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Satoru was used to being exceptional. Everything about him was lauded amongst the Gojo clan, and Jujutsu society in general—his Limitless, his Six Eyes, his reserves of cursed energy, his cursed energy manipulation refinement, his genius. The list could go on and on. It was his natural state of being to be extraordinary, he carried the hopes and future of Jujutsu society on his shoulders with it.
Everyone had been eagerly awaiting the day of his presentation because of it—for good and for bad. They didn’t so much as whisper about him being an alpha, as they outright stated it. His heart was always beating hard with the anticipation of it too, hearing it drum in his ears, as his feelings slipped out of his control. His clan already lining up prospects for the future clan matriarch that would strengthen their political standing and enrich the cursed techniques that ran in the family. Others feared it, plotted against him (more than they usually did), prayed that his designation would be different than the expectation.
Some had expected that he would present earlier than normal, but he didn’t.
Some had expected that he would present in the usual years of puberty, but he didn’t.
With the sway of good behavior and years of missions completed flawlessly, he was able to strong arm his way into attending the Jujustu Technical College Tokyo branch, but the hiccup of his presentation jeopardized that. It garnered a stream of endless tests it seemed: blood work, MRIs, physicals, dietary tests, psychological tests, whatever the elders could think of to explain his lack of presentation. They consulted sorcerers with divination abilities: asked them when, why, what to do. Nothing. They even dared to ask normie doctors for their perspective.
Finally, one doctor had the guts to say that Satoru was deficient in the hormones that would eventually lead to presentation as an alpha, that his current levels indicated he was simply a beta. Satoru had seen the results and charts that illustrated everything, was able to recall them hours after leaving the office thanks to his Six Eyes so he could ruminate on it. It was nail biting to remember the brief glimpse of the doctors notes on the results. Notes that detailed the doctor’s full thoughts on the results of the tests: that Satoru couldn’t present, wouldn’t present because of disordered hormone production and absorption. Potentially a genetic disorder. Satoru’s late night research said that something like this could result in someone being a beta for the rest of their life, but there was also a chance that they could present late. He didn’t know which option was better in this case. Being a beta could be fine in his clan’s eyes (although he doubted that), but if the doctor every explained the scope of his diagnosis, Satoru really could kiss going to school goodbye. Fuck, why couldn’t he have just been a beta in the normal way if this was going to be the case?
He couldn’t sleep at all with the thought of what was at risk; he needed to get ahead of this before the elders started talking about keeping him in the compound and medicating him to force a certain designation. He immediately picked up his phone and flipped it up, looking for the number he had saved there as soon as the paperwork to enroll him into the Tokyo branch had started: Yaga Masamichi. He had been the point of contact with the school, helping get everything set up and addressing any concerns the elders had with Satoru leaving their sight.
He tugged the covers over his head as he dialed the number, one hand fisted in the sheets as he waited with baited breathe for him to pick up. It was late sure, but he was a sorcerer and they did a fair bit of their work at night so he was probably awake, and if he wasn’t, well whatever Satoru didn’t care about interrupting his sleep.
“Hello? Who is this? Why are you calling?” Yaga picked up and answered with a vague routine phrase.
“Excuse me?! Why don’t you have my number saved huh?” He was The Gojo Satoru. And, they had met in person already since he would be joining the school soon too.
Yaga sighed, “I see, Gojo Satoru, then.”
“Of course, honestly-” Satoru let his sentence end there because he couldn’t really articulate right now how much it offended him. “Listen, I have a lot of things to bring with me when I move into the dorms so I figured I should start bringing it over. Plus, I want to check out Tokyo so moving in now is best.”
“Is that so,” Yaga drawled, seemingly uninterested. “Can’t your servants just bring them over?”
Satoru scoffed, “Of course not! How would they know how to arrange it all? And obviously the elders would argue I didn’t need to bring it, but they don’t know the first thing about how important my games and stuff are.”
“You know the dorms are small right?” Yaga pointed out.
Satoru pulled the phone away from his ear and pressed the speaker into the pillow to muffle how his beat his fist into the rumpled bedding. Damn it, damn it. He flipped over and threw off the covers, feeling stifled and suffocated by the heavy blanket. “It doesn’t matter if it’s small, I just need to be the one to handle it. That’s why I’m saying I’ll move in earlier, so I can get everything situated with the limited space.” He tensely bit out.
