continued from @vartouhix

in his haste, it appeared satoru hadn't noticed that jangmi was preoccupied with her own tasks. nevertheless, he was determined to at least get some of this off of his plate. yaga wanted her here to help with all of that, right? right? he racks his brain for an actual exchange, and that's when it comes to him.

"ah, of course, of course! how about... i ask for your pay to be raised? that sounds like an even exchange to me, don't you think? soooo....?" well, it would be if he could guarantee it and a price, but he hoped that maybe she would gloss over that because of the prospect of merely getting a raise in the first place.

@chikoyama asked: "please, just go... i'm not the kind of person anyone needs to be around right now." angsty prompts pt. 1 || accepting

he hates this. satoru absolutely, 100 percent, hates being put in positions like this. comforting others is not his strong suit, and least of all girls. honestly, he's more likely to be the reason why they're upset, but that's neither here nor there. chiyori is a comrade and friend, and there's no good in letting a fellow sorcerer be down in the dumps. he awkwardly scratches at the back of his head, racking his brain for anything to say that doesn't completely lack any sort of tact.

❝ oh yeah? and why is that? c'mon, maybe you can scare everyone else off, but not me. so spill. what's bugging you? ❞ satoru finally settles on this, being a bit humorous while pressing chiyori for an answer. everyone knows what satoru is like, though, so perhaps a less-than-serious approach is exactly what's needed. 

@zorkaya asked: "well, how do i look?" + "may i have this dance?"

when satoru agreed to do business with zarina, he hadn't anticipated that it would include a suit and tie event of all things. he felt a bit ridiculous, honestly, wearing a tailored suit and dark sunglasses indoors when just about everyone else looked so formal and elegant. at least he'd decided against the blindfold. that would've been a little more awkward. he had to keep the sunglasses, though. as just being there was exhausting enough. there was

when he'd first met with her outside the building he was damn near instantly floored. even despite the shades, his reaction must have truly been visceral for zarina to pose such a question with that knowing, satisfied smile of hers. it was rare for someone to give satoru a taste of his own medicine, and it seemed she was quite adept at doing so. he coughed and tugged on his tie, which suddenly felt far too tight. his whole outfit felt restricting, honestly.

"fishing for compliments? i thought you were above that," satoru offers his own witty remark. he offers her his arm so they could enter together, and for a moment satoru figures they both must look quite the duo. well, maybe if satoru just lost the shades, but really... having them off for too long gave him migraines. still, they were both tall and expensively dressed and topped off (literally) with shockingly snowy hair.

"honestly though, you look great. the picture of elegance and beauty and all that jazz," satoru admits, and he says it so casually because it's true. he's never been one to shy away from letting a woman know he thinks she's beautiful. zarina's no exception. his casual flirting has been less than subtle, and now he finds himself as her plus one to whatever this event is supposed to be. it seems to mostly be socializing, though, so satoru intends to just remain as arm candy and keep an eye and ear out for anything of interest. unfortunately for himself, it's mostly uneventful and boring. he even considers pouring out a shot for himself, and he hates alcohol. it's the opposite of what his sweet tooth craves.

thankfully, zarina must sense his boredom because she saves the day with a whisper in his ear asking if he'd like to dance, and while satoru's forte isn't slow-dancing, it's not like he's going to deny such an opportunity. he hops up with a boyish earnestness about him, placing a hand on the small of zarina's back. he keeps it there, even as they reach the dancefloor and he takes her other hand in his, pulling her in perhaps a bit too close for an event such as this, but it's not like anyone's going to tell them anything.

"i know the basics, but this isn't really my expertise, so you'll have to guide me, ms. sokolova. i hope you're a great teacher."

@zorkaya asked: ' it is hard to unsee something like this . '

satoru finds that it's becoming increasingly common that among these instances of him being caught off guard and knocked off-kilter, it has to do with zarina in some way or other. it shouldn't be so surprising to himself as he's still a human too at the end of the day, and it is universally true that all humans are prone to slip up now and then. but it was rare for satoru to. he was about as close to perfection as humanly possible. such a creed is something that's been told of him since he was young, and only compounded upon as he grew older.

it's a bit unsettling and weird. it's kind of nice, too, though. relieving, almost. they don't know each other well, but satoru can sense that the two of them are perhaps kindred spirits in some way or other, even if mostly through their alienation.

