you blindly trust your life with, but her words, unfortunately, aren't assuring enough.
"The hell are you two staring at?" Your words don't carry the bite you intended to relay, shifting your gaze down onto your covered lap.
"... nothing." Gojo's the first to say, laying back down and taking you with him.
You don't protest this time. You'll just be exhausting yourself trying to convince these stubborn idiots, and you know they won't listen either way, so it's easier to just give in. Saves the hassle. That's the mantra you're playing in your mind as Geto shuffles into the covers.
Your sense of smell flares up without even trying when both of them press into you like life-sized body pillows, as if molding themselves to be perfectly positioned against you. You stop thinking too much; just clamp your eyes shut and let faint traces of vanilla and sandalwood consume the surrounding air.
"You don't have to worry about anything now," Geto's words are muffled, vibrating on the skin of your collarbone. "You did more than enough to protect Amanai; take it easy and let us be here to fix your problems."
"Besides, if anything does happen, it'll barely be a hitch." Gojo's breath tickles the underside of your jaw, and you can hear the smirk on his face. "Because we're the strongest."
And they are, aren't they?
That's what you've been trying to do, prevent tragedies so that they can be the strongest together. Teenagers who had to choose their path after witnessing what no kid should, between choosing themselves or others, between becoming weapons or being used as one.
You prevented that in hopes that they'll choose what their heart desires, but that somehow caused them to behave in a way they never would've in canon. The worst part is that you don't know how you did it or why it happened.
And that's exactly what you fear the most.