He faintly heard Yaga curse. “Fine. When will it be then?”
“Tomorrow.” he said instantly. Looking into the hallways and rooms around him with his Six Eyes to check the location of all the people nearest to him.
“No, it can’t be tomorrow, I have business to attend to that day—”
Satoru cut in, “It can’t possibly be more important than me.”
Yaga didn’t grace that with a response and didn’t budge, “Come with your things on Sunday.”
That was five days away. Satoru bit the inside corners of his mouth, “Okay Sunday, you better be there and be ready.” It was too great a distance for Satoru to see Yaga but he glared all the same to stress how important and serious this was.
“Call or text me when you arrive, I’ll send a manager to pick you up.”
“Fine.” he responded and promptly hung up, dropping back into his sheets. Despite all the effort, his mind was still too preoccupied to allow him to get comfortable to sleep, and he tossed and turned in sheets that clung to his skin and wouldn’t let him go.
He said nothing to no one about how he was planning to move in to the dorms a month ahead of schedule, acting as normal. He went on missions and destroyed lame ass curses, studied and trained, played video games, and listened for any whisperings from the elders. Though he heard nothing of anyone catching on to his plan, he grew more and more tense as the days crept on slower than a snail. Until finally the night before Sunday arrived and he was scrambling to pack his stuff away quickly and quietly in the dead night, heart racing like a thief.
He stared at the two suitcases filled with his favorite clothes, the three boxes of mangas and games, and the bookbag of essential items and plotted how he would get all of this out of the estate without setting anyone off. Should he just escape tonight? But he couldn’t, he already knew that. Crossing the boundary of the grounds without a guide or permission would set off the barrier and wake up his nanny, and then he would be caught and it would be over. Not to mention that even if he managed to get away from his pursuers and got to the train station, he had no money on himself to pay for the ticket—everything he had every earned had gone straight to the family coffers and everything he had ever bought was requested through his nanny. This was exactly why he had to leave the estate.
He would have to bail during his mission tomorrow, that was his only window where he was away from the watchful eyes of the elders. He crept out of his room, two boxes stacked in his hands and the third one stuck to his head with Blue as he snuck towards the car lot. Every mission he went on, he was escorted by one of his bodyguards—a useless precaution—so he would just have to ensure that the bodyguard assigned to him tomorrow was Yurika since it was pretty easy to twist her arm into doing what he wanted. With some careful application of Infinity, he teleported himself into the back seat of the car, crawling over the center console to pull up the trunk button. From there easily stowing his stuff away for tomorrow, secured out of sight until it would be too late to stop him.
His room looked a lot more bare than he had seen it in years. It gave him whiplash as he pulled his blankets up to his head. Staring at it as it was now made his soul feel as empty as the walls and cabinets—his home for sixteen years, and he was leaving it. Everything that he cared about carved out and hidden away where it could be protected until he arrived at his new home.
His dreams that night weren’t restful. He was crabby when he got up, all the way through breakfast and briefing, he was at least peripherally glad that his terrible mood masked any potentially suspicious behavior. He barely had to make a fuss to get Yurika as his escort today—probably so he wouldn’t cause too many problems in the compound. Yurika kept quiet in deference throughout the road trip and he played around with his Nintendo DS. After he cleaned up the measly First Grade curse he was assigned today, he railroaded Yurika into taking him for ice cream—one planned ahead of time to be near the train station. He was almost there, he just had to decide one thing: would he knock her out and then bail or force her to let him go.
He was still deliberating on which path he wanted to take when Yurika came out of the shop with their cones, her face more dour than usual. “What’s your problem?” He asked as he accepted his three scoops of mint chocolate, brownie chunks, and sprinkles. He didn’t actually care but he felt compelled to ask to keep up appearances of normalcy.
“Satoru-sama…” Yurika trailed off, staring at her one scoop of chocolate ice cream instead of eating it or finishing her thought. They stared at each other from out behind their matching sunglasses without a word following. He didn’t see anything off in their surroundings with the normies and there was no strong curses around to worry about, so he didn’t see a reason for her to be fretting like this.
“Are you planning on running away right now?”
