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Satoru stood in the doorway to the common room with a distant, deadpan stare. Suguru had talked to him earlier about how he needed to start being nicer, and it really didn’t bother him…until it did. He wasn’t a monster; he had a conscience, although a humorous one. It was just too easy to pick on Utahime, and honestly, he was bored. So now he stood awkwardly in the doorway, staring in at the back of Utahime and Shoko’s heads while they chatted about something that he likely also found boring.
Shoko finally turned around and startled. “What the hell are you doing, Gojo?”
He shrugged one shoulder.
“Well, you’re being creepy. Do you need something?” she asked, annoyance apparent in her tone.
He sighed and rolled his head to one side. “I guess,” he replied flatly, his expression a confusing mix of irritation and discomfort.
Shoko started to stand up, but Satoru cut her off, “Not you,” he said in the same flat tone. “Her.”
Utahime had been ignoring the whole encounter, but immediately whipped her head around. “What??” she asked.
“You heard me,” Satoru groaned. “Please don’t be annoying about this.”
“Annoying about what, Gojo?” Utahime snapped. “You haven’t even told us why you’re here.”
Shoko noticed Satoru uncomfortably shifting his weight from heel to toe and back. She nudged Utahime’s arm.
“What?!” Utahime said, looking down at Shoko.
Shoko shot her a pointed look, and Utahime stared back in confusion.
Satoru Groaned. “Look, I’m really tired of standing here. I have other things to do, so just come if you want,” he said, walking out the door and disappearing around the corner.
“Go,” Shoko whispered, pushing Utahime toward the door.
“What?! No!” she argued, dragging her feet. “Are you crazy?”
Shoko groaned. “Maybe, but I’m trusting my intuition here. Just go.”
Utahime grumbled something under her breath, but begrudgingly walked toward the door.
She found Satoru somewhere outside and fell into step once she caught up, half short of breath.
He glanced over and seemed to be caught by surprise. “Oh, you actually came,” he said. He kept his gaze forward and his hands in his pockets. “That’s rather surprising. I assumed you’d be boring as usual and continue your little girls’ night with Shoko.”
“What the hell, Gojo?” Utahime replied. “Look, if you’re going to be an asshole, I will happily turn back around and leave you alone with your ego.”
He groaned and rolled his head to the side. “It’s fine. Just try to keep up.”
He kept his hands stuffed in his pockets as they made their way to a small forest by the edge of the school. He took the first step in and turned around as Utahime hesitated at the entrance of the path.
A small smirk played on his lips. “Are you scared, Utahime?”
“What? No,” she remarked, crossing her arms to steady herself. “It’s just dark and hard to see.”
Satoru raised an eyebrow. “You seem-“ he cut himself off mid-tease as he remembered Suguru’s annoying voice stabbing its way into his head. He groaned for a moment and rubbed the bridge of his nose, then held out a hand in her direction.
Utahime tilted her head, taken aback. “What are you doing?”
He aggressively rubbed his face in discomfort, not looking directly at her. “You just seem scared,” he replied. “I assumed this would be helpful.” He shrugged and continued to keep his eyes elsewhere, his head turned over his shoulder, leaving his hand outstretched. “I am the strongest after all, so I could protect you if you need,” he finished with a light tease; he couldn’t help himself.
A loud huff escaped Utahime’s mouth. “You are so insufferable.”
Satoru shrugged and turned on his heel, continuing down the path into the woods. “Suit yourself,” he said, ignoring her remark and striding ahead.
He heard the quick patter of feet behind him for a moment, followed by a hand grabbing his. He raised an eyebrow and peeked down out of the corner of his eye to see Utahime huddled just close enough to hold his hand, but not so close that she had to touch him any more than that.
Satoru chuckled and shook his head. “Welcome back,” he said, soft and teasing.
“Yeah, whatever,” Utahime grumbled, looking around the woods. She was clearly terrified, but hid it well behind a hard, steady tone. “If you tell anyone about this, I swear I will end you.”
“I would never. I have a reputation to maintain,” he said playfully.
She rolled her eyes.