"yeah yeah, whatever," satoru huffs, annoyed and embarrassed. he was eating cupcakes during this meeting with zarina and smeared frosting all over his face without realizing because of how quickly he'd scarfed the sweet threats down. it's by no means a terrible ordeal in the slightest, but it is undignified. he picks a napkin off the table and wipes the offending cream off of himself. his cheeks are a little warm the whole time, until finally he's done cleaning and ready to shift the focus to zarina.

"have you narrowed in on anyone suspicious? anyone trying to recruit you since you're a fresh face around here?" given the limitation of sorcerers as a whole, satoru considered that an inevitability. anyone with sense would want to gain a powerful ally. thankfully satoru managed to get the jump on everyone else.

@wormb0i asked: « Sensei ! I came up with new lyrics ; I think this is it. If I keep it up, I'll become the new Japanese Eminem. » Taking a deep breath to clear the grin off his face, he began. « Chillin' on a weekend like usual, watchin' Sponge-Bob Scooby-Dooby-Doo. She took the wires to my PlayStation, she doin' too much. I didn't wipe my butt, just pooped, then got up. » unprompted ask || always accepting <3

if nothing else, satoru can admit that he admires yuuji's drive and dedication to improving his skills across the board. is he any good at this rapping business? well... his flow isn't half bad. it's the lyrics that need serious work. a good rapper needs both to truly be great, right? and the ridiculous words coming out of yuuji's mouth make him sound a little ridiculous — a lot like satoru in the days where he used to run up to suguru, shoko, or even yaga with his own ridiculous songs. 

❝ yuuji, it... it wasn't bad, but you completely lost me at the not wiping part. you wouldn't seriously put that in a song, would you? you'd instantly mark yourself for getting dissed. you need to make yourself sound cool, not like a guy that shits himself and needs to be wiped. ❞ 

@amplichor asked: "it's like you're not really here, even when you are." angsty prompts pt. 1 || accepting

to say that satoru is busy is an understatement. maybe it's his own fault, filling up his time with working and missions  and literally anything else other than allowing himself to sit and think for too long. he's always doing something, keeping just about everyone at a distance for reasons he doesn't even fully grasp since he doesn't give himself the chance to. his mind is never really at rest either, thanks to his cursed technique. it makes for an interesting contrast. since it's so like him to avoid, he opts to bruh utahime's observation off — maybe if he annoys her, she'll drop it. 

❝ is that your funny way of saying you miss me, utahime? ❞ satoru says in his attempt to shift the subject of conversation from himself to her. if he can get her so irritated that she doesn't even remember what she's said in the first place, and he once again manages to avoid a heavy conversation he'd rather not have, then that's ideal. granted, utahime has known him for years, and he knows she gotten quite good at reading him. will she take his bait? 

@jikoku asked: "i'm not a good person." angsty prompts pt. 1 || accepting

HUH? 

satoru has to blink a couple times, confused. he even sticks a pinky in his ear, as if he's learing out the wax and that's why he can't hear properly, because surely, he must not have heard megumi correctly. what in the god damn hell made megumi think he wasn't a good person? he hasn't even been alive long enough to warrant such concerns! in satoru's opinion, at least, 15 years is far too short of a time for someone to have done something that would land them in that category. okay, it might not be impossible, but is is for megumi. megumi is someone satoru adores dearly, someone he thinks can do no wrong, and maybe that is a bit of rose-tinted lenses making him biased, but still. megumi is a good person.  

❝ that's not true and you know it. truly bad people don't care if they're viewed as a bad person or not. the fact that you care shows that you're a good person. don't you think? ❞ when satoru speaks to him, it's with a much softer tone than usual — used sparingly, and more often than not it's megumi that's on the receiving end of this. he's kneeling at the younger's level, speaking to him like he's a person because satoru cares about megumi and his well-being. he doesn't need the young sorcerer filled with doubts and troubles. he knows he doesn't have a magic wand that can fix everything wrong in megumi's mind and heart, but he can do what he can. this, he can do. 