He instantly tensed. Yurika was one of his most tolerable guards—a cousin he had grown up with that he didn’t mind interacting with and who didn’t treat him like a senseless child or a god. That history often meant that she could discern his thought and feelings better than others; usually using that to keep pests out of his way. It was no doubt the reason the elders so often allowed him to only have her watching over him when he went out, since she could ‘handle’ him and prevent incidents. So it shouldn’t have been any sort of surprise that she had seen through him now, but it did irritate him.
His irritation didn’t last long though because there was another reason he had insisted that Yurika accompany him today: her Malice Eyes wouldn’t be able to stop him from forcing his way to Jujustu Tech.
“So what if I am huh? What could you do about it?” He postured.
“I could call Nanny Mori.”
Satoru choked on his latest bite of ice cream, a sharp pang of cold stabbing at his heart as the treat squeezed down his throat. Yurika sighed and got into the car, “I’ll take you to the station.”
The drive was short thanks to how close the ice cream shop was to it, but it was still awkward for Satoru to be caught like a foolish kid again. He reticently kept his silence even as Yurika asked if he had everything he needed, if there was anyone waiting to greet him when he arrived, as they bought his ticket, and as they cared his things into the train car.
“Have fun.” Yurika said as her parting words to him.
“Obviously.” He replied in lieu of thanks. And so he was set to start his stay at Jujustu Tech a little early. The relief that unwound from his spine was hard to understand.
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It was a whirlwind of new experiences after arriving at Jujustu Tech. He hadn’t been the only one to arrive early to the dorms for that year: another first year named Suguru Geto. Surprisingly a Special Grade sorcerer according to Yaga—he could scarcely believe it. The Gojo clan kept its ears to the ground about anyone getting powerful enough to challenge them so he was intimately familiar with all the top ranking sorcerers of today and those that were expected to grow up strong as well, for him to not know about another Special Grade should have been impossible. So of course he had to go check out what the guy was like.
His first impression of Suguru was ‘a polite and reserved class president type’, his second impression was ‘a stubborn and judgmental dick’ for giving him a lecture on manners all with a look of derision and tone of condescension. A close look at his cursed energy with the Six Eyes showed a kaleidoscope of different cursed energies enmeshed in a swirling golden vortex. The implications of it were interesting, plus with Suguru’s terrible attitude, Satoru naturally had to fight him.
Being born into Jujutsu Society, Satoru was familiar with the most famous cursed techniques throughout history as well as the cursed techniques that carried on down family lines even the most boring versions of those, but Suguru’s Cursed Spirit Manipulation was new to Satoru. Unknowing of what it could do, Satoru had to be impressed with the way Suguru used his technique. A Grade 1 Claustrophobia based curse working in tandem with a Grade 4 Kenophobia based curse beautifully to mess with Satoru’s perception of their surroundings and thus interfering with using his Infinity. Of course, even just Satoru’s Blue was hard to overcome so it wound up in a draw, but neither of them were going to complain about that now—they were already best friends by that point.
Going to class and having classmates his age, having friends that weren’t clan members or from other Jujustu families, was a novel experience. Everyday was a new adventure, a new way to enjoy life unlike anyway he’d known before. Truths that he had been raised with were called into question and destroyed and replaced with better things. The only rough patch was anything surrounding presentations.
Suguru had already presented as an Alpha before coming to Jujustu Tech and Shoko was a medically confirmed Beta—it was a world that Satoru had heard a lot about but had never experienced being that he was technically unpresented. He had worried that his status would be all that they talked about, dreaded the questions they would ask about it, but it never happened leaving him with an unanswered confusion. When Satoru couldn’t stand it any longer, he just asked outright why they weren’t questioning him about his status.
The absurd look that Suguru gave him before carefully saying, “Because that’s rude?” was kind of world altering. Shoko similarly said “Only the old clans care about that kind of stuff. Most people know better and mind their own business.”
It was like a weight had finally been lifted, a pressure release that made his body feel looser, and that was the end of that for him. Happily living his days with that resolved until the next big wrench came—Suguru’s rut.
“Shouldn’t you be in your room?” Satoru blurted out, staring at Suguru who was hunched over at his desk with his fingers pinching at the bridge of his nose.
Suguru hummed in question but continued massaging his face instead of voicing anything.