The walk continued for a while, the light from the moon making patterns through the dense branches of the trees. They both remained silent, to Utahime’s surprise, and the crunch of leaves beneath their feet could be heard echoing through the forest. Her shoulders relaxed slightly, but her grip remained tight on Satoru’s hand. She started to enjoy the silence and the distant chorus of frogs, but something was nagging at her. She didn’t know he could ever be quiet for so long.
She cursed herself for thinking it because, just as she finished the thought, he opened his mouth. Utahime frowned and braced herself for some stupid remark, but her mouth went agape when she heard what he said.
“I’m sorry,” Satoru finally said, breaking the silence.
Utahime looked up at him, taken aback. “What?”
He shrugged and continued looking forward as they hit a clearing.
A tall building stood in the middle of an open field. It was an old brick structure that leaned precariously to the right as if a sudden gust might take it down. Some of the bricks were missing, and an eerie groan echoed from it as the wind whistled through an open door. Satoru continued walking toward it, but was stopped short as Utahime planted her feet, holding her grip on his hand.
“I am not going in there, Gojo,” she declared.
He gave a weary sigh. It was taking a lot out of him not to make some biting remark here. “It’ll be fine, Utahime,” he responded calmly, gently tugging her hand.
She didn’t budge. “Nuhuh. I’m not doing that. I’m going back.”
“Okay,” he said, pulling his hand away. “You have fun with that, but I’m going up there.” He pointed to the top of the building.
She twisted to look behind her, the darkness of the woods seeming to curl around and beckon her back in. She briefly bit her lip and looked back at Satoru. “Fine, I’d hate to leave you out in the dark alone,” she said, walking ahead of him toward the building.
“Wow, you are so brave, Utahime,” Satoru half-teased, followed by a chuckle.
She scoffed and stopped by the door, staring at a steep set of spiral stairs that led several stories up through the top of the structure.
He stood over her shoulder and looked down. “Scared again?” he asked. His tone was half joking, but several times lighter than usual.
She groaned. “No! I’m not scared,” she said, her voice less steady this time.
He rolled his eyes and nudged her forward. “It’s safe, I promise. I do this all the time.”
She swallowed her fear and took one tentative step forward. The stair creaked beneath her shoe.
“Alright,” Satoru finally said. “I don’t have all night.” He effortlessly picked her up, one arm behind her back and another under her knees.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Utahime asked, kicking her feet.
“I wouldn’t kick if I were you. I might drop you down several flights of stairs.” He smirked and briefly looked down as he continued up the stairs, three at a time.
She frowned but stopped moving, opting to cross her arms in annoyance, letting out a heavy exhale from her nose.
“You are so incredibly stubborn,” Satoru said with a laugh.
“I am not!”
“Sure you aren’t,” he said, reaching the roof and placing her on her feet.
She clumsily regained her balance as Satoru walked to the edge of the building and looked up.
“Why are we up here, Gojo?” Utahime asked, walking over.
“You’re awfully loud, you know that?” he remarked, still looking up.
“What?? You’re one to talk. Do you even-“
“Shh…” Satoru replied, cutting her off. “Just look and listen.”
Utahime frowned, but did as he asked. She joined him at the edge of the building and looked out.
The darkness obscured the world below, except for the rhythmic twirling of fireflies dancing in the breeze. The air hummed with the steady melody of crickets accompanied by a nocturnal symphony of deep croaks from the pond nearby. The trees around them stretched up like arrows, softening and fading into the sky. The light fragrance of primrose tickled her nose as the night blooms opened and the dewy air spread around them.
As her gaze shifted upward, the sky spread out above like a velvet cloak with several tiny diamonds scattered across the top in a shimmering array of silver dust.
“It’s like being in between the stars,” Satoru said, breaking the silence. “The ones below, and the ones above.”
Utahime let out a soft sigh and smiled. It was surprisingly peaceful; it was especially surprising given the company.
Satoru stretched an arm and pointed to a cluster of stars above their heads. “That star is Vega, or Orihime,” he said, before his hand drifted to another constellation, “And that one is Altair, Hikoboshi.” He finally pointed both hands between them. “And that’s Amanogawa separating the two,” he finished.