@vartouhix asked: “ don’t you get it?! if anything happens to you, i… i don’t know what i’d do! “

❝ jangmi, i get it, but you have nothing to worry about. did you forget? i'm the strongest, ❞ satoru states this as proudly as always, a confident grin plastered on his features. it's the same smirk he wears whenever he boasts about being the strongest. it's hardly a boast — all sorcerers know gojo satoru is leaps and bounds above the rest of them to the point where he's an anomally, even among the special grades. still, he can't help but feel like a bit of a hypocrite for shutting such concerns down when he holds the very same reservations for others.    

❝ look, i'm... i'm glad you feel so strongly. i'd be struck with grief if i lost you, too, but trust me. don't you trust me? believe in me, and believe in my abilities. nothing can even touch me without me making it possible. i'll always be fine — trust me. ❞ he speaks with such finality about it that satoru believes it wholeheartedly as well. every fight he's been a part of since that one has been nothing but light work. he hasn't been worried about his own safety since then. is that a bad thing? probably. but he knows his limits (of which there are virtually none). the appreciates the sentiment, but the concern is misplaced. 

@katikis asked: "i'm not a good person." angsty prompts pt. 1 || accepting

satoru frowns a little, brows furrowed as he thinks of how best to respond to toru without seeming like he's dismissing toru while reassuring them that they're being ridiculous about that. just by virtue of them technically being one and the same, satoru knows that can't be true. satoru doesn't think of himself as the perfect moral person, but he knows he's not a bad person. he has other people's best interests at heart — what makes toru think otherwise about themself?

❝ i see. why do you think that, toru? ❞ no matter what they say, satoru can't imagine that it would justify toru's claim about themself. still, he wants to know so he can find away to assure them that's not the case, while also being delicate about the matter. he's never been the best at dealing with others feelings, but who best to try and raise your spirits than yourself, right?

@wellfell asked: "stop it. enough of this self-sacrificing bullshit! stop acting like you have nobody who loves you! you have me! so no! you don’t get to be a martyr. not today! we can figure out a different plan… angsty prompts pt. 1 || accepting

perhaps the last person he expects to shout this sort of spiel at him is akina. they've known each other for about a year, and in that time have grown close in a way that satoru honestly didn't think was possible for someone like himself. he still doubts it — akina's words are hard for him to truly register. and it's just shocking, because it's something he never anticipated. he's long since resigned and accepted this idea of loneliness for himself. it's an inescapable fate for someone like him, making his very ability ironic in a sense as no one can ever reach him, both in the literal and figurative sense.

❝ do you really...? ❞ he pauses then, and shakes his head. it doesn't matter. that's not for you — it doesn't matter. he wears a crooked smile as he meets her gaze, and it's obviously forced. there's truth to her words that he doesn't know if he's ready to contend with. it's easier not to. ❝ i'm not being self-sacrificial. i appreciate the concern, really, but i'm a little offended you think i won't make it, akina. have i not sufficiently demonstrated my abilities to you? i said i'll win. i'm going to win. don't worry your pretty little head about it too much. ❞

what aren’t you telling me ?

❝ you're way more observant than i thought, jangmi, ❞ satoru teases her. old habits really do die hard, it seems. he's nowhere near as mean as he used to be, calling her weak and the like, though he supposes the implication is there, just a little bit. he's genuinely impressed, though, as satoru thinks himself generally pretty good at concealing his thoughts and actions. has he really spent so much time with her now that she's begun to catch onto his small tells? 

interesting.  

❝ it's nothing serious. i'm going away for a while on a trip is all. probably for at least a month. it'll be a little hard to keep in contact with me, and even then, i'll be busy, ❞ he explains, and honestly, he doesn't know why he didn't mention it sooner. well, it's not like they were anything more than work friends, right? he figured yaga would've mentioned it at least. then again, it's not like his absence does much to affect their daily lives outside of maybe a bigger workload. 

❝ i leave tomorrow. you'll keep an eye on my students for me, right? ❞  

how long have you been awake ?