“What’s wrong with him?” Shoko came into the classroom and conversation, staring at Suguru’s ducked head with vague interest and she walked past him to lounge in her own seat.
“His rut’s soon.” Even now Suguru’s summery beachy scene was getting noticeably muskier making Satoru’s nose tingle and stomach twist.
“Hmm~ are you one of those people that gets headaches during pre-rut?” Shoko asked probably out of medical curiosity instead of concern.
Suguru groaned, “Yes, now can you have some mercy on me and give me pain killers?”
“Do I look like I keep that stuff on me? I’ll get you some from the infirmary once class ends.”
“Some friend you are.” Suguru muttered darkly, turning his head enough to glare at Shoko like he was trying to curse her with his pain.
“Sucks to be you,” Shoko shrugged with no remorse. “Maybe you should have stayed in bed if you were suffering this much.” She criticized as she usually would when nagging them about maintaining their health.
“That’s right! You should be in your room before you get crazy horned up.” Satoru cut back in to say his piece.
Suguru and Shoko just looked at him. “I’m fine Satoru. That kind of stuff only happens when you have a long term partner.” Suguru gently explained.
“Really?” Satoru was again surprised at the new information that he was receiving that was contrary to what he had been taught before.
“Yeah, there’s a whole bunch of stuff you need to do with a partner before you start mating like in trashy novels. Things like scenting and marking.” Shoko yawned as she answered.
“That’s only two things.” Satoru muttered with a pout.
“Hmm? I guess so.” Shoko and he continued talking over Suguru’s chastisements on what made polite conversation.
“So does that mean we can still hang out during your rut?” Satoru poked at the back of Suguru’s head to draw his attention away from his self pity.
Suguru sighed but ultimately smiled, “Yes, we can still hang out.”
Satoru sat back with happiness at the confirmation, Yaga-sensei stepping into the room to begin their lesson for the day. And Suguru kept his promise too, even when his rut started in earnest they still hung out as much as usual. It was interesting to see how much more impatient and aggressive Suguru became during his rut. It wasn’t to an offensive level but it was very clear when he was nearing his limit of interacting with people. He was more competitive in class as well leading to the funny sight of him growling at a test he had gotten back which had scored below Satoru’s own.
They just mostly had to limit themselves to hanging out in places Suguru’s instincts felt safe in, so they spent hours playing games in his dorm room. Satoru found it relaxing to be enveloped in the warm salt and sandalwood of the room but Suguru still seemed irritated and they were on day five.
“Maybe you should take some suppressants.” Satoru knocked his knee against Suguru’s jittering leg to make his point.
“I’ve been taking them. It’s fine, it’ll end soon.” Suguru rubbed at his forehead and tilted his head back and forth until his neck cracked, trying to ease the tension in his body.
“No way! You’re still going stir-crazy even though we’re in your room!” Satoru immediately paused their game to accuse Suguru to his face. “I thought being in your den was supposed to help with the pissy mood! Didn’t you scent mark everything?!”
Suguru heaved a big sigh and buried his head in his hands, mouthing to himself because he always forgot that Satoru’s Six Eyes could see everything in existence and wasn’t hindered by walls or objects.
“What haven’t you scented?”
Suguru’s whole body twitched. “First of all, that’s rude. Second of all, what do you think is in my room that I haven’t scented yet?” He leaned back and crossed his arms, the judgment clear on his face.
Satoru only had to think about it for a second, “Huh me!?” He pointed at himself to make sure, feeling affronted at the thought. “But you said that it was fine to hang out.”
“It is fine. I didn’t say it would be easy though.”
Satoru had nothing to say that. It wasn’t like he wanted be a serious bother for Suguru. Sure they fought and heckled each other but at the end of the day he considered Suguru to be his truest friend and wanted Suguru to think the same of him.
“Do you want to scent me then?”
Suguru abruptly sat up and stared at him with wide eyes, “Seriously? You’d be okay with that?”
Satoru huffed, “Yeah.” He insisted, not liking the disbelief in Suguru’s voice. “You’re already tense enough as it is, no one needs you to be more uptight.”
Suguru looked like he wanted to argue the point but he shifted antsily towards Satoru instead, instincts probably itching to scentmark now that it was brought to attention. “Are you really sure?” He asked hoarsely, hands creeping forward.