“Since when do you know this much about astronomy?” Utahime asked, looking up at him.
“I know a lot about a lot of things,” he said, looking down. “You just only pay attention to the parts you don’t like.”
Utahime rolled her eyes, but he offered a soft smile in return before looking back up at the sky.
“Orihime was a very skilled weaver, and the daughter of the Sky King. She always weaved clothes by the bank of the heavenly river, Amanogawa,” he said, continuing his story. “The Sky King, Tentei, noticed his daughter’s sadness one day and opted to introduce her to a cow herder, Hikoboshi, on the other side of the riverbank. Hikoboshi and Orihime immediately fell deeply in love and married soon after.
Now that she had found someone, Orihime stopped weaving clothes for her father, and Hikoboshi was allowing his cows to wander all over the sky, so in anger, Tentei used the river to separate the two lovers and forbade them to meet, literally making them ‘star-crossed lovers.’”
Utahime sighed. “That’s so sad.”
“Well, Orihime thought so too; she was moved to tears and asked her father to allow them to meet again. Tentei agreed to let them meet on the 7th day of the 7th month each year if she finished her weaving.”
“I guess that’s okay,” Utahime said, skeptically.
“Sure, except he didn’t build a bridge.” Satoru shrugged.
“Wait, what?”
“Yep, they showed up to meet, and Orihime cried so much when she realized that she couldn’t cross the river to see Hikoboshi that a flock of magpies showed up and offered their wings as a bridge to help her cross.
It’s said that if it rains on the 7th day of the 7th month, the magpies don’t come, and the raindrops are the Tears of Orihime and Hikoboshi.”
“That’s awful,” Utahime said, a soft sniffle escaping her.
Satoru shrugged again. “Yeah, I guess it is.”
Utahime felt a small raindrop hit her nose, then another, and a third.
“Oh, we should definitely get back before it starts raining!” She said, heading towards the stairs.
Satoru just stood staring at the sky with his hands in his pockets, either ignoring or not hearing her remark.
“Gojo!” Utahime shouted. “The rain!”
“Hm?” he hummed, turning around. “Oh, I guess you have to worry about getting wet, don’t you?”
He smirked, and Utahime noticed the rain lightly landing just a short distance above his head. He seemed to be surrounded by a halo of stars as the raindrops hit the edge of the infinite barrier, freezing in place around him and sparkling in the moonlight, held captive by an unseen force. The rain had picked up, but he walked towards her with the calm of someone walking in the summer sun.
“Alright, let’s go then,” he said, holding out a hand.
Utahime frowned and hesitantly grabbed it. They walked down the stairs, and she stood in the doorway at the bottom, bracing herself for the cold storm. Her pause stopped Satoru in his tracks as her hand tightened around his.
“What are you doing?” Satoru asked, looking over his shoulder.
“It’s raining really hard now,” she replied, peeking out of the doorway.
“You’ll be fine.”
He gently pulled her out, and she closed her eyes, bracing herself for the cold, but it didn’t come.
Her eyes widened as she opened them to see hundreds of tiny droplets suspended above her head. The air around her seemed to be coated in a sheet of sparkling, liquid glass. Satoru wore the rain like a shimmering, translucent coat that never touched his skin. The sound of the patter was slightly muffled.
“Pretty cool, right?” he asked, his signature smirk on his face.
Utahime had no words for the situation, so she just nodded, mouth slightly agape.
They continued toward the school until they were under the cover of an awning by the front door. Satoru let go of her hand and shoved both of his in his pockets.
“Alright, well, I’m gonna head out now,” he said, turning on his heel.
“Oh, okay,” Utahime hesitated. “Um…thanks…”
“Yeah, no problem,” he replied, still facing away. “Careful, though, if anyone finds out I was being a gentleman, I’ll have to double…no, triple, the teasing next time,” he joked, grinning over his shoulder.
She laughed. “I would expect nothing less.”
She watched as he disappeared back into the rain, wearing his halo of stars.