❝ ah, can you really tell that easily? you're way too cool, nanami, ❞ satoru says, and he's actually a bit bashful as he speaks. his eyes are covered up, so how else can nanami tell? there must be something about the way satoru's carrying himself that alerts nanami he's off. it's a bit comforting, actually. satoru could never quite bridge the gap between the two of them. they're friends in the loosest sense at best, though satoru cares for him deeply and knows nanami views him more as a mischievous co-worker. perhaps in another life, without all the pain keeping their walls up, they could've been closer.

satoru would've liked that.  

❝ funnily enough, i actually did get some sleep. these six eyes of mine just make it hard sometimes for it to be restful. that, and, well... i don't know. i have a bad gut feeling. i told you before that there's a traitor, right? ❞ he opens up, because despite everything, he knows he can trust nanami.  

“For five minutes, could you not be yourself? FOR FIVE MINUTES!” Konata || to Gojo

❝ nope! i wouldn't be me if i wasn't unapologetically myself! besides, i've gotten us all this far being this way, haven't i? ❞ he's as proud as ever, unfaltering in his ways. satoru knows he could maybe stand to be more serious and respectful sometimes, but then he just wouldn't be himself, and he'd hate that. besides, the jujutsu world needs someone like him to knock things off b a l a n c e in every way possible, doesn't it? 

❝ would you really prefer it if i was more in line with those idiotic higher-ups? ❞

jikoku asked: ❝ you have to believe me. i didn’t do this. ❞ from yuta !

on the last day of the school year, satoru strolled into the classroom expecting to see his students ready and chipper to send off a great, albeit eventful year. what he was met with was a giant mess, however, and only yuta stood in the midst of it all. there were papers all over the place, as well as the desks turned over and other trash strewn about. it was honestly a bit shocking to see, especially considering who was at the center of it all. he never would've pegged yuta as the type to do something like this.

"you know, this looks pretty compromising for you but i actually believe it. it's a tradition for the first years to play a prank on their sensei on the last day of school, and considering the others aren't here and it's just you... they didn't tip you off about it, huh?" satoru sighs and slinks into his seat at his desk, which thankfully is one of the only things left intact in the room. apparently, the others weren't that bold. "or are you playing innocent? i kinda doubt inumaki wouldn't tell you about this. you the decoy?

"if you want, we can try getting back at them, too. they don't realize they're missing with the master of stuff like this. the stuff i put yaga through... oh man. i wish you could've been there to see it!"

nexarerum asked: ❝ that place looks like it has bodies in the basement. ❞ - gabs dfklsnlkjg

another day, another mission exorcising some curse or other. normally satoru didn't go on missions with anyone other than his students as a means of a training exercise, but with gabriella only recently taking a position at tokyo jujutsu high and not being all that familiar with tokyo yet, yaga had requested satoru tag along with her. he didn't mind all that much, gladly accepting an excuse to head out into the city and buy some of his favorite sweets was always welcome by him.

the mission was, naturally, at some abandoned hospital of all places. it looked straight out of a horror movie, and judging by gabriella's comment, it seemed she clocked that right away too. honestly, it seemed a little excessive to satoru. it was already abandoned. was all the destruction and other creepy shit really necessary? curses could be so annoying.

"oh definitely. the aura emanating off this building is downright nasty. kinda wonder how this flew under the radar so long. apparently quite a few groups of teens have gone missing trying to explore this place. we're not sure, but intel thinks it's just shy of being classified as special grade," satoru scans the e-mail about this mission sent to him, and yeah, the sparse information provided confirms what he's said. there's a creaking sound, and satoru shrugs. the veil is already up, so it's time to get it over with. "you wanna try handling it yourself? i can tag along still, of course, and provide support if you need it, but i'm pretty sure you've got this."

katikis asked: “ you can’t protect any of them. ”

"i know," satoru says, and it's rare for his expression to become so serious. what toru says is true, though. no matter how much he tries to train his students, no matter how prepared everyone is, there is always this inevitability that mistakes will be made somewhere and they'll meet their demise. even the strongest among them slip up along the way. he's all too familiar with his own shortcomings, and he's the strongest.

"doesn't mean i can't try, though. i don't want to lose anyone else. not on my watch... and i know that's ridiculous to aspire to, but i kind of have faith that maybe one day it'll all be enough... it'll all be worth it in the end. don't you think so?" satoru has to believe it. he'd probably lose his mind if he didn't.