“Just do it.” Satoru glared and stretched his wrist out right as Suguru went for a hug. They both froze. Suguru’s eyes darted towards Satoru’s proffered wrist as his arms hung in the air, Satoru himself tensing briefly.
Suguru recovered first and dropped his arms, “Right of course, you grew up in a clan so you would do wrist scenting.” He rambled as he clasped Satoru’s forearm to align their wrist glands.
Satoru automatically returned the grasp as habit dictated, giving it little thought as he pounced on Suguru’s words. “What does that mean?!”
“Nothing! It’s just the formal way of doing it.” Suguru raised his hands in a placating jester, some of the aggression and tension already leaving his frame thanks to the scent mark.
“There are other ways?” Satoru asked in a wondering tone, another aspect of the world he was sheltered against opening up to him. The indignation and embarrassment that came along with it, an increasingly familiar feeling since he had entered Jujutsu Tech. Heart burning to know everything immediately as he waited and watched Suguru’s face.
“Yeah, usually just like hugging.” Suguru gamely answered. After months of being friends with Satoru he knew how to strike the perfect balance in tone of gentle sympathy for Satoru’s upbringing and a straightforwardness that felt like a casual reminder. It was something that Satoru—in his heart of hearts—was grateful for because it wasn’t piteous like he could detect in the others during moments like this. Didn’t make him feel like a stupid alien. It also wasn’t condescending the way that Satoru knew Suguru tended to be.
Suguru once has explained it that—some people should’ve known better and some people couldn’t have known better. It was part and parcel with his ideals that the strong should protect the weak, so it wasn’t something Satoru understood or cared to think deeply about. But he understood that it meant that Suguru thought he needed to be protected, an implication that made Satoru’s stomach feel light and like he wanted to scream, so he was doubly motivated to not think about it.
“Right that makes sense.” He could picture that it was much more familial and loving to hug your parents to leave a scentmark than to just rub wrists. “But even friends?”
“Yeah, if you want to.” Suguru’s arms raised again in offer, so Satoru lowered his head and leaned in to show he was ready.
Suguru’s arms came around him, hands trailing up to Satoru’s shoulder blades as he slowly drew Satoru against his chest, wrists pressing against either side of his spine subtly, tingling all the way up. Satoru worked to keep his breathing even and his body relaxed during the experience. Suguru pulled Satoru in enough to tuck his head into his shoulder, tilting his head to nuzzle into the soft white strands, spreading his scent where Satoru’s checks were mushed against his throat scent gland as a result.
The scent marking was over after that. Suguru gradually let go and eased back against the couch, so relieved from the tension that he drifted off to sleep nearly instantly, purring occasionally, leaving Satoru plenty of space to soak in his overwhelm. Shivering at how much nicer it was to mark this way than how he had grown up, but frazzled and itchy at the thoughts that relived the sensation. He thought about the science of scent marking, the mapping of glands on the body and the most efficient way to mark them—clinical and detached. It slowed his mind, but didn’t stop the fuzziness in his head or heart.
So scenting became part of their lives. Whenever Suguru was particularly frustrated or disgusted by the curses he swallowed, scenting Satoru or Shoko would help with his mood. Whenever Satoru had a terrible headache, being scented by either of them would ease the pain. Shoko would scent them to help with her nicotine withdrawals, her pepperminty scent bracing and refreshing. Always forcing them to stoop down so she could sling her arms around their shoulders and make them carry her around like norimono bearers. It was a better high school experience than he had every been able to dream.
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Satoru folded over the duvet and tugged at it’s corners until he had a perfectly arranged fleece pocket laid out on the bed. Taking the pillows away from their usual lay down position and propping them against the head board, considering the placement carefully, ultimately deciding to place them to line the wall the bed pressed against. Next he laid out his favorite blackout blanket across the upper half of the duvet. He finished it off by draping Suguru’s lounge robe over the lower half of the duvet.
“Is there any particular reason you’re decorating my bed?” Suguru’s voice interrupted Satoru’s appraisal of his final construction, gently amused.
“I’ve got a headache, I’m gonna take a nap before heading out on my mission.”
Suguru’s brows were furrowed when Satoru turned to look at him, “Are you sure you’re good for a mission then?”
“I’ll be fine.” Satoru insisted, even as the searing pain of his headache crawled across his sinuses and circled his eye socket until it burrowed into the side of his skull. He leaned his body forward with his head tilted up and eyes closed like he always did to signal he wanted to be scented.
Suguru obliged and carefully hugged him, Satoru taking it a step further by rubbing his head into the crease of Suguru’s shoulder and throat. Typically this always made Satoru feel comfortable and sleepy, but today he felt the urge to complain nonsensically, suddenly craving udon and chocolate donuts. Immediately, the part of his brain usually focused on always processing the information received from his Six Eyes and still retained all the training from his clan, perked up at the atypical and irrational reaction. Half of him analyzing his condition and restraining the other half of him that wanted to beg for food or punch Suguru for lecturing him about mission reports last week.
“Call or text me if you start feeling worse okay?” Suguru murmured as he ruffled Satoru’s hair.
“Yeah yeah. Honestly my nap will be longer than the mission itself.” He boasted as he snuggled down under his layers of blankets.
Suguru snorted, “That would be good then.” helping smooth out the covers so Satoru was tucked in.
“I’m heading out then.” He bid goodbye at the door.
“Bye~”
It was easy for him to slip off to sleep after that, but waking up to go on his mission didn’t see him feeling any better. In fact, he felt worse than before. Body chilled and aching, it was like all of his skin was a tender bruise that twinged when brushed against by even the lightest fabric. Luckily the mission really was a short as he promised to Suguru, and soon he was riding the train back towards campus.
Shivering as he stared at nothing, he just let the scenery pass him by. He was being courteous and standing so others could be seated, but he really desperately wanted to sit down, body feeling weak and heavy like it wouldn’t be able to support him for much longer. He kept his eyes closed because it even hurt to blink and breathed deeply to master himself, relying on the training of his childhood that had seen him able to push beyond physical weaknesses and limitations.
“Excuse me, do you have someone you can call?” A soft voice spoke up from next to him.
Irritation suddenly spiked in his blood as he cracked an eye open to look at the person directly. A simple looking woman was leaning in as though to speak privately to him, eyebrows slightly scrunched, with no justification in sight.
A wash of heat rippled over his body for a split second and the chilled feeling attached to his bones was replaced with an overheated sweat. Abstractly he wondered if his ears were giving off heat like an elephant in order to cool off. “Huh?” He glared, wanting her to back off since he wasn’t interested in chit-chatting with a stranger.
The train was pulling into the station now and he stood up straighter, getting ready to push his way out, ignoring the woman’s next words. “Do you have someone who can pick you up?”
He barely waited for the hiss of the doors opening to make his way out, gritting his teeth at the sudden burst of pain in his stomach. Like a sharp knife lancing through him or a curse reaching inside him to crush his organs, he could do nothing but stagger to the side and slowly slump against the wall. He tried to gather his faculties and stand up again only to be brought down as the pain intensified, practically keeling over as he endured it.
There was no way he would be able to make it up the stairs to the auxiliary manager waiting to take him back home. He reached for his phone and speed-dialed Suguru on instinct.
Suguru picked up after the second ring, “Yo, Satoru~ finished with your mission?” Satoru’s control over himself started to fray even more at the easy cadence of Suguru’s voice, that gentleness and care that he wanted beside him right now.
His eyes stung even more as his nose started to prickle and he sniffed, internally balking at the sensation. He would not cry, absolutely not. He did not seriously cry ever, he only fake cried in order to get his way with others. When the moment called for it, he was in control of his emotions as any good sorcerer should be.
He forced out a reply as steadily as possible, “Suguru…” voice warbling with the thickness in his throat, followed shortly after by a sound akin to a tea kettle starting to go off.
“What?! Satoru, what’s wrong?” Suguru’s tone instantly shifted to panic. “Where are you?!”
“At the train station.”
“Don’t move okay? I’m coming to get you.” Suguru crooned with a soft assurance that made him feel a bit better as he sat their hunched over, waiting. His thoughts drifted between the pain in his body and how much he wanted to go home.
It felt like forever before Suguru finally arrived. He came back to awareness by the call of his name, lifting his head up to see Suguru rushing over, hair windswept and face flushed like only flying Skittles could do, the massive sweater that he wore only for high altitude temperature and wind shield cemented it.
Suguru carefully brushed aside Satoru’s bangs, eyes scanning over him to check his condition, “Can you stand?” He murmured, haphazardly shrugging off his sweater to then push it onto Satoru.
Satoru assessed his condition and fairly thought that, in the worst-case scenario, he would have been able to walk. With Suguru beside him, his judgment leaned more towards not being able to stand and walk without collapsing after a few steps. In his heart, he didn’t even want to try standing, instead listing forward until Suguru was forced to bare his weight.
Suguru took it in stride and enveloped Satoru in his arms, gingerly hoisting him up into a princess carry. Satoru didn’t complain, the pain in his body soothed by being so close to Suguru, headache eased by his scent, mind idly floating in and out of awareness vaguely toning in to hear Suguru making assurances to the station staff. Something about their dorms and the ride waiting for them outside. Blinking over his shoulder, he saw the station barren of people really, most everyone being quickly ushered away from the attendants. A small half-circle of attendants surrounded them to keep stragglers away, faces masked. He even noticed that woman from the train standing among them with a worried expression.
He was distantly embarrassed that he hadn’t noticed such a commotion going on around him, that he hadn’t realized some random do-gooder had felt the need to watch over him. The thought disappeared from his mind as they ascended the stairs, Suguru keeping him steady even as he rushed to the waiting car, quickly packing them in. All he had to do from there was stay plastered to Suguru’s side and let him get them back home.
When they got to the school, Satoru was feeling good and lucid enough to walk up the steps on his own, Suguru hovering by his side with a hand on his back just in case. They parted ways so Suguru could fetch Shoko to give him a check up, while Satoru went to their dorms. Usually Satoru would brush it off, but he knew better than to ignore something so strange going on with his health. He trudged into Suguru’s room and was glad to see the bed made up exactly as he had envisioned, quickly crawling in and snuggling down to wait.
His mind floated in the comforting embrace of the blankets, soft and cushiony, providing him warmth and blissful darkness—a perfect cocoon to rest in. Now that he was really focusing on enjoying the feel of his creation versus trying to sleep off a headache, he could appreciate how Suguru’s own scent had settled onto the blankets. Another layer that gave weight to ground him and soothe the lingering pain.
“—toru? Satoru?!” Suguru suddenly barged into the room looking frazzled. His eyes scanned the room like he was looking for an errant Ichigo. Shoko behind him didn’t look the least bit fazed.
“Mmm?” Satoru peeked out from his sheets.
“I-I thought you would be in your room.”
“But my stuff is here.” Satoru’s candid answer made Suguru’s face turn red. Shoko didn’t bother waiting for him to get himself together and stepped forward.
“So I heard you were sick? Do you want to come out and let me check?” She beckoned half-heartedly at Satoru, her typical mien of aloofness firmly in place.
“Nooo~! I’m too comfy.” He whined shamelessly. And truthfully he felt like if he left the bed the pain would slam into him and incapacitate him.
“Can I come in then?”
“Shoko!” “Sure”
Suguru gave Shoko a completely affronted look, but Shoko just smirked and knocked her elbow into his side before walking over to the bed. She lifted the edge of the blanket and crawled under, Satoru ducking underneath as well to see what she was doing directly, ignoring Suguru’s silent fuming.
“lift up your shirt.” She wiggled her fingers already radiating cursed energy towards him.
When he obliged, he only slightly twitched to feel her cold skin and lukewarm cursed energy touch his body and scan it. It was over quickly all told.
“Congrats, you’ve presented as an omega.” Her tone was completely unaffected, a mere observation instead of a life altering revelation.
The words bounced around in his head over and over. Time stretching and dilating as Satoru blinked at her, the words processing in his brain. It pinged against his reason, Six Eyes scanning her energy for abnormalities, for any source that could cause her to make a mistake. Distantly he heard Suguru hiss at her about having tact. Because, right, Suguru would have already figured it out because now Satoru probably had a scent he was just currently nose blind to.
“That pain you’re feeling is your new organs getting settled in. Something over the counter should be enough. Suguru go and grab some of the meds, and the usual cycle staples while you’re at it.” She commanded drolly, all the while still under the covers of...his...nest--
Suguru’s cursed energy fluctuated as he dither but eventually Satoru saw it traveling the hallways to get what Shoko had asked for.
He didn’t have anything to say, only trying to absorb the knowledge he had just been given. Obviously, the elders would not be pleased, but there wasn’t much that could be done. He would actually have to pay attention to the sex ed class Yaga gave them now. His thoughts followed that logical pattern, everything quiet around him as he was alone with his thoughts. He might have felt more deeply about the suddenness of his presentation and what his ultimate designation had ended up being if he wasn’t still bracing with pain. Instead of sinking into gloom he’d much rather snuggle into his blankets and sleep.
“You’re taking this better than I expected.” Shoko remarked as she shifted to lie down beside him, rather brazenly staying in his ‘nest’ after her check up.
“Maybe it’s shock.” He replied flatly.
She just shrugged and changed topics. “You do know what it means that you chose to make your next in Suguru’s room right?”
That cleared the fog in Satoru’s mind, becoming acutely aware of the context for everything that had happened in the last few hours. Completely mortified to realize he had keened for Suguru to come to him, that he had essentially latched himself to Suguru as soon as he saw him. And here he was still, a nest set up with his favorite things in his favorite place with no plans to leave until he felt better.
“Don’t you dare say anything!” He insisted nearly embarrassed beyond words.
Shoko cackled, “There’s no way he doesn’t already know. Any way my professional advice is not to have sex until your next heat.”
Satoru sputtered as Shoko finally climbed out, Suguru bursting into the room again in a flurry.
“I’ve got the medicine. And snacks.” He got out breathlessly and began unpacking everything onto the side table, Satoru’s embarrassment easing to see his favorite snacks lined up in easy reach for him. Was it really so bad? The world everyone at Jujutsu Tech had shown regarding dynamics was a lot more pleasant than the lessons he had gotten in the estate. Something Satoru actually enjoyed being a part of. Suguru already knew him so well, what did adding one more thing matter if this was the result? Moments in the past where Satoru could feel his insides squirming with nerves around Suguru were usually the moments when he was at his highest—enjoying every second beside Suguru.
“Just follow the instructions on the bottle. Call me if he starts bleeding or something.” Shoko said from the doorway as she peaced out of the situation.
Suguru sighed and rubbed at his forehead, shaking out a pill and cracking the seal on a Pocari, “Here.” Every bit of fluster and stress smoothly wiped away to be replaced by a gentle coaxing smile.
For once Satoru didn’t complain about having to take the medicine, grateful that soon the stabbing pains would be gone. “I want the chocolate too.”
“You need more than just sweets right now Satoru. You’ll need to eat more protein and electrolytes for this.” Suguru nagged but obliged and passed over the cookies ‘n cream kitkats and some chocolate covered nuts.
Satoru munched away at his treats, feeling leagues better than he had just minutes before as he was enveloped in the nest like filing in a pastry. Suguru stood around awkwardly, unable to decide what to do next, not helped at all by Satoru just staring at him.
“What anime is on right now?” Satoru asked to break the silence.
“Uhh I’ll get you the remote.” Suguru didn’t have to fumble long to find it, easily more tidy then the others. When he came back to hand it over, Satoru reached out and tugged at him, flipping down one corner of his nest to invite him in.
Suguru swallowed thickly, “Satoru..” That one word strangled in his throat.
Satoru tugged again wordlessly, and even shuffled to the side to make more obvious space for Suguru. Suguru passed over the remote so Satoru could switch between channels at his whim, while he gingerly climbed under the layers, aiming not to disturb anything. It must have been Satoru’s lucky day because he found some digimon reruns they could watch, promptly tossing the remote over his shoulder and onto the side table for later, ignoring Suguru’s shove and hiss to be careful.
He laid down as the opening theme song washed over the space, wriggling his way under Suguru’s arm to snuggle into his side. Every trace of pain ebbing away pressed up against his one and only. The tension eventually bleed out of Suguru as well, wrapping his arms more securely around Satoru purring in contentment.
“I’ve got you.” He murmured, hand stroking through Satoru’s hair, sending him to blissful sleep.
His last thought was wanting to ask for a kiss and more scenting, but that could wait